Lucky number 27 isn't so lucky anymore! Now it is all about number 30. These are the 12 greatest number 30 entrants in Royal Rumble history!
0:00 - Intro
0:38 - 12
1:34 - 11
2:17 - 10
2:59 - 9
3:36 - 8
4:12 - 7
4:52 - 6
5:42 - 5
6:23 - 4
7:18 - 3
8:19 - 2
9:31 - 1
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0:00 - Intro
0:38 - 12
1:34 - 11
2:17 - 10
2:59 - 9
3:36 - 8
4:12 - 7
4:52 - 6
5:42 - 5
6:23 - 4
7:18 - 3
8:19 - 2
9:31 - 1
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
Youtube Channel Comments Policy
We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Well, well, well, if it isn't lucky number 27.
00:04 Supposedly the actual best number to enter from to win the Royal Rumble match, or so
00:08 we thought.
00:09 Yeah, it turns out that lucky 27 had all its luck run out over 20 years ago, and since
00:14 then number 30 has indeed become the number to pull when it comes to winning the Royal
00:19 Rumble.
00:20 Not only has it yielded more winners than any other number, but it has yielded more
00:23 memorable performances than any other number as well.
00:26 Last week we covered the number 30s that are memorable for the wrong reasons, but the Rumble
00:30 is a joyous occasion, and now it's time to reflect that.
00:33 I'm Tempest Haling from PartsFunKnown, and these are the 12 Greatest Number 30 Entrants
00:37 in Royal Rumble History.
00:39 Number 12 - Mr. Perfect, 1990
00:41 The 1990 Royal Rumble is the first great Royal Rumble, and its final entrant was perfectly
00:47 adequate.
00:48 The role of the final entrant in many of the early Rumbles was to serve as the final boss
00:52 of the match for the conquering babyface to throw out last, and honestly, if it isn't
00:56 going to be the winner, and it isn't going to be a surprise, that's a pretty good use
00:59 of the spot.
01:00 After two mildly successful Royal Rumbles, Hulk Hogan decided it was his turn to be the
01:04 winner, and so he needed an adversary to stand in his way, and at the start of 1990 that
01:09 would be his current rival, Mr. Perfect.
01:12 Perfect runs quarterback with the heels as they try to unite to eliminate Hulk the Inevitable,
01:16 only for Perfect to accidentally on purpose eliminate Rick Rude before being thrown ass
01:20 over teakettle to the outside in the best elimination of the match.
01:24 It may not be the all-timer of a performance we would see later, but for this time, as
01:28 a number 30 entrant, this was absolutely acceptable.
01:32 Yeah, it's fine, I'm not saying it, moving on.
01:35 Number 11 - Seth Rollins, 2020 Men's
01:38 At the end of the brilliantly paced 2020 Men's Rumble was the arrival of the Monday Night
01:42 Messiah Seth Rollins.
01:45 Seth was feuding with about half the Raw roster at the time, and conveniently for all of us,
01:49 those lads, namely Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and Aleister Black, were all in the ring when
01:53 Rollins and the Monday Night Menagerie arrived.
01:56 Seth isn't a number 30 that made it to the final two, or even the final four for that
01:59 matter, but as soon as he arrived, the focus of the match shifted to the threat of Rollins
02:04 and his goons.
02:05 A number 30 entrant just has to be important, and Rollins certainly qualified.
02:09 Add in an attempted Shield reunion, and you have an incredibly effective use of the final
02:14 live Rumble Pop we got for two whole years.
02:18 Number 10 - Randy Orton, 2006
02:20 The 2006 Royal Rumble is a bit of a mixed bag, but Lil Ray Mysterio lasting from number
02:25 two and having to overcome one last hurdle in the form of 2006 douchebag Randy Orton
02:30 is one of the greatest underdog performances in Rumble history.
02:33 Orton aligns himself with former mentor and fellow bastard Triple H, and while it may
02:38 seem ridiculous that those two big muscle men, with their combined might, could not
02:41 have eliminated one Lil Ray Mysterio, it is that adversity that makes Ray's victory
02:46 that much more cathartic.
02:48 Orton takes his time trying to win the match, aka he f*cked around and finds out, but in
02:52 doing so he plays his role perfectly as the fresh man that stands in the beloved underdog's
02:58 way.
02:59 Good number 30.
03:00 Number 9 - Ted DiBiase, 1989
03:02 The first number 30 entrant in Royal Rumble history was a good one, as the million dollar
03:06 man tried to buy his way to victory.
