Darts Royal Rumble pitched as WWE inspired tournament tipped for Phil Taylor return

Darts and WWE fans could find themselves in dreamland if both sports were ever to collide.

And that is exactly what darts pro Paul Nicholson is dreaming of. The popularity of the sport is growing thanks in major part to the incredible exploits of Luke Littler. The 17-year-old became the youngest ever World Darts Champion and is set to defend his Darts Premier League crown this year.

The typical darts calendar year is jam-packed with many televised majors, invitationals, European Tour events and the essential ranking Players Championship tournaments. Formats have varied over the years, as well as qualifying criteria and field sizes. But almost every event is the standard 501 played over legs, so other possibilities are yet to be explored in the ever-growing sport.

And variety is the spice of life for Nicholson who has suggested adding a WWE flavour to captivate fans both old and new. Record Sport takes you through the ins and outs of this new tournament idea for the PDC to ponder.

Nicholson said: "I think this idea for a Royal Rumble has been floated around for a little while now but nobody has done it before and it is still something the public really want to see. The thing about this is it is about audience interaction and it is about surprises because the person on the stage who remains there after winning, they don't know who they are going to play next. And the audience haven't got a clue who is coming."

Darts expert Chris Hammer agreed, adding: "It is the element of surprise. I would like to see this more invitationally. So you could have a legend of the past. Imagine Phil Taylor's music hits with three people left to come out. You've got Rob Cross up there and then bang, Phil Taylor comes out and he can get