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Number 30, logically, should be the best spot to draw in the Rumble, because you have to survive for a shorter time than anyone else. You'd be all set, right? In fact, there haven't been nearly as many number 30 winners as you'd expect. And it doesn't always go perfectly for the worker who's drawn the last spot. (Note: 1988 had only 20 entrants, so that isn't included)
1989 - Ted DiBiase
The Million Dollar Man had had a good 1988, being unofficially WWF Champ, and in the 1989 Rumble was the last eliminated by eventual winner Big John Studd. He was continually treated as a top guy throughout, getting title shots left and right and making his own shiny gemstone-y belt. In the 1990 Rumble, he'd go on to be the first true ironman of the match by going nearly 45 minutes. Verdict: good time! Strong start.
1990 - Mr. Perfect
Once again, Number 30 was the last eliminated. Perfect would go on to have a lengthy IC Title run. In 1991 he suffered a pretty serious injury, but managed to keep himself on TV throughout his rehab as a manager. Verdict: good time! Maybe I was wrong...
1991 - Tugboat
Tugboat was ineffectual in this Rumble, and later that year would flip to heel, renaming himself Typhoon and forming the Natural Disasters with Earthquake. They were Tag Champs for a bit, but Fred Ottman floundered in singles after Quake took a break and was gone in 1993. Verdict: mixed time. He would go on to SHOCK THE WORLD!
1992 - The Warlord
The less good Power of Pain was already a jobber at this point, and got tossed in two minutes or so. His final match for WWF was in April this year. Verdict: bad time.
1993 - Randy Savage
Macho Man revived the tradition of Number 30 being the last eliminated (by Yoko). Ultimately, though, Savage's time in WWF after this point was poor. He was phased out by Vince, claiming he was too old (though he could still easily outwrestle 80% of the roster), and spent most of his time as a clearly-dissatisfied colour commentator before jumping to WCW in late 1994 and pumping out dream matches. Verdict: bad time.
1994 - Adam Bomb
Bomb failed to explode into popularity after this Rumble, no thanks to his WrestleMania X match where he was squashed by Earthquake for no good reason. He slid down the card and was released in August 1995. Verdict: bad time.
1995 - Crush
Number 30 in the jobber Rumble, Crush helped clear out the dross before standing aside for Michaels and Bulldog. Brian Adams was himself cleared out after being jailed over illegal steroid and firearm purchases, returned as a biker (eventually forming the completely heatless Disciples of Apocalypse), before leaving again over something obscure, I think it happened in Montreal? Verdict: bad time.
1996 - Duke "The Dumpster" Droese
He beat Triple H in a match for this slot. He'd go on to lose that feud (and every other match) before quitting in August due to the strain of year-round touring. Verdict: bad time.
1997 - The Undertaker
At last, things are looking up again for the Number 30 slot. Taker was a top guy from 1997-99, introducing the world to Hell in a Cell, feuding with Kane, making Mankind famous at King of the Ring, and then forming the Ministry of Darkness. Verdict: good time!
1998 - Vader
It's time, it's time, it's... oh, no, it's not. This was near the end of Vader's WWF career; he lost his mask to Kane and declared Vader Time over. The self-proclaimed "BIG FAT PIECE OF SHIT" started putting over guys like Mark Henry and Edge before getting his release in October. Verdict: bad time.
1999 - Chyna
First woman in the men's Rumble. Chyna was fairly prominent on TV through the next three years, but usually in the roles of "bodyguard" and "someone's girlfriend". She would quit in 2001, incensed at the idea that (1) she, a woman, should wrestle women, and (2) she wasn't making 7 figures. Verdict: mixed time.
2000 - X-Pac
Always in the mix with feuds, getting his own stable (with aterrible LEGENDARY theme song), reformed the nWo, and the last ever WWF Light Heavyweight Champion. That said, it's not a good time because you can't look past the injuries, and the fact that he gave his name to being booed because the fans just wanted him to go away. Verdict: mixed time.
2001 - Rikishi
The largest-arsed individual to ever grace the WWF, Rikishi didn't have that great a time. Injury saw him sidelined for the entire Invasion (maybe that's a good thing), then he was the first man to lose to Hogan on his return, had a bunch of lower-card nothing feuds, things like that. Verdict: bad time.
