Royal Rumble (2013) was the twenty-sixth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE. It took place on January 27, 2013 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the first WWE pay-per-view of 2013, and featured the traditional Royal Rumble match.
The Rock won the WWE Championship for the 8th time and ended CM Punk's 434 day reign as WWE Champion. Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed heels or faces as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
On July 23, 2012, during Raw 1000, The Rock announced that he would challenge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. During the same episode WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena each stated that they would face The Rock as defending champion; later that night, The Rock was attacked and laid out by Punk which marked the start of Punk becoming a heel character. Punk defended the championship for the rest of the year, while on December 23, 2012, The Rock tweeted to CM Punk that he was ready for the Royal Rumble. On the January 7 episode of Raw, Punk retained the WWE Championship by defeating Ryback in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match after interference from The Shield group, who had also interfered during Punk's defence against Ryback and John Cena at Survivor Series; this win secured Punk as the wrestler who would defend against The Rock. On the January 21 episode of Raw while speaking about beating Punk at the Rumble, Rock was assaulted by The Shield. Following the assault, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that if The Shield interfere in the match, Punk will be stripped of his championship.
On the December 31, 2012 episode of Raw John Cena announced he would enter the 2013 Royal Rumble match, making him the first confirmed entrant in the competition, and stated his desire to be WWE Champion.[9] On the January 4, 2013 episode of SmackDown Randy Orton and Sheamus both announced they would participate in the Royal Rumble match as well, both wanting to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On subsequent episodes of Raw and SmackDown numerous wrestlers confirmed their participation: Dolph Ziggler claimed Cena had entered the match to hide from him, so Ziggler entered himself to stop Cena; 3MB (Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, and Drew Mcintyre) announced all three members were entering; Wade Barrett was confirmed on the 20th Anniversary of Raw; The Miz announced on his entry during commentary of Main Event; Antonio Cesaro announced his entry by interview. On the January 21 episode of Raw a Beat The Clock Challenge was held with the winner being able to pick their entrance number. Ziggler defeated The Miz in the fastest time (due to beating Orton's time over Cesaro and Sheamus vs Barrett ending in a time limit draw), but Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero (after Ziggler barged into her office and gloated about winning) declared that his choice was between the first and second entry. On the same episode, Ryback announced his entry into the Royal Rumble after defeating Slater, while The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) and Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) also promised to win the match. On the January 25th, 2013 edition of SmackDown, Kofi Kingston and The Great Khali announced their entries into the Royal Rumble.
Big Show began a feud with Alberto Del Rio after humiliating Del Rio's personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, sarcastically picking him to fight Show for the World Heavyweight Championship during "Champion's Choice Night" on the New Year's Eve 2012 episode of Raw, leading to a disqualification win for Big Show after Del Rio interfered. On the January 11, 2013 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Show in a Last Man Standing match for the championship. Three days later on Raw, Show announced that he would invoke his rematch clause at the pay-per-view. The week after, he made the match a Last Man Standing Match.
Event:
The pre-show match featured reigning United States Champion Antonio Cesaro defending his title against The Miz. During the match, Miz attempted a diving attack and injured his leg. Shortly after, Cesaro won after landing the Neutralizer.
Before the first match started, a backstage segment was shown with Bret Hart wishing Alberto Del Rio good luck in his match. He then gave Ricardo Rodriguez a pair of his signature sunglasses.
The first match on the card featured reigning World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio defending his title against Big Show in a Last Man Standing match, who invoked his rematch clause after losing the title to Del Rio on SmackDown two weeks previous in the same style match. After Del Rio managed to beat the count after being chokeslammed through a table from an elevated position on the entrance stage, he managed to win when he locked in the Cross Armbreaker while Rodriguez duct taped Show's legs to the bottom rope. Show was unable to free himself in time and was counted out.
The second match on the card featured reigning WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) defending their titles against Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow). The match ended when Bryan applied the No! Lock on Sandow, forcing him to tap out.
The fourth match was the annual Royal Rumble match. 1.) Dolph Ziggler (Eliminated by Sheamus). 49:47 2.) Chris Jericho (Eliminated by Dolph Ziggler). 47:53 3.) Cody Rhodes (Eliminated by John Cena). 27:39 4.) Kofi Kingston (Eliminated by Cody Rhodes). 21:18 5.) Santino Marella (Eliminated by Cody Rhodes). 0:55 6.) Drew McIntyre (Eliminated by Chris Jericho). 2:40 7.) Titus O’Neil (Eliminated by Sheamus). 7:30 8.) Goldust (Eliminated by Cody Rhodes). 9:41 9.) David Otunga (Eliminated by Sheamus) 4:24 10.) Heath Slater (Eliminated by John Cena). 15:49 11.) Sheamus (Eliminated by Ryback). 37:23 12.) Lord Tensai (Eliminated by Kofi Kingston). 5:37 13.) Brodus Clay (Eliminated by Chris Jericho, Heath Slater, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus and Darren Young). 3:47 14.) Rey Mysterio (Eliminated by Wade Barrett). 10:43 15.) Darren Young (Eliminated by Kofi Kingston). 2:51 16.) Bo Dallas (Eliminated by Wade Barrett). 21:42 *1 17.) The Godfather (Eliminated by Dolph Ziggler). 0:05 18.) Wade Barrett (Eliminated by Bo Dallas). 17:34 19.) John Cena (Winner). 26:39 20.) Damien Sandow (Eliminated by Ryback). 16:26 21.) Daniel Bryan (Eliminated by Antonio Cesaro). 6:55 *2 22.) Antonio Cesaro (Eliminated by John Cena). 7:50 23.) The Great Khali (Eliminated by Kane). 3:08 24.) Kane (Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). 1:46 25.) Zack Ryder (Eliminated by Randy Orton). 2:34 26.) Randy Orton (Eliminated by Ryback). 10:20 27.) Jinder Mahal (Eliminated by Sheamus). 2:10 28.) The Miz (Eliminated by Ryback). 5:08 29.) Sin Cara (Eliminated by Ryback). 3:27 30.) Ryback (Eliminated by John Cena). 9:06
Order of Eliminations: 1) Santino Marella 2) Drew McIntytre 3) Titus O’Niel 4) David Otunga 5) Goldust 6) Brodus Clay 7) Tensai 8) Darren Young 9) Kofi Kingston 10) The Godfather 11) Heath Slater 12) Cody Rhodes 13) Rey Mysterio 14) The Great Khali 15) Kane 16) Daniel Bryan 17) Zack Ryder 18) Antonio Cesaro 19) Jinder Mahal 20) Wade Barrett 21) Bo Dallas 22) Damien Sandow 23) Sin Cara 24) The Miz 25) Chris Jericho 26) Randy Orton 27) Dolph Ziggler 28) Sheamus 29) Ryback Winner – John Cena
*1 - Barrett was already eliminated when he reached up and pulled Dallas (who was standing on the ropes) over the top rope, eliminating him. *2 - Cesaro threw Bryan out of the ring, who was then caught on the outside by Kane (who had already been eliminated). Kane then dropped Bryan to the floor, completing the elimination.
The main event and fifth match on the card featured reigning WWE Champion CM Punk defending his title against The Rock. During the match, Rock attempted to Rock Bottom Punk through the Spanish announce table, but the table collapsed beneath them. Rock quickly landed another Rock Bottom successfully outside the ring, but Punk kicked out after being rolled into the ring and covered. When Rock attempted a People's Elbow the arena went dark and Rock was attacked by an unknown entity, believed by the commentators to be The Shield. When the lights came back, the assailant(s) were nowhere to be found, and Rock had been driven through the English announce table, allowing Punk to roll him into the ring and get the winning pin. As he celebrated with the title, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came out and reminded Punk that if the Shield interfered (which while McMahon said he couldn't see it, he knew enough to realize what had happened) he would strip him of the title. Before he could however, the Rock said he wanted to take the title from Punk and told McMahon to instead restart the match. Vince did so, and Rock won the match with a spinebuster followed by The People's Elbow, winning the WWE Title for the eighth time and ending Punk's historic reign at 434 days.
Matches Pre-show: Antonio Cesaro (c) defeated The Miz Singles match for the United States Championship 07:37 1 Alberto Del Rio (c) defeated Big Show Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship 17:02 2 Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) (c) defeated Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) Tag Team match for the Tag Team Championship 09:25 3 John Cena won by last eliminating Ryback 2013 Royal Rumble match 55:05 Making him the fourth wrestler to win multiple Rumble matches 4 The Rock defeated CM Punk (c) (with Paul Heyman) Singles match for the WWE Championship. If The Shield interfered in the match, Punk would be stripped of the title.[16] Match was restarted after The Shield interfered. Rock convinced Vince McMahon to restart the match after McMahon was originally going to strip Punk of the belt. 23:40
Royal Rumble (2012) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE, which took place on January 29, 2012 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the 25th annual Royal Rumble event.
Theme song "Dark Horses" by Switchfoot
Attendance 18,121
Background
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches which involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main event from Raw featured CM Punk defending his WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler. On the December 26, 2011 episode of Raw, Punk was put into a gauntlet match by Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis, with the stiplulation that if either one of Jack Swagger, Ziggler, or Mark Henry defeated Punk, they would receive a championship match against the latter the next week. Ziggler won the match after Punk was distracted by Laurinaitis throwing out Vickie Guerrero and Swagger from ringside. The next week, during the title match, Punk was counted out as a result of another intervention from Laurinaitis. However, since titles cannot change hands via countout, Punk retained the championship. After the match, Laurinaitis announced that Punk would defend his championship against Ziggler in a rematch at the Royal Rumble, with himself acting as the special guest referee. Then on the January 9, 2012 edition of Raw, Punk faced Swagger in a singles match, Laurinaitis added a stipulation that if Swagger lost, he and Vickie Guerrero would be banned from ringside at the pay-per-view; Punk won the match, and thus, Guerrero and Swagger are banned from ringside during the championship match. Additionally, a week later on the January 16 episode of Raw, in a segment with Mick Foley, Laurinaitis revealed that he was using this opportunity to cost Punk his title for disrespecting him.
Another match heading into the Royal Rumble from Raw featured John Cena against Kane. Upon returning to the WWE on the December 12 edition of Raw, after an absence of nearly four months, Kane interrupted Cena's match against Mark Henry, and though it was ironically Henry who put him out of action, he bypassed him and attacked Cena, choke slamming him before revealing his new mask. While demanding an explanation for these events the next week on Raw, Cena was again attacked by Kane, who revealed in the next several weeks of his desire to have Cena "embrace the hate" (his current on-screen character and t-shirt promoting otherwise) within caused by the anti-Cena crowd who continued to boo him. When Cena dismissed any intentions of doing so, Kane not only continued his attacks on Cena, but began to direct his attention to his close friend Zack Ryder, assaulting him as well, to the point of injuring him (kayfabe), ultimately leading to Ryder losing his United States Championship to Jack Swagger on the January 16, 2012 episode of Raw, under orders from John Laurinaitis. The same night, Laurinaitis put Cena in a one-on-one match against Kane at the Royal Rumble, in addition to booking Cena in a match against Swagger. Before the match even officially started, Cena started to attack Swagger aggressively to avenge Ryder's loss, prompting Kane to appear on the TitanTron and congratulate him to have started "embracing his hate". On the January 23 episode of Raw, during a Falls Count Anywhere match (in which Lauranaitis had prevented Cena from interfering, on the pretext of never granting Ryder a rematch for the United States Championship if he did so), Kane chokeslammed Ryder through the entrance stage, incapacitating him. As Ryder was stretchered and taken away in an ambulance, Eve Torres (Ryder's storyline girlfriend) blamed Cena for Ryder's injuries, leading to Cena knocking the microphone out of interviewer Josh Mathews' hand in frustration, and donning a very aggressive look in response to this entire situation.
The main event from SmackDown involved Daniel Bryan defending his World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match against Big Show and Mark Henry. In December 2011, at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, after Big Show defeated Henry in a Chairs match to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, Bryan immediately cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Big Show, after a post-match attack on the latter by Henry. Using his rematch clause, Big Show faced off against Bryan on SmackDown, only for the champion to agitate Henry at ringside, who pushed Bryan, thus ending up losing via disqualification but retaining his title. The following week on SmackDown, Bryan defended his title against Big Show again, this time in a No Disqualification, No Count-Out match, which ended in a no contest, when Big Show accidentally ran into and injured Bryan's storyline girlfriend, AJ. The next week on SmackDown, Henry finally enacted his rematch clause against Bryan in a lumberjack match; however, that match also ended up as a no contest, when the lumberjacks became too hostile because of how Bryan had agitated them, and the post-match scenario erupted into a large brawl involving nearly everyone. This forced SmackDown's General Manager Theodore Long to officially book Bryan, Big Show and Henry in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.
As per tradition, the event was highlighted by the over-the-top-rope elimination Royal Rumble match, which featured the traditional thirty entrants, a year after having a forty man field, the largest in the history of the event. The winner would receive his choice of either a World Heavyweight or a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII.
Reception
The Sun gave the event a rating of a 6.5 out of 10, stating that it "felt like a funshow for much of the night, but with precious little substance".
Matches
# Match Stipulations Time
Dark Yoshi Tatsu defeated Heath Slater Singles match 4:00
1 Daniel Bryan (c) defeated Big Show and Mark Henry Triple Threat Steel Cage match for 9:08 the World Heavyweight Championship
2 The Bella Twins and The Divas of Doom (Beth Eight-Diva tag team match 5:29 Phoenix & Natalya) defeated Alicia Fox, Eve, Kelly Kelly and Tamina
3 John Cena fought Kane to a double countout Singles match 10:56
4 Brodus Clay (with Cameron Lynn and Naomi) Singles match 1:05 defeated Drew McIntyre
5 CM Punk (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler Singles match for the WWE Championship 14:32 with John Laurinaitis as special guest referee. Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger were banned from ringside.
6 Sheamus won the Royal Rumble match Winner receives his choice of a WWE 54:54 by last eliminating Chris Jericho Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania XXVIII
(c) – refers to the champion heading into the match
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time
1 The Miz Raw 25 Show 45:39
2 Alex Riley Raw 1 The Miz 01:15
3 R-Truth Raw 2 The Miz 04:57
4 Cody Rhodes Smackdown 24 Show 41:55
5 Justin Gabriel Smackdown 4 Foley & Rodriguez 06:12
6 Primo Raw 3 Foley 01:57
7 Mick Foley Legend 8 Rhodes 06:34
8 Ricardo Rodriguez Raw 5 Marella 02:19
9 Santino Marella Raw 7 Rhodes 02:31
10 Epico Raw 6 Foley 00:11
11 Kofi Kingston Raw 18 Sheamus 17:55
12 Jerry Lawler Raw 9 Rhodes 00:43
13 Ezekiel Jackson Smackdown 11 Khali 03:46
14 Jinder Mahal Smackdown 10 Khali 01:17
15 The Great Khali Smackdown 14 Rhodes & Ziggler 07:29
16 Hunico Smackdown 16 Kharma 09:00
17 Booker T Smackdown 13 Rhodes & Ziggler 04:40
18 Dolph Ziggler Raw 26 Big Show 19:46
19 Hacksaw Jim Duggan Legend 12 Rhodes 00:56
20 Michael Cole Raw 15 Lawler & Booker T 01:23
21 Kharma Raw 17 Ziggler 01:00
22 Sheamus Smackdown -- WINNER 22:21
23 Road Dogg Legend 19 Barrett 04:55
24 JeyUso Smackdown 20 Randy Orton 07:03
25 Jack Swagger Raw 23 Sheamus & Big Show 07:59
26 Wade Barrett Smackdown 21 Randy Orton 03:55
27 David Otunga Raw 22 Jericho 03:15
28 Randy Orton Smackdown 28 Jericho 05:46
29 Chris Jericho Raw 29 Sheamus 11:34
30 Big Show Smackdown 27 Randy Orton 01:51
Royal Rumble (2011) was the 24th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on January 30, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
The main event was the 2011 Royal Rumble match which, for the first time ever, featured 40 participants as compared to the usual number of 30
This event received 446,000 buys, which is slightly lower than the 462,000 that the previous year's event received.
The Biggest Royal Rumble in History
Theme song(s)
"Living in a Dream" by Finger Eleven
Attendance 15,113
Background
The Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. As opposed to the traditional thirty participants, forty entrants were scheduled for the 2011 Royal Rumble match, the most in the history of the event. Per Royal Rumble rules, the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 39 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor; the winner then earns a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVII.
In addition to the Royal Rumble match, the main rivalry from the Raw brand involved the WWE Champion The Miz defending his title against Randy Orton. The night after Survivor Series, The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Orton to become the WWE Champion before successfully defending it against Orton a month later at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After defeating Wade Barrett and Sheamus, in a steel cage match on an episode of Raw, Orton received another opportunity at the title in a match against The Miz.
The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand involved the World Heavyweight Champion Edge defending his title against Dolph Ziggler. After defeating "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and The Big Show, Ziggler won a title opportunity for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship after Kane lost to Edge in his rematch. After winning his opportunity, Edge went on a campaign against Ziggler and his girlfriend, Edge's ex-wife, Vickie Guerrero. On the January 28 episode of SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager in place of the injured Theodore Long, banned the use of the spear and would strip him of his title if he was caught using it during his match against Ziggler.
Reception
Royal Rumble received positive reviews, most notably from Arda Ocal and Jim Korderas of Right After Wrestling on SIRIUS Radio 98, who called it one of the best Royal Rumble matches in recent memory. Writing for the United Kingdom's The Sun newspaper, Rob McNichol praised the event, particularly noting Alberto Del Rio's surprise Rumble match victory, and John Morrison's impressive performance which, he wrote, "featured arguably the spot of the decade as John Morrison was knocked from the apron to the guardrail, but avoided elimination by gripping the barrier and leaping back onto the steps. It truly had to be seen to be believed". He further praised Dolph Ziggler's performance in a big-match situation, giving a 9 out of 10 rating in his match with Edge and the story the Miz–Orton told, in a match that received a 8 out of 10. Overall he awarded the event 8.5 out of 10. SLAM! Wrestling writers Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk shared similar compliments to the event, praising the short, though crowd-pleasing appearances of Kevin Nash and Booker T. Overall, they also awarded the event a score of 8.5/10.
Results
# Match Stipulations Times
Dark R-Truth defeated Curt Hawkins Royal Rumble Qualifying Match 04:20
1 Edge (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship. If Edge used the spear on Ziggler, he would have lost the title. 20:48
2 The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated Randy Orton Singles match for the WWE Championship 19:52
3 Eve Torres defeated Natalya(c), Layla and Michelle McCool Fatal Four Way Match for the WWE Divas Championship 04:07
4 Alberto Del Rio won by last eliminating Santino Marella 2011 Royal Rumble match 1:10:02
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations A new entrant came out every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time 1 CM Punk Raw 21 Cena 35:21 2 Daniel Bryann Raw 08 CM Punk 20:55 3 Justin Gabriel Smackdown 01 Bryan 00:58 4 Zack Ryder Raw 02 Bryan 00:43 5 William Regal Raw 03 Ted DiBiase 04:10 6 Ted DiBiase Raw 07 Harris and McGillicutty 12:16 7 John Morrison Raw 10 CM Punk 13:24 8 Yoshi Tatsu Raw 05 Mark Henry 05:35 9 Husky Harris Raw 15 Great Khali 15:48 10 Chavo Guerrero Smackdown 04 Mark Henry 02:01 11 Mark Henry Raw 11 CM Punk, Harris, McGillicutty, and Otunga 07:04 12 JTG Smackdown 06 McGillicutty 01:48 13 Michael McGillicutty Raw 20 John Cena 15:07 14 Chris Masters Smackdown 09 CM Punk 01:58 15 David Otunga Raw 19 John Cena 12:56 16 Tyler Reks Smackdown 12 CM Punk 00:34 17 Vladimir Kozlov Raw 13 CM Punk 00:40 18 R Truth Raw 14 CM Punk 01:00 19 The Great Khali Raw 16 Mason Ryan 01:37 20 Mason Ryan Raw 18 John Cena 04:32 21 Booker T Smackdown 17 Mason Ryan 01:08 22 John Cena Raw 36 The Miz 33:17 23 Hornswoggle Smackdown 24 Sheamus 09:39 24 Tyson Kidd Raw 22 John Cena 00:53 25 Heath Slater Smackdown 23 John Cena 00:57 26 Kofi Kingston Smackdown 31 Randy Orton 22:04 27 Jack Swagger Smackdown 25 Rey Mysterio 15:41 28 King Sheamus Raw 32 Randy Orton 18:16 29 Rey Mysterio Smackdown 35 Wade Barrett 19:07 30 Wade Barrett Smackdown 37 Randy Orton 22:23 31 Dolph Ziggler Smackdown 27 Big Show 07:12 32 Diesel Raw 26 Wade Barrett 02:45 33 Drew McIntyre Smackdown 29 Big Show 04:46 34 Alex Riley Raw 28 John Cena & Kofi Kingston 02:50 35 Big Show Smackdown 30 Ezekiel Jackson 01:30 36 Ezekiel Jackson Smackdown 33 Kane 07:14 37 Santino Marella Raw 39 Alberto Del Rio 12:54 38 Alberto Del Rio Smackdown N/A WINNER 08:33 39 Randy Orton Raw 38 Alberto Del Rio 09:18 40 Kane Smackdown 34 Rey Mysterio 01:36
The Miz was not a participant in the Royal Rumble match.
Royal Rumble (2010) was the twenty-third annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 31, 2010 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands.[4] As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania XXVI) for his choice at either the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, or the ECW Championship.
Royal Rumble 2010 received approximately 462,000 buys, which was up from 450,000 buys in 2009
I Am The One
Theme song(s) "Hero" by Skillet "Martyr No More" by Fozzy
Attendance 16,697
Other on-screen talent
Commentators Michael Cole Jerry Lawler Matt Striker Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Ring announcers Tony Chimel (SmackDown) Justin Roberts (Raw, Royal Rumble) Savannah (ECW)
Referees Mike Chioda John Cone Jack Doan Aaron "Goose" Mahoney Chad Patton Charles Robinson
Background
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw, SmackDown, ECW and WWE Superstars—World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers were from WWE's Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.
The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor. The winner would earn a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVI.
On the December 15, 2009 episode of ECW, general manager Tiffany made an announcement that the ECW brand would host a competition called the "ECW Homecoming", in which the winner will face Christian for the ECW Championship at Royal Rumble. Featuring current and former superstars from the ECW brand, the first round of the competition consisted of eight singles matches. The winners of the matches would then qualify to the "Homecoming Finale" on the January 12, 2010 edition of ECW, where they would fight in an eight-man battle royal that will determine the competition winner. The first two qualifying matches were featured later that night with Ezekiel Jackson defeating Vladimir Kozlov and Kane defeating Zack Ryder. On the December 22, 2009 episode of ECW, Jack Swagger returned in a losing effort to Yoshi Tatsu, while Vance Archer advanced with a victory over Goldust. On the December 29, 2009 episode of ECW, Matt Hardy and Evan Bourne defeated Finlay and Mike Knox respectively to qualify. The two remaining qualifying matches were held on the January 5, 2010 episode of ECW and saw Shelton Benjamin defeating Chavo Guerrero and CM Punk defeating Mark Henry to qualify. Ezekiel Jackson won the "Homecoming Finale", last eliminating Kane, to earn the right to face Christian at Royal Rumble.
On the January 4 episode of Raw, a fatal four-way match was held to determine the number one contender for WWE United States Championship featuring Montel Vontavious Porter, Mark Henry, Carlito and Jack Swagger. Porter emerged victorious by pinning Swagger, and earned a match against The Miz for the championship.
It was announced on December 31, 2009 on the company's official website that The Undertaker would be defending the World Heavyweight Championship at Royal Rumble; the means of determining the challenger was stated to be via the "Beat the Clock Sprint", a series of matches that sees who ever wins their match in the fastest time would be declared number-one contender. The sprint, held on the January 1, 2010 edition of SmackDown, consisted of four matches, in which CM Punk, Kane, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Matt Hardy and Batista could qualify for if they won their matches in the quickest amount of time. CM Punk defeated Matt Hardy in his match, setting the time at 7:20. The next match featured Kane and Ziggler; both failed to beat the time limit, thus ruling both men out of winning the match and advancing to the match against for the World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Jericho later lost to Rey Mysterio with one second to spare. Mysterio defeated Jericho in 7:19, setting the new time to beat. The final match was Batista versus R-Truth, where the match resulted in another time-limit draw, due in part to interference from Mysterio. Despite Mysterio being ruled number-one contender, onscreen consultant Vickie Guerrero overruled the standing, announcing another contenders match the following week between Mysterio and Batista, who had disputably won his match. The rematch between the two on the January 8, 2010 episode of SmackDown was declared a no contest following both men being incapacitated. Another rematch between the two was held on the following week, this time inside a steel cage. Mysterio won the match, earning him the right to face The Undertaker at Royal Rumble.
The main event for Raw was determined on the January 11, 2010 edition with guest host Mike Tyson announcing the winner of a Triple Threat match later that night between John Cena, Kofi Kingston, and Randy Orton would advance to face Sheamus at Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. Orton ultimately won with the help of Legacy, who took out Cena and Kingston for him.
