WWE Royal Rumble

The WWE Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event held annually by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It is a pay-per-view event, first held in 1988.

The concept of the event is simple: 30 wrestlers enter the ring at timed intervals, usually 90 seconds to 2 minutes apart. A wrestler is eliminated when they are thrown over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. The last wrestler remaining is declared the winner.

The Royal Rumble has become one of WWE’s most popular events and has been held every year since its inception. It has also become a staple of WWE’s “big four,” which includes WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series.

WWE Royal Rumble 2023: Card

• Men’s Royal Rumble Match
• Women’s Royal Rumble Match
• Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match – Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight

WWE Royal Rumble 2023: Date and start time

The 2023 edition of the Royal Rumble will take place on January 28th 2023, emanating from Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It is the third Royal Rumble event to be held at the Alamodome, following 1997 and 2017.

The event will start at 8pm ET/5pm PT in the US and at 1am for fans in the UK.

WWE Royal Rumble 2023: How to watch and live stream

The event will stream live on Peacock for US fans and globally via the WWE Network.

UK fans can also purchase the event via BT Sport Box Office at a cost of £19.95.

WWE Royal Rumble history

The first Royal Rumble was held on January 24, 1988, at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event featured four matches, with the Royal Rumble match featuring 20 wrestlers. The final four wrestlers were Dino Bravo, One Man Gang, Don Muraco, and Jim Duggan. Jim Duggan won the match, last eliminating One Man Gang, after entering at number 13.

Over the years, the Royal Rumble has seen many memorable moments and has been won by many notable wrestlers. In 1992, Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble, becoming the first wrestler to win the WWE Championship in the match. In 1999, Vince McMahon, the owner of WWE, entered the Royal Rumble at number 2 and won, despite not being an active wrestler. In 2001, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble after entering at number 27 and eliminating three other wrestlers.

In recent years, the Royal Rumble has also featured a women’s Royal Rumble match. The first women’s Royal Rumble was held in 2018 and was won by Asuka. The second women’s Royal Rumble was held in 2019 and was won by Becky Lynch. The women’s Royal Rumble has become a popular event, with many female wrestlers from WWE’s main roster and developmental brand, NXT, participating.

The Royal Rumble is known for its surprise entrants, with wrestlers who have not been seen in WWE in a while making surprise appearances. In 2008, John Cena made a surprise return from injury to win the Royal Rumble. In 2016, AJ Styles made his WWE debut during the match, entering at number 3 and lasting nearly 30 minutes before being eliminated. One of the most memorable surprise entrants was in 2020, when Edge made a surprise return to WWE after a nine-year absence and entered the Royal Rumble at number 21.

The winner of the Royal Rumble match is traditionally awarded a championship match at WrestleMania, WWE’s biggest event of the year. This has been the case since the 1993 edition. The Royal Rumble winner has the opportunity to choose which champion they want to face at WrestleMania, adding an extra layer of excitement to the event. Many wrestlers have used their Royal Rumble victory to launch successful runs at the WWE or Universal Championship, solidifying their place as one of the top wrestlers in the company.

WWE Royal Rumble records

There have been many records set in the Royal Rumble match over the years. One of the most notable records is the number of eliminations in a single match, with Brock Lesnar eliminating 13 wrestlers in the 2020 Royal Rumble.

In 1992, Ric Flair became the first wrestler to last over an hour in a Royal Rumble match on his way to victory, surviving for one hour and two seconds. This feat has since been achieved several times and Rey Mysterio holds the current record for longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble match, lasting one hour, 2 minutes and twelve seconds in the 2006 edition.