2002 - Booker T
Did the honour of being Steve Austin's record-setting 36th elimination. His career since then: nWo member, lost repeatedly to Triple H when he absolutely shouldn't have, was IC Champ, Tag Champ with RVD, US Champ, had a fun Best of 5 series with John Cena... It was okay, I guess, but less than Booker should have been doing. Verdict: mixed time.
2003 - The Undertaker
First 2-time number 30 and last elimination once again. BikerTaker died a literal death, but he sprung right up with the Return of the Deadman. He was treated well, but had a lot of iffy moments since then, including burying Paul Bearer in cement and having his terrorist angle with Muhammad Hassan scrapped after a real terrorist attack. So, I can't really call it good. Verdict: mixed time.
2004 - Goldberg
Was in a feud with Brock Lesnar, but had his final match booed out of MSG as the fans knew that both were leaving. He clearly had something to prove, which is why he rejoined WWE in 2016. Verdict: bad time.
2005 - Ric Flair
Treated well, but clearly kept going for too long (so, the opposite problem of Savage then). People were calling him out for ruining his legacy in 1999, so in 2005-7 it was clearly really bad. At least he retired in 2008. Still, he's Ric Flair, and was treated as such throughout. Verdict: mixed time.
2006 - Randy Orton
Another last elimination from number 30. Orton was on an upward trend, comments on Eddie Guerrero's position in the afterlife nonwithstanding. He formed Rated RKO, started his legend killing phase, and became WWE Champion. Verdict: good time! Feels like forever since we had one of these.
2007 - The Undertaker
3-time Number 30, and he won it, which is somehow a first! This was the last big run of Taker, as he was settling into the special-attraction legend role for which we know him. The 3-year period also encompasses the great match against HBK at WrestleMania 25, so that's another plus. Verdict: good time!
2008 - John Cena
Won it! Do you even need me to explain this one? Cena doesn't have bad years, even when he does. Verdict: good time!
2009 - Big Show
Weeeeeeeeeell, it's.... a pretty good showing for Show, who was in a lot of championship pictures around this time. Granted, it was always for the less important of the two World Titles, but Big Gold looked good on him, so I'm not complaining that much. Verdict: good time!
2010 - Batista
Started 2010 as a top contender, but by mid-2010 he had received a bad injury and left WWE over his dislike of the company's direction. Verdict: bad time.
2011 - Wade Barrett
First time that having number 30 wasn't much of an advantage, though with the way Barrett had been pushed in 2010, he could have gone on last. He slipped down the card from his prior position of prominence, but settled into the role of highly effective midcard heel. Verdict: mixed time.
2012 - Big Show
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, he's back. And this three-year period for Show wasn't nearly as good as the previous one. He became IC Champ, sure, but the rest was just him being muscle for the authority of the week. Still kept him in a job, though, because B I G. Verdict: mixed time.
2013 - Ryback
Last elimination from Number 30, again! Similar situation to Barrett, as his peak was the previous year, and it was downhill from there. Lost to Cena in his last true main event push, then became a cowardly bully, did the RybAxel thing, but bounced back by getting the IC Title. Verdict: mixed time.
2014 - Rey Mysterio
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
But yeah Rey didn't have a good time, as related in the Number 14 post. Was in the unenviable position of deconfirming Daniel Bryan, then expected to get his release but didn't as WWE had added time on due to injury. Thank goodness for stem cells, or else this would have been our last memory of Rey in WWE. Verdict: bad time.
2015 - Dolph Ziggler
He's here to show the world, but all that Ziggler showed anyone in 2015 was his willingness to take part in shit storylines (Rusev/Lana love triangle). After that, he became a solid midcarder who is able to slot into matches with main eventers if needs be... I miss this Ziggler. Verdict: mixed time.
2016 - Triple H
Won it, and the WWE Championship, as a part-timer. Let his storyline run its course (and then some) then went off to run NXT, which around this time was doing pretty well. Verdict: good time! I miss this NXT.
2017 - Roman Reigns
Oh boy, Roman. It's impossible to rank this one. On one hand, he absolutely had a good time as WWE was pushing him as a top guy, but no one in the crowd was buying it. Then his cancer came back (thankfully briefly) and he suddenly wasn't a guaranteed main eventer anymore. I'll have to call this mixed, as it was a bit of a downturn from his previous position. Verdict: mixed time.
2018 Men - Dolph Ziggler
Fun fact: this guy's full first name is Dolphin. This was probably the weakest Dolph has been in his career, but you can't really call it a bad time given all the stuff he's won (and that he's really good). Verdict: mixed time.
