After three decades, the Royal Rumble match has given us plenty of awesome moments.
Here’s a whole bunch of ‘em!
WWE Royal Rumbleis upon us and Im pumped.
This is the wrestling equivalent of Christmas.
Then One Man Gang won!
That year, the Rumble match featured nothing but midcard acts.
After that, the Rumble has been a path to aWrestleManiatitle shot against whoever the champion may be.
While theyve been doing it annually, there have been some extra Rumbles.
When Chris Benoit won the 2004 Rumble and snuck off toRaw, Paul Heyman declared, SCREW CHRIS BENOIT!
And who could forget Hornswoggle being forced into a Royal Rumble against vertically-challenged clones of famous superstars?
I wish I could!
Having watched every Rumble all over again, heres my take on the 100 best moments.
He spent the next minute and a half, slowly walking, taking his sweet time.
I have to rank it just for style alone, but I cant rank it high.
Because the rapping wasterrible.
Usually Cena could bring out some witty stuff, but he was completely off his game.
Man, I dont even…
99.
Little did he realize that hed be taking more damage leaving the match than being in the match itself.
DREW CAREY
Royal Rumble 2001
Eh, this one was harmless fun.
The Hardy Boyz appeared to be too evenly matched and eliminated each other.
Yes, for one shining moment, Drew Carey was the last man standing.
The two briefly rubbed elbows backstage and Kane was a bit offended by Drews inclusion.
Cornered, Drew tried bribing Kane, but that didnt work.
Finally realizing how much danger he was in, Drew Carey ran over the top rope and eliminated himself.
SANTINO CLEARS THE RING…ALMOST!
Santino didnt even want to waste his energy on softening them up.
No, instead, Santino grabbed each wrestler and flung them over the top rope.
Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and Chris Jericho: all tossed over the top.
Santino stood in the middle of the ring, overjoyed and totally pumped.
read more: Every WWE Royal Rumble Winner Ranked
Unfortunately, his throwing arm needed some work.
Everyone landed on the apron and nobody was gone from the match.
SID JUSTICE VS. SGT.
SLAUGHTER
Royal Rumble 1992
During the early 90s, Sergeant Slaughter wasnt exactly known for his mobility.
He was pretty over-the-hill and lumpy and his main advantage was his methodical style.
Sid didnt seem to be aware of that or possibly just didnt care.
Slaughter broke the sound barrier hitting the ring post and skipped over it like a rock in a lake.
Seeing Slaughter fly like someone was losing a round ofSmash Bros.was one of the most rewindable moments inRoyal Rumblehistory.
Test and K-Kwik were dealt with.
Then he delivered chokeslam after chokeslam on Albert, Val Venis, Bradshaw, Crash Holly and finally Kane.
Rock clotheslined Show out of the ring and remained in the match.
Unfortunately for him, Show wasnt so pleased and dragged him out of the ring.
Big Show chokeslammed the Rock through an announce table and left in a huff.
THE MAN OF TEN
Royal Rumble 2017
Sometimes you just have to be contrived as hell.
WWE decided that that was a great idea and went with it.
Anyway, the lone entry on this list for the 2015 Rumble comes from an appearance from the Boogeyman.
Like Thanos vs. Darkseid or Ryu vs. Terry Bogard or Homer Simpson vs. Peter Griffin.
The two faced off and did all their usual creepy taunts until Wyatt easily removed Boogeyman from the ring.
He tossed the snake into the ring and good God was it gigantic.
Everyone in there cheesed it like there was no tomorrow, including Mabel launching himself through the ropes.
With the contenders whittling down, Roman threw out Luke Harper.
Ambrose saw an opportunity and threw his teammate over the top rope.
While Roman landed on the apron and staved off elimination, Rollins screamed at Ambrose for his actions.
Cesaro then sprung at them and tried to take advantage of the confusion.
Once Cena disposed of Punk, that left just him and the leprechaun.
In 2014, they cheered him by default because he was a better choice than Sheamus and Batista.
In 2015, they hated his guts for winning the match.
In 2016, the match revolved around him and the fans were still annoyed.
