The 1999 Royal Rumble sucked. Go ahead, try to defend it for its awesome Steve Austin-Vince McMahon storytelling but as a match, it was something truly awful, the likes of which have not been met by any recent Rumble match, regardless of how loud fans may have booed Roman Reigns or Batista. One of the most glaring issues with the match is that, once Austin and McMahon fight out of the ring early in the bout, the match is placed in the hands of such luminaries as The Blue Meanie, Steve Blackman, Tiger Ali Singh and our No. 7 worst Royal Rumbler ever, Gillberg. A parody of WCW's greatest homegrown star Goldberg, the puny ex-jobber had earned television time in the weeks preceding the Rumble, mostly because his off-the-wall persona fit the crash TV style of the Attitude Era. He was different from the mega stars that populated the show and, more importantly, good for a laugh so the Gillberg character was drawn up for him. As humorous as his ridiculous impersonation of the WCW world champion may have been, he did not belong anywhere near the Rumble match. He was a joke and, thankfully, was treated as such when he was tossed after seven seconds of nonsense.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
