The 10 Best Numbers To Have In The WWE Royal Rumble (2024)

WWE fans have seen enough Royal Rumble video packages at this point: “it’s all about the numbers.” If Corey Graves, Michael Cole, and now Jackie Redmond can cull together all sorts of random Rumble stats to fit the WWE narrative, then why can’t everyone else?

By the time the 2024 Rumble is done, 1050 competitors will have entered the men’s match. Almost 200 women have entered their big match since the first one in 2018. As the tumbler rolls to spit out entrance numbers, the competitors long for good numbers - but they’re not always the lower third ones that spell success for WWE.

10 #13 Was Lucky To The First Winner

With Only 20 Men, #13 Wasn’t Bad Odds To Win

• Hacksaw Jim Duggan was tapped to possibly be a huge star, ala Hulk Hogan.
• Those plans were dropped once he was arrested with his mortal enemy, The Iron Sheik.
• Legend has it McMahon was more annoyed that they broke Kayfabe than they got arrested.

When the original Royal Rumble aired, it was a network special on the USA Network. Instead of the now traditional 30 man scramble, the first ever Rumble had 20 guys. Plenty of people think the number 13 has bad mojo, others even have Triskaidekaphobia (fear of 13). But at the first ever Rumble, it was very lucky for Hacksaw Jim Duggan who went on to win the match.

9 #24 Has Seen Three People Win The Rumble

Coincidentally, It’s The Same Trio That Opened WrestleMania 30

• Hulk Hogan drew number 24 in 1991, the last year the winner got a No-Prize.
• Stone Cold Steve Austin got it in 1998, the first year he officially won the Rumble (since he cheated in 1997).
• The Rock surprisingly only one Royal Rumble in 2000.

Before the Royal Rumble had a big stake for the winner, the field of thirty were fighting for pride. But when the real life Desert Storm happened right before the 1991 Rumble, Hulk Hogan ran the gauntlet for America. Seven years later, with The Attitude Era in full swing, Stone Cold did what both HBK and Hogan did before him and won back-to-back Rumbles. The Rock, of course, is the third member of wrestling’s holy trinity. While he did not win two Rumbles, he joined both Austin and Hogan in winning from the 24th spot.

8 #28 Has Yielded The Most Wins For The Women So Far

#1, #27, & #28 Have Seen Four Overall Winners

• For years, 27 was the lone number in this category.
• Shawn Michaels was the first superstar to win from number one (1995)
• Big John Studd was the first to win with 27; Yokozuna was the second and first to get the WrestleMania main event.

Twelve of the 35, soon-to-be 36 Royal Rumbles have seen four winners from three different numbers. While 27 and 28 seem to be “normal” prime numbers to get in order to survive and win the Rumble, four times the very first number has literally “defeated” 29 other competitors to get to point at the sign. The most recent superstar to run the gamut was the 2023 women’s winner - Mami Nightmare herself, Rhea Ripley.

7 #30 Has Gotten Five Wins

It Took Twenty Years For Anyone To Win From The Spot

• Undertaker was the first man to win at 30 (2007).
• The Deadman is also the first Royal Rumble winner to draw number one the next year (2008).
• It was the second Rumble victory for three of the four men to have won from 30.

For the first 19 Rumbles, more people had won from…well, any number than they did from number thirty.

Heck, only one superstar lasted longer than 10 minutes from the thirtieth spot. But once The Undertaker won from 30 in 2007, the flood gates opened and four more times since the “WrestleMania Sign Pointer” has won from the spot.

6 #1 Has Been The Iron Man 16 Times

Not Always Lasting An Hour, Still Lasting The Longest

• Gunther is the only number one spot to have lasted over an hour.
• Ric Flair, at number three, was the first man to last an hour.
• Bret Hart, as number one in 1988, was the first ever Iron Man.

It stands to reason, of course, that in order to be the Iron Man of the Royal Rumble, coming out as number one is a pretty good way to do it. Sixteen times over, this has been the case. Oddly enough, it’s a feat no one has been able to repeat. By default, Shawn Michaels is the shortest Iron Man / Winner (Since the 1995 Rumble was only 60 second intervals)

5 #1 Also Holds The Elimination Record

It Was The Beast Vs. Everybody In 2020

• Brock Lesnar’s quest to unify both the WWE and Universal titles began in 2020.
• His title wasn’t on the line during the Rumble.
• Roman Reigns would be the first and only man to unite the two titles by defeating Lesnar at WrestleMania 38.

In 2020, The Conqueror felt he had no worlds left to conquer and Brock Lesnar decided he’d enter The Royal Rumble. He was the defending WWE champion at the time. While he didn’t defend the title in the match, being the number one guy made for a unique Rumble. For over half the match, every two minutes, Lesnar faced down the challenge of a new opponent, more often than not heaving them over and out in less than two minutes. It allowed him to become the new elimination record holder with 13 eliminations.

4 #27 Gets To Finish The Story The Most

Win Rumble. Point At Sign. Win World Title At WrestleMania

• All four of the men’s number 27 club are in the WWE Hall Of Fame.
• Bret Hart and Yokozuna are the only two 27s that have faced each other at WrestleMania.
• The Hitman also has the Iron Man record for number 27 - lasting over 15 minutes to win.

Up until 2007, the number 27 yielded the most winners. While that record has since been broken, it’s still the number that has the greatest odds of not just winning the Rumble, but winning the world title at WrestleMania too. Bret Hart, Stone Cold, and Yokozuna all achieved this milestone.

3 Numbers 1 & 30 Have Each Yielded Four Winners

Proving It Doesn’t Matter Where You Start, But Only Where You End

• Rhea Ripley is the first and only female to have gone from bell to bell as number one.
• Shawn Michaels is the first man to win from number one (1995).
• Brock Lesnar is the last man to have won from the number 30 (2022).

Sometimes it’s just as good to be first as it is to be last. Superstars like Shawn Michaels and Rhea Ripley know all too well the fatigue but the exaltation winning from number one can give you. Monsters like Brock and The Undertaker can speak to what it’s like to win from number 30.

Number 30 also gets the nod for being the only one to have consecutive winning years (2007/2008 and 2022/2023).

2 Numbers 2, 3, 19, 22, 23, 25, And 29 Have Won Twice

Probably A Better Sequence Of Numbers Then The Ones Used On Lost

• Pat Patterson’s original pitch for the Rumble was a new match that starts every two minutes.
• He and Bruce Prichard used to try and book the Rumble with random numbers.
• They both realized it was easier to book from who was going to win and work backwards

When you do the math and realize that there have been over thirty Rumble matches, you realize that you’re bound to have some repeated numbers of success. Seven different numbers have yielded two Rumble victories.

Of the lucky 7, Vince McMahon and Rey Mysterio won from number 2, Ric Flair and Bianca Belair at 3, Roman and Cena hit big at 19, workout buddies Sheamus and Triple H won at 22, Randy Orton and Lex Luger share the 23rd spot, Hogan and Asuka both won at 25, and both Brock and Edge won from the 29th number.

1 #28 Is Even Luckier If You're Batista

The Animal Has A Fifty-Percent Completion Rate At WrestleMania

• Batista lasted almost 15 minutes during his 2014 victory.
• He has one of the longest gaps between Rumble victories - 9 years.
• Batista accidentally eliminated himself along with John Cena in 2005.

Batista has some very interesting Royal Rumble luck. His first victory saw him also go to WrestleMania to defeat HHH for the world title. His second victory in 2014 had the crowd boo him out of the arena since he wasn’t Daniel Bryan. Vince also blew both quads the first year Batista won. Oddly enough, The Animal is the only two-time winner to have won from the same number - 28.