Roman appeared at #30, only for once, the bookers knew what they were doing with him.
Despite being the top face, they knew that the fans would hate on him and went all-in.
This meant that Kaientai and the Mean Street Posse would lose their spots.
The five were outraged, claiming that they were being persecuted for being Japanese and rich.
While the decision remained, they wouldnt let it go.
During the match, the two teams tried running in several times.
Each time, they were all taken out immediately, meaning their outrage was moot.
Taka flew over the ropes and landed face-first onto the ground, causing a great need for medical attention.
The best example came in 2008, where Shelton entered the ring like a house of fire.
CM Punk got in his way and ate the Paydirt.
Tough break, but it certainly looked cool.
LEGION OF DOOM VS.
They just didnt want to push him straight to the top just yet.
What better way than having him take on the most dominant tag team of the time?
Undertaker strangled Hawk in the corner, but soon enough, Animal came rushing in to aid his partner.
They broke free thanks to two well-timed kicks and then sent Undertaker over the top rope with a double-clothesline.
Undertaker landed on his feet and the crowd went nuts for it.
THE HURRICANE REVENGE SQUAD
Royal Rumble 2002
Speaking of double-chokes that go completely wrong…
They were both down and easy pickings for the next guy out.
As the two stumbled to their feet, Hurricane grabbed them by the throats in preparation for a double-chokeslam.
Then they grabbed him by the head and sent him sailing over the top.
Whenever I see it in old clips, I kind of have to sigh because, really!
Still, I laugh at the spot when used in theSmackDownRumble match.
Rikishi performed the move onto several victims and the one that really stood out was Shelton Benjamin.
If Matt was being pushed out of the ring, Moore would push him back in.
He did an A+ job as both a human shield and Lakitu fromMario Kart.
WRATH OF THE NEW NEXUS
2011 was the biggest Royal Rumble at the time (at least in WWE.
I once saw a Japanese Royal Rumble with well over 100 participants).
From there, they seemed unstoppable.
It was the four of them against anyone with the misfortune of coming into the ring.
Tyler Reks, Vladimir Kozlov, and R-Truth exited just as quickly as they entered.
Jerry Lawler proceeded to whine about how this wasnt in the spirit of the Royal Rumble.
The Great Khali arrived and broke the line, even succeeding in getting rid of Husky Harris.
Punk didnt last much longer anyway.
BRET HARTS REVENGE
Royal Rumble 1995
Bret Hart had a right to be angry.
Well, two could play at this game.
Officials pulled Bret away and a hurt and frightened Owen ran into the ring for asylum.
You know, where all the other guys were busy attacking anything that moved.
Owen ran right into a backdrop courtesy of the British Bulldog and was gone in three seconds.
Backlund had the same problem and took a moment to recuperate.
Doink the Clown came out and chose to play it smart…almost.
He stayed in the corner and let the two big men clobber each other.
He may have gotten away with it longer had he not laughed about it and gotten their attention.
When he came out, he made sure to set up a table near the apron facing the entranceway.
Kane stepped in to wreak havoc and got into it with Sabu.
Kane made the elimination count by clutching the throat and chokeslamming Sabu through the table.
What a way to go.
Santino crumbled and slipped under the bottom rope, where he wasnt heard from for another twelve minutes.
Santino was never eliminated!
Santino is a guy who made his debut winning a big match that he had no right winning.
Could he be the one going toWrestleMania?
Stomping dreams: what a great heel tactic.
Just how unstoppable was this guy supposed to be?
The same move that won him the Intercontinental Championship against Mr.
Perfect didnt make so much as a dent on this guy.
Thats one of the first moments you could tell they meant for Undertaker to be something special.
Vega dressed asStreet Fighters Vega decided to escape the ring and spend much of the match beneath the ring.
Apparently, being under the ring all this time, she was unaware that Hornswoggle was living there.
She then raced up the ramp with Hornswoggle still making the chase.
He stole Nunzios Rumble entry through bullying tactics and showed up at #20.
He started out on fire, delivering various suplexes and Angle Slams to everyone in the vicinity.
Moments later, Angle came to his senses and was furious.
