11 Head-Scratchingly Long WWE Royal Rumble Performances

5. Bob Holly - 39:35 (1996)

Bob Holly was a company man for the WWE for fifteen years. Debuting as Thurman 'Sparky' Plugg in 1994 with a godawful NASCAR driver gimmick, he eventually became 'Hardcore' Holly during the Attitude Era, where he was given storyline cousins in the form of Crash and Molly. This was perhaps his most memorable run, as he could never seem to rise above the midcard, alternating between being a tag team performer and a jobber to the stars. He did gain a WWE Championship opportunity against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble in 2004, but this seemed more like a repayment for the fact that Lesnar broke his neck during a previous encounter between the two rather than a serious push. Holly entered seven Royal Rumbles during the course of his career, only once failing to last longer than ten minutes (in 2005, when he was double teamed by Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero within two minutes). His 39 minute stint in 1996 dwarfs his other five runs, however, and could be argued as being partially justifiable given the sheer lack of talent available to the company at the time (the match had 5 entrants who never showed up again in a WWE ring for instance, including the creatively named Squat Team #1 and Squat Team #2). Even in such circumstances, however, the decision to give him the second longest run of the night (after Triple H's 48 minute foray from #1 in the guise of Hunter Hearst Helmsley) yet no eliminations is one that baffles the mind, particularly given that he was utilised by the company on television just thirteen times over the course of the rest of the year (and twice for pay-per-view dark matches), winning on just three occasions.