For 20 years, the Road to WrestleMania has begun with the Royal Rumble Match, a 30-man over-the-top rope war where the winner earns an opportunity to face a World Champion on the grandest stage of them all. For that reason alone, a spot in the Royal Rumble Match itself is one of the most coveted opportunities in sports-entertainment.

What is the Royal Rumble Match and what are its rules? Here is a refresher course:

• The object of the Royal Rumble Match is to throw your opponent over the top rope. Both feet must touch the floor for their elimination to be official.
• The Royal Rumble features 30 of only the elite Superstars of WWE from Raw, SmackDown and ECW.
• Two Superstars drawn at random start the match. New Superstars enter the Rumble every 90 seconds.
• The last man standing in the ring is the winner and gets an opportunity at a World Champion in the main event at WrestleMania.
• The luck of the draw can be vital in the Rumble. Superstars who randomly draw the first two spots in the match have much less of a chance of winning than the lucky soul who grabs No. 30. However, as some past winners have shown, drawing No. 1 is not a death knell to WrestleMania main event dreams.

The only way to witness this annual spectacular is to watch it live on pay-per-view on Sunday, Jan. 27 at the Mecca of sports-entertainment, New York City's Madison Square Garden.

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