He dove back into the ring, grabbed Michaels and dumped him to the outside.
This was WWEs way of advertising a drool-worthyWrestleManiafeud and it was certainly a great start.
As the Goldberg of the womens division, she was more than just a wrecking ball.
Against different opponents, she would act in different ways.
For some, she would hold back out of respect.
When disrespected, she would tear her opponent to pieces.
Sometimes, she recognized that she had to be on her A-game against certain threats.
Then there was Ember Moon, the only one good enough to be considered Asukas rival.
Although Ember never got a win over Asuka in NXT, she was different from the rest.
She made Asuka sweat enough that Asuka had to cut corners and exploit every weakness to get by.
Over time, Ember was able to win it herself.
At the Royal Rumble, Ember showed up.
Unfortunately for her, it was the day afterNXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
Ember retained against Shayna Baszler, but just barely and she had an injured arm to show for it.
read more: The History of Women at the Royal Rumble
73.
He just hung out under it, biding his time and occasionally sticking his head out for a peek.
This spot would constantly be brought up in Lawlers commentary for years to come.
It wasnt even really on him, but the reactions of everyone around him.
Mosh landed perfectly on his feet, transitioning immediately into a look of disappointment.
Steve Blackman did a sweet jumping roundhouse kick that was like an inch away from Kurrgans face.
He angrily yelled his scratchy-voiced nonsense, causing a nearby fan to respond with his best Kurrgan impression.
Then due to Shawn Michaels losing his smile (ugh), it became a title match.
That meant that they had to fight, right?
More specifically, that meant Grand Master was going to get flattened.
He did it via applying sunglasses to Rikishi.
Then in the middle of it, Rikishi turned on his partners and flung them out of there.
Yokozuna simply could not be beaten.
But if they couldnt stop him together, how were they going to stop him divided?
Yokozuna pretty handily won that match.
KOFIS GOT THE CHAIR!
ROYAL RUMBLE 2012
Not all chair uses in wrestling are based on offense.
Kofi Kingston got knocked out of the ring, but was able to latch onto Tensais back.
Kofi ended up on the announce table, which was a good news/bad news situation.
Good news was that he was still in the match, since he hadnt touched the floor.
The bad news was that he didnt have a chance to ever make the jump to the apron.
He made it to the apron, but his stunt was all for naught.
Cody Rhodes met him with a Disaster Kick and sent him back to the floor.
PERFECT VS. RIC FLAIR
The inclusion of Mr.
Perfect and Ric Flair into the 93 Rumble added an incredibly interesting wrinkle.
On the following night onRaw, theyd have a Loser Leaves Town Match.
Anyway, when Perfect showed up with Flair already in the ring, the place went nuts.
More importantly, Bobby Heenan on commentary went nuts, watching these two guys tear into each other.
In a preview of the next nightsRaw, Perfect decisively beat Flair to a huge ovation.
They drove off and passed an ambulance, which was driving erratically.
Their loyalty towards one another was more than a little twisted.
But the moment it was just the two of them?
Not only did they murder each other with weapons, but they did it respectfully.
If Cactus nailed Chainsaw with a chair to the head, hed let his buddy take a free shot.
A FISTFUL OF SOCKS
Royal Rumble 2012
This ones a little more upbeat.
The two stared at each other and the tension began to build.
Draw what, though?
Thats when the connection became obvious.
At the same time, Santino reached in his tights for the Cobra and Foley pulled out Mr. Socko.
True to form, Bryan snuck up on the Big Red Machine and threw him over the top.
Bryan paid for this karma when Cesaro caught him from behind and sent him to the outside.
Luckily, Bryan was caught by Kane, who held him in almost a Scooby-Doo fashion.
With a back and forth argument of, YES!
Kane finally dumped Bryan on the floor to teach him a lesson.
YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE WINNER
Royal Rumble 2010
The direction was perfect here.
Chris Jericho was the only man on his feet when it was time for #29 to come out.
For the most part, the would-be epic match was kind of there.
The main reason it will be remembered for years to come is for Titus ONeils run to the ring.
