10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2005 Facts
4. The Rumble Ending Was Botched
It almost looks like a perfect work - Batista hoists Cena up for the Batista Bomb, and they tumble over the ropes together, with their feet hitting at just about the same time. Unbeknownst to most people watching, what looked like a carefully-constructed redux of the 1994 Rumble ending was actually a mistake.
According to SmackDown official Jim Korderas, Batista wasn't supposed to fall to the floor - he was supposed to hang onto the ropes while Cena fell to his elimination, but he, one way or another, slipped. There was a beat of awkwardness after both went out, leading to Raw official Jack Doan holding up the arm of Batista, the intended winner.
Suddenly, there was an order of the officials' earpieces for one of the SmackDown refs to hold up Cena's arm while McMahon and others scrambled for a resolution. Korderas adds that they were trying to find Eric Bischoff and Teddy Long to send out there to argue as part of the improvisation, but neither could be found. So out comes Vince, quite mad....