10 Weirdest WWE Royal Rumble Entrants

5. Takao Omori (1996)

Weird Royal Rumble
WWE

Shawn Michaels is frequently lauded for matching Hulk Hogan and, retroactively, Steve Austin, as one of the elite clutch of men to win the Royal Rumble back to back. It's a heck of achievement, for sure.

But one thing which is rarely mentioned is just how undeniably spawny both of Shawn's victories were. He essentially won both 1995 and 1996's editions by default, by virtue of being just about the only realistic contender in a sea of relative ham 'n' eggers.

Although the volume of dross littering '96's match wasn't quite as pronounced as the previous year, it still had its fair share of rubbish wrestlers (quite literally, in the form of Duke Droese).

Take Takao Omori. Though absolutely not rubbish by any objective standard - as his spells in AJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH both prior and post his WWF cameo prove - he was essentially an anonymous participant. Could he possibly win the Rumble? Of course not! And he didn't. In fact, he was never seen in the company again after being tossed out by the duo of Jake Roberts and Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.