Everyone in the WWE locker room wants to win the Royal Rumble. The prestige of winning the contest is immense and immediately catapults the winner into the main event.
It’s a win that everyone strives for, but there are some consolation prizes to be had.
If one can’t win the Royal Rumble, holding the Ironman for the longest time is a pretty good feather in the cap. It is a statistic that everyone talks about and could mean that a wrestler has something big on the horizon.
There have been 45 wrestlers who have claimed to hold the longest time spent in a Royal Rumble. Some have come and gone without much notice while others have used their time to make a name for themselves.
Below are the top ten times spent in a Royal Rumble ranked.
#10 – Roman Reigns – 59:48 (2016)
The Roman Reigns experiment was a failure. They tried to make him the next Steve Austin, but no one cared about his uphill battle against the office. It didn’t make for interesting television and set us up for a lackluster Royal Rumble appearance.
Only minutes into the match Reigns was taken out by the office-backed heels and spent most of the match writhing on the ground, or nursing injuries in the back.
He was hardly in the match, and when he was, he took a back seat to men the likes of Triple H and A.J. Styles. Not exactly the outing one would expect from the next chosen one.
#9 – Randy Orton – 58:30 (2021)
Randy Orton has done a lot of great things during the Royal Rumble. He is a two-time winner that has been near the end in multiple others. Orton has had a tremendous impact in the match, but there is a void for 2021.
Orton was in the main program of the Royal Rumble, having his issues with Edge. The two men should have produced gold, but outside brawling took them away from the match.
To be honest Randy Orton spent less time out of the ring than he did in. He was working an injury angle that wasn’t fooling anyone. His return was telegraphed and didn’t affect the outcome of the match. It was a poor waste of RKO’s talents.
#8 – Chris Jericho – 60:13 (2017)
Y2J is another man who has had a prolific career during the Royal Rumble, but when it came to the 2017 edition laid an egg. The pairing of himself, and Big Cass, was a fresh matchup to get the crowd going, but the interest soon died. There wasn’t much going on and soon Jericho was pushed to the side.
This pushing to the side continued for over an hour. Outside of 2 eliminations, which occurred at the same time, there was nothing done by Jericho.
If you wanted to find him just look towards the turnbuckles where he spent most of the match resting. It wasn’t a great showing for someone who was in there for an hour.
#7 – Finn Balor – 57:38 (2018)
The Royal Rumble match is all about wrestlers making an impact, and when Finn Balor came in at number 2, in 2018, he was hoping to do just that.
He came in across from Rusev which provided for a great matchup. Balor took the fight to Rusev and frankly didn’t let up with the rest of the field.
Balor was not one to take it easy during the match. He was involved in a lot of the action. With each new entrant having to tussle with him at some point.
He sprinkled in 4 eliminations but spread them out throughout the contest. It is amazing to see that the man who came in at number 2 was the one who eliminated the number 30 participant. It was an impressive show of endurance from one of the best on the roster.
#6 – Bob Backlund – 61:10 (1993)
No one expected anything from Bob Backlund when he made his return to the Royal Rumble. He was in fantastic shape, yes, but most chalked his appearance up to nostalgia.
No one, in their right mind, could have predicted that Backlund would have had the night that he did.
Coming in at number 3 Backlund lasted over an hour en route to being in the final four of the night. Despite being in his mid-40s Backlund held his own against much faster and strong opponents.
While they all went flying over the top, he managed to keep himself alive. It was an amazing effort from the former WWE Champion and a record time that held for years.
#5 – Edge – 58:30 (2021)
Edge has been an Ironman in just about every Royal Rumble that he has been a part of. His performances are usually quite good, better than the one he is ranked for here. What sets this apart is the fact that Edge went coast to coast, clocking in close to an hour to walk away with the Royal Rumble victory.
Unlike Randy Orton, Edge mixed it up quite a bit during the match. He had memorable moments with various wrestlers, including a great reunion with former teammate Christian.
It was a shame that a crowd wasn’t there to witness his performance, as it ranks right up there with the best of the Ironmen.
#4 – Triple H – 60:16 (2006)
2006 was a great year for the Royal Rumble. It had a stacked lineup, an emotional ending, and two of the single-best performances in Royal Rumble history. The first of which was by The Game.
Triple H was deep into heel territory here. He used all the tricks he could think of to extend his stay in the match, and for over an hour it worked.
Triple H matched up well with everyone who came into the match, having memorable showdowns with Ric Flair, The Big Show, and Shawn Michaels.
It was the exact performance that one would come to expect from someone with the talent of Triple H. He even managed to squeeze in 6 eliminations on his way to being in the final four.
#3 – Rey Mysterio – 62:12 (2006)
We don’t have to go far to find yet another fantastic Ironman performance from the 2006 Royal Rumble. Rey Mysterio was the underdog favourite headed into the match.
His dedication to Eddie Guerrero set the emotional tone for everything that followed. Mysterio was a man possessed as he continuously thwarted every elimination attempt thrown his way.
In a match where he was outsized by everyone Mysterio outlasted the bunch. He was active throughout the match and was responsible for 6 eliminations.
Most of those are entertaining ones that outshone all other eliminations. Mysterio started second, outlasted the field despite a huge size difference, and made his way to Wrestlemania. Royal Rumble performances don’t get much better than that.
#2 – Ric Flair – 60:02 (1992)
Everyone who was anyone wanted to get their hands on Ric Flair in 1992. He was the man from another organization who inserted himself into the WWE Championship picture drawing the ire of every man in the locker room.
When he came out, in the Royal Rumble, he became the target of everyone. For his hour-long tenure, he got a beating from everyone who stepped through the ropes.
It was cringeworthy to see the stiff shots he got, but to his credit, he kept moving forward. There was nothing that was going to stop Ric Flair on that night.
When Flair emerged the victor a look of shock fell over the crowd. No one had done what he had done before. No one had gone near wire to wire to win the match and the WWE Championship. It was a performance for the ages from The Nature Boy.
#1 – Gunther 1Hr:11 (2023)
When it comes to the best Iron Man performances, no one can hold a candle to the effort turned in by The Ring General.
Gunther was a beast for his first-ever Rumble appearance. Entering in the number one spot most thought that he was going to give us a good showing, but no one thought that he was going to do what he did. He clocked in an astonishing 1 hour and 11-minute performance, shattering the previous record.
The stamina and conditioning to do what he did was flabbergasting and qualities not many posses.
The Ring General was not one to rest, during the match, giving out and taking very stiff shots. His body was beet red by the end of the match, and only a lucky move by Cody Rhodes prevented Gunther from taking home the victory.
It was the best performance that anyone has ever turned in at The WWE Royal Rumble.
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