Royal Rumble 1996

Royal Rumble 1996
Information
Promotion	WWF
Date	January 21, 1996
Venue	Selland Arena
City	Fresno, California, USA
Attendance	9,600
Last Event	Season's Beatings
Next Event	Rage In A Cage

Show events

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• Dark Match: Duke Droese vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
  • Helmsley was disqualified for using brass knuckles.
  • WINNER: Duke Droese.(6:25)
  • The winner of this match got to enter the Rumble at #30, while the loser had to enter at spot #1.
• Singles Match: Ahmed Johnson vs. Jeff Jarrett
  • Jarrett was disqualified for jumping off the top rope, hitting Johnson with his guitar.
  • WINNER: Ahmed Johnson.(6:40)
• WWF World Tag Team Championship Match: The Smoking Gunns (Bart & Billy Gunn) vs. The Body Donnas (Skip & Zip)(w/Sunny)
  • Bart pinned Zip after Billy helped reverse a double suplex on Bart to a small package.
  • WINNERS: The Smoking Gunns.(11:14)
• WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Razor Ramon vs. Goldust(w/Marlena)
  • Goldust pinned Ramon after The 1-2-3 Kid came out and hit him with a spinning heel kick while Marlena distracted the referee.
  • WINNER: Goldust.(14:17)
• Royal Rumble Match:
  • The final two men were Shawn Michaels and Diesel. Michaels hit Diesel with Sweet Chin Music that sent Diesel over the top rope.
  • WINNER: Shawn Michaels.(58:49)
  • 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.

• WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match: Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker(w/Percy Pringle)
  • Hart was disqualified after Diesel came out and pulled Earl Hebner out of the ring while he was making the 3-count for Undertaker.
  • WINNER: The Undertaker.(28:31)
  • Bret Hart retains the title because titles don't change hands on disqualification.

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

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

Longest Lasting

This lists the competitors in order of the time they lasted in the Rumble.

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

==DVD and video releases

External links and references

• Royal Rumble 1996 Official Website