Did the waiting intervals actually last 90 seconds in the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble match?

By Cain A. Knight Jan 30, 2023, 7:30pm EST

WWE stated there would be 90-second waiting intervals between each entrant in the 2023 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:

1m 31s: Buzzer 1 - Dana Brooke
1m 48s: Buzzer 2 - Emma
1m 28s: Buzzer 3 - Shayna Baszler
1m 30s: Buzzer 4 - Bayley
1m 37s: Buzzer 5 - B-Fab
1m 38s: Buzzer 6 - Roxanne Perez
1m 36s: Buzzer 7 - Dakota Kai
1m 31s: Buzzer 8 - IYO SKY
2m 17s: Buzzer 9 - Natalya
1m 42s: Buzzer 10 - Candice LeRae
2m 16s: Buzzer 11 - Zoey Stark
1m 37s: Buzzer 12 - Xia Li
2m 07s: Buzzer 13 - Becky Lynch
1m 53s: Buzzer 14 - Tegan Nox
1m 38s: Buzzer 15 - Asuka
2m 51s: Buzzer 16 - Piper Niven
1m 37s: Buzzer 17 - Tamina
1m 46s: Buzzer 18 - Chelsea Green
2m 38s: Buzzer 19 - Zelina Vega
1m 55s: Buzzer 20 - Raquel Rodriguez
1m 39s: Buzzer 21 - Michin
1m 43s: Buzzer 22 - Lacey Evans
1m 39s: Buzzer 23 - Michelle McCool
1m 40s: Buzzer 24 - Indi Hartwell
1m 26s: Buzzer 25 - Sonya Deville
2m 27s: Buzzer 26 - Shotzi
1m 43s: Buzzer 27 - Nikki Cross
1m 23s: Buzzer 28 - Nia Jax

The average waiting period was 1m 48s, while the median time was 1m 40s.

Only five of the 28 waiting periods fell within five seconds of the 90-second goal. However, 15 of the 28 waiting periods came within 10 seconds of the 90-second goal. Three of the 28 intervals lasted less than than 90 seconds, according to these results.

Out of the 15 intervals that came within 10 seconds of the goal, seven of them occurred within the first eight waiting periods.

In a perfectly timed match, the final buzzer (signaling Nia Jax’s entrance) would have gone off 42m 00s after the start of the match. In reality, this buzzer never went off because Nia’s entrance music began playing early. That moment happened at 50m 36s.

That final waiting period leading up to Nia’s entrance was the shortest of the match, lasting 1m 23s. I decided to end the clock on it when Nia’s entrance music began to play. It’s worth noting that a countdown clock did appear on the screen a few seconds after her music began to play. If the time on that clock was followed through, the final waiting period would have lasted 1m 37s. However, that clock disappeared from the screen after it ticked down to seven seconds.

Six of the waiting periods lasted longer than 2m 00s. Here is some context behind those intervals, in chronological order. You’ll see that Bayley and Damage CTRL were involved in most of these segments:

The period where IYO SKY entered the match lasted 2m 17s. Damage CTRL was in full power at this point, and the segment was all about the three members working together to eliminate Dana Brooke, Emma, and Roxanne Perez. Once Perez was tossed out, the 10 second countdown clock appeared on the screen.
The period where Candice LeRae entered the match lasted 2m 16s. The main story here was Natalya squaring off with Shayna Baszler. They fought each other onto the ring apron, leading to Damage CTRL eliminating both of them at the same time. Right after they were eliminated, the countdown clock appeared on the screen.
The period where Xia Li entered the match lasted 2m 07s. Li had a flurry of offense on a few different women early on. The segment then focused on Damage CTRL working together to eliminate Candice LeRae, setting the stage for Becky Lynch to come out next.
The period where Asuka entered the match lasted 2m 51s, which was the longest interval in the match. Asuka’s entrance took 63 seconds, revealing her new murder clown look. She had an extended one-on-one battle with Bayley. But the main thing they were waiting for here was the elimination of Tegan Nox. Once Asuka kicked her out of the ring, the countdown clock appeared on the screen.
The period where Chelsea Green entered the match lasted 2m 38s. Green took 56 seconds to get to the ring, though she was immediately eliminated in record time. The rest of the segment was all about Becky and Damage CTRL. Becky eliminated IYO SKY and Dakota Kai, only to then be eliminated by Bayley. Bayley was tossed out by Liv Morgan. Lynch and Damage CTRL then brawled through the audience and we never saw them again. That’s when the countdown clock appeared on the screen.
The period where Sonya Deville entered the match lasted 2m 27s. Sonya quickly eliminated Zoey Stark upon entering the ring. Deville and Asuka went at it one-on-one, exchanging kicks that put them both on the mat. The focus then shifted to Lacey Evans using the Cobra Clutch to knock out Zelina Vega and dump her out of the ring for an elimination. The countdown clock appeared right after Vega’s body hit the ground.

The median entrance time for the women’s Royal Rumble match was 33.5 seconds, which is quite long but still five seconds short of the men. This is the time between the buzzer going off and when that new wrestler officially enters the ring. That would be about 37.2% of an actual 90 second waiting period.

So there you have it, Cagesiders. Which of the above numbers surprise you the most?

Previous Royal Rumble analyses: