WWE stated there would be 90-second waiting intervals between each entrant in the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match. How well did WWE stick to that claim? Here are the waiting times between all 28 buzzers, in chronological order. 16 wrestlers were eliminated before the buzzer for the final entrant, and I will make note of their eliminations in parentheses.
- 1m 40s: Buzzer 1 – Kiana James
- 1m 34s: Buzzer 2 -Nia Jax
- 2m 09s: Buzzer 3 -Ivy Nile
- 1m 36s: Buzzer 4 – Lola Vice
- 2m 27s: Buzzer 5 – Candice LeRae
- 1m 35s: Buzzer 6 – Jordynne Grace
- 2m 45s: Buzzer 7 – Becky Lynch (Vice, LeRae, Nile, Jax, Bliss eliminated)
- 1m 41s: Buzzer 8 – Sol Ruca
- 1m 34s: Buzzer 9 – Roxanne Perez
- 1m 38s: Buzzer 10 – Maxxine Dupri
- 1m 47s: Buzzer 11 – Nattie
- 2m 03s: Buzzer 12 – Liv Morgan (Dupri, Lynch eliminated)
- 1m 33s: Buzzer 13 – Lash Legend
- 2m 27s: Buzzer 14 – Zelina
Vega(Grace eliminated) - 1m 31s: Buzzer 15 – Raquel Rodriguez
- 1m 54s: Buzzer 16 – Chelsea Green (Kiana eliminated)
- 1m 54s: Buzzer 17 – Giulia
- 1m 39s: Buzzer 18 – IYO SKY
- 1m 50s: Buzzer 19 – Asuka
- 2m 06s: Buzzer 20 – Rhea Ripley
- 2m 43s: Buzzer 21 – Bayley (Zelina, Green, Perez eliminated)
- 1m 26s: Buzzer 22 – Jacy Jayne
- 2m 52s: Buzzer 23 – Nikki Bella (Nattie eliminated)
- 1m 33s: Buzzer 24 – Lyra Valkyria
- 1m 57s: Buzzer 25 – Kelani Jordan (Giulia eliminated)
- 1m 24s: Buzzer 26 – Kairi Sane
- 2m 28s: Buzzer 27 – Brie Bella (Asuka, Sane eliminated)
- 1m 35s: Buzzer 28 – Tiffany Stratton
WWE’s ring announcer Mark Nash said the waiting periods were supposed to last 90 seconds, but the graphic that appeared on the screen as he spoke said the intervals are two minutes. For the purposes of this post I’m going with 90 seconds as the goal because that’s what the ring announcer said, and it mostly seems to fit the data better.
The average waiting period of this Royal Rumble match was 1m 54s, and the median time was 1m 44s.
8 of the 28 waiting periods fell within five seconds of the 90-second goal.
13 of the 28 waiting periods fell within 10 seconds of the 90-second goal.
In a perfectly timed match, the final buzzer (signaling Stratton’s entrance) would have gone off 42m 00s after the start of the match. In reality, this buzzer went off at 53m 21s.
The median entrance time for a wrestler (how much time lapses between the buzzer going off and when that star enters the ring) in the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match was 0m 34s, which for a theoretical 90-second period means there is less than one minute left for that wrestler to get her shit in before the next buzzer goes off. In reality, almost every period lasted longer than 90 seconds.
6 of the 28 waiting periods lasted longer than 2m 10s. 12 of the 16 eliminations occurred during these periods. Here is some context behind those longer intervals, in chronological order.
- The first of these periods lasted 2m 27s and saw NXT’s Lola Vice enter the match. Her entrance lasted 0m 26s, which is below the median entrance time. Vice got the spotlight using her kicks on all of the other five women in the ring. Nia Jax took over from there until she was Samoan dropped by Kiana James. That’s when the 10-second countdown clock appeared on the screen.
- The period where Jordynne Grace entered the Rumble lasted 2m 45s. Her entrance lasted 0m 25s, which is below the median entrance time. She ran wild and tossed out Vice, Candice LeRae, and Ivy Nile from the ring for the first three eliminations in the match. The period ended with two more eliminations when Charlotte Flair got rid of Jax and Alexa Bliss. The 10-second countdown clock appeared on the screen after the camera zoomed in on Alexa’s reaction to being eliminated by her tag team partner.
- The period where Lash Legend entered the match lasted 2m 27s. She had the median entrance time of 0m 34s. The camera remained on her the entire time as she mixed it up with other women in the ring. The period ended with her extended battle with Jordynne Grace. Once she eliminated Grace, the countdown clock appeared on the screen.
- Rhea Ripley joined the fray in a period that lasted 2m 43s. Her entrance lasted 0m 44s, which is higher than the median entrance time. Zelina was eliminated by Giulia during this period. Ripley then got her eliminations in, first tossing out Chelsea Green after tricking her with a salute, and then using a Razor’s Edge to get rid of Roxanne Perez. The countdown clock appeared on the screen a few seconds after Perez hit the floor.
- The longest period of this Royal Rumble lasted 2m 52s, and this is when Jacy Jayne entered the match. Her entrance time of 0m 29s was below the median. She got time to beat up various women in the ring and pose before the action focused on Ripley’s battle with Nattie. The period ended when Nattie was overwhelmed by the Judgment Day numbers game and eliminated by Liv Morgan’s finishing move. The countdown clock appeared on the screen as Liv rubbed it in Nattie’s face from a distance and high-fived Raquel Rodriguez.
- The period where Kairi Sane entered the match lasted 2m 28s. She had the median entrance time of 0m 34s. This segment was all about RHIYO fighting the Kabuki Warriors. It ended with Kairi accidentally eliminating Asuka from the match, and then IYO SKY tossing out Sane from behind. The countdown clock appeared on the screen after Sane was eliminated.
It’s also worth noting that Asuka had the longest entrance time (1m 10s) out of everyone in the match. That period lasted 2m 06s. The period where Maxxine Dupri and Becky Lynch were eliminated also lasted over two minutes. The eliminations of Kiana James and Giulia are the only ones that occurred during periods that were under two minutes.
On the other side of the spectrum, the shortest period of this Royal Rumble lasted 1m 24s, and that’s when Kelani Jordan entered the bout. She got her spots and pose in without any eliminations, and then the countdown clock appeared on the screen ahead of Kairi Sane’s entry.
So there you have it, Cagesiders. Which of the above numbers surprise you the most?
Previous Royal Rumble analyses:
