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Royal Rumble 1996 was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event from the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 21, 1996 from the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
[edit] Results
- Free for All: Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification (6:25)
- Helmsley was disqualified after using brass knuckles.
- The winner of the match got the right to enter at #30 while the loser of the match got the right 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)
- 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 took out Razor when Marlena distracted the referee.
- This match saw the WWF debut of Terri Runnels (aka Marlena).
- Shawn Michaels won the 1996 Royal Rumble (58:49)
- Michaels last eliminated Diesel. Michaels gave Diesel a 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. Jimmy Hart employed the same hiding tactic in a 1986 WWF battle royal and eventually emerged victorious.
- 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.
[edit] Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
[edit] Other on-screen talent
- Commentators
- Interviewers
- Referees
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- Other
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[edit] Trivia
- This was the first pay-per-view event to feature 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.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
