20 WWE Royal Rumble Undercard Nightmares

16. John Cena Vs Kane (2012)

Yokozuna Undertaker
WWE.com

Returning from injury at the end of 2011 and covering his face again for the first time since his infamous 2003 unmasking, Kane's renewed purpose was apparently to make John Cena 'Embrace the Hate', in response to Cena's 'Rise Above Hate' mantra on his most recent t-shirt.

If that didn't seem fluffy enough, the angle also dragged in Cena's friend Zack Ryder, systematically destroying the goodwill and support Ryder had built up in late 2011 via a series of comically brutal beatings that left 'Long Island Iced Z' in increasing states of disrepair.

Somehow, all of this forced the pair into a Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View clash, which not only robbed Cena of something important to do in the run-up to his historic Wrestlemania match against The Rock, but also broke an impressive consecutive appearances record for 'The Big Red Machine' in the 30-man Battle Royal.

The match itself stunk, struggling to gain any momentum with the weight of a mostly useless storyline supporting it, and after a dissatisfying double count-out finish, a further brawl to the back lead to physical wreck Ryder taking another tombstone as a way to continue the drama and Zack's continued demotion.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett