The Royal Rumble is one of the biggest events of the WWE calendar year!
It’s the first step on the road to WrestleMania.
With 30 guys doing a large number of planned spots [3], it’s no surprise that sometimes
things can get botched.
And I’m not just talking about the eternity of the Triple H vs. Scott Steiner World Heavyweight
Championship match.
I am Luke Owen and here are some of the biggest Royal Rumble Botches!
1.
Steve Austin Eliminated Early in 1996 Before he was flipping the bird and driving
beer trucks, Steve Austin was The Ringmaster, fresh off a big run in WCW.
And despite saddling him with a lazy gimmick where he was set to become the new Million
Dollar Man, WWF had big plans for Austin.
So much so that in his first Royal Rumble in 1996, he was set to be in the final four
guys - that’s a big step for someone new to the company.
That didn’t quite plan out however.
During the match, Austin had a planned spot with Fatu - better known now as Rikishi - which
would see Fatu clothesline Austin over the top rope but he’d hold on and crawl back
under the bottom rope.
However Austin lost his grip and fell out of the ring.
“[Fatu] had a lot of baby oil on him, so the ropes were very slippery.
I was going to a deal where I go over the top, hang on and come under the bottom.
Well, zip, zip, boom - I lost my grip, fell on my keister, on the apron and on the guardrail.
And I'm like, 'oh man - I'm the new guy in the company who are trying to give me a little
bit of a push by letting me one of the last guys - and I blow it!'”
2.
Alex Riley Eliminated Early in 2011 Another early elimination botch here, and
Alex Riley was set for a big spot in the 2011 Royal Rumble - the first and only Rumble to
have 40 entrants.
As best as we can tell, the original plan was for Riley to eliminate Cena with the help
of The Miz at some point in the match - to set up John Cena vs. The Miz at WrestleMania
that year.
However during a spot where Cena and Kofi are trying to eliminate Riley, he lost his
footing and slipped to the floor.
Cena and Kofi stop stunned for a brief moment, and then Cena spends a long time after that
talking to referees at ringside about what to do next.
The commentators hilariously don’t even pick up on it, with Miz simply saying that
Riley was on the outside because he was being smart.
Many have theorized that the Santino spot at the end, where he hid outside the ring
before being thrown out by Alberto Del Rio, was planned for Riley but no one knows for
sure.
3.
Titus O’Neill Botches Elimination The leader of Titus Worldwide isn’t featured
in Royal Rumble video packages, but if things had gone to plan in the 2015 Rumble he’d
have been in every package until the end of time.
The plan was for Titus to run in and be eliminated by Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns in just one
second - tying him with Santino’s record.
However Titus was too far away from the ropes, meaning on their second try he was eliminated
in four seconds.
Poor Titus.
“Vince McMahon was furious over the only spot that was supposed to be timed perfectly
screwing up.”
- Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, February 2nd 2015
4.
Taka Michinoku Faceplants In the 2000 Royal Rumble, there was a running
gag that Kai En Tai, the tag team of Funaki and Taka Michinoku, weren’t booked for the
match.
And so they tried to constantly interfere, but get thrown out like the comedy jobbers
they were.
However during one of these eliminations, Taka lost his footing and landed on the floor
face first.
“He was taken to the hospital.
They showed the replay of him being injured a half-dozen times, basically every spot where
he was supposed to run-in later, and Lawler acted like him being hurt was a big joke.”
- Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, January 31st 2000
5.
Randy Savage Forgets The Rules The rules of the Royal Rumble are very simple.
To eliminate someone, you must throw them over the top rope and have both feet touch
the floor.
And we’ve already seen in this list that even if you happen to be eliminated by accident,
you’re still eliminated.
But tell that to Macho Man Randy Savage in 1992.
The 1992 Rumble may be best remembered for Ric Flair’s incredible victory, but there’s
also this little gem where Randy Savage eliminated Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and then jump
over the top rope to continue his attack - thus eliminating himself.
The commentators correctly pointed out that he had been eliminated, but then said the
opposite when Savage got back in the ring to continue the match.
6.
Mil Mascaras Also Forgets The Rules In a similar category is Mil Mascaras, who
got a surprise entrance in the 1997 Royal Rumble due to the event being held near Mexico.
However, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Mascaras didn’t want
anyone to eliminate him.
So instead he eliminated a couple of guys, and then did a plancha from the top rope to
eliminate himself.
The commentators covered for this by saying that Mascaras “didn’t know the rules of
the Royal Rumble.”
JBL, who reportedly wasn’t a fan of Mascaras, would often bring this up on commentary as
one of the stupidest things he’d ever seen in Royal Rumble history.
7.
John Cena and Batista Botch 2005 Royal Rumble Finish
Of course one of the most infamous Royal Rumble botches of all-time happened in 2005, where
the final two guys were the company’s next big stars: John Cena and Batista.
Both men would capture their brand’s championships at the following WrestleMania, but it was
a rocky road getting there.
The original finish was to see Batista dump Cena over the top ropes from a powerbomb position,
but former WWE writer Dave Lagana speculates that Batista got his bell rung from a Cena
punch and the two spilled to the outside.
Bruce Prichard explained further in an interview with WrestleInc:
“The initial reaction was, 'F**k!'
The second reaction was, 'Let's take a look at it and see if, hopefully, Cena hit first,'.
We looked at it and every angle, there was no angle that you can even argue that Cena
hit first, they hit precisely at the same time...
You couldn't have planned this better, they landed at the same time.”
- Bruce Prichard, WrestleInc, January 15th 2018
One idea was to send either Eric Bischoff or Teddy Long out, but neither were close
enough to the entrance, so instead Vince McMahon went out to restart the match.
Leading to... 8.
Vince McMahon Tears His Quads
As Vinny Mac strutted to the ring, he slid in but caught his knees on the ring apron
- which is made of steel.
When he stood up, he instantly fell back down and acted like nothing happened.
It was later revealed that he tore both his quads, the same injury that kept Triple H
out of action for most of 2001.
Dave Lagana reveals that Stephanie McMahon then had to take over the production of WWE
shows for the time being.
“The next day, we produced the first WWE Supershow without [Vince McMahon] and then
boarded a plane to Japan where WWE taped television for the first time ever.
It was the fast-forward button on a time when WWE would exist without Vince McMahon”.
Dave Lagana, I Want Wrestling, 2011 What was the reason Brock Lesnar went to New
Japan in 2005?
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