2018 Women - Trish Stratus
Legend spot. Verdict: bad time, mainly because she and Lita didn't meet in that Rumble for SOME REASON.
2018 GRR - Tyler Breeze
In a 50-man rumble, the number 30 spot is meaningless, and so it went to Breeze. His main roster plans with Fandango were put on hold after the latter's injury, but the two did have a nice time in NXT, so there's that. Verdict: mixed time.
2019 Men - Nia Jax
...fuck. This could have been R-Truth, and it could have been another score for the Good Times, as R-Truth is perfect as he is. Instead we got Nia. Any good that happens to Nia Jax is only good from the perspective of Nia. She got a Women's Tag Team Title, but also spent a lot of time recklessly hurting others. And then she got budget cut in 2021. Verdict: mixed time.
2019 Women - Carmella
At least Mella got the spot she earned. She's made TV a lot, but most of this was her being involved with various thrown-together teams and also the whole "Most Beautiful Woman" heel turn thing. Eh. Just... Eh. Verdict: mixed time.
2020 Men - Seth Rollins
Seth had a pretty unambiguously good COVID-19 pandemic (that's such a weird sentence). He got to lean into being an unhinged "visionary" heel and pretty much carried segments he was in. Still, they've got a year to fuck it up, and adding "Freakin" to his name officially might do it. Verdict: good time!
2020 Women - Shayna Baszler
Thus begins the 2 months in which Shayna was treated as a top talent on the main roster. Then she became a vampire and it was over for her. Tag Champ, yes, but it's far less than she should have been doing, and she seems to be just a heavy for whatever heel is around now. Verdict: mixed time.
2021 Men - Braun Strowman
Another Ryback/Barrett situation here, where Braun's outlook would be significantly better if the previous year were considered. Instead he feuded with Shane McMahon, and then got budget cut. Now he's doing the anti-gimmick thing with EC3, and no hands are being gotten. Verdict: bad time.
2021 Women - Natalya
Earned this spot by beating future Women's Tag Title partner Tamina. Natalya's 2021 was very indifferent, in which she won the titles but did very little with them (except lose repeatedly to Shotzi and Nox, who never got their title shot). Verdict: mixed time, but I can see this dropping to bad if 2022 continues the last year's trend.
So, out of 38 Rumbles with at least 30 participants, this is the trend for Number 30: 9 good, 17 mixed, 12 bad. Overall, a very middling picture for the "best" spot.
1989 - Ted DiBiase
The Million Dollar Man had had a good 1988, being unofficially WWF Champ, and in the 1989 Rumble was the last eliminated by eventual winner Big John Studd. He was continually treated as a top guy throughout, getting title shots left and right and making his own shiny gemstone-y belt. In the 1990 Rumble, he'd go on to be the first true ironman of the match by going nearly 45 minutes. Verdict: good time! Strong start.
1990 - Mr. Perfect
Once again, Number 30 was the last eliminated. Perfect would go on to have a lengthy IC Title run. In 1991 he suffered a pretty serious injury, but managed to keep himself on TV throughout his rehab as a manager. Verdict: good time! Maybe I was wrong...
1991 - Tugboat
Tugboat was ineffectual in this Rumble, and later that year would flip to heel, renaming himself Typhoon and forming the Natural Disasters with Earthquake. They were Tag Champs for a bit, but Fred Ottman floundered in singles after Quake took a break and was gone in 1993. Verdict: mixed time. He would go on to SHOCK THE WORLD!
1992 - The Warlord
The less good Power of Pain was already a jobber at this point, and got tossed in two minutes or so. His final match for WWF was in April this year. Verdict: bad time.
1993 - Randy Savage
Macho Man revived the tradition of Number 30 being the last eliminated (by Yoko). Ultimately, though, Savage's time in WWF after this point was poor. He was phased out by Vince, claiming he was too old (though he could still easily outwrestle 80% of the roster), and spent most of his time as a clearly-dissatisfied colour commentator before jumping to WCW in late 1994 and pumping out dream matches. Verdict: bad time.
1994 - Adam Bomb
Bomb failed to explode into popularity after this Rumble, no thanks to his WrestleMania X match where he was squashed by Earthquake for no good reason. He slid down the card and was released in August 1995. Verdict: bad time.
