Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay - per - view event , produced every January by professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . The event was created in 1988 with the inaugural event held on January 24 , 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton , Ontario . The event however was not a pay - per - view but was originally shown as a television special on USA Network . The following year ' s event was the first Royal Rumble pay - per - view event . The first Royal Rumble match was won by Jim Duggan . The event ' s main feature is a Battle Royal - type match , entitled the Royal Rumble . The pay - per - view is a part of WWE ' s " Big Four " , along with WrestleMania , SummerSlam , and Survivor Series . The Royal Rumble has been classified as being one of WWE ' s most popular pay - per - view events . History . Match . The match is based on the traditional battle royal match , in which 30 participants , aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope , with both feet touching the floor . The winner of the event is the last participant remaining after all others have been eliminated . The inaugural match in 1988 featured 20 entrants . At the 2011 Royal Rumble , for the first time 40 entrants were scheduled to compete ; the most in the history of the event . The Royal Rumble differs from a battle royal as the contestants do not enter the ring at the same time but instead are assigned entry numbers , usually via lottery , although they can win guaranteed , desirable spots via a number of other means , the most common being winning a match . This usually takes place before the Rumble begins . The match begins with the two participants who have drawn entry numbers one and two , with the remaining competitors entering the ring at regular timed intervals , either ninety seconds or two minutes , according to their entry number . These peculiarities are credited to Pat Patterson . The match has no stipulations or rules other than that elimination must occur by a participant being placed over the top rope and both feet touching the floor . If they have any other part of the body touching they are out as well . A wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest . For example , during the 1999 Rumble match , both Vince McMahon and Steve Austin left the ring , only to return later in the match . Elimination is also valid if brought about by an external force ( such as a non - participant or a previously eliminated participant ) . For instance , in 2006 , Shawn Michaels was eliminated from the match by Shane McMahon , who was never admitted in the match and simply was interfering to eliminate Michaels . It also happened in the 1998 match match when Triple H and Chyna worked together to eliminate Owen Hart . In the 1994 match , the last two participants Bret Hart and Lex Luger were declared co - winners when it was decided that both of their feet touched the floor at exactly the same time . A similar situation occurred in the 2005 match , however the match was restarted after Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time . Batista eliminated Cena afterwards to win the match . Though various referees are charged with observing the match , some eliminations have remained unnoticed with the eliminated participant sneaking back into the ring to continue . For example , Stone Cold Steve Austin was eliminated this way during the 1997 event but re - entered and eventually won the match . The reward for the 1992 Royal Rumble was the WWF Championship . The tradition of granting a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania started in 1993 . Despite being introduced in late 2002 , it was not until 2004 that a winner had the option to choose a match for the World Heavyweight Championship instead of the WWE Championship at WrestleMania . With the revival of the ECW World Championship in mid - 2006 , the title became a third option for the winner to choose since the 2007 event . From 2001 to 2007 , the Royal Rumble match winner had gone on to win a World Championship title at WrestleMania . After winning the 2008 match , John Cena became the first winner to use his championship opportunity at an event ( No Way Out 2008 ) other than WrestleMania . He also became the first man since 2000 to win the Royal Rumble match but fail to win the title in his championship opportunity as a result . The Rumble winner may also put his championship opportunity on the line in a match , if he chooses . This was first done in 1999 , when Stone Cold Steve Austin offered to forfeit his title opportunity to the Big Boss Man , who won third place in the Rumble ( Austin was actually the runner - up in that rumble , but the winner - Vince McMahon himself - had voluntarily given up his title opportunity ) if Vince McMahon could beat him in a cage match at , which Austin would go on to win . The second time that this happened was in 2006 , when Randy Orton goaded Rey Mysterio into putting his main event spot at WrestleMania 22 on the line at No Way Out , which Orton would go on to win . Mysterio was eventually reinserted into the main event at WrestleMania and went on to win the World Championship match . Event . The Royal Rumble is a pay - per - view consisting of the Royal Rumble match , championship matches , and various other matches . The first Royal Rumble took place on January 24 , 1988 and was broadcast live on the USA Network . The following year , the event was rebranded as a pay - per - view . It is part of WWE ' s " classic four " pay - per - views , along with WrestleMania , Survivor Series , and SummerSlam . The 2008 Royal Rumble was the first WWE pay - per - view to be available in high - definition . The Royal Rumble match is usually located at the top of the card , though there have been exceptions such as the 1996 , 1997 , 1998 , 2006 , and 2013 events . The first Rumble match featured only twenty men , It lasted approximately thirty - three minutes of the two - hour broadcast . The modern Rumble matches are much longer , with the longest match , at the