Royal Rumble by (Entry) Numbers: 24

Hogan's road to the Rumble in '91 had some roadblocks Photo Credit: WWE.com

Winners: Hulk Hogan (1991); Steve Austin (1998); The Rock (2000)
Final four: Big Show (2nd, 2004)
Multiple draws: Steve Austin (1996, 1998); Chris Masters (2007, 2010)
Longest: Big Show (2004); 22:38
Shortest: Chris Masters (2010): 0:29.
Most eliminations: Seven — Hulk Hogan (1991); Steve Austin (1998)

In 1991, riding high at the tail end of the first wave of Hulkamania, Hulk Hogan (and, by extension, the United States of America) entered the Royal Rumble at No. 24, lasted 19:55, eliminated seven men to win his second consecutive Rumble, then went on to WrestleMania VII and his unprecedented third WWF Title.

In 1998, at the dawn of the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin entered the Royal Rumble at No. 24, lasted 15:58, eliminated seven men to win his second consecutive Royal Rumble, then went on to WrestleMania XIV and his iconic first WWF Title reign.

So who was the best No. 24 ever? With apologies to The Rock, who in 2000 went 14:47 with four eliminations en route to his own Rumble win, it’s a clear battle between Hogan and Austin. They’ll never mix it up in the ring, so breaking down these numbers may be as close as we’ll ever get.

Hogan gets the edge on duration by nearly four full minutes (entries were spaced by two minutes in 1991, by 90 seconds in 2008). The Hulkster eliminated, by himself, Smash, Greg Valentine, Crush, Warlord, Tugboat, Brian Knobbs and finally Earthquake. Stone Cold, unaided, dumped Marc Mero, 8-Ball, Thrasher, Kama, Savio Vega, Chainz and the Rock.

To really split hairs, it’s notable Hogan made the final two eliminations in his win; Austin was only one-on-one with The Great One after Rock ousted Faarooq, and it was he who’d removed fourth-place Dude Love. I’m inclined to give the edge to the Hulkster, though by the slimmest of margins. Either way, it would take a win plus eight eliminations to vault into top honors for No. 24.

Figuring out the worst is much easier — it’s Chris Masters and his 29 seconds in 2010, edging out Faarooq’s 36 seconds in 2002 and Tyson Kidd and his 53 seconds in 2011. At least Kidd might get another chance to test his Rumble mettle.

Kane entered at No. 24 in 2013. Despite being tossed after just 1:46 — by his partner and co-tag team champion Daniel Bryan, no less, he did have the time to eliminate the Great Khali. On my list of 30 shortest Rumble stays with at least one elimination, this showing ranks 18th — but it’s the fourth time Kane’s name is on the list, after 1999 (53 seconds, four eliminations), 2002 (1:02, one elimination) and 2011 (1:36, one elimination).

Only eight of the 25 men to enter at 24 recorded an elimination, tied with No. 25 for worst among spots 21-30. Were it not for Hogan and Austin, plus Rock and the Big Show, who matched Rock’s four eliminations in 2004 while lasting 22:38 and finishing second, things would look a good deal worse. Nine 24s failed to last five minutes. Genichiro Tenryu lasted 17:21 in 1994, but all that did was add to his 13:17 from the prior year for a total of 30:38 with no eliminations, good for sixth place on the all show and no go top ten. He’s one spot ahead of Honky Tonk Man, whose second Rumble in 1990 was a lot like the first — about four minutes and no eliminations.

Getting into the arcane, take note of Bart Gunn entering at 24th in 1995 — one spot after tag team partner Billy Gunn. That was the fifth time tag team partners entered sequentially, but only the second time that night (Mo and Mabel of Men on a Mission entered at 16 and 17 — and three teams entered sequentially in 1989). But that’s not all. Just like Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn was eliminated by Crush and Dick Murdoch, the fifth of ten times tag team partners were eliminated by the same opponent.

But the fourth time that happened also was in 1995, when Shawn Michaels eliminated both Bushwhackers. And it happened to the Smoking Gunns in 1994 at the hands of Diesel, coincidentally the on-again, off-again tag team partner of Shawn Michaels. In 1994 it was more of a coincidence — in 1995 the Gunns brought it on themselves by getting tangled with each other near the ropes. A cautionary tale, to be sure.

One final note on the Big Show. Yes, he eliminated No. 24 in 2009 and 2010. (Triple H has thrice eliminated No. 24, though never in consecutive years.) Big Show is among four wrestlers to be eliminated by the eventual winner, the second was in 2004, his second runner-up finish. What does it all mean? Not a ton, really, and with Big Show not in this year’s match these figures may never change. (The other three to be tossed three times by the eventual winner are Chris Jericho, also doubtful for the 2014 Rumble, as well as the late Owen Hart and his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith.)

Sorry to end on a downer. Come back tomorrow for a look at No. 25 and one more chance to get “Real American” stuck in your brain.