100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

20. The Rattlesnake’s Reaction To The Hitman (1997)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE

Famously, the 1997 Royal Rumble featured several moments where Steve Austin had the ring to himself.

As the match entered the business end of proceedings, Stone Cold dumped Marc Mero and Owen Hart, took a moment to himself, threw out Savio Vega, took a moment to himself, and took out Jesse James before taking a breather on the top turnbuckle.

The story was that Austin was on a roll, effortlessly throwing out whichever man dared to next enter the match. And then, well then the iconic opening note of Bret Hart’s music hit.

Entering at #21, the Hitman stormed to the ring with purpose, making it clear he was coming to whip the ass of a man he’d done battle with throughout 1996. For Austin, he ran the gamut of emotions, from shock, to panic, to eventually ushering Hart into the ring, where the two would exchange right hands.

By the time all was said and done with the Rumble, Bret eliminated Austin, only for the referees to miss that elimination, leading to the Texas Rattlesnake eventually dumping out Hart to win the match in underhand fashion - giving Stone Cold a massive win, adding further to Bret’s frustrations at constantly being screwed, and nicely having plenty of fire already in place when the two were somewhat haphazardly thrown together for WrestleMania 13 after a certain someone lost their smile.

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