10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1996 Facts

9. Alundra Blayze Vs. Aja Kong Was In The Cards

Vader Shawn Michaels
WWE

In December 1995, WWE scrapped their entire women's division, including releasing the reigning champion, Alundra Blayze. The previous month, Blayze was pinned in an elimination match at Survivor Series by Aja Kong, setting up the brawny Kong as Blayze's next challenger. WWE Magazine had listed Blayze vs. Kong as a match for the 1996 Royal Rumble, so clearly, in that small window of time before Blayze was let go, WWE was looking to run the match.

Of course, it didn't happen, and we know what happened next: Blayze arrived on WCW Nitro as Madusa once more, depositing the physical Women's belt into a trash can. The controversial act really underscored Eric Bischoff's desire to stick it to WWE, and led to Madusa's lengthy blacklisting from WWE.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.