Since November of the previous year, WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool had been relentlessly insulting Mickie James over a perceived weight issue. The two had a match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, which saw McCool win, continuing the torment.[20] James confronted McCool on the January 15 episode of SmackDown during a mocking monologue about James, leading to the champion assaulting her. It was also confirmed that day that McCool would defend her title again at Royal Rumble against James.
Event
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, an untelevised match was shown to the crowd pitting the fan favorite team of Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, and Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie) against the villainous team of Maryse, Katie Lea Burchill, Jillian Hall, Alicia Fox, and Natalya in a 10-Diva tag team match. Kelly Kelly earned the victory for her team by pinning Jillian after a diving crossbody.
Preliminary matches
After the show commenced, the first match to air on the live show was a singles match and featured Christian defending the ECW Championship against Ezekiel Jackson. Jackson was accompanied by William Regal. Both men earned the advantage over each other in earlier part of the match until Regal tried to interfere by attempting a cheap shot on Christian but the referee noticed it and sent him to the backstage. Jackson got the upper hand and dominated Christian for most of the match and got several near falls on the champion. Christian would eventually Sleeper hold. Jackson caught Christian and drove his lower back in the corner twice. Jackson attempted it a third time until Christian hit the Killswitch. Christian followed it by pinning Jackson to retain his title.
After the match, a backstage segment featured SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long appreciating the ECW General Manager Tiffany for booking the ECW Championship match. They were interrupted by Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad), The Great Khali and the WWE United States Champion The Miz. Long booked Miz to defend the WWE United States Championship in the following match against Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). Miz defended the title against MVP in the second match of the event. Miz dominated the earlier part of the match until MVP hit the Playmaker. MVP followed it with a pinfall attempt but Miz kicked out. MVP would continue to dominate Miz until Miz left the ring to recover. MVP followed Miz outside the ring and Miz went back to the ring. MVP entered the ring and Miz pinned MVP with a small package to retain his title.
The third match featured Sheamus defending the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. As the match started, Orton got the upper hand on Sheamus until Sheamus got control of Orton and dominated most of the match, hitting his power moves and injured Orton's left arm Sheamus tried to finish the match as he tried to hit Orton with the Pale Justice. However, Orton countered the move and kicked him on the apron outside the ring and Rope Hung DDT. Orton followed it up with a near-fall. He tried to hit a running punt on Sheamus' head but Sheamus countered and focused on Orton's left arm. As Sheamus was about to get the momentum, Orton's teammate Cody Rhodes interfered by jumping the guard rail and attacked Sheamus. Orton followed by hitting Sheamus with a RKO. He tried to pin Sheamus but since Rhodes attacked Sheamus, the referee disqualified Orton and awarded Sheamus the victory by disqualification. After the match, Orton confronted Rhodes until Orton attacked Rhodes. Ted DiBiase came out to rescue Rhodes but got attacked by Orton. Sheamus recovered and knocked out Orton with a Brogue Kick and celebrated his victory.
The fourth match of the event was to feature Michelle McCool defending the WWE Women's Championship against Mickie James. McCool was accompanied by Layla. Before the match began, McCool started taunting James by calling her "Piggy James" and Layla had worn a fat suit to mock James. James came out for the match and hit Layla with a clothesline and entered the ring to start the match. As the match started, Layla tried to attack James but McCool accidentally hit Layla with a Big Boot. James took the advantage and hit McCool with a Mickie DT. James followed it by pinning McCool for her fifth and final WWE Women's Championship.
Main event matches
The fifth match featured The Undertaker defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Rey Mysterio. Mysterio used his quickness against Undertaker to get the upper hand but Undertaker quickly got control of Mysterio and tried to hit him with an Elevated Powerbomb, which he calls "Last Ride". Mysterio countered the move by jumping into the ropes and hit a backflip by bouncing off the ropes. Mysterio got the control of Undertaker and hit many of his quick moves. Undertaker eventually dominated Mysterio with a Last Ride attempt, but Mysterio tossed him into the ropes and hit his "619" (a tiger feint kick). Mysterio hit a second 619 on Undertaker and tried to hit a splash through the ropes but Undertaker caught Mysterio and hit him with a Last Ride to retain his title.
The final match on the card was the main event, 2010 Royal Rumble match. The match was started by Dolph Ziggler and Evan Bourne, but both were quickly eliminated by the third entrant CM Punk. After eliminating both men, Punk began talking on the microphone, boasting of his intention to the win the match. Punk also eliminated the fourth entrant, JTG, before being stopped by The Great Khali, the fifth entrant. The sixth person to enter the match was WWE Diva Beth Phoenix, who became only the second WWE Diva to participate in a Royal Rumble, after Chyna. Phoenix eliminated Khali, but pulling him over the top rope while kissing him, but was eliminated by Punk immediately afterward. Punk also eliminated Zack Ryder, number seven to enter the match, after hitting him with the microphone.
Triple H entered in the eighth position, and quickly began dominating Punk and the ninth competitor Drew McIntyre. Punk was the seventh person eliminated when Triple H threw him over the top rope. Ted DiBiase joined the match as entrant number 10, and allied himself with McIntyre, with the duo double teaming Triple H. Entrants 11, 12, and 13 were John Morrison, Kane, and Cody Rhodes respectively, who all briefly dominated the match upon their entrant. Rhodes allied himself with his regular tag team partner DiBiase, with the pair focusing in on Kane. Montel Vontavious Porter, the fourteenth entrant, was attacked by The Miz during his ring entrance and taken backstage by medical personnel without entering the match. The fifteenth entrant Carlito joined the match, followed by The Miz at number 16. Porter returned to the match, entering and immediately eliminating both himself and The Miz. The seventeenth entrant, Matt Hardy, was quickly eliminated by Kane, who was in turn immediately eliminated by Triple H who proceeded to control the match. He was joined by his tag team partner, the other half of D-Generation X, Shawn Michaels, and between them they eliminated all other competitors in the match, leaving the duo alone in the ring.
Michaels and Triple H were immediately joined by the nineteenth entrant, John Cena. After Triple H was attacked by Cena, Michaels performed a "Sweet Chin Music" (superkick) on Triple H and eliminated him. Entrant number 20, Shelton Benjamin was quickly eliminated by Cena, as was the twenty-first entrant, Yoshi Tatsu. Entrants 22 and 23, The Big Show and Mark Henry entered and took control of the match. Competitor 24, Chris Masters, was quickly eliminated by The Big Show. As Henry and The Big Show were trying to lift each over the ropes, the twenty-fifth entrant R-Truth joined the match and eliminated both men from behind. Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston entered the match, with Kingston eliminated both Swagger and R-Truth. Chris Jericho entered the ring as the twenty-eight participant. Cena eliminated Kingston before Edge, the twenty-ninth entrant, entered the ring, making his return following a six-month hiatus due to injury. Edge speared all the competitors in the ring, before eliminating Jericho. Batista was the final participant in the match, entering at number 30. Batista eliminated Michaels, who tried to rejoin the match only to be stopped by the referee, and leaving three final competitors. Cena eliminated Batista, and Edge eliminated Cena to win the 2010 Royal Rumble match.
Aftermath
After failing to win the Royal Rumble match and losing an Elimination Chamber qualifying match to Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship against Chris Jericho in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber. As a result, Michaels challenged Undertaker to a rematch of their WrestleMania XXV match at WrestleMania XXVI. Undertaker agreed on the term that if Michaels lost, he would retire from professional wrestling. A stipulation was added that the match would be contested under no disqualifications and no count-outs. At WrestleMania, Undertaker defeated Michaels to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 18–0 and Michaels was forced to retire.
As a result of winning the 2010 Royal Rumble match, Edge earned the opportunity to wrestle for a world championship of his choosing at WrestleMania XXVI. After Chris Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship from The Undertaker in an Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, Edge announced that he would wrestle Jericho for the title. At WrestleMania, Jericho defeated Edge to retain the title. The rivalry ended after Edge defeated Jericho in a Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules.
John Cena eliminated Batista from the Royal Rumble match, which started a conflict between Batista and Cena. On the February 1, 2010 edition of Raw, Cena rescued Bret Hart from an assault by Batista and Vince McMahon. After the show ended, Cena tried to help Hart but was attacked by Batista. At Elimination Chamber, Cena won the WWE Championship from Sheamus in an Elimination Chamber match. After the match, McMahon ordered Cena to defend the title against Batista. Batista defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship. At WrestleMania XXVI, Cena defeated Batista to regain the WWE Championship. Cena would retain the title against Batista in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules and in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit, which forced Batista to quit WWE.
After Royal Rumble, Christian and Ezekiel Jackson continued to feud over the ECW Championship. On the final episode of ECW on February 16, 2010, Jackson defeated Christian in an Extreme Rules match to become the final ECW Champion.
Reception
The Royal Rumble has received generally positive reviews from critics. The Sun in a positive review gave praise to Edge's Rumble victory and Rey Mysterio's and The Undertaker's performances in the World Title match, though criticized the US title match as rushed and poorly booked, and the short length and quality of the Rumble match. The Women's match was praised for its build up following the event, but received mostly negative reviews because of the little time the match had. Overall they awarded the event an 7 out of 10.
Results
# Matches Stipulations Times
Dark Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres 10-Diva tag team match Unknown and The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie) defeated Maryse, Katie Lea Burchill, Jillian Hall, Alicia Fox, and Natalya
1 Christian (c) defeated Ezekiel Jackson Singles match for the ECW Championship 11:59 (with William Regal)
2 The Miz (c) defeated Montel Vontavious Porter Singles match for the WWE United States Championship 7:30
3 Sheamus (c) defeated Randy Orton by disqualification Singles match for the WWE Championship 12:25
4 Mickie James defeated Michelle McCool (c) (with Layla) Singles match for the WWE Women's Championship 00:20
5 The Undertaker (c) defeated Rey Mysterio Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 11:07
6 Edge won by last eliminating John Cena 2010 Royal Rumble match 49:24
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time
1 Dolph Ziggler Smackdown 2 CM Punk 02:29 2 Evan Bourne Raw 1 CM Punk 02:26 3 CM Punk Smackdown 7 Triple H 10:04 4 JTG Smackdown 3 CM Punk 00:25 5 The Great Khali Smackdown 4 Beth Phoenix 01:39 6 Beth Phoenix Smackdown 5 CM Punk 01:37 7 Zack Ryder ECW 6 CM Punk 00:32 8 Triple H Raw 17 Michaels 17:51 9 Drew McIntyre Smackdown 16 Michaels & Triple H 14:43 10 Ted DiBiase Raw 14 Michaels 12:40 11 John Morrison Smackdown 15 Michaels 11:37 12 Kane Smackdown 11 Triple H 07:59 13 Cody Rhodes Raw 13 Michaels 07:54 14 Montel Vontavious Porter Raw 9 Himself 00:07 15 Carlito Raw 12 Michaels 04:34 16 The Miz Raw 8 MVP 00:17 17 Matt Hardy Smackdown 10 Kane 00:20 18 Shawn Michaels Raw 27 Batista 20:45 19 John Cena Raw 29 Edge 22:11 20 Shelton Benjamin ECW 18 Cena 00:48 21 Yoshi Tatsu ECW 19 Cena 00:29 22 The Big Show Raw 22 R-Truth 04:04 23 Mark Henry Raw 21 R-Truth 02:24 24 Chris Masters Raw 20 Big Show 00:29 25 R-Truth Smackdown 24 Kingston 04:09 26 Jack Swagger Raw 23 Kingston 02:06 27 Kofi Kingston Raw 25 Cena 02:51 28 Chris Jericho Smackdown 26 Edge 02:24 29 Edge Smackdown - Winner 07:19 30 Batista Smackdown 28 Cena 05:24
Shawn Michaels reached a record 39 eliminations in all his all Royal Rumble participations beating the previous record set by Stone Cold Steve Austin
Royal Rumble (2009) was the twenty-second annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 25, 2009 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands.[2] As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania XXV) for his choice at either the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship or the ECW Championship.
Theme song "Let It Rock" by Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne Attendance 16,685
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Michael Cole (Raw) Jerry Lawler (Raw, Royal Rumble) Jim Ross (Smackdown, Royal Rumble) Tazz (Smackdown) Todd Grisham (ECW) Matt Striker (ECW) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish) Ring announcer Lilian Garcia (Raw) Justin Roberts (SmackDown, Royal Rumble) Tony Chimel (ECW)
Referees Scott Armstrong Mike Chioda Jack Doan Marty Elias Chad Patton Charles Robinson
Royal Rumble 2009 featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines played out on Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and ECW on Sci Fi – World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or in a series of matches. The event featured wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees were assigned to a television program of the same name.
The prime match scripted into Royal Rumble 2009, the annual Royal Rumble match, has featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. The match featured 30 male wrestlers from WWE's three brands; WWE officially announced 23 participants. The match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring after the elimination of all the 29 other wrestlers. (Participants eliminate opponents by tossing them over the top ring-rope and making both their feet touch the floor.) The winner earned an opportunity to challenge for the WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW Championship at WWE's April WrestleMania XXV pay-per-view.
The main rivalry from the Raw brand played out between John Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) over the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL earned his championship match against Cena after winning a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match—a standard match in which the last remaining competitor who has not been eliminated is declared the winner—on the December 29, 2008 episode of Raw by defeating Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels.
Another rivalry from the Raw brand came with Melina challenging Beth Phoenix for her WWE Women's Championship in a singles match. Melina won the opportunity to face Phoenix on the December 29, 2008 episode of Raw by winning a battle royal, a match similar to the Royal Rumble, though with fewer competitors.
The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand incorporated into the Royal Rumble featured Jeff Hardy and Edge, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. At WWE's previous pay-per-view event, Armageddon, Hardy had defeated defending champion Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match, a standard match involving three wrestlers, to win the WWE Championship. On the January 2, 2009 episode of SmackDown, on-air authority figure Vickie Guerrero announced that Edge would face Hardy for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble
The ECW brand's main rivalry, that between Jack Swagger and Matt Hardy, had the two feuding over the ECW Championship. On the January 13, 2009 edition of ECW on Syfy, Swagger defeated Hardy to capture the ECW Championship. On the January 16 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, WWE announced that Swagger would defend the ECW title against Hardy in a rematch at the Royal Rumble.
Aftermath
On the January 26 episode of Raw, The Legacy came out with two lawyers and a therapist. Randy Orton then revealed that he suffers from IED, which causes him to experience violent outbursts when provoked, losing all control of his emotions and actions. According to Orton and his lawyers, Orton had told Stephanie McMahon that if fired, he would not only take DiBiase and Rhodes with him but the whole locker room, as he would bring in a lawsuit against the company.
The Raw brand started the qualifying matches for the brand's upcoming Elimination Chamber match at WWE's next pay-per-view event, No Way Out. Three of the qualifying matches saw Kofi Kingston defeat Kane, Rey Mysterio defeat William Regal and Chris Jericho defeat CM Punk to qualify. In a fourth qualification match, Shawn Michaels failed to win a match against John Cena that would have made JBL eligible to participate in the Elimination Chamber.
The ECW Championship feud between Jack Swagger and Matt Hardy had officially finished when ECW's on-air authority figure Theodore Long announced on the January 27 episode of ECW that Hardy had requested a move to the SmackDown brand. Swagger had other problems as his ECW title belt was stolen by Hornswoggle. When Hornswoggle's storyline father, Finlay, urged Hornswoggle to give the title back to Swagger, Swagger shoved Hornswoggle to the ground, which caused Finlay to knock down Swagger with his own title.
On the January 30 episode of SmackDown, Matt Hardy proclaimed that he had no remorse about smashing his brother Jeff in the head at the Royal Rumble and costing him the WWE Championship. He then told the universe that he no longer considered Jeff a partner or a sibling.[16] There were three Elimination Chamber qualifiers for No Way Out. The first match being The Undertaker versus Mark Henry, which Undertaker won via submission with the Hell's Gate. The second qualifier match was The Big Show defeating Festus with a K.O. Punch. The last qualifier was a triple threat match featuring Triple H, The Great Khali and Vladimir Kozlov. Triple H won the match after he delivered a Pedigree to Khali to pick up the victory.
Reception
The event was well received by critics. The Sun noted the high quality of the matches, the surprising results, Matt Hardy's heel turn, and a superior-quality Royal Rumble match. Randy Orton's victory was also well praised as it set up an intriguing story for WrestleMania XXV, however, the win was also seen as obvious and predictable. The Sun ended its review with a high 9-out-of-10 score.
Results
# Matches Stipulations Times
Dark Jimmy Wang Yang defeated Paul Burchill Singles match Unknown 1 Jack Swagger defeated Matt Hardy Singles match for the ECW Championship 10:27 2 Melina defeated Beth Phoenix (with Santino Marella) Singles match for the WWE Women's Championship 05:56 3 John Cena defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (with Shawn Michaels) Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 15:29 4 Edge (with Chavo Guerrero) defeated Jeff Hardy No Disqualification match for the WWE Championship 19:22 5 Randy Orton won by last eliminating Triple H. 2009 Royal Rumble match 58:37
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time
1 Rey Mysterio Raw 20 Big Show 49:24 2 John Morrison ECW 6 Triple H 19:32 3 Carlito SD 3 Kozlov 06:11 4 Montel Vontavious Porter SD 2 Kozlov 03:52 5 The Great Khali SD 1 Kozlov 01:30 6 Vladimir Kozlov SD 4 Triple H 02:40 7 Triple H SD 29 Orton 49:55 8 Randy Orton Raw -- Winner 48:27 9 JTG Raw 7 Undertaker 11:59 10 Ted Dibiase Raw 27 Triple H 45:11 11 Chris Jericho Raw 23 Undertaker 37:17 12 Mike Knox Raw 19 Big Show 32:42 13 The Miz ECW 5 Triple H 01:18 14 Finlay ECW 21 Kane 29:59 15 Cody Rhodes Raw 28 Triple H 37:01 16 The Undertaker SD 26 Big Show 32:29 17 Goldust Raw 8 Rhodes 01:11 18 CM Punk Raw 18 Big Show 22:29 19 Mark Henry ECW 9 Mysterio 03:14 20 Shelton Benjamin SD 10 Undertaker 04:17 21 William Regal Raw 11 Punk 04:23 22 Kofi Kingston Raw 12 Kendrick 06:58 23 Kane Raw 24 Orton, Rhodes and DiBiase 18:21 24 R-Truth SD 17 Big Show 12:06 25 Rob Van Dam Legend 22 Jericho 13:56 26 The Brian Kendrick SD 13 Triple H 00:15 27 Dolph Ziggler Raw 14 Kane 00:21 28 Santino Marella Raw 15 Kane 00:01 29 Jim Duggan Raw 16 Big Show 02:50 30 The Big Show SD 25 Orton 09:32.
Royal Rumble (2008) was the twenty-first annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 27, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands. The event was also the first WWE pay-per-view broadcast in high definition. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania XXIV) for his choice at either the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, or the ECW World Championship.
Theme song "Stand Up For Rock 'N' Roll" by Airbourne
Attendance 20,798
Other on-screen talent Commentator Jonathan Coachman (SmackDown, Royal Rumble) Michael Cole (SmackDown, Royal Rumble) Jerry Lawler (Raw, Royal Rumble) Jim Ross (Raw, Royal Rumble) Joey Styles (ECW, Royal Rumble) Tazz (ECW, Royal Rumble) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Mike Adamle Ring announcer Lilian Garcia (Raw) Justin Roberts (SmackDown) Michael Buffer (Royal Rumble)
Referee Scott Armstrong (ECW) Mike Chioda (Raw) Jack Doan (Raw) Marty Elias (Raw) Mickie Henson (SmackDown) Jim Korderas (SmackDown) Chad Patton (Raw) Charles Robinson (SmackDown)
Background
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and ECW on Sci Fi – World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. The event featured wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands – a storyline division in which WWE employees were assigned to a television program of the same name.
The main feud on the Raw brand was between the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship, which was held by Orton. Orton retained the title at Armageddon against the returning Chris Jericho after being disqualified, when the then-SmackDown! broadcaster John "Bradshaw" Layfield ran-in, and booted Jericho in the head. Orton retained the championship, as a result, due to titles not changing hands on disqualifications. On the same night earlier, Jeff Hardy had defeated Triple H to earn the opportunity to face Orton at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. The following night, on the December 17, 2007 edition of Raw, Hardy teamed up with Shawn Michaels to take on Orton and Mr. Kennedy. Hardy gained advantage over Orton, and pinned the champion after a Swanton Bomb to earn the victory for himself and Michaels. Two weeks later, on the last Raw of 2007, Hardy and Orton met face-to-face in an in-ring segment. Orton looked set to RKO Hardy, but Hardy countered, and delivered the Twist of Fate to Orton. Later in the night, Hardy looked set to defeat Santino Marella, until Orton appeared on the Raw TitanTron and stated that he had kicked Jeff's brother Matt where his appendix used to be, proceeding further to punt him in the head. The following week on a special "Raw Roulette" edition of Raw, Hardy defended his Intercontinental Championship against Umaga in a Steel Cage match. Hardy managed to overcome the odds in the Cage, jumping off the top of the cage onto Umaga and hitting a Whisper in the Wind to defeat Umaga. On the January 14, 2008 edition of Raw, Hardy agreed to face Orton that night with his Intercontinental Championship on the line. However, as soon as the bell rang for the match, Orton immediately low-blowed Hardy, getting himself disqualified. Orton tried to deliver an RKO to Hardy on the concrete floor outside that he had exposed by removing the black floor padding, but Hardy retaliated and the two began to brawl up the ramp. When Orton looked set to kick Hardy in the head, the Intercontinental Champion countered and back-dropped Orton onto the arena floor below. Hardy then climbed 30-feet above on the Raw set, and then Swanton Bombed off the side of the set onto Orton below. The following week on Raw, Hardy and Orton were scheduled to "shake hands", but Hardy instead shook the hands of "people he respected more than Orton", like Lilian Garcia, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross, and several fans in the crowd before re-entering the ring to confront Orton. A frustrated Orton ordered Hardy to shake hands with him, but Hardy performed a Twist of Fate on the WWE Champion instead.
The main feud on the SmackDown brand was between Rey Mysterio and Edge with the two feuding over the latter's World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won a Beat the Clock Challenge on the January 4, 2008 edition of SmackDown! defeating Edge with 90 seconds to go, and securing an opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.
The rivalry between Chris Jericho and John "Bradshaw" Layfield started in Jericho's WWE Championship match against the defending champion, Randy Orton, at Armageddon. During the match, Orton whipped Jericho over the SmackDown! announce table straight into JBL. As Jericho tried to get up, he ended up "nudging" JBL out of his way. Later in the match, Jericho had Orton trapped in the Walls of Jericho, when, JBL stormed into the ring and gave a kick to Jericho's face, thus giving the win to Jericho, but via disqualification, and hence, Jericho did not win the WWE Championship. This led to an argument the next night on Raw, where Jericho, who was angry about not becoming the new WWE Champion, ended up stating to JBL, who confronted Y2J via satellite from the Raw TitanTron, that "John, you are no longer a wrestling god, you're a wrestling afterthought". Afterward, JBL gave his farewell address as SmackDown color commentator on the December 21, 2007 airing of Friday Night SmackDown and announced his return as an active wrestler on Raw. When JBL made his return to Raw on December 31, entering in his personal limousine with balloons and confetti shooting from the ceiling, and proceeded to address the crowd, Jericho quickly interrupted his promo and the two got engaged in a brawl along the barricade. The following week, Jericho was put into a handicap match against Snitsky and JBL. The match started with Snitsky and Jericho in the ring, but, soon after Jericho hit a Springboard dropkick on Snitsky, JBL came into the ring and attacked Jericho from behind. JBL get the better of this confrontation as he hit Jericho on the head with the ring bell and tied a cable wire around his neck. JBL then dragged Jericho, by the wire, from near the ring to the Raw set, where he assaulted him some more. Jericho suffered from a bruised larynx, burns around his neck, and had difficulty speaking for a week.Prior to the annual Royal Rumble match, several qualifying matches for the match took place on Raw. The first qualifying match was on the December 31, 2007 edition of Raw as Umaga quickly defeated Jim Duggan to earn a place in the Rumble. Snitsky also defeated Drew McIntyre at a house show in White Plains, New York to also qualify for the Royal Rumble. Triple H failed to beat Ric Flair; therefore he was no longer allowed to compete in the Royal Rumble match, per the order of Raw General Manager William Regal. After Triple H destroyed part of the lower TitanTron on the January 14 Raw, however, Vince McMahon announced he would allow Triple H a second chance at the Royal Rumble if he could defeat his opponent on the January 21 edition of Raw. The Game defeated Snitsky, Mark Henry, and William Regal in a gauntlet match to gain entry.
