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Introduction
Emanating from the state of Boston for the first time, the 2002 Royal Rumble really saw a lot of change as the Attitude Era was left behind and the “Ruthless Aggression” era of wrestling. The first “brand split” Royal Rumble, it saw future world champions Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena & Batista make their debut in the match.
However the winner of the match saw another debutant – Brock Lesnar entered the match at 29 and won it all. He headlined that year’s Wrestlemania against Kurt Angle, and won the world championship for a second time at the event.
19th January, 2003
Boston, Massachusetts
Fleet Center
15,338
53:47
Notable Records
| Record | Individual |
|---|---|
| Winner | Brock Lesnar |
| Iron Men | Chris Jericho (38:59) |
| Least time in Match | B-2 (00:25) |
| Most Eliminations | Chris Jericho (6) |
| Potential Winners (wrestlers in the ring after last entrant) | 9 (Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Kane, Batista, Rob Van Dam, A-Train, Maven, Jamal, John Cena) |
| Number of debutants | 16 (Christopher Nowinski, Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, Tajiri, Bill Demott, Tommy Dreamer, B-2, Eddie Guerrero, Rosey, John Cena, Charlie Haas, Jamal, Shelton Benjamin, A-Train, Batista, Brock Lesnar) |
| Last Rumble Appearances | 7 (Christopher Nowinski, Bill Demott, B-2, Rosey, Test, Jamal, Maven) |
| Average Time in match | 11:44 |
| Number of individuals with at least one elimination | 43.33% |
Did You Know?
- Shawn Michaels became the first person to win a Royal Rumble and be first eliminated in another.
- The logo and general design was repeated from last year, the first time that has happened since 1999.
- This was the first Royal Rumble with the split brands.
- This was the first Royal Rumble for World Wrestling Entertainment, having to had change their name from WWF in the middle of 2002.
Results
| Number of Entrant | Wrestler Name | Brand | Time of Entry | Time of Elimination | Time in Match | Finishing Position | Eliminations | Eliminated By | Other Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shawn Michaels | Raw | 00:00 | 02:30 | 02:30 | 30 | 0 | Chris Jericho | Weirdly, there were two bells, one occurred half way through Shawn Michaels’ entrance. Time is taken from the second bell. |
| 2 | Chris Jericho | Raw | 00:00 | 38:59 | 38:59 | 17 | 6 | Test | Weirdly, there were two bells, one occurred half way through Shawn Michaels’ entrance. Time is taken from the second bell. |
| 3 | Christopher Nowinski | Raw | 04:27 | 09:06 | 04:39 | 29 | 0 | Rey Mysterio | Nowinski only entered after 3 minutes. |
| 4 | Rey Mysterio | Smackdown! | 03:22 | 09:17 | 05:55 | 28 | 1 | Chris Jericho | |
| 5 | Edge | Smackdown! | 04:48 | 15:51 | 11:03 | 22 | 3 | Chris Jericho | |
| 6 | Christian | Raw | 06:49 | 15:51 | 09:02 | 21 | 1 | Chris Jericho | |
| 7 | Chavo Guerrero | Smackdown! | 08:21 | 15:32 | 07:11 | 23 | 0 | Edge | |
| 8 | Tajiri | Smackdown! | 09:56 | 14:37 | 04:41 | 25 | 0 | Chris Jericho | |
| 9 | Bill Demott | Smackdown! | 11:24 | 13:37 | 02:13 | 27 | 0 | Edge | |
| 10 | Tommy Dreamer | Raw | 13:03 | 13:58 | 00:55 | 26 | 0 | Chris Jericho, Christian | Tommy Dreamer attacked Bill Demott outside the ring before entering, so time taken from then. |
| 11 | B-2 | Smackdown! | 14:50 | 15:15 | 00:25 | 24 | 0 | Edge | |
| 12 | Rob Van Dam | Raw | 16:38 | 49:36 | 32:58 | 5 | 2 | Kane | |
| 13 | Matt Hardy | Smackdown! | 18:17 | 45:32 | 27:15 | 10 | 0 | Brock Lesnar | |
| 14 | Eddie Guerrero | Smackdown! | 20:12 | 36:42 | 16:30 | 18 | 0 | Booker T | |
| 15 | Jeff Hardy | Raw | 21:43 | 29:10 | 07:27 | 20 | 0 | Rob Van Dam | |
| 16 | Rosey | Raw | 23:26 | 33:41 | 10:15 | 19 | 0 | Kane | |
| 17 | Test | Raw | 25:01 | 43:47 | 18:46 | 14 | 1 | Batista | |
| 18 | John Cena | Smackdown! | 27:40 | 47:22 | 19:42 | 9 | 0 | The Undertaker | Cena was attacked by Rob Van Dam before entering the match, so the time is taken from then. |
| 19 | Charlie Haas | Smackdown! | 28:07 | 45:20 | 17:13 | 12 | 2 | Brock Lesnar | |
| 20 | Rikishi | Smackdown! | 29:58 | 44:10 | 14:12 | 13 | 0 | Batista | |
| 21 | Jamal | Raw | 31:23 | 47:32 | 16:09 | 8 | 0 | The Undertaker | |
| 22 | Kane | Raw | 33:05 | 53:31 | 20:26 | 3 | 3 | The Undertaker | |
| 23 | Shelton Benjamin | Smackdown! | 34:24 | 45:20 | 10:56 | 11 | 2 | Brock Lesnar | |
| 24 | Booker T | Raw | 36:11 | 42:32 | 06:21 | 15 | 1 | Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin | |
| 25 | A-Train | Smackdown! | 37:43 | 49:18 | 11:35 | 6 | 0 | Kane, Rob Van Dam | |
| 26 | Maven | Raw | 39:41 | 48:02 | 08:21 | 7 | 0 | The Undertaker | |
| 27 | Goldust | Raw | 41:16 | 42:02 | 00:46 | 16 | 0 | Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin | |
| 28 | Batista | Raw | 43:07 | 53:02 | 09:55 | 4 | 2 | The Undertaker | |
| 29 | Brock Lesnar | Smackdown! | 44:46 | 53:47 | 09:01 | 1 | 4 | Winner | |
| 30 | The Undertaker | Smackdown! | 47:01 | 53:46 | 06:45 | 2 | 5 | Brock Lesnar |
Graphs
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
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