12 Times Wrestlers Failed To Make It Into The Royal Rumble Match
Curtis Axel wasn't the only one robbed of his WrestleMania main event.
The Royal Rumble match represents a fantastic opportunity for the 30 folks who get the chance to enter. The time in which you enter the match is left to the luck of the draw, and the prize at stake is a true dream come true for all professional wrestlers: a spot in the main event of WrestleMania.
Sure, every year there are generally only two or three superstars thought to be in with a chance of winning, but that isn't to say that all those waiting for the crowd to count down from ten don't close their eyes and imagine themselves pointing at that big ol' WrestleMania sign when all is said and done.
However, on a number of occasions in Royal Rumble match history this chance at immortality has been cruelly snatched away. Whether this was down to a jilted cult member in a sheep mask hurling them into a barrier or the over-excitable violence of a Puerto Rican street gang, the visualising of a dream has sometimes turned into the darkness of unconsciousness.
Here are 12 times wrestlers failed to make it into the Royal Rumble match, despite being an official entrant.
12. 'Macho King' Randy Savage - 1991
The 1991 Royal Rumble match wasn't a great one, as a thin roster meant that outside of Hulk Hogan there didn't seem to be a whole lot of options to win. Earthquake had just come off a winter of playing the token big bad heel opposite the Hulkster, and The Undertaker had only been around for a cup of coffee. Looking at the 30 men listed, the only possible option outside of Hogan was 'Macho King' Randy Savage.
One major stumbling block there however was the fact that Savage never made it into the match. Earlier in the night the Macho King had interfered in the WWF Championship match, smashing The Ultimate Warrior over the head with his royal sceptre (after attacking him in the aisle as well) and causing the title to be won by that evil traitor, Sgt. Slaughter.
Warrior eventually chased Savage out of the arena, putting the fear of God into the Macho Man. As such Savage fled completely, and when the buzzer sounded to herald the 18th entry into the Rumble the 18th entry was nowhere to be seen. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan used their powers of deduction, and when Tugboat came out at number 30 it was clear that the missing man was a particularly Macho one.