Every year, while we’re all speculating on who will win the Royal Rumble matches, I always like to take some time to focus on some of the other “wins” people can get without being the ultimate victor and earning the title shot at WrestleMania.
Those two are the records for who lasts the longest and who scores the most eliminations.
In part 1 of this two-part series of predictions, we’ll be taking a look at who I think could have a great showing by being more defensive and sticking around to last the longest. It’s all about staying power in this one.
These are the Iron Man and Iron Woman of the match. Whether they go the distance from the start or not, someone is going to last longer than anyone else by default.
Factoring in everything from stamina to how the Iron Man/Woman is typically someone of importance, but not necessarily the biggest stars or the winners, I’ve got my list for this year of who I think could be given this honor.
In no particular order, here are those names…
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Charlotte Flair
Quite literally, you can NEVER count Flair out of ANY accolade. EVER. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense. She’s done everything and continues to be booked in those situations.
Flair’s also had one of the best overall showings in the Women’s Royal Rumble. She often eliminates more people than others and lasts a long while. You can essentially guarantee she’ll at least be in the final four, if not the winner this year.
I don’t think she will go the full distance, but I do think they’ll rely on her as a big name to anchor this. God forbid they try to recapture the Brock Lesnar magic and do the same thing with her idea of winning and choosing her own opponent. We don’t need to see her eliminate the first 15 people.
I’m imagining she’ll show up around the #8 spot and last until the end.
Bianca Belair
Belair is the only person who equals or surpasses Flair in terms of best showings in Royal Rumbles so far for the women’s division. She’s racked up eliminations and has the longest time in her name.
I don’t think there’s a lock she’s going to be in this same position this year, even though I think she’s a strong contender to win back-to-back. The issue I have is that I just don’t think WWE wants to have two people start early and win in 2021, then have one of those same people do exactly the same thing again in 2022.
But maybe she gets this award by default. She could show up around the #15 mark and still be the Iron Woman just because she lasted half the match and no one else did. That’s happened with people before. John Cena’s the Iron Man of 2010 and he only lasted 22 minutes after entering at #19.
Rhea Ripley
If it’s not Flair, my main pick is Ripley. I don’t think she’s winning this year, but I could see them booking her to have “some kind of a presence” so she doesn’t have a weak showing. While it’s just as likely she could score the most eliminations, I’m feeling a little more confident this is where she’ll wind up, instead.
I can just imagine Ripley being someone who starts within the first 5. She might even be entry #2 or something. Then, she could last until relatively close to the end, if not the final four.
Theoretically, due to her size and strength (as well as her credibility from being a former two-time champion from NXT and Raw), she should put up one of the best fights. I’m only worried that they’ll use Nikki A.S.H. to eliminate her in some dopey fashion just for a gag.
5 HONORABLE MENTIONS
Natalya’s story for this could be that she wants another Guinness World Record and starts at #1, hoping to go the distance and win. She’ll lose, but maybe she’ll be the Iron Woman.
Liv Morgan could get this on a technicality, but I’m not banking on that.
Naomi could go on a run just to get screwed over by Sonya Deville. However, I don’t think that’s THAT important to WWE to have her in that position. Plus, it makes more sense for her to just save herself from an elimination like always and get screwed by Deville in that fashion, instead.
Raquel Gonzalez is a strong contender and someone I think could even win it. But since she’s not confirmed, I have to put her in the less likely column by default.
Last, but not least, is Shayna Baszler. They gave her the most eliminations, so that might be where she’s better suited, but there’s a chance they just put her in early and keep her around a long while out of sheer happenstance.
MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Big E
Big E’s run as WWE champion was rather lackluster. Even he’s admitted to that. It wasn’t his fault. WWE management may even know they failed him on this and want to give him a proper spot in the Royal Rumble as some measure of compensation for it.
I can easily imagine Big E being toward the front end and lasting until close to the end. While I don’t think he’ll be #1 or #2 to kick it off and certainly won’t win the match, I’m thinking somewhere in the first 10 to enter and be in the final 6 or 7. That should be an impressive enough run to put him in the potential for this.
Riddle
The Original Bro is one of the most featured talents on the Raw roster. He’s clearly being groomed for something bigger than just a tag title reign and I wholly expect to see him in a prime match at WrestleMania this year against Randy Orton.
To do that, he needs a good showing. He won’t win it, but he can stand out as someone building up a lot of steam.
I don’t expect him to be in the final four. Some kind of miscommunication with Orton closer to the 25 entrant mark makes more sense to me. But if Riddle starts early enough, that should carry him into the higher range of length.
Kevin Owens
I thought he’d be gone by this event, but he re-signed. With that renewal, there should come some more attention his way. We’ve seen that he keeps harping on how he’ll win this match and fight Seth Rollins, so WWE might want to play into that. Owens is someone who could stay in the match a long time and look like an increasingly dangerous threat, as he’s a former world champion. The longer he stays in, the more it looks like he might actually get his wish, until something goes awry.
He’s a potential final four person, in my mind. It’s all up to how early he starts.
5 HONORABLE MENTIONS
Damian Priest – His win-loss record is among the absolute best on Raw. As the United States champion, he should be able to put on an impressive performance, too. Maybe he’s an early entrant who lasts into the 20s.
Austin Theory – I don’t think it’ll happen, but there’s a chance Vince McMahon tries to instill some vigor in Theory by putting him in the #1 spot. If so, he’s either getting tossed out rather early, or he’s lasting a long time. He’ll lose, and McMahon will be quick to say that while Theory says he “almost won”, almost doesn’t count and he’s still a disappointment.
AJ Styles – If you’re looking for someone to go the distance, you need to go with someone you can trust to have the stamina to pull it off. The Phenomenal One is arguably the best option, even more so than some other potentials (Cesaro, Finn Balor, etc). That’s because Styles hasn’t won one of these and, while this year doesn’t look to be when that will happen, either, he’s a more believable potential winner than the guys WWE considers career midcarders.
Rey Mysterio – Rey is on the cover of the video game for this year. Maybe he’s given a featured role here to help promote that.
Happy Corbin – This is just a shot in the dark. I have a better feeling Corbin would last a long time than any other honorable mention.
BONUS: WHO WILL HAVE THE SHORTEST TIMES?
For the women, Tamina makes sense. She has poor showings and I could see them doing a gag where she gets distracted with the 24/7 Championship and Dana Brooke flips her over the rope or whatever. If not her, Summer Rae may not last long at all.
With regards to the men, Johnny Knoxville. There’s a chance someone else gets a short elimination because Knoxville sticks around for 90 full seconds from his entrance to the next, where someone like Sami Zayn is made to look even more like a fool, but I’m banking on Knoxville being in and out before the next person comes out.
Those are my picks, but what do you think? Tell us your predictions in the comments below!
For more information on Royal Rumble statistics, check out my running page of records on Smark Out Moment here: http://www.smarkoutmoment.com/p/wwe-royal-rumble-statistics-records.html
