We’re getting there lads, the Royal Rumble pay-per-view is just a few short days away as it takes place on Sunday January 27.
Here at Paddy Power we are so excited for the event that we’ve been smacking each other with our office chairs for weeks.
The 30-man (and woman) Royal Rumble match is without a doubt a spectacle of epic proportions, but sometimes it doesn’t work out like Vince McMahon and Co would have hoped!
Here’s six times it all went to sh**te…
Batista & John Cena – 2005
It looked like the most ingenious finish in the history of the Royal Rumble as both Batista and John Cena crashed to the floor at the same time as the final two, but confusion reigned (not Roman) as it was never meant to happen that way.
A genuinely enraged Vince McMahon rushed the ring to sort everything out, such was his haste to get in the squared circle that the chairman tore both quadriceps muscles. Unable to stand, Mr McMahon was forced to sit and shout instructions and had to be helped from the ring.
Batista would go on to win the restarted Rumble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTDOFltMOMY
Stone Cold Steve Austin – 1996
Poor Steve Austin had just joined the WWE in 1996 and was supposed to come in to huge fanfare by making it all the way to the final four – helping Shawn Michaels win his second Rumble in a row along the way.
Unfortunately for the man known as The Ringmaster at the time, he’d accidently eliminate himself (see about 9.15 in the video above). Austin tells the story brilliantly when asked and says the incident happened because his hands where greased up after battling with a particularly oily superstar.
Now there’s an occupational hazard!
He did go on to win the event three times after, so that little mistake didn’t really cost The Texas Rattlesnake in the long run. Give us a ‘Hell Ya’.
The entire 2014 Royal Rumble
Oh, where to begin with this! The Daniel Bryan ‘Yes Movement’ was in full force and the crowd at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were not going to accept anything less than a victory for him.
He did appear earlier in the show losing to Bray Wyatt, but when Rey Mysterio came out at number 30 and the fans realised there’d be no Daniel Bryan, they turned on the normally popular grappler and the entire Rumble match itself – booing it to high heaven.
Batista’s huge comeback was also spoiled, but Bryan eventually did win the title at Wrestlemania 30. So, all’s well that ends well…
Alex Riley – 2011
Similar to Stone Cold above, A-Ri was supposed to play a major part in the 2011 Rumble with John Cena, but was accidently knocked off the ring apron.
After he gets bumped you can actually see Cena try to grab onto him and bring him back in at around 5.50 in the video above (enjoy the dance music).
The Miz and Riley did come back later in the Rumble to throw Cena out, but it was never meant to go down that way.
Taka Michinoku’s elimination – 2000
Not much you can say about this one, other than ouch!
As part of the Kai En Tai tag team with fellow Japanese star Funaki, Taka repeatedly tried to enter the 2000 Rumble only to be tossed out again and again.
The final time Michinoku would go out saw him take a horrible spill, where he suffered a concussion and a separated shoulder.
Watch it through your fingers below, we did warn you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XetmULy6LEQ
Daniel Bryan’s early elimination – 2015
After the shambles that took place the year before you’d think the WWE would have learned their lesson, but nope!
Entering at number 10 the feeling apparently was that if Daniel Bryan was eliminated early the fans would get over it by the end (watch from 6.35 on), that wasn’t the case and like the year before they took over proceedings heckling the Rumble to death.
Not even The Rock could save this one!
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