One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every WWE Royal Rumble

2006 - Vince McMahon Was As Chaotic And Desperate As He Ever Was

Jim Ross
WWE

2005 wasn’t a great year for WWE; as incredible and multifariously productive as the record-setting WrestleMania 21 was, the move back to USA Network did not result in a rights fee increase of any significance. New stars were made - John Cena, Edge, Batista - but the other performance indicators weren’t all that impressive, either.

Raw ratings were a marginal improvement over the Spike average - but Dave Meltzer calculated that, if you removed the Homecoming special and Eddie Guerrero tribute shows, the average USA number was lower. House show business was only superior to 1993, ‘94, ‘95, and 2004. 2003 was considered a terrible year for this revenue stream, and WWE failed to match it even with increased overseas touring inflating WWE’s true popularity. International buys again masked poor domestic performance on PPV relative, somehow, to 2004.

Business wasn’t great, and Vince didn’t seem to want to actually put the belt on Rey Mysterio; despite his Rumble triumph, the original plan, which was obviously abandoned, was for Randy Orton to take his shot at No Way Out.

This panic extended further; according to the February 6 Observer, Meltzer reported that Vince, amid his dithering over the Rumble match, reached out to no less than four bonafide legends in a bid to pull a monster number for WrestleMania 22.

Vince called Bret Hart, who didn’t want to work a storyline based on Survivor Series 1997; that would not happen until 2010. The Rock didn’t even want to cut a promo in 2006. Vince wasn’t on good terms with Steve Austin, who was pissed at Vince’s treatment of Jim Ross and the way in which his mooted November ‘04 comeback was handled. Hulk Hogan wasn’t happy with the list of opponents Vince pitched.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!