| Royal Rumble (1996) | ||||
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Promotional poster featuring Diesel performing a Big Boot on Owen Hart |
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| Tagline(s) | "You've been WARNED!" | |||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | |||
| Date | January 21, 1996 | |||
| Attendance | 9,600[1] | |||
| Venue | Selland Arena | |||
| City | Fresno, California | |||
| 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 Championship. 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 Royal Rumble win, Goldust versus Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) versus The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) for the WWF Tag Team Championship.
Duke "The Dumpster" Droese's victory over Hunter Hearst Helmsley on the Free for All prior to the event earned him the coveted number 30 spot in the Royal Rumble match while Helmsley had to enter first.
This was the first Royal Rumble to play the entry music of each wrestler when they entered the Royal Rumble match.
Contents |
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free for All | Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification | Singles match | 06:25 |
| 1 | Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualification | Singles match | 06:40 |
| 2 | 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 |
| 3 | Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon (c) | Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship | 14:17 |
| 4 | Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel[2] | Royal Rumble match | 58:49 |
| 5 | The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Bret Hart (c) by disqualification | Singles match for the WWF Championship | 28:31 |
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
| Draw[2] | Entrant[2] | Order[2] | Eliminated by[2] | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley | 19 | Diesel | 48:01 |
| 2 | Henry Godwinn | 2 | Roberts | 16:24 |
| 3 | Bob Backlund | 1 | Yokozuna | 12:22 |
| 4 | Jerry Lawler | 16 | Michaels | 36:02 |
| 5 | Bob Holly | 18 | Ringmaster | 39:35 |
| 6 | King Mabel | 3 | Yokozuna | 12:14 |
| 7 | Jake Roberts | 6 | Vader | 14:39 |
| 8 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 5 | Vega | 10:53 |
| 9 | Yokozuna | 11 | Michaels | 19:14 |
| 10 | 1–2–3 Kid | 13 | Michaels | 15:40 |
| 11 | Takao Ōmori | 4 | Helmsley and Roberts | 2:48 |
| 12 | Savio Vega | 10 | Vader | 12:28 |
| 13 | Vader | 12 | Michaels | 11:04 |
| 14 | Doug Gilbert | 7 | Vader | 2:59 |
| 15 | Swat Team #1 | 8 | Vader | 1:11 |
| 16 | Swat Team #2 | 9 | Yokozuna | 0:24 |
| 17 | Owen Hart | 21 | Michaels and Diesel | 20:43 |
| 18 | Shawn Michaels | - | Winner | 26:09 |
| 19 | Hakushi | 14 | Hart | 1:53 |
| 20 | Tatanka | 17 | Diesel | 4:09 |
| 21 | Aldo Montoya | 15 | Tatanka | 1:52 |
| 22 | Diesel | 29 | Michaels | 17:51 |
| 23 | Kama | 28 | Diesel | 15:57 |
| 24 | The Ringmaster | 23 | Fatu | 10:57 |
| 25 | Barry Horowitz | 20 | Hart | 4:15 |
| 26 | Fatu | 24 | Yankem | 7:07 |
| 27 | Isaac Yankem | 25 | Michaels | 7:05 |
| 28 | Marty Jannetty | 22 | British Bulldog | 2:35 |
| 29 | The British Bulldog | 27 | Michaels | 3:39 |
| 30 | Duke Droese | 26 | Kama and Diesel | 1:10 |
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