A little more than 24 hours to go until the 2023 Royal Rumble, and WWE has published its annual By The Numbers video. A montage that will play during the premium live event on Saturday night but you can watch it ahead of time below. A Rumble tradition at this point which breaks down all sorts of Rumble records, including who has won the most Rumbles and which Superstars have thrown the most people over the top rope.
Bryan Danielson's Forgotten Rumble Record
One of the most impressive records is the longest time spent in a Rumble match. That record was held by Rey Mysterio for a very long time as the luchador spent more than 62 minutes in the match. The one he won after entering at number two. That long-standing record was eventually broken by Bryan Danielson in 2018.
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Entering the Greatest Royal Rumble at number one, the AEW star was in the scaled-up match for more than 76 minutes. However, that achievement appears to have been erased from WWE's history. In 2023's By The Numbers video, the record for the longest time spent in a Rumble has been given back to Mysterio. As for why that is, there are a couple of potential reasons.
Why Have The Records Been Changed?
The conclusion most fans will jump to is that WWE doesn't want a top AEW star holding a Rumble record it is forced to mention at least once a year. Especially when it's a record that will likely never be broken as the Greatest Royal Rumble included 20 additional Superstars meaning it ran a lot longer. However, that one-off concept might also be the reason why WWE no longer recognizes Danielson's record.
It can be argued records set in that bigger Rumble should be entirely separate, as most of them will be almost impossible to break in a regular 30-person match. It's worth noting the only time the Greatest Royal Rumble is shown in the video above is when Titus O'Neil entered the match and accidentally slipped right under the ring. That clip should be included in every WWE montage, Royal Rumble-based or otherwise.
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