Royal Rumble qualification matches
Umaga defeated Jim Duggan – Raw, December 29 (aired December 31)
Snitsky defeated Drew McIntyre – Raw house show, January 4
Hardcore Holly defeated Trevor Murdoch – Raw house show, January 5
John Morrison and The Miz defeated Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore – SmackDown/ECW house show, January 6
Hornswoggle and Mick Foley defeated The Highlanders (Robbie & Rory McAllister) – Raw, January 7
Jamie Noble defeated Chuck Palumbo – SmackDown, January 8 (aired January 11)
Cody Rhodes defeated William Regal – Raw house show, January 11
Carlito and Santino Marella defeated – Raw house show, January 12 DH Smith & Super Crazy in a tag team match
Shawn Michaels defeated Trevor Murdoch – Raw, January 14
Triple H defeated Snitsky, Mark Henry, and – Raw, January 21 Williams Regal in an Over the Top Rope Gauntlet match
CM Punk defeated Chavo Guerrero – WWE supershow, January 26
Aftermath
The next night on Raw, John Cena said that he did not want to wait until WrestleMania to face Randy Orton. The two agreed to face each other at No Way Out for the WWE Championship. In the match, Cena won after Orton intentionally got himself disqualified. As a result, Orton retained the title. At No Way Out, Triple H won Raw's Elimination Chamber match by pinning Jeff Hardy last after a Pedigree on a steel chair and earned the right to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. At WrestleMania XXIV, Randy Orton would go on to retain the WWE Championship against Triple H and John Cena in a Triple Threat match.
Rey Mysterio received a rematch against Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out. Edge defeated Mysterio, who had suffered a biceps injury prior to the match. The Undertaker also won SmackDown's Elimination Chamber by pinning Batista last after a Tombstone Piledriver and earned the right to face Edge at WrestleMania XXIV. The Undertaker would go on to win the World Heavyweight title from Edge at WrestleMania XXIV via Submission using the gogoplata submissive choke.
The Ric Flair retirement storyline continued as Flair defeated Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) that same week on SmackDown in a rematch, which he won by disqualification. He then faced Mr. Kennedy at No Way Out. Flair defeated Kennedy to further extend his wrestling career. Shawn Michaels would defeat Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV thus ending the career of Ric Flair.
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Dark Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang defeated Deuce 'n Domino Tag team match Unknown 1 Ric Flair defeated Montel Vontavious Porter Career Threatening match 07:48 2 John "Bradshaw" Layfield defeated Chris Jericho by disqualification Singles match 09:23 3 Edge (c) (with Vickie Guerrero and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder) defeated Rey Mysterio Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 12:34 4 Randy Orton (c) defeated Jeff Hardy Singles match for the WWE Championship 14:03 5 John Cena won by last eliminating Triple H 2008 Royal Rumble match 51:26
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time 1 The Undertaker Smackdown 11 Michaels 32:33 2 Shawn Michaels Raw 12 Kennedy 32:39 3 Santino Marella Raw 1 Undertaker 00:25 4 The Great Khali SD 2 Undertaker 01:09 5 Hardcore Holly Raw 6 Umaga 13:46 6 John Morrison ECW 14 Kane 29:23 7 Tommy Dreamer ECW 3 Batista 02:09 8 Batista SD 28 Triple H 37:42 9 Hornswoggle SD 16 Never re-entered match 26:57 10 Chuck Palumbo SD 5 Punk 04:00 11 Jamie Noble SD 4 Palumbo 00:28 12 CM Punk ECW 17 Guerrero 23:50 13 Cody Rhodes Raw 18 Triple H 23:14 14 Umaga Raw 26 Batista 26:05 15 Snitsky Raw 10 Undertaker 12:26 16 The Miz ECW 13 Hornswoggle 03:07 17 Shelton Benjamin ECW 7 Michaels 00:18 18 Jimmy Snuka Legend 9 Kane 02:43 19 Roddy Piper Legend 8 Kane 01:00 20 Kane SD 27 Batista & Triple H 17:58 21 Carlito Raw 22 Cena 15:07 22 Mick Foley Raw 20 Triple H 11:29 23 Mr. Kennedy Raw 25 Batista 13:32 24 Big Daddy V ECW 19 Triple H 07:49 25 Mark Henry SD 24 Cena 09:12 26 Chavo Guerrero SD 23 Cena 07:33 27 Finlay SD 15 Disqualified 00:00 28 Elijah Burke ECW 21 Triple H 02:11 29 Triple H Raw 29 Cena 11:21 30 John Cena Raw – Winner 08:27
Hornswoggle spent most of the match under the ring. After he entered the ring, Big Daddy V and Henry started to double team him. Finlay, who was supposed to be the next scheduled entrant, came out early and attacked them both with his shillelagh and was immediately disqualified. He left the ring with Hornswoggle, who left through the ropes and never returned. It was then explained later that Finlay was actually disqualified for "jumping the gun" and failing to wait for his entry number to called.
Royal Rumble (2007) was the twentieth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 28, 2007 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown! and ECW brands. This marked the first time that the new ECW brand participated in the Royal Rumble match. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania 23) for his choice at either the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship or the ECW World Championship.
Theme song "Drones" by Rise Against
Attendance 13,500
Other on-screen talent Commentators Jim Ross (Raw) Jerry "The King" Lawler (Raw / Royal Rumble) John "Bradshaw" Layfield (SmackDown / Royal Rumble) Michael Cole (SmackDown / Royal Rumble) Joey Styles (ECW) Tazz (ECW) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Todd Grisham
Ring announcer Lilian Garcia (Raw / Royal Rumble match) Tony Chimel (SmackDown!) Justin Roberts (ECW)
Referee Scott Armstrong (ECW) Mike Chioda (Raw) Jack Doan (Raw) Chris Kay (SmackDown!) Jim Korderas (SmackDown!) Nick Patrick (SmackDown!) Charles Robinson (SmackDown!) Mickie Henson (ECW)
Bingo machine tumbler Kelly Kelly (ECW)
Background
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Umaga, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. At the previous pay-per-view event, New Year's Revolution, Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship. The night after on Raw, Armando Alejandro Estrada, Umaga's manager, asked for a rematch, which Cena agreed to. Later that night, during a match between Cena and The Great Khali, Umaga interfered and attacked Cena. The following week, on the January 15 edition of Raw, the official contract signing for their rematch at the Royal Rumble took place. After it was announced that Estrada could choose the match type, Estrada chose the match to be a Last Man Standing match. Cena signed the contract and proceeded to attack both Umaga and Estrada. On the January 22 edition of Raw, after Cena was eliminated from a Battle Royal, Umaga attacked Cena, and injured his spleen, which was portrayed as real as part of their storyline.
The predominant feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Batista and Mr. Kennedy, with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the January 5 edition of SmackDown!, a Beat the Clock Sprint began. Wrestlers competed in single matches, and the wrestler to win a match in the shortest amount of time would then become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. Mr. Kennedy, who defeated Chris Benoit in nearly five minutes, had the shortest time at the end of the show. The following week, the Sprint continued. In the final match, between The Undertaker and The Miz, Kennedy interfered by pulling The Miz out of the ring. After performing the Tombstone piledriver on The Miz, The Undertaker went for the pin attempt. Time, however, ran out and Kennedy became the winner of the Sprint. The week after, on the January 19 edition of SmackDown!, The Undertaker was put in a match with Kennedy, where if he won, he would be added to the title match at the Royal Rumble. During the match, after Kennedy attacked Batista, who was at ringside. Batista retaliated against Kennedy, causing The Undertaker to get disqualified.Thus, the match at the Royal Rumble remained a singles match between Batista and Kennedy.
The main feud on the ECW brand was between Bobby Lashley and Test, with the two feuding over the ECW Championship. Rob Van Dam won an online poll against Test and Sabu to earn a title shot on the January 2 edition of ECW, which ended in no-contest. Van Dam was given another title match the next week. Test interfered in the match, and attacked both men. A Triple Threat match for the title occurred on the January 16 edition of ECW between Lashley, Van Dam, and Test. Lashley won, but was beaten down afterwards by Test. A title match between Lashley and Test was then made for the Royal Rumble. A week after that match was made, on the January 23 edition of ECW, Lashley defeated Test in another title match.
Aftermath
The shows following the Royal Rumble surrounded The Undertaker's choice of which champion to face at WrestleMania 23. The Undertaker appeared on all three brands, and stared down the champions. Finally, on the February 5 edition of Raw, The Undertaker chose to face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, and performed a chokeslam on him, starting their rivalry. The Undertaker won the title at WrestleMania, and their feud continued until the May 11 edition of SmackDown!, when The Undertaker lost the title to Edge, who cashed in the Money in the Bank, that he won from Mr. Kennedy, earlier that week on Raw.
After The Undertaker made his choice on February 5, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton all wanted to face Cena for his title at WrestleMania. A Triple Threat match has made between the three for the title shot, which Michaels won after pinning Orton. Cena successfully retained his title against Michaels at WrestleMania. They continued to feud over the title with the addition of Orton and Edge, but Cena remained champion. Soon after the Royal Rumble, Umaga and Bobby Lashley joined the feud between Mr. McMahon and Donald Trump in the "Battle of the Billionaires" as their representatives respectively for the Hair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania.
His Royal Rumble match marked the start of Mr. Kennedy's push to main-event status. He went on to face Bobby Lashley for the ECW Championship at No Way Out, which he won via disqualification, thus failing to win the title. Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, which gave him a world title shot at any time of his choosing for the year following. Kennedy sustained an injury at a house show, however, that would leave him sidelined for five to seven months, and was booked to lose his title shot to Edge on the May 7 edition of Raw. Later results showed the injury to be much less severe, but Kennedy had already lost his title shot. He returned to mid-card status for the remainder of the year.
Reception
The AT&T Center has hosted many different events that have a variety of seating maximums. A Basketball event, which has a smaller set-up than a wrestling event, can hold a maximum of 18,797 fans. Due to the Royal Rumble's production, the maximum standard was lowered and the event drew 13,500 fans and received 491,000 pay-per-view buys. WWE made $15.8 million from pay-per-view revenues in their first quarter (which included the Royal Rumble, No Way Out, and WrestleMania) versus $17.1 million in 2006 for the same events, a $1.3 million difference. The 2006 Royal Rumble also resulted in 548,000 pay-per-view buys, 57,000 more than the 2007 Royal Rumble. Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling sub website, SLAM! Wrestling, rated the entire event 7.5 out of 10 points, due to the event not lasting its entire three hours and many mishaps that occurred during the Royal Rumble match, which they also rated a 7.5. The Royal Rumble 2007 was released on DVD on February 27, 2007 and was distributed by WWE. The DVD debuted on Billboard's Top DVD sales chart at #3 on March 24, 2007. The DVD remained on the chart for 13 consecutive weeks until June 16, 2007 when its final rank was at #10.
Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
Dark JTG (with Shad Gaspard) defeated Lance Cade (with Trevor Murdoch) Singles match Unknown 1 The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) defeated MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (with Melina) Tag team match 15:27 2 Bobby Lashley (c) defeated Test by countout Singles match for the ECW World Championship 07:18 3 Batista (c) defeated Mr. Kennedy Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 10:29 4 John Cena (c) defeated Umaga (with Armando Alejandro Estrada) Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship 23:09 5 The Undertaker won by last eliminating Shawn Michaels 2007 Royal Rumble match 56:18
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time
1 Ric Flair Raw 1 Edge 05:40 2 Finlay SD 12 Michaels 32:32 3 Kenny Dykstra Raw 2 Edge 04:05 4 Matt Hardy SD 9 Orton 18:55 5 Edge Raw 28 Michaels 44:02 6 Tommy Dreamer ECW 3 Kane 06:41 7 Sabu ECW 4 Kane 05:27 8 Gregory Helms SD 5 Booker 06:50 9 Shelton Benjamin Raw 14 Michaels 22:22 10 Kane SD 11 Booker 13:21 11 CM Punk ECW 22 Khali 27:16 12 King Booker SD 10 Kane 09:23 13 Super Crazy Raw 7 Orton & Edge 04:32 14 Jeff Hardy Raw 8 Edge 03:38 15 The Sandman ECW 6 Booker 00:13 16 Randy Orton Raw 27 Michaels 27:14 17 Chris Benoit SD 19 Khali 17:52 18 Rob Van Dam ECW 21 Khali 16:30 19 Viscera Raw 13 Van Dam, Edge, Punk, Benoit, Nitro, Benjamin, Holly & Thorn 2 06:22 20 Johnny Nitro Raw 15 Benoit 06:18 21 Kevin Thorn ECW 16 Benoit 06:15 22 Hardcore Holly ECW 18 Khali 10:21 23 Shawn Michaels Raw 29 Undertaker 24:11 24 Chris Masters Raw 17 Van Dam 03:32 25 Chavo Guerrero SD 24 Khali 06:24 26 Montel Vontavious Porter SD 26 Undertaker 07:31 27 Carlito Raw 23 Khali 03:19 28 The Great Khali Raw 25 Undertaker 03:45 29 The Miz SD 20 Khali 00:07 30 The Undertaker SD – Winner 13:15
1. Glenn Jacobs (Kane) made his eleventh appearance in a Royal Rumble match, breaking his own and Solofa Fatu (Rikishi)'s record for most Royal Rumble appearances. It was also his ninth-consecutive appearance, also billed as a record for Kane.
2 This Royal Rumble set a new record for the most wrestlers involved in an elimination, taking 8 men to throw Viscera over the top rope. This beat the previous record set in the 1994 Royal Rumble when it took 7 men to eliminate Viscera (then known as Mabel).
3. The Undertaker was the first wrestler to win the Royal Rumble match at number 30.
4.Booker T was eliminated, but came back in and eliminated Kane.
Royal Rumble (2006) was the nineteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 29, 2006 in the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: Wrestlemania 22) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship.
Attendance 16,178
Other on-screen talent
Commentator
Michael Cole (SmackDown! / Royal Rumble match) Jerry "The King" Lawler (Raw / Royal Rumble match) Joey Styles (Raw) Tazz (SmackDown!) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Todd Grisham Josh Mathews
Ring announcer Tony Chimel (SmackDown!) Lilian Garcia (Raw)
Referee Mike Chioda (Raw) Mickie Henson (Raw) Chris Kay (SmackDown!) Jim Korderas (SmackDown!) Nick Patrick (SmackDown!) Charles Robinson (SmackDown!)
General manager Theodore Long (SmackDown!) Vince McMahon (Raw; interim)
Bingo machine tumbler Candice Michelle Victoria Torrie Wilson
Background
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw was between Edge and John Cena, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. The feud started at New Year's Revolution when Cena won an Elimination Chamber also involving 5 other superstars. Immediately after the match, however, Vince McMahon came out and stated that Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank contract that he won at WrestleMania 21. Edge then came out with Lita and, two spears later, he pinned Cena to become WWE Champion.Then the next night, Edge held a live sex celebration which got smashed up by Cena and Cena delivered an FU on Lita and sent a message to Edge.
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Smackdown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Mark Henry over the World Heavyweight Championship. The World Heavyweight Championship was originally held by Batista. He defended the title against Henry at a SmackDown! live event in a steel cage match. Henry was disqualified in the match and Batista retained the title but his triceps were injured. As a result, he was forced to vacate the title on the January 13 episode of SmackDown!. Later on, a 20-man battle royal was arranged to determine the new World Heavyweight Champion. Raw superstar Kurt Angle won the battle royal last eliminating Mark Henry and winning the vacant title thus also starting a rivalry between the two. This also made Angle leave Raw and move to SmackDown!. The next week, Henry defeated Rey Mysterio to become the Number One Contender to Angle's title.
Royal Rumble qualification matches
Match Show Date Stipulations
Chavo Guerrero defeated Rob Conway Raw January 9, 2006 Singles match
Shelton Benjamin defeated Val Venis Raw January 9, 2006 Singles match
Kane defeated Snitsky Raw January 9, 2006 Singles match
Sylvan defeated Scotty 2 Hotty WWE Velocity January 15, 2006 (aired January 21, 2006) Singles match
Trevor Murdoch defeated Antonio Thomas WWE Heat January 16, 2006 (aired January 20, 2006) Singles match
Viscera defeated Lance Cade, WWE Heat January 16, 2006 (aired January 20, 2006) Battle Royal Gregory Helms and Tyson Tomko
Jonathan Coachman defeated Jerry Lawler Raw January 23, 2006 Singles match
The Mexicools (Psicosis and Super Crazy) SmackDown January 24, 2006 (aired January 27, 2006) Triple Threat tag team match defeated The Dicks (Chad and James) and The Full Blooded Italians (Nunzio and Vito)
Aftermath
Chris Benoit and Booker T continued their feud over the WWE United States Championship. Benoit went on to win the title from Booker at No Way Out. Rey Mysterio was awarded a match against Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship which was scheduled to take place at WrestleMania 22 but before that, Mysterio defended his spot against Randy Orton at No Way Out. Orton won the match and Rey's title shot. Mysterio would later be readded to the match, forming a Triple Threat match between Angle, Mysterio and Orton. At No Way Out, Angle successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker, but lost the title to Mysterio at WrestleMania.
In February, the Road to WrestleMania tournament was arranged to determine a new number one contender to Cena's WWE Championship. This was an 8-man tournament on Raw. Triple H, Rob Van Dam and Big Show faced each other in the final round of the tournament which was a triple threat match. RVD performed a Five Star Frog Splash on Big Show, but when he made the pin, Triple H pulled the referee. While the referee was distracted, Big Show was able to kick out. Triple H took advantage and performed a Pedigree on RVD to win the tournament and become the number one contender to the WWE Championship. At WrestleMania 22, Cena defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Championship via submission after forcing Triple H to submit with the STFU.
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Heat Finlay defeated Brian Kendrick Singles match 02:07
1 Gregory Helms defeated Kid Kash (c), Funaki, Jamie Noble, Nunzio and Paul London 6-Way Cruiserweight match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship 07:40
2 Mickie James defeated Ashley Singles match with WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus as Special Guest Referee 07:44
3 The Boogeyman defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (with Jillian Hall) Singles match 01:54
4 Rey Mysterio won by last eliminating Randy Orton 2006 Royal Rumble match 1:02:12
5 John Cena defeated Edge (c) (with Lita) Singles match for the WWE Championship 14:02
6 Kurt Angle (c) defeated Mark Henry (with Daivari) Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 09:29
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time
1 Triple H Raw 28 Mysterio 60:09 2 Rey Mysterio SD - WINNER 62:12 3 Simon Dean SD 1 Mysterio and Triple H 00:45 4 Psicosis SD 2 Mysterio 01:15 5 Ric Flair Raw 3 Triple H 01:20 6 The Big Show Raw 7 Triple H 09:02 7 Jonathan Coachman Raw 4 Big Show 00:30 8 Bobby Lashley SD 6 Big Show & Kane 04:17 9 Kane Raw 8 Triple H 03:33 10 Sylvan SD 5 Lashley 00:18 11 Carlito Raw 26 Rob Van Dam 38:29 12 Chris Benoit SD 17 Orton 30:31 13 Booker T SD 9 Benoit 00:18 14 Joey Mercury SD 22 Nitro 29:14 15 Tatanka SD 12 Mercury & Nitro 14:09 16 Johnny Nitro SD 23 Michaels 25:45 17 Trevor Murdoch Raw 13 Michaels 13:41 18 Eugene Raw 15 Benoit 16:25 19 Road Warrior Animal SD 10 Van Dam 02:49 20 Rob Van Dam Raw 27 Mysterio 23:52 21 Orlando Jordan SD 21 Orton 16:09 22 Chavo Guerrero Raw 11 Triple H 00:59 23 Matt Hardy SD 14 Viscera 07:42 24 Super Crazy SD 16 Mysterio 07:40 25 Shawn Michaels Raw 25 Shane McMahon 12:55 26 Chris Masters Raw 19 Carlito 07:01 27 Viscera Raw 18 Carlito & Masters 05:20 28 Shelton Benjamin Raw 24 Michaels 06:51 29 Goldust Raw 20 Van Dam 03:09 30 Randy Orton SD 29 Mysterio 13:04
Shane McMahon was not a participant in the Royal Rumble match. This marked Rob Van Dam's return from injury after one year absence. Other returning superstars are Tatanka, Goldust, and Road Warrior Animal.
Royal Rumble (2005) was the eighteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 30, 2005 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California and featured talent from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania 21) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship
Promotional poster featuring various WWE Superstars and referencing West Side Story.
Tagline
All the rumbling, minus the dancing and singing
Theme song "Find the Real" by Alter Bridge
Attendance 12,000
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Michael Cole (SmackDown!) Jerry "the King" Lawler (Raw) Jim Ross (Raw / Royal Rumble match) Tazz (SmackDown! / Royal Rumble match) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Ring announcer Tony Chimel Howard Finkel
Referee Mike Chioda (Raw) Jack Doan (Raw) Brian Hebner (SmackDown!) Earl Hebner (Raw) Jim Korderas (SmackDown!) Nick Patrick (SmackDown!) Chad Patton (Raw) Charles Robinson (SmackDown!)
Bingo machine tumbler Christy Hemme (Raw) Torrie Wilson (SmackDown!)
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud started on the night after Summerslam, when Orton was kicked out of Evolution by Triple H. The following month, at Unforgiven, Triple H defeated Orton to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[6] At Survivor Series, Team Orton (Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Maven) defeated Team Triple H (Triple H, Edge, Batista, and Snitsky) in a four-on-four Elimination match. Orton won the match for his team by last eliminating Triple H. Two months later, at New Year's Revolution, the pay-per-view three weeks before the Royal Rumble, Triple H won an Elimination Chamber match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H won the match by last eliminating Orton following outside interference from Evolution members Batista and Ric Flair. The night after on Raw, Orton defeated Batista to become the number one contender to the title at the Royal Rumble. The following week, after a verbal confrontation between the two in the arena, Triple H ambushed Orton backstage. They fought until Orton tried to use a steel chair, and Triple H hightailed. On the January 24 edition of Raw, Orton faced off against Ric Flair. During the match, as the referee was knocked down, Triple H came in and attacked Orton along with Flair. Orton, however, fought off both men and won the match.
The main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), The Big Show, and Kurt Angle, with the three feuding over the WWE Championship. On the December 16, 2004 edition of SmackDown!, Angle challenged JBL to a match for the WWE Championship. The Cabinet (Orlando Jordan, Doug, and Danny Basham) interfered and attacked Angle, causing the match to end via disqualification. They continued to attack Angle after the match until The Big Show came out, beat down everyone, and signaled to JBL that he wanted the title. In the weeks that followed, a Triple Threat match for the title between the three was booked for the Royal Rumble. Following this, JBL set up Angle to anger The Big Show, but Angle angered JBL in response. After realizing this, JBL aligned himself with The Big Show and confronted Angle; however, JBL turned on Big Show and beat him down with Angle. On the January 27 edition of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long booked a Last Man Standing match between JBL and Angle for later that night. The two eventually turned on each other, and the match ended in a no-contest. It was later revealed that the match was Big Show's idea.
Another feud heading into the event from SmackDown! was between The Undertaker and Heidenreich. Their feud first started in 2004 at No Mercy, the pay-per-view in October. Heidenreich helped John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defeat Undertaker in a Last Ride match by attacking Undertaker and putting him in the hearse. At Survivor Series, Undertaker defeated Heidenreich by pinfall after executing a Tombstone Piledriver. At Armageddon 2004, Heidenreich once again cost Undertaker his title match against JBL in a Fatal Four Way that involved Booker T and Eddie Gurrerro by pushing Undertaker backwards while holding JBL in the tombstone piledriver position, before JBL pinned Booker T after a Clothesline From Hell. Smackdown's General Manager Theodore Long let Undertaker name the stipulation for his match against Heidenreich at Royal Rumble. As Heidenreich mentioned his fear of caskets, Undertaker chose to face him in a casket match for Royal Rumble.
A preliminary Raw brand feud was between Shawn Michaels and Edge. Their feud started at Taboo Tuesday 2004 when Michaels was voted over Edge to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. At New Year's Revolution 2005,Edge lost a shot at the title in a Elimination Chamber with Michaels as special referee. In the Elimination Chamber, Michaels superkicked Edge, followed by a lionsault from Chris Jericho, with Jericho making the cover. Believing it was Michael's fault that he was not crowned champion, Edge speared Michaels and the two men were booked into a match at Royal Rumble.
Event
Aftermath
The following weeks on Raw surrounded Batista's choice of which champion to face at WrestleMania 21. Triple H devised a scheme to have Batista almost run over by a limousine resembling John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s, so Batista would challenge JBL instead of himself. Batista became aware of the scheme and chose to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, thus leaving the Evolution stable in the process. He won the title, and their feud continued until he was drafted to SmackDown! on June 30. Batista remained champion until the January 13, 2006 edition of SmackDown! when he surrendered the title due to injury
John Cena went on to win a tournament to become the number one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21. The tournament concluded in a match between him and Kurt Angle at No Way Out, which Cena won after performing an FU. Following this, he began an angle with JBL. Cena defeated JBL to win the title at WrestleMania, and their feud ended after Cena retained the title in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day.
Following the Royal Rumble, Randy Orton and Kurt Angle began feuding with The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, respectively. The Big Show faced JBL in the first ever barbed wire Steel Cage match for the title at No Way Out, which JBL won to retain the title. Orton briefly feuded with Christian before moving on to feud with The Undertaker, which spanned nine months. After losing his title match at No Way Out, The Big Show faced Akebono in a sumo match at WrestleMania, and he briefly feuded with Carlito Caribbean Cool afterwards.
Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
Sunday Night Heat Maven defeated Rhyno Singles match 07:01
1 Edge defeated Shawn Michaels Singles match 18:32 2 The Undertaker defeated Heidenreich Casket match 13:20 3 John "Bradshaw" Layfield (c) defeated The Big Show and Kurt Angle Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship 12:04 4 Triple H (c) defeated Randy Orton Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 21:28 5 Batista won by last eliminating John Cena 2005 Royal Rumble match 51:27
Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time 1 Eddie Guerrero SD 11 Edge 28:11 2 Chris Benoit Raw 25 Batista 47:26 3 Daniel Puder SD 1 Holly 04:09 4 Hardcore Holly SD 2 Benoit and Guerrero 01:59 5 The Hurricane Raw 3 Benoit and Guerrero 01:04 6 Kenzo Suzuki SD 4 Mysterio 03:31 7 Edge Raw 28 Batista and Cena 40:19 8 Rey Mysterio SD 27 Edge 38:25 9 Shelton Benjamin Raw 10 Edge 14:35 10 Booker T SD 9 Mysterio and Guerrero 10:42 11 Chris Jericho Raw 21 Batista 28:22 12 Luther Reigns SD 7 Booker 07:13 13 Muhammad Hassan Raw 5 Edge, Jericho, Benoit, Booker, Benjamin and Reigns 00:54 14 Orlando Jordan SD 8 Booker 03:36 15 Scotty 2 Hotty SD 6 Attacked by Hassan before entering the ring 00:00 16 Charlie Haas SD 13 Michaels 06:20 17 René Dupreé SD 16 Jericho 11:32 18 Simon Dean Raw 12 Michaels 00:20 19 Shawn Michaels Raw 15 Angle 04:56 20 Kurt Angle SD 14 Michaels 00:37 21 Jonathan Coachman Raw 23 Flair 13:48 22 Mark Jindrak SD 19 Kane 08:15 23 Viscera Raw 17 Cena 03:00 24 Paul London SD 18 Snitsky 03:15 25 John Cena SD 29 Batista 15:28 26 Snitsky Raw 20 Batista 03:38 27 Kane Raw 22 Cena 03:54 28 Batista Raw - Winner 10:54 29 Christian Raw 24 Batista 02:09 30 Ric Flair Raw 26 Edge 01:58
Kurt Angle had been eliminated by Shawn Michaels and then returned to the ring, and eliminated Michaels in retaliation.
Scotty was attacked by Hassan before he made it to the ring, and therefore was unable to compete and never officially entered the match.
Nunzio was originally going to appear in the Royal Rumble match, but he had his entry stolen by Kurt Angle before the match.
Royal Rumble (2004) was the seventeenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 25, 2004 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Theme song "Nothing Left to Lose" by Puddle of Mudd
Attendance 17,289
Other on-screen talent
Commentators Michael Cole (SmackDown!) Tazz (SmackDown! / Royal Rumble match) Jerry "the King" Lawler (Raw) Jim Ross (Raw / Royal Rumble match) Jonathan Coachman (Opening match) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewers Josh Mathews Terri Runnels
Ring Announcers Tony Chimel Howard Finkel
Referees Mike Chioda (Raw) Jack Doan (Raw) Brian Hebner (SmackDown!) Earl Hebner (Raw) Jim Korderas (SmackDown!) Nick Patrick (SmackDown!) Charles Robinson (SmackDown!)
General Managers Eric Bischoff (Raw) Paul Heyman (SmackDown)
Background
The buildup to the Royal Rumble match started on January 1, 2004 edition of SmackDown, when John Cena interrupted a promo of the SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman about Tribute to the Troops in Iraq event. This angered Heyman and Heyman forced Cena to compete in a Handicap match with a partner and the two needed to win the match to gain entry in the Royal Rumble match. Cena's partner was revealed to be Chris Benoit and the two defeated Full Blooded Italians (Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli) in a Handicap match to qualify for the Royal Rumble match. As a result, all the three members of Full Blooded Italians lost their spots in the Royal Rumble match. If Cena and Benoit would have lost, neither would have been able to participate in the match. After the match, Kurt Angle announced that he would participate in the Royal Rumble match and would win it. Later that night, Benoit insulted Heyman and Heyman forced Benoit to compete at the #1 spot in the Royal Rumble. On January 5 edition of Raw, Kane announced that he was going to win the Royal Rumble but was confronted by Booker T, who claimed that he would eliminate Kane from the match and win the match. On January 8 edition of SmackDown, Benoit defeated Full Blooded Italians in a Handicap Mini Royal Rumble to retain his spot in the Royal Rumble. On January 12 edition of Raw, Goldberg defeated Matt Hardy and announced that he would participate in the Royal Rumble match. On January 15 edition of SmackDown, several qualifying matches were held for the Royal Rumble, including a battle royal between Full Blooded Italians, which Nunzio won. On January 19 edition of Raw, Goldberg, Randy Orton, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Mark Henry and Chris Jericho won matches to qualify for a Battle Royal to determine the #30 entrant of the Royal Rumble match. Goldberg won the Battle Royal and earned the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble.
The main rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown brand was between Brock Lesnar and Hardcore Holly over the WWE Championship. The rivalry could be dated back to September 12, 2002 edition of SmackDown, when Lesnar defeated Holly in a non-title match and injured him by breaking his neck, putting him out of action for over a year. A year later, at Survivor Series, Holly returned to WWE from injury to take revenge from Lesnar. On November 20 edition of SmackDown, Holly was fired by the SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman for attacking Lesnar. On December 18 edition of SmackDown, Heyman announced that Holly would team with Shannon Moore in a tag team match against A-Train and Matt Morgan, in which Holly could get a match of his choosing if he won but if he lost, his WWE contract would be terminated. Holly and Moore won the match, allowing Holly to wrestle a match of his choosing. On January 1 edition of SmackDown, Holly intentionally got disqualified in a match against Big Show by brutally assaulting him. On January 8 edition of SmackDown, Holly defeated Big Show in a Street Fight. As a result, Big Show placed a restraining order on Holly and Lesnar stayed with Big Show to protect himself from Holly. On January 22 edition of SmackDown, Holly attacked Lesnar during a Handicap match pitting Lesnar, Big Show, Matt Morgan and Rhyno against John Cena and Chris Benoit in a Handicap match. This led to a match between Lesnar and Holly for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble.
The main rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Triple H and Shawn Michaels over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Armageddon, Triple H defeated then-champion Goldberg and Kane in a No Disqualification Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On December 15 edition of Raw, Michaels and Rob Van Dam defeated Evolution (Triple H, Ric Flair and Batista in a Handicap match, when Michaels pinned Triple H. As a result of pinning Triple H, Michaels earned a World Championship match against Triple H on December 29 edition of Raw. Michaels seemingly pinned Triple H to win the title but the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff declared the match a draw because both men's shoulders were down on the mat during the pinfall. As a result, Triple H retained the title. On January 5 edition of Raw, the self-proclaimed Sheriff of Raw Stone Cold Steve Austin announced that Triple H would defend the title against Michaels in a Last Man Standing match at Royal Rumble.
A secondary rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown brand was between Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero. At Survivor Series, Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny) defeated Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. After the event, Los Guerreros started to break up as a team when Chavo began blaming Eddie for the team's recent failure. On November 20 edition of SmackDown, Los Guerreros defeated World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) but after the match, Haas and Benjamin attacked Chavo and injured his leg. This caused Chavo to blame Eddie for the injury. On November 27 edition of SmackDown, Chavo was attacked again and he blamed Eddie again. This continued on December 4 edition of SmackDown, when Eddie helped Chavo in defeating Benjamin in a one-on-one match. Chavo blamed Eddie for stealing the spotlight that Chavo needed. On January 1 edition of SmackDown, Eddie and Chavo finally broke up the team after losing to World's Greatest Tag Team. However, on January 8 edition of SmackDown, Kurt Angle reunited Los Guerreros and earned them a Tag Team Championship match against Basham Brothers, which Los Guerreros lost. After the match, Los Guerreros finally ended when Chavo attacked Eddie and caused him to bleed. As a result, Chavo became a villain. On January 15 edition of SmackDown, Angle informed Eddie that the SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman had made a match between Eddie and Chavo at Royal Rumble.
Another secondary rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown brand was between Rey Mysterio and Jamie Noble over the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. On January 1 edition of SmackDown, Mysterio defeated Tajiri to win the Cruiserweight Championship.On January 8 edition of SmackDown, Tajiri and Noble were scheduled to have a #1 contender's match for the Cruiserweight Championship, but Noble was not present on the show. As a result, the SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman ordered Noble's manager Nidia to replace Noble in the match. Tajiri easily defeated Nidia. After the match, Tajiri tried to assault Nidia, but Mysterio rescued her. This prompted Noble to come out and attack Mysterio as he thought that Mysterio was trying to harm Nidia. On January 15 edition of SmackDown, Noble defeated Tajiri to become the #1 contender for the Cruiserweight Championship at Royal Rumble.
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Evolution (Ric Flair and Batista) and Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) over the World Tag Team Championship. At Armageddon, Flair and Batista defeated Dudley Boyz in a Tag Team Turmoil match to win the Tag Team Championship. On December 29 edition of Raw, Flair served as the special referee during a match pitting Dudley Boyz against two enhancement talents. Flair awarded the victory to enhancement talents by disqualifying Dudley Boyz. Batista then came out and attacked Dudley Boyz from behind. On January 5 edition of Raw, Flair and Batista defeated Dudley Boyz to retain the Tag Team Championship. On January 12 edition of Raw, Batista defeated D-Von in a one-on-one match. After the match, Flair tossed a table into the ring and Batista set it up but Bubba Ray entered the ring and chased Flair and Batista. On January 19 edition of Raw, Evolution member Randy Orton defeated The Hurricane in a match. After the match, Flair and Batista came out to congratulate Orton. Hurricane's tag team partner Rosey came out to check on him but was attacked by Batista. It led to Dudley Boyz coming out to deliver a 3-D on Flair through the table but Jonathan Coachman ran down to stop them and was hit with a 3D on the table by Dudley Boyz. This led to a Tables match between Dudley Boyz and Evolution for the Tag Team Championship at Royal Rumble.
Royal Rumble qualification matches John Cena and Chris Benoit defeated Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, and Johnny Stamboli in a Handicap match – SmackDown!, December 30 (aired January 1) Rico defeated Tommy Dreamer – Heat, January 12 (aired January 18) Matt Morgan defeated Orlando Jordan – Velocity, January 13 (aired January 17) Rikishi defeated Scotty 2 Hotty – SmackDown!, January 13 (aired January 15) The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) defeated Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny Basham) – SmackDown!, January 13 (aired January 15) Nunzio defeated Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli in a Triple Threat Battle Royal – SmackDown!, January 13 (aired January 15) Big Show defeated Funaki – SmackDown, January 13 (aired January 15) Tajiri defeated Billy Kidman – SmackDown!, January 20 (aired January 22) A-Train defeated Shannon Moore – SmackDown, January 20 (aired January 22) Bradshaw defeated Akio and Sakoda in a Triple Threat match – SmackDown!, January 20 (aired January 22)
Aftermath
As a result of winning the Royal Rumble, Chris Benoit earned a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, as he belonged to the SmackDown brand. However, he became the first (and only) person in WWE history to make use of a "contract loophole", enabling the Royal Rumble winner to change brands and challenge the world champion of his choice. On January 26 edition of Raw, Benoit defected to the Raw brand due to his knowledge of the SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman's intentions to ruin his world championship opportunity, so he challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania by interrupting an argument between Triple H and Shawn Michaels. On February 9 edition of Raw, Benoit and Triple H had a contract signing for their title match at WrestleMania, but Michaels interrupted it by performing a Sweet Chin Music on Benoit. Michaels signed the contract himself. On February 16 edition of Raw, the Raw Sheriff Stone Cold Steve Austin announced that Triple H would defend the title against Benoit and Michaels in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania XX, Benoit defeated Michaels and Triple H in a Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
On January 29 episode of SmackDown!, because of Benoit's defection to Raw, the SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman announced that a second Royal Rumble match would take place between 15 wrestlers from the SmackDown brand to determine who would challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at No Way Out. This match featured the 15 Royal Rumble entrants from SmackDown, with Eddie Guerrero replacing Benoit and Hardcore Holly replacing the injured Matt Morgan. Guerrero won the match and earned the title opportunity. At No Way Out, Guerrero defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by 1 Kurt Angle 14 Guerrero 2 Rhyno 5 Angle 3 Charlie Haas 9 Guerrero 4 Shelton Benjamin 10 Angle 5 Bradshaw 3 Big Show 6 Ernest Miller 1 Angle 7 Tajiri 2 Big Show 8 Billy Gunn 12 Guerrero 9 The Big Show 8 Angle, Gunn, Guerrero, Rikishi, Holly, Cena 10 John Cena 7 Big Show 11 Nunzio 4 Cena 12 A-Train 6 Guerrero 13 Eddie Guerrero - WINNER 14 Rikishi 13 Guerrero and Angle 15 Hardcore Holly 11 Angle
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Sunday Night Heat Victoria (with Steven Richards) defeated Molly Holly Singles match 04:56 1 Evolution (Ric Flair and Batista) (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) Tables match for the World Tag Team Championship 04:23
2 Rey Mysterio (c) defeated Jamie Noble (with Nidia) Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship 03:12
3 Eddie Guerrero defeated Chavo Guerrero (with Chavo Guerrero, Sr.) Singles match 08:03
4 Brock Lesnar (c) defeated Hardcore Holly Singles match for the WWE Championship 06:30
5 Triple H (c) fought Shawn Michaels to a draw Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship 22:46
6 Chris Benoit won by last eliminating The Big Show 2004 Royal Rumble match 1:01:30
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time
1 Chris Benoit SD - Winner 1:01:30 2 Randy Orton Raw 17 Foley 33:43 3 Mark Henry Raw 3 Benoit 05:14 4 Tajiri SD 2 Rhyno 03:39 5 Bradshaw SD 1 Benoit 00:38 6 Rhyno SD 7 Benoit 14:00 7 Matt Hardy Raw 8 Duprée 14:18 8 Scott Steiner Raw 5 Booker 06:49 9 Matt Morgan SD 10 Benoit 12:14 10 The Hurricane Raw 4 Morgan 00:19 11 Booker T Raw 12 Orton 09:11 12 Kane Raw 6 Booker 01:30 13 Spike Dudley Raw - Attacked by Kane before entered the ring 0:00 14 Rikishi SD 11 Orton 03:48 15 René Duprée Raw 9 Rikishi 00:33 16 A-Train SD 13 Benoit 01:44 17 Shelton Benjamin SD 14 Orton 00:37 18 Ernest Miller SD 15 Orton 00:56 19 Kurt Angle SD 27 Big Show 29:04 20 Rico Raw 16 Orton 01:06 21 Mick Foley Raw 18 Himself 00:43 22 Christian Raw 19 Jericho 07:39 23 Nunzio SD 22 Goldberg 03:48 24 The Big Show SD 28 Benoit 22:38 25 Chris Jericho Raw 26 Big Show 14:58 26 Charlie Haas SD 20 Goldberg & Van Dam 06:53 27 Billy Gunn SD 21 Goldberg 05:37 28 John Cena SD 24 Big Show 07:37 29 Rob Van Dam Raw 25 Big Show 06:44 30 Goldberg Raw 23 Angle 02:07
Test was originally the 21 entrant but he was found unconscious and replaced by Foley.
Royal Rumble (2003) was the sixteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event took place on January 19, 2003 at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the first Royal Rumble event to take place after the Brand Extension and the first Royal Rumble event to be named under the WWE name.
Theme song "Falling Apart" by Trust Company
Attendance 15,338
Other on-screen talent
Commentators Jerry "The King" Lawler (Raw / Royal Rumble match) Jim Ross (Raw / Royal Rumble match) Michael Cole (SmackDown) Tazz (SmackDown) Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Terri Runnels
Ring Announcers Tony Chimel Howard Finkel
Referees Jack Doan (Raw) Chad Patton (Raw) Nick Patrick (Raw) Charles Robinson (Raw) Mike Chioda (SmackDown) Brian Hebner (SmackDown) Mike Sparks (SmackDown) Jim Korderas (SmackDown)
General Managers Eric Bischoff (Raw) Stephanie McMahon (SmackDown)
Background
The event featured six professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from either one of the WWE's brands - SmackDown or Raw - the two storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees.
The buildup to the Royal Rumble match began on December 23 edition of Raw, when the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff discussed about the upcoming Royal Rumble match that 15 wrestlers would represent Raw brand and 15 wrestlers would represent SmackDown brand in the match, because it was going to be the first Royal Rumble match to take place after WWE's Brand Extension. The buildup continued on January 2 edition of SmackDown, a vignette aired hyping the return of The Undertaker in the Royal Rumble match. Later that night, Paul Heyman announced that Brock Lesnar and Big Show would wrestle in a Royal Rumble qualification match at Royal Rumble. On January 6 edition of Raw, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels argued over who would be drawing #1 entry in the Royal Rumble match. On January 13 edition of Raw, a Royal Rumble qualification match took place in which Jeff Hardy defeated Raven. Later that night, Jericho defeated Batista, Kane and Rob Van Dam in an Over the Top Rope Challenge to earn the right choose an entry number of his choice. Jericho chose #2 because #1 was already given to Michaels.
The main rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown brand was between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit over the WWE Championship. At Armageddon, Angle defeated Big Show via interference from Brock Lesnar, to win the WWE title. Prior to the event, Angle had promised Lesnar to get his suspension lifted if he helped Angle in defeating Big Show for the title. Angle had also promised Lesnar to give him the first title shot after winning the title. However, despite helping Angle in winning the title, Lesnar was not given his title shot as on December 19 edition of SmackDown Angle and Big Show's manager Paul Heyman cancelled Lesnar's title shot and Big Show was given his title rematch. Later that night, Angle lost to Chris Benoit in a non-title match by disqualification when Big Show interfered in the match and attacked Benoit. However, Lesnar rescued Benoit from the post-match assault by Angle and Big Show and brutally assaulted Angle, injuring him. As a result of Angle's injury, the SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon cancelled Angle's title match against Big Show and decided that Big Show would wrestle Benoit to determine the #1 contender for the WWE title. Benoit defeated Big Show to become the #1 contender for the title at Royal Rumble.
The main rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Triple H and Scott Steiner over the World Heavyweight Championship. On October 24, 2002, WWE had announced on its official website that Scott Steiner had signed a three-year contract with WWE. After eight years away, Steiner returned to WWE as a free agent at Survivor Series and attacked Matt Hardy and Christopher Nowinski for insulting New York City. Steiner was approached by the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and the SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon for their respective brands. He initially decided to join the SmackDown brand but after McMahon rejected Steiner's advances, he moved to the Raw brand. At Armageddon, Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On December 16 edition of Raw, Triple H held an Appreciation Ceremony on winning the title but the ceremony was interrupted by Steiner, who announced that his contract said that he would earn a world title shot. As a result, Steiner and Triple H's match for the World Heavyweight Championship was made official at Royal Rumble
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Lance Storm and William Regal and Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) over the World Tag Team Championship. On December 23 edition of Raw, the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff forced Raw commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to wrestle in a tag team match against Storm and Regal for making bad comments against Bischoff. Ross and Lawler defeated Storm and Regal after interference by Dudley Boyz. As a result, on January 6 edition of Raw, Bischoff forced Dudley Boyz to wrestle 3-Minute Warning (Rosey and Umaga), Rico and Batista in a Handicap match. Storm and Regal avenged their loss by costing Dudley Boyz, the match. Later that night, Storm and Regal defeated Booker T and Goldust for the World TagTeam Championship. This led to a title match between Storm and Regal and Dudley Boyz at Royal Rumble.
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown brand was between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie. At Armageddon, Torrie and Dawn did a lesbian segment in the ring. On December 19 edition of SmackDown, Torrie gave bad remarks about her storyline father Al Wilson on getting married with Dawn. On January 2 edition of SmackDown, Dawn and Al had their storyline wedding in their undergarments. On January 9 edition of SmackDown, Josh Mathews announced that Dawn and Torrie would wrestle in a match at Royal Rumble.
Event
Aftermath
Due to winning the Royal Rumble match, Brock Lesnar earned a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. As a result, he began a rivalry with the WWE Champion Kurt Angle. Chris Benoit also continued his rivalry with Angle after losing to him at Royal Rumble. At No Way Out, Lesnar, Benoit and Edge were scheduled to take on Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) in a six-man tag team match, but Edge was injured before the event. As a result, the match became a handicap match but Lesnar and Benoit managed to defeat Team Angle. At WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar defeated Angle to win the WWE Championship.
After retaining the World Heavyweight Championship against Scott Steiner by getting disqualified, Triple H continued his rivalry with Steiner over the title. On February 3 edition of Raw, Steiner became the #1 contender for the title by defeating Chris Jericho. At No Way Out, Triple H defeated Steiner to retain the title.
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Sunday Night Heat Spike Dudley defeated Steven Richards (with Victoria) Singles match 03:36 1 Brock Lesnar defeated The Big Show (with Paul Heyman) Royal Rumble Qualification match 06:29 2 Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated William Regal and Lance Storm (c) Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship 07:24 3 Torrie Wilson defeated Dawn Marie Singles match 03:36 4 Scott Steiner defeated Triple H (c) (with Ric Flair) by disqualification Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 18:14 5 Kurt Angle (with Team Angle) (c) defeated Chris Benoit Singles match for the WWE Championship 19:48 6 Brock Lesnar won by last eliminating The Undertaker 2003 Royal Rumble match 53:41
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time 1 Shawn Michaels Raw 1 Jericho 2:29 2 Chris Jericho Raw 14 Test 38:54 3 Christopher Nowinski Raw 2 Mysterio 5:50 4 Rey Mysterio SD! 3 Jericho 5:55 5 Edge SD! 10 Jericho 11:03 6 Christian Raw 9 Jericho 9:03 7 Chavo Guerrero SD! 8 Edge 7:10 8 Tajiri SD! 6 Jericho 5:41 9 Bill DeMott SD! 4 Edge 2:13 10 Tommy Dreamer Raw 5 Jericho & Christian 0:48 11 B-2 SD! 7 Edge 0:24 12 Rob Van Dam Raw 26 Kane 33:56 13 Matt Hardy SD! 21 Lesnar 27:17 14 Eddie Guerrero SD! 13 Booker 16:29 15 Jeff Hardy SD! 11 Van Dam 7:29 16 Rosey Raw 12 Kane 10:16 17 Test Raw 17 Batista 18:45 18 John Cena SD! 22 Undertaker 19:38 19 Charlie Haas SD! 20 Lesnar 17:17 20 Rikishi SD! 18 Batista 14:10 21 Jamal Raw 23 Undertaker 16:07 22 Kane Raw 28 Undertaker 20:24 23 Shelton Benjamin SD! 19 Lesnar 10:55 24 Booker T Raw 16 Haas & Benjamin 6:20 25 A-Train SD! 25 Kane & Van Dam 11:33 26 Maven Raw 24 Undertaker 8:19 27 Goldust Raw 15 Haas & Benjamin 0:47 28 Batista Raw 27 Undertaker 9:55 29 Brock Lesnar SD! - WINNER 8:59 30 The Undertaker SD! 29 Lesnar 6:45
Royal Rumble (2002) was the fifteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 20, 2002 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It was also the last Royal Rumble to be produced under the WWF initials.
Attendance 12,915
Tagline 30 Men, One Match, One W1nner
Themesong "Cocky" by Kid Rock
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler Jim Ross Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Jonathan Coachman Michael Cole Lilian Garcia
WWF New York host Shawn Michaels
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referee Mike Chioda Jack Doan Brian Hebner Earl Hebner Jim Korderas Theodore Long Nick Patrick Charles Robinson Tim White
Background
The event featured six professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event.
The main feud was between Chris Jericho and The Rock for Jericho's Undisputed WWF Championship. The feud, which had begun in October 2001 while the two were members of Team WWF during the InVasion and traded the WCW Championship between them, continued at Vengeance, when Jericho defeated both The Rock and the reigning WWF Champion Steve Austin to unify the titles. On the following night's edition of Raw, Jericho successfully defended the Undisputed title over Steve Austin in a Steel cage match with the help from Booker T. During the following two weeks, Jericho had successfully defended the title against the likes of Rob Van Dam, The Big Show, and Kurt Angle. The Rock earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble on the January 3 edition of SmackDown! by defeating Booker T. On the January 10 edition of SmackDown!, The Rock and Rob Van Dam defeated Jericho and Test when The Rock made Jericho submit with the Sharpshooter.
On the January 7 edition of Raw, buildup towards the Royal Rumble match started, with Austin saying he wanted to enter. Later that night, Triple H made his return after missing nearly eight months with an injury and announced that he too would be entering the Royal Rumble match. He was interrupted by Kurt Angle, who then announced his intentions to enter the match, which was to be his first, and mentioned his victory over Triple H at the previous year's Royal Rumble event when he was the reigning WWF Champion. Triple H performed a Pedigree on Angle in retaliation. During a match between Austin and Angle on the January 10 edition of SmackDown!, Kane, The Big Show, and Triple H all interfered. In the end, only Triple H remained standing, until The Undertaker stared him down from the top of the ramp. On the January 14 edition of Raw, Triple H stated that he wants to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. Austin came out, and they fought until The Undertaker came out, and hit Triple H with a chair, allowing Austin to hit the Stone Cold Stunner. The Undertaker then hit Austin with the chair. On the January 17 edition of SmackDown!, Austin and Triple H defeated Angle and Booker T. After the match, The Undertaker again came out, and stared them down.
