The following is an excerpt from our new feature, Inside The Royal Rumble 2. Please check it out in its entirety, and see our video feature at the top of the page
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Comedy Spots
There are tons of emotional moments that will live forever, and are remembered just as fondly as the victories themselves. In general, WWE and pro wrestling/sports entertainment, are variety shows, and the Royal Rumble is such a perfect example of that. One of the earliest instances came in the 1991 Royal Rumble. Armed with his signature Bushwhacker walk, Luke walked into the Rumble, and was promptly eliminated by Earthquake.
The spot was cooked up by the godfather of the Royal Rumble match, Pat Patterson.
Luke recalled, "That came from Pat Patterson to go out. But, Butch said, pump those arms when you go out." Bushwhacker Butch added, "Keep walking! ‘Keep marching,’ I said."
Four seconds later, Luke was gone.
Luke followed, remembering that his tag partner lasted about 151 times as long as him -- "Yeah, ‘Keep marching.’ Of course, that began very notoriously. It was only two years ago that Vince stopped playing that in the pre-Royal Rumble. He played that clip for 18 years and that kept me in the people’s eye, that moment. Of course, on top of that, Butch was in there for ten minutes. I was in there for four seconds. Of course, when we got the checks, I got the same as Butch."
To this day, Bushwhacker Butch still ribs his longtime friend and tag team partner about it. Money talks, and unfortunately for Butch, it didn't say much more for his longer performance.
"I’ve never ever let him forget it, either," Butch told Fightful. "How I was working my bloody ass off for ten minutes, and you gotta keep going all the time, ‘cause you don’t know which camera’s on you. So, you can’t just stand there. I’m working my guts off for ten minutes, here comes Luke, takes three or four steps in the ring, marching, hits the deck, he marches out. I went out of the match after him, didn’t I? I was bugging and I was puffing and I was scratching and I knew I had another five minutes left. Oh, boy. When the checks came around and I knew that he’d got the same as me, boy, was I mad. But, it was the greatest thing, though. We laugh about it now. They used to talk about that more. They didn’t care who was in the ring for how long. They didn’t care who won what battle royal anywhere. All they ever said, which one of you two marched in the ring, marched on through, got thrown over the top, and kept marching, and that’s all they would ask. They might’ve forgot which one it was, but once they knew, they never ever forgot."
Over 25 years later, the "Bushwhacker spot" lives on, as Mike Bennett will let you know of his Greatest Royal Rumble appearance. The eventual 24/7 Champion was flown all the way to Saudi Arabia for a quick appearance, and a really nice payday.
"They tell us ‘We’re gonna line up certain guys and then those guys were gonna get eliminated.’ But, for me, it was easy. ‘Cause, here’s a scoop. They came right in and they were like, ‘Alright, Mike—’ I don’t remember what number I was, fifth? Sixth, maybe? I don’t know. Twelve? I have no idea. But, they go, ‘You have the Bushwhackers spot’ and I went, ‘Sweet. Awesome.’ Everyone knew what that was. I went, ‘So, hold on. You flew me away from my two week old daughter so I could come do the Bushwhacker… Okay. Thank God you’re paying me a lot of money for that, because…’ I remember I was getting ready, I was oiling up in the trainer room and Orton, [whose] always been so good to me. I don’t know why, but he’s always gone above and beyond and just been so kind to me. He’s always the guy that was like, ‘I hope you get a spot. So, I’m oiling up, I’m getting ready and Orton comes in, ‘Oh, what are you doing in the Rumble?’ I was like, ‘I got the Bushwhacker spot.’ He just stopped and went, ‘Really?’ I went, ‘Yeah. I’m gonna make the most of it.’ He’s like, ‘That’s all you can do.’ It was just one of those things. So, I was like, ‘I’m gonna come out,’ I talked to Mark Henry, I was like, ‘Here’s what we’re gonna do.’ ‘Cool. Whatever.’ At the end of the day you just gotta laugh it off and make the most of it," he said.
