100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

93. The Rumble Goes Hardcore! (2001)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE

If you don't tune into pay-per-views to see someone take a bowling ball to the nuts, then... do you even like the art of professional wrestling? That should've notched a quarter star on the 2001 Rumble straight away. OK, enough jokes, but how can anyone be serious about the Royal Rumble going hardcore title division in '01?!

Al Snow, Raven, Perry Saturn, and Steve Blackman all decided to turn the bout into a weapons-fuelled brawl toward the midpoint of the match. Being fair to them, the countless weapons shots and that strike on Raven's nether regions did live long in the memory. Jerry Lawler seemed to love what he was seeing on commentary as well.

His voice was even higher pitched than Raven's.

Things calmed down a little after that, but not for long. The Honky Tonk Man was a surprise entrant, then The Rock upped the star power in-ring significantly. More on both of those guys to come in this 'Greatest Rumble Moments' collection. For now, somebody get Raven a bag of frozen peas.

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Senior Writer

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.