Anytime a pay-per-view such as World Wrestling Entertainment's Royal Rumble has been in existence as long as it has, there is plenty opportunity for monumental moments. Steve Austin cashed his ticket to WrestleMania XIV and the WWE Championship in 1998, Bret Hart and Lex Luger became the first co-winners of the Rumble match, Sgt. Slaughter shocked the world with a controversial title victory over The Ultimate Warrior and Shawn Michaels became the first Superstar to go the distance by entering at No. 1 and winning the entire Rumble bout. With that said, any event with the longevity and history of the Royal Rumble comes the opportunity for equally awful moments. Some were championship changes that altered the course of the company in ways that were almost universally bad. Others were booking decisions that left fans scratching their heads and wondering exactly what illegal substance WWE Creative had partaken in earlier that day. Still others were angles that did nothing positive for anyone involved and thus, were completely useless in the long run. They are moments that fans willingly put in the back of their minds, hoping to forget in favor of celebrating the greatest moments the show has to offer. No matter how hard one tries to hide them, however, they exist and are as apart of the rich history of the event. As the 2015 edition of the Royal Rumble rapidly approaches, and WWE prepares a show that is almost guaranteed to have at least one moment that leaves fans resisting the urge to put their first through their television sets, relive the worst moments ever witnessed at the annual January event by clicking the "next" button to your lower right.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
