In theWWElandscape, theRoyal Rumbleis treated as a privilege even to compete in, let alone win. Some WWE Superstars spend years dreaming about the opportunity to take part in the company’s most celebrated match concept. After all, it brings its participants one step closer to winning a chance at main eventingWrestleMania.
WWE storylines tend to emphasize this through qualifying matches in the weeks leading to the supercard. Obviously, not every character is going to win a chance to qualify, emphasizing just how lucrative this opportunity can be, and that no matter how many wrestlers compete in the spectacle, not everyone on the WWE roster gets the opportunity to be in a Royal Rumble. The wrestlers who have competed in multipleRoyal Rumblematches, especially those who have done so the most, deserve to be celebrated and acknowledged just as much as the winners.
10[TIE] Cody Rhodes, Godfather, John Cena, John Morrison, Matt Hardy, R-Truth
8 Appearances
This is quite a unique line-up of Superstars to tie with. Cody Rhodes and John Cena are the only two men here to win theRumble, both doing so twice — which is rare. More interestingly,the rest of these performers have all competed in the match under different characters, names, and gimmicks at some point. Charles Wright has appeared in theRumbleas The Godfather, The Goodfather, Kama Mustafa, and Papa Shango.
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John Morrison is most famous for his death-defying stunts to save himself from elimination, but before the Guru of Greatness showed off his parkour skills, he’d do so as a member of MNM, Johnny Nitro. Similarly, Ron Killings has tumbled as both R-Truth and K-Kwik. Matt Hardy, meanwhile, has brought an endless sea of unique characters to the 30-man dance, including Version 1.0 and Woken.
9[TIE] Big Daddy V, Big E, Booker T, Edge, The Great Khali, Triple H
9 Appearances
On paper, this assortment of WWE Superstars would be called strange bedfellows as they all share more differences than similarities. For example, out of these six names, only Big Daddy V has never won a World Championship. Although, it is worth noting that he did appear in hisRoyal Rumblesas a different name or character practically every time.
Other readers may recognize the late Nelson Frazier Jr. as Mabel (either from his Men on a Mission era or his time with the Ministry of Darkness), The World’s Largest Love Machine Viscera, and finally, Big Daddy V. His gargantuan stature has forced multiple Superstars to join forces to eliminate him on more than one occasion, and the same can be said about The Great Khali. Meanwhile,Edge and Triple H are the only names to ever win aRoyal Rumblematch, both doing so twice.
8[TIE] Mark Henry, Rikishi, Sheamus
10 Appearances
Mark Henry, Sheamus, and Rikishi are all men who led very different careers in the WWE. Out of these three,only Sheamus has actually won aRumblematch, doing so in 2012 before infamously defeating Daniel Bryan for the World Championship in 27 seconds atWrestleMania XXVIII.Naturally, he also boasts the mostRoyal Rumbleeliminations of the three (18) and the most time spent in aRumblematch (3 hours and 23 minutes).
Even though Mark Henry’s accolades in the Royal Rumble may not be seen as overtly impressive, he will always have his name etched in the history books as the first man to ever be eliminated by the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble match when Chyna eliminated him in 1999.
Interestingly enough, Rikishi has the distinction of appearing under three different characters in theRumble. 5 times he appeared as Rikishi, 4 times he represented The Headshrinkers as Fatu, and once he competed as The Sultan. Meanwhile, even though Mark Henry’s accolades in theRoyal Rumblemay not be seen as overtly impressive, he will always have his name etched in the history books as the first man to ever be eliminated by the first woman to enter theRoyal Rumblematch when Chyna eliminated him in 1999.
7[TIE] Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Shelton Benjamin
11 Appearances
Out of this trio of Hall of Fame quality talent, Chris Jericho has spent the most amount of time in aRoyal Rumble. Not just among these three but, the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla also ranks among the record for thelongest time spent in aRumblematch. He spent just over an hour in the match in 2017, and accumulatively, combining all of his appearances, 5 hours.
Meanwhile, out of the three, The Undertaker carries the most eliminations, as he’s tossed out 40 people over the years. Shelton Benjamin gets the shortest end of the stick among them, but he and Chris Jericho are in the same boat as two men who never won theRoyal Rumble. That being said, it took a while for The Undertaker to win his, with seven previous tries before finally winning aRumblein 2007,becoming the first man to do so from the #30 entrant.
