Battle Royal In professional wrestling , a battle royal ( sometimes battle royale ; plural battles royal ) is a multi - competitor match in which wrestlers are eliminated from the match upon being thrown over the top rope and out of the ring , with both feet touching the floor of the venue . Traditional battles royal begin with 10 , 15 , 20 or more wrestlers in the ring and are continued until one competitor remains . The method of elimination is typically by removing opponents from the ring by throwing them over the top rope ( and causing both feet to firmly hit the floor ) ; sometimes , elimination by pinfall or knockout are allowed . Variations . In American women ' s battles royal and in Bra and Panties Gauntlet matches you must strip the Diva and then throw them out , but due to the perceived difficulty of throwing opponents over the top rope , eliminations may be permitted by an egress between ropes ( with some promotions also consider an egress under the bottom rope as an elimination ) . Gauntlet for the Gold . The Gauntlet for the Gold is a variation on the battle royal held by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Two " randomly selected " wrestlers begin in the ring , with additional wrestlers entering the ring after a set time period ( it is therefore desirable to have a high entrance number ) . Wrestlers are eliminated upon being thrown over the top rope and to the ground below . When only two wrestlers are left , the match becomes a standard singles match . Bunkhouse Stampede . The Bunkhouse Stampede was a battle royal occasionally used in the National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) . Wrestlers would be dressed in " bunkhouse " clothes , such as cowboy boots and jeans . Wrestlers would also be allowed , and encouraged , to use weapons in the match . Nikita Koloff would use a chain and the Road Warriors would use their traditional spikes . The NWA even named one of their early pay - per - view s , Bunkhouse Stampede , after the match . Last Blood battle royal . Held in the Tri - State Wrestling Association , a predecessor to Extreme Championship Wrestling , wrestlers were eliminated when they began to bleed , with the last wrestler not bleeding the winner . Mick Foley mentioned this match in his book " " . Royal Rumble . The Royal Rumble is a 30 - person battle royal held annually in the month of January by World Wrestling Entertainment . It is held under standard battle royal rules , with the exception that two wrestlers begin in the ring and more wrestlers enter the ring after a set time period , rather than all the wrestlers beginning in the ring . Several other " sideshow " Royal Rumble matches have been held over the years , such as the " Corporate Royal Rumble " in 1999 , a tag team battle royal in 1998 and a mini - Royal Rumble on WWE SmackDown ! in 2004 ( a few days after the 2004 Royal Rumble ) . Pro Wrestling Battle Types . The Go - Kart Match is a match that takes place in a go - kart bowl or a go - kart pit . Every wrestler in the match rides a go - kart . The object of the match is to knock your opponent outside the go - kart bowl or go - kart pit . The go - kart rumble is like a regular royal rumble except that a wrestler can come back in the Go - Kart Rumble if that wrestler beats his opponent ( s ) in the " penalty pit " which is a pit for the wrestlers that get eliminated . The last wrestler in the go - kart bowl or go - kart pit wins the match . Team variations . Team variations of battle royals consist of two or more teams of wrestlers , with the number of wrestlers on each team usually being equal . There are different types of such matches : World War 3 . World War III was a three - ring , 60 - man battle royal held annually by World Championship Wrestling . All sixty men are randomly assigned to a specific ring , and the match begins with all sixty men in the three rings when the bell rings . A competitor must knock their opponent over the top rope of the ring , and both feet must touch the floor of the arena in order to eliminate said opponent from the match ( this rule was amended in 1998 to allow for eliminations if a person leaves the ring in any way , in addition to counting pinfalls and submissions ) . When 30 men remain , they move to the central ring and the match continues ( This rule was amended in 1998 so that the competitors had to move to the central ring once 40 men had been eliminated ) . The last man standing in the ring was declared the winner . This match was held in their November pay - per - view event from 1995 to 1998 . Randy Savage won the first three - ring , 60 - man battle royal , and was thus awarded the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship . In the three PPVs to follow , the match was used to determine the number one contender to the title . However , that did not mean that the winner of the battle royal would automatically get a title match at the next pay - per - view . 1996 winner The Giant , a member of the nWo at the time of his win , did not get his title match until January at Souled Out , promptly losing . The following year , nWo member Scott Hall won the battle royal , but did not receive his title match until March 1998 , due in part to a vacated title and a controversial finish to the December 1997 Starrcade main event . 1998 ' s winner , Kevin Nash , was the only one to get an immediate title match at Starrcade . WWE Divas Battle Royal . A Divas battle royal in the WWE is a battle royal consisting of all female compeitors . The battle royal is mainly aimed at either the Women ' s title , a contenders opportunity at the title , or some sort of theme mainly used to entertain the crowd by having the divas wear various skimpy outfits . As stated by Jonathan Coachman on the February 20 , 2006 edition of " RAW " , during a contender ' s Divas battle royal , a participant is eliminated when they go through the ropes in addition to going over the top rope , as opposed to a males battle royal in which they must go over the top rope