10 WWE Royal Rumble Entrants You Totally Forgot
3. Genichiro Tenryu (1993, 1994)
As one of Japan's biggest pro-wrestling stars, Genichiro Tenryu participated in two Royal Rumble matches, lasting over 13 minutes in both.
After forming the Japanese promotion Super World of Sports (SWS) in 1990, Tenryu developed a working relationship with Vince McMahon. This lead to several appearances on WWF television during the early and mid-90s, including two Royal Rumbles.
Prior to his first Rumble in 1993, Tenryu teamed with Koji Kitao and defeated Mr. Fuji's team of Demolition (Smash & Crush) at WrestleMania VII. Ironically, it would be Tenryu's brief association with Fuji just 3 years later that would garner Tenryu the most notoriety of all his WWF appearances.
Tenryu participated in the 1993 Royal Rumble, joining the match at number 9, but would be eliminated by The Undertaker after 13 minutes. Tenryu would find revenge at the next year's event, thanks to Mr. Fuji.
Before entering the 1994 Royal Rumble at number 24, Tenryu was involved in a gang style beatdown of The Undertaker in the WWF Championship Casket Match. Tenryu, along with a dozen other heels, aided Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna in his defense of the WWF Championship. Later in the evening, Tenryu was involved in yet another attack, this time against Yokozuna and Fuji's then-arch rival Lex Luger, in a backstage area.
As busy as Tenryu was at the 1994 event, many fans overlook his two Royal Rumble appearances.