• On This Day In Pro Wrestling History (January 21, 1996) – WWF Royal Rumble 1996
On this day in Pro Wrestling history on January 21, 1996, the World Wrestling Federation aired their annual ‘Royal Rumble’ event LIVE on PPV from the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
This marks the second and last Royal Rumble win for “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, as well as the first time that the WWF World Title match main evented the PPV instead of the Royal Rumble match.
Below are the results:
– Free For All – for the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble
Duke Droese def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley via DQ
– Ahmed Johnson def. Jeff Jarrett via DQ
– WWF Tag Team Championship
The Smoking Gunns (c) def. The Bodydonnas
– WWF Intercontinental Championship
Goldust def. Razor Ramon (c)
– Shawn Michaels won the 30-man Royal Rumble match
– WWF World Heavyweight Championship
The Undertaker def. Bret Hart (c) via DQ
• CM Punk To Fight Again In UFC
During a recent interview with New York Post, UFC President Dana White had the following to say regarding former WWE wrestler CM Punk fighting again in UFC:
“I like that guy. He’s a good dude. He wants one more. He wants to get another shot. I’m going to give it to him.”
Punk made his UFC debut in 2016 at UFC 203 PPV and lost to Mickey Gall via submission in 2 minutes & 14 seconds of the very first round.
• WWE Star Confirms That He’ll Miss Royal Rumble 2018
During a recent edition of Booker T’s “Heated Conversations” podcast, WWE Superstar Samoa Joe confirmed that he’s going to miss the Royal Rumble 2018 PPV due to his foot injury. Below are the highlights:
On missing Royal Rumble 2018 PPV due to his foot injury:
“Anytime you miss one of the “Big 4” shows or, really, just shows in general it’s always sad to say. A younger version of me would definitely be stressing out and probably making this situation a lot worse. For me right now, I know what I need to do to get back and be healthy.
I understand the time table and what I need to do to exceed that time table. I am more accepting of the process because I realize it’s unavoidable. Now it’s just about concentrating just getting back and being healthy.”
On how much time he’s expected to miss:
“As of right now it’s kind of a week to week thing. With these injuries sometimes these things can heal earlier and sometimes later. They are going to do a little bit of an ultrasound every week. They’re going to be giving me treatments. It’s not something that requires surgery.
It’s basically a lot of time, rest, elevation and letting it heal. It just depends how quickly it’s going to heal. Hopefully it will be sooner than later. Obviously we’re going to be past the Rumble but I don’t know how much further past that.”
