Two lesser-known Royal Rumble moments

As we count down the hours to the 25th anniversary edition of the Royal Rumble (yes, WWE, it is the 26th edition but the first one was 25 years ago. That's how anniversaries work.), it's important to look back at some of the forgotten gems of the 30-man battle royal. Well, maybe it's not so important, but I have the footage, so here we go....

Rejected Royal Rumble Stats

Every year, WWE puts out a "Royal Rumble by the Numbers" video, each time slightly updated and usually filled with misleading "facts" and figures. For instance, the 36 Hall of Famers to enter the Rumble have supposedly "headlined" a total of 25 Wrestlemania "main events." There have been 28 Wrestlemanias, so there ought to therefore be only three Wrestlemanias without Hall-of-Famers in the main event. 

Well, there was: Bam Bam vs. LT (WM 11), Undertaker vs. Sid (13), The Rock vs. Big Show vs. Triple H vs. Mick Foley (who is not yet in the Hall of Fame) (16), Triple H vs. Chris Jericho (18), Lesnar vs. Angle (19), Batista vs. Triple H (21), Cena vs. Triple H (22), Orton vs. Triple H (25), Cena vs. Miz (27), and Cena vs. The Rock (28). That's ten Wrestlemania main events without Hall of Famers, leaving only 16 Wrestlemania main events "headlined" by Hall-of-Famers. I'm not sure what exactly WWE's definitions of "headline" or "main event" are, but they apparently allow Hall-of-Famer Edge to "headline" the WM 27 against Alberto Del Río in the opening match "main event."

As you can see from the first minute of the video, WWE's grasp of reality is a tad... skewed. I've therefore put together my own set of statistics that, while accurate to the best of my knowledge, didn't make the cut. Note that these stats don't cover the "unofficial" Rumbles like the MSG Rumble of 1994 or the Osaka Rumble, also of 1994.

Debunking a Royal Rumble Urban Legend

With the Royal Rumble coming up in just a few weeks, it's time to revisit a classic moment in Royal Rumble history. The year was 2002, and the rookie Maven (winner of the first-ever Tough Enough) stepped into the ring with The Undertaker, who had just cleared the ring, last eliminating both Hardy Boys. With the Dead Man distracted after tossing the Hardys from the ring not once, but twice, Maven cemented his legacy in Rumble lore by dropkicking the former WWF champion over the top rope and eliminating him.

Old Gray Rumble Just Ain't What She Used to Be

"It is my destiny to jerk the curtain!"

With WWE's annual January pay-per-view spectacular just around the corner, the big question on my mind is "Who's going to win the Royal Rumble?"

Nah, just kidding. The big question on my mind is "Why in the blue hell should I care?"

Raw #50 - January 31st, 1994

This week's Raw is the first one filmed after the Royal Rumble, meaning that they're finally going to advance the post-Rumble storyline. The Wrestlemania title picture will be decided by the flip of a coin, apparently one with Lex and Bret's faces on either side. Considering Luger's patriotic mega-push this past summer, I'm surprised that Vince didn't petition the U.S. Mint to actually put Lex on a real coin.

Raw #49 - January 24th, 1994

It's the first Raw after the Royal Rumble, so expect to hear the shocking results of Saturday's pay-per-view... that is, as long as the announcers aren't on camera. This episode was taped two weeks earlier, you see, so any would-be spoilers have been dubbed into the show in post-production. Lex Luger, who co-won Saturday's Rumble with Bret Hart, is in action first. Joining Vince on commentary this week is Jim Ross, who I predict will say the word "brudda" 35 fewer times than Crush did last week. This 49th episode of Raw is Jim Ross's first.

The lost Royal Rumble of 1994

It's a little known fact, and one that WWE will never acknowledge, that there have been more Royal Rumbles than the ones shown on pay-per-view or television. One such house show Royal Rumble took place on January 17th, 1994 at Madison Square Garden, just five days before the Royal Rumble PPV and occurring at the same time as a taped Monday Night Raw was being aired. Thanks to some bootleg camera work (which couldn't have been easy in 1994, given the size of camcorders of the day), this Rumble is preserved for posterity. After being traded on VHS for years, it has made its way onto the Wild West of video hosting sites, Dailymotion.

Raw #48 - January 17th, 1994

It's the Monday before the Royal Rumble, and rather than have the standard pre-PPV special like "March to Wrestlemania," "Summerslam Spectacular," or "Survivor Series Showdown," the WWF is showing a regular episode of Raw. Thus, instead of a "Royal Rumble Rumba" or whatever they would call it, we have a Raw taped right after last week's episode.