10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2009 Facts

10. Mickey Rourke Jumped The Gun On His WrestleMania Involvement That Night

While the Royal Rumble was waged in "The Motor City" of Detroit, actor Mickey Rourke was drawing a line in the sand 2300 miles away in Los Angeles. The star of The Wrestler was attending the Screen Actors Guild Awards that night, and threw out a seemingly-random challenge to Chris Jericho, telling him he was "coming after (his) ass," at WrestleMania 25.

This was news to Jericho, who had zero idea why Randy "The Ram" Robinson would be calling him out, as he'd never once spoken to him, or (publicly) about him. Vince McMahon soon informed Jericho that WWE had set up a deal to have Rourke, in the midst of his startling career revival, take on Jericho at WrestleMania (which sadly didn't come to pass).

As Jericho remembers it, he had just returned backstage after his elimination from the Rumble match when he was told of Rourke's seemingly-random fightin' words. The movie star was supposed to hold off until after the Oscars before beginning the angle, hence Jericho's confusion at the unprovoked animosity.