Royal Rumble 2017 Discussion [Stats Edition]

[tiger_rick]

It's interesting that the first person eliminated is always from the first five entrants. Well, maybe replace 'interesting' with 'obvious' but truly it does not bode well for you if you get an early number.

Number 3 seems to be the one to avoid. Average stint only 9 mins, the lowest of the first 8. Imagine what it would be if not for Flair in 1992.

[Wrasslin]

It's almost not fair to include flair . . .

[PSF]

It's almost not fair to include flair . . .

If you didn't it wouldn't be fair to Flair.

[Onyx2]

Helluva effort Rick. Nice work.

 

The analyst in me wants to know: I always assumed you did this in Access but now I think you're doing it all in Excel, which sounds like a real headache. Would you be willing to share the source data? I reckon it would generate some fun visualisations.

[tiger_rick]

Updated after death of Jimmy Snuka. Now 12/30 1990 entrants have died.

[mikehoncho]

Superb work!  Loved the Rumble Notes; genuinely didn't realise some of those facts.  

[Jon-Carr_92]

Cody Rhodes/Stardust falls under the category of Longest time spent. He clocked up 188 minutes. The Wikipedia page lists the guys who lasted at least 3 hours. He was pretty consistent in terms of stints.

[tiger_rick]

Cody Rhodes/Stardust falls under the category of Longest time spent. He clocked up 188 minutes. The Wikipedia page lists the guys who lasted at least 3 hours. He was pretty consistent in terms of stints.

Cheers for that. I broke it trying to get the right names in each year, it got split between Cody Rhodes and Stardust.

 

Fixed.

[PunkStep]

Given the title, I presume this is also where we all chip in to discuss the actual 2017 event itself?

 

If so, interesting to see (spoiler-free) that there are 8 spaces remaining after the two go-home shows. I'm expecting there will be a couple of 'surprises' where some of Raw & Smackdown's top guys haven't got a spot yet for some reason or another and there will be some disappointing entries (a Jinder Mahal, perhaps) where you shake your fist and ask why they didn't announce them in the first place, as you were expecting a nice nostalgia entrant instead.

 

So, presuming this is the place to discuss, who do we think the final 8 entrants are? I'm going with (Raw & SD spoilers for this bit I guess):

 

 

 

1) Samoa Joe. He's got to be a dead cert, right? Lost the title in NXT, lost the rematch in Australia and hasn't been on TV since.

2 & 3) Gallows & Anderson. A couple of aforementioned frustrating 'why didn't they announce them before' entrants. I want them to be in the Rumble, if only to interact with...

4) Finn Balor. Assuming he is able to participate, he'd surely be a favourite. A Balor VS Reigns or Owens sub-main event at WrestleMania is possible given they were willing to chuck everything behind Finn before his injury. Scheduled to be back by March, although if he's nearly ready he could easily join the Rumble with limited involvement, giving him plenty of time before he actually has to have a match.

5) Kevin Nash. It's been a good couple of years, so we could do with him delivering a big boot to someone's face.

6) Jack Gallagher. I don't think the cruiserweights are part of the Rumble, none are announced, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them use the Gentleman for a nice pop and comedy Rumble spot.

7) Kane. Meh, but I can see them doing it.

8) Tye Dillinger. They've got to really if they don't want a cry-baby reaction akin to the Daniel Bryan backlash a few years ago.

 

And I'm going with Seth Rollins doing a Foley (2004?) and beating down shitty Rawley and taking his spot, only for Triple H to somehow eliminate him- further setting up their highly-anticipated match at WrestleMania that everyone is utterly excited about seeing.

 

No chance of seeing Kenny Omega here as he is under contract to NJPW until the end of Jan (plus I don't think he will end up joining WWE anyway this year, although I hope I'm wrong). I don't think we'll see anyone else from NXT, so no Roode or Nakamura. There's no reason for Triple H to be part of this if he isn't winning it. I don't think we will see Tyler Bate or any of the UK guys as most of the crowd won't have a clue who they are. I don't see Kurt Angle making a surprise appearance either, and forget about Shawn Michaels making a home-town return.

 

[HarmonicGenerator]

I expect to see a few of the eight remaining spots go to some SmackDown guys - Apollo Crews, Alpha, Kalisto, Kane and Ellsworth. That evens out the brands a bit and leaves two spots, which if I was being boring I'd say either Sheamus and Cesaro or Gallows and Anderson, but would hope to be Finn (who I still have half a mind on as a surprise winner to go on and face Reigns at Mania) and another NXT guy, either Roode, Dillinger, or Joe, or a nostalgia entrant.

 

There's plenty of choice for a full Rumble this year. The above leaves out Slater and Rhyno, the Usos, one of the big Raw teams, Enzo, (shudder) Mahal, Mark Henry, all the cruiserweights...

