19. Stone Cold Steve Austin 1997
WrestleMania title shot: Stripped due to controversial ending of Rumble Its hard to rank a Rumble victory in which the winner never cashes in his title shot this high, but when you consider that it was a major stepping stone in the ascension of Stone Cold Steve Austin to the top of the WWF, you have to give it special consideration. Austin pulled his best Eddie Guerrero impersonation and cheated to win the 97 Rumble, getting eliminated while the refs were tied up, then snuck back in and won. He would not get his title shot because of the controversial ending, instead being stuck in a four-way match at IYH 13, which he lost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hAu_k5q63U Instead, Austin faced Bret Hart (the man who eliminated him and then who he eliminated) in a no DQ submission match at WrestleMania XIII, which would help launch Stone Cold into the stratosphere.
Scott Carlson
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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
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