It's an arguable point, but there may not have been a more useless Kickoff bout than the one featured right before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view began. The Dudley Boyz and The Ascension were the only proper tag-teams presented, and they were joined by the barmy duos of Darren Young and Damien Sandow as well as Mark Henry and Jack Swagger. The winner secured two spots in the Rumble match. Out of nowhere, Henry and Swagger emerged victorious, which seemed like a fairly random decision. It's entirely plausible that WWE only did this to give Henry (a man who is coming to the end of his career) one last shot at performing in the match. As it later turned out, the result was pointless. Both Henry and Swagger only lasted less than a few minutes (combined) in the Rumble, doing little of note while they were involved. Surely fans would have much preferred seeing Bubba Ray and D-Von enter the bout and perform their trademark routine.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