03:09 Does it work like that?
03:10 Can you buy someone's ping pong ball?
03:12 Who did he buy it from?
03:13 Did they really care so little?
03:14 The 1989 Royal Rumble was still a work in progress, and as a result isn't terribly
03:19 memorable outside of the progression of the Mega Power story, but the evil cartoon millionaire
03:23 wrestler buying the best slot in the match is just the kind of wackiness I want in my
03:27 80s WWF.
03:28 Ted DiBiase's performance is quite good as well, finishing as the runner up with three
03:32 eliminations, setting a very respectable standard for all number 30s to come.
03:37 Number 8 - Goldberg, 2004
03:39 Listen I know the popular thing to do these days is hate Goldberg, but I'm sorry, when
03:43 I see this man enter the 2004 Royal Rumble and run straight through Nunzio, I just can't
03:49 be mad at him.
03:50 My lizard brain just gets activated when I see Goldberg wrestle.
03:53 He doesn't win the '04 Rumble, nor does he come particularly close thanks to interference
03:57 from Brock Lesnar, but the two minutes that I spent watching Goldberg in the 2004 Rumble
04:01 is the most I have felt alive all day.
04:03 He spears Big Show, spears Billy Gunn, punch punch punch, kill Nunzio dead, and then get
04:08 eliminated.
04:09 Rent was due, and Goldberg made the most of his minutes.
04:12 Both of them.
04:13 Number 7 - Shayna Baszler, 2020 - Women's
04:16 Charlotte Flair was always going to win a Royal Rumble match, but god damn should this
04:19 have been Shayna Baszler's year.
04:21 Straight out of NXT, where she had spent almost two straight years as champion, Shayna entered
04:26 at number 30 and went on a rampage, eliminating eight women in under five minutes.
04:31 Frustration over Shayna losing a side, she plays her role as the final boss of the Women's
04:35 Rumble perfectly, arriving with all the aura of a main event superstar, and unfortunately
04:40 for her, she would never quite have this aura again.
04:43 Maybe because of the biting.
04:44 It was probably because of the biting.
04:46 But for these five minutes, Shayna was everything a great surprise number 30 should have been.
04:52 Should have won though.
04:53 Number 6 - Trish Stratus, 2018 - Women's
04:56 The first ever Women's Royal Rumble match needed a great number 30 to cement its place
05:01 as a proper match in WWE folklore, and I don't think there's anyone who could have fit
05:05 that role better than Trish Stratus.
05:08 That might be my Toronto bias coming out, but I don't care.
05:10 Trish is a living legend, and her inclusion in this match alone makes it better.
05:14 One of the issues with the first Women's Rumble is that it's literally the first
05:18 one, so many involved, including the Kelly Kellys, Tori Wilsons, and Michelle McCools
05:22 that were brought back to fill out the field, kind of struggle with this style of match
05:25 that they are very unfamiliar with.
05:27 Trish Stratus, on the other hand, made the end of the match the best part.
05:31 She reignites her rivalry with Mickie James, she teases a match with Sasha Banks that we
05:35 still may never receive, and above all else, she makes the first Women's Rumble feel
05:40 special.
05:41 Which it was.
05:42 - Number 5 - Triple H, 2016 - Triple H winning the WWE Championship in
05:47 the year of our Lord 2016 really should make me angrier than it does, but I just can't
05:51 bring myself to hate this match or this performance.
05:54 WWE does f*** up the Roman Ironman run to high heaven, but the finish of this match
05:58 with Triple H returning from his brutal beatdown at the hand of Roman Reigns in December to
06:02 eliminate Roman provide us with this excellent reaction gift, and have an awesome final stretch
06:07 against Dean Ambrose to once again establish himself as the heel, because of course everyone
06:11 was going to cheer when he eliminated Roman, was a perfectly logical piece of business.
06:16 It isn't quite on the same level as the other number 30 winners we will get to, but
06:20 it is close.
06:21 It's like a B+.
06:22 Like Triple H himself.
06:23 - Number 4 - China, 1999 - Ooh, putting China one spot higher than Triple
06:28 H does feel good, doesn't it?
06:30 For over 20 years there was only one name on the list of women to compete in the Royal
06:34 Rumble, and that was China.
06:36 If you merely look at this entry on paper, it probably doesn't catch a whiff of this
06:40 list.
