100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

4. HBK “Skins The Cat” (1995)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE.com

The 1995 Royal Rumble gets a lot of criticism for shorter length, how thin star power was on the roster, and more. All of it is fair, but you don't see many folks calling out the conclusion. If anything, Shawn Michaels dangling precariously with one foot already on the arena floor as another threatened to touch has become one of the most memorable Rumble visuals.

Davey Boy Smith thought he'd won, and the WWF smartly blared his music over the PA to put that across. That's when HBK defied gravity to "skin the cat" and pull his way back over the ropes to axe-handle Bulldog in the back and send him out. Suddenly, Shawn had become the first person to go from #1 all the way to the end and win.

Vince McMahon: "Un-be-liev-able!".

Slow-motion footage of Michaels teetering on the brink of elimination has been replayed countless times for decades ever since. It's typically shown before every annual Rumble event for a reason. Shawn dangled just long enough to show he was literally millimetres away from losing. What a finish to one of the most derided bouts ever.

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