 

I fully expect a Raw Rumble win which I hope means they bring back the SmackDown Rumble that they used to do when Raw won back in the day.

[PunkStep]

Sheamus and Cesaro have already been announced, so that will at least save the disappointment of them taking up spots unexpectedly. I'm not so sure they will add more (much more, anyway) from Smackdown as they've made it clear that Raw needs to have a larger roster and reflected this in the brand split and they had the chance to announce some this week. Forgot about Ellsworth though, they should definitely include him and I think they will.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Kofi Kingston talked to Rolling Stone about his Rumble moments:

 

 

New Day member and former multiple-time tag-team, United States and Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston opened a real can of worms at the 2012 Royal Rumble. During the event's signature gauntlet match, he narrowly evaded elimination – which occurs once a competitor is thrown over the top rope and both of their feet touch the floor – with a bit of nifty gymnastics (more on that in a bit). And ever since then, the stakes have been raised, as fans don't necessarily anticipate that Kingston will emerge the lone survivor, but know for damn sure he'll cheat defeat at least once in some spectacular way.

 

So Rolling Stone caught up with the WWE superstar on the road in Tampa, just four days prior to his ninth Rumble-match appearance, and asked him to walk us through the past five years of his phenomenal saves—and the bizarrely recurring theme of relying on very large, hairy men.

 

January 29, 2012 – Handstand Onto the Steel Steps

“I knew I wasn’t going to win," Kingston recalls of his first vintage Rumble moment. "But I wanted to make sure people were going to talk about me. What sparked the idea before was when [John] Morrison got knocked off the apron and jumped all the way to the wall and jumped back. He wasn't with the company the year after that, so in terms of there being an opening, I took upon myself to be like, 'Let me do something cool.’ I came up with the idea myself, and a lot doubters said, 'Well, what if you fall?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’ll be eliminated,’ which is the premise of the match anyway. Luckily, it went the right way."

 

January 27, 2013 – Tensai Piggyback Ride Into Pogo On JBL's Chair

"It's really a collective effort for which I wind up getting the shine," Kingston points out as he recollects riding the shoulders of "hairy-man Tensai with his oversized head, swinging around. It's like being on a bucking bronco. And a shoutout to JBL for actually giving me his chair. If he didn't, I probably would have stayed out on the table, so luckily, everyone's willing to give in to the excitement."

 

January 26, 2014 – Landing In Rusev's Arms, Leaping From Barricade To Apron

"He's a loose canon," Kingston laughs about Rusev. "So you just don't ever quite know what’s going to happen. Luckily, he put me on the barrier and didn't drop me on the floor, which he actually did in the match we just had this past Monday. Right place, right time. Anything can go wrong. What if a fan in the front row decides to get smart and trip me up? I could slip off. So at that moment, when it went silent, I did start to have a little bit of butterflies, a 'here we go' moment, but I'm glad it all worked out."

 

January 25, 2015 – Tossed By Rusev Into A Sea Of Rosebuds

"Adam Rose used to roll deep with his crew," Kingston says of the former WWE superstar. "And again, they happened to be in the right place at the right time. But all I'm doing is falling and then literally getting carried around the ring, so lady luck is smiling down once again. It all comes down to what's out there at the time that I am."

 

January 24, 2016 – Clotheslined By Kane Onto Big E's Shoulders

"Being on [big E's] shoulders and going around the ring eating popcorn went hand-in-hand with what the New Day is all about," Kofi reflects about his Rumble moments since allying with Big E and Xavier Woods. "Just having fun, bringing the crowd into the matches. For me to, at that point, still be in the actual Rumble and be in the crowd chillin' with fans is a pretty cool moment, not only for myself but for the fans. It's almost like they’re in the match. That's as close as you can get if you have a live, active participant eating your popcorn. The adrenaline keeps the germs at bay. It doesn’t get much better than that."

 

January 29, 2017—???

"The best trick of all would be to actually win the Rumble,"Kingston says of his upcoming ninth appearance in the match. "Hopefully [New Day] all get in there at the same time. I think we'd pretty much be able to run the table."

[BigJag]

Props to the Op. Great work.

 

Didn't Shawn help to eliminate Diesel in 94?

[Ladiesman345]

I'm paranoid that the WWE app is going to spoil the Rumble when I go to watch on the network in the Monday evening. Do I need to take any precautions?

[HarmonicGenerator]

I'm paranoid that the WWE app is going to spoil the Rumble when I go to watch on the network in the Monday evening. Do I need to take any precautions?

I'm not going to risk it - I'll use the laptop and go direct to network.wwe.com . Though the app spoiling it might save me time, I'm going to try and watch the whole thing before work!