Every WWE Superstar who has ever eliminated Roman Reigns from the Royal Rumble has gone on to win the match.
Roman Reigns is going to be back in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match for the first time in five years.
Paul Heyman made that announcement Friday night on SmackDown. The Wiseman making it very clear to Cody Rhodes that the new Undisputed Tribal Chief has his sights set on once again becoming the Undisputed WWE Champion.
The OTC joins an already star-studded field of three that have announced their intentions of winning the rumble and moving on to headlining WrestleMania 41. Should he outlast John Cena, CM Punk and 26 other WWE Superstars, Roman Reigns would not only get his rematch against the American Nightmare in Las Vegas, but he’d become the 11th man ever to win multiple Royal Rumble Matches.
It would be a monumental victory for Roman Reigns and solidify him as one of the greatest rumble performers of all-time. Don’t believe me? He’s racked up the stats to back up that claim. Doing so in just six Royal Rumble appearances.
The Tribal Chief has never finished worse than third in any Royal Rumble match in which he’s competed
If such a prop exists, you can bet the farm that Roman Reigns will be among the final participants in this year’s Royal Rumble Match. The worst that The OTC has ever finished in a rumble match was third back in 2016.
Amid his rivalry with The Authority, Reigns was forced to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Men’s Royal Rumble that year. He entered first overall and lasted nearly an hour before he was shockingly tossed over the top rope by Triple H, who had entered the match from the No. 30 position.
The Game would then outlast Dean Ambrose – AEW’s Jon Moxley – to win his second ever Royal Rumble and his 14th World Championship. Reigns would go on to recapture the gold from Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 32.
Reigns holds the record for most runner-up finishes in Royal Rumble history
In addition to one Royal Rumble win and one third place finish under his belt, Roman Reigns has been the runner-up in the annual over the top rope challenge an astonishing four times. More than any other Superstar in the match’s four decades of existence.
Admittedly, it’s a bit of a misleading stat with that many second place finishes, but every wrestler who’s ever eliminated Roman Reigns from a Royal Rumble has won the match. In addition to Triple H in 2016, Batista (2014), Randy Orton (2017), Shinsuke Nakamura (2018) and Drew McIntyre (2020) all tossed the OTC over the top rope to punch their tickets to WrestleMania.
Reigns’ lone Royal Rumble victory came back in 2015 when he last eliminated Rusev, much to the dismay of the crowd in Philly. Should the Tribal Chief reign supreme this year in Indianapolis, he would join Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge, Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes as the only men to ever win two or more rumble matches.
Roman Reigns once held the record for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match
The first time that Reigns ever competed inside of the Royal Rumble, fans got the sense that the rocket would soon be strapped to his back. In 2014 Reigns was known as the Powerhouse of the Shield and he lived up to his nickname by eliminating 12 Superstars from match that year. His performance bested Kane’s record-breaking 11 eliminations from 2001.
Unfortunately for Roman, it’s a talking point from that match that was lost amongst a sea of disfunction. The 2014 Royal Rumble was most notable for WWE’s choice to keep Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) out of it and instead give the win to a returning Batista. The crowd in Pittsburgh rebelled the booking decision by turning on poor Rey Mysterio who entered the match at No. 30.
That night also marked CM Punk’s final time competing for the company, until his return to WWE at Survivor Series 2023, as the self-proclaimed Best in the World walked out the next night during a pre-Raw meeting.
Reigns’ single elimination record would only last four years as Braun Strowman took out 13 men from the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. Just in case you don’t count that match as official, Brock Lesnar matched the Monster Among Men in the actual Men’s Royal Rumble match in 2020. A record The Beast still holds to this day.
A strong 2025 performance could vault Roman past the Undertaker for second most cumulative eliminations
Reigns’ 32 career eliminations inside the Royal Rumble ties him with Triple H, Brock Lesnar and Big Show for sixth best all-time. If the Tribal Chief can rack up an impressive nine more eliminations in Indianapolis, a difficult task but not impossible, he would slide past the Undertaker for second most eliminations among male competitors.
Kane’s overall record of 46 Royal Rumble eliminations appears to be safe for now but anything is possible with the Tribal Chief back in the mix this year. A lot is going to depend on what entry number Reigns draws and how much time he spends inside the match. John Cena and CM Punk have an opportunity to climb up the eliminations leader board as well. Both men have an outside shot at cracking the top 10 list with strong enough performances.
Roman Reigns, John Cena and CM Punk meantime, all rank in the top 15 of most cumulative time spent inside the Men’s Royal Rumble Match. Punk could move past Cody Rhodes for fourth all-time if he lasts more than 57 minutes this year. The American Nightmare has won the last two rumble matches, but will not be going for the three-peat this year. Instead he’ll be defending the WWE Championship against Kevin Owens in a ladder match.