WWE Royal Rumble 2011 has 40 Participants

The WWE announced earlier in the week that this year's Royal Rumble will feature not 30, but 40 participants. That's a 10 wrestler increase from the usual format, making many wonder why?

Just looking at the two Nexus factions, Wade Barrett's group on Smackdown, and CM Punk's on Raw, that's almost 1/4th of the Rumble. It seems like having all of these men as part of the match will stories more than produce a winning participant.

Having 40 wrestlers in the match also makes it a strong possibility that someone from one of the championship matches will end up entering the Rumble. It's possible that either Dolph Ziggler or Randy Orton loses their match, then gets into the Rumble somehow to get the big win.

There's also the possibility that a Superstar makes a surprise return to the Rumble. This could be Triple H or The Undertaker at this point. Either one could win the match and go on to a headlining match at WM27.

Or it could be to give the winner the ultimate in bragging rights after the win. Someone like Alberto Del Rio could continually claim that he won the biggest Rumble ever, a match featuring 39 other superstars. It would be similar to the claim that Chris Jericho could hold about defeating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night.

Either way, January 30th, 2011 is going to offer one interesting Royal Rumble match!