Just How Long Was The Women’s Royal Rumble Match?

The Chairshot digs into history to see how the 2019 Women’s Royal Rumble match stacks up against other iterations of this classic contest.

Becky Lynch captured the 2019 Royal Rumble victory, and as we already know she will challenge WWE Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Her victory was a bit of a surprise, as many people picked Charlotte Flair to win (but expected Becky to find her way into the WrestleMania match as well).

Becky wasn’t even a part of the match, but entered as a replacement for Lana, who couldn’t make it to the ring after hurting her ankle earlier in the night, and being attacked by Nia Jax. But let’s not let our excitement over Becky winning cause us to miss something major–this Royal Rumble match made history!

Our own Greg DeMarco dug it, and it turns out the 72-minute long Women’s Royal Rumble match is the second longest in history, second only to the Greatest Royal Rumble. That match went 77 minutes, but had 50 entrants.

Here’s a stat for you: The 2019 Women’s #RoyalRumble match went 72 minutes in length, making it the longest 30-person Royal Rumble ever!

(It’s second only to the Greatest Royal Rumble, which went 77 minutes. The 40-man Rumble is 4th longest in history.)

— Greg DeMarco (@ChairshotGreg) January 29, 2019

What does that mean? The women of WWE officially hold the record for the longest proper Royal Rumble in history! (Proper meaning 30-person). For comparison sake, the 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble is 17th all-time at 59 minutes. The 2011 Royal Rumble, which had 40 participants, clocked at 69 minutes.

Take a look at the Top 10 30-Person Royal Rumble Matches:

• 2019 Women’s Royal Rumble (72 minutes)
• 2003 Royal Rumble (69 minutes)
• 1993 Royal Rumble (66 minutes)
• 1989 Royal Rumble (65 minutes)
• 1991 Royal Rumble (65 minutes)
• 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble (65 minutes)
• 1992 Royal Rumble (62 minutes)
• 2006 Royal Rumble (62 minutes)
• 2009 Royal Rumble (62 minutes)
• 2017 Royal Rumble (62 minutes)

Do we need to give more props to WWE for giving the women 72 minutes–and the longest proper Royal Rumble match?