The feud between Edge and William Regal continued from Vengeance. On the December 10 edition of Raw, Edge mocked Regal, prompting Regal to nail him from behind with brass knuckles. On the December 13 edition of SmackDown!, William Regal and Kurt Angle faced Edge and Rikishi in a tag match. After the match, Edge hit Regal with a steel chair and an Edgecution onto the chair, breaking his nose, and causing him to bleed. On the January 7 edition of Raw, Regal interfered after Edge's victory over Lance Storm and hit him with brass knuckles. Regal challenged Edge to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble, and Edge accepted. On the January 14 edition of Raw, Edge and Rob Van Dam faced William Regal and Test, where Regal pinned Edge after using the brass knuckles. On the January 17 edition of SmackDown!, Regal defeated Rob Van Dam when he used brass knuckles behind the referee's back. Later on the night, Regal came out during Edge's match with Test but failed to interfere when Edge nailed him and referee Nick Patrick with a chair.
Aftermath
Steve Austin won a number one contender's match against Kurt Angle on the January 28 edition of Raw to earn a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at No Way Out. A feud between Austin and Chris Jericho started with Jericho interfering in Austin's match by attacking him with his title belt.
The Undertaker continued his feud with Maven over the elimination during the Royal Rumble match, which grew to include The Rock after he mocked Undertaker for his quick elimination. The Undertaker's interference led to The Rock losing to Kurt Angle in the tournament to challenge for the Undisputed championship at No Way Out. On the February 4th edition of Raw, during a tag team match, The Undertaker grabbed a steel led pipe from his motorcycle and nailed The Rock in the head with it, allowing Chris Jericho to score the pinfall win. The Rock retaliated by hitting him with a chair and helping Maven win the WWF Hardcore Championship; however The Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on The Rock onto the hood of a limousine in revenge. A match was made between the two at No Way Out.
Kurt Angle started a feud with Triple H, unhappy about how he lost the Royal Rumble match, and attacked Triple H after a confrontation. During Triple H's match with Booker.T, Angle interfered and attacked Triple H. Angle then had Vince McMahon make a match between the two at No Way Out for Triple H's title shot at WrestleMania X8. Triple H and his on-screen wife Stephanie McMahon were having problems, so she faked a pregnancy and demanded that they renew their wedding vows. Triple H discovered the truth, and ended their marriage. Stephanie McMahon then announced herself as the guest referee in the match at No Way Out.
Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
1 Spike Dudley and Tazz (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (with Stacy Keibler) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 05:06
2 William Regal defeated Edge (c) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 09:45
3 Trish Stratus (c) defeated Jazz Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship, with special guest referee, Jacqueline 03:43
4 Ric Flair defeated Vince McMahon Street Fight 14:55
5 Chris Jericho (c) defeated The Rock Singles match for the Undisputed WWF Championship 18:48
6 Triple H won by last eliminating Kurt Angle 2002 Royal Rumble match 1:09:22
Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Rikishi 6 Undertaker 13:39 2 Goldust 4 Undertaker 13:00 3 The Big Boss Man 1 Rikishi 03:05 4 Bradshaw 3 Gunn 07:17 5 Lance Storm 2 Snow 04:46 6 Al Snow 5 Undertaker 05:12 7 Billy 7 Undertaker 03:37 8 The Undertaker 10 Maven 07:40 9 Matt Hardy 9 Undertaker 04:16 10 Jeff Hardy 8 Undertaker 01:30 11 Maven 11 Undertaker 03:34 12 Scotty 2 Hotty 12 Diamond Dallas Page 02:36 13 Christian 16 Austin 12:14 14 Diamond Dallas Page 13 Christian 05:15 15 Chuck 17 Austin 09:04 16 The Godfather 15 Christian and Chuck 01:48 17 Albert 14 Christian and Chuck 00:48 18 Perry Saturn 18 Austin 02:57 19 Steve Austin 27 Angle 26:46 20 Val Venis 19 Austin 02:58 21 Test 20 Austin 01:42 22 Triple H - Winner 23:14 23 The Hurricane 21 Austin and Triple H 00:39 24 Faarooq 22 Triple H 00:36 25 Mr. Perfect 28 Triple H 15:18 26 Kurt Angle 29 Triple H 16:09 27 Big Show 23 Kane 02:45 28 Kane 24 Angle 01:02 29 Rob Van Dam 25 Booker 02:12 30 Booker T 26 Austin 00:33
Undertaker attacked Maven after his elimination, beating him to the point where he could no longer continue the match.
This was Austin's 36th career elimination in the Royal Rumble, which was a record held for eight years until Shawn Michaels broke it in the 2010 Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2001) was the fourteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 21, 2001 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Attendance 16,056
Background
The main event at the Royal Rumble was the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which wrestlers enter the ring at regular timed intervals of approximately 90 seconds, attempting to eliminate each other by throwing opponents over the top rope and both of their feet touching the ground. The winner of the match received a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven. The match is scheduled annually and the scripted build up occasionally features qualifying matches. The Rock began discussing the Royal Rumble on the January 4 episode of SmackDown!, when he promised to win the Royal Rumble match for the second year in a row to earn the title match at WrestleMania with the first being the previous year's Royal Rumble event. On the following week's episode of SmackDown!, Vince McMahon, the WWF Chairman, added Stone Cold Steve Austin to the match. The same episode also featured a standard match involving four wrestlers contested between The Rock, Kane, Rikishi and The Undertaker, with the winner earning the right to enter at number 30 in the Royal Rumble match. The match was won by Rikishi
A featured preliminary match at the Royal Rumble was WWF Champion Kurt Angle defending against Triple H in a standard match. The build up to the match began on the January 8 episode of Raw, when Angle defended the WWF Championship against Steve Austin, which ended in a No Contest when Triple H interfered and ambushed Austin with a steel pipe. On the January 11 episode of SmackDown!, Vince McMahon announced that Angle would defend his title at the Royal Rumble event against Triple H. Leading up to the event, both men spoke about the match, with Triple H claiming that Angle only held the championship because he allowed him to, and Angle denying this.
Another featured preliminary contest at the Royal Rumble was a ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, in which the champion, Chris Benoit, defended his title against Chris Jericho. In the match, the title belt was suspended above the ring from the ceiling, and the only method to win the competitors had to climb a ladder to retrieve the belt. Their feud started at WrestleMania 2000, when Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho challenged Kurt Angle both the Intercontinental title and the WWF European Championship in a Two-fall Triple Threat match. During that match, both men pinned each other in one fall each to win the respective championship from Angle. Since that event, Benoit would hold three pay per view victories over Jericho esp. at SummerSlam in the best 2 out of 3 falls match. On the January 4 episode of SmackDown!, Benoit defended his title against Jericho in a standard match. During the match, Perry Saturn (Perry Satullo) and Dean Malenko, Benoit's partners in the group of The Radicalz, interfered by attacking Jericho, causing him to win the match by disqualification but not the championship. On the January 8 episode of Raw, Jericho teamed with The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) against The Radicalz (Saturn, Malenko, and Benoit) in a six man tag team match, which Jericho won by pinning Benoit. On the January 11 episode of SmackDown!, Jericho demanded a title match at the Royal Rumble, and Benoit offered to give Jericho any type of match he wanted. Jericho then announced that their match would be a ladder match.
Event
On-screen talent
Commentators Jerry Lawler Jim Ross
Interviewers Kevin Kelly Michael Cole
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referees Mike Chioda Tim White Jim Korderas Jack Doan Earl Hebner Chad Patton
Aftermath
Kurt Angle entered a feud with The Rock again and would go to fight him at No Way Out for the WWF Championship in a Singles Match. Kurt Angle would lose the match after being pinned by The Rock losing the championship to him.
Triple H would continue his feud with Steve Austin at No Way Out in a Three Stages of Hell Match. Triple H defeated Steve Austin by winning two matches with Steve Austin only one. This match finally ended the Triple H/Austin feud that lasted since SummerSlam.
Steve Austin and The Rock would fight once again at WrestleMania for the WWF Championship in a No Disqualification Match. Steve Austin would win the title thanks to an intereference from Mr. McMahon. The two would have another match the next night on Raw for the title this time inside a Steel Cage. The match went to a no contest thanks to another intereference by Vince's son-in-law Triple H
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Sunday Night Heat Lo Down (D'Lo Brown and Chaz) Tag team match for a spot in the Royal Rumble 01:57 (with Tiger Ali Singh) defeated Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Funaki) match (which ultimately went to Drew Carey)
1 The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 09:59 Edge and Christian (c)
2 Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit (c) Ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 18:44
3 Ivory (c) (with Steven Richards) defeated Chyna Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship 03:32
4 Kurt Angle (c) (with Trish Stratus) defeated Singles match for the WWF Championship 24:15 Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley)
5 Stone Cold Steve Austin won by last eliminating Kane 2001 Royal Rumble match 1:01:55
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time
1 Jeff Hardy 4 Matt Hardy 06:36 2 Bull Buchanan 1 Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy 02:08 3 Matt Hardy 3 Jeff Hardy 04:45 4 Faarooq 2 Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy 00:58 5 Drew Carey 5 Himself 02:54 6 Kane 29 Austin 53:46 7 Raven 9 Kane 08:51 8 Al Snow 8 Kane 07:08 9 Perry Saturn 10 Kane 05:02 10 Steve Blackman 7 Kane 03:08 11 Grand Master Sexay 6 Kane 01:03 12 The Honky Tonk Man 11 Kane 01:16 13 The Rock 28 Kane 38:42 14 The Goodfather 12 Rock 00:14 15 Tazz 13 Kane 00:10 16 Bradshaw 18 Undertaker 17:40 17 Albert 20 Kane 15:53 18 Hardcore Holly 21 Undertaker 14:04 19 K-Kwik 16 Big Show 07:53 20 Val Venis 22 Undertaker 10:22 21 William Regal 14 Test 02:01 22 Test 15 Big Show 02:08 23 Big Show 17 Rock 01:23 24 Crash Holly 19 Kane 02:31 25 The Undertaker 25 Rikishi 10:45 26 Scotty 2 Hotty 23 Undertaker & Kane 00:46 27 Steve Austin - WINNER 09:43 28 Billy Gunn 27 Austin 07:22 29 Haku 24 Austin 02:51 30 Rikishi 26 Rock 02:35
Royal Rumble (2000) was the thirteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 23, 2000 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
Attendance 19,231
This Royal Rumble was the first WWF pay-per-view event to air on terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, as Channel 4 had acquired the rights to broadcast World Wrestling Federation programming that year.
Other on-screen talent Commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler Jim Ross Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Jonathan Coachman Michael Cole
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
WWF New York Linda McMahon
Referee Jack Doan Earl Hebner Jim Korderas Theodore Long Chad Patton Mike Sparks Tim White
Background
The main feud going into the event was between Triple H and Mick Foley. The McMahon-Helmsley Faction began in late 1999, where Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley had control over the WWF, and scheduling unreasonable matches for the wrestlers. Foley objected to this, and the faction attacked several times before finally firing him. On the January 3 edition of Raw is War, Triple H won the WWF Championship, and mocked Foley with an impersonator. On the January 10 edition of Raw is War, The Rock brought every superstar to the ring, demanding that Foley be reinstated or the entire roster would walk out. Foley was reinstated, and he requested a Street Fight for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble. Foley and Triple H fought in a 4-on-4 tag team match later that night. Triple H pinned Foley after using the ring bell, and delivering two Pedigrees. After the match, Foley took off his mask, and attacked Triple H. On the January 13 edition of SmackDown!, Foley returned to his Cactus Jack persona (with a more violent and psychotic character) by taking off his Mankind attire to reveal his Cactus Jack attire.
Buildup towards the Royal Rumble match began on January 10, when The Rock announced his participation in the match. The following week, The Big Show announced that he will win the match, and The Rock guaranteed he will win. Later that night, The Rock and The Big Show faced the New Age Outlaws. At the end, Big Show attacked The Rock, and The Rock hit him with a steel chair, and a People's Elbow. On the January 20 edition of SmackDown!, The Big Show confronted The Rock. Kane and Tori came out, and Tori claimed that Kane was the favorite. The three fought, and were scheduled for a Triple Threat Over-the-Top-Rope Lumberjack match later. In the match, The Big Show eliminated The Rock with a chokeslam, and Kane eliminated The Big Show with a back body drop to win, sparking a fight involving all the competitors and lumberjacks.
Another feud going into the event was between Chris Jericho, Chyna and Hardcore Holly over the WWF Intercontinental Championship. On the December 30 edition of SmackDown!, a title match between Chyna and Jericho ended in a double pinfall. On the January 3 edition of Raw is War, both were declared co-champions. Afterwards, Holly challenged Chyna for the title, and Jericho helped her retain. Jericho and Chyna were forced to work together, and this created tension between them. The title situation would be solved in a Triple Threat match between Jericho, Chyna and Holly.
Aftermath
Triple H and Cactus Jack's feud continued into No Way Out, the following pay-per-view. On the January 31 edition of Raw is War, Jack fought Triple H in a match where Jack beat Triple H down The following week, Triple H, in an attempt to end their feud, made a match between the two for the WWF Championship at No Way Out, but Jack would have to retire if he lost. Jack then decided that the match would be a Hell in a Cell match.
The Big Show started a feud with The Rock. The Big Show claimed that The Rock was eliminated first when his feet hit the floor before The Big Show's. During the following weeks, The Big Show attempted to gather evidence to prove his claim. The Big Show finally produced video evidence to Triple H, and he was granted a match at No Way Out for The Rock's match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 2000.
The feud between Chris Jericho, Chyna and Hardcore Holly ended when Holly failed to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Jericho, and Chyna aligned herself with Jericho. Jericho moved on to feud with Kurt Angle. Angle won the WWF European Championship on the February 10 edition of SmackDown!, and on the February 14 edition of Raw is War, Angle challenged Jericho to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at No Way Out.
The feud between the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz continued, with Edge and Christian joining the feud. While initially showing respect, the Dudley Boyz attacked the Hardy Boyz during their match on the January 24 edition of Raw is War. On the January 27 edition of SmackDown!, Edge and Christian supported the Hardy Boyz and fought the Dudley Boyz, who put Edge and Christian through a table. On the January 31 edition of Raw is War, the Hardy Boyz put the Dudley Boyz through tables, and, later, the Dudley Boyz put the Hardy Boyz through three stacked tables. On the February 14 edition of Raw is War, D-Von Dudley defeated Edge and Jeff Hardy to earn a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship at No Way Out, starting their feud with the champions the New Age Outlaws. Also during the match, the Hardy Boyz had a confrontation with Edge and Christian, starting their feud. They would also have a match at No Way Out.
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Sunday Night Heat Christian defeated Steve Blackman Singles match 05:53
Sunday Night Heat The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) Six-man tag team match 03:51 and The Big Boss Man defeated Prince Albert, The Godfather and D'Lo Brown
Sunday Night Heat Edge defeated Singles match 05:53 Al Snow by disqualification.
1 Tazz defeated Kurt Angle Singles match 03:16
2 The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) Tag Team Tables match 10:18
3 Mae Young (with Mark Henry) defeated Ivory, Terri, Jacqueline, Barbara Bush, Luna Vachon, and The Kat Miss Royal Rumble 2000 Bikini Contest 09:28
4 Chris Jericho (c) defeated Chyna (c) and Hardcore Holly Triple Threat match to determine the undisputed WWF Intercontinental Champion 07:30
5 The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) (c) defeated The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 02:35
6 Triple H (c) (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) defeated Cactus Jack Street Fight for the WWF Championship 26:51
7 The Rock won by last eliminating The Big Show 2000 Royal Rumble match 51:49
Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time
1 D'Lo Brown 3 Rikishi 6:08 2 Grand Master Sexay 4 Rikishi 7:42 3 Mosh 1 Rikishi 3:37 4 Christian 2 Rikishi 2:08 5 Rikishi 8 Big Boss Man, Test, British Bulldog, Gangrel, Edge and Bob Backlund 16:23 6 Scotty 2 Hotty 5 Rikishi 1:02 7 Steve Blackman 6 Rikishi 0:44 8 Viscera 7 Rikishi 1:25 9 Big Boss Man 15 The Rock 22:47 10 Test 17 Big Show 26:17 11 British Bulldog 13 Road Dogg 15:22 12 Gangrel 18 Big Show 23:19 13 Edge 14 Al Snow and Val Venis 14:48 14 Bob Backlund 9 Chris Jericho 2:00 15 Chris Jericho 10 Chyna 3:47 16 Crash Holly 16 The Rock 14:54 17 Chyna 11 Big Boss Man 0:37 18 Faarooq 12 Big Boss Man 0:18 19 Road Dogg 25 Billy Gunn 19:02 20 Al Snow 24 The Rock 17:17 21 Val Venis 20 Kane 11:47 22 Prince Albert 21 Kane 11:23 23 Hardcore Holly 22 Al Snow 11:48 24 The Rock - Winner 14:47 25 Billy Gunn 26 Kane 9:38 26 Big Show 29 The Rock 11:12 27 Bradshaw 19 Road Dogg and Billy Gunn 0:25 28 Kane 27 X-Pac 6:11 29 The Godfather 23 Big Show 1:32 30 X-Pac 28 Big Show 3:32
Royal Rumble (1999) was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 24, 1999 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr. McMahon that the first entrant in the Royal Rumble, Steve Austin, had "no chance in hell" of winning the match. The theme song for the event, based on the phrase, would go on to become the entrance music for McMahon's stable The Corporation and later, just McMahon himself.
Tagline No Chance in Hell
Theme song "No Chance in Hell" by The Chris Warren Band
Attendance 14,816
Background
The overriding theme of the pay-per-view was centered around The Corporation and Mr. McMahon's attempts to enforce his notions of how a company should be run on the promotion. Since its inception the night after Survivor Series, the group had mainly come to blows with the irreverent D-Generation X, the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness and McMahon's arch nemesis Steve Austin.
Shawn Michaels used his role as Commissioner to ruin Mr. McMahon's attempts to enter the Royal Rumble at #30 twice When Commissioner Shawn Michaels allied himself with The Corporation, one of the first things he did was to book the Tag Team Champions, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, in a title defense against Corporate members Ken Shamrock and The Big Boss Man. Despite his interference at Rock Bottom: In Your House they managed to retain their titles but they were not so lucky on Raw is War on December 14. As the feud between DX and The Corporation intensified, the New Age Outlaws turned to singles wrestling as Road Dogg found himself caught up in the hardcore division and became Hardcore Champion on December 21. Meanwhile, as well as tensions from the tag team feuding, Billy Gunn gained the ire of Ken Shamrock when his sister Ryan appeared at ringside, only to have her sibling affection distracted when Gunn lived up to his nickname by flirtatiously mooning Ryan after Val Venis had already danced for her. Filled with his typical rage Shamrock put his Intercontinental Championship on the line for a chance to honor his notions of sibling protection.
After a minor absence, Women's Champion Sable returned to Raw with an open invitation on December 28, but before the match a fan came into the ring, later identified as Tori to give her a rose. A masked wrestler identified as "Spider Lady" came to the ring for the match (a nod to The Fabulous Moolah's screwjob over Wendi Richter in the mid '80s) but it ended in a no-contest when she started whipping Sable with her belt. The masked woman was revealed to be Luna Vachon, who would go on to face Sable in a "Strap Match" at the Rumble.
The Rock and Mankind had been feuding ever since Survivor Series in November 1998, when the two met in the finals of the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. The Rock won the title that night with the help of the McMahons, who had previously been assisting Mankind, and became the chosen Corporate Champion while Mankind began a feud with the Corporation. Mankind faced The Rock again at Rock Bottom: IYH and won the match, but Mr. McMahon stepped in and announced that while Rock lost the match by falling unconscious to the mandible claw, he did not technically submit and thus the WWF Championship would not change hands. Angered at being screwed out of the championship twice, Mankind attacked Shane McMahon on Raw is War and demanded a match. On the first Raw is War of 1999, January 4, after interference from The Corporation, D-Generation X and Steve Austin, Mankind won his first WWF Championship.[4][5] Initially he refused The Rock's demands for a rematch, despite Rock offering stipulation after stipulation to appease Mankind until eventually he quit begging, at which point Mankind revealed that he would face The Rock at the Rumble as long as it was an "I Quit" match.
The Royal Rumble match featured a number of notable build ups. On Raw is War on January 11, a Corporation vs. DX mini-Rumble was set up with the winner taking the coveted number 30 spot; after all the apparent competitors had entered it seemed as if Triple H had won until Mr. McMahon made his way to the ring, entering himself on behalf of the Corporation and throwing a distracted Triple H out of the ring. Again it seemed as if the winner was established until DX's Chyna made her way to the ring and won the match. The event would mark the first time a female wrestler took part in the match. Chyna also appeared at the Royal Rumble the following year as well. Chyna became the only woman to enter the match until Beth Phoenix entered the Royal Rumble in 2010.
The most notable aspect of the Royal Rumble, though, was the feud between Mr. McMahon and Steve Austin. Austin had won the Royal Rumble the previous two years and McMahon attempted to prevent him from repeating by putting him in a "Buried Alive" match at Rock Bottom: IYH against The Undertaker with one Royal Rumble place on the line. Austin won, with a little help from Kane and was guaranteed a place in the match, but McMahon continued in his attempts to prevent Austin from winning the match by "randomly" drawing Austin's spot at #1 and entering himself in the match at #30. Commissioner Michaels over-rode his decision and put McMahon at #2, and set up a Corporate/DX mini-Rumble for the now vacant #30 position. With Austin and McMahon being the first two to enter, McMahon wanted to guarantee there would be "no chance in hell" that Austin would win by not only training as a competitor, but also offering a $100,000 bounty for the man who eliminated him.
Qualifying matches Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match at Rock Bottom: In Your House Chyna won a Corporation vs. DX "Corporate Royal Rumble" for the #30 spot
Event
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler Michael Cole Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewers Dok Hendrix Kevin Kelly
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referee Mike Chioda Earl Hebner Jim Korderas Theodore Long Tim White
Aftermath
When Mr. McMahon won the Royal Rumble he earned a match against the WWF Champion at WrestleMania, but at the time it seemed as if that champion was fellow Corporate member The Rock. Not a full time wrestler, McMahon announced on January 25 that he was vacating his place at WrestleMania (the first time the Royal Rumble winner would voluntarily vacate their place) only to be informed by Commissioner Michaels that if the winner was incapable of wrestling in the WrestleMania main event then the runner-up would take their place. As the runner-up was Steve Austin, this enraged McMahon and Austin used this to put him into a match. Austin explained that even more than a WWF Championship match, he wanted another chance to fight McMahon without any legal ramifications so much that he would risk his WrestleMania title shot for the chance. To ensure that there would be no Corporate interference, the match would take place inside a steel cage at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House. Austin went on to win the match after the debut of Paul Wight, who came through the ring's mat and threw Austin into the cage wall, breaking it open and causing Austin to exit the cage before McMahon. Austin proceeded to face The Rock at WrestleMania XV, winning the WWF Championship for the second year in a row.
The mystery of Mankind's quitting was solved when it was revealed that Shane McMahon had played a voice clip from a prerecorded interview on Sunday Night Heat of Foley vowing to make Rock be the one "screaming I quit, I quit, I quit!" when he was actually unconscious. Having been screwed again, Foley hijacked the $100,000 bounty money The Rock earned for helping eliminate Austin, and began to throw it in the crowd, holding it ransom for a rematch. The rematch would be a twenty minute time limit hardcore match, held in an empty arena during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII on Halftime Heat, where Mankind would win the title back by trapping Rock underneath a heavy payload on a forklift truck. With the Rock claiming it was an unfair win, the two faced each other again, and in hopes of finding a definitive champion the match was booked as a "Last Man Standing" match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. It ended in a draw when both men were counted out,meaning they had to settle it again the next night on Raw is War in a ladder match which Rock won with help from Paul Wight. With WrestleMania so close, Mankind sought to settle the score with Rock by countlessly trying to become a second special guest referee in the WrestleMania main event, alongside Wight. Early in the WrestleMania card, Wight and Mankind fought for the referee position in a match which saw Wight disqualified for chokeslamming Foley through a pair of steel folding chairs. Foley was sent to the hospital for his injuries, but returned to officiate in the closing minutes of the match.
After making herself properly known, Sable's stalker Tori would be humiliated with her, pretending to align herself with Luna Vachon only to help Sable give her a beat down. Tori soon realized how selfish Sable was, though and the two had a match for the Women's Championship at WrestleMania XV where Sable retained her title thanks to interference from Nicole Bass.
Mabel, meanwhile, was renamed Viscera and became the newest member of the Ministry of Darkness as it assembled its war against The Corporation and Mr. McMahon, making The Brood part of the stable too on February 1. The Undertaker would have a "Hell in a Cell" match against Big Boss Man at WrestleMania XV which ended with The Brood passing rope from the roof to hang Boss Man with. The feud between the two stables continued until they joined forces when it became apparent that the "higher power" The Undertaker was answering to was actually Mr. McMahon.
