20 WWE Royal Rumble Undercard Nightmares

12. Kurt Angle Vs Mark Henry (2006)

Yokozuna Undertaker
WWE.com

Plugging gaps or salvaging programmes due to other injuries on the roster, Mark Henry became quite a utility player in the mid-2000s when his involvement was kept limited to a beatdown followed by a short squash to conclude the mini-angle.

However, this formula would not apply to main eventing a Pay-Per-View that traditionally climaxes with one of the most anticipated matches of the year, or at a push, the culmination of a deeply personal rivalry with the title on the line.

Kurt had only won the vacant World Title as a Raw defector two weeks previous, and had barely settled in to his new home on Smackdown when he came up against Henry with no time to establish friction between the two. The match never got out of first gear, with babyface Angle reverting to heel tactics to beat Henry with a steel chair and an exposed turnbuckle after nine heatless minutes.

Its befuddling placement on the card would finally make sense in the aftermath, as The Undertaker would destroy the ring with his magical powers, and announce himself as Angle's next challenger to thankfully promise better days ahead for the 'Olympic Gold Medallist'.

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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