7 Things You Should Know About WWE Royal Rumble 1996

2. Shawn Michaels Was One Of The Most Obvious Winners Ever

There are some Rumble matches where the winner is so obvious that there's really not much of a reason to even watch it. In 1996, Michaels was the right pick. He was out of action doing a concussion angle after he legitimately got beat up in late 1995. It made him a very sympathetic babyface. A year earlier, Michaels won the Rumble from the #1 position and he was a heel. This time around he was the 18th entrant and lasted 26:09. What Michaels did for the second year in a row was he eliminated the most guys in the match with eight eliminations, which was the same number as 1995. It was a weak Rumble in terms of the talent in the ring, but the final four was pretty strong with Michaels, Diesel, the British Bulldog and Kama. Other than Kama they were three of the best guys in WWE at the time. It's certainly better than Duke Droese or Isaac Yankem lasting until the very end. http://youtu.be/GlBeQshE1R8 Michaels eliminated Bulldog with a clothesline, Diesel eliminated Kama and with Diesel standing up against the ropes, Michaels nailed a Superkick to send him over the top to the floor. There was a big ovation for Shawn's win and a great moment for his comeback story. Michaels became the second man to win the Rumble in back to back years since Hulk Hogan in 1990 and 1991.