How Royal Rumble Inspired a New Kind Of Singing Game

It’s 1992 and I'm glued to our television set as I watch Royal Rumble for the first time with my brothers. Sprawled across a thick green carpet, eyes fixated, cherryade in hand, the main event begins.

Chaos unfolds as the wrestling ring fills up. You don't know where to look as up to 12 superstar wrestlers are exchanging blows, teaming up and trying to get each other over the top rope. Mayhem takes over until only one remains.

Every couple of minutes a countdown begins and the audience joins in:

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3! 2!! 1!!! BUZZZZZZ!!

It’s followed by a moment of silence as the anticipation sets in. Which wrestler will come out next????

It could be your hero who goes on an ass-kicking spree, an arch enemy of a wrestler waiting for this very moment for revenge, or it could be the guy who runs in and gets tossed straight back out without even throwing a punch.

1 hour, 2 minutes and 2 seconds of carnage later, Ric Flair — who was the 3rd one in out of 30 — emerges victorious.

This event remained my favourite, and it was never short of unpredictable action for years to come. The main thing that kept the energy high was the countdown, buzzer, and the pure excitement we felt as the next wrestler revealed himself from behind the curtain.

Fast forward to 2026, and I'm playing BLiP with some friends. It's a new singing format that we created to add more flow to parties. We rented a space at a bar in North London, hooked up our mics and began jamming.

After a medley of songs and plenty of larking around, everyone was laughing and jumping in whenever they recognised a song. Then during a break, it hit me. The countdown. The buzzer. The anticipation of what was coming next. Somehow, without consciously realising it, I'd built some of the same ingredients into BLiP.

So what is BLiP?

Instead of full karaoke songs, tracks are shortened to the parts everyone knows and loves, typically a verse and chorus. When the buzzer sounds, pass the mic and jump straight into the next song. No long gaps. No song selection. No waiting around.

You never know what song is coming next - that's part of the fun! As the countdown on the screen reaches 0:00, a buzzer drops on the beat and the next song is up.

It's another classic. People cheer. Mics are grabbed and spontaneous performances follow. The host has lined up a playlist of mp3s with their friends in mind. All music is welcome, not just karaoke friendly songs. As long as its something memorable to sing to.

BLiP creates a different kind of group singing experience, and something interesting happens. The shorter format removes a lot of the pressure that can come with karaoke. Guests who would never sing a full song often join in, while confident singers enjoy taking on whatever appears next.

The surprise of the next track keeps people engaged. The countdown creates suspense. The unknown pulls people in.

What made Royal Rumble so exciting to me wasn't just the wrestling. It was the format. The action would be happening, then suddenly the countdown would appear. Everyone knew something was about to change, but nobody knew exactly what.

Action. Countdown. Anticipation. Buzzer. Reveal. Reaction. Then straight back into the action.

BLiP had somehow ended up with a very similar rhythm.

A song is playing and everyone is singing along. The countdown gets closer to zero and people start wondering what's coming next. The buzzer hits, the next track drops and suddenly there's a reaction.

Someone recognises it instantly and grabs a mic. Someone who wasn't planning on singing suddenly joins in too. A memorable minute and a half happens. — one that probably would never have happened if they'd had to commit to singing the full song.

Then, before the energy has a chance to disappear, you're already into the next moment.

That's what I realised that night in North London. I'd set out to solve something completely different — the waiting around and stop-start nature that can happen with karaoke — but somewhere along the way, a wrestling format I'd loved as a kid had found its way into the idea.

More than 20 years later, I ended up putting those same ingredients somewhere I never would have expected.

Into a singing game.