10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Royal Rumble

10. Vince McMahon Thought It Was “Stupid”

WWE patriarch Vince McMahon thought the Royal Rumble sounded pretty crap when Pat Patterson pitched it during creative meetings in the late-1980s. Still, Vince was scrambling for an idea that'd suit NBC exec Dick Ebersol, and he had nothing else to present on the day.

That's when McMahon turned to Pat and told him to lay out the "stupid idea [he] had" for a multi-man match. Patterson did, and Ebersol thought it sounded like tremendous fun. Better yet, Dick could see the value of having fresh faces roll out to wrestle every few minutes, because that'd be perfect for a TV audience.

Vince was presumably stunned. Relieved, but stunned.

He might've been expecting NBC to scoff at Pat's suggestion like he did. Instead, they loved the concept and the Rumble was born as a TV concern. By 1989, the idea was so popular internally that McMahon decided to run it as a fully-fledged pay-per-view.

Remarkable considering he hated it at first.