ROYAL RUMBLE (1996)

'Royal Rumble 1996' was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 21 1996 at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.

Contents

Results

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

Other on-screen talent

Notes

References

External links

Results

★ 'Free for All match: Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification (6:25)'

★
★ Helmsley was disqualified after using brass knuckles.

★
★ The winner of the match earned the right to enter at #30 while the loser of the match was forced to enter at #1.

★ 'Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualification (6:40)'

★
★ Jarrett was disqualifed after going to the top rope and jumping off, hitting Johnson with his guitar.

★ 'The Smokin' Gunns (Billy and Bart) defeated The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) (w/Sunny) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship (11:14)'

★
★ Bart pinned Zip after Billy helped reverse the Bodydonnas' double suplex attempt on Bart into a small package from Bart on Zip.

★ 'Goldust (w/Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship (14:17)'

★
★ Goldust pinned Ramon after The 1-2-3 Kid came and hit Ramon with a top rope Spinning Heel Kick while Marlena distracted the referee.

★
★ This match saw the WWF debut of Terri Runnels (aka Marlena).

★ 'Shawn Michaels won the 1996 Royal Rumble (58:49)'

★
★ The final two men were Shawn Michaels and Diesel. Michaels hit Diesel with Sweet Chin Music that sent Diesel over the top rope.

★
★ When Jake Roberts came out, he brought out his snake, clearing the ring. Roberts put the snake on Jerry Lawler who ran off and hid under the ring for almost half an hour before being found by Shawn Michaels and being eliminated.

★
★ After Shawn Michaels had eliminated Vader, Yokozuna, and the 1-2-3 Kid, Vader re-entered the ring and eliminated Shawn Michaels, Bob Holly, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Owen Hart was only thrown through the ropes both times). However, unlike previous instances where eliminations by eliminated wrestlers stood (e.g. Big Boss Man's elimination by Hulk Hogan in 1989), none of these eliminations were deemed official and WWF President Gorilla Monsoon forced Vader to get out of the ring.

★ 'The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart by disqualification (28:31)'

★
★ Hart was disqualified after Diesel came out and pulled referee Earl Hebner before he could make a 3-count for The Undertaker following a Tombstone Piledriver.

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

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

Other on-screen talent

;Commentators ★ Vince McMahon ★ Mr. Perfect;Interviewers ★ Dok Hendrix ★ Todd Pettengill;Referees ★ Jack Doan ★ Jim Korderas ★ Earl Hebner ★ Tim White

;Other ★ Howard Finkel - ''ring announcer''

Notes

★ This was the first pay-per-view event to feature the Free for All, a free preshow for pay-per-view events.

★ This was the first Royal Rumble match to include theme music for all 30 entrants as they came down to the ring. In past Royal Rumble matches it would usually only be entrants 1 and 2 who would get entrance music. (Although in 1990, entrants 3 and 4 got entrance music as well.)

★ A Women's Championship match between Aja Kong and then champion Alundra Blayze was to take place, as had been advertised in WWF Magazine. However, the match was scrapped after Blayze was fired.

References

★ 2007 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Almanac & Book of Facts

★ onlineworldofwrestling.com - Royal Rumble '96 results

★ hoofco-inc.com - Royal Rumble '96 review

★ wrestlinginformer.net - Royal Rumble '96 review

External links

★ Official 1996 Royal Rumble website