At #39, he dashed to the ring and Cole started talking up Titus week in Saudi Arabia.
With the camera on the ring, Cole and Graves suddenly lost their minds.
A replay quickly let the fans in on what happened.
Titus run ended with him tripping, slipping, and sliding under the ring.
read more: The Worst Royal Rumble Moments in WWE History
60.
Rumbles are his thing, man!
Were you going to waste his million dollar voice on Carlito and Jamie Noble?
No, you needed something a bit more memorable.
Perry Saturn, Christian, and Chuck Palumbo were all dealt with in a swift fashion.
He slid to the outside, got his hands on a dazed Christian and threw him back in.
Then he sent him flying back out.
You have something in your future.ITS A STUNNER!
Annoyed and seeking revenge, Jake came back several minutes later with his bag over his shoulder.
He poured Damien into the ring and everyone scrambled.
Thats one way to do it, I guess.
Royal Rumble 2004
Bill Goldberg was the obvious red herring of the Royal Rumble in 2004.
Goldberg came in and started delivering spears to anyone in his line of sight.
Goldberg got back up, yelled at Lesnar, and Kurt Angle snuck up to throw him out.
Vader had his stablemate Yokozuna backing him up and the two fought off the brothers with little effort.
I think those guys made one more appearance before fading into obscurity.
At least they made for a cool spot.
At the time, the only ones in the ring were Big Show, Triple H, and Mysterio.
The latter two were down for the count.
Lashley took on Big Show and let his power speak for itself.
He did this rather sweet running tackle/backdrop move that was sort of botchy, but worked out well.
Big Show fell under the bottom rope and next in was Kane.
Lashley was also able to overwhelm the Big Red Machine, putting him down with the worlds worst Dominator.
Sylvan came out next and tried to start up an alliance with Lashley.
Sylvan turned on him and immediately paid for his betrayal.
Lashley, meanwhile, paid for not finishing what he started.
He turned around to find Big Show and Kane waiting.
They knocked him out with a double-chokeslam, threw him out and fought with each other.
As fate would have it, all four ended up in the ring together in this Rumble.
Their rivalry continued to heat up, amidst all the other competitors who wanted their blood.
Haku avenged Andre by taking Ax out and the feud finally came to a head atWrestleMania VI.
He treated them well and mentored them.
Goldust made a surprise appearance in the 09 Rumble and went after his brother Cody.
Orton caught him with an RKO and then gave him to Cody.
Orton had every right to get rid of Goldust, but he allowed Cody the honor.
Afterwards, they shook hands and continued working towards Ortons goal.
Despite Londons best efforts, he ended up on the apron.
He ducked a clothesline from Snitsky and tried a counter attack.
Snitsky instead caught him with another clothesline and London sold it like a thing of beauty.
He back flipped forward, as if doing a Shooting Star Press to the ground.
The Million Dollar Man offered to pay him off, but Studd wouldnt have it.
Studd gave him the same business that he gave Virgils boss and even Ventura on commentary couldnt blame him.
read more: The 30 Best Wrestlers to Never Win the Royal Rumble
50.
ROYAL RUMBLE CO-WINNERS
Lex Luger and Bret Hart were both underdogs in 1994.
Those two ended up being the finalists and their battle was very short-lived.
It was an interesting experiment, mainly because they were able to measure the crowd reaction.
Then Beth Phoenix, only the second woman to enter the Royal Rumble, came out.
Khali refused to do her any harm, being a gentleman.
He picked her up, set her down on the apron and commanded her to go.
She had other ideas.
The torque pulled Khali out of the ring while Phoenix remained in play.
Khali got up and left, feeling that there was victory in his defeat.
Phoenix just wiped her mouth in disgust and went after Punk.
read more: Royal Rumble: Battles From Outside of WWE
48.
THE THREE FACES OF FOLEY
Cactus Jack entered at #1 and fought with his good buddy Chainsaw Charlie.
Almost ten minutes later, Chainsaw sent him packing.
Mick Foley would have his revenge when Mankind showed up at #16 and eliminated Chainsaw.
Mankind wasnt long for the Rumble and was gone in two minutes thanks to Goldust.
