Royal Rumble 1996

Royal Rumble 1996
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Tagline(s)	"You've been WARNED!"
Date	January 21, 1996
Venue	Selland Arena
City	Fresno, California
Attendance	9,600
Last Event	In Your House 5
Next Event	In Your House 6

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.

Results

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

• Free For All Match: Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (6:25)
• Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by DQ (6:40)
• The Smoking Gunns (Bart & Billy Gunn) (c) defeated The Body Donnas (Skip & Zip( (w/Sunny) to retain the WWF World Tag Team Championship (11:14)
• Goldust (w/Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship (14:17)
• Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Diesel (58:49)
• The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) defeated Bret Hart (c) by DQ to retain the WWF Championship (28:31)

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

Other on-screen talent

Commentators Vince McMahon Mr. Perfect Interviewers Dok Hendrix Todd Pettengill

Ring announcer Howard Finkel Referees Jack Doan Jim Korderas Earl Hebner Tim White

See also

• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• WWE Event History
• Royal Rumble

DVD release

• Royal Rumble 1996 on VHS.

External links

• Royal Rumble 1996 Official Website
• Royal Rumble 1996 on WWE Network
• Royal Rumble 1996 at CAGEMATCH.net