10 Startling Stories From WWF's New Generation

2. The Ultimate Warrior Was Supposed To Be In The 1996 Royal Rumble

Scanning the lineup for the 1996 Royal Rumble match makes for fascinating reading. The likes of Dory Funk Jr, Takao Omori and Aldo Montoya were all entrants. In addition, the WWF had brought back several aging stars like Jake 'The Snake' Roberts and Bob Backlund. Even a non-WWF talent like Doug Gilbert was given a shot in the bout. It was an auspicous cast of characters, symptomatic of the lack of star power Vince McMahon had at his disposal. Eventually, the mountainous Vader was signed just in time to be part of the show, but he wasn't the initial plan McMahon had in mind. Instead, the WWF wanted to bring back The Ultimate Warrior and put him in the Royal Rumble. There was only one problem, the company couldn't come to an agreement with Warrior, who reasoned that they needed him much more than he needed them. The wrestler would return in time for WrestleMania XII, but he barely made a difference to the fortunes of the promotion. This irked McMahon, who had made several concessions in Warrior's contract, such as agreeing to plug his outside ventures. If Warrior had been in the match, it'd be interesting to know whether or not it would have changed the planned outcome, a Shawn Michaels victory.