Then he came out a third time at #28 as none other than Dude Love.
What if Mankind lasted a half hour?
Which official okayd this idea?
How many spots can Ed Leslie fill in a Rumble, hypothetically?
Bray Wyatts teleportation edit would kick in and a confused R-Truth would appear instead.
Goofy stuff like that.
Annoyed, Kane pulled him off the ladder and eliminated him.
This showdown would be interrupted by Batista and Kane.
It was a really sweet exchange, ending with Lesnars F5 being reversed into a Tombstone.
Undertaker took his loss comparatively well, smirking at his own mistake.
He came in and shook Lesnars hand out of respect.
AtWrestlemania V, Martel turned on Santana and ended their partnership.
He became The Model and their feud was barely existent.
Except in the Royal Rumble.
It helped that Santana never went heel and Martel never turned face.
Strike Force being pissed at each other was the one thing you could always count on.
THATS NOT DEL RIO AT ALL!
Considering the quality of his car and scarf, he was literally a poor mans Del Rio.
Furious, he proceeded to brutalize the two men still in the match before storming off.
As he walked to the back, Heath Slater arrived at #5, raring to go.
Whether this was supposed to help or hinder him is anyones guess.
Finally, Sheamus walked out at #11 and saw Slater as easy prey.
Just like that, Sheamus was eliminated!
Bray Wyatt took out Slater half a minute later, so that celebration was short-lived.
Still, Slater took out a former Rumble winner in near-record timing.
The question was, who would win?
This was like that incident with Luger and Bret in 1994, only unintentional!
Finally, Vince stormed out, extremely pissed, and slid into the ring.
He tore his quad doing so and immediately collapsed.
With time running out on the PPV, he demanded a sudden death.
Then trying to leave the ring, he tore his other quad.
Batista and Cena restarted the fight and this time Batista got the decisive win.
Despite that, he was the go-to wrestler to mention when it came to quick losses.
Luckily, WWE had Santino to shatter Warlords record and I dont think itll ever be broken again.
MYSTERIOS LILY PADS
Randy Orton went on a tear, delivering RKOs to anyone who got in his grill.
That is, until he tried it on Triple H and received a Pedigree instead.
Mysterio took the fight to Triple H, but ended up falling out of the ring.
The floor is lava, but Mysterio is hot fire.
GIANT GONZALEZ
I know, I know.
The Undertaker came into the ring, his first year as a face, and proceeded to dominate.
He wasnt part of the match, but the near-8-foot Giant Gonzalez didnt care.
He was sent by Harvey Whippleman to get revenge and that he did.
It was just such a surreal situation.
EDDIE GUERRERO VS. KURT ANGLE
TheSmackDownRoyal Rumble from 2004 was a blast and its ending was top notch.
The finalists, Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero, were both underdogs.
It started with some mat wrestling and escalated when Eddie elbowed Angle in the face, upsetting him.
By the end, Angle was standing on the apron, trying to suplex Eddie out to the floor.
Eddie reversed the suplex, stopped in mid-air, rushed forward, and threw Angle to the floor instead.
Surely, whoever was next could easily take advantage of the situation and gain at least one elimination.
With his personal announcer Lamont, he entered the ring and proceeded to dance to the funk.
This didnt sit too well with Benoit and Orton, who started to regain consciousness.
At theSmackDownRumble a few nights after, Miller got a second chance.
No one could touch him!
With everyone laid out, he started dancing again and took far too long in doing so.
Kurt Angle got back up and threw him out.
This all happened during the commercial break too.
He was the loyal goon.
1994 was when that started to change.
Then Bob Backlund came out and tried to leverage him out.
Diesel put the kibosh on that and defeated him handily.
Billy Gunn showed up to avenge his brother and failed.
Then Virgil entered the fray and…well, that goes without saying.
Then Randy Savage came out and Diesel looked like he saw a ghost.
Savage didnt get rid of Diesel or even outlast him, but he did slow him down.
More guys entered the ring and soon there was enough of an alliance to hoist Diesel over the top.
Other than Koko B. Ware and the Red Rooster, there wasnt really any weak link.
