Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Fact or Fiction:
The Royal Rumble – 30 Questions
January 28, 2022
DougMaynard.com

Over at 411mania.com, a man named Jake Chambers has a regular weekly column called “Wrestling Fact or Fiction”. He gives some statements and has other 411 staffers give their thoughts. And here at this site, I take his statements and offer my own two cents. This is Wrestling Fact or Fiction and I’m Doug. Let’s do this.

Statement #1: Royal Rumble matches should only have 20 entrants.

FICTION: I like the 30 person Rumble matches. The year that they did 40 people, it didn’t feel like it would ever end. And only 20 people? It doesn’t seem big enough. Thirty is that perfect number that’s not too big, not too small, but just right.

Statement #2: The 1999 Royal Rumble match has the best in-match story of any Rumble.

FICTION: The 1992 Rumble where Flair entered in the second spot and went on to win the WWF Championship would get my vote.

Statement #3: Nachos and chips are better snacks for watching a Royal Rumble PPV than candy and cookies.

FACT: I like chips. I don’t much like candy. So there you go.

Statement #4: You are more excited this year to see Mickie James in the women’s Rumble than you were when she was in it last year.

FACT: Right now, she’s coming in as the Impact Champion and there’s an unknown quantity to her participation. Last year, she was just another wrestler in the Rumble.

Statement #5: TNA was a better brand name than IMPACT.

FICTION: The name Impact has more impact if you will. In this case, the name change was a good thing. 

Statement #6: Ryback making a surprise return at this year’s Rumble would make you angry.

FICTION: Not so much angry, but more confused because I’d be wondering, “Why?”. I have no interest in Ryback for a Rumble return or anything really.

Statement #7: The Sheamus/Jericho ending in the 2012 Rumble is better than the 2007 HBK/‘Taker ending.

FICTION: To be honest, I don’t remember either off the top of my head, but HBK and Taker beats Sheamus/Jericho in every way, shape, or form, at least to me.

 Statement #8: You’d rather enter the Rumble at #1 and lose but have a long, eventful run than enter at #30 and win after a few minutes.

FICTION: If I’m in the Rumble, I want to win… period. The rest is all well and good, but the legacy of winning is better than looking good in the middle of the match before getting eliminated.

Statement #9: Female wrestlers should retire earlier than male wrestlers.

FICTION: They should retire when they feel it’s time, for whatever reason, and age shouldn’t have anything to do with it.

Statement #10: Send Hook.

FACT: Send Hook!

Statement #11: The long-awaited first singles match between Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley will be disappointing.

FACT: Anything that has been as anticipated as this match rarely lives up to the hype.

Statement #12: The best first two entrants in any Rumble match were Demolition’s Ax and Smash in 1989.

FACT: I remember this and it was pretty awesome. Demolition Rocks!

Statement #13: A wrestler who wears heavier clothes would have a better chance of avoiding over-the-top rope elimination in a battle royale.

FACT: If you’re heavier, you’d be harder to pick up. It’s simple science.

Statement #14: AEW needs Cody Rhodes.

FACT: I think they could and would continue quite well even if Cody decided to leave, but more than anyone, Cody has been the heart of AEW since the conception, and he would be missed in so many ways. 

Statement #15: Since there is now a regular women’s Rumble match, this column should have had an equal amount of statements about women’s wrestling.

FICTION: One has nothing to do with the other. Bring on the statements and so long as they’re about the business we all love so well, so be it.

Statement #16: The Greatest Royal Rumble was the greatest Royal Rumble.

FICTION: It was okay, but I still prefer the one from ’92.

Statement #17: Jeff Jarrett, ain’t he great?

FACT: He’s done quite a bit in his career and he’s the man with all the stroke. If you don’t believe him, just ask him and he’ll tell you. Choke on that, slapnuts!

Statement #18: A Royal Rumble match would be fun if the ring was surrounded by a water-filled moat.

FACT: Sounds like a plan to me but be sure to add some crocodiles too. It’d be fun to watch Brock Lesnar toss them around and give a crock an F-5, and you know he’d try.

Statement #19: The AEW women’s division is not big enough for two dedicated singles titles.

FICTION: It needs more development and some stronger talent, but the number of workers for this division isn’t the problem, nor is the number of titles.

Statement #20: All the wrestlers who DO NOT win a Royal Rumble match should be excluded from appearing at that year’s Wrestlemania.

FICTION: If this was the stipulation for the Rumble, Mania would consist entirely of the NXT roster and the people who were sitting in catering at the Rumble event. Bad idea.

Statement #21: You still (even if you’re watching alone) loudly do the countdown along with the crowd and clock before every new entrant in a Royal Rumble.

FICTION: I do the countdown, but only in my head.

Statement #22: If a 23-man Rumble match featuring all living former winners (Hacksaw, Hogan, Flair, Bret, Luger, HBK, Austin, Vince, Rock, HHH, Lesnar, Batista, Mysterio, ‘Taker, Cena, Orton, Edge, Del Rio, Sheamus, Reigns, Nakamura, Rollins, McIntyre) happened today, John Cena would win.

FICTION: Hell no. It’d either be Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock. I’d go for Austin in the end and if you agree and think Austin would stomp a mudhole in all these other S.O.B.’s, give me a hell yeah!

Statement #23: TNA’s infamous Reverse Battle Royal was actually a cool idea.

FICTION: It struck me as a Russo idea and kind of dumb actually. I’ve seen worse and kudos to TNA for trying something new, but it didn’t work and no one should ever do that again. 

Statement #24: After his surprising return, Mr. Perfect should have won the 2002 Royal Rumble match.

FACT: That would have been great to see. In fact, it would have been absolutely perfect!

Statement #25: Bryan Danielson will never be AEW World Champion.

FICTION: He’ll get there eventually, probably within the next six to eight months or so. He’s too good and too big a name to leave out of the title picture for long.

Statement #26: Giant wrestlers are too easily eliminated from Rumble matches these days.

FACT: If it only takes one person to eliminate a guy that weighs over three hundred pounds or stands as tall as Omos, something ain’t right. Either it takes a pack of wrestlers ganging up on the guy to do the elimination or a self-elimination. Anything else is bad booking.

Statement #27: You would love to see Bray Wyatt return as a surprise entrant in this year’s Rumble match.

FACT: Hell to the yeah. The Royal Rumble match should let him in.

Statement #28: Roman Reigns should remain Universal Champion up to and after Wrestlemania.

FICTION: Up to Mania, I can live with and understand. As for after, that sounds a little much to me and even if it’s just for a brief time, other people deserve a shot at the title and to make an impact as champion too.

Statement #29: Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair should win this year’s Women’s Rumble match.

FICTION: As I said earlier talking about Mickie, the whole idea of the Rumble is for the winner to challenge the champions at Mania and if one of the champions win, then who do they challenge for Mania? It’s opening up a can of worms that we don’t need to deal with. Set up some tension to lead to a challenger for Mania, yes, but for Charlotte to win? Absolutely not.

Statement #30: Johnny Knoxville should win this year’s Men’s Rumble match.

FICTION: I like Johnny Knoxville, but he shouldn’t be in the Rumble, much less be considered to win. I’d rather see Hornswoggle or Marko Stunt show up and win first. Anyone who suggests a Knoxville win is a jackass, period.

And there you go. That was interesting. My thanks to Jake Chambers and 411mania.com for allowing me to use their questions. And thanks to you, my loyal readers, for sticking it out through this. I do it all for you. Until the next time, take care and be good, my friends. I think I have a prediction column to go write. I’ll see you at the matches. Bye.

Ubuntu!