1995 - Crush
Number 30 in the jobber Rumble, Crush helped clear out the dross before standing aside for Michaels and Bulldog. Brian Adams was himself cleared out after being jailed over illegal steroid and firearm purchases, returned as a biker (eventually forming the completely heatless Disciples of Apocalypse), before leaving again over something obscure, I think it happened in Montreal? Verdict: bad time.
1996 - Duke "The Dumpster" Droese
He beat Triple H in a match for this slot. He'd go on to lose that feud (and every other match) before quitting in August due to the strain of year-round touring. Verdict: bad time.
1997 - The Undertaker
At last, things are looking up again for the Number 30 slot. Taker was a top guy from 1997-99, introducing the world to Hell in a Cell, feuding with Kane, making Mankind famous at King of the Ring, and then forming the Ministry of Darkness. Verdict: good time!
1998 - Vader
It's time, it's time, it's... oh, no, it's not. This was near the end of Vader's WWF career; he lost his mask to Kane and declared Vader Time over. The self-proclaimed "BIG FAT PIECE OF SHIT" started putting over guys like Mark Henry and Edge before getting his release in October. Verdict: bad time.
1999 - Chyna
First woman in the men's Rumble. Chyna was fairly prominent on TV through the next three years, but usually in the roles of "bodyguard" and "someone's girlfriend". She would quit in 2001, incensed at the idea that (1) she, a woman, should wrestle women, and (2) she wasn't making 7 figures. Verdict: mixed time.
2000 - X-Pac
Always in the mix with feuds, getting his own stable (with a
2001 - Rikishi
The largest-arsed individual to ever grace the WWF, Rikishi didn't have that great a time. Injury saw him sidelined for the entire Invasion (maybe that's a good thing), then he was the first man to lose to Hogan on his return, had a bunch of lower-card nothing feuds, things like that. Verdict: bad time.
2002 - Booker T
Did the honour of being Steve Austin's record-setting 36th elimination. His career since then: nWo member, lost repeatedly to Triple H when he absolutely shouldn't have, was IC Champ, Tag Champ with RVD, US Champ, had a fun Best of 5 series with John Cena... It was okay, I guess, but less than Booker should have been doing. Verdict: mixed time.
2003 - The Undertaker
First 2-time number 30 and last elimination once again. BikerTaker died a literal death, but he sprung right up with the Return of the Deadman. He was treated well, but had a lot of iffy moments since then, including burying Paul Bearer in cement and having his terrorist angle with Muhammad Hassan scrapped after a real terrorist attack. So, I can't really call it good. Verdict: mixed time.
2004 - Goldberg
Was in a feud with Brock Lesnar, but had his final match booed out of MSG as the fans knew that both were leaving. He clearly had something to prove, which is why he rejoined WWE in 2016. Verdict: bad time.
2005 - Ric Flair
Treated well, but clearly kept going for too long (so, the opposite problem of Savage then). People were calling him out for ruining his legacy in 1999, so in 2005-7 it was clearly really bad. At least he retired in 2008. Still, he's Ric Flair, and was treated as such throughout. Verdict: mixed time.
2006 - Randy Orton
Another last elimination from number 30. Orton was on an upward trend, comments on Eddie Guerrero's position in the afterlife nonwithstanding. He formed Rated RKO, started his legend killing phase, and became WWE Champion. Verdict: good time! Feels like forever since we had one of these.
2007 - The Undertaker
3-time Number 30, and he won it, which is somehow a first! This was the last big run of Taker, as he was settling into the special-attraction legend role for which we know him. The 3-year period also encompasses the great match against HBK at WrestleMania 25, so that's another plus. Verdict: good time!
2008 - John Cena
Won it! Do you even need me to explain this one? Cena doesn't have bad years, even when he does. Verdict: good time!
2009 - Big Show
Weeeeeeeeeell, it's.... a pretty good showing for Show, who was in a lot of championship pictures around this time. Granted, it was always for the less important of the two World Titles, but Big Gold looked good on him, so I'm not complaining that much. Verdict: good time!
2010 - Batista
Started 2010 as a top contender, but by mid-2010 he had received a bad injury and left WWE over his dislike of the company's direction. Verdict: bad time.
2011 - Wade Barrett
First time that having number 30 wasn't much of an advantage, though with the way Barrett had been pushed in 2010, he could have gone on last. He slipped down the card from his prior position of prominence, but settled into the role of highly effective midcard heel. Verdict: mixed time.
