With this Rumble seeing him become a two-time winner, the MVP of the 1996 Royal Rumble has to be the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels, who was by this point receiving his first singles babyface push.
Winning for the second year in a row, Michaels was the standout performer of another so-so Rumble match. Much like the previous year, HBK was so far ahead of the rest of the talent involved in the contest that it was almost laughable at times.
Vader would make a strong impact, whilst Triple H's Rumble debut ran an impressive 48-minutes (even if he didn't eliminate a single person), but there really was little else of note here as Shawn took the victory and received a shot to realise his childhood dream at WrestleMania. Michaels, of course, would go on to defeat Bret Hart for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII in a legendary Ironman Match.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
