31 Royal Rumble events have taken place since 1988. Between 31 men’s rumbles (one that had 20 and one that had 40 men), and two women’s matches, the 2020 event’s first rumble match of the evening will mark the 991st participant to have ever entered the fray. Unless they win the match, they will join the 958 superstars and counting to have been eliminated during the event.
Over the course of the near day–and–a–half’s worth of Rumble matches, there have been all sorts of wild and interesting eliminations besides the tried and true approach of just suplexing or backdropping and opponent over the top rope. Here are 10 Of The Most Brutal Eliminations In Royal Rumble History, Ranked.
10 Bret Hart – 1997
It wasn’t the manner that the legendary Hitman got dumped out at the 1997 Rumble. It was the events that led up to Bret Hart getting dumped. At the time, the Hall Of Famer was involved in a blood feud with the up and coming Stone Cold Steve Austin. Bret was able to casually get the better of Austin and heaved him out of the Rumble. But what happened next was something that only the Rattlesnake could pull off. The referees didn’t notice that Austin got tossed, so he snuck back in the ring, tossed Taker and Vader at the same time and then immediately Bret Hart to illegally win the match.
9 Davey Boy Smith – 1995
Two years before his brother–in–law got cheated, The British Bulldog not only got cheated, he got tossed out right on his head! In the quickest Rumble of all time, Shawn Michaels and Davey Boy started the match and ended it as the final two.
The Bulldog was able to toss HBK over. But in one of the Rumble’s most famous moments, Michaels hung on and only touched the floor with one foot. He was able get back in and leveled Davey Boy right over the second rope.
8 Goldust – 2002
During his Big Evil run, The Undertaker was a vile individual; not that he was rainbows and butterflies during the rest of his career either. But at the 2002 event, Taker ruined the WrestleMania dreams of seven different men in about seven minutes. One of them was the returning Goldust, who the Undertaker chokeslammed the Bizarre One not just over the top rope, but ‘Dust somehow also did the proverbial butt-over-tea kettle spot as he landed on the outside apron and then headfirst to the floor.
7 Maven – 2002
Rule # 1 for rookies - don’t eliminate the Undertaker! As soon as the Deadman was done dealing clearing the Hardys out of the ring, Maven thought it would be a good idea to drop kick the Deadman right out of the ring. But the Tough Enough winner made a huge rookie mistake by not fleeing for his life. Instead he stuck around for the Undertaker to beat heck out of the kid and then some. He launched Maven through the second rope, technically he didn’t eliminate him, but the Phenom dragged Maven all over the arena and completely obliterated him, which is worse than getting eliminated.
6 Matt Hardy – 2003
Brock Lesnar was on an absolute tear during his first year on the main roster. Barely there for six months and he had become the WWE champion. But he was dethroned and now on the war path at the 2003 Royal Rumble. Lesnar heaved over the World’s Greatest Tag Team at the same time. Not satisfied with just eliminating Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin, the then-Next Big Thing snatched Matt Hardy out of the to deliver a massive F5, launching the future Broken One right onto the WGTT.
5 Naomi – 2019
With two women’s Rumbles so far, Naomi has already established herself as the Kofi Kingston of the Women’s Division. Both years, the superstar has evaded elimination by scaling the guardrail and finding her way back to the ring. At the 2019 event, she tip-toed from the middle of the rail to where she could leap onto the steel steps.
Barely having a chance to celebrate, Mandy Rose, who was already eliminated by Naomi snatched the Glowing One’s ankle and brought her down face first onto the steps and Naomi’s feet finally touched the floor.
4 Sabu – 2007
Leave it to an extreme legend to find a hardcore way to get eliminated. At the 2007 event, Sabu entered his first and to date, only Royal Rumble. The deranged superstar headed to the ring and pulled out a table. Several moments later, Kane entered the fray and the as rhe Big Red Machine cleaned house, he chokeslammed Sabu right through the table.
3 Rick Martel - 1991
In the last Rumble to offer nothing to the winner but the glory, the Model, Rick Martel would at least win the longevity award. He was the first ever superstar to last over 50 minutes. He also unceremoniously dumped out for his troubles with a double whammy of terrible bumps. As he headed up the ropes to deliver a crushing blow to Davey Boy, the British Bulldog shook the ropes, turning Martel into a soprano before clotheslining him to the floor.
2 Marty Jannetty - 1990
It’s not called high risk wrestling because there no risks. At the 1990 event, the Million Dollar Man entered in at the never envious number one. But he did try to take everyone out before the next competitor came to the ring. Number two was Koko B. Ware and he got eliminated before number three, Marty Jannetty entered the match.
He too didn’t even last two minutes. The Rocker attempted a high cross body, but DiBiase was too smart and quick and dropped down, allowing Jannetty to hurtle himself right over the top rope.
1 Nia Jax - 2019
The Beautiful Wrecking Ball got the big threat treatment at the 2019 Rumble. After getting eliminated from her own match, Jax took out R-Truth and entered the men’s match. She eliminated Mustafa Ali before several of the competitors realized she needed to be dealt with. It took not one, but three of the best superstars ever - Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, and Rey Mysterio delivering their finishers to Jax before triple-teaming her up and over.