Royal Rumble (1996)

Royal Rumble (1996)
Promotional poster featuring Diesel performing a Big Boot on Owen Hart
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 21, 1996 (1996-01-21)
City	Fresno, California
Venue	Selland Arena
Attendance	9,600
Tagline(s)	"You've been WARNED!"
Pay-per-view chronology
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Royal Rumble chronology
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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.

The main event was The Undertaker versus Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, with Undertaker winning via disqualification due to interference from Diesel.

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

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.

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification	Singles match for entry #30 in the Royal Rumble match	06:25
2	Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualification	Singles match	06:40
3	The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) (c) defeated The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) (with Sunny)	Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship	11:14
4	Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon (c)	Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship	14:17
5	Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel	30-man Royal Rumble match for a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania XII	58:49
6	The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Bret Hart (c) by disqualification	Singles match for the WWF Championship	28:31
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

Draw	Entrant	Order	Eliminated by	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 & 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 Teamer #1	8		01:11	0
16	Squat Teamer #2	9	Yokozuna	00:24	0
17	Owen Hart	21	Shawn Michaels & Diesel	20:43	2
18	Shawn Michaels	-	Winner	26:09	8
19	Hakushi	14	Owen Hart	01:55	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	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 & Kama	01:10	0

External links

• Official website
• Results at Online World of Wrestling
• Review of Royal Rumble 1996