Early on, Dibiase kept clearing the ring until his rival Jake Roberts showed up.
Randy Savage was next and helped Dibiase as the two beat on Jake for the next two minutes uninterrupted.
Finally, Jake got some help when Roddy Piper arrived and evened up the odds.
It helped that that show had one of the better crowds, who made any moment seem electric.
On one side, you had Diesel fighting Kama.
On the other side, you had Michaels fighting the British Bulldog.
Michaels won again and Diesel angrily said that the only reason he lived was because Diesel allowed it.
SCOTTY 2 HOTTY VS. Rather than fight each other, they simply stood side-by-side and waited for the next entry.
That was Scotty 2 Hotty, who looked none too confident.
With a wide-eyed stare, he slowly,slowlymade his way to the ring while removing his jacket.
Jim Ross described Undertaker and Kane as two big men fighting over the last chicken wing.
Scotty didnt get even a lick of offense in.
Eventually, they double-chokeslammed him and dropped the carcass off onto the mat.
read more: Ranking Every Royal Rumble
32.
EVERYONE VS. EARTHQUAKE
The Canadian Earthquake was the new hotness when he showed up in the 1990 Royal Rumble.
That meant that if he was going to lose this match, it would have to take an army.
And thats exactly what happened.
It was an army of Jimmy Snuka, Smash, Haku, Ted Dibiase, and Jim Neidhart.
Yes, Smash and Haku were willing to work together just to get Earthquake out of there.
Meanwhile, Dino Bravo was completely helpless in saving his buddy and got an earful for it.
This was the first time they ever did that kind of spot and it came off really well.
HERE COMES THE BIG SHOW!
He was exhausted and hurt and to make matters worse, Big Shows theme started playing.
Big Show didnt just come out from the back.
HeRAN OUTlike the goddamned Juggernaut.
Then shortly after, Mark Henry entered.
Orton kept making fun of him afterwards, even though he had already won the war.
He just couldnt let it go.
A look backstage showed Test laid out.
Officials swore that he wouldnt be able to compete and Austin, the guy in charge, was livid.
The mystery man reluctantly went to the ring.
That turned out to be Foley, who went right after Orton and delivered some just desserts.
Even his oldWrestleManiaopponent the Undertaker was knocked silly when he tried headbutting Snuka and it backfired.
Everyone was in awe at seeing these two legends brawl.
CM Punk sat in the corner and pointed out how exciting it was to John Morrison.
Morrison showed the same enthusiasm, then kicked Punk in the face.
Everyone went back to fighting and soon Kane came out.
In the battle of the Natural Disasters, Earthquake won and rid the ring of his overweight pal.
Typhoon took it in stride and moved on.
Later, Yokozuna showed up.
This did not go unnoticed by Earthquake and we got a really, really awesome showdown between the two.
On the left, Yokozuna did his sumo squat positioning.
On the right, Earthquake angrily jumped up and down.
The big men did battle and Earthquake was able to squash Yokozuna into the corner.
Then he missed an Avalanche, stunning himself.
Yokozuna suplexed him over the ropes and proved himself king of the monsters.
Corbin was arguably theSmackDowncounterpart to Braun at the time, so this was especially good for his resume.
Meanwhile, Zayn remained in the ring for nearly fifty minutes.
Heck, if Austin won, there wouldnt have been any more reason to keep it going.
McMahons victory only fueled the need for Austin to murder him twice over.
But this was a good start.
He got through JTG, Great Khali, Beth Phoenix, and Zack Ryder.
Kofi fell to the outside, but was able to land on his hands.
He walked on his hands towards the steps and recovered enough to climb back into the ring.
His feet never touched the floor, so it was all well and good.
For Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Big John Studd, it didnt mean all that much.
Thats why 1992 was such a major part in its history.
The Undertaker cheated to win the belt off Hogan and Hogan cheated to get it back.
Once Flair won it, where could you go with it?
1992 really felt like anyones ballgame.
read more: Every Royal Rumble Winner in WWE History Ranked
22.
Chris Jericho felt jealous of Shawn Michaels and wanted to prove himself better.
