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#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin (1997) - Winner - 10 Eliminations
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The 1997 Royal Rumble was the first Rumble that Stone Cold Steve Austin participated in as the Stone Cold gimmick having previously appeared as the Ring Master in the 1996 Royal Rumble.
Stone Cold came out in the number 5 entry and proceeded to dominate the field as he would the company, in general, over the coming years.
On his way to being the last man in the Royal Rumble, Stone Cold eliminated Phineas I. Godwinn, Bart Gunn, Jake Roberts, Marc Mero, Owen Hart, Savio Vega, Jesse James, Vader, the Undertaker and lastly Bret Hart. This tied Austin with Hulk Hogan at 10 eliminations, a record at the time.
The victory is not without controversy, towards the end of the Rumble, Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart. With the referees' distracted by Vader on the other side of the ring, Austin climbed back into the ring and eliminated the remaining competitors including an irate Bret Hart.
The ensuing feud between Hart and Austin, in which Hart would win the WWF title, but lose it to Psycho Sid on account of interference by Austin, led to their memorable submission match at Wrestlemania 13.
