How does the WWE Royal Rumble work? List of rules and records, history of previous winners, favorites to win the 2023 Men’s and Women’s Rumble matches

Published: Jan 26, 2023

Here is everything you need to know about the Royal Rumble.

The first PPV of the year for the WWE takes place on Saturday as the Royal Rumble emanates at The Alamodome in Texas.

Like every year, the show is highlighted by the Men's and Women's 30-person Royal Rumble.

There are people who are reading this article wondering how the Royal Rumble works.

Here's an explainer of how the match works, past winners, and statistics of the last 34 years.

How does the WWE Royal Rumble work?

All 30 people are picked at random. No. 1 and No. 2 kick things off. Typically, a new participant comes in every two minutes, but there have been years where it's either 60 or 90 seconds.

There are no pinfalls or submissions. A wrestler needs toss another over the top rope and both feet must touch the floor for an elimination. The last man and woman standing their respective matches will receive a world title shot of their choosing at WrestleMania.

WWE Royal Rumble records

The record for most wins is "Stone Cold" Steve Austin with three (1997, 1998, 2001). Six other wrestlers have won the event twice: Hulk Hogan (1990, 1991), Shawn Michaels (1995, 1996), Triple H (2002, 2016), Batista (2005, 2014), John Cena (2008, 2013) and Randy Orton (2009, 2017).
The No. 27 entrant possesses the most winners at four (Big John Studd in 1989, Yokozuna in 1993, Bret Hart in 1994, Steve Austin in 2001).
Only two wrestlers have gone from start to finish to win the Royal Rumble (Shawn Michaels in 1995 and Chris Benoit in 2004).
Batista is the only person to win from the same spot twice, at No. 28 (2005, 2014).
Rey Mysterio holds the record for longest time overall in the Royal Rumble at 1:02:12 in 2006.
The shortest time overall is held by Santino Marella at 1.9 seconds in 2009.