100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

63. Bob Backlund Breaks The Hour Mark (1993)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE

Looking every bit like he'd just hopped out of a time machine into the soon-to-be-dubbed New Generation, 1970s/'80s relic Bob Backlund had a task on his hands to appeal to a younger WWF demographic. That'd be mission impossible, but Bobby earned a ton of respect from everyone watching by lasting no less than one hour, one minute, and ten seconds in the 1993 Rumble.

Hilarious lines like Bobby Heenan remarking that Backlund's "shoes were up at his knees" when he first entered (implying that he'd worked so hard the leather eroded) matched Bob's graft. Even so, he only eliminated two wrestlers during a marathon performance. They'd be (a pre-Rikishi) Fatu and Rick Martel.

Backlund was positively spent by the time he was chucked out by the massive Yokozuna.

Ric Flair had shattered the hour mark in 1992, but Bob was booked to go just a little further past it. The veteran's exhausting showing remains one of the most impressive in Rumble history. There was a lot of sitting around teasing elimination, sure, but everything Backlund did in the match fit the gimmick of a cagey vet trying to defy the odds.

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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.