10 Great Wrestlers Who Were Only In One WWE Royal Rumble
3. The Iron Sheik (1992)
Their shared history means its almost fitting that the only Royal Rumble the Iron Sheik and Sgt. Slaughter ever appeared in was the same one, with the Iranian still working his Colonel Mustafa gimmick here. Ultimately, he was a spot-filler for Randy Savage to throw over the top rope. Hulk Hogan's handicap victory over Mustafa, Slaughter, and General Adnan (SummerSlam '91) had rendered Sheik's character obsolete by the time of the Rumble and he was gone four months later.
A gimmick that was supposed to send him back into the spotlight alongside Sgt. Slaughter (capitalising on real Gulf War tensions) had failed.
The increasingly banged-up Sheik re-appeared in WWE as The Sultan's manager in the mid-90s. The closest thing he'd come to another Royal Rumble appearance again was at WrestleMania X-Seven, when he won the all-time-great trainwreck that was the Gimmick Battle Royal despite barely being able to walk. He remains relevant today through the team of individuals that meticulously manages and posts from his admittedly tremendous Twitter account, his social media swearing legacy now considerable great than his Rumble one.