2012 - Big Show
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, he's back. And this three-year period for Show wasn't nearly as good as the previous one. He became IC Champ, sure, but the rest was just him being muscle for the authority of the week. Still kept him in a job, though, because B I G. Verdict: mixed time.
2013 - Ryback
Last elimination from Number 30, again! Similar situation to Barrett, as his peak was the previous year, and it was downhill from there. Lost to Cena in his last true main event push, then became a cowardly bully, did the RybAxel thing, but bounced back by getting the IC Title. Verdict: mixed time.
2014 - Rey Mysterio
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
But yeah Rey didn't have a good time, as related in the Number 14 post. Was in the unenviable position of deconfirming Daniel Bryan, then expected to get his release but didn't as WWE had added time on due to injury. Thank goodness for stem cells, or else this would have been our last memory of Rey in WWE. Verdict: bad time.
2015 - Dolph Ziggler
He's here to show the world, but all that Ziggler showed anyone in 2015 was his willingness to take part in shit storylines (Rusev/Lana love triangle). After that, he became a solid midcarder who is able to slot into matches with main eventers if needs be... I miss this Ziggler. Verdict: mixed time.
2016 - Triple H
Won it, and the WWE Championship, as a part-timer. Let his storyline run its course (and then some) then went off to run NXT, which around this time was doing pretty well. Verdict: good time! I miss this NXT.
2017 - Roman Reigns
Oh boy, Roman. It's impossible to rank this one. On one hand, he absolutely had a good time as WWE was pushing him as a top guy, but no one in the crowd was buying it. Then his cancer came back (thankfully briefly) and he suddenly wasn't a guaranteed main eventer anymore. I'll have to call this mixed, as it was a bit of a downturn from his previous position. Verdict: mixed time.
2018 Men - Dolph Ziggler
Fun fact: this guy's full first name is Dolphin. This was probably the weakest Dolph has been in his career, but you can't really call it a bad time given all the stuff he's won (and that he's really good). Verdict: mixed time.
2018 Women - Trish Stratus
Legend spot. Verdict: bad time, mainly because she and Lita didn't meet in that Rumble for SOME REASON.
2018 GRR - Tyler Breeze
In a 50-man rumble, the number 30 spot is meaningless, and so it went to Breeze. His main roster plans with Fandango were put on hold after the latter's injury, but the two did have a nice time in NXT, so there's that. Verdict: mixed time.
2019 Men - Nia Jax
...fuck. This could have been R-Truth, and it could have been another score for the Good Times, as R-Truth is perfect as he is. Instead we got Nia. Any good that happens to Nia Jax is only good from the perspective of Nia. She got a Women's Tag Team Title, but also spent a lot of time recklessly hurting others. And then she got budget cut in 2021. Verdict: mixed time.
2019 Women - Carmella
At least Mella got the spot she earned. She's made TV a lot, but most of this was her being involved with various thrown-together teams and also the whole "Most Beautiful Woman" heel turn thing. Eh. Just... Eh. Verdict: mixed time.
2020 Men - Seth Rollins
Seth had a pretty unambiguously good COVID-19 pandemic (that's such a weird sentence). He got to lean into being an unhinged "visionary" heel and pretty much carried segments he was in. Still, they've got a year to fuck it up, and adding "Freakin" to his name officially might do it. Verdict: good time!
2020 Women - Shayna Baszler
Thus begins the 2 months in which Shayna was treated as a top talent on the main roster. Then she became a vampire and it was over for her. Tag Champ, yes, but it's far less than she should have been doing, and she seems to be just a heavy for whatever heel is around now. Verdict: mixed time.
2021 Men - Braun Strowman
Another Ryback/Barrett situation here, where Braun's outlook would be significantly better if the previous year were considered. Instead he feuded with Shane McMahon, and then got budget cut. Now he's doing the anti-gimmick thing with EC3, and no hands are being gotten. Verdict: bad time.
2021 Women - Natalya
Earned this spot by beating future Women's Tag Title partner Tamina. Natalya's 2021 was very indifferent, in which she won the titles but did very little with them (except lose repeatedly to Shotzi and Nox, who never got their title shot). Verdict: mixed time, but I can see this dropping to bad if 2022 continues the last year's trend.
So, out of 38 Rumbles with at least 30 participants, this is the trend for Number 30: 9 good, 17 mixed, 12 bad. Overall, a very middling picture for the "best" spot.
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Join me next time, when we'll be visiting lucky number 27.
