Royal Rumble (1996)


The 1996 Royal Rumble was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view List of WWE [pay-per-view events|event] produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 21, 1996, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 1996 event, the winner received a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII.
The main event saw The Undertaker face Bret Hart for the WWF 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.
WWW Official Site

Production

Background

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four". It was also considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all starting in the ring at the same time. The match typically features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 1996, the winner earned a match for the 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.

Storylines

The event comprised five matches which resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or 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.
It also was the first Royal Rumble match that theme music was used when a wrestler entered the Rumble match.

Event

In a match occurring on the Free For All preshow, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese defeated 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 undercard were the 1996 Royal Rumble match which was won by Shawn Michaels, who last eliminated Diesel to win the match, making it his second straight Royal Rumble win; Goldust defeating Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship; and The Smoking Gunns defeating The Bodydonnas to retain the World [Tag Team Championship (WWE, 1971-2010)|WWF Tag Team Championship].
The final event was for the WWF Championship between the Undertaker and Bret Hart. As the Undertaker is about to win the match after performing the Tombstone Piledriver against Hart, Diesel, who lost to Michaels at the Rumble earlier, interfered and pulled the referee out of the ring, resulting in the Undertaker winning by disqualification. However, Hart retained the title and the event ended with Diesel walking away.

Aftermath

The 1996 Royal Rumble marked the first pay-per-view appearance of Steve Austin, under 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. In the weeks following the Royal Rumble, "The Ringmaster" gimmick was met with an indifferent 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, 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

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
– Winner
DrawEntrantOrderEliminated byTimeEliminations
Hunter Hearst Helmsley19Diesel48:041
Henry O. GodwinnJake Roberts16:240
Bob BacklundYokozuna12:220
Jerry Lawler16Shawn Michaels36:020
Bob Holly18The Ringmaster39:350
King MabelYokozuna12:140
Jake RobertsVader14:392
Dory Funk Jr.Savio Vega10:530
Yokozuna11Shawn Michaels19:143
101-2-3 Kid13Shawn Michaels15:400
11Takao OmoriHunter Hearst Helmsley and Jake Roberts02:480
12Savio Vega10Vader12:281
13Vader12Shawn Michaels11:044
14Doug GilbertVader02:590
15Squat Team #1Vader01:110
16Squat Team #2Yokozuna00:240
17Owen Hart21Diesel and Shawn Michaels20:432
18Shawn MichaelsWinner26:108
19Hakushi14Owen Hart01:530
20Tatanka17Diesel04:091
21Aldo Montoya15Tatanka01:520
22Diesel29Shawn Michaels17:515
23Kama28Diesel15:571
24The Ringmaster23Fatu10:571
25Barry Horowitz20Owen Hart04:150
26Fatu24Isaac Yankem, DDS07:071
27Isaac Yankem, DDS25Shawn Michaels07:051
28Marty Jannetty22The British Bulldog02:350
29The British Bulldog27Shawn Michaels03:391
30Duke Droese26Diesel and Kama01:100

This was King Mabel's last appearance until he returned on June 30, 1998, for a one-off match with Ken Shamrock on Raw Is War.
This was Jake Roberts's return since his last appearance at Wrestlemania VIII on April 5, 1992.
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