Results
# Results Stipulations Times
Sunday Night Heat Christian defeated Jeff Hardy Singles match 11:00
Sunday Night Heat Bob Holly and Scorpio defeated Too Much Tag team match 03:52 (Scott Taylor and Brian Christopher)
Sunday Night Heat Mankind defeated Mabel Singles match 05:04
1 The Big Boss Man defeated The Road Dogg Singles match 11:52 2 Ken Shamrock (c) defeated Billy Gunn Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 14:24 3 X-Pac (c) defeated Gangrel Singles match for the WWF European Championship 05:53 4 Sable (c) defeated Luna Vachon (with Shane McMahon) Strap match for the WWF Women's Championship 04:43 5 The Rock defeated Mankind (c) "I Quit" match for the WWF Championship 21:46 6 Vince McMahon won by last eliminating Stone Cold Steve Austin. 1999 Royal Rumble match 56:38
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Steve Austin 29 McMahon 56:38 2 Vince McMahon - WINNER 56:38 3 Golga 1 Austin 0:15 4 Droz 7 Mabel 12:30 5 Edge 8 Road Dogg 11:51 6 Gillberg 2 Edge 0:06 7 Steve Blackman 4 Mabel and Singh 7:22 8 Dan Severn 3 Mabel 5:43 9 Tiger Ali Singh 5 Mabel 4:02 10 The Blue Meanie 6 Mabel 2:59 11 Mabel 9 Mideon, Faarooq and Bradshaw 1:26 12 The Road Dogg 12 Kane 10:41 13 Gangrel 10 Road Dogg 0:26 14 Kurrgan 13 Kane 6:54 15 Al Snow 11 Road Dogg 0:47 16 Goldust 15 Kane 4:02 17 The Godfather 14 Kane 1:40 18 Kane 16 Himself 0:53 19 Ken Shamrock 17 Austin 4:50 20 Billy Gunn 18 Austin 7:05 21 Test 19 Austin 12:48 22 The Big Boss Man 28 Austin 18:53 23 Triple H 25 Austin 14:19 24 Val Venis 24 Triple H 12:41 25 X-Pac 20 Boss Man 5:44 26 Mark Henry 22 Chyna 7:57 27 Jeff Jarrett 21 Triple H 3:39 28 D'Lo Brown 27 Boss Man 9:11 29 Owen Hart 26 Austin 6:31 30 Chyna 23 Austin 0:35
#11 was originally drawn by Headbanger Mosh, who was attacked and replaced by Mabel on his way to the ring. Mideon, Faarooq and Bradshaw (themselves not official entrants) eliminated Mabel and would indoctrine him the following RAW into the Ministry of Darkness as "Viscera".
Royal Rumble (1998) was the eleventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 18, 1998 at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California
Attendance 18,542
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler Jim Ross Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Tito Santana (Spanish) Jean Brassard (French) Raymond Rougeau (French)
Interviewer Michael Cole
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referees
Mike Chioda Jack Doan Jim Korderas Earl Hebner Tim White
Background
In the weeks leading up to the pay-per-view, Ken Shamrock had been facing various members of the Nation of Domination ahead of his booked match against Intercontinental champion Rocky Maivia (The Rock), defeating Kama Mustafa and Faarooq[1] with his ankle lock despite interference from other Nation members. The Raw is War before the Rumble saw Shamrock team up with Mark Henry against Maivia and D'Lo Brown, but just as Shamrock looked set to lock his submission on The Rock, Henry turned on him, joining the Nation in giving him a post-match beat down.
After winning their first tag team title, the New Age Outlaws further humiliated the erstwhile champions, the Legion of Doom, by shaving one of Hawk's mohawks and, with the help of D-Generation X, powerbombed Animal through the announce table, damaging his back. Although he was advised not to compete by doctors, Animal rested through the first few weeks of the year while the Outlaws ran roughshod through the tag division before this pay-per-view.
The build up to the Royal Rumble match itself focused almost entirely on Stone Cold Steve Austin. He declared that before the match he would be living by the motto "Do unto others, before they do unto me" interfering in matches regularly on Raw is War, or appearing just as matches finished, delivering the stunner to anyone in sight as well leaving other wrestlers back stage buried under tables and chairs. In the final segment of the Raw preceding the event, all competitors of the Royal Rumble were in the ring, waiting to draw their number of entry when Austin ran in through the crowd and began throw punches all over the ring, sparking a brawl between the various wrestlers feuding in the ring, and kicking the number generator out of the ring.
The main event for the WWF Championship was a rematch between champion Shawn Michaels and challenger The Undertaker. The feud had begun after Summerslam the previous August after Michaels, who was the special referee in the match between then-champion Undertaker and Bret Hart, hit Undertaker with a chair meant for Hart and counted the pin to cost Undertaker the championship. The first match between the two came at Ground Zero: In Your House the following month, a match that ended in a no contest due to outside interference from Michaels' D-Generation X cohorts, Triple H and Chyna. Michaels and Undertaker resumed the feud at Badd Blood in October 1997 in the first Hell in a Cell match which ended with the debut of Undertaker's (kayfabe) brother, Kane, giving Michaels the unfair win by delivering a tombstone piledriver on Undertaker, allowing the almost beaten Michaels to steal the match. To mock his opponent, Triple H and Chyna brought a casket to the match only for Michaels to appear from inside and spray paint it in D-Generation X slogans. The following week, while Michaels was delivering a promo, the same casket appeared again but this time Undertaker appeared from inside, grabbing the champion by the throat and dragging him into the coffin. Undertaker made his full presence known the following week, interrupting an interview in which Michaels was claiming to introduce the newest DX member: Kane. Undertaker told his opponent to leave his family out of the feud, before attacking the stable and being outnumbered. Kane made a surprise appearance and helped Undertaker, fighting DX up to the ramp before turning and reaching his hand out in an Undertaker-like salute which his brother returned.
Aftermath
By winning the Royal Rumble match, Steve Austin won the right to face Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XIV. Mike Tyson's presence in the director's box was revealed the following night to be because he was taking the role of special guest referee for the event. Following an altercation with Austin, however, he was changed to special enforcer and soon allied with D-Generation X. At WrestleMania, though, Tyson showed his true colors and stepped in when the referee was knocked down making the three-count for Austin which many see as the genesis for the Attitude era and WWF's re-surging dominance over chief rivals World Championship Wrestling.
Moreover, during the match with The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels suffered an injury to his back which would result in his ostensible retirement from wrestling at WrestleMania. As it transpired, during a one-off match with Triple H at SummerSlam 2002, he realized his back no longer hampered him and made a full time return to wrestling. His back injury kept him out of all wrestling until the main event at WrestleMania, despite being billed on the card for the next PPV, No Way Out of Texas. His last-minute replacement was Savio Vega, who appeared in the main event eight-man tag team match which saw a number of high-profile feuds converge on the road to WrestleMania.
The New Age Outlaws would go on to take part in the eight-man main event at No Way Out of Texas, sparring opposite Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie ahead of their WrestleMania title match. Their alliance with Triple H in this match saw them join the newly formed DX Army the day after WrestleMania. Legion of Doom went on to suffer a series of losses, ending in another loss against the Outlaws on February 23 after which they had an in-ring brawl and announced the dissolution of their team. They reappeared in a modified form as LOD 2000 in the opening WrestleMania match with Sunny as their valet.
Rocky Maivia's feud with Ken Shamrock spilled out into a ten-man tag match between the Nation of Domination and Shamrock's team, teaming with Ahmed Johnson and the Disciples of Apocalypse. Shamrock won the match by pinning Rock name and faced him at WrestleMania once again for the Intercontinental title. He originally won the match but would not release his ankle lock and was thus was disqualified.
The Undertaker would not return to action until WrestleMania, where he defeated Kane in a singles match. The feud continued with an inferno match at Unforgiven: In Your House in April. Two months later the two entered a storyline where Undertaker was eventually revealed to be in cahoots with his brother, which concluded with Paul Bearer reuniting with Undertaker and turning on Kane which led to the formation of the Ministry of Darkness at the end of 1998. This also marked the last time he would face Michaels in a singles match until the two met at WrestleMania XXV; he would wrestle Michaels once more at WrestleMania XXVI where he won a "streak vs. career" match
Results # Results Stipulations Times 1 Vader defeated The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust (with Luna Vachon) Singles match 07:47
2 Max Mini, Mosaic and Nova defeated Battalion, El Torito and Tarantula Tag team match with Sunny as Special Guest Referee 07:49
3 The Rock (c) defeated Ken Shamrock by disqualification. Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 10:53
4 The Legion Of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated The New Age Outlaws(Road Dogg and Billy Gunn)(c) by disqualification Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 07:56
5 Stone Cold Steve Austin won by last eliminating The Rock. 1998 Royal Rumble match 55:24
6 Shawn Michaels (c) (with Triple H and Chyna) defeated The Undertaker Casket match for the WWF Championship 20:37
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time
1 Cactus Jack 2 Charlie 9:41 2 Chainsaw Charlie 6 Mankind 25:19 3 Tom Brandi 1 Jack and Charlie 0:12 4 The Rock 28 Austin 51:32 5 Mosh 3 Kurrgan 13:09 6 Phineas Godwinn 12 Henry 28:48 7 8-Ball 14 Austin 30:43 8 Blackjack Bradshaw 15 Dude Love 35:45 9 Owen Hart 10 Triple H and Chyna 12:00 10 Steve Blackman 4 Kurrgan 5:58 11 D'Lo Brown 16 Faarooq 32:21 12 Kurrgan 5 Shamrock, 8-Ball, Godwinn, Bradshaw, Charlie and Rock 3:38 13 Marc Mero 13 Austin 19:40 14 Ken Shamrock 9 Rock 9:15 15 Thrasher 18 Austin 28:08 16 Mankind 7 Goldust 2:40 17 The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust 23 Chainz 26:04 18 Jeff Jarrett 8 Owen Hart 1:05 19 The Honky Tonk Man 17 Vader 19:55 20 Ahmed Johnson 11 Henry and Brown 3:18 21 Mark Henry 25 Faarooq 19:07 22 Skull - Unable to compete due to injury 0:00 23 Kama Mustafa 19 Austin 13:58 24 Steve Austin - WINNER 15:58 25 Henry Godwinn 22 Dude Love 11:32 26 Savio Vega 20 Austin 9:29 27 Faarooq 27 Rock 12:05 28 Dude Love 26 Faarooq 7:53 29 Chainz 24 Austin 4:56 30 Vader 21 Goldust 2:16
Referee Jack Doan was inadvertently kicked by Phineas Godwinn during his elimination, resulting in the referee suffering a concussion.
Triple H and Chyna were not entrants in the Royal Rumble Match; they arrived in the arena during Honky Tonk Man's entry and worked together to eliminate Owen. Owen then ran after both of them to backstage area.
Owen was unable to compete in the Rumble for a while as he was beaten up by Jeff Jarrett on the way to the ring; he joined in the Rumble later on after Jarrett's entry, taking his revenge on Jarrett and eliminating him.
Skull never made it to the ring because he was attacked by Los Boricuas prior to the Royal Rumble match because they had mistaken him for Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Royal Rumble (1997) was the tenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1997 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Attendance 60,525
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Vince McMahon Jerry "The King" Lawler Jim Ross Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Arturo Rivera (Spanish) Hugo Savinovich (Spanish) Jacques Rougeau, Sr. (French) Raymond Rougeau (French)
Interviewer Dok Hendrix Todd Pettengill
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referees Mike Chioda Jack Doan Jim Korderas Earl Hebner
Background
The feud between Goldust and Hunter Hearst Helmsley centered around Goldust's manager, Marlena. During the free broadcast prior to In Your House 12, Helmsley attempted to seduce Marlena. Goldust responded by attacking Helmsley during matches in the following weeks. The feud escalated on the December 30, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw during a match between Goldust and Jerry Lawler. Helmsley came to the ring and tried to carry Marlena away. Marc Mero, who had dropped the WWF Intercontinental Championship to Helmsley, blocked Helmsley's path, but the distraction was enough to cause Goldust to be counted out.
On July 22, 1996, Faarooq Asad (later Faarooq) made his WWF debut by attacking Ahmed Johnson, the Intercontinental champion. He claimed that he attacked Johnson because Johnson was not "from the streets", as Faarooq claimed to be. Soon after the attack, Johnson was diagnosed with a legitimate kidney problem, so the WWF claimed that Faarooq's attack had hospitalized Johnson. Johnson was unable to compete for several months and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship. When Johnson returned to the WWF, he interfered in several matches involving Faarooq's stable, the Nation of Domination. He attacked them with a two-by-four, which led to an angle in which Johnson was suspended for the attacks. By December, Johnson's injury had recovered sufficiently to allow him to resume wrestling, and a match was scheduled for the next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble.
Vader and The Undertaker did not have a substantial buildup to their match at Royal Rumble 1997. Vader had joined other heel wrestlers to attack The Undertaker on several occasions, but there was no major storyline behind their match. The Undertaker had been involved in a feud with Paul Bearer that dated back to SummerSlam 1996, when Bearer had turned on The Undertaker. On the January 5, 1997 episode of WWF Superstars, The Undertaker attacked Vader's manager, Jim Cornette, leaving Vader without a manager at the Royal Rumble.
The feud between Sycho Sid and Shawn Michaels dated back to 1995. The storyline saw Michaels hire Sid to be in his corner during the Michaels vs. Diesel main event at WrestleMania XI. Sid interfered in the match by distracting the referee, but the plan backfired when the referee was unable to count the pinfall after Michaels superkicked Diesel. On the following night's episode of Monday Night Raw, Michaels told Sid that he would not be needed in the case of a Michaels vs. Diesel rematch. Sid responded by turning on Michaels and powerbombing him three times. This attack led to a feud between Sid and Diesel, but Sid and Michaels were reunited as partners in an elimination match at Survivor Series 1995. During the match, Michaels accidentally kicked Sid in the face, which led to Sid being eliminated. Sid retaliated by powerbombing Michaels again. Once again, the feud was not developed, as Sid left the WWF. Sid returned to the WWF on the July 8, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw when Michaels introduced him as a partner in a six-man match at In Your House 9. Sid helped Michaels several times in the coming months by saving him from attacks by other wrestlers. At In Your House 11, Sid defeated Vader to win a WWF Championship match against Michaels at Survivor Series 1996. During the match at Survivor Series, Sid attacked Jose Lothario, Michaels' manager, with a television camera. While Michaels was distracted, Sid hit him with the camera and powerbombed him to win the title. A rematch was later booked for Royal Rumble 1997.
Aftermath
Shawn Michaels later vacated the WWF Championship on the Thursday Raw Thursday special. Due to this and the controversial situation over the Royal Rumble ending, Steve Austin, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Vader were pitted against each other at In Your House 13: Final Four in a Four Corners match for the WWF Championship, which saw Hart win the vacant WWF title. The next night on Raw, Austin interfered in a WWF title match between Hart and Sycho Sid. As a results of Austin's interference, Hart lost the belt, which resulted in Hart's short-lived title reign. On the March 17 edition of Raw, Hart and Sid faced off in a Steel Cage match for the WWF title. Sid won after interference by both Stone Cold and Undertaker. At WrestleMania 13, Undertaker defeated Sid for the WWF title, while Hart and Austin battled each other in a Submission match with Ken Shamrock as the special referee.
Results # Result Stipulation Time Free for All Perro Aguayo, Jr. and Venum defeated Maniaco and Mosco de la Merced Tag team match 10:00
Free for All Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr., and Tinieblas Jr. defeated Heavy Metal, Abismo Negro, and Histeria Tag team match 14:00
Free for All Mascarita Sagrada and La Parkita defeated Mini Mankind and Mini Vader Tag team match 04:29
1 Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c) (with Curtis Hughes) defeated Goldust (with Marlena) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 16:50
2 Ahmed Johnson defeated Faarooq (with the Nation of Domination) by disqualification Singles match 08:48
3 Vader defeated The Undertaker Singles match 13:19
4 Héctor Garza, Perro Aguayo, and El Canek defeated Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal, and Fuerza Guerrera Tag team match 10:56
5 Steve Austin won last eliminating Bret Hart Royal Rumble match 50:29
6 Shawn Michaels (with Jose Lothario) defeated Sycho Sid (c) Singles match for the WWF Championship 13:49
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Crush 3 Phineas Godwinn 6:17 2 Ahmed Johnson 2 Himself 3:02 3 Razor Ramon 1 Johnson 0:17 4 Phineas Godwinn 4 Austin 2:52 5 Steve Austin - WINNER 45:07 6 Bart Gunn 5 Austin 0:26 7 Jake Roberts 6 Austin 1:10 8 The British Bulldog 8 Owen Hart 8:04 9 Pierroth 10 Mascaras 10:32 10 The Sultan 7 British Bulldog 3:23 11 Mil Máscaras 11 Himself 7:28 12 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 12 Goldust 6:42 13 Owen Hart 17 Austin 8:29 14 Goldust 13 Owen Hart 5:33 15 Cibernético 9 Mascaras and Pierroth 1:25 16 Marc Mero 16 Austin 3:53 17 Latin Lover 14 Faarooq 1:47 18 Faarooq 15 Himself 0:41 19 Savio Vega 18 Austin 0:29 20 Jesse James 19 Austin 0:46 21 Bret Hart 29 Austin 21:42 22 Jerry Lawler 20 Bret Hart 0:04 23 "Diesel" 28 Bret Hart 17:49 24 Terry Funk 24 Mankind 15:18 25 Rocky Maivia 23 Mankind 13:01 26 Mankind 25 Undertaker 12:20 27 Flash Funk 21 Vader 6:12 28 Vader 26 Austin 10:06 29 Henry Godwinn 22 Undertaker 6:11 30 The Undertaker 27 Austin 6:46
Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart, but snuck back in the ring while officials were distracted by a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind on the other side of the ring.
Faarooq was eliminated when Ahmed Johnson (who had eliminated himself from the Rumble earlier on) came back into the ring with a 2×4 and went after Faarooq, causing him to go over the top rope.
Royal Rumble (1996) was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 21, 1996 at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
Attendance 9,600
Duke "The Dumpster" Droese's victory over Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF president Gorilla Monsoon stepped in after Droese was pinned and reversed the referee's decision, disqualifying Helmsley for using brass knuckles to knock Droese out) on the Free for All prior to the event earned him the coveted number 30 spot in the Royal Rumble match while Helmsley had to enter first.
This was the first Royal Rumble to play the entry music of each wrestler when they entered the Royal Rumble match
Results # Results Stipulations Times Free for All Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification Singles match 06:25 1 Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualification Singles match 06:40 2 The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) (c) defeated The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) (with Sunny) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 11:14 3 Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon (c) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 14:17 4 Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel Royal Rumble match 58:49 5 The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Bret Hart (c) by disqualification Singles match for the WWF Championship 28:31
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 19 Diesel 48:01 2 Henry Godwinn 2 Roberts 16:24 3 Bob Backlund 1 Yokozuna 12:22 4 Jerry Lawler 16 Michaels 36:02 5 Bob Holly 18 Ringmaster 39:35 6 King Mabel 3 Yokozuna 12:14 7 Jake Roberts 6 Vader 14:39 8 Dory Funk, Jr. 5 Vega 10:53 9 Yokozuna 11 Michaels 19:14 10 1–2–3 Kid 13 Michaels 15:40 11 Takao Omori 4 Helmsley and Roberts 2:48 12 Savio Vega 10 Vader 12:28 13 Vader 12 Michaels 11:04 14 Doug Gilbert 7 Vader 2:59 15 Swat Team #1 8 Vader 1:11 16 Swat Team #2 9 Yokozuna 0:24 17 Owen Hart 21 Michaels and Diesel 20:43 18 Shawn Michaels - Winner 26:09 19 Hakushi 14 Hart 1:53 20 Tatanka 17 Diesel 4:09 21 Aldo Montoya 15 Tatanka 1:52 22 Diesel 29 Michaels 17:51 23 Kama 28 Diesel 15:57 24 The Ringmaster 23 Fatu 10:57 25 Barry Horowitz 20 Hart 4:15 26 Fatu 24 Yankem 7:07 27 Isaac Yankem 25 Michaels 7:05 28 Marty Jannetty 22 British Bulldog 2:35 29 The British Bulldog 27 Michaels 3:39 30 Duke Droese 26 Kama and Diesel 1:10
Other on-screen talent
Commentators Vince McMahon Mr. Perfect
Interviewers Dok Hendrix Todd Pettengill
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referees Jack Doan Jim Korderas Earl Hebner Tim White
Royal Rumble (1995) was the eighth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 22, 1995, in the USF Sun Dome located in Tampa, Florida. The event featured five matches based on scripted storylines and the results were predetermined by the WWF. The reviews have been mostly positive, although critics have expressed disappointment that wrestlers entered the Royal Rumble match every sixty seconds instead of every two minutes as in previous years.
Attendance 10,000
Other on-screen talent:
Commentator Vince McMahon Jerry "The King" Lawler Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) Ed Trucco (Spanish)
Interviewer Todd Pettengill Ray Rougeau Stephanie Wiand
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referee Danny Davis Jack Doan Earl Hebner Tim White
Several storylines from Royal Rumble 1995 were carried over to WrestleMania XI, the WWF's next pay-per-view. Bam Bam Bigelow attacked National Football League Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting in the crowd; this set up a match between the two at WrestleMania. Pamela Anderson was at ringside and was supposed to accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble match to his WWF Championship match at WrestleMania. Although Shawn Michaels won the match, Anderson came to the ring at WrestleMania with Diesel. The Undertaker's feud with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation also escalated, as DiBiase's men stole the urn that was said to give The Undertaker his power. Jarrett and Ramon continued to feud for several months, and Bret Hart targeted Bob Backlund because of Backlund's interference in the WWF Championship match
Background
The storyline behind the WWF Championship match began in 1994, when Bret Hart was feuding with his brother Owen. After Owen was unable to win the title, he helped Bob Backlund win the belt from Bret at Survivor Series 1994. Three days after Survivor Series, Diesel faced Backlund and won the title belt. He agreed to grant a title shot to Bret Hart, who, like Diesel, was also a fan-favorite.
Diesel held the WWF Championship going into the event.
Also at Survivor Series 1994, Shawn Michaels and Diesel had an argument after Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. Although the pair held the WWF Tag Team Championship together, Diesel said that he did not want to team with Michaels any longer. The title was vacated, and the WWF held a tournament to determine the new champions. During the tournament, The Smoking Gunns were forced to withdraw when Bart Gunn was injured in a rodeo accident. As a result, the 1–2–3 Kid and Bob Holly took their place. The Gunns requested that they get a title shot after the tournament when Bart had recovered. The 1–2–3 Kid and Holly advanced to the finals, as did Ted DiBiase's team of Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka. The match to determine the new champions was scheduled to take place at the Royal Rumble.
The Undertaker had been feuding with DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation since his return to the WWF from an injury in August 1994. During the match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994, Irwin R. Schyster, one of DiBiase's wrestlers, interfered in the match by attacking The Undertaker. The feud between The Undertaker and Schyster escalated when Schyster performed a series of vignettes in which he repossessed such items as tombstones and burial plots from people he claimed had not paid their taxes before dying. During the feud, Schyster was escorted to the ring for his matches by a group of hooded druids.
The feud between Jeff Jarrett and Razor Ramon began in late 1994 when Jarrett challenged Ramon for Ramon's WWF Intercontinental Championship. They faced each other several times, but Jarrett was unable to win the belt. Jarrett, who portrayed an aspiring country music star, was accompanied to the ring by The Roadie, who often interfered in matches on Jarrett's behalf.
Although no major feuds were featured in the Royal Rumble match, Baywatch star Pamela Anderson was in attendance at ringside. It was announced that she would accompany the winner of the match during his WWF Championship title shot at WrestleMania XI.
Event
Aftermath
The day after Royal Rumble, the 1–2–3 Kid and Bob Holly faced The Smoking Gunns. The Gunns won the match and the WWF Tag Team Championship. By losing the belts after one day, the Kid and Holly tied what was at that time the record for the shortest tag team title reign in WWF history.
Shawn Michaels lost his WWF Championship match at WrestleMania but reunited with former friend Diesel. Razor Ramon faced Jeff Jarrett at WrestleMania XI in a rematch for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. To counteract The Roadie's interference, Ramon was accompanied by his friend the 1–2–3 Kid. Ramon won the match by disqualification but did not win the title. On May 19, 1995, Ramon defeated Jarrett in a ladder match to regain the championship, but Jarrett won the belt back three days later.
The Undertaker faced King Kong Bundy at WrestleMania XI. Although The Undertaker won the match, Kama, another member of DiBiase's Corporation, took possession of the urn and melted it down into a necklace. The Undertaker defeated Kama in dark matches at In Your House 1 and In Your House 2. They faced each other in a casket match at SummerSlam 1995, which The Undertaker won to end the feud.
Bret Hart wrestled an "I Quit" match against Bob Backlund at WrestleMania. Hart won the match after the referee determined that Backlund had conceded defeat. Bret's feud with Owen was not featured again, but the two did not reunite until they formed The Hart Foundation in 1997 with brothers-in law Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart.
