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- The 2004 Royal Rumble is virtually blacklisted from WWE's records, because of the winner who won the Royal Rumble match. Nevertheless, it was a decent pay-per-view with four championship matches on the card. This was the second Royal Rumble to take place in the Ruthless Aggression Era with superstars from Raw and SmackDown competing in the Royal Rumble match with the winner main eventing WrestleMania 20 in a World Championship match. Several moments of this Royal Rumble are memorable, but there are a few tidbits at the 2004 iteration of the Royal Rumble that are overlooked.
The 2004 Royal Rumble has been largely forgotten in WWE history, and it's totally understandable as to why. It was the first ever Royal Rumble to be held in the hardcore wrestling capital of the world, Philadelphia. The Ruthless Aggression Era was kicking into high gear and the roster was pumping out great match after great match.
RELATED: The 10 Most Recent Number One Entrants In Royal Rumble Matches, Ranked From Worst To Best
Real-life events would sully this pay-per-view several years later, which forced the company to not celebrate the event. However, it did signal that there was going to be a shift in the WWE business model.
UPDATE: 2023/01/22 06:30 EST BY TEVON KING
The 2004 Royal Rumble is virtually blacklisted from WWE's records, because of the winner who won the Royal Rumble match. Nevertheless, it was a decent pay-per-view with four championship matches on the card. This was the second Royal Rumble to take place in the Ruthless Aggression Era with superstars from Raw and SmackDown competing in the Royal Rumble match with the winner main eventing WrestleMania 20 in a World Championship match. Several moments of this Royal Rumble are memorable, but there are a few tidbits at the 2004 iteration of the Royal Rumble that are overlooked.
12 Eddie Guerrero Clashes With His Nephew
Eddie Guerrero and his nephew Chavo Guerrero were at loggerheads after Chavo betrayed his uncle. The former tag team partners finally locked horns at the 2004 Royal Rumble, and Chavo's father Chavo Guerrero Sr., who is also Eddie's brother was in Chavo's corner.
They had a decent match which could have been much better having they been given longer. Eddie had the upper hand for the majority of the bout, but his brother attacked him whenever he had the chance. In spite of that, Eddie executed the Frog Splash on Chavo to secure the win.
11 No Titles Changed Hands At The Royal Rumble For The First Time In 6 Years
The 2004 Royal Rumble match is the titular bout of the event, but there were several championship matches on the schedule. Evolution's Ric Flair and Batista defeated The Dudley Boyz in a tables match to retain the World Tag Team Championship.
Rey Mysterio retained the Cruiserweight Championship in his match with Jamie Noble, and Brock Lesnar decimated Hardcore Holly to remain WWE Champion. Moreover, Triple H and Shawn Michaels' Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship was a draw. This marked the first time since the 1998 Royal Rumble that no championships changed hands.
10 Goldberg's Feud With Brock Lesnar Gained Some Traction
Goldberg entered the Royal Rumble match for the first time in his career, and he drew the luxurious 30th position. Goldberg was a force to be reckoned with, and he looked unstoppable as soon as he entered the ring.
The likes of Nunzio, Charlie Haas, and Billy Gunn were eliminated by Goldberg. However, Goldberg had a backstage staredown with the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, and their rivalry intensified in the Royal Rumble match. Lesnar executed the F-5 on Goldberg, and Goldberg was fuming which led to his removal in the Rumble by Kurt Angle, and the seeds were planted for their disappointing WrestleMania 20 showdown.
9 Big Show Became The First Person To Be A Runner-Up Twice
Every wrestler that enters the Royal Rumble match aspires to win the whole thing and go on to headline WrestleMania. However, someone has to be the bridesmaid, and Big Show made unwanted history at the 2004 Royal Rumble.
