7 Times Vince McMahon Thought WWE's Royal Rumble Sucked

3. A Winner Has To Be Erased From History

Chris Benoit Royal Rumble 2004
WWE Network

If you study the blurb text for 2004's Rumble on the WWE Network, don't expect to see any mention of the man who won it. That's understandable due to real-life atrocities, of course, but it still feels weird that Chris Benoit went from #1 to the end, worked for 1:01:35 and it's almost like it never happened.

Vince McMahon probably wishes it hadn't.

By 2007, when distressing reports crept out about the reality of Benoit's demise, WWE made the call to erase the Canadian from their history books. He was never to be mentioned on programming, and couldn't even show up in text format on DVDs or, later, the Network. At that moment, Vince again could've been forgiven for thinking the '04 Rumble sucked.

He had a historic, fondly-remembered event on his hands that was now tarnished goods. Benoit's marathon efforts in the 30-man match could never be used as hype for the pay-per-view's magical feel again, and that made 2004 a complete waste.

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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.