WWE Royal Rumble Concept Heading To Another Sport?
The Royal Rumble is a concept that revolutionised the wrestling business, but could WWE’s most popular match be heading to a different sport?
Pat Patterson is credited as being the man who invented the Royal Rumble match, which debuted in 1988. Differing from traditional battle royals, the Rumble brought the mystery of who would enter next with the anticipation of surprises now every bit as important as who wins the Rumble matches themselves.
In 1993, the stipulation was brought in that meant the Rumble winner would earn a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble’s place in history was assured with suitably major stakes to match the size of the bout.
But could WWE’s showpiece match really translate into another sport? Two of dart’s biggest stars seem to think so.
Luke Littler & Luke Humphries Open To WWE Idea
Former darts star Paul Nicholson was the first to moot the idea of a Royal Rumble in darts. The idea would be that two players would start the match, and the winner would stay on facing whoever was next. Like the Rumble, the winner would be the player left standing after everyone had entered, meaning a real disadvantage for whoever started the game.
Appearing on SPORTBible’s Agree To Disagree show, noted WWE fan and reigning PDC World Champion Luke Littler strongly agreed with the concept but noted each match would need to be just one leg before the next player emerged:
I don’t think you could go above one leg of 501. Straight away, one leg, the loser goes off, and then the next player, they’ll do the walk-on, and so on and so on.
2024 PDC World Champion Luke Humphries agreed with the idea and thinks it could offer a lighter option away from the high-stakes ranking tournaments:
I think it’d be good. The thing is, you probably couldn’t rank it or anything because you’d have to make sure you’re not taking too much away from the seriousness of the sport. But I think it would be a good laugh, a good bit of fun. I think the fans would love it as well.
Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler channelled Cody Rhodes in Madison Square Garden and has met with several WWE stars, including William Regal and Pretty Deadly.