10 Unbelievable Royal Rumble Moments

#6 The Undertaker flips the script on Maven

The Undertaker defied orders during the Royal Rumble match in 2002

Back in 2001, the WWE had just purchased its biggest rival, WCW. Now sitting on top of the sports entertainment mountain, with no major opposition, the WWE set out to expand its business empire and gain new fans.

One of the initiatives they used was the Tough Enough reality show, which aired on MTV networks. The whole point of Tough Enough was that the winner would wind up joining the WWE as a full time wrestler.

Maven won the contest, and due to an agreement with MTV he joined the main roster immediately, despite having little experience. Though no one could question Maven's work ethic or dedication, his lack of experience led to some less than stellar performances. Vince McMahon decided to have the Royal Rumble 2002 match be his last appearance.

The Undertaker was supposed to eliminate Maven from the Rumble. However, Taker did not agree with management about Maven. He admired the youngster's toughness and hard work, and also feared that firing Maven would hurt WWE's relationship with MTV.

So when Maven dropkicked Undertaker from behind, the Deadman would fly right over the top rope, then took several steps away from the ring so WWE could not use camera angles to hide his 'miscue' He then executed a beat down on Maven, as scripted, but did NOT throw Maven over the top rope.

Maven was unable to continue the match, but was never technically eliminated. This led to a surge of popularity for Maven and resulted in him garnering an extra year under WWE contract.

Undertaker simply told Vince the rope was slippery, but everyone knew that the Deadman had flipped the script because he thought that was best for business. Since Undertaker didn't defy orders to further his own career but Maven's, he got away with the stunt.