WWE almost got exposed with #1 - 5 unscripted moments from Royal Rumble history

WWE Royal Rumble is one of the most anticipated wrestling events for many reasons. The titular match can determine who will headline WrestleMania, feature many returns and debuts, and more. Like many professional wrestling events, it's also scripted, but some moments weren't part of the plan.

The first ever Royal Rumble took place in 1988, crowning Hacksaw Jim Duggan as the inaugural winner. The rules of the match have changed since then, with some special variations placed in as the years progressed. Although many changes took place at the Rumble, the level of excitement and surprise remains the same. Still, some moments were more shocking than others due to them being unscripted.

For this list, we will look at five unscripted moments from WWE Royal Rumble history.

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#5. The Rock was eliminated at the 2000 Royal Rumble

The 2000 Royal Rumble crowned the 24th entrant, The Rock, the winner of that year's event after eliminating Big Show at the end of the match. However, this win came with some controversy.

During the elimination, both men went over the top rope, and replays have shown that The Great One's feet touched the floor first, which was unscripted. WWE turned this into a storyline with Show arguing he was the rightful winner. This led to a four-way match for the WWF Championship between Show, Mick Foley, The Rock, and Triple H. The Game won the title match.

In 2014, Dwayne and Big Show discussed the controversial win during a backstage segment on RAW, in which Johnson agreed that his opponent should have won the bout.

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#4. Stone Cold Steve Austin eliminated himself in 1996

The 1996 Royal Rumble saw entrant number 18 Shawn Michaels win the match after last eliminating Diesel. Another notable name in the match was Stone Cold Steve Austin, who at the time went by the name The Ringmaster and was making his Rumble debut. He was supposed to have a big debut at the match, but one mistake caused him a major spot.

Steve, who entered at number 24, was eliminated by Fatu after being in the match for almost 11 minutes. According to the Hall of Famer, he was supposed to be part of the final four but accidentally eliminated himself by not hanging onto the top rope during Fatu's clothesline. Steve reasoned that since everybody was covered in baby oil at the time, it was very slippery, and he couldn't grab the ropes.

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#3. Alex Riley missed out on a major John Cena moment at the 2011 Royal Rumble

As mentioned above, there were times when the Rumble format had changed, like in 2011. The usual 30-man match featured 40 men instead, which was eventually won by 38th entrant Alberto Del Rio. However, Alex Riley was supposed to have his own major moment if he didn't botch his own elimination.

The former superstar entered at number 34 and lasted only two minutes. At the time, he was one of the top heels and was supposed to eliminate John at that year's Rumble. However, Alex accidentally slipped during a brawl on the corner with Cena and Kofi Kingston. As a result, The Miz interfered in the match instead of being the one to eliminate The Cenation Leader.

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#2. Brock Lesnar gets physical with a referee

Brock Lesnar's unscripted Royal Rumble moment didn't happen during the actual match, but after when he was shockingly eliminated by Bobby Lashley in 2023 in just under three minutes. He had a meltdown at ringside by slamming the steel steps on the commentary desk and choking an official before dumping him onto the front row. As it turned out, only parts of his breakdown were planned.

As per reports, pushing the referee into the audience wasn't part of the plan, which got him a bit of heat backstage and possibly injured Eddie Orengo's foot. Due to this, plans changed as Eddie was supposed to raise Cody Rhodes' hand at the end of the match. However, to sell the injury, another referee did it instead.

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#1. The 2005 Royal Rumble botch almost exposed the business

Although WWE has been more open in talking about the backstage happenings in the company and acknowledging that the product is scripted in recent years, the fantasy was still alive around a decade or two ago. In 2005, the business was almost exposed after the ending of that year's Rumble was botched.

John Cena and Batista were the final two of that year's Royal Rumble, but things took a turn when the latter's attempted Powerbomb to the former caused both of them to fall out of the ring. The referees and stars were confused about what happened, much more so for the viewers.

Fortunately, Vince McMahon managed to prevent an awkward ending for the match by having it restarted. However, this cost him both quads, as he injured them while walking and entering the ring.