He spun around to face Michaels and it was immediately apparent that this was just Christian wearing Jerichos clothes.
But…where was Jericho?
He slid into the ring from behind and low-blowed Michaels.
Michaels would later return to help eliminate Jericho, but it wouldnt compare to how Y2J had his number.
Footage was shown of the different wrestlers getting their numbers earlier in the day, including Demolition.
The rocking Demolition theme played as Ax walked out for #1, looking none too pleased.
As everyone waited to find out who was #2, the same theme repeated and Smash came out.
They just went right at each other, no holding back.
This lasted until Andre appeared as #3 and they went back to teaming up.
Despite nine guys trying to push Viscera out, he wasnt budging.
Shawn Michaels was the next competitor out and Finlay broke apart from the pack to fight him head-on.
Dazed, Viscera couldnt defend himself when everyone went after him once again.
This time with Michaels added in, they were able to get Viscera out of the match.
It was a shocking first step.
Lesnar intended to meet up with Goldberg in the Royal Rumble and get his revenge.
Everyone else got suplexed into oblivion.
Finally, Goldberg arrived at #27.
Once again, shocking.
Both of them being well past their primes had a lot to do with it.
LET BECKY PLAY
The womens Royal Rumble in 2019 was like a self-aware version ofRoyal Rumble 2014.
Finlay agreed and let her fight.
Not only did Becky win, but in the final moments, her situation mirrored Lanas to an extent.
Her knee was busted and Nia Jax destroyed her outside of the ring.
Then Matt and Jeff reentered the ring to attack Undertaker one more time.
Undertaker forced them off and officials got them to leave.
Maven was never eliminated, but he was in no condition to compete.
A year later, Maven had the same opening and once again nailed Undertaker from behind with a dropkick.
Eventually, toughness and ego won out and the two turned on each other.
Predator, it was a, Whoever wins, we lose, situation.
Shawn Michaels saw opportunity in this.
That was unheard of!
THE NEW GENERATION VS.
THE OLD GUARD/THE SMARK CHAMPIONS VS.
THE CORPORATE HEROES
The final six combatants in the 2018 Rumble ended up splitting into two teams of three.
Romans trio came out of that skirmish as the winners, considering they took out both Orton and Mysterio.
Suddenly, the narrative of the finals changed.
After being knocked off the apron, Kofi landed in the arms of the recently-eliminated Rusev.
Rusev placed Kofi on a nearby barricade and proceeded to knee him a few times out of frustration.
Once Rusev left, Kofi stood up and assessed how far away he was from the ring.
His saves in 2015 and 2016 pale in comparison.
They tried forcing him out all together, but he instead threw them all off like they were nothing.
That was a bust too because that made Big Show dead weight and hard to deal with.
He woke up from it and sprung to life.
Angle fought with Big Show for a while and had his ankle locked in hand.
Big Show rolled forward and propelled Angle to the outside.
Big Show held him up over his head and Benoit slipped out and turned it into a guillotine choke.
Khali entered at #28 with a ring filled with wrestlers.
Miz entered at #29 and he was gone in an instant.
Michaels tried to fight him, but fell victim to Khalis two-handed chokeslam instead.
WHO CAN STOP- WHO CAN STOP THE GREAT KHALI?!
The lights went out and a gong played.
MAYBE THERE IS SOMEONE!
MAYBE THERE IS SOMEONE!
Undertaker had never been able to stand up to Khali before, so that added another layer to this.
The whole thing felt a lot like Chris Jerichos WWF debut in 1999, the best interpromotional debut ever.
PERFECT HANGS WITH THE BEST
Mr.
Perfect held his own more than anyone could have predicted.
Thats like the coolest thing ever right there.
Perfect lasted to the end, making third place and even getting further than Austin himself.
Cena had a pretty bad pectoral tear and was supposed to be out until aroundWrestleManiatime, if then.
Nobody saw it coming.
There were no leaks or spoilers that Cena was in the building and was going to show up.
The final three would end up being Cena vs. Batista vs.
Triple H with Cena coming out the winner.
It was a perfect storm of what couldnt have been.
Cena couldnt have been there.
