10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2006 Facts
3. Mark Henry Was Supposed To Face Batista
The same day that Edge would cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase and win his first WWE Championship, the SmackDown brand was holding a matinee house show in the sparsely-populated town of Verona, NY. There, before 2,000 fans, Batista would injure his triceps in a World Heavyweight title defense against Mark Henry.
The injury necessitated taking the belt off of Batista, who wouldn't return from his injury for six months. It also scrapped the Batista/Henry match set for the Rumble, which had been building since the latter weeks of December.
Batista's injury also threw WrestleMania plans to the wind, as it affected the aforementioned World title defense he would've made against Orton. In effect, it additionally cancelled out what would've been a year-long reign as champion.