10 Times WWE Royal Rumble Opened The Forbidden Door

3. Dick Murdoch (1995)

Haku Royal Rumble
WWE

There are a number of reasons why every door back into mainstream pro wrestling should have been forbidden for Dick Murdoch by 1995.

Known throughout the industry as one of the more openly racist and hate-filled men to ever enter the sport - more than one story exists of Murdoch being a Ku Klux Klan member - the big man’s bigotry was more than enough of a reason to keep him gone from screens years and years removed from his competitive and commercial peak.

Alas, wrestling is wrestling and he was brother brothered in for the night away from full time duties in NWA Dallas and extended tours for IWA and WAR in Japan.

Murdoch’s Rumble run went just 5:08 before he was dumped by Henry Godwinn. This interaction with a New Generation stalwart wasn’t an isolated incident either - he seconded Bob Backlund in TV spots against Razor Ramon, though nothing more permanent came from his Stamford sojourn.

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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