Who was responsible for the botched ending to the 2005 WWE Royal Rumble? Reflecting on the incident

The 2005 Royal Rumble was memorable for more than one reason. While it was the first Rumble Dave Batista won in his WWE career, the contest that year became famous for a botch involving John Cena and Batista. The botch became so popular that fans talk about it to this day.

At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena and Batista were the final two competitors. After putting on quite a battle, The Animal lifted Cena near the ropes to deliver a Batista Bomb. However, instead of that happening, both men seemingly tripped over the top rope and were eliminated at the same time.

After this incident took place, many wondered who was at fault for this botch. While some blamed Batista, others blamed Cena. Recently during an appearance on Logan Paul's IMPAULSIVE podcast, Cena took blame for the botch. The 16-time WWE world champion said:

"It's not his fault, that was me. I am very very bad at rotating backward. My fault."

It is indeed heartwarming to see a legend like John Cena admitting he was the one at fault at the 2005 Royal Rumble. Regardless of what happened, both men were able to make a comeback.

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John Cena spoke about how he recovered from the botched incident at the 2005 Royal Rumble

After John Cena and Batista were eliminated at the same time, some referees declared Cena as the winner, whereas others picked Batista. Following this, an angry Vince McMahon stormed to the ring and announced that the match would be restarted. During all this drama, McMahon also tore both his quads unfortunately.

After the match was restarted, Batista eliminated John Cena and won the Royal Rumble match. Further on IMPAULSIVE, Cena spoke about how he and Batista recovered from the botched spot. He said:

“Trust the process. I know I f*cked up and we know that that’s not the way it’s supposed to go. There is a sense of guidance, we’re all on the same team. Our referee can be a guide for us. You begin to listen to the audience, and you feel how long you can milk a moment and see if they’re giving you any direction. Then, as we trust the process, out comes Vince McMahon and we’re like, ‘Oh great, this is going to be fixed,’ and he tears both of his quads getting into the ring." [H/T NoDQ.com]

The Cenation Leader further added:

"He [Vince] gets himself in the ring and gives us the guidance to finish the event and because he is the authority figure in WWE, he can say restart the match and we restart it and Dave wins. Trust what’s around you, trust the people to guide you when you don’t know what’s going on, and then just be present in your surroundings. Yes, I did f*ck up but even then, I knew like ‘don’t rush to do anything, let’s see what’s going to happen, let’s see what’s going on.’ That’s got to be one of the greatest moments in WWE history, I cannot believe Vince with two torn quads was able to speak to us in understandable dialect and tell us exactly what to do. We had the best seat in the house."

Overall, despite the botch, the 2005 Royal Rumble is still loved by many fans. While McMahon tearing his quads was unfortunate, seeing Batista win his first Rumble match made many fans excited.