Royal Rumble by (Entry) Numbers: 15

Part of Rhodes' best performance ever at the 15 slot saw him dumping his big brother Photo Credit: WWE.com

Winners: None
Final four: Cody Rhodes (3rd, 2009)
Multiple draws: Smash (1990, 1991)
Longest: Cody Rhodes (2009), 37:01
Shortest: Tazz (2001): 0:10.
Most eliminations: Four — Undertaker (1993); Bam Bam Bigelow (1994)

Finally Cody Rhodes can lay claim to being the best. After strong runner-up performances at entry spots three and four, Cody is almost certainly the best No. 15 of all time. With 37:01, he’s got the ring-time mark by five minutes over Roddy Piper (1992) and seven minutes over Bam Bam Bigleow (1994). He eliminated his brother, Goldust, and with Legacy partners Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase Jr. ousted Kane — objectively one of the greatest Rumble entrants ever — to land in his first and only final four. Two eliminations is not a great amount, but only three men entering at 15 have eliminated more.

Cody’s claim is not without dispute. Piper, after all, won the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the night and was one man shy of making the final four in the most prestigious Rumble ever. But it didn’t take a great struggle to oust Irwin R. Scheyster, who’d been in the ring for 27 minutes. Bigelow is credited with four eliminations, but only two were solo jobs (Doink the Clown and Tatanka); he was part of large teams credit with removing first Diesel and then Mabel. Co-winner Lex Luger dumped Bigelow, the 23rd man eliminated that year, while lesser names like Marty Jannetty, Fatu and Genichiro Tenryu (a legend, yes, but not so in the WWF universe). were sill in the ring.

So while he was clearly better at No. 4 in 2012 (43:57, six eliminations) and arguably more impactful at No. 3 in 2013 (27:39, four eliminations), Rhodes still claims the mantle of the best No. 15 ever. It’s subjective, obviously. In 2014, either Rhodes could make an even bigger mark somewhere else on the list, or a No. 15 could put on a show that moves Rhodes down the list — both are entirely conceivable.

We mentioned Bigelow’s four eliminations in 1994. The 1993 No. 15 also eliminated four men, and with no help. In just 4:14 in the ring, Undertaker got rid of Samu, Tenryu, Ted DiBiase and the Berzerker. There’s no telling what kind of destruction he could have wreaked if it weren’t for one of the great Royal Rumble travesties. With the ring clear of all but the dead man and half the entrants left to come, Harvey Wippleman led to the ring a previously unseen (to WWF audiences) giant of a man in a ridiculous outfit.

The behemoth, later identified as Giant Gonzalez, attacked and eliminated the Undertaker, though he was not an actual entrant in the match. The assault presumably was related to Undertaker’s triumph in a long-running feud with Wippleman charge Kamala. Plenty of folks will complain about the Undertaker-Gonzalez matches at WrestleMania IX and SummerSlam 1993, but I remain angriest about what transpired in January that year at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

The WWF Champion has entered the Royal Rumble on precisely two occasions, and the first was in 1989 when “Macho Man” Randy Savage broke the curtain at No. 15. He was in for 12:26 and had a hand in three eliminations before being memorably ousted by his Mega-Powers partner Hulk Hogan, one of the many milestones en route to their explosion at WrestleMania V.

The 1990 No. 15, Smash, faced the man who eliminated him, Haku, at the following WrestleMania. Fitting as the man Smash helped eliminate, Andre the Giant, was Haku’s partner. The Demolition vs. Colossal Connection Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania VI might not be a technical classic, but the crowd was white hot and the post-match Andre turn on Bobby Heenan remains a must-see moment.

René Duprée is tied for third place on the list of shortest duration with at least one elimination wit his 2004 performance, and Darren Young managed to land at No. 30 in 2013, as he was one of five to eliminate Brodus Clay during Young’s 2:51 in the ring. Coincidentally, Young is tied for that mark with the man who ousted him in 2013, Kofi Kingston, who made one elimination in 2:51 in 2010.

The sour experience for No. 13 Spike Dudley in 2004 was repeated for No. 15 Scott 2 Hotty in 2005 — each man was attacked while en route to the ring by a previously eliminated wrestler. For the master of the worm the assailant was Muhammad Hassan. After his recent appearance on the Old School Raw, perhaps Scotty can make a case he deserves a spot in the 2014 Rumble based on the bump rap from nine years earlier.

No Rumble historian is blind to the career success of Chris Jericho — as noted he’s one of four men to amass more than three hours in the ring, though he is the only one of those four to fail to win. That said, Y2J was less than memorable in his first Rumble, lasting only 3:47 from No. 15 in 2000, meeting his demise at the hands of Chyna. And yet it was not his worst Rumble appearance. More on that in 13 days.

Going back to the 2005 Rumble, the color commentator for the night was Tazz. This was in the height of the brand split era, with referee attire tied to Raw or Smackdown and in-ring interactions largely dictated by which show each performer called home. And Tazz simply would not shut up about this plot point, as if he was watching some sort of Yankees-Mets interleague series. So it brings me no small amount of joy to highlight Tazz as the worst No. 15 of all.

One year after a dramatic, surprise debut in a singles match against previously undefeated Kurt Angle, Tazz lasted all of ten seconds in the Rumble. Only ten men have lasted less in one match. Even better (or worse, depending on your perspective), 2001 was Tazz’s only Rumble. And of everyone whose had a worse Rumble showing than the Human Suplex Machine, only one — Gillberg — hasn’t had at least one other Rumble to turn in a better showing. So on the cumulative list of the 285 wrestlers (not characters) to enter at least one Rumble, Tazz stands as the second-worst all-time performer, spared only by three seconds and a comedy act. I can’t say much about the rest of his career, but when you’re the meat sandwiched between a slice of Gillberg and one of Epico (one Rumble, 11 seconds), well, maybe the TNA announce table isn’t the worst place for you.