10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1996 Facts

1. Bret Hart Was Injured During The Main Event

Vader Shawn Michaels
WWE.com

If you've never seen the Hart/Undertaker match, you may be a bit disappointed if and when you actually do. It's not exactly either man's best work, though it's not horrible either. The bout stretched out beyond 28 minutes and ended without a decisive finish, so it's got that going against it.

An injury may be partially to blame for the match not being up to either man's standard. According to Bret Hart, he injured his knee during the course of the lengthy match. No matter, the injury wasn't serious enough to prevent Hart from passing the torch to Michaels in two months' time.

Hart also noted that looking weak in the finish wasn't the best way to build him up for the 'Mania dethroning, nor did barely defeating Diesel in a cage match at In Your House the following month. Both times, he was secondary to Undertaker and Diesel's feud.

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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.