10 Great Wrestlers Who Were Only In One WWE Royal Rumble
Rick Rude, Vince McMahon, Arn Anderson, and other legendary Royal Rumble one-offs...
The Royal Rumble is immortal. One of the most storied events in pro wrestling history, it's the only WWE pay-per-view guaranteed to generate excitement each year regardless of the build because there's nothing else like it on the calendar. Only WrestleMania rivals its paradigm-shifting potential. Sure, you might have ended up booing as Batista celebrated in Daniel Bryan's place at the end of the night, then jumped aboard the latest #CancelWWENetwork bandwagon afterwards, but you probably came back the following year. Such is the Rumble's appeal.
Sadly, the wrestlers on this list did not come back the following year.
While each was a big deal to WWE at one point in their careers, none had the opportunity to build an expansive Rumble legacy. For a variety of reasons, all described within, each was one and done. Some did significantly more with that "one" than others, though.
Only pay-per-view Rumbles were considered here, so house shows and bastardised television bouts without the "Royal" prefix don't count. This list also excludes one-off guests. Including Lita, Trish Stratus, Mil Mascaras, Dory Funk Jr. would be cheap, despite their legendary careers, and current wrestlers who could realistically compete in another Rumble are out as well.
Also, wrestlers are ranked chronologically.
Let's go...
10. Tully Blanchard (1989)
One of the most notorious and detestable wrestling villains of the 1980s, Tully Blanchard made his way from Jim Crockett Promotions to the then-WWF alongside fellow Horseman Arn Anderson in late 1988.
It didn't work out.
As The Brain Busters, Blanchard and Anderson were Tag Team Champions for just shy of three months after ending Demolition's legendary 478-day reign, before dropping them back to Ax and Smash in the winter of '89. This was the beginning of the end. A breakup storyline with manager Bobby Heenan kicked off amid talk of Anderson and Blanchard heading back to the WCW, before Tully was cut loose completely for failing a drug test. This stung him in more ways than one, as Georgia rescinded its contract offer, leaving Blanchard to drift around wrestling's smaller stages pretty much for the duration of his career, returning to WCW only for a one-night-only appearance in 1994.
1989 was Blanchard's only Rumble appearance. He lasted eight minutes in the bout, eliminating Marty Jannetty as part of the growing Brain Busters vs. Rockers feud, and was eventually put out by Hulk Hogan.