WWE Royal Rumble 2012: How Lucky Is Being the Final Entrant in the WWE Classic?

With being the final entrant in the Royal Rumble, you would think the superstar who draws the final entrant would have the easiest road of any of the other 29 entrants in completing the task of winning the classic January battle royal. 

If I can steal Lee Corso's line from College GameDay "not so fast, my friends," the final entrant in the Royal Rumble hasn't enjoyed much success in the event over the past 25 years of the event with the biggest prize in the WWE on the line, a trip to the main event of WrestleMania.

1988: Junkyard Dog

In the very first Royal Rumble in Hamilton, Ontario, the Junkyard Dog was the 20th and final entrant in the now classic WWE event as the Hall of Famer only lasted a little more than two minutes in the match as he was eliminated by the 14th entrant, Ron Bass, in 1988.

1989: Ted Dibiase

Even with his gimmick of being able to buy himself out of any bad situation, the Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase, was the first 30th entrant in the Royal Rumble history along with being able to last three times as long as the Junkyard Dog did in the previous at more than six minutes as he was eliminated last by the winner Big John Studd.

1990: Mr. Perfect

Curt Hennig, or Mr. Perfect how he was known in the WWE at the time, entered the 1990 Royal Rumble as the last entrant lasting about three-and-a-half minutes until running into Hulk Hogan in the final moments and being the last superstar eliminated by the Hulkster.

1991: Tugboat

In the 1991 Royal Rumble, winner Hulk Hogan became the first superstar to win back-to-back Rumbles in the history of the WWE at the expense of Tugboat, who was eliminated by the winner Hogan 21st during the match as Hulkamania ran wild for the second straight year at the Rumble in Miami, FL.

1992: The Warlord

It took a combination of Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice to eliminate the 300-pounder as the Warlord lasted the shortest time of any 30th entrant in the Royal Rumble with a time of one minute and 43 seconds in the ring before being sent over the top rope to the floor in the fifth anniversary of the event.

1993: Randy Savage

After being eliminated when drawing the 21st entrant into Royal Rumble last year, Randy Savage was completely overmatched by the massive Yokozuna as the Macho Man was sent out the ring by the former WWE champion after being in the ring for nine minutes in the 1993 Rumble.

1994: Adam Bomb

Whether you know him as Adam Bomb, Wrath or simply by his actual name, Bryan Clark, the former WCW tag team champion spent just five seconds short of five minutes in the Royal Rumble match for that year before being eliminated by eventual co-winner Lex Luger.

1995: Crush

Just like his former tag team partner the year before, Brian Adams, or Crush as he was known in 1995, lasted about three minutes longer than Bryan Clark in his turn with the No. 30 entrant in the '95 Royal Rumble before getting eliminated by the British Bulldog.

1996: Duke Droese

Duke "the Dumpster" Droese should have just thrown his No. 30 entrant in the garbage just like in the gimmick that he portrayed at the time as the combination of Kama and Diesel sent him back to the dump after spending a scant 70 seconds in the Rumble.

1997: The Undertaker

In the first of the Phenom's two draws of the 30th entrant in his career, the Undertaker was eliminated by the eventual winner Stone Cold Steve Austin even though the Rattlesnake sneaked back into the Royal Rumble after being eliminated by Bret Hart earlier in the match.

1998: Vader

With his immense size and power, Vader was not able to use those advantages with his No.  30 draw for the 1998 Royal Rumble as Goldust eliminated the former WCW champion after only being in the match for a little more than two minutes.

1999: Chyna

After winning the D-Generation X and Corporation battle royal on Raw to determine the No. 30 entrant, Chyna became the first woman to compete in the Royal Rumble as she eliminated the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, while in the match before being eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin.

2000: X-Pac

The one-time member of both D-Generation X and New World Order, X-Pac, didn't have any luck with his No. 30 draw in the first Royal Rumble of the new century as he was sent flying over the top rope by the Big Show.

2001: Rikishi

After winning the No. 30 draw in a match earlier in the month on SmackDown, Rikishi was eliminated by the No. 13 entrant, the Rock, in the match whom he tried to form an alliance with following the Samoan running down Stone Cold Steve Austin with an automobile at the 1999 Survivor Series.

2002: Booker T

While having a great deal of success during his time in WCW, the former six-time world heavyweight champion, Booker T, had no luck in his first appearance in the Royal Rumble as he was eliminated only 33 seconds into the match after receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Steve Austin that sent him over the top rope.

2003: The Undertaker

After shockingly being eliminated by Maven at the 2002 event, the Phenom came back with a vengeance in the 2003 Royal Rumble as the Undertaker eliminated five different superstars including John Cena and Kane before being eliminated by eventual winner Brock Lesnar.

2004: Goldberg

Goldberg was left vulnerable following an attack by WWE champion Brock Lesnar, who ran into and gave the former WCW star an F-5, which was easy pickings for Kurt Angle who eliminated him from the match and set up the match between Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania 20.

2005: Ric Flair

After more than a decade since his win at the 1992 Royal Rumble, the Nature Boy Ric Flair was the 30th entrant in the 2005 Royal Rumble as the future ultimate opportunist Edge saw the opening and eliminated the legendary world champion from the match.

2006: Randy Orton

While it seemed like the No. 1 entrant, Triple H, and the No. 30 entrant, Randy Orton, was going to take the Rumble, the much smaller Rey Mysterio found a way to eliminate the two larger superstars to win the match from the No. 2 entrant in the 2006 Royal Rumble.

2007: The Undertaker

After 20 years of the Royal Rumble in the WWE, the Undertaker became the first superstar to win the January classic as he sent his future WrestleMania rival Shawn Michaels from the match to win in 2007.

2008: John Cena

Following the Undertaker's win the previous year from the No. 30 draw in the 2007 Royal Rumble, John Cena made a surprise return as the final entrant in the 2008 Rumble as he sent Triple H over the rope and out of the ring with an Attitude Adjustment to win the match.

2009: The Big Show

Even though he's a favorite every year because of his size compared to others in the Rumble, the Big Show was once again tossed over the rope in the 2009 Royal Rumble by the eventual winner Randy Orton after being in the match for just under 10 minutes.

2010: Batista

Five years after his win in the 2005 Royal Rumble, Batista had a great advantage on repeating the feat in 2010 but was thwarted by Edge, who made a surprise return to the WWE from injury, as the Animal was eliminated in his final Royal Rumble of his pro wrestling career.

2011: Kane

Even though being one of the most dominant superstars in the Royal Rumble, Kane was only in the 2011 event for just a little more than a minute and a half as one of the biggest superstars was eliminated by arguable the smallest when Rey Mysterio eliminated the Big Red Machine.

2012: ?

Will the 30th entrant in the 2012 Royal Rumble have luck like the Undertaker and John Cena or fall into the category of the other superstars that failed to win the match from the final draw?

Chris Humphrey is a featured columnist for BleacherReport.com. He has covered everything from college football, college basketball, UFC, NFL, NBA and the WWE in his short time writing for the website. You can become a fan of him on B/R and follow him on Twitter @_CBH_.