Royal Rumble By The Numbers WWE DON'T Want You To Know

4. 0:04

Jericho Rumble Numbers
WWE Network

The 2015 Royal Rumble match was a disaster we can only really laugh at now, given Daniel Bryan's superb, 'New' reinvention. To underscore just how unspeakably awful it was, when it actively tried to be awful, it couldn't even get that right.

Titus O'Neil failed at failure.

O'Neil, entering in the #26 slot, was set to be eliminated instantly by Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in record time. The Shield brethren were very, very slightly behind on their cue - and thus, even if O'Neil hadn't failed spectacularly to propel himself over the top rope, the record may not have been broken. As it happens, O'Neil failed spectacularly to propel himself over the top rope, and instead sort of blasted himself against it with the propulsive force of the Undertaker in his heyday. Only, by complete fluke. Both feet touched the floor at the four-second mark, thus preserving Marella's 1.9 second record.

"Did Titus just break Santino Marella's record?" asked JBL, optimistically, on commentary. No, JBL: O'Neil failed spectacularly to propel himself over the top rope.

Happily, Titus O'Neil did go on to fulfil the boyhood dream of making a complete t*t of himself in a Royal Rumble match, by infamously tripping up over his lead feet at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!