TheThere have been a lot of great royal rumble moments. Chris Benoit eliminating Big Show and then going on to WrestleMania to
There have been a lot of great royal rumble moments. Chris Benoit eliminating Big Show and then going on to WrestleMania to beat Triple H and HBK. Rey Mysterio entering at number two and staying in the Rumble longer the than any other wrestler ever. John Cena surprising everyone (including VAVEL Editor Lovell Porter) and winning. Heck, even CM Punk eliminating person after person and then cutting a long winded promo while he stood alone...well sat down. This article has nothing to do with those moments. This article is about the single most ridiculous and entertaining Royal Rumble of all time. The 2001 "Hardcore Royal Rumble".
This Royal Rumble always comes to mind first when someone brings up the best Royal Rumbles of all time. Let me start off by saying that the opening match on WWF Heat was Edge and Christian defending the title against The Dudley Boyz. Think about that. This was the match that was not booked on the PPV! These are two first ballot Hall of Fame teams right there and they were the preshow
Chyna had a match against Ivory, but no one cared (or cares) about that match.
Chris Jericho fought Benoit in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Title. During the match Jericho put Benoit in the Walls of Jeicho on the ladder, Before hand, Benoit went for a diving head-butt and Jericho beaned Benoit with a chair. It was a great match. Both of these guys left it all in the ring. Very cliché, but also very true. You would expect nothing less from the two these guys. But wait!!!! There's more.
The main event was Triple H - Kurt Angle. There were so much going on inside the ring, outside the ring, and in the side stories. Stephanie was in Triple H's corner while Trish Stratus was in Angles. Trish Stratus was Vince McMahon's mistress at the time. Of course Trish and Stephanie go at during the match. But that isn't the story of the match. Triple H was owed an @$$ whooping from Stone Cold and Stone Cold collected by stunning Triple H while the ref was out and cost Triple H the title. Kurt Angle leaves as the WWF Champion.
Then, the moment we were all waiting for. The 30 man over the top Royal Rumble. This is where it get really silly. First off, Drew Carey is in the Rumble. Why? Who knows. But after Drew Carey gets in the ring happy as he wants to be after the Hardy Boyz eminate each other, then BOOM, Kane's Pyro hits and The Big Red Machine goes right after Drew Carey. Carey tries to offer him some money to not take his head off, but Kane wants blood. Kane sets up Drew for choke slam when Raven comes down and attacks Kane with a kendo. Carey does the smart thing and waves to the crowd and eliminates himself and now the Hardcore Rumble can begin.
Chairs, shopping carts, bowling balls, kendo stick, street signs, everything except the kitchen sink and it's shocking that wasn't thrown in. Steve Blackman, Al Snow, and the rest beat the tar out of each other. And when it was all over...the Honkey Tonk Man comes down and sings a song...and then gets blasted over the head with his own guitar by Kane.
image source "411mania.com"
It would be easy to go into this piece by piece, but if you haven't seen this Pay Per View, take the Mark A. W. Lynch seal of approval with it. This match was not only extremely funny and random, it was also a very good PPV for wrestling fans. There are plethora of stars who are future and current WWE Hall of Fame inductees. So hook up your WWE Network, go to the Royal Rumble of 2001 and enjoy.