10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1996 Facts
7. WWE Tried To Bring In The Ultimate Warrior For The Rumble Match
The Warrior would eventually make his short-lived return to WWE at WrestleMania 12, but there was a chance he could've donned the paint and tassels even earlier. McMahon was wont to add as much star-power as possible to a fairly-weak Rumble field, and he set about getting former champion Warrior's services back in time for the 30-man gauntlet.
There was still bad blood between both sides, however, as there had been legal issues over trademarks related to the Warrior persona. When meeting with WWE regarding the return, Jim Hellwig made serious demands regarding ownership of the name and intellectual properties.
McMahon wasn't willing to budge at that time, not wanting to irk his current roster by caving in so much to someone not exactly known for being one of the boys. When Warrior eventually did link up with WWE once more, it was with Vince's wife Linda acting as the liaison.