Royal Rumble 2011 , lasting over one hour and nine minutes of an approximately three - hour pay - per - view ( with 40 entrants ) . With the brand extension introduced in mid - 2002 , the 30 entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands . At first , the winner of the match received a shot at their brand ' s champion . Starting in 2004 , the Rumble winner had the option of challenging any brand ' s champion . For instance , Chris Benoit switched brands in 2004 and won the World Heavyweight Championship . From 2007 to 2010 , participants from the ECW brand competed along with the Raw and SmackDown brands , while the ECW World Championship became available for the winner to challenge for regardless of their designated brand . During ECW ' s participation , the entries for each brand were not evenly divided . Royal Rumble match . The first Royal Rumble took place on January 24 , 1988 in Hamilton , Ontario . Jim Duggan won , and the first pay - per - view Rumble occurred a year later . Pat Patterson has been credited with " inventing " the match . Rules . The Royal Rumble is comprised of 30 men ; beginning with two men in the ring , and at regular timed intervals ( usually , but not always , every 90 seconds ) , one of the remaining 28 wrestlers enters the ring . Participants must eliminate all other opponents and the winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated . Referees are situated at each side of the ring to validate eliminations . A wrestler is eliminated when leaving the ring over the top rope , and then having both feet touch the floor ( although this latter specification was not specified until the 1995 Royal Rumble , where the " both feet " stipulation played a crucial role in the final moments of the match ) . Going out between the second and third rope or under the bottom rope is not a valid elimination . A referee must witness an elimination in order for it to be valid ( in 2000 , X - Pac was eliminated by The Rock but since it was not seen by any of the referees , X - Pac re - entered the ring and continued the match until he was officially eliminated by The Big Show ) . An elimination can also occur when a wrestler is thrown off the top rope by a non - competing opponent , or by one who had already been eliminated , or when the participant deliberately jumps over the top rope , outside the ring . In other words , if a wrestler goes over the top rope , regardless how it happened , that wrestler is out . Other wrestlers can be de facto eliminated due to interference preventing the wrestler from entering the ring ( examples being Spike Dudley in 2004 and Scotty 2 Hotty in 2005 ) . Rewards for winning . Since the 1993 event , the winner has officially been given the chance to challenge the WWE Champion at WrestleMania . The stipulation stemmed from 1992 , when the Royal Rumble decided who would win the then - vacant WWF Championship ( Ric Flair won the match ) . With the introduction of the brand extension and separate brand championships in 2002 , the possibility of a World Heavyweight Championship shot instead of the WWE Championship was added to the reward in 2003 ' s match . Due to the revival of the ECW World Championship as a brand championship in mid - 2006 , the 2007 event added this championship to the winning stipulation . This championship match is often the last event on the WrestleMania card according to principles in the WWE that states that " the Royal Rumble winner gets a first - class ticket to WrestleMania " , which means that the Royal Rumble winner gets to be in the ' first class ' top spot in the main event at WrestleMania . In some cases , this can be part of a stipulation for a match between the Rumble and WrestleMania , where the winner may lose his WrestleMania spot by losing another match . In the 2016 Rumble , the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was defended , when then - champion Roman Reigns , as the # 1 entrant , put his title on the line against 29 other competitors . Triple H won the match and thus the championship after entering the match at the coveted # 30 spot . It was Triple H ' s second Rumble victory of his career . Brand extension . With the brand extension introduced in mid - 2002 , the 30 entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from the RAW brand and 15 from the SmackDown ! brand . This makes it therefore , one of the few pay - per - view events ( and certain combined non - televised shows held around WrestleMania time ) with inter - brand competition on a regular basis . The official declaration for the first post - brand extension event in 2003 , was that the Rumble winner faced their brand ' s champion at WrestleMania , but starting in 2004 , due to a supposed " loophole " in the Rumble ' s stipulations , the Rumble winner has the option of challenging either brand ' s champion ( Chris Benoit switched brands in 2004 and won the World Heavyweight Championship , which was the basis for a storyline the following year when Batista won the Rumble , but ultimately remained on RAW ) . The 2007 Royal Rumble marked the first year participants from the 2006 - established ECW brand competed along with the RAW and SmackDown ! brands . Unlike previous years where each brand got an even split of wrestlers , the 2007 Rumble featured 13 wrestlers from RAW , 10 from SmackDown ! and 7 from ECW . The winner of the Royal Rumble now also has the option to challenge for the ECW World Championship . Royal Rumble to WrestleMania Story . Immediately after Yokozuna ' s match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania IX , Hulk Hogan defeated Yokozuna , marking the shortest WWF / E Championship reign in history . Video box set . WWE released a complete DVD box set of every " Royal Rumble " event in its entirety ( in similar fashion to the " WrestleMania " Anthology released in 2005 ) . Note that the 1988 - 1999 events had never been released on DVD in North America ( All except the 1999 event were released as Tagged Classics in UK ) . " Royal Rumble : The Complete Anthology " was released on March 13 , 2007 .