WWE’s bad math broke the Royal Rumble rules again

WWE stated that there would be 90-second waiting intervals between each entrant in the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match. How well did WWE stick to that claim? Here are the waiting times between all 28 buzzers, in chronological order:

• 1m 28s: Buzzer 1 – The Miz
• 1m 46s: Buzzer 2 – Kofi Kingston
• 1m 40s: Buzzer 3 – Johnny Gargano
• 2m 18s: Buzzer 4 – Xavier Woods
• 1m 49s: Buzzer 5 – Karrion Kross
• 2m 12s: Buzzer 6 – Chad Gable
• 1m 39s: Buzzer 7 – Drew McIntyre
• 1m 55s: Buzzer 8 – Santos Escobar
• 1m 59s: Buzzer 9 – Angelo Dawkins
• 2m 04s: Buzzer 10 – Brock Lesnar
• 2m 15s: Buzzer 11 – Bobby Lashley
• 1m 48s: Buzzer 12 – Baron Corbin
• 1m 44s: Buzzer 13 – Seth Rollins
• 1m 48s: Buzzer 14 – Otis
• 1m 33s: Buzzer 15 – Rey Mysterio
• 1m 40s: Buzzer 16 – Dominik Mysterio
• 2m 24s: Buzzer 17 – Elias
• 1m 39s: Buzzer 18 – Finn Balor
• 2m 11s: Buzzer 19 – Booker T
• 1m 46s: Buzzer 20 – Damian Priest
• 1m 37s: Buzzer 21 – Montez Ford
• 1m 50s: Buzzer 22 – Edge
• 2m 19s: Buzzer 23 – Austin Theory
• 2m 00s: Buzzer 24 – Omos
• 1m 57s: Buzzer 25 – Braun Strowman
• 2m 45s: Buzzer 26 – Ricochet
• 2m 48s: Buzzer 27 – Logan Paul
• 2m 25s: Buzzer 28 – Cody Rhodes

The average waiting period was 1m 59s, and the median time was 1m 53s.

Only two of the 28 waiting periods fell within five seconds of the 90-second goal. 7 of the 28 waiting periods came within 10 seconds of the 90-second goal. One of the intervals lasted less than than 90 seconds, according to these results.

In a perfectly timed match, the final buzzer (signaling Cody’s entrance) would have gone off 42m 00s after the start of the match. In reality, this buzzer went off at 55m 19s.

10 of the 28 waiting periods lasted longer than 2m 00s, with six of these lengthy intervals occurring in the latter half of the match. Here is context behind some of those times, in chronological order:

• The period where Johnny Gargano entered the match lasted 2m 18s. The purpose of this period was to eliminate The Miz from this match. As part of that process, Banger Bro Sheamus pounded Miz’s chest 20 times with the fans counting along. Once Miz was gone, the clock for the 10 second countdown appeared on screen.
• The period where Karrion Kross entered the match lasted 2m 12s. Nothing of note really happened here. It took Kross 49 seconds to get into the ring, which was longer than most. Then he just exchanged some blows with Xavier Woods, GUNTHER, and Sheamus.
• The period where Angelo Dawkins entered the match lasted 2m 04s. This is where Kofi Kingston’s failed save spot took place. Once the spot was botched and he was eliminated, the 10 second countdown clock appeared on screen.
• The very next period lasted 2m 15s, and this is when Brock Lesnar joined the match. His entrance took 56 seconds, and then he needed some time to eliminate three guys and have a confrontation with GUNTHER.
• The period where Dominik Mysterio entered the match lasted 2m 24s. He took his time during his entrance to show off his father’s stolen mask. Dom was then was afraid to get in the ring due to Sheamus waiting on him. By the time Dom got in the ring, the interval was already 2m 10s in length. Very soon after he stepped into the ring, the 10 second countdown clock appeared on screen.
• The period where Finn Balor entered the match lasted 2m 11s. It seemed like the goal for this period was to eliminate Gargano from the match. After a back-and-forth sequence between Gargano, Balor, and Dominik, Johnny was eliminated. Balor and Dominik then had a confrontation with the Banger Bros when the countdown clock appeared.
• The period where Edge entered the match lasted 2m 19s. This was a busy segment where Edge tossed out Balor and Damian Priest. The Judgment Day members then teamed up to get Edge out of the match.
• The period where Braun Strowman entered the match lasted 2m 45s. This is where Braun had a monster fight with Omos, but the period still went on for a bit after Omos was eliminated.
• The very next period lasted 2m 48s, the longest of the night, and this is when Ricochet joined the match. The big thing they were waiting for here was the double elimination of the Banger Bros, which took quite a while to play out. Once GUNTHER got rid of them, the countdown clock appeared on screen.
• The final waiting period of the match was next, and it lasted 2m 25s. Logan Paul entered the match during this time. This is not where he had the memorable mid-air collision with Ricochet. I can’t really find an obvious reason for why this period went so long other than they just wanted Paul to have some time to show off once he entered the match.

The median entrance time in the men’s Royal Rumble was 38.5 seconds. This is the time between the buzzer going off and when that new wrestler officially enters the ring. If WWE strictly adhered to legitimate 90 second waiting intervals, a 38.5 second entrance time would take up 42.8% of the entire waiting interval, leaving just 51.5 seconds until the next buzzer. That’s just not enough time left to fit everything planned in between buzzers, and it leads to extended waiting periods. The very long walkway to the ring was a factor in why WWE had trouble sticking more closely to the rules, and why 90 seconds was actually more like two minutes in WWE’s Royal Rumble math this year.

The reason why this ended up being the longest 30-man Rumble ever is because the timing resembled a Rumble match with 2 minute intervals rather than 90 second intervals, and the final 7m 15s fight between Cody and GUNTHER at the end was enough to put it over the top.

So there you have it, Cagesiders. Which of the above numbers surprise you the most?

Previous Royal Rumble analyses:

1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018 Men
2018 Women
Greatest Royal Rumble
2019 Women
2019 Men
2020 Women
2020 Men
2021 Women
2021 Men
2022 Women
2022 Men