A mystery wrestler couldnt win the Rumble.
IT TAKES A KING…
In the ring, you had Bret Hart fighting it tooth and nail with Steve Austin.
Bret was able to get Austin in the Sharpshooter and held him there as the clock counted down.
Jerry Lawlers theme music played and the King stood up from the announce booth.
To Vince McMahons surprise, Lawler revealed that he was in the match.
Immediately, Bret punched him over the top rope and a disheveled Lawler stumbled back to the announce table.
He put his headset back on and finished, …to know a king.
For the rest of the night, he played it off that he didnt even remember being in there.
Morrison stood on the apron, facing the crowd.
Regal knocked him off and that should have been an elimination.
Instead, Morrison latched onto the barricade with both feet pressed against it.
After that, thousands of people hit rewind because Jesus Christ.
Working with Gorilla Monsoon, Heenan had a stake in that Rumble, as he was Flairs financial advisor.
When Heenan saw Flair come out at #3, he lost his flipping mind.
Heenans confidence was paper thin at best as he proceeded to snap at everyone.
Hed snap at Monsoon for egging him on about Flairs chances.
Hed snap at the wrestlers for attacking Flair.
Hed snap at Flair for chopping at the Undertakers chest.
Hed pray to God to let Flair win.
Heenan calmly acted like Flair was trying to lift him up.
SHAWN MICHAELS MENTAL BREAKDOWN
Losing the Royal Rumble isnt the biggest deal.
That is, unless youre Shawn Michaels in 2010.
Having lost to the Undertaker in one hell of aWrestleManiamatch, Michaels wanted another shot at him.
Undertaker refused, so Michaels decided to earn it via the Rumble.
Towards the end, Batista got Michaels out of the ring and Michaels lost it.
He reentered the ring, acting like it would be totally okay.
Other officials forced him to leave and he walked away, catatonic.
Speaking of Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels…
4.
UNDERTAKER VS. SHAWN MICHAELS
Good God.
There are no shocking twists or gimmicks going with this finale.
Its a straight-up one-on-one battle between the last two men that just keeps going.
Rated RKO had smashed Undertakers head with a chair and Shawn Michaels was half-conscious from a variety of things.
The heels were planning on hitting Undertaker with a Conchairto (remember when that was a thing?
), but Michaels was able to distract and eliminate the two before collapsing.
Finally, Undertaker sat up and Michaels kipped up.
They went at it for a full seven minutes, keeping everyone guessing with so many false finishes.
So many ways it could have ended and the two refused to lose.
Soon they found themselves collapsed once again, just as when they started.
ONLY ONE FOOT
Shawn Michaels drew #1 and lasted for the entire Rumble.
His fellow finalist was the British Bulldog, who started at #2.
Michaels couldnt fight Bulldog head-on and got clotheslined over the top rope.
Then Shawn Michaels hit him from behind and knocked him out of the ring.
The announcer suddenly declared that Michaels was the winner after all.
He showed up at #5 and soon after was the only one left.
Bart Gunn was #6 and didnt even last half a minute before Austin got him out of there.
Austin laid on the mat, catching his breath, and Jake Roberts music played.
Austin had a history with Jake and initially responded by praying.
One minute later, Austin was once again alone.
The ring filled up soon after.
Eleven men came and went and when the smoke cleared, Austin had outlasted them all.
The crowd was really starting to get behind him, seeing him endure and make it seem easy.
Another former rival Savio Vega went after him and got snuffed out.
Jessie James didnt do much better.
Austin sat up on the top turnbuckle and waited for #21.
Bret Harts music started playing and Austin looked absolutely horrified.
But that was just a facade too.
Austin stepped forward and demanded Bret get in there.
No, Savage had to go insane and evil so they could explicitly cheer for Hogan and boo Savage.
Both being invincible supermen wrestle guys, they whittled the number of competitors down to two.
There was no way out of this.They had to fight.
They did battle it out, if briefly.
A series of shoulder blocks to measure each other led to a double-clothesline that knocked them both out.
I can watch this segment a million times and it never gets old.
Enjoy the Rumble, folks.