06:41 China racks up one elimination in the form of Mark Henry, but lasts only 35 seconds in
06:44 the match before being eliminated by Steve Austin, and honestly, given the time this
06:48 happened, they probably saddled Henry with that spot to try and humiliate him.
06:52 But all of that doesn't really matter, does it?
06:54 What does matter is China making history that is still talked about by fans and fellow wrestlers
06:59 all these years later.
07:01 Most of the people on this list, while great, would still require a bit of thought to remember
07:04 the circumstances of their night as number 30, but not China.
07:08 You say China in the Royal Rumble, and anyone who has seen a Royal Rumble video package
07:12 will know exactly what you are talking about, and that, my friends, is what it means to
07:17 be iconic.
07:18 - Number 3 - Cody Rhodes, 2023 - Men's - Oh, just a few years ago, the words "Cody
07:24 Rhodes Royal Rumble winner" would have tasted like vinegar, but now it's a different story.
07:28 A still unfinished story, but a different story nonetheless.
07:31 Some people criticized Cody entering at number 30, partially due to the number being used
07:35 as the winning ticket more frequently in recent years, and partially because Gunther lasting
07:39 from number 1 maybe didn't make Cody seem like the underdog he could have, but considering
07:43 the reaction this match could have gotten if WWE fans had even the slightest hope that
07:48 Sami Zayn could have been number 30, I think saving Cody for last when the fans know he's
07:52 coming is a frankly brilliant move.
07:55 Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, holy s*** Cody and Gunther giving us the Royal
07:59 Rumble Final Two of this generation was enough to make that match an all-time rumble on its
08:04 own.
08:05 Cody was the right winner, got 5 eliminations, and had to go through the adversity of the
08:09 most physically dominant man in WWE today in order to get the title shot at Mania he
08:14 wanted so badly, and for that, he is in the top tier.
08:17 However, he does have company.
08:19 - Number 2 - The Undertaker, 2007 - Giving us the Royal Rumble Final Two of the previous
08:24 generation here is Gravedigger Billy himself.
08:27 The Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble in 2007 did a lot for the match to have him as
08:31 a winner, but the manner in which he won was what made this not only one of the greatest
08:35 number 30 performances in the history of the Royal Rumble, but one of the greatest Royal
08:39 Rumble matches in history period.
08:41 From the moment that gong hits, the complexion of the match changes and before you know it,
08:46 you have an excellent final four of Rated RKO, Shawn Michaels, and The Deadman.
08:51 All potential winners, but when Shawn is able to eliminate the bad lads, that's when this
08:55 match truly reached legendary status.
08:57 Keep in mind that Shawn and The Undertaker had not crossed paths once in the years since
09:02 Shawn returned from retirement.
09:04 All those years, with all that previous history, and then one sits up, the other kips up, and
09:10 then there were two.
09:11 And so began the mini-match.
09:13 Everyone knows this is the greatest final two in Royal Rumble history, and I really can't
09:17 overstate how much I love this Rumble ending.
09:20 As a performance, it's the greatest there has ever been out of a number 30 entrant.
09:23 It may be impossible to do better, but in terms of the greatest number 30 ever, I'm
09:29 just not sure anything will ever surpass number one, John Cena, 2008.
09:34 I mean the surprise was so good New York City forgot they hated this man.
09:38 The older members of our staff may disagree because of their inability to let go of their
09:42 very understandable Cena hate, but this just is the Royal Rumble return.
09:47 This is the Royal Rumble number 30.
09:50 Every time there's a huge return from injury in a Royal Rumble, it's compared to this.
09:54 They just don't make 'em like this anymore.
09:57 And to tell you the truth, they didn't make 'em like this beforehand either.
10:01 At no point has there ever been another like John Cena who could return from a torn pack
10:06 in less than four months.
10:07 He is not human.
10:10 And his appearance in the 2008 Royal Rumble may have angered the anti-Cena crowd of the
10:14 time, but the surprise.
10:16 This is the feeling that we are always chasing when we watch a Royal Rumble.
10:20 When the clock counts down to zero for number 30, we hope to feel this way again.
10:25 I tip my cap to WWE, John Cena, everyone involved for managing to pull this off and set a bar
10:31 so high that it may never be reached again.
10:35 And that's our list.
10:36 Please make sure that you check out all the other lists that we have on this here channel.
10:39 Give this video a like and subscribe to never miss a list just like it.
10:41 And check out this clip from the latest edition of Survival Series.