Royal Rumble by (Entry) Numbers: 11

Sheamus is the best 11 ever, a year after he won his Rumble Photo Credit: WWE.com

Winners: None
Final four: Sheamus (3rd, 2013)
Multiple draws: Chris Jericho (2005, 2009)
Longest: Carlito (2006), 38:29
Shortest: Owen Hart (1995): 0:03.
Most eliminations: Five — Mabel (1999), Sheamus (2013)

There’s no doubt as to the best No. 11 of all time. After Sheamus won the 2012 Rumble (and later the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania), the Celtic Warrior entered 11th in 2013, lasted 37:23 and picked up five eliminations en route to a third-place finish. His nine career eliminations aren’t the stuff of legends, but two final fours and one victory in only three Rumbles (a total 78 minutes in the ring — the 26-minute average is eighth best all time) are more than impressive.

Yes, Carlito lasted longer from 11 in 2006, but only 66 seconds longer, and he only made one elimination — he and Chris Masters dumped Viscera. Sheamus eliminated Titus O’Neil, David Otunga, Brodus Clay, Jinder Mahal and Dolph Ziggler. At that point he was left in the ring with No. 19 John Cena and No. 30 Ryback. Sheamus might have been a good bet to join the elite club of back-to-back Rumble winners, but not against those odds.

Speaking of elite clubs, No. 11 is as good a spot as any to look at the Rumble record of one Chris Jericho. Y2J has been in eight Royal Rumbles — only six men have entered more. He’s been in the ring a total of 3:05:13, good for third all time. He’s the only one of the four three-hour men (Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio are the others) never to win the match. His 23:09 average is tenth all time. His 15 total eliminations are tenth all time as well, tied with CM Punk.

Among all those statistics is this: he’s entered twice at No. 11, his only repeat entry spot. 2009’s performance gets the nod over 2005 based primarily on duration (37:17 in 2009 and 28:22 in 2005). He is credited for two eliminations in 2005, but one is for the six-man elimination of Muhammad Hassan (the other is René Duprée). In 2009 he alone dumped Rob Van Dam shortly before falling victim to the Undertaker.

And speaking of the Undertaker, he’s involved in one of my least favorite of the memorable Rumble moments. Maven entered the 2002 Rumble at No. 11. Thanks to repeated assaults from Matt and Jeff Hardy and Lita, the Tough Enough winner pulled off a shocking elimination of the dead man. That led to Taker assaulting and eliminating Maven, then beating him up and down seemingly every square inch of Atlanta’s Phillips Arena, camera crew in tow. It’s not that I love Maven, I just don’t care for seeing guys deprived of their rightful spot in the match.

And speaking of dubious eliminations… Mil Mascaras was 54 when he entered the 1997 Royal Rumble, by far the most famous of several lucha libre performers on the card for that night’s show in San Antonio. After more than seven minutes in the ring he eliminated Cibernetico and Pierroth Jr., then inexplicably climbed through the middle ropes, ascended the turnbuckle and leaped onto Pierroth on the arena floor.

Mascaras re-entered the ring, but two referees stepped to the apron and explained he was eliminated. Whether he should have been is debatable. He was on the top rope, but he got there from outside the ring. Conventional rules interpretation say a wrestler must go from the inside of the ring over the top rope to the floor to be eliminated, and that’s clearly not what happened in this case. He’s now 71 and in the hall of fame, but I’m all for Mascaras demanding a spot in this year’s match — along with Maven and anyone else whose elimination is under scrutiny.

It might be fair to include the statistically worst No. 11 in this group. In 1995, Bret Hart attacked No. 11 Owen Hart on his way to the ring. By the time the injured Owen was able to actually enter the ring, his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith showed him to the floor in just three seconds. Of course, Owen (and Bob Backlund) helped cost Bret a shot at the WWF Title earlier in the night. Mascaras, and especially Maven, were significantly more wronged in the big picture.

It’s hard to say if the 1999 No. 11 deserves inclusion in this discussion. Certainly someone does. When the clock hit zero, no one came through the curtain. Backstage cameras showed Mabel assaulting Headbanger Mosh, throwing him into a wall and taking his spot in the match. In just 86 seconds Mabel tossed five competitors, which might be the most impressive such burst in Rumble history had Kane not tossed four in only 53 seconds later the same night.

Mabel’s run was halted prematurely when the arena went dark. After the lights came back on, it was clear the Acolytes and Mideon had removed Mabel from the ring in order to bring him to the Undertaker so he could be put in a trance and inducted into the Ministry of Darkness, a sentence that bears rereading next time you get a hankering to complain about modern wrestling plots.

In 2007, Mabel was still performing as Viscera when No. 11 CM Punk dumped the behemoth in Punk’s first of five consecutive Rumble entries. It took until 2011 for Punk to improve on the 27:16 he logged from 11 in 2007, making it a strong start to an illustrious Rumble career.

Although only 11 of the 26 men to enter at 11 failed to log an elimination, and another 11 (there is some overlap) failed to last five minutes, it’s hard to look at the history of Owen, Mascaras, Maven, Mosh and Mabel without wondering if No. 11 is somehow cursed. If you’re wagering on the 2014 Rumble and think something really screwy is bound to happen, you might be wise to start here.