There were not much surprises at the two Royal Rumble matches this year but there were a few stand out moments nonetheless.
The men’s match, which went on first, lasted one hour and 11 minutes and 42 seconds, considerably longer than last year’s match which went on for 51 minutes only. It had 10 entrants from the Smackdown brand, 19 from the Raw brand, and one Hall of Fame surprise in the form of Booker T.
Rey Mysterio, who was supposed to enter at #17, never made it out due to an injury so effectively this was a 29-man Rumble match.
Gunther was the iron man of this match and went for the full duration of the match after he went in at #1 but was eliminated last by the eventual winner Cody Rhodes, who came in at #30.
Both Gunther and Rhodes eliminated the most men, five each, while Drew McIntyre threw out four. Sheamus and Brock Lesnar tied for three each while Seth Rollins, Finn Baylor, and Edge had two to their name. Bobby Lashley, Dominik Mysterio, Damian Priest, Austin Theory, Braun Strowman, and Logan Paul had one elimination each.
Edge, Logan Paul, and Booker T were the surprise entrants this year. Edge lasted only one minute before being thrown out. Paul had a highlight reel moment with Ricochet and lasted nearly 11 minutes, while Booker T lasted 42 seconds before being dispatched by Gunther, although he did get a spinaroonie in!
Baron Corbin had the record of the least time in the ring this year with just seven seconds on the clock after he was taken out by Brock Lesnar before he entered the ring and then eliminated by Seth Rollins.
The women’s match lasted one hour, one minute, and seven seconds and was almost the same time as last year which went to 59 minutes and 40 seconds.
Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, who came in at #1 and #2 respectively, went coast-to-coast and outran everyone, being the first two and final two. Ripley won the match after being a runner up in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, Rhea Ripley had the most eliminations with a total of seven. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IO SKY had five each while Liv Morgan, Asuka, Raquel Rodriguez, and Sonya Deville had three each. Becky Lynch, Piper Niven, Mia Tim, Lacey Evans, and Michelle McCool had two eliminations each while Zelina Vega, Shotzi, and Nikki Cross had one each.
12 Superstars were from the Raw roster, 11 were from Smackdown, three were from NXT, and three were returns. Michelle McCool, Chelsea Green, and Nia Jax were the ones who returned while NXT Women’s champion Roxanne Perez, Zoey Stark, and Indie Hartwell represented NXT.
Piper Niven, who returned to her former name after Doudrop was dropped, was also a surprise return, and so were Natalya, and Asuka, who went back to the murder clown look to a big ovation from the crowd.
The returning Chelsea Green was this year’s quickest exit with just five seconds on the clock before being thrown out by Rhea Ripley.