As the decades rolled on, comedy in the Royal Rumble has evolved (or devolved, according to your tastes). While a quick elimination can garner some laughs, there are times that not even making it to the ring can create moments. Scotty 2 Hotty was an example of that.
There were absolutely zero people who believed that Scott was going to win any Rumble matches or even have a deep run. However, he was perpetually over and very sympathetic as a member of the Too Cool trio. In 2000, fellow members Rikishi and Grand Master Sexay got to dance together in the middle of the ring...in Madison Square Garden!
Scotty said "I think that was definitely a career highlight, if you look back. It’s the Royal Rumble, it’s Madison Square Garden, it’s sold out, it’s at the peak of the Attitude Era and we just stop the Rumble to do the dance and blow the roof off the place. It’s one of those things; nobody can ever take this away from us. We had this magical moment out there that was awesome. I can remember I didn’t know about it until the day of the Rumble and I walked in and I saw the line-up on the wall. I can remember Pat Patterson explaining it to us. He was there right at that moment, gave us the rough idea about what was going to happen. It’s one of those things, when it happens and he’s telling you, you don’t realize twenty-something years later it’s going to be still such a cool thing, right?"
The spot put "smiles on faces" as WWE often touts their knack for. The next two years certainly didn't put a smile on the character Scotty 2 Hotty's face. Though, Scott Garland, the man behind the character remembers it fondly.
The year was 2001. WWF had firmly cemented its status as the top wrestling company in the world and was preparing for a major change. They were so stacked, that you'd often see Kane and The Undertaker join forces as the Brothers of Destruction. That happened in the 2001 Rumble, where the two were destroying everything in their path. A nervous Scotty approached the ring, cautious and aware of the fate that awaited him. The moment served numerous purposes -- putting over the two men in the ring, the person walking up the ramp, and the gravity of the situation.
In 2002, The Undertaker was busy beating the brakes off of rookie Maven after a shocking elimination. Scotty 2 Hotty, unfortunately (for him), was next up, and got attacked en route to the ring. He was promptly eliminated when he actually made it in. In 2005, he was attacked before he hit the ring and never even made it in, thanks to Muhammad Hassan.
"There were two Royal Rumble moments with ‘Taker because I came out with Maven, but there was when my music hit Kane and Undertaker were the only two guys in the ring staring down the aisle at me. Usually, I come out dancing and jumping around and I walked out. I always had a regret with—I mean, it played out perfectly—but it would have been even better with Kane and Undertaker if when I finally got in there, I pulled out two pairs of yellow glasses like I wanted them to dance, then they goozle me and chokeslam me. But who knows? It turned out awesome anyway. It’s crazy to think back. I was probably was in the Royal Rumble, all the Royal Rumbles I was in, a combined minute. But they were pretty cool moments, right? Crazy. So I’m still in one of those Rumbles, right? Because I never actually got in there. Yeah, but you know what? If I had just gone out there and stayed in there for fifteen minutes with none of that, no one would remember any of it. That’s the crazy part, right?," Scotty told us.
In last year's edition, we heard from Ricardo Rodriguez, who remembered his hilarious Rumble moment. It featured Ricardo returning in place of an injured Alberto Del Rio, complete with entrance music, scarf, and vehicle. In 2016, Del Rio remembered discovering the moment happened, because he wasn't watching it live!
"I didn't know that," Del Rio said. "I was in Miami at the time, and I got a text from Vince. It said 'Alberto, WTF. Hahaha.' I didn't know what was going on. I text somebody and they said 'You didn't see what just happened?! You better not tell Vince.' I turn on the TV on the PPV, hit rewind. There's Ricardo in my car, wearing my scarf. It's a classic moment. I called him, and he said they came to him. I asked 'Did you have fun?' and he said 'the time of my life.' It was fun to hear the reaction from the crowd, I was out with injury at the time. They hear my music, there's his car and Ricardo with all of his muscles."
