Obviously, every time Santino Marella enters a Royal Rumble, he’s there for comedic relief. He was never going to last a long time. But one second? That’s straight up disrespectful. As Santino would say, “I wasn’t ready! I wasn’t ready!”
The prospect of Austin winning the Rumble or eliminating Bret Hart isn’t what was shocking. It was the fact that Hart eliminated Austin first. In a booking decision that still draws questions to this day, the refs didn’t see Austin’s feet hit the ground, so the Texas Rattlesnake slid back in the ring and eliminated his longtime foe.
Today, we view Shawn Michaels as a legend and the greatest in-ring competitor of all time. In 1995, he was just a tag team guy, while the Bulldog was a main event player. Michaels eliminating Bulldog was not something fans expected and it was the start of HBK’s rise to superstardom.
Long before there was a women’s Royal Rumble (which was long overdue by the time it was debuted), occasionally, women entered the men’s Rumble. Beth Phoenix was always an imposing figure. As one of the stars of the women’s division, she not only got to participate, but pulled Great Khali over the top rope, eliminating him. It made Beth seem even more imposing, while not really hurting Khali at all, since he was already running away with the title of worst WWE superstar of all time.
Today, Drew McIntyre is a well established main event player. Nothing about the prospect of him holding a top title or main eventing Wrestlemania is a shock. But in 2020, Brock Lesnar was as dominant as ever and widely expected to win the Rumble. Instead, he ate a Claymore from the Scottish Psychopath and went sailing over the top rope. Covid played a huge role in McIntyre’s eventual title win and run feeling underwhelming, but this firmly established Drew as a main event player.
Women have entered the men’s Royal Rumble before. But in 1999, it hadn’t happened before. Not only did Chyna get a massive rub by merely participating in the match, she eliminated the World’s Strongest Man as well.
For pretty much their entire careers, Shawn Michaels and Triple H have been aligned. The original DX members, The Game had just saved HBK before Michaels tossed his longtime friend over the top rope. Hey. Every man for himself.
Even if WWE wanted to book a simultaneous elimination, the logistics of pulling it off are nearly impossible. With so many cameras and replays available, it’s easy to see exactly who touched the ground first. Somehow, completely unplanned, Cena and Batista not only accidentally eliminated each other, their bodies hit the ground at the exact same time. What transpired after was even more shocking, with Vince McMahon marching to the ring to address the issue and tearing both of his quads sliding into the ring.
This was at the peak of the McMahon-Austin rivalry. It’s understandable WWE wanted to build up McMahon as a worthy foil to Austin. However, having the owner of the company win the Royal Rumble? No one saw that coming.
Easily the most shocking decision in Royal Rumble history. Newcomer and Tough Enough winner Maven was given the ultimate rub by WWE having him eliminate The Undertaker. To this day, it’s hard to argue a bigger star has ever been eliminated by a lesser opponent. Taker’s shocked expression remains iconic in WWE history.
