In 2005, Batista secured his ticket to challenge the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania by winning the Royal Rumble match. Although this would become a significant victory for the Animal, it wasn’t without controversy.
During a recent interview with Wrestling Inc, former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas discussed how the ending of the Royal Rumble match was botched and the injury to Vince McMahon that night.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
Korderas on how the match was supposed to end: “I guess the biggest audible that people would remember is the 2005 Royal Rumble, when John Cena and Batista went over the top rope at the same time. Dave was supposed to hook the top rope and just missed it and they both landed and it was pretty much simultaneous. Oh my goodness. So Batista was the one who was supposed to go over. John was supposed to be on the ground. And when they landed, instinctively, the RAW referees went over to Batista and raised his hand.”
On McMahon coming to the ring: “When we saw Vince coming out, that wasn’t Mr. McMahon angry. That was, ‘Oh my goodness. Vince is pissed.’ Boy, and then of course, the infamous sliding in the ring and blowing out both quads.”
Ultimately, both Cena and Batista ended up main eventing WrestleMania that year and winning their respective title matches. Cena would later win the Royal Rumble match in 2008 and 2013.
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