Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble's Biggest Surprise 1988-2022

33. 1995 - Shawn Michaels Goes All The Way

Edge Royal Rumble
WWE.com

The first man to ever go end-to-end in the Royal Rumble, #1 entrant Shawn Michaels only had to survive the shorter 30-second intervals in 1995 but brilliantly worked the thing as if he'd been in there twice as long.

So too did #2 entrant Davey Boy Smith, who was the perfect foil for Shawn's sh*thousing at the finish. The two had both made it from beginning to end, but Michaels' elasticity of body trumped Bulldog's rigidity of mind - 'HBK's ability to keep one foot off the ground allowed him to surprise a celebrating Smith, who already had his head in the clouds.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett