10 Times WWE Royal Rumble Opened The Forbidden Door

4. Carlos Colon (1993)

Haku Royal Rumble
WWE.com

Gorilla Monsoon remarking "a lot of fire in this youngster" as the 44-year-old Carlos Colon made his way into the 1993 Royal Rumble was a far funnier story when the company wasn't overflowing with wrestlers older than that only just hitting their creative prime and competitive peak.

The audio/visual mix is at completely at odds too. Legendary WWC wrestler and promoter Colon had been at it since the 1960s and wore the literal bumps, bruises and scars of the industry with every weathered step he took. Monsoon's crack at his former business partner's advancing years was funnier for the fact that wrestlers ageing out of the trade simply didn't look like Sheamus, AJ Styles, CM Punk and others that have lived extremely different lives to those that came before them.

The line stands as the only memorable moment for Carlito's Dad in the match itself. He got seven minutes to strut his stuff and eliminated Damien Demento - himself a man more remembered for looking on from the outside as Giant Gonzalez destroyed The Undertaker rather than anything actually did inside the squared circle.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett