Royal Rumble by (Entry) Numbers: 14

Finlay lasted long in 2009 with help from Hornswoggle Photo Credit: WWE.com

Winners: None
Final four: Davey Boy Smith (4th, 1991)
Multiple draws: None
Longest: Davey Boy Smith (1991), 36:43
Shortest: MVP (2010): 0:07.
Most eliminations: Two — Ron Bass (1988); Haku (1990)

MVP sits atop the list of shortest time in the ring with at least one elimination for his seven-second performance in 2010. Yet there’s a bit of a wrinkle here. Like Owen Hart, whose brother Bret attacked him on his way to the 1995 Rumble, MVP was headed to the ring as the 14th entrant when the Miz, who’d defended his US Title against MVP earlier in the night, cracked MVP in the back of the skull and left him laying.

When Miz’s number was up two spots later, he did make it to the ring, but ten seconds later MVP had caught up to him and begin the assault — seven seconds after that they both spilled over the top rope to the floor. And that is how MVP set a somewhat dubious Royal Rumble record that’s unlikely to be topped.

Hercules checks in at ninth on the same list with 56 seconds after eliminating the Barbarian in the 1992 Royal Rumble, only to be dumped shortly thereafter by the Big Boss Man. Bob Backlund is tied for 22nd place; he entered No. 14 in 2000 and was one of six men who ousted Rikishi. That was right before Chris Jericho hit the ring and dumped Backlund. The other note on Hercules is his 1992 showing from No. 14 is 36:40 shorter than his performance in 1991 — the 19th-largest disparity between an entrant’s best and worst times.

Speaking of records — Finlay logged 29:59 from No. 14 in 2009 with no eliminations, sixth best (worst?) of all time. If that sounds familiar, it’s because when he entered second in 2007 he lasted 32:33 with no eliminations, the fourth-longest time on that list. Those two matches combined put Finlay at first place on the list of total Rumble time with no eliminations.

Top honors for the 14th spot pretty easily go to Davey Boy Smith. Participating in the first of his six Rumble, the British Bulldog lasted 36:43 and made the final four. Hart Family members Earthquake and Brian Knobbs quickly turned their attention to Smith, so he wasn’t much of a factor in the end game. However, he did eliminate Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect, who’d finished second in the previous year’s Rumble.

The 14th spot has not yielded a bounty of eliminations. Twelve of the men entering 14 eliminated no one, another 12 made just one elimination. Only two men, Ron Bass in 1988 and Haku in 1990, got credit for two eliminations (Haku was one of five who eliminated Earthquake). And that’s it — 16 eliminations from the 14th spot in 26 Rumbles. That’s third-worst among entry positions.

The ring time isn’t much to write home about either. Though entering close to the halfway point in all but two Rumbles, the 14th spot has seen 12 men fail to reach the five-minute mark and another six fall shy of ten minutes. The ones who did manage to hang around tended to be involved in at least one elimination, but it’s still safe to assume the 14th entrant in 2014 isn’t going to be a big factor in the final outcome.