Despite Michaels winning the right to be escorted by Pamela Anderson to his WWF Championship match against Diesel at WrestleMania, Anderson came to the ring with Diesel instead. Michaels's bodyguard, Sycho Sid, attempted to interfere on Michaels's behalf but ultimately helped Diesel retain the title. Diesel offered Michaels a rematch, and Michaels told Sid that he would not be needed in the upcoming match. Upset with Michaels, Sid attacked Michaels until Diesel came to Michaels's rescue. Diesel and Michaels became allies once again and teamed up to win the WWF Tag Team Championship later that year.
Bam Bam Bigelow challenged Lawrence Taylor to a match, which Taylor accepted after initially refusing. Diesel trained Taylor, who beat Bigelow at WrestleMania XI. Embarrassed, Bigelow challenged Diesel to a match for the WWF Championship. Tatanka was at ringside for the match; he turned on Bigelow and caused him to lose. Bigelow attacked Tatanka after the match, which led to Sid, a new addition to the Corporation, to come to Tatanka's defense. This led to a tag team match at King of the Ring 1995, where Diesel and Bigelow defeated Tatanka and Sid.
Reception
The event was attended by 10,000 fans, which is approximately the maximum capacity of the USF Sun Dome. This attendance figure was down from the previous year's attendance of 14,500, but higher than the following year, when 9,600 people attended Royal Rumble 1996. From the ticket sales, the WWF gained $140,000; again, this was lower than in 1994 but higher than in 1996. The pay-per-view buyrate of 1.0, however, was higher than 1994's 0.9 figure but lower than 1996's buyrate of 1.1.
Current WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes has stated that Michaels's win, in which he was the first wrestler to enter the ring in the #1 position and win the match, is his favorite ending to a Royal Rumble match. Reviewing the event for Online Onslaught, columnist Adam Gutschmidt evaluated the event as acceptable but not exceptional. He found the Royal Rumble match to be the best part of the show, although he claimed that the WWF's switch to having wrestlers enter every 60 seconds hurt the match. He also found the inconclusive ending to the WWF Championship match frustrating and rated the match between The Undertaker and Irwin R. Schyster as a "dud". The event has also been rated by customers at Amazon.com, who have given the event four and a half out of five stars.
Royal Rumble 1995 was released on VHS in North America by Coliseum Video on March 8, 1995. It was released in the United Kingdom in VHS format on May 8, 1995. The event, packaged together with Royal Rumble 1996, was also released on DVD in the United Kingdom as part of the WWE Tagged Classics line on April 17, 2006. On October 15, 2007, WWE released the event in the United Kingdom as part of the Royal Rumble Complete Anthology DVD set.
Results
Ted DiBiase's wrestlers did not win any matches.
# Results Stipulations Times Dark Buck Quartermaine defeated The Brooklyn Brawler Singles match Unknown 1 Jeff Jarrett (with The Roadie) defeated Razor Ramon (c) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 18:03 2 The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Irwin R.Schyster (with Ted DiBiase) Singles match 12:20 3 Diesel (c) fought Bret Hart to a draw Singles match for the WWF Championship 27:18 4 Bob Holly and 1–2–3 Kid defeated Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow (with Ted DiBiase) Tag team match for the vacant WWF Tag Team Championship 15:45 5 Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating The British Bulldog Royal Rumble match 38:41
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every minute.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Shawn Michaels - Winner 38:41 2 The British Bulldog 29 Michaels 38:41 3 Eli Blu 9 Sionne 10:00 4 Duke Droese 3 Michaels 8:13 5 Jimmy Del Ray 1 British Bulldog 1:25 6 Sionne 10 Eli Blu 6:50 7 Tom Prichard 6 Michaels 5:30 8 Doink the Clown 7 Kwang 4:50 9 Kwang 8 Sionne 4:01 10 Rick Martel 5 Sionne 2:29 11 Owen Hart 2 British Bulldog 0:03 12 Timothy Well 4 British Bulldog 0:23 13 Bushwhacker Luke 11 Michaels 0:12 14 Jacob Blu 12 Michaels 0:17 15 King Kong Bundy 14 Mabel 3:00 16 Mo 13 Bundy 0:03 17 Mabel 16 Luger 1:58 18 Bushwhacker Butch 15 Michaels 0:19 19 Lex Luger 27 Michaels and Crush 18:51 20 The Mantaur 18 Luger 9:33 21 Aldo Montoya 23 Michaels 13:21 22 Henry Godwinn 26 Luger 14:40 23 Billy Gunn 20 Crush and Murdoch 7:25 24 Bart Gunn 19 Crush and Murdoch 6:19 25 Bob Backlund 17 Luger 0:16 26 Steven Dunn 21 Montoya 4:29 27 Dick Murdoch 25 Godwinn 5:08 28 Adam Bomb 22 Crush 5:20 29 Fatu 24 Crush 5:32 30 Crush 28 British Bulldog 8:51
Royal Rumble (1994) was the seventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 22, 1994 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which wrestlers enter the ring at regular intervals. Lex Luger and Bret Hart were named co-winners after they simultaneously eliminated each other.
Attendance 14,500
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Vince McMahon Ted DiBiase Gorilla Monsoon (Radio WWF) Jim Ross (Radio WWF)
Interviewer Todd Pettengill Raymond Rougeau
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referee Earl Hebner Danny Davis Joey Marella Tim White
Background
The first televised match of the pay-per-view was supposed to be Ludvig Borga vs. Tatanka. The two were engaged in a feud that began prior to Survivor Series 1993. Tatanka was undefeated in the WWF since his debut in 1991. Borga ended this streak on the October 30, 1993 edition of WWF Superstars (taped on September 28, 1993), when he hit Tatanka with a steel chair while the referee was distracted. As a results of storyline injuries from this attack and the beating he suffered afterward at the hands of Borga and Yokozuna, Tatanka was forced to miss the main event match at Survivor Series. Although Tatanka defeated Borga by disqualification on the December 20, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw, the bitterness between the two remained.
Borga suffered a legitimate ankle injury, however, and was replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow. Although the substitution took place shortly before the event, Bigelow and Tatanka also had a heated rivalry. In 1993, Bigelow cut Tatanka's dyed red hair as an insult to his Lumbee heritage. The two faced each other as part of a six-man match at SummerSlam 1993, but the feud continued even after Tatanka's team emerged victorious.
Bam Bam Bigelow replaced Ludvig Borga in a match against Tatanka.
Razor Ramon and Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S.) began feuding prior to SummerSlam 1993 because of an angle in which Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and I.R.S.) teased Ramon about losing to the 1-2-3 Kid, a newcomer to the WWF. The rivalry heated up when I.R.S. stole Ramon's gold chains while Shawn Michaels had Ramon distracted. Ramon and I.R.S. agreed to settle the feud at Royal Rumble 1994 with Ramon's Intercontinental Championship on the line.
At Survivor Series 1993, Owen Hart was eliminated from the “Hart Brothers vs. Shawn Michaels and His Knights” elimination match due to miscommunication within the Hart team. Bret Hart was walking along the ring apron when Owen ran into him, causing Owen to lose his focus and be pinned by Michaels. After the match, Owen interrupted his brothers’ victory celebration to verbally attack Bret. He demanded a match with Bret to settle the dispute. Bret refused, and the brothers reunited over the Christmas holidays. They decided to focus their energy on taking the tag team title from the Quebecers. Their plan was temporarily put on hold when Marty Jannetty and the 1-2-3 Kid won the belts,but the Quebecers won a rematch the following week, guaranteeing that the Harts would get their title shot.
The rivalry between Yokozuna and The Undertaker began at Survivor Series 1993. Yokozuna, who was pushed as an unstoppable monster, was unable to inflict any serious damage on The Undertaker when the two faced each other in an elimination match. Yokozuna slammed The Undertaker’s head into the steel steps leading up to the ring, but The Undertaker was unharmed. Later, Yokozuna used his finishing move, the Banzai Drop, on The Undertaker. When he tried to repeat the move, however, The Undertaker became the first wrestler to sit up after the move, surprising Yokozuna and his managers. The Undertaker was granted a title shot, but Jim Cornette, Yokozuna’s American spokesperson, included a clause in the contract that The Undertaker would not get a rematch if he lost. Paul Bearer, The Undertaker’s manager, included a clause stating that the confrontation would take place in a Casket match. In the following weeks, it was revealed that Yokozuna had a fear of caskets. The Undertaker used this knowledge to gain a psychological advantage going into the match. On one occasion, Paul Bearer brought the casket to the ring to intimidate Yokozuna. When Yokozuna approached the casket to face his fear, the Undertaker popped out to scare Yokozuna.
Lex Luger wanted to participate in the Royal Rumble match, as the winner was scheduled to get a title shot for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X. The contract he had signed for his title shot at SummerSlam 1993, however, stated that he would not receive a rematch if he failed to win the title. A compromise was reached, allowing Luger to compete. Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, was allowed to bring in two wrestlers, Genichiro Tenryu and The Great Kabuki to hurt Luger's chances of winning.
Aftermath
Ludvig Borga did not return to the WWF after his ankle healed, so there was no closure to his feud with Tatanka. The feud between Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow was also soon forgotten. In the summer of 1994, both wrestlers joined Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation. The two eventually formed a tag team and unsuccessfully challenged for the WWF Tag Team Championship.
The feud between Razor Ramon and I.R.S. ended shortly after the Royal Rumble. On the January 31, 1994 edition of Monday Night Raw, the 1-2-3 Kid stole Ramon's chains back from I.R.S., bringing the feud to an end. Shawn Michaels’ attack on Razor Ramon increased the hostility between the two. The debate over the true holder of the Intercontinental Championship was settled at WrestleMania X in a ladder match with both belts suspended above the ring. This ended the feud between Michaels and Ramon, although Ramon continued to feud with Michaels’ friend Diesel.
Owen Hart demanded a match against Bret Hart, which Bret repeatedly refused] This situation was complicated because of Bret co-winning the Royal Rumble. Jack Tunney decided that both Bret Hart and Lex Luger would get title shots at WrestleMania X, but that they would each wrestle two matches at the event. Lex Luger won a coin toss televised on Monday Night Raw and won the chance to face Yokozuna first. If he had lost the toss, he would have wrestled Crush before facing Yokozuna. Under the rules set forth by Tunney, Bret was required to wrestle Owen in the opening match at WrestleMania. Owen won the match, but Bret came out of WrestleMania with the WWF Championship after Yokozuna dropped the title to him. This led to an extended feud between the two that saw Jim Neidhart return to the WWF to side with Owen and Davey Boy Smith to make a comeback to take Bret’s side.
Several of the events during the Royal Rumble match led to feuds and pay-per-view matches later in 1994. The uncertainty surrounding Shawn Michaels’ assistance in eliminating Diesel from the Royal Rumble foreshadowed the split between the two at Survivor Series 1994. Diesel’s performance in the Royal Rumble, however, played a large role in helping him become the first wrestler to win the WWF’s Triple Crown in one calendar year. Meanwhile, Crush and Randy Savage faced each other in a Falls Count Anywhere match at WrestleMania X to settle their feud, and Doink and his midget sidekick Dink faced Bigelow and his kayfabe girlfriend Luna Vachon in a mixed tag match.
The Undertaker did not appear in the WWF for several months after his loss to Yokozuna. In reality, he was given time off to allow a back injury to heal. During his absence, the WWF promoted his return by showing video clips of people who claimed to have seen The Undertaker. Ted DiBiase claimed to have brought The Undertaker back to the WWF, but Paul Bearer informed him that DiBiase’s Undertaker was an impostor. Paul Bearer claimed to have located the true Undertaker,] which led to a match at SummerSlam 1994 between DiBiase’s Undertaker (portrayed by Brian Lee) and Paul Bearer’s original Undertaker. After defeating the false Undertaker, Bearer's Undertaker got revenge against Yokozuna by winning a Casket match at Survivor Series 1994. To help prevent outside interference, Chuck Norris was brought in as a guest referee.
Results # Results Stipulations Times Dark The Brooklyn Brawler defeated Jim Powers Singles match Unknown 1 Tatanka defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Luna Vachon) Singles match 08:12 2 The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) (c) (with Johnny Polo) defeated Bret Hart and Owen Hart Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 16:48 3 Razor Ramon (c) defeated Irwin R. Schyster Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 11:30 4 Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) defeated The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) Casket match for the WWF Championship 14:20 5 Bret Hart and Lex Luger co-won the Royal Rumble Royal Rumble match 55:08
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds. Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Scott Steiner 4 Diesel 9:00 2 Samu 1 Scott Steiner 3:13 3 Rick Steiner 2 Owen Hart 3:57 4 Kwang 6 Diesel 5:57 5 Owen Hart 5 Diesel 4:10 6 Bart Gunn 3 Diesel 2:30 7 Diesel 13 Bigelow, Mabel, Plugg, Michaels & Crush 17:41 8 Bob Backlund 7 Diesel 0:41 9 Billy Gunn 8 Diesel 0:14 10 Virgil 9 Diesel 0:32 11 Randy Savage 11 Crush 4:38 12 Jeff Jarrett 10 Savage 1:19 13 Crush 16 Luger & Plugg 25:03 14 Doink the Clown 12 Bigelow 1:48 15 Bam Bam Bigelow 23 Luger 30:12 16 Mabel 14 Valentine, Tatanka, Kabuki, Crush, Bigelow, Plugg & Michaels 9:57 17 Sparky Plugg 17 Bret Hart & Michaels 21:33 18 Shawn Michaels 27 Luger 29:17 19 Mo 21 Fatu 22:46 20 Greg Valentine 18 Martel 20:39 21 Tatanka 22 Bigelow 20:07 22 The Great Kabuki 15 Luger 2:46 23 Lex Luger - Co-Winner 21:58 24 Genichiro Tenryu 25 Bret Hart & Luger 17:21 25 Bastion Booger - Unable to compete 0:00 26 Rick Martel 19 Tatanka 11:22 27 Bret Hart - Co-Winner 15:08 28 Fatu 26 Bret Hart 13:04 29 Marty Jannetty 24 Michaels 8:18 30 Adam Bomb 20 Luger 4:55
Royal Rumble (1993) was the sixth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 24, 1993 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event was a Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which two wrestlers started the match in the ring; every two minutes, another wrestler joined. In total, thirty wrestlers competed to eliminate their competitors by throwing them over the top rope of the wrestling ring onto the arena floor. Yokozuna won the match and was awarded a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania IX. Bret Hart also retained his WWF Championship against Razor Ramon, and Shawn Michaels successfully defended his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Marty Jannetty.
Reviews of the event have been mixed. Critics enjoyed the WWF Championship and WWF Intercontinental Championship matches. The Royal Rumble match, however, has been described as boring and too full of wrestlers with little chance of winning. The WWF debut of Giant Gonzalez, who appeared at the event to attack The Undertaker, has also been criticized as an unnecessary distraction
Attendance 16,000
Other on-screen talent:
Commentator Bobby Heenan Gorilla Monsoon
Interviewers Gene Okerlund Raymond Rougeau
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referee John Binella Danny Davis Jack Doan Earl Hebner Joey Marella
Background
Royal Rumble 1993 consisted of six matches: four singles matches, one tag team match, and the Royal Rumble match. The buildup to the pay-per-view consisted of feuds scripted by the WWF's writers. Some of the rivalries dated back several years, while others were created specifically to create excitement about the Royal Rumble.
The primary feud leading up to Royal Rumble 1993 was between WWF Champion Bret Hart and challenger Razor Ramon. Ramon formed an alliance in late 1992 with Ric Flair, who Hart defeated to win the title belt. During an interview in which Hart was talking about the upcoming match, Ramon and Flair came to the ring and attacked Hart. Ramon later escalated the feud by attacking Owen Hart, Bret's brother.
Bret Hart was the WWF Champion going into the event.
Another major feud featured at the event was between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, who had teamed for several years as The Rockers. The team split up in December 1991, however, when Michaels attacked Jannetty during an episode of Brutus Beefcake's interview segment, "The Barber Shop". Michaels became a singles wrestler and won the WWF Intercontinental Championship on October 27, 1992 from Davey Boy Smith. On the October 31, 1992 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Jannetty returned to the WWF after a lengthy absence and confronted Michaels. He attempted to hit Michaels with a mirror, but Michaels pulled his valet, Sensational Sherri in front of him. Sherri was hit with the mirror, which caused friction between her and Michaels. Michaels and Jannetty were scheduled to face each other for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble 1993. Leading up to the match, Sherri announced that she would be in the corner of one of the men, but she refused to say which one
In an undercard match, The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott), who made their WWF debut in late 1992, were scheduled to face the Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake). There was little buildup for the match, but the Steiners and Beverlys had a rivalry over which was the best team of brothers in the WWF (although the Beverly Brothers are not related in real life).
Several feuds also formed the background for the Royal Rumble match. Virgil had served as Ted DiBiase's servant and bodyguard for several years. DiBiase treated Virgil poorly, which eventually led Virgil to turn against his employer. At Royal Rumble 1991, he attacked DiBiase after a match by hitting him with the Million Dollar Championship, a title that DiBiase had awarded himself. Virgil defeated DiBiase for the belt at SummerSlam 1991, although DiBiase later regained the title. The Undertaker was feuding with manager Harvey Wippleman. He had a series of matches against Kamala in 1992 that included a bout at SummerSlam. The rivalry culminated in a coffin match at Survivor Series 1992. The Undertaker won the match, but Wippleman vowed revenge. Tito Santana and Rick Martel had formed a tag team known as Strike Force in 1987, and they held the World Tag Team Championship together for five months. Martel walked away during a match against the Brain Busters at WrestleMania V, leaving Santana to face both opponents alone. The team split up as a result and the former partners had a lengthy feud.
Mr. Perfect served as "executive consultant" to Ric Flair in 1992, but the relationship broke down toward the end of the year. The partnership split up when Perfect teamed with Randy Savage to face Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series 1992. Flair legitimately requested a release from his contract, as he felt he would be more successful if he returned to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). WWF owner Vince McMahon agreed and set up a feud between Flair and Perfect to create a storyline for Flair's departure from the company.
The event also featured the WWF debut of Lex Luger. Luger had previously wrestled in WCW, where he held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He had left the wrestling industry to join Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF). After the WBF failed, Luger signed with McMahon's WWF.
Aftermath
At WrestleMania IX, Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship. His title reign only lasted several minutes, however, as he dropped the belt to Hulk Hogan in an impromptu match. Yokozuna regained the title but dropped it to Hart the following year.
Shawn Michaels continued his feud with Marty Jannetty. Shawn Michaels continued his feud with Sensational Sherri at WrestleMania IX. Sherri accompanied Tatanka, and Michaels countered this by introducing Luna Vachon, his new valet. After the match, Vachon attacked Sherri. The feud also continued between Michaels and Jannetty, as Jannetty defeated Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship on May 17, 1993. Michaels regained the belt in a rematch the following month to end the feud.
Razor Ramon continued to wrestle in high-profile matches but achieved little success until changing his persona to a face after losing to the underdog 1-2-3 Kid in May 1993. As a fan favorite, Ramon won his first of four Intercontinental Championships in September 1993.
The day after Royal Rumble, Flair faced Perfect in a loser leaves town match, in which the loser would be forced to leave the WWF forever. Because Flair had an agreement with McMahon to lose to Mr. Perfect before leaving the promotion, Perfect won the match and Flair did not appear in the WWF again until 2001. With Flair gone from the promotion, Luger continued Heenan's feud and defeated Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania IX.
The Beverly Brothers were unable to win the World Tag Team Championship, but the Steiners won the belts on two occasions in 1993. They feuded with Money Inc. (DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster), who had held the belts since the previous October, before winning their first championship on June 14.
Earthquake and Typhoon stopped teaming after their confrontation during the Royal Rumble match. No feud ever materialized, however, as Earthquake was released by the WWF and left to compete in Japan. The rivalry between Virgil and DiBiase was not mentioned again until the following year, when Virgil had a brief feud with Nikolai Volkoff, who was managed by DiBiase. DiBiase was reunited with Virgil, who had been renamed Vincent, when both men were members of WCW's New World Order in 1996.
Luger's status as a heel (villain) was short-lived. Yokozuna issued a challenge for any American athlete to try to bodyslam him on the deck of the USS Intrepid on Independence Day that year. Several athletes made the attempt, but nobody was able to lift Yokozuna until Luger arrived in a helicopter and bodyslammed Yokozuna. Luger received a push and was given a match for Yokozuna's WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1993, but he was unable to win the belt.
The Undertaker's feud with Harvey Wippleman escalated in the following months and was featured at two more pay-per-view events in 1993. The Undertaker faced Giant Gonzalez at WrestleMania IX; Gonzalez was disqualified after attacking The Undertaker with a chloroform-soaked rag provided by Wippleman. Wippleman and Gonzalez recruited Mr. Hughes, and the three men attacked The Undertaker and Paul Bearer. They stole The Undertaker's urn, which was said to be the source of his power. The feud culminated in a Rest in Peace match at SummerSlam 1993, which The Undertaker won to end the feud.
Reception
Writing for Online Onslaught, columnist Adam Gutschmidt stated that the first half of the event is worth watching. He enjoyed the tag team match and the bout between Jannetty and Michaels. He also found the WWF Championship match surprisingly good. He did not, however, feel that the match between Big Boss Man and Bam Bam Bigelow was interesting. He also disliked the Royal Rumble match because too many tag team wrestlers were included, there were few exciting moments, and Giant Gonzalez did not help the match. Scott Keith reviewed the event for 411mania. He found the opening match between the Steiners and Beverlys to be boring. He enjoyed much of the match between Jannetty and Michaels but found the ending disappointing. He rated the match between Boss Man and Bigelow as a "dud" but enjoyed the WWF Championship bout. He called the Royal Rumble match one of the worst in history, as he found much of the match boring and did not enjoy the debut of Gonzalez. Overall, he rated the event as "mildly recommended"
The event drew 16,000 spectators, who paid $187,000 in admission fees. This was down from the previous year's 17,000 fans but higher than the attendance for any of the following three Royal Rumble events. The pay-per-view buyrate of 1.25 was also lower than that of Royal Rumble 1992, which had a 1.8 buyrate. It was higher than the buyrates for all of the Royal Rumble events from 1994 to 1998, however.
Royal Rumble 1993 was released on VHS by Coliseum Video on February 11, 1993 in North America. It was released on DVD in North America as part of WWE's Complete Royal Rumble Anthology on November 27, 2007. In the United Kingdom, it was released on VHS in 1993. On June 6, 2005, it was packaged together with Royal Rumble 1994 as part of WWE's Tagged Classics line for its United Kingdom DVD release. This was followed by the Complete Royal Rumble Anthology DVD set, which was released on October 15, 2007.
Results
# Results Stipulations Times Dark Doink the Clown defeated Jim Powers Single match 05:57 1 The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated The Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau) Tag team match 10:34 2 Shawn Michaels (c) defeated Marty Jannetty Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 14:20 3 Bam Bam Bigelow defeated The Big Boss Man Singles match 10:10 4 Bret Hart (c) defeated Razor Ramon Singles match for the WWF Championship 17:52 5 Yokozuna won by last eliminating Randy Savage Royal Rumble match 1:06:35
Sensational Sherri was in a neutral corner in the second match.
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every two minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Ric Flair 4 Perfect 18:38 2 Bob Backlund 28 Yokozuna 1:01:10 3 Papa Shango 1 Flair and Backlund 00:28 4 Ted DiBiase 13 Undertaker 24:55 5 Brian Knobbs 2 DiBiase 02:58 6 Virgil 7 Berzerker 17:08 7 Jerry Lawler 6 Perfect 14:35 8 Max Moon 3 Lawler 01:56 9 Genichiro Tenryu 10 Undertaker 13:17 10 Mr. Perfect 8 DiBiase and Ware 09:15 11 Skinner 5 Perfect 03:05 12 Koko B. Ware 11 DiBiase 08:31 13 Samu 9 Undertaker 04:49 14 The Berzerker 14 Undertaker 05:21 15 The Undertaker 15 Giant Gonzalez 04:14 16 Terry Taylor 12 DiBiase 00:24 17 Damien Demento 17 Colón 12:27 18 Irwin R. Schyster 19 Earthquake 16:00 19 Tatanka 20 Yokozuna 17:34 20 Jerry Sags 24 Hart 21:50 21 Typhoon 16 Earthquake 05:12 22 Fatu 18 Backlund 06:32 23 Earthquake 22 Yokozuna 11:00 24 Carlos Colón 21 Yokozuna 07:25 25 Tito Santana 23 Yokozuna 11:01 26 Rick Martel 27 Backlund 11:23 27 Yokozuna - Winner 14:53 28 Owen Hart 25 Yokozuna 05:39 29 Repo Man 26 Savage 03:33 30 Randy Savage 29 Yokozuna 09:01
Giant Gonzalez was not an entrant in the Rumble. This was his WWF debut.
Bob Backlund broke the longevity record by lasting 1:01:10, previous records held by Ric Flair (59:26) in the 1992 Royal Rumble and Rick Martel (52:17) in the 1991 Royal Rumble.
Royal Rumble (1992) was the fifth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1992 at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York.
Attendance 17,000
Background
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Superstars, Wrestling Challenge and Prime Time Wrestling — the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.