RELATED: 5 Youngest Royal Rumble Match Winners (& The 5 Oldest)
The World's Largest Athlete became the first competitor to finish as a runner-up in Royal Rumble matches twice. He has never won the Royal Rumble match, and he came up short to The Rock in 2000 despite Rock's feet hitting the floor twice with Show aggrieved. Show eliminated four competitors in the 2004 Royal Rumble match, but it wasn't enough to go all the way.
8 Brock Didn't Want To Work With Hardcore Holly
Wrestlers and fans alike know that a big injury can happen at any time. If the comeback is done correctly, it could mean huge business for both the guy who was injured and the guy who inadvertently hurt you, assuming that’s how you got injured in the first place.
During a 2002 SmackDown match between Brock Lesnar and Hardcore Holly, Brock inadvertently Powerbombed Holly right on his neck, costing him over a year of his career. Hardcore came looking for vengeance at the 2004 Rumble, but by this time Brock was a huge star, and rather than help make a new one, he buried the guy.
7 Shawn Michaels & Triple H Go Too Long
Over the years, Kliq detractors in the locker room constantly bemoaned the supposed antics of Triple H and Shawn Michaels and their stranglehold on the top of the card. But they also more than deserved a lot of the perks they each received, as does any top guy.
RELATED: Triple H's 11 Best World Title Matches, According To Dave Meltzer
But sometimes it was a detriment to the rest of the card, no matter how much it made sense for their own stuff. They planned it so that their Last Man Standing match would go long, which shortened everyone else’s matches.
6 A Unique Feat
By the time the 2004 Royal Rumble rolled around, Bradshaw was in a bit of a career limbo. He had hit what was once his highest success as a member of the APA and was a few months away from striking gold as JBL. He is also to date, the only wrestler to have a unique stat. He is the only WWE superstar to be the first man eliminated in a Royal Rumble and win the WWE title in the same calendar year.
5 The Undercard Suffered
Before Peacock came along, WWE PPVs were under the time constraints of cable providers. That meant with an event like The Royal Rumble, you had to dedicate at least an hour to the titular event and two hours to the undercard. So while there were plenty of great matches on paper at the 2004 event, they weren’t nearly as good as they could’ve been because each one had even more time shaved off of them.
4 Only One Dudley
Considering the event was taking place in The Birthplace Of Extreme, it was only natural to feature some hardcore wrestlers at the event. He didn’t last very long, but Spike Dudley had a memorable showing - he arrived after The Undertaker’s gong distracted Kane long enough for him to get eliminated by Booker T.
RELATED: 10 Things Wrestling Fans Forget About Spike Dudley's Career
The Big Red Monster then obliterated the runt of the Dudley litter, which up until 2015 was the only Dudley representative to have participated in the Rumble.
3 Mick Foley’s “Breathless” Return
There had been a big rivalry building between The Legend Killer Randy Orton and The Hardcore Legend Mick Foley. Orton had entered the match at number two and survived up until number 21 when Foley came out as a surprise entrant. He assaulted Orton with a barrage of offense, ending with The Cactus Clothesline, eliminating both of them in less than a minute after arriving. That time, Foley has admitted over the years that was completely out of shape and had blown himself up doing the spot. They also threw legit punches at each other to try and get white-hot heat, but he felt the fans in attendance didn’t seem to notice the live rounds.
2 John Cena’s Injury
John Cena also wasn’t able to walk out of the Rumble unscathed. He came out of the show with a torn MCL.
He was tossed out by The Big Show and that’s when the injury happened. Considering the level of rehab that takes, he was able to come back in less than two months and defeat The Big Show for The US title at WrestleMania 20.
1 Beating The Big Men
For years, the winner of the 2004 Royal Rumble, Chris Benoit, was always perceived as too small to be a huge deal in the wrestling business. Kevin Nash might have referred to him as a “vanilla midget.” In order to help change that perception, he wound up being booked to only eliminate monsters during the match. Big men like Mark Henry and Matt Morgan were eliminated by him on his way to finally eliminating The Big Show and winning the match.
