The Method Behind the Royal Rumble Madness
Thirty wrestlers, all vying for the annual Royal Rumble title, are a guaranteed win for a dramatic must-see showdown. And, as one of wrestling’s top four pay-per-view events, the popularity of the Royal Rumble shows no sign of waning.
First held back in 1988, we explore the method behind all that Royal Rumble madness.
Royal Rumble rules in a nutshell
The Royal Rumble initially started with 20 wrestlers, but today’s annual event features 30 of the best wrestlers on the WWE circuit. With the sole objective of being the last wrestler in the ring, here are the key Royal Rumble rules you need to know:
● The Royal Rumble is a 30-wrestler match, where the aim is to throw your opponents over the top rope. If both their feet then touch the floor, they are eliminated.
● This is a staggered match, with the start featuring two players, with the remaining 28 coming into play at 90-second intervals.
● The order of play is arbitrary, with WWE not usually revealing the order in which the participants enter the ring.
● The match can last for over an hour as all the competing wrestlers get the chance to enter the stage.
● The last wrestler remaining in the Royal Rumble ring is declared the winner.
How to turn in a Royal Rumble win
If you have ever watched a Royal Rumble match, you’ll know that it can be dramatic, loud, and unpredictable. But behind all that chaos, there are some essential tactics and lucky breaks that bring a method to the madness of securing a Royal Rumble win. Here’s how the very first Royal Rumble winner, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, sums them up in an interview with Betway Casino.
Your order of entry
No-one really wants to be in first as to make it to the end, so you need to keep safe for longer. Hacksaw, who entered the 1988 Royal Rumble as number 13 out of 20, says it is better to come into the ring later if you get the luck of the draw. With the average Royal Rumble match clocking up a time of around an hour, being a later entry means you have fresher legs and a clearer head. And of the 34 men’s Royal Rumble wins since 1988 have been by wrestlers who entered the match, only 11 have by been entrants in the first 15.
Play the long game
To be the ‘last man standing’ you need to remain in the game. And that means staying in the ring for as long as possible. This is why, says Jim Duggan, you see the wrestlers head for the corners. Considered the safest place amongst the mayhem, claiming a corner position means you are not so easy to unsettle and eliminate.
Don’t give in!
According to Duggan, in a Royal Rumble match, ‘anything goes’ so that means it can be anyone’s game. Duggan himself was a surprise winner of the 1988 Rumble and so the last word on the method behind the madness goes to him: just go in there, stand up and be counted.
