Royal Rumble (1996)

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Royal Rumble
Promotion
World Wrestling Federation
DateJanuary 21, 1996 (1996-01-21)
CityFresno, California
VenueSelland Arena
Attendance9,600[1]
Tagline(s)You've been Warned!
Pay-per-view chronology
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In Your House 6
Royal Rumble chronology
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1997

The 1996 Royal Rumble was the ninth annual

WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XII
.

The main event saw The Undertaker face Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, where Undertaker won via disqualification due to interference from Diesel; Hart retained as titles do not change hands on disqualification unless stipulated. The undercard featured the 1996 Royal Rumble match, which Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel, becoming the second person to win the Royal Rumble match twice, and back-to-back, after Hulk Hogan.

Production

Background

The event was held the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.

The Royal Rumble is an annual

WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XII. The 1996 event was the ninth event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 21, 1996, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.[4][5]

Storylines

The event comprised five matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television show, Raw.[6][7]

It also was the first rumble than theme music was used when someone entered the rumble

Event

In a match occurring on the Free For All preshow,

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. As a result, Droese won the right to be entry number 30 in the Royal Rumble match, while Helmsley had to enter first.

Featured matches on the

The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship
.

Aftermath

The 1996 Royal Rumble marked the first pay-per-view appearance of Steve Austin, here using the name "The Ringmaster," a blond-haired master ring technician and the featured wrestler in the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase's stable. His elimination was accidental as he was supposed to be in the final four, but he slipped on the ropes and fell out when he was doing a spot with Fatu.[8] In the weeks following the Royal Rumble, "The Ringmaster" gimmick was met with lukewarm reaction from fans, prompting Austin to create a new look and gimmick for himself: the "Stone Cold" gimmick, that of a foul-mouthed individual who drank beer and freely spoke his mind, uncaring of who he angered or whether he had friends (he often attacked heel and face alike), openly disregarded the rules and fought until his last breath. As "Stone Cold," Austin—who began his first major feud, with Savio Vega, under "The Ringmaster" moniker and continued it after changing his gimmick—went on to become one of the WWF's biggest stars and helped usher in the promotion's Attitude Era.

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
Free for All

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

  – Winner

Draw[9] Entrant[9] Order[9] Eliminated by[9] Time Eliminations
1
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
 19 Diesel 48:04 1
2 Henry O. Godwinn 2 Jake Roberts 16:24 0
3 Bob Backlund 1 Yokozuna 12:22 0
4 Jerry Lawler 16 Shawn Michaels 36:02 0
5
Bob Holly
 18 The Ringmaster 39:35 0
6
King Mabel
 3 Yokozuna 12:14 0
7 Jake Roberts 6 Vader 14:39 2
8 Dory Funk Jr. 5 Savio Vega 10:53 0
9 Yokozuna 11 Shawn Michaels 19:14 3
10
1-2-3 Kid
 13 15:40 0
11 Takao Omori 4 Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Jake Roberts 02:48 0
12 Savio Vega 10 Vader 12:28 1
13 Vader 12 Shawn Michaels 11:04 4
14 Doug Gilbert 7 Vader 02:59 0
15
Squat Team #1
 8 01:11 0
16
Squat Team #2
 9 Yokozuna 00:24 0
17 Owen Hart 21 Diesel and Shawn Michaels 20:43 2
18 Shawn Michaels - Winner 26:10 8
19
Hakushi
 14 Owen Hart 01:53 0
20 Tatanka 17 Diesel 04:09 1
21 Aldo Montoya 15 Tatanka 01:52 0
22 Diesel 29 Shawn Michaels 17:51 5
23 Kama 28 Diesel 15:57 1
24 The Ringmaster 23 Fatu 10:57 1
25 Barry Horowitz 20 Owen Hart 04:15 0
26
Fatu
 24 Isaac Yankem, DDS 07:07 1
27
Isaac Yankem, DDS
 25 Shawn Michaels 07:05 1
28 Marty Jannetty 22 The British Bulldog 02:35 0
29
The British Bulldog
 27 Shawn Michaels 03:39 1
30 Duke Droese 26 Diesel and Kama 01:10 0

King Mabel's last appearance until he returned on June 30, 1998, for a one-off match with Ken Shamrock on Raw Is War
.

Other on-screen personnel

Commentators
Interviewers
Ring announcer
Referees

References

  1. ^ a b "Royal Rumble 1996 results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  2. ^ Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
  3. ISBN 9781439193211
    . At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
  4. ^ "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Archived from the original on July 14, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  5. ^ Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  6. Discovery Communications. Archived
    from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. ^ "Stone Cold's costly Royal Rumble slip". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  9. ^
    World Wrestling Entertainment
    . Retrieved March 18, 2011.

External links

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