10 Times WWE Royal Rumble Opened The Forbidden Door
6. Takao Omori (1996)
Takao Omori gets the first part of being a WWE Superstar right at least. “Big smiles out there, pal!” was presumably the well-trodden instruction from Vince McMahon to the man he referred to as "a wild man from Japan", and Omori bursts through those entrance doors like Zack Ryder hitting a Toys R Us Christmas sale.
But how and why was he there at all?
Reports were that Omori himself wanted to spread his wings on the other side of the Pacific, but his American adventure ended there for the time being. He did eventually work select dates in the US, including an NWA World Heavyweight Championship bout with Ken Shamrock on the fourth ever TNA show.
His Rumble appearance is sadly as unmemorable as you'd imagine - he goes just 2:48 before Jake Roberts and Triple H dump him out, and has no scalps to his name either. The brevity is almost in fitting contrast to his illustrious All Japan career - his CV boasts approximately 3000 matches over four decades.
And speaking of decorated All Japan runs...