10 Things WWE Fans Should Know About Royal Rumble 1996

The 1996 Royal Rumble was filled with some shocking moments, title changes, and other interesting facts that several wrestling fans would have forgotten occurred!

The 1996 iteration of the Royal Rumble was the penultimate Royal Rumble to take place in the New Generation Era. This was the ninth edition of the Royal Rumble which continued to improve as the years went by. Nevertheless, the 1996 Royal Rumble was still a significant show on the calendar. It wasn't the best of Royal Rumble pay-per-views, but there were some memorable moments on the card.

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There are several moments on the show that may have blown over fans' heads as they generally remember the winner of the 1996 Royal Rumble match, and forget about some of the matches on the undercard. Nevertheless, there was a title change on the show, a few debutants in the Royal Rumble match, and some shocking moments. Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Diesel were some of the significant names featured in the 1996 Royal Rumble, and they had a huge part to play throughout the Rumble match and WWE Championship matches respectively.

10 The Smoking Gunns Retained The WWE World Tag Team Championship

The Smoking Gunns defended the WWE World Tag Team Championship against The Bodydonnas at the 1996 Royal Rumble. Sunny was in the corner of Skip and Zip, and she was hoping that she'd be able to guide them to the Tag Team Championship.

This was a back-and-forth Tag Team Championship match, and Sunny didn't hesitate by standing on the ropes to give her team the advantage. The Bodydonnas were close to winning the titles but it was to no avail. Bart executed a small package on Skip to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championship, whilst Billy tackled Zip to the ground.

9 Goldust Won The Intercontinental Championship

For the third year in succession, Razor Ramon defended the Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble. This time, the Bad Guy put the gold on the line against Goldust. Moreover, Marlena, Goldust's then-wife, made her WWE debut as his valet.

This was an underrated Intercontinental Championship match, and both men are remarkable competitors. The 1-2-3 Kid continued to be a thorn in Ramon's side, as he assaulted Razor, which led to Goldust capturing the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career.

8 King Mabel's Final WWE Appearance For Two Years

Mabel received a huge push in the summer of 1995 by unexpectedly winning the King of the Ring tournament. He was rechristened as King Mabel and challenged Diesel for the WWE Championship. However, Mabel's time as a main eventer was curtailed towards the tail-end of 1995.

King Mabel became unsafe to work with as he broke Undertaker's orbital bone, and injured Diesel in the title match at SummerSlam as well. Mabel was the sixth man in the Royal Rumble match, but he was the third man to be eliminated by Yokozuna. This was his final WWE appearance for two-and-a-half years until he appeared on an episode of Raw in June 1998 against Ken Shamrock.

7 Triple H Lost A Match To Become The Number One Entrant

Before the 1996 Royal Rumble came on the air, Triple H and Duke "The Dumpster" Droese slugged it on Free for All, where the winner would enter the Royal Rumble match as the 30th entrant. Triple H thought that he had prevailed, but the decision was overturned by Gorilla Monsoon as Triple H used brass knuckles.

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Nevertheless,Triple H entered the Royal Rumble match as the number one participant for his punishment. It was his first Rumble, and whilst he only registered one elimination, he endured the longest amount of time in the match at 48 minutes with the eventual runner-up Diesel eliminating him from the bout.

6 The First Royal Rumble Match Where Every Competitor Had Entrance Music

Entrance music has been a significant part of the production of WWE programming, and every wrestler has their theme song unless they share one with their tag team partner. It's hard to imagine a Royal Rumble match without wrestlers coming down the aisle without their own unique theme song.

That all changed at the 1996 Royal Rumble as every entrant came down the aisle to their own theme song. It was here to stay, and something that has carried on in subsequent Royal Rumble matches.

5 Steve Austin Was Eliminated Accidentally

The 1996 Royal Rumble was also the first Royal Rumble match for future three-time Royal Rumble match winner Steve Austin. Austin was still known as The Ringmaster, and he endured just under 11 minutes as the 24th entrant.

Unfortunately, he was eliminated prematurely. He managed to eliminate Bob Holly from the Rumble, but it was supposed to be a valiant effort as he was meant to reach the final four. However, he lost the grip on the ropes which were slippy because of baby oil, which allowed Fatu to remove him from the equation.

4 Vader's First WWE PPV Appearance

Vader was a huge acquisition for WWE, and he made his in-ring debut in the 1996 Royal Rumble match. Entering 13th, Vader had a great chance of making a big splash as he could use his size and strength advantage to get rid of the other participants.

RELATED: Vader's First 10 WWE PPV Matches, Ranked From Worst To Best

The Mastodon had a fantastic performance as he removed Jake Roberts, Doug Gilbert, one of the Squat Teamers, and Savio Vega from the Rumble. Vader and Yokozuna locked horns several times, but they were fighting on the ropes which allowed Shawn Michaels to take advantage by eliminating both men from the Rumble.

3 Shawn Michaels Won The Royal Rumble Match For The Second Consecutive Year

Shawn Michaels won the 1995 Royal Rumble match, and he was looking to win it for the second year in succession. Whilst he won it from the unenviable number one position in 1995, the Heartbreak Kid entered from the favorable 18th position this time around.

HBK stole the show once again as he eliminated eight competitors throughout the Rumble. Michaels eliminated his former bodyguard Diesel with Sweet Chin Music to become the second man to win the Royal Rumble match for the second consecutive year. HBK was triumphant, and he went on to win the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 12.

2 The WWE Championship Match Main Evented The Rumble For The First Time

Bret Hart defended the WWE Championship against The Undertaker in a mouthwatering championship bout. Their WWE Title match was the first time that the coveted WWE Championship went on last at a Royal Rumble event.

Their WWE Championship match kickstarted a run of three consecutive WWE Championship matches to headline the Rumble. Undertaker was close to recapturing the WWE Championship, but he was victorious by disqualification because of Diesel's interference.

1 The Undertaker Was Unmasked

Before The Undertaker and Bret Hart's WWE Championship match got underway, Undertaker and Diesel fought in the aisleway, planting the seeds for their WrestleMania 12 battle. Undertaker and the Hitman were both babyfaces, and their battle went back and forth with both men desperate to put themselves in a strong position to walk into WrestleMania 12 as the reigning WWE Champion.

Undertaker's orbital bone was crushed by King Mabel, and he returned at the 1995 Survivor Series sporting a Phantom of the Opera-like mask. The Hitman successfully removed Undertaker's mask and he targeted his face. Nevertheless, Undertaker recovered from his injuries and didn't wear the mask again.