5 Best No. 24 Entries in the Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble match is not without its controversy and there have been plenty of examples of wrestlers trying to cheat or use underhanded tactics to win the event, such as hiding outside of the ring, eliminating wrestlers after you have been eliminated, and more.

In terms of underhanded tactics and cheating, Vince McMahon seemed to intentionally spend the majority of the 1999 Royal Rumble actively avoiding conflict and allowing him to eventually win. Jerry Lawler hid under the ring during one of his ring appearances. Both of these bring the question of why don't wrestlers, especially heels, do this more often.

There are also multiple wrestlers who returned to the ring after they were eliminated to take revenge and eliminate a still competing wrestler. Hulk Hogan eliminated Sid Vicious in the 1992 Royal Rumble to help Ric Flair win, Jerry Lawler helped eliminate Mr. Perfect in 1993 and many, many more.

However, this was taken a step further when Steve Austin re-entered the Royal Rumble in 1997 after he was eliminated by Bret Hart, and would later be declared the winner after eliminating Bret Hart.

Some wrestlers never actually made it to the ring. Curtis Axel was laid out by Erick Rowan at the 2015 Royal Rumble. However, Rowan never participated in the Royal Rumble. As opposed to Sami Zayn, who with Kevin Owens, attacked the number 10 participant Tye Dillinger at the 2018 Royal Rumble to take his place. Mick Foley also used this tactic in 2004 when he took out Test and used his entry to eliminate his rival Randy Orton.

You can see the other entries in this series below:

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Part 3 is here; Part 8 is here; Part 13 is here; Part 18 is here; Part 23 is here

Part 4 is here; Part 9 is here; Part 14 is here; Part 19 is here

Part 5 is here; Part 10 is here; Part 15 is here; Part 20 is here

But then there are those select few superstars who go into the ring and decimate their opponents. They clean house and look to eliminate anything that moves. These are superstars who have entered the Royal Rumble in the 24th slot and have gone on to create a massive impact affecting the results of the battle royal encounter.

#5 Kane (2015) - Eliminated 27th - 4 Eliminations

Kane and Big Show on their way to back into the 2015 Royal Rumble to attack Roman Reigns

Not many superstars boast of a Royal Rumble record like Kane does. Whenever the Devil's favorite demon enters the ring, there is hell to pay for.

In one of Kane's last few Royal Rumble appearances, the Big Red Machine entered the Royal Rumble as number 24 under his Corporate Kane gimmick. Wrestling in a plain pair of suit pants and sans mask, he entered the Royal Rumble for the second to last time in his career.

Kane added to his elimination tally with the help of fellow Authority member and tag team partner the Big Show, as the two eliminated Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose before turning their attentions to Roman Reigns.

When the two big men attacked Reigns, he was granted a save in the form of fellow Anoa'i family member the Rock. As the Rock helped fight off both the Big Show and Kane, Roman Reigns then eliminated the two, leaving himself and Rusev, who was outside of the ring.

The four eliminations from the would put Kane's total elimination tally at 44, overtaking the previous record of Shawn Michaels who sits on 40 eliminations. Kane has since added other eliminations to his tally, leaving the current record standing at 46.

The fact here is that despite being a heel superstar at the time, both Kane and Big Show were cheered on by the fans owing to their hate for Roman Reigns.

#4 The Big Show (2004) - Eliminated 29th - 4 Eliminations

Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and John Cena all trying to eliminate the Big Show during the 2004 Royal Rumble

Four years after finishing runner-up to The Rock at the Royal Rumble, the Big Show would once again finish second, but this time in a less controversial fashion to Chris Benoit. The Big Show would come in as entry number 24 to the 2004 Royal Rumble and battle his way to the final two against the Iron Man of the Rumble, Chris Benoit.

Despite coming second, Big Show would eliminate several big stars including RVD, John Cena and Kurt Angle during his 22 minutes and 38 second run in the match. However, he would fall short when it came to the last two and would be eliminated from the Royal Rumble again by a smaller participant in Chris Benoit.

The Big Show, who was the US Champion at the time, would still appear on the Wrestlemania card, losing his US title to John Cena.

The image of every superstar in the ring trying to eliminate the Big Show is a sight that every WWE fan will never forget.

#3 The Rock (2000) - Winner - 4 Eliminations

The 2000 Royal Rumble saw one of the most controversial finishes in Royal Rumble history. The Rock came down to the ring as the 24th entrant and would eliminate the Big Boss Man, Al Snow, and Crash Holly before being left in the final 2 with the Big Show. As the Big Show began to dominate the smaller Rock, Big Show lifted the Rock onto his shoulder and attempted to launch him over the top rope. However, it appeared that the Rock managed to hold on to the top rope.

However, in the coming weeks, Big Show continued to make claims that the Rock's feet hit the floor first, and after producing photos and an eye witness, he finally got video footage which showed the Rock's feet hitting the ground first.

While the records of the 2000 Royal Rumble still show the Rock as the winner, the Great One admitted in 2016 that his feet did hit the ground first and Big Show should have won that Royal Rumble.

This was one of the wins that catapulted The Rock to superstardom.

#2 Hulk Hogan (1991) - Winner - 7 Eliminations

When Hulk Hogan entered the 1991 Royal Rumble, he was aiming to become the first person to ever win the Royal Rumble on more than one occasion and also in back-to-back years. While 7 wrestlers have since won the Royal Rumble on multiple occasions, Hogan is only one of three that have done it in back to back years.

Coming to the ring as entry 24, the crowd cheered his name. He would go on to eliminate Smash, Greg Valentine, Crush, The Warlord, Tugboat, Bryan Knobbs and finally Earthquake for the victory. Hogan lasted a flat 21 minutes in his victory.

Despite it not being the prize for winning the Royal Rumble at the time, Hogan would go on to face WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter for the title, which Hogan would win to claim his 3rd reign holding the belt. Sgt Slaughter previously beat the Ultimate Warrior for the belt at the Royal Rumble event.

Hulk Hogan was always viewed as someone with 'super human' strength and when he entered the Rumble, it was only a matter of time before he went on to claim his victory.

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin (1998) - Winner - 7 Eliminations

After winning the 1997 Royal Rumble, Steve Austin would become the third person to win back-to-back Royal Rumbles, after Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels. Coming to the ring as Entry 24, Stone Cold would win his second of three Royal Rumbles. Austin would emerge from the crowd as those gathered in the ring appeared to wait for him.

In the Royal Rumble, Austin would eliminate Marc Mero, 8-Ball, Thrasher, Kama Mustafa, Savio Vega, and Chainz before eliminating his most famous adversary and iron man of the Royal Rumble, the Rock, on his way to victory. While the Rock and Austin's feud had not hit the strides it would hit in its later years, the two set the stage for what was to come in this performance.

Stone Cold would go on to face Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania for the WWF Championship after being stripped of the opportunity the year before. Austin would defeat Michael with Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson as the special guest referee. He would take Michaels' place at the top of the company and would become one of the biggest superstars wrestling has ever known.

Austin was unstoppable during the Attitude Era and was one of the major factors that helped WWE in securing the bragging rights.