Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: Royal Rumble, wrestling, wwe

2023 Royal Rumble Breaks All the Records According to WWE

WWE is calling the 2023 Royal Rumble the "highest-grossing and most-viewed Royal Rumble in company history," with merchandise and sponsorship up too.

Published Mon, 30 Jan 2023 18:37:11 -0600

by Jude Terror

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Multiple records were set at the WWE Royal Rumble on Saturday. Gunther became the person to last the longest time in a Royal Rumble match after entering at number one and lasting all the way until the end, when he was eliminated by Cody Rhodes. In a more dubious accomplishment, Chelsea Green broke the record for fastest elimination in a Women's Royal Rumble match when Rhea Ripley ejected her just five seconds after she entered at number twenty. Bray Wyatt also set a new record for quickest erosion of goodwill after a return by participating in another epicly bad gimmick match, the Mtn Dew Pitch Black Match.

WWE® SMASHES ALL-TIME GATE & VIEWERSHIP RECORDS AT ROYAL RUMBLE® (Photo: Business Wire - Press Release) — WWE® SMASHES ALL-TIME GATE & VIEWERSHIP RECORDS AT ROYAL RUMBLE® (Photo: Business Wire – Press Release)

But according to a press release from WWE, even more records were broken in what the company is claiming is "WWE's highest-grossing and most-viewed Royal Rumble in company history."

The event set a new all-time gate record at more than $7.7 million, far surpassing the previous Royal Rumble high in 2017 by more than 50 percent. Viewership of the event saw a 52 percent increase versus the previous record set in 2022.

In addition, the 2023 Royal Rumble broke all-time venue merchandise and sponsorship records. Merchandise sales were up 135 percent versus the record set in 2022. Royal Rumble sponsorship revenue was up nearly 200 percent versus 2022 and featured the first-ever sponsored match (MTN DEW PITCH BLACK) and sponsored countdown clock (Applebee's).

On social, the Roman Reigns-Sami Zayn videos generated 20 million-plus views across all WWE platforms and became the most-viewed WWE clip of 2023. Additional highlights include Logan Paul and Ricochet's high-flying collision which amassed 26.5 million views across WWE and Paul's platforms, and the launch of Reigns' TikTok account which netted 100K followers in the first 24 hours.

So in terms of WWE making a buttload of money, it looks like this year's Royal Rumble was a huge success. And with Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley gunning for top titles in the company, it could end up being very successful in the eyes of fans as well.

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