The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor
Prior to the event, it was announced the winner of the Royal Rumble would win the vacant WWF Title, which had been stripped from Hulk Hogan after two controversial title switches between Hulk and the Undertaker, first at the 1991 Survivor Series and later at the Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view event. Hogan and Undertaker were among the 30 entrants in the event. WWF President Jack Tunney gave Hogan and Undertaker an advantage in the random draw to determine the order in which wrestlers would enter the ring, promising them numbers between 20 and 30
The Royal Rumble match helped begin Justice's slow-building turn into a villain. Justice - who was returning from a recent injury - entered at No. 29 and was among the final four wrestlers, along with Hogan, Randy Savage and Flair. Justice eliminated Savage and then Hogan, leaving himself and Flair in the ring. During the initial live pay-per-view broadcast, Justice's elimination of Hogan was loudly cheered by the audience in attendance even though, as per storyline plans, Sid "sneaked up from behind" to throw Hogan out. As such, the original reaction was edited out of future television replays as well as the Coliseum home video release of the event, with play-by-play announcer Gorilla Monsoon adding new comments condemning Sid for his actions (Monsoon had originally said Justice's elimination of Hogan was fair). Hogan, who was still at ringside after being eliminated, grabbed Sid's arm and distracted him long enough for Flair to eliminate him to win the match and become the new WWF Champion. After the match, Sid and Hogan got into an argument in the ring and had to be separated by security.
In his book, To Be The Man, Ric Flair mentions not knowing he was going to be winning the Royal Rumble (WWF Title) until arriving at the arena the day of the event, and also felt he was brought in at #3 in order to showcase his skills and endurance. Meanwhile, Bobby Heenan mentioned in his autobiography, Bobby The Brain, that it was his initial suggestion that Flair enter the Rumble at #3 for dramatic purposes, and that Vince McMahon claimed it as his own idea.
Aftermath
The confrontation between Hogan and Justice was played out over a series of future WWF television programs. On the Superstars program aired January 25, 1992, WWF President Jack Tunney held a press conference, where he announced that Hogan would face Flair for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VIII. Justice, who was also in attendance and began standing up as if Tunney were about to proclaim him the top contender, was outraged and termed the announcement "the most bogus act Jack Tunney has ever pulled off." Sid later apologized and Hogan accepted, but on the February 8 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Justice abandoned Hogan during a tag-team match against Flair and The Undertaker, completing his heel turn and leading to a match at WrestleMania VIII.
Flair, meanwhile, began feuding with Savage over the WWF Championship. According to the storyline, Flair claimed that he had a previous relationship with Savage's wife, Miss Elizabeth, going as far as presenting pictures of Elizabeth in which Flair had himself superimposed. This culminated in a title match at WrestleMania VIII; Savage won the match and his second WWF Championship.
Results No. Results Stipulations Times
Dark Chris Walker defeated The Brooklyn Brawler by disqualification Singles match Unknown 1 The New Foundation (Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato) (with Mr. Fuji) Tag team match 17:18 2 Roddy Piper defeated The Mountie (c) (with Jimmy Hart) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 05:22 3 The Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau) (with The Genius) defeated The Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch) (with Jamison) Tag team match 14:56 4 The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) (c) by countout Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 09:24 5 Ric Flair won by last eliminating Sid Justice Royal Rumble match for the vacant WWF Championship 1:02:02
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 The British Bulldog 7 Flair 23:33 2 Ted DiBiase 1 British Bulldog 01:18 3 Ric Flair - Winner 59:26 4 Jerry Sags 2 British Bulldog 01:06 5 Haku 3 British Bulldog 01:51 6 Shawn Michaels 10 Santana 15:46 7 Tito Santana 9 Michaels 13:55 8 The Barbarian 11 Hercules 12:55 9 The Texas Tornado 8 Flair 09:20 10 Repo Man 6 Big Boss Man 06:23 11 Greg Valentine 5 Repo Man 04:12 12 Nikolai Volkoff 4 Repo Man 01:03 13 The Big Boss Man 13 Flair 03:38 14 Hercules 12 Big Boss Man 00:56 15 Roddy Piper 26 Justice 34:06 16 Jake Roberts 15 Savage 10:55 17 Jim Duggan 19 Virgil 20:45 18 Irwin R. Schyster 23 Piper 27:01 19 Jimmy Snuka 14 Undertaker 02:27 20 The Undertaker 17 Hogan 13:51 21 Randy Savage 27 Justice and Flair 22:26 22 The Berzerker 18 Hogan 09:00 23 Virgil 20 Duggan 07:29 24 Col. Mustafa 16 Savage 02:36 25 Rick Martel 25 Justice 12:39 26 Hulk Hogan 28 Justice 11:29 27 Skinner 21 Martel and Piper 02:13 28 Sgt. Slaughter 22 Justice 04:37 29 Sid Justice 29 Flair and Hogan 05:55 30 The Warlord 24 Hogan and Justice 01:43
Other on-screen talent
Commentators Bobby Heenan Gorilla Monsoon
Interviewers Lord Alfred Hayes Sean Mooney "Mean" Gene Okerlund Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referees John Binella Danny Davis Earl Hebner Joey Marella
Royal Rumble (1991) was the fourth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1991 at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida
Attendance 16,000
Background
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Superstars, Wrestling Challenge and Prime Time Wrestling — the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.
The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor.
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble was between WWF World Champion The Ultimate Warrior, who had been champion since defeating Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990, and Sgt. Slaughter, who had returned to the WWF in 1990 and became a heel sympathizer of the Iraqi government. Their feud began building during a time when the United States was engaged in Operation Desert Shield (which became Operation Desert Storm on January 17, two days before the Royal Rumble). During the build-up to their match, Slaughter and his manager, General Adnan, cut several anti-American promos to build heat for the event; at one point, Slaughter unwrapped a present and revealed a pair of boots purportedly sent to him by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussien. In the meantime, "Macho King" Randy Savage challenged Warrior to his own series of matches, which Warrior successfully answered.
Event
The pay-per-view broadcast also included featured pre-taped comments from fans outside the arena, wishing United States troops a quick and safe return from the Middle East, and an announcement that Hogan would tour military bases across the country to support the troops.
Aftermath
Following his WWF World Championship loss, Warrior focused on revenge against Savage, with their first encounter being a steel cage match January 21 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which Savage won (with help from Sensational Sherri); Warrior was enraged and – despite being restrained by several referees and other wrestlers – attacked Sherri after the match by slamming her in the ring. Meanwhile, Warrior was unsuccessful in regaining the title, losing a series of steel cage matches to Slaughter, usually thanks to interference from Sensational Sherri. Warrior and Savage eventually agreed to a "career vs. career match" at WrestleMania VII, which Warrior won.
Hogan, meanwhile, was named the No. 1 contender for Slaughter's WWF World Championship. During a promo that took place right after the Slaughter-Warrior match, "Mean" Gene Okerlund "received word" that Slaughter was defacing the American flag, to which Hogan vowed that Slaughter's reign as World Champion would be short-lived. At WrestleMania VII, Hogan defeated Slaughter to become World Champion for the third time. (Prior to WrestleMania VII, Hogan defeated Earthquake in a series of "stretcher matches" to finish their feud.)
Results # Results Stipulations Times Dark Jerry Sags defeated Sam Houston Singles match 05:25 1 The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato) (with Mr. Fuji) Tag team match 19:15 2 The Big Boss Man defeated The Barbarian (with Bobby Heenan) Singles match 14:15 3 Sgt. Slaughter (with General Adnan) defeated The Ultimate Warrior (c) Singles match for the WWF Championship 12:47 4 The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Koko B. Ware Singles match 09:12 5 Ted DiBiase and Virgil defeated Dusty Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes Tag team match 09:57 6 Hulk Hogan won by last eliminating Earthquake Royal Rumble match 1:05:17
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Bret Hart 4 Undertaker 20:33 2 Dino Bravo 1 Valentine 03:06 3 Greg Valentine 14 Hogan 44:03 4 Paul Roma 3 Roberts 14:05 5 The Texas Tornado 7 Undertaker 24:17 6 Rick Martel 25 Smith 52:17 7 Saba Simba 2 Martel 02:27 8 Bushwhacker Butch 5 Undertaker 10:07 9 Jake Roberts 6 Martel 12:58 10 Hercules 17 Knobbs 37:36 11 Tito Santana 15 Earthquake 30:23 12 The Undertaker 9 Hawk & Animal 14:16 13 Jimmy Snuka 8 Hawk 08:06 14 Davey Boy Smith 26 Earthquake & Knobbs 36:43 15 Smash 13 Hogan 18:22 16 Hawk 10 Hercules & Martel 06:37 17 Shane Douglas 20 Knobbs 26:23 18 Randy Savage - No-showed the match 00:00 19 Animal 11 Earthquake 06:39 20 Crush 18 Hogan 18:34 21 Jim Duggan 12 Perfect 04:44 22 Earthquake 28 Hogan 24:42 23 Mr. Perfect 22 Smith 16:14 24 Hulk Hogan - WINNER 19:55 25 Haku 24 Smith 13:24 26 Jim Neidhart 23 Martel 11:11 27 Bushwhacker Luke 16 Earthquake 00:04 28 Brian Knobbs 27 Hogan 10:07 29 The Warlord 19 Hogan 01:35 30 Tugboat 21 Hogan 02:32
This Rumble marked the first-ever no-show as when number 18 came, no one entered the ring. Once all the entrants had gotten involved, Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper realized Randy Savage was the missing man and immediately speculated that Savage had fled the arena to escape the Ultimate Warrior (Savage had interfered liberally and decisively in the Slaughter/Warrior title match).
Rick Martel broke the longevity record by lasting 52:17, previous record held by Ted DiBiase.Hulk Hogan became the first man to win the Royal Rumble twice.
Other on-screen talent
Commentators Gorilla Monsoon Roddy Piper
Interviewers Sean Mooney Gene Okerlund
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Official Shane Stevens
Referees John Binella Mike Chioda Earl Hebner Joey Marella Shane McMahon
Royal Rumble (1990) was the third annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 21, 1990 at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida.
Attendance
16,000
Other on-screen talent
Commentator Tony Schiavone Jesse Ventura
Interviewer "Mean" Gene Okerlund Sean Mooney
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Official Tony Garea Pat Patterson
Referees Danny Davis Earl Hebner Joey Marella Shane Stevens
Background
The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) made their WWF debut in Madison Square Garden on December 30, 1988, defeating The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov). They got involved in a feud with The Bolsheviks, which was to be settled at WrestleMania V. Bolsheviks missed the event, however, so they were replaced by The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond), whom Bushwhackers beat. Bushwhackers and Rougeaus continued to feud with each other for the rest of the year, culminating in a tag team match at Royal Rumble 1990.
Greg Valentine and Ronnie Garvin had been feuding since a match on December 30, 1988 in Madison Square Garden (MSG) which Valentine won by grabbing the tights for leverage. On the April 22, 1989 episode of Superstars, Garvin defeated Valentine in a match. On the following edition of Superstars, they both faced each other in a retirement match where the loser could not wrestle anymore in WWF. Valentine won the match, sending Garvin into retirement. Garvin became a referee for WWF. During this time, he disqualified his rival Valentine in a match against Jimmy Snuka and was suspended after the match. Valentine was so irate that he demanded for Garvin to be re-instated as a professional wrestler and his request was accepted. At Survivor Series, they both battled in a match on opposing teams.
All the other wrestlers in World Wrestling Federation were prepared to participate in the 1990 Royal Rumble match. Many tag team wrestlers, mid-card wrestlers and main event wrestlers chose their entry numbers to participate in this matchup. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan also signed to participate in the match as well as other champions also signed.
Aftermath
Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown's encounter in the Royal Rumble match led to a one-on-one match between the two at WrestleMania VI, which resulted in a double countout. Demolition (Ax and Smash) and Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku) also began a feud with each other for the Colossal Connection's WWF Tag Team Championship due to their encounter in their Royal Rumble match. It led to a tag team title match at WrestleMania, where Demolition defeated André and Haku to win the titles. The main event featured a title vs. title match as WWF Champion Hulk Hogan took on WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior for both men's titles. Warrior won the match, winning the WWF Championship and then he vacated the Intercontinental Championship, leading it to be decided in a tournament, won by Mr. Perfect.
Results
No. Results Stipulations Times Dark Paul Roma defeated The Brooklyn Brawler Singles match 06:13 1 The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) (with Jimmy Hart) Tag team match 13:35 2 Brutus Beefcake fought The Genius to a double-disqualification Singles match 11:07 3 Ronnie Garvin defeated Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) Submission match 16:55 4 Jim Duggan defeated The Big Boss Man (with Slick) by disqualification Singles match 10:26 5 Hulk Hogan won by last eliminating Mr. Perfect Royal Rumble match 58:46
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time 1 Ted DiBiase 18 Ultimate Warrior 44:47 2 Koko B.Ware 1 DiBiase 01:36 3 Marty Jannetty 2 DiBiase 01:35 4 Jake Roberts 3 Savage 10:03 5 Randy Savage 4 Rhodes 10:10 6 Roddy Piper 7 Brown 12:20 7 The Warlord 5 Andre 08:16 8 Bret Hart 9 Rhodes 16:16 9 Bad News Brown 6 Piper 06:04 10 Dusty Rhodes 12 Earthquake 18:18 11 André the Giant 10 Ax and Smash 10:16 12 The Red Rooster 8 Andre 01:58 13 Ax 13 Earthquake 12:50 14 Haku 20 Hogan 22:31 15 Smash 16 Haku 15:01 16 Akeem 11 Snuka 02:31 17 Jimmy Snuka 19 Hogan 17:03 18 Dino Bravo 15 Ultimate Warrior 06:13 19 Earthquake 14 Snuka, Smash, Haku, DiBiase and Neidhart 02:31 20 Jim Neidhart 17 DiBiase, Martel, and Ultimate Warrior 08:42 21 The Ultimate Warrior 25 Hogan 14:29 22 Rick Martel 24 Ultimate Warrior 08:14 23 Tito Santana 21 Ultimate Warrior 05:09 24 The Honky Tonk Man 22 Hogan 04:01 25 Hulk Hogan - Winner 12:49 26 Shawn Michaels 23 Ultimate Warrior 00:12 27 The Barbarian 26 Hercules 05:47 28 Rick Rude 28 Perfect 06:29 29 Hercules 27 Rude 03:02 30 Mr. Perfect 29 Hogan 03:32
Royal Rumble (1989) was the second annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the first one to be held on pay-per-view. It took place on January 15, 1989 at The Summit in Houston, Texas.
Attendance 19,000
Other on-screen talent Role: Commentator Name: Gorilla Monsoon Jesse Ventura Interviewer "Mean" Gene Okerlund Sean Mooney Ring announcer Howard Finkel Official Jay Strongbow Referees Earl Hebner Joey Marella
BackgroundThe main feud heading into the Royal Rumble was between the 30 superstars from the entire World Wrestling Federation (WWF) who had selected to participate in the first-ever 30 man Royal Rumble match. Big John Studd returned to WWF in late 1988 and turned babyface after not siding with former manager Bobby Heenan and began a feud with Heenan's client André the Giant.Both men signed to participate in the Royal Rumble match. Mr. Perfect, who joined WWF in the summer of 1988 was pushed as an undefeated heel wrestler, entering his name into the match. Bad News Brown was pushed as an arrogant powerful heel who was enemy of face and heel wrestlers. As a result, he also entered his name into the match. Many tag team wrestlers also selected to participate in the match and selected their entry numbers.The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage) were involved in a feud with The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man) since November 1988. At Survivor Series, Mega Powers became the survivors for their team in Survivor Series match against Twin Towers. Since then, Mega Powers and Twin Towers had been at odds and both teams signed to participate in the Royal Rumble.
The second feud heading into the event featured Jim Duggan against Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond). Since joining the WWF in early 1987, Duggan used an American patriot gimmick, coming to the ring with an American flag and feuding with non-American wrestlers in the WWF roster (such as Nikolai Volkoff). In early 1989, Duggan began feuding with the French-Canadians Bravo and the Rougeau brothers battling them with different partners. At a live event on January 6 in Montreal, Duggan teamed with Hulk Hogan and Ron Garvin to defeat Bravo and the Rougeaus. He was scheduled to battle Bravo and Rougeaus in a two out of three falls match at Royal Rumble, so he found partners in The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart). Hart Foundation and Rougeau Brothers had been feuding with each other since 1987. Rougeaus unsuccessfully challenged Harts several times for the WWF Tag Team Championship in summer of 1987 but did not become champions. They were in opposite teams against each other at Survivor Series 1988, where Bret eliminated Rougeau in the first place.
Aftermath
Royal Rumble became an important part in the breakup of The Mega Powers. Hulk Hogan accidentally eliminated Randy Savage from the match. On the February 3 edition of The Main Event, Hogan and Savage faced The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man) in a tag team match, filled with controversy. During the climax of the match, Akeem threw Savage onto Elizabeth and Hogan did not help Savage. Savage questioned what was happening but Hogan did not reply. Hogan picked and took her to the backstage. He left Savage alone in the ring to handle the Twin Towers. When Hogan came back, Savage slapped him in the face and took the belt in his hand and turned heel by abandoning Hogan. Hogan still managed to pick up the win, however. Mega Powers disbanded as Hogan and Savage feuded with each other. At WrestleMania V, Hogan defeated Savage in a match what was billed "The Mega Powers Explode" to win the WWF Championship ending Savage's reign of 371 days.
Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
Dark Jim Powers defeated Barry Horowitz Singles match Unknown
Dark Sam Houston defeated Steve Lombardi Singles match Unknown
1 Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) Tag team two out of three falls match 15:42 defeated Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) (with Frenchy Martin and Jimmy Hart)
2 Rockin' Robin (c) defeated Judy Martin. Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship 16:24
3 King Haku (with Bobby Heenan) defeated Harley Race Singles match 09:01 (with Bobby Heenan)
4 Big John Studd won by last eliminating Ted DiBiase Royal Rumble match 1:04:53
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time
1 Ax 4 Perfect 14:37 2 Smash 1 André 04:55 3 André the Giant 5 Himself 14:55 4 Mr. Perfect 11 Hogan 27:58 5 Ronnie Garvin 2 André 02:39 6 Greg Valentine 8 Savage 19:52 7 Jake Roberts 3 André 02:08 8 Ron Bass 7 Michaels and Jannetty 12:36 9 Shawn Michaels 9 Anderson and Savage 14:30 10 Bushwhacker Butch 13 Hogan and Brown 18:13 11 The Honky Tonk Man 6 Butch and Santana 04:12 12 Tito Santana 12 Savage and Anderson 12:47 13 Bad News Brown 20 Hogan 16:24 14 Marty Jannetty 10 Blanchard and Anderson 07:52 15 Randy Savage 19 Hogan 12:26 16 Arn Anderson 16 Hogan 10:00 17 Tully Blanchard 17 Hogan 08:02 18 Hulk Hogan 21 Akeem and Boss Man 11:31 19 Bushwhacker Luke 15 Hogan 03:08 20 Koko B. Ware 14 Hogan 01:08 21 The Warlord 18 Hogan 00:02 22 The Big Boss Man 22 Hogan 04:18 23 Akeem 28 Studd 18:36 24 Brutus Beefcake 24 Barbarian and DiBiase 13:56 25 The Red Rooster 23 DiBiase 11:17 26 The Barbarian 26 Martel 12:15 27 Big John Studd - WINNER 12:21 28 Hercules 25 Barbarian and DiBiase 06:11 29 Rick Martel 27 Akeem 05:29 30 Ted DiBiase 29 Studd 06:27
Four wrestlers have won the Rumble from this position, more than any other position. Studd became the first to do so. This was the first royal rumble match to feature 30 wrestlers.Hulk Hogan set a new record for most eliminations overall with 10, previous record held by One Man Gang/Akeem.
Also Hogan's record for most eliminations in a single rumble staying until 1997 when Steve Austin eliminated 10 superstars, but this record is broken after 12 years by Kane when he eliminated 11 superstars at Royal Rumble 2001.
Mr.Perfect broke Bret Hart's record for longevity time by lasting 27:58.
Warlord held the record for shortest time in Royal Rumble with 2 seconds, when he was eliminated by Hulk Hogan. This record stayed for 20 years, until Royal Rumble 2009 when Kane eliminated Santino Marella in 1.9 seconds.
Royal Rumble (1988) was the first annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 24, 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. Unlike the subsequent Royal Rumble events, this event was not shown on pay-per-view and was instead a television special shown on the USA Network.
Attendance 18,000
Other on-screen talent Role: Commentator Name: Vince McMahon Jesse Ventura Interviewer Gene Okerlund Craig DeGeorge Ring announcer Howard Finkel President Jack Tunney Referees Dave Hebner Earl Hebner Joey Marella
The first match was between Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat. At the conclusion of the match, Steamboat attempted a diving crossbody but Rude pulled referee Dave Hebner in front of him to avoid any contact unto himself. Rude placed Steamboat in a Canadian backbreaker rack but Hebner signaled for the bell. Rude reacted as if Hebner was awarding him the match via a submission, but in fact, Hebner instead, awarded the bout to Steamboat via a disqualification.
Dino Bravo made a world record attempt to bench press 715 pounds. He was successful, but with help from spotter Jesse "The Body" Ventura.
The second match was a women's tag team two out of three falls match for the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship, as the champions The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai) defended the titles against The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki). The challengers secured victory in the third and decisive fall after executing a double dropkick on Martin.
Bret Hart, the #1 entrant of the Royal Rumble match and the first wrestler ever to enter a Royal Rumble match André the Giant and Hulk Hogansigned a contract for a WrestleMania III rematch that took place on the February 5, 1988 edition of The Main Event. Tied into this was that Ted DiBiase had previously purchased André's contract from Bobby Heenan and promised André, should he defeat Hogan for the WWF Championship and then "deliver it" to him, that he would reward André with a large sum of money.
Next was the match the event was based on - the Royal Rumble match. Pat Patterson had invented this idea just weeks before. The first two wrestlers ever to enter a Royal Rumble match were Bret Hart of The Hart Foundation and one half of WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force, Tito Santana. Hart hit Santana in the corner. Santana fired back but Hart hit him an inverted atomic drop, followed by a middle rope axe handle elbow drop. Butch Reed entered at #3 while Santana hit a flying forearm smash on Hart. Reed began nailing Santana until Santana dropkicked both Hart and Reed. However, the two men got the better of Santana. Reed tried to hit Santana who sidestepped, and Hart was accidentally nailed until Hart's tag team partner Jim Neidhart entered at #4. He helped Reed and his tag team partner Hart in eliminating Santana. Santana held on to ropes until Jake Roberts entered at #5, making the save for Santana.e tossed Reed out of the ring and eliminated him which would be the first elimination of first-ever Royal Rumble match and the first elimination in the history of the Royal Rumble ever. He began pounding on Hart Foundation. Santana and Roberts tried to hit a Double DDT on Hart, but Neidhart attacked both men, saving his partner. Hart hit a jumping piledriver on Santana while Harley Race entered at #6. Neidhart and Race tried to eliminate Roberts while Santana nearly tossed Hart. Jim Brunzell entered at #7 and almost eliminated Hart before Neidhart attacked Brunzell, saving Hart again. Sam Houston entered at #8 and went after Hart Foundation. They tossed Santana out of the ring to even the score 3-3. Jim Duggan, who won the Royal Rumble match Danny Davis entered at #9 and began attacking Houston. Race attacked Roberts through the ropes. Roberts tried to hit a DDT on Davis but Davis blocked it. Boris Zhukov entered at #10. Zhukov's The Bolsheviks tag team partner Nikolai Volkoff and Don Muraco were quarrelling over who was #11. The referees informed them that Muraco was #11 and Volkoff was #12. Zhukov was eliminated by Roberts and Brunzell. Brunzell dropkicked Hart but it had no great effect on Hart. Volkoff entered at #12 as Muraco clotheslined Race. Jim Duggan entered at #13 and received a nice reaction by the Canadian fans. All the wrestlers continued to beat each other until Ron Bass entered at #14. Volkoff prevented from Brunzell eliminating Davis. Brunzell pounded on Volkoff but was thrown out by Volkoff. B. Brian Blair entered at #15 Hillbilly Jim entered at #16 and eliminated Neidhart. Dino Bravo entered at #17. Bass had Houston on his shoulders and he threw Houston over the top rope, thus eliminating Houston in the process. The Ultimate Warrior entered at #18 as Muraco eliminated Bret Hart. Though, Hart did not win the match, he set the first Royal Rumble longevity record for being eliminated at 25:42. One Man Gang entered at #19 and he eliminated Blair and then Roberts. The final participant entering at #20 was Junkyard Dog. Duggan tossed Volkoff out of the ring while on the other side of the ring, OMG eliminated Hillbilly Jim and later Ultimate Warrior. Bass surprisingly attacked JYD and eliminated him from behind while Muraco surprisingly clotheslined Bass over the top rope as the final four left - Muraco, Duggan, Bravo and OMG. OMG nailed Duggan with a big splash in the corner and then OMG and Bravo began double-teaming on Muraco. Muraco managed to control both men until Frenchy Martin came out and distracted Muraco. Bravo and OMG were able to eliminate him. They went to do the same on Duggan. OMG attacked him but Duggan ducked and OMG accidentally eliminated Bravo. After a brawl with Duggan, he was eliminated by Duggan as Duggan
