100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

73. The King’s Pantomime Villain Routine (1996)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE.com

Wearing a dashing gold number, 1996 saw Jerry Lawler spend a whopping 36 minutes in the Royal Rumble. Well, kind of.

The King was officially in the match for that time, but he spent the bulk of it hiding under the ring, popping his head out at several points to receive a raucous reaction that played out like the classic “He’s behind you!” pantomime routine.

Entering the Rumble fourth, it was the arrival of Jake Roberts six minutes later that sent Lawler packing. More specifically, it was the giant snake that Jake brought with him that caused Lawler to hit the bricks.

When Shawn Michaels later found himself out of the ring - one of several times the Heartbreak Kid took a walk - we ended up with a call and response where the crowd let Michaels know that Jerry Lawler was lurking behind the ring skirt.

Ever the crowd-pleasing babyface at this point, Shawn took a peek under the ring for himself, dragged out a kicking and screaming Lawler, then formally eliminated the King from the match; Lawler being one of eight people Michaels threw out on his way to winning his second consecutive Royal Rumble.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.