Royal Rumble by (Entry) Numbers: 25

The longest run from No. 25 ended in Rumble overtime and a loss to the Animal Photo Credit: WWE.com

Winners: Hulk Hogan (1990)
Final four: John Cena (2nd, 2005); Mr. Perfect (3rd, 2002); Chris Jericho (4th, 2004)
Multiple draws: None.
Longest: John Cena (2005); 15:28
Shortest: Bob Backlund (1995): 0:16.
Most eliminations: Five — Hulk Hogan (1990)

That Hulk Hogan won the 1990 Royal Rumble wasn’t surprising — he was the reigning WWF Champion at the time. It was kind of he shock he failed to win the 1989 Rumble, but since his win from No. 25 in 1990, there hasn’t been a truly unlikely Rumble winner outside of Vince McMahon in 1999. Perhaps Alberto del Rio’s 2011 win was unexpected relative to the field, and smart money was on Chris Jericho to win in 2012 instead of Sheamus. But as unpredictable as the match itself might be, the list of winners is almost entirely populated with pedigreed Champions and hall of famers.

So Hogan’s 12:49, five-elimination performance in 1990 wasn’t just the best showing from No. 25, it was something of a standard setter for Rumble winners. No one else has won from 25, but since Hogan 14 of the 24 winners have entered between 22 and 30 (not including Del Rio, who entered 38th in a 40-man Rumble). Outside of Jim Duggan in 1988, positions 1-8 produced seven winners. The other two champs entered at 18 and 19. Essentially, the mid- to late-20s are where it’s at, more than half the time.

That said, No. 25 isn’t all that great a spot considering the standards of the posts it abuts. It’s produced one of each of the final four spots — most notably a surprising run to third place by a returning Mr. Perfect in 2002. John Cena lasted ten seconds longer than Mr. Perfect in 2005 to claim the mantle of most ring time for No. 25.

That stint, of course, was extended when Cena and Batista eliminated each other at the end of the match. Rather than have co-winners, a la Bret Hart and Lex Luger in 1994, Vince McMahon ordered the match be restarted, an overtime session of sorts, and Batista eventually won … though Cena also eventually earned a title shot at WrestleMania. Ah heck, who remembers anything besides McMahon tearing both of his quads while trying to strut into the ring?

Remarkably, only five men who entered 25th failed to reach five minutes in the ring. Of those, the second was Barry Horowitz who lasted 4:15 in 1996 — not too bad for a career loser. The first was Bob Backlund, whose 16 seconds in 1995 fell short of his best run, in 1993, by a full 1:01:10, the largest gap in Rumble history between a wrestler’s best and worst performances, and the only such gap that exceeds an hour. A dubious distinction indeed.

Some 14 of the 25 men to enter 25th lasted ten minutes or longer. But despite hanging around in the match, No. 25 rarely makes an impact when it comes to elimination. Seventeen 25s eliminated no one. The spot has accounted for only 18 eliminations total, which makes Hogan’s five stand out all the more.

Perhaps more good things would have come from Shawn Michaels in 2005 (12:55, three eliminations) had Shane McMahon not illegally eliminated the Heartbreak Kid. Perhaps even one good thing would have come from Bastion Booger had he successfully entered the 1994 match. Much like the charade when Skull didn’t enter as scheduled in 1998, leading to suspicion Steve Austin was too hurt to enter, Booger’s no-show had many thinking Bret Hart’s bad leg put him on the sideline, only to be proven wrong when the Hitman entered two spots later.

A few names pop up more than once on the list of those who have eliminated the 25th entrant: Kane (Billy Gunn in 2000 and A-Train in 2003), Big Show (Chris Jericho in 2004 and Jack Swagger in 2012) and John Cena (Mark Henry in 2008 and Heath Slater in 2011). That’s not especially notable, but this look back through all the numbers shows it’s more rare to have a position with no multiple draws — there’s almost always at least one repeat entry over the years.

That said, a handful of current active roster members have entered 25th, and at least one, R-Truth, is a confirmed 2014 entrant as of blog posting time. Another, Billy Gunn, had been listed as a 2014 entrant but is no longer counted as such. But no matter who draws No. 25, chances are good they’ll be in the ring for at least 10 minutes. It wouldn’t be a shock for No. 25 to land in the final four. But a truly dominant performance would certainly be a departure from the norm.