2005 Royal Rumble
Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Men’s Royal Rumble 2005
Winner
Batista
entered at number 28
- Match time
- 51:27
- Entrants
- 30
- Most eliminations
- 6 Batista
- Longest time in match
- 47:26 Chris Benoit
- 1 Eddie Guerrero
- 2 Chris Benoit
- 3 Daniel Puder
- 4 Hardcore Holly
- 5 The Hurricane
- 6 Kenzo Suzuki
- 7 Edge
- 8 Rey Mysterio
- 9 Shelton Benjamin
- 10 Booker T
- 11 Chris Jericho
- 12 Luther Reigns
- 13 Muhammad Hassan
- 14 Orlando Jordan
- 15 Scotty 2 Hotty
- 16 Charlie Haas
- 17 René Duprée
- 18 Simon Dean
- 19 Shawn Michaels
- 20 Kurt Angle
- 21 Jonathan Coachman
- 22 Mark Jindrak
- 23 Viscera
- 24 Paul London
- 25 John Cena
- 26 Gene Snitsky
- 27 Kane
- 28 Batista
- 29 Christian
- 30 Ric Flair
The last five draws are 26 to 30 in this match, and are marked in the chart above. They enter against a field that is already thinning, which is the long-standing argument that a late number is an advantage.
Bar positions are derived, not recorded. No source publishes entry and elimination timestamps; they are solved from entry order, the published times in match and the recorded elimination order. The ring-population curve below reads the same solved times. The times in the table below are as published.
What it led to
Threads that start in this match and pay off later. Editorial rather than computed — each one cites where it comes from.
Triple H tries to pick Batista's opponent for him
The weeks after the Rumble were about which champion Batista would choose. Triple H staged an attack meant to look like John Bradshaw Layfield's, so that Batista would challenge JBL rather than him. Batista worked out the scheme, chose Triple H, and left Evolution doing it.
WrestleMania 21 63 days later
Batista beat Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship
Source: Wikipedia, retrieved 7 August 2026
Entry and elimination times are derived, not recorded: no source publishes them. They are solved from entry order, published times in match and the recorded elimination order, around a nominal 94-second interval. Times in match are as published.
Sources: wikipedia (primary), darrenswinloss