6[TIE] Big Show, Shawn Michaels
Big Show and Shawn Michaels have always filled two specific yet different roles in their respectiveRoyal Rumbleperformances. Always painted as the biggest competitor in the match, Big Show is treated as an obstacle that needs to be overcome. These matches are always framed where, after eliminating an onslaught of competitors, either everyone needs to team up to eliminate The Giant or the winner needs to have the ultimate comeback performance, as seen in Show’s runner-up appearances in 2004, 2000, and 2015.
In sharp contrast, Shawn Michaels is often performing as the ultimate underdog, needing to be either the fastest or the craftiest to survive. Craftiness helped him win in 1993, when one foot on the floor was the deciding factor in outsmarting The British Bulldog in the end. Even in losing efforts, this is usually the case, like in his 2010 losing effort.
5[TIE] Goldust, Rey Mysterio
13 Appearances
Goldust and Rey Mysterio could not be more different from each other, in terms of not only style but also how they tend to be booked by WWE. That’s no more reflected than in how they are booked in theirRumbleappearances. For Goldust, he spent an hour and 13 minutes in total in those matches. Granted, his outings aren’t always impressive, with his shortest coming at 46 seconds in 2003, and spending an average of 7 minutes in all of those matches, eliminating just four people in his 13 appearances. However, it’s worth noting that he spent 26 minutes in the 1998 iteration of the match.
Rey Mysterio, meanwhile, a formerRumblewinner, has ranked among the longest all-time records, eliminating 16 men in a combined 4 hours. He would have 14Rumbleappearances to his name had his son, Dominik, not attacked him backstage before he could make his entrance in 2023.
4Randy Orton
14 Appearances
Randy Orton is one of the few WWE Superstars to have won theRoyal Rumblematch twice. First, The Viper did so in 2009 with the help of his Legacy underlings, while in 2017, he took advantage of working with his Wyatt Family stablemates before lastly eliminating Roman Reigns. In 8 of these 15 matches, he appeared in the coveted Final Four spot.
Overall, Orton has spent an accumulative 4 hours and 35 minutes in theRoyal Rumble. The longest time he spent in the match was in 2021, being among the first two and the last two people in the match from the #2 spot alongside eventual winner, #1 entrant Edge. From the moment he debuted in aRoyal Rumblematch (2004, eliminating 5 entrants from #2 for 34 minutes),Orton has always been one of the odds-on favorites to win it all.
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3[TIE] Dolph Ziggler, The Miz
15 Appearances
It’s ironic to think that Dolph Ziggler and The Miz share the third spot considering their history with each other, astheir feuds and matches over the Intercontinental Championship have been well documented, especially their Title vs. Career bout at No Mercy 2016. Interestingly enough, The Miz has only eliminated two participants over the course of 15 years, spending a total of 2 hours and almost 13 minutes in the match combined.
Meanwhile, Dolph (now known as Nic Nemeth in TNA) has had 11 eliminations across 3 hours and nearly 8 minutes of in-ring time, during which he holds the record for the most consecutiveRoyal Rumbleappearances. He was in the match every year from 2009 to 2022. Nether man has ever won aRoyal Rumblematch, but both have had their memorable moments.
2Kofi Kingston
16 Appearances
Oftentimes, the most exciting moments in aRoyal Rumblecome from Kofi Kingston trying to save himself from elimination. For as many times as Ric Flair has World Titles (16,though Flair might have more championships), it’s become a time-honored tradition for everyRumbleto have a save spot for Kofi. That takes a special level of not only commitment but also creativity, asevery year, Kofi has needed to come up with a new, fun way to prevent his feet from touching the floor.
Audiences have watched him miraculously leap from the barricade to the ring, crowd surf back to the ring, adjust himself onto Big E’s shoulders, commentary table chairs, handstands, etc. The list of creative ways he launched himself back into the match is just plain awe-inspiring.
1Kane
20 Appearances
There was once a time when Kane held the record for themost eliminations in a singleRoyal Rumbleat 11. That would eventually be broken by Roman Reigns, then Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. Still, though, it’s almost more impressive to think that he has appeared in theRoyal Rumblematch a record 20 times across several different characters.
On 20 different occasions, Glenn Jacobs has entered theRoyal Rumblematch as Fake Diesel, Isaac Yankem DDS, Masked Kane, Unmasked Kane, and Corporate Kane.Few wrestlers have enjoyed the same level of in-ring longevity as Jacobs, not to mention the level of success across more than one gimmick. Even thoughWWEnever booked him to win aRoyal Rumble, it’s almost more impressive that his career afforded him the luxury for all of his gimmicks to be represented in each of hisRumbles.
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is a global entertainment company primarily known for professional wrestling. Founded in 1953, it produces live events, television programs, and streaming content. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, WWE operates multiple brands, including Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.
