WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Ranking All 30 Match Winners

5. Shawn Michaels – 1996

In 1996, Shawn Michaels looked to make up for his 1995 Royal Rumble win, which, as noted, did not go smoothly in the aftermath. So, WWE gave HBK a chance to redeem last year’s booking decisions.

Instead of entering at No. 1, Michaels came out at No. 18 and dominated the Superstars already in the ring. He mostly notably eliminated both Vader and Yokozuna, who behemoths of wrestlers, over the top rope. This eventually led to a final four with him, Diesel, British Bulldog, and Kana. It would be Michaels and Diesel for a brief second, as the future Kevin Nash took a superkick and fell over the ropes to give his former employer the win.

This time around, WWE made good of their 1995 blunder by sticking Michaels and Bret Hart in a 60-minute Iron Man match for the WWE Championship. This would main event, unlike the year prior when NFL legend Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow closed out the show.

The other stark difference would be the Showstopper getting his shining moment with a title win in the headlining match of WWE’s biggest show. He took Hart to sudden death, making the match cross the one hour mark and getting the only pinfall of the match.

It would be the WrestleMania moment that fans looked back on Michaels’ career for over a decade, until WrestleMania 25 and 26 came around, which changed the game.