10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1995 Facts

3. Patterson Wanted Davey Boy To Go The Distance As Well

british bulldog shawn michaels
WWE.com

It was an easy choice to have an athletic, technically-sound ring general like Shawn Michaels not only win the match, but do so from the number one entry. He had the endurance to capably go the necessary 40 minutes, and it was plenty of fun watching him get bounced around like a superball by 29 other guys.

According to Michaels, it was Pat Patterson who came up with the idea of having Davey Boy Smith enter second. He reasoned it would make the ending more exciting and dramatic, because it guaranteed that one man would go coast to coast and win it all, a WWE first no matter which one pulled it off.

Additionally, Smith was a gifted-enough performer to warrant a 40-minute duration, and would guarantee that two strong workers would always be in the ring with what was a generally-weak field.

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Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.