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What is the Royal Rumble Match and When Did WWE Start the Annual Event?

Mark Izzo / Professional Wrestling, WWE / January 10, 2023

What is the Royal Rumble Match and When Did WWE Start the Annual Event?

WWE Royal Rumble is one of the most exciting events of the year. The match features the top stars in WWE battling it out at the same time in the same ring. There are always surprise returns, debuts, and NXT stars who appear in the Royal Rumble.

The Royal Rumble is one of the staples of WWE and has been around for a while. The match often catapults wrestlers to stardom and changes the landscape of their careers. But what exactly is the WWE Royal Rumble match and when did it start?

The Start of the Royal Rumble

While the idea of the battle royale has been around since the dawn of professional wrestling, the Royal Rumble match was first put on in 1988. Pat Patterson is credited with coming up with the idea of the match.

He took the concept of the battle royale and made it into a different match. The first Royal Rumble took place on Jan. 24, 1988. The match featured 20 superstars and Hacksaw Jim Duggan was crowned the first winner of the match. Following the success of the first Royal Rumble, WWE added it to its annual pay-per-view calendar.

What is the Royal Rumble Match?

While there have been some different variations of the match in recent years, the concept has always been the same. The Royal Rumble match starts with two wrestlers in the ring and a new wrestler enters the match every minute and a half.

In order to get eliminated from the match, a wrestler must get thrown over the top rope, with both feet hitting the floor. We have seen many times where a wrestler will only have one foot hit the floor or they go under the bottom rope, thus keeping them in the match.

There are a total of 30 superstars who will enter the Royal Rumble, but only one winner is crowned. The winner of the Royal Rumble goes on to main-event WrestleMania and challenge for either world title of their choosing. One match can change the career of a superstar and elevate them to immortality.