WWE Royal Rumble: 10 Best Performances By Losing Superstars

1. Kane - 2001

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GizoiVNCGRU Throughout the Royal Rumble€™s history, no one has embraced the match quite as wholly as the Big Red Machine. Not only has Kane been a part of more Rumble matches than any other superstar, but, at fifteen appearances, he has been in more than half of all the Royal Rumbles ever conducted. While each appearance he makes at the event invokes awe and terror, there is one appearance in particular that everyone on commentary and in the back invokes to prove that Kane is indeed a monster in the ring. The 2001 Royal Rumble in New Orleans relied heavily on Kane to carry the weight of the match on his shoulders, and he did not disappoint. The beginning of the match saw the Hardys dominate both Bull Buchanan and Faarooq, but as celebrity surprise Drew Carey made his way into the ring, the two brothers accidentally eliminated each other, leaving the €œWhose Line?€ host on his own to await the next participant. Number six came up, and the ring erupted with hellfire and brimstone as Kane took to the ring. While, thanks to Raven, Carey would be spared the Big Red Machine€™s onslaught, many other competitors were not so lucky. Raven began to turn the Rumble into a hardcore match, tossing trash cans, road signs, and steel chairs into the ring to combat Kane. Al Snow, Perry Saturn, Steve Blackman, and Grand Master Sexay would all hit the ring as the next entrants, each embracing the hardcore developments by bringing in newer and more violent weapons. The superstars continued to team up against Kane, finally managing to get him to his knees and to the ground. Before any of them could get it together and toss out the monster, Kane found a trash can lid and began to exact his vengeance on his assailants. One by one, every competitor in the ring fell to a brutal shot from Kane, as he tossed out Sexay, Blackman, Snow, Raven, and Saturn in short order. Kane would then endure a much different sort of punishment, as the Honky Tonk Man made a surprise entrance at number twelve. Kane could only stand to listen to Honky Tonk€™s song for so long, as he snatched the guitar from the former Intercontinental Champion and destroyed the guitar over his head. Never since John Belushi descended the stairs in Animal House has a guitar been shattered so righteously. Kane threw Honky Tonk Man to the outside and awaited another opponent. Kane found himself in for a real fight at number thirteen, as The Rock€™s entrance music hit, and the two squared off, going shot for shot with each other. At this point in the match, Kane would turn into an iron-man, absorbing brutal attacks from newcomers to the match, briefly displaying his brute force for all to see as he took out Tazz in ten seconds. Kane€™s luck would turn after The Big Show was eliminated however, as Bradshaw would corral the current entrants into maliciously beating Kane in a corner. The Big Red Machine looked to be shut down, but received help at number twenty-five, as his brother in destruction, The Undertaker, motored down to survey his yard. The two would once again clear the ring, with Kane eliminating Crash Holly, Albert, and Scotty 2 Hotty to equal Hulk Hogan€™s 1989 mark of ten eliminations. The match would continue to whittle down to its last combatants until Kane, Rock, and Austin would stand alone as the final three. The Rock would attempt to press his advantage, as he and Austin chucked Kane through the ropes so they might face off against one another. Kane re-entered and took full advantage of the heated rivalry, tossing both men over the top rope. The Rock hit the floor, but Austin hung on. The Rattlesnake would then enlist the help of a steel chair to finally end Kane€™s night, but not before he cemented himself as a legendary monster, an elimination machine that has yet to be rivaled. Even with a Royal Rumble loss, Kane proved that the gains to your legacy can matter so much more.
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Jack Manley is an aspiring writer, filmmaker, and artist from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. He currently resides in New York City.