7 Times WWE Changed The Rules To The Royal Rumble Match

Vince McMahon made a strange call in 2011, when 40 participants were allowed in the Royal Rumble match instead of the usual 30. While spicing up one of the Big Four PPVs didn’t sound like a huge deal on paper, it did bring along its share of hullabaloo.

WWE lacked some star-power at the time, with names such as Triple H and The Undertaker absent. With ten extra slots to fill, positions were given to lower-card talent. And most of the fill-ins and special guests lasted less than three minutes, which threw off the timing of the match-up.

The call to increase the number of entrants might have simply been a shortsighted attempt to attract more viewers, as it did not favor the status of the WWE roster at the time. It also did not add anything to the match itself. There were more people. It was a little longer than some others. That was it. It was a formulaic Rumble match only with ten extra competitors. To measure its success, one simply needs to consider how many times there have been 40 superstars in the marquee match since.