Royal Rumble By The Numbers WWE DON'T Want You To Know

10. 6

Six is the total number of total jobbers eliminated by Shawn Michaels at the 1995 January edition of the Royal Rumble.

His performance in it is canonised in WWE lore as this incredible feat of stamina and athleticism and toughness, but in reality, he lasted only 38:41, and he only outlasted a field thinner than his excuses in Montreal.

Duke Droese was dumped by the Heartbreak Kid, as was Tom Prichard. Fellow tag act Bushwhacker Luke was also removed by Michaels, and it is at this point you can sort of forgive him for deeming himself so above the company. Jacob Blu followed, as did the other Bushwhacker, Butch, before Aldo Montoya completed what was a murdered row of enhancement talent.

This reads as unimpressive, but really, this was the WWF doing the opposite of what is standard practise now: using minimal resource to make a star. Compensating for a chronic lack of depth with a novel booking strategy, Shawn and the British Bulldog's Iron Men performances bookended a Rumble you can very much flick through. On this evidence, the dismal event poster makes sense. Mantaur, Kwang and Timothy Well hardly made up the classic design of a horde of walking, grunting competitors, and so, hilariously, Vince McMahon settled on an empty beach.

Aldo Montoya lasted longer in this Royal Rumble than WWE's most popular organic star lasted in...