9 people who eliminated themselves from the Royal Rumble

For many fans, the Royal Rumble is the most enjoyable WWE pay-per-view. The event kick-starts the road to WrestleMania and its chaotic featured match guarantees to provide huge surprises every year.

But while the likes of Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and John Cena have carved their names into Rumble history for all the right reasons, other performers have been added to the Rumble record books for all the wrong reasons.

In this article, we take a look at nine people who eliminated themselves – sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose – from a Royal Rumble match.

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#9 Andre The Giant (1989)

AndrEnter caption — Andre The Giant and snakes don't get along

Standing at 7ft 4in tall and weighing in at 520lbs, Andre The Giant wasn’t afraid of much. He did, however, have one major weakness: snakes.

This showed in the 1989 Royal Rumble match when Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who had already been eliminated by Andre, returned to the ring carrying his pet snake Damien a few minutes later.

Once Jake let the snake loose and it slithered mere centimetres away from Andre’s feet, “The Eighth Wonder of the World” immediately threw himself over the top rope and escaped the arena.

#8 Marty Jannetty (1990)

Mary — Marty Jannetty's attempted elimination backfired

After entering at #30 in the 1989 Royal Rumble, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase was the first entrant in the 1990 match.

He was able to eliminate the second entrant, Koko B.Ware, in quick and convincing fashion, while Marty Jannetty, entering at #3, failed with an attempt to land a diving crossbody on DiBiase and ended up launching himself over the top rope.

#7 Paul Roma (1991)

Paul Roma failed spectacularly in his attempt to eliminate Jake Roberts

Paul Roma entered at #4 in the 1991 Royal Rumble, lasting over 14 minutes before he was eliminated by… himself.

With Jake “The Snake” Roberts hanging on to the top rope, Roma sprinted from the opposite set of ropes in an attempt to connect with Roberts but he inadvertently sent himself flying over his rival and onto the outside of the ring.

#6 Ahmed Johnson (1997)

At the 1997 Royal Rumble, Ahmed Johnson defeated Nation of Domination member Farooq early on in the show. Later that night he was struggling to eliminate Crush, another Nation member, from the Rumble match when he spotted Farooq on the outside of the ring.

Instead of climbing through the ropes to chase after the man he had already defeated an hour previously, Ahmed jumped over the top rope and ran after Farooq up the ramp.

On commentary, a sympathetic Jim Ross said “emotion overcame” Ahmed, while a less sympathetic Jerry Lawler exclaimed “What?! … He is an idiot”.

#5 Mil Mascaras (1997)

Triple H announced Mil Mascaras for the Hall of Fame in 2012

One of the most debated Royal Rumble eliminations in history came in 1997 when Mil Mascaras stepped through the top and middle ropes before climbing on the turnbuckle to launch himself onto Pierroth Jr. on the outside of the ring.

Technically, Mascaras didn’t eliminate himself because to do that you have to go over the top rope, whereas he just went between the top and middle rope, but the officials were adamant and they ruled that his participation in the match was over.

“The Man of a Thousand Masks”, the uncle of 2011 Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio, is known for refusing to sell opponents’ moves in matches, so there’s a theory among fans that the 2012 WWE Hall of Famer only agreed to take part in the Rumble if he eliminated himself.

#4 Kane (1999)

One of the Royal Rumble’s most iconic Superstars, Kane lasted just 53 seconds in the 1999 match but was still able to eliminate four men (Road Dogg, Kurrgan, Goldust and The Godfather).

His appearance was cut short when several men in white coats were instructed to take “The Big Red Machine” back to an insane asylum after he failed to obey orders from Vince McMahon on the previous week’s episode of Raw.

As the men tried to run away from the 7-footer, he stepped over the top rope and followed them out of the arena.

#3 Drew Carey (2001)

We’ve seen plenty of legends appear in Royal Rumble matches throughout the years, but you don’t often see a celebrity enter the 30-man extravaganza.

In 2001, Drew Carey proved a rare exception. Having escaped confrontation in his first two minutes in the match, the comedian soon came face-to-face with Kane, who refused to take money as a peace offering from Carey and set him up for a chokeslam.

Carey, whose physique was compared to “a big old pork chop” by commentator Jim Ross, was saved just in time by Raven and he was able to get himself out of harm’s way by bouncing over the top rope.

#2 Mick Foley (2004)

The 21st entrant in the 2004 Royal Rumble was originally supposed to be Test. However, he was found unconscious backstage by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the Raw General Manager, and he was replaced by Mick Foley.

Foley immediately targeted – and eliminated – Randy Orton, who had been in the match for 33 minutes. In doing so, Foley also eliminated himself before continuing to attack Orton on the outside of the ring.

#1 MVP (2010)

It looked like MVP’s participation in the 2010 Royal Rumble was over before it even began when he was attacked during his entrance by The Miz, who he was defeated by earlier in the night.

However, after being helped to the backstage area, MVP returned later in the Rumble to eliminate Miz. Just like Mick Foley in 2004, he also eliminated himself in the process and continued to brawl with his rival on the outside of the ring.

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Edited by anirudh.b