The road to WrestleMania started at the Royal Rumble last night with two former UFC champions – Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar – getting an express ticket to the main event of the two-night event this coming April in Dallas.
But as usual, the Royal Rumble is a match of numbers and this year it was no different.
Bianca Belair was the iron woman of the women’s Rumble match, lasting a total of 47 minutes and 30 seconds before she was eliminated by Charlotte Flair. Belair entered in #8 and was eliminated #27. Liv Morgan, maybe a surprise to many, was second with 37 minutes and 20 seconds on the clock and got thrown out by Brie Bella while Natalya, the woman of many records, was third with 36 minutes and 17 seconds and was eliminated by Bianca Belair.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Mighty Molly was the fastest one eliminated from the match within 20 seconds of hitting the ring. She was also producing the match, so hey, cut her some slack! Ivory was thrown out in 25 seconds and Sarah Logan was the third fastest with 43 seconds. Four other women – Carmella, Cameron, Summer Rae, and Melina were out in under a minute.
Charlotte Flair had the most eliminations in the Royal Rumble and eliminated five women in her 31 minutes and 23 seconds in the match. She took out Rhea Ripley, Lita, Bianca Belair, Shayna Baszler, and Aliyah. Ronda Rousey was second with most eliminations at four while Brie Bella and Rhea Ripley tied for third place with three eliminations each. Four women had two eliminations each and seven others had one each to their name.
The women’s match lasted 59 minutes and 40 seconds.
In the men’s match, AJ Styles was the iron man of the night with 29 minutes and 6 seconds on the clock before he was eliminated by Madcap Moss of all people! Styles entered #1 and was the #14 eliminated. Austin Theory also had a good showing with 22 minutes and 6 seconds coming in second and Dolph Ziggler, in his 15th Royal Rumble match, was third with 20 minutes and 46 seconds.
Kofi Kingston was the quickest one eliminated after 21 seconds when his usual yearly stunt went awry and slipped. They tried to cheat, but cameras caught him and referees sent Kofi packing. Oh well, it had to happen one day! Robert Roode was anything but glorious and was out in 54 seconds by AJ Styles but not before a face-to-face between the two and a “TNA” chant from the fans! Johnny Knoxville was the third quickest out and was eliminated after 1 minute and 26 seconds by Sami Zayn.
AJ Styles had the most eliminations in this match as well with six to his name: Sami Zayn, Ridge Holland, Austin Theory, Robert Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Omos. Brock Lesnar, who came in at #30, got rid of five people in just 2 minutes and 32 seconds and threw out Randy Orton, Bad Bunny, Drew McIntyre, Riddle, and Shane McMahon on his way to victory. Omos and Happy Corbin were tied in third place with three eliminations each. Four other men had two eliminations each to their name and 12 others had one elimination each.
The men’s Rumble match lasted 51 minutes and 10 seconds.
The attendance announced by WWE was of 44,390 while the ticket tracking service WrestleTix counted a total of 39,417 tickets distributed out of 39,778 tickets available.
