In the WWE, the 'Royal Rumble' has taken place every year since 1988. One of the highlights of the year for wrestling fans, Paul Nicholson believes the format is something that could be introduced into the darts world as well.
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The Royal Rumble is based on a Battle Royal match, in which 30 wrestlers try to eliminate other competitors. The winner of the match is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated. It is often packed full of surprise entrants, returning legends and even stars of other organisations.
Nicholson, a former winner of the Players Championship Finals, thinks such an event would gain popularity in the darts world as well. "I think this idea of a darting Royal Rumble has been around for a while now but nobody's done it and it's still something that the public want to see," Nicholson said.
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"This idea of starting two players on stage after drawing number one and number two and playing each other in whatever format is chosen. At the conclusion of that, someone else comes out at position 3, then you have another match before number 4 and so on and so on."
"The thing about this is, it's about audience interaction and it's about surprises because the person on the stage who remains there after winning, doesn't know who they're going to play next and the audience doesn’t have a clue who's coming," Nicholson continues. "The ability of this format to give something else to the fans, that element of 'we don't know what's coming next.' Everybody wants a bit of a surprise and this delivers it."
What are your thoughts on this idea? Let us know if you'd like to see it in action or not!
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.