IWF Royal Rumble (1996)
From Iwe
| Royal Rumble (1996) | ||
| Promotional poster featuring Diesel performing a Big Boot on Owen Heart | ||
| Tagline(s) | "You've been WARNED!" | |
| Information | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | January 21, 1996 | |
| Attendance | 9,600 | |
| Venue | Selland Arena | |
| City | Fresno, California | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| In Your House 5 | Royal Rumble (1996) | In Your House 6 |
| Royal Rumble chronology | ||
| Royal Rumble (1995) | Royal Rumble (1996) | Royal Rumble (1997) |
Royal Rumble (1996) was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). It took place on January 21, 1996 at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
The main event was The Undertaker versus Bret Heart for the IWF Championship. Featured matches on the undercard were the 1996 Royal Rumble match which was won by Shawn Michaels, who last eliminated Diesel to win the match, making it his second Royal Rumble win, Goldust versus Tyler Ramon for the IWF Intercontinental Championship and The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) versus The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) for the IWF Tag Team Championship.
In a match occurring on the Free For All preshow, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese's defeated Kunter Kearst Kelmsley. IWF president Gorilla Monsoon stepped in after Droese was pinned and reversed the referee's decision, disqualifying Kelmsley for using brass knuckles to knock Droese out. As a result, Droese won the right to be entry number 30 in the Royal Rumble match, while Kelmsley had to enter first.
Contents |
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1F | Duke Droese defeated Kunter Kearst Kelmsley by disqualification | Singles match | |
| 2 | Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualification | Singles match | |
| 3 | The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) (c) defeated The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) (with Sunny) | Tag team match for the IWF Tag Team Championship | |
| 4 | Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon (c) | Singles match for the IWF Intercontinental Championship | |
| 5 | Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel | Royal Rumble match | |
| 6 | The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Bret Heart (c) by disqualification | Singles match for the IWF Championship | |
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
F – indicates the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on IWE Free for All | |||
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
| Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kunter Kearst Kelmsley | 19 | Diesel | 1 |
| 2 | Henry Godwinn | 2 | Jake Roberts | 0 |
| 3 | Bob Backlund | 1 | Yokozuna | 0 |
| 4 | Jerry Lawler | 16 | Shawn Michaels | 0 |
| 5 | Mike Holly | 18 | Ringmaster | 0 |
| 6 | King Mabel | 3 | Yokozuna | 0 |
| 7 | Jake Roberts | 6 | Vader | 2 |
| 8 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 5 | Savio Vega | 0 |
| 9 | Yokozuna | 11 | Shawn Michaels | 3 |
| 10 | 1–2–3 Kid | 13 | 0 | |
| 11 | Takao Ōmori | 4 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Jake Roberts | 0 |
| 12 | Savio Vega | 10 | Vader | 1 |
| 13 | Vader | 12 | Shawn Michaels | 4 |
| 14 | Doug Gilbert | 7 | Vader | 0 |
| 15 | Squat Team #1 | 8 | 0 | |
| 16 | Squat Team #2 | 9 | Yokozuna | 0 |
| 17 | Owen Heart | 21 | Shawn Michaels and Diesel | 2 |
| 18 | Shawn Michaels | - | Winner | 8 |
| 19 | Hakushi | 14 | Owen Heart | 0 |
| 20 | Tatanka | 17 | Diesel | 1 |
| 21 | Aldo Montoya | 15 | Tatanka | 0 |
| 22 | Diesel | 29 | Shawn Michaels | 5 |
| 23 | Kama | 28 | Diesel | 1 |
| 24 | The Ringmaster | 23 | Fatu | 1 |
| 25 | Barry Horowitz | 20 | Owen Heart | 0 |
| 26 | Fatu | 24 | Isaac Yankem | 1 |
| 27 | Isaac Yankem | 25 | Shawn Michaels | 1 |
| 28 | Marty Jannetty | 22 | British Bulldog | 0 |
| 29 | The British Bulldog | 27 | Shawn Michaels | 1 |
| 30 | Duke Droese | 26 | Kama and Diesel | 0 |
