The 30-Man Royal Rumble has been the highlight of the pay-per-view that bears its name but it hasn’t always closed out the pay-per-view.
Throughout its 28-year history, there have been six instances where another match (usually a world title) has closed the Royal Rumble, resulting in the the Rumble match being demoted to a mid-card match. Here are the six times that the Rumble match didn’t main event the PPV:
1988: The Islanders vs. The Young Stallions in a two out of three falls match
1996: Bret Hart (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship
1997: Sycho Sid (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship
1998: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. The Undertaker in a Casket match for the WWF Championship that saw Kane douses The Undertaker’s casket with fire after the match was over
2006: Kurt Angle (c) vs. Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship that saw The Undertaker made his return after the match and used his magic to make the ring collapse
2013: CM Punk (c) vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship that saw The Rock end CM Punk’s 434-day reign as WWE Champion
Which brings me to this year’s event. With the Triple Threat Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins getting more publicity than the Rumble match, don’t be surprised to see the title match close this year’s Royal Rumble PPV which will result in the Rumble match taking place before the title match. I also expect a very dramatic ending taking place during or after the title which could very well feature Sting making his return.
Anyway, look for another match to upstage the Rumble for the seventh time in its history.
