6 Best Traditional WWE Royal Rumble Alternatives

3. Kurt Angle Invitational (WCPW)

Since 1993, the winner of WWE's Royal Rumble has guaranteed themselves a World Title berth come WrestleMania. In terms of dangling a storyline carrot in front of performers, that has to rank as the absolute best. When WhatCulture launched WCPW and planned on running a Rumble of their own, management knew they needed something a little offbeat.

Excitement was palpable when it was announced that Kurt Angle would be making his WCPW debut in October 2016 at Refuse To Lose. In the lead up to that event, WCPW's top brass decided that their roster should compete for the right to face such wrestling royalty live on iPPV.

In the first ever Kurt Angle Invitational Rumble, 'Local Hero' Joe Hendry came out on top by beating 14 other men. Competing with the likes of Doug Williams, EC3, and Pete Dunne, Hendry secured his slot against Kurt Angle and fulfilled a childhood dream.

This was a great way to establish Joe Hendry as Angle's first opponent in WCPW, as the Edinburgh native had to go through all other top talent in the company to get that chance.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.