Andrew SpoorsWith WrestleMania just days away, our King of the Ring, Andy Spoors, kicks off our very own Mania season. Following his win at this year’s Royal Rumble, Brock Lesnar will challenge WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a championship unification match. But is history on his side to emerge victorious? How often do Rumble winners go all the way? Sit back and join us on a deep dive into the stats and history behind Royal Rumble winners at WrestleMania…
As one last Superstar tumbles out of the ring and both feet touch the floor, the winner of the Royal Rumble stands tall. Exhausted, elated, emotional. Slowly they hoist themselves to the top of a turnbuckle soaking in the adulation of those in attendance. Stretching out an index finger they point squarely at the giant sign hanging high above the WWE Universe. They are officially on their way to WrestleMania.
It’s an infamous sight amongst wrestling fans and a signal of intent that we are in the most exciting and chaotic season in the industry. Stretching back to 1988, when Jim Duggan won the first Royal Rumble, fans have a special relationship with the January PPV.
The Rumble’s relationship with WrestleMania as we know it (the winner of the former earns an opportunity to fight for the Championship in the main event of the latter) didn’t actually begin until 1993. That year, Yokozuna punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania IX to face Bret Hart, winning the title before losing it moments later to Hulk Hogan.
After Duggan claimed victory in the inaugural Rumble, he was knocked out of a tournament to determine a new champion in the very first round. The next year’s winner, Big John Stud, didn’t find much success either. Instead of a glamorous main event at WrestleMania IV, Studd found himself as the special guest referee for Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts vs Andre The Giant.
It wasn’t until back to back Rumble wins for Hulk Hogan that the Royal Rumble winner main evented WrestleMania. Even these years would prove a mixed bag for the Hulkamaniacs of the world, as Hogan lost the title to The Ultimate Warrior in 1990 before claiming victory over Sergeant Slaughter a year later to claim back the (then) WWF Championship.
Beginning to understand the stats and figures behind how successful Royal Rumble winners are at WrestleMania is a complex undertaking. As is the question, how many have featured in the main event of the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’?
For a start, in 1994, there were two winners of the Royal Rumble as Bret Hart and Lex Lugar fell to the floor at the exact same time. They both got individual shots at the champion Yokozuna, but only Hart was successful that night, intriguingly both opening and closing the show.
In ‘99 Vince McMahon shocked the world by winning the Rumble but did not cash in on a main event a couple of months later.
Then there is the subjective definition of what is the main event. For most, this has to be the final match of the night but certainly in recent years WWE have claimed to have multiple main events in the same night.
And what of the women’s division and winners, who had to wait until 2018 for their first Royal Rumble match? How do their stats vary from the men’s? Well, let’s get to it.
Focussing first on the men’s winners from 1993 onwards (when the ‘Road to WrestleMania was unofficially created), of the 30 Royal Rumble victors, 16 have gone on to win at Mania. That accounts for 53.33% (due to McMahon not competing). 56.66% of RR winners have featured in the last match of the night at WrestleMania.
The four female winners of the Rumble have a much better success rate with all but one claiming victory at the ‘Show of Shows’ for a success rate of 75% with only Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair seeing their match named as the coveted ‘main event’ (the latter headlining the first night of two).
Combining the two sets of figures intriguingly gives an identical win and main event rate of 55.88%. There is no doubt that Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns will headline WrestleMania this Sunday, but this year’s winner of the women’s Rumble, Ronda Rousey, will have a nervous wait to find out if her match with Charlotte gets the nod for night one.
As for Brock, he will need to make history to emerge victorious in a few days’ time. No multiple time winner of the Royal Rumble has a 100% record at WrestleMania. Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton and Edge, a bonafide who’s who of professional wrestling have all suffered at least one defeat in the Mania following their Rumble win.
It would take a brave man to call the winner of The Beast vs The Tribal Chief, but let’s face it, when it comes to Brock Lesnar all bets are off…
Don’t miss this year’s stupendous two-night WrestleMania, streaming LIVE from Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3 starting at midnight in the UK. UK fans can catch all the action on the WWE Network and BT Sport Box Office.
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