10 Last-Minute WWE Disasters That Came So Close To Ruining Royal Rumbles
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin Is Eliminated Too Early - 1996
Speaking of falling out of the all-important battle of many a bruiser before their time, 1996 saw a certain Texas Rattlesnake not make the best of first impressions during his first-ever Rumble appearance.
Under his Ringmaster guise, the eventual wrestling icon was destined to take up a spot in the illustrious final-four of the aforementioned '96 over-the-rop-rope spectacular. However, fate has a funny way of throwing a few curveballs on occasion and on this particular night a star-making moment was squashed by a performer who would later go on to make a living out of that very same action.
Fatu, later known as Rikishi, was squaring off against Austin ten minutes into the latter's showing. But instead of knocking the future Stone Cold over the ropes in a way that would allow him to easily roll back into the match, the collection of baby oil and sweat shared between the pair resulted in Austin losing his grip and going for a tumble too soon.
Next to nobody even clocked the elimination as it went down in the background on the night, but it likely caused a serious rethink in the heat of battle and very nearly tarnished an otherwise memorable Rumble.