Royal Rumble is WWE’s second-largest event. It is where the road to the show of shows, WrestleMania, begins. One of the most interesting features of the Royal Rumble event is the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royale. Each participant enters the ring after an interval of 90 seconds. The biggest disadvantage in the Royal Rumble match is probably entering the contest as entrant number one. However, there were superstars who entered at number one and outlasted all other 29 competitors to win, namely, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, and Edge.
The winner of the match is rewarded with an opportunity to challenge the top Champion of the brand of his choosing at WrestleMania. Another interesting aspect of the Royal Rumble match is that it is full of surprise returns.
Sometimes, WWE legends, celebrities, and free agents show up and fire up the crowd. In the past, the likes of Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Dave Bautista, Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge, and Brock Lesnar have won the Royal Rumble match twice. But is there anyone in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble Match three times?
Has anyone won the Royal Rumble Match three times?
Yes, there is one WWE legend who has done the unprecedented on three occasions. And, he is none other than The Texas Rattle Snake, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
However, his first Royal Rumble win in 1997 was not a clean win. Austin had been in the ring for 34 minutes before he was eliminated by Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
But the officials were distracted to notice Austin’s elimination and so, Steve quickly snuck back into the ring and eliminated The Undertaker and Vader together and then eliminated Bret Hart for the win.
The former WWE Champion’s second Royal Rumble win came the next year in 1998 when he entered the ring and tossed bodies outside the ring. Austin’s presence fired up the crowd, including, “Iron” Mike Tyson. In the end, Austin eliminated his rival The Rock for the second consecutive time.
Finally, in 2001, Austin won his third and final Royal Rumble match after eliminating the Big Red Monster, Kane. Interestingly, before Austin made his way to enter the ring, he was blindsided by Triple H. After a while, he entered the match officially wearing the crimson mask.
How many eliminations has Stone Cold Steve Austin scored in all of his Royal Rumble matches combined?
Although Stone Cold Steve Austin does not hold the highest single-match elimination score, his overall performance in all the Rumble matches he has partaken in makes him one of the best to have entered the Rumble. Stone Cold has scored a total of 36 eliminations in all of his Rumble matches combined. He bagged the most eliminations in 1997 when he won his very first Royal Rumble.
On This Day in Wrestling History – Vince McMahon eliminated Stone Cold Steve Austin to win The Royal Rumble 24 years ago today (1/24/99) @OTD_in_WWE pic.twitter.com/xz6gE0doS3
— Wrestling from 80s/90s (@Wrestling80s90s) January 24, 2023
As far as the highest record holder for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match goes, Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar are recognized for eliminating 13 entrants at The Royal Rumble 2018 and 2020 respectively. However, Strowman’s record was in the “Greatest Royal Rumble” which featured 50 entrants.
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