The Shocking Reality Of WWE's Royal Rumble

No friends, only blows.

by Michael Hamflett
Shawn Michaels
WWE

For over a decade now, WWE's pre-show promotion of the Royal Rumble has been based around a much-loved and always-updated "By The Numbers" video package.

You know the one. Did you know that Kane held the record for the most number of eliminations until it was broken by Roman Reigns in 2014? Did you know that Rey Mysterio went longer in the match than anybody else during his 2006 win until Daniel Bryan made his first last trip to Saudi Arabia for the Greatest Royal Rumble 12 years later? Did you know that two men have gone on to win the Rumble from the Number One spot but they can't actually name one of them? You know the one.

You love the one, judging by one of WWE's favourite new metrics.

A quick nosey at the YouTube viewing figures for the annual upload finds us dipping a toe into yet another McMahon money pit. 2020's hasn't been up a week and it's sailed past 500,000. 2019's cruised past 2,000,000. 2016, the year of the controversial "One Versus All" Roman Reigns storyline managed 1,700,000 when the only thing anybody gave a sh*t about was making sure he got thrown over.

The Royal Rumble might be the start of the Road To WrestleMania for the wrestlers, but it's all a numbers game to WWE. But there are some darker mathematics looming beneath the 'January Classic'...

CONT'D (1 of 2)...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett