WWE Royal Rumble: 5 Most Impressive Performances in Match History
By Tim Sherry
3. Chris Benoit – 2004
Trying to block out how Chris Benoit’s life came to an end is a nearly impossible task. But if just for a minute we focus on Benoit as a wrestler, his career and contributions to the sport were immense. On March 14, 2004, Benoit captured his first and only world title in the WWE as he defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match in the main event of Wrestlemania 20. If that was the crowning achievement of his career, then the 2004 Royal Rumble had to be a close second.
In winning the match he punched his ticket to the aforementioned Mania main event but he went through the ringer to get there. The Crippler was the first entrant in the match alongside with Randy Orton as number 2 and for the next 35 minutes, the two future world champions took care of business, together totaling 11 eliminations before Mick Foley came in and spoiled Orton’s fun. From there it was all Benoit. He took a tremendous amount of punishment and gave it back in spades, eliminating monsters like Matt Morgan, JBL, and The A-Train.
But no elimination was more impressive than his final one. After over 60 minutes of Rumble warfare, Benoit dug down deep one last time against the 500 pound Big Show. After a human tug-of-war, The Crippler finally made good, dragging the World’s Largest Athlete over the top rope for the win. It was the biggest moment of Benoit’s career up to that point and propelled him into one of the greatest main events in Wrestlemania history.