10 Strangest WWE Royal Rumble Entrants Ever

Typically a night of shocks, surprises and once-in-a-lifetime moments, the Royal Rumble has managed to retain its place as one of WWE’s premier pay-per-views and match types over the past thirty-plus years by keeping fans guessing right up until the buzzer hits.

With thirty warm bodies required and a portion of the roster either being unavailable or required elsewhere on the card, WWE have in the past turned to unexpected and often unadvertised names to bolster the ranks.

These usually take the form of a beloved legend from a prior era or a returning hero and the keyword here is ‘usually’ because, sometimes, WWE enlist the services of performers nobody remembers, people that the audience have never seen before and, sometimes, people who aren’t actually wrestlers in the first place.

There have been hundreds of Rumble participants all told, but the following have lingered on in the memory because of how incredibly out of place they were.

10. Doug Gilbert

The 1996 Royal Rumble match showed that WWE’s roster not only lacked depth but was populated with some truly rotten gimmicks.

When the field of entrants includes Isaac Yankem D.D.S, Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese, ‘Make a Difference’ Fatu, Sparky Plugg, Kama and Portuguese Man O’ War Aldo Montoya, you know you’re in trouble.

The pickings were slim and, outside of Shawn Michaels, Vader and the British Bulldog, there weren’t any viable winners.

WWE’s roster was so threadbare at this point that they had to look further afield in order to pad out the 30.

This included a random cameo from Doug Gilbert, brother of the late, great ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert, who won a battle royal in WWE feeder league, Memphis’s USWA territory, to gain entry.

It’s fair to say that nobody knew who the bloke entering at number 19 was.

He came out to some generic bluegrass music and looked completely ordinary for the time he was in the match, which was just shy of three minutes (before he was eliminated by Vader).

A completely pointless and rather bizarre entrant, this was Doug Gilbert’s sole televised WWE appearance.

9. Ernest Miller

I’ll forgive you for either forgetting or simply not knowing about Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller’s unexceptional spell in WWE.

Miller was an unlikely star for WCW, receiving his golden opportunity because he was, of all things, the karate instructor of Eric Bischoff’s kids.

Man, that is some sweet, sweet nepotism right there.

Miller’s WCW run was largely undistinguished, but he did get to appear with his idol, soul singer James Brown, on a pay-per-view, which is nice.

After sitting out the remainder of his Time Warner guaranteed contract following the sale of the company, Miller signed with WWE and became a commentator for weekend show Velocity (which hardly anyone watched), then became a wrestler again and was given his own sidekick named Lamont.

If you remember anything about his WWE run it’s more than likely his brief appearance at the 2004 Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by Randy Orton and Chris Benoit while dancing to his theme music.

It was a bit of harmless comedy, yes, but I’m sure there were ten or twenty other guys on the roster who could have actually done something worthwhile with the spot (and enjoyed the payday).

Further hammering home what a wasted entry this was, Miller was released just weeks later.

8. The AAA Luchadores

The 1997 Royal Rumble was one of the biggest ever, taking place in front of over 60,000 people at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

The pay-per-view was all about one thing – the redemption of local hero Shawn Michaels, who went up against Psycho Sid in the WWE Title headliner.

On the undercard, WWE took advantage of their working relationship with AAA and drafted in a gaggle of luchadors to work some prelim matches, as well as the Rumble itself, no doubt in an effort to appeal to the large Hispanic contingent in the audience.

Selected for Rumble duty were Pierroth, Cibernetico, Latin Lover and genuine industry legend Mil Mascaras.

A cultural icon South of the Border, Mascaras was also renowned for his backstage politicking and so it came as little surprise when he chose to eliminate himself with a top rope dive to the outside of the ring, rather than be eliminated by anyone else.

Truth is, fans didn’t really care about the AAA involvement as none of them, besides Mascaras, were established names and hadn’t been featured on WWE television before.

They were there to make up the numbers and, in Latin Lover’s case, look handsome.

The AAA/WWE relationship ended not too long after. Mascaras was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

7. Dick Murdoch

Dick Murdoch was a wrestling legend and had enjoyed a long and varied career when he showed up randomly as an entrant in the 1995 Royal Rumble match, ten years after last wrestling for WWE.

Captain Redneck was a star in Japan and the southern territories, famed for his Texas Outlaws tag team with Dusty Rhodes, as well as his partnership with the Junkyard Dog and feud with the Fabulous Freebirds.

A hard-nosed brawler whose wrestling was as pretty as his face, Murdoch captured WWE Tag Team Title gold when teaming with Adrian Adonis as the North-South Connection in the mid-1980s.

Dirty Dick showing up for the first time in a decade sure was odd and he looked like something from a bygone era as he trudged around throwing bombs and doing the old airplane spin on Henry O. Godwinn.

He lasted just over five minutes before he was slung over the top by the hog farmer, never to be seen again, as he passed away just over a year later at the age of 49.

6. Tom Brandi

The 1998 Royal Rumble was one that, realistically, only one man was ever going to win.

This was the night for the red-hot Stone Cold Steve Austin to triumph, setting up the journey to his first WrestleMania main event and WWE Title win.

To be honest, the other 29 might as well not have shown up, but that would make for a pretty boring pay-per-view, wouldn’t it? Just watching Austin celebrating his automatic victory by drinking beer for an hour…

Actually, that sounds really bloody entertaining and I’d happily sit through it, but what we actually got wasn’t too bad either.

Because we got The Rock putting in a mammoth shift, all three faces of Foley showing up, Terry Funk with a chainsaw and a stunning performance by Tom Brandi.

Alright, that last bit was a lie.

Tom Brandi was in the match (entering at number three), but he was also out of it within twelve seconds.

Which leads me to my next question – who the hell was Tom Brandi?

Oh right, it was Salvatore Sincere…

Which leads me to my next question – who the hell was Salvatore Sincere?

5. Jonathan Coachman

As The Coach turned from bland babyface announcer to the punchable sidekick of Eric Bischoff, he began getting more and more involved in the in-ring action, including having matches with fellow commentators Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross.

All classics, I can assure you.

He tried his luck in the 2005 Royal Rumble, entering at number 21, though he didn’t do much of note, mainly sticking to hitting other entrants before running away, a winning strategy I’m sure you’ll all agree.

He actually managed to last a respectable 14 minutes, give or take, before being dumped out by Ric Flair.

He was back the following year, beating The King in a qualifying match to gain entry and coming in at lucky number 7.

Unluckily for him, he was met by The Big Show and chucked within 30 seconds.

The whole ‘Coach as a wrestler’ experiment was certainly odd and it’s strange watching him in these Rumbles, looking back.

About as strange as the entire announce team of Michael Cole and a retired Booker T and JBL having a crack in 2012.

4. Genichiro Tenyru & Takao Omori

Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka winning the two Royal Rumble matches in 2018 was a nice surprise, wasn’t it?

Prior to their dual victories, a Japanese superstar outlasting the rest was but a pipe dream.

Your Tajiri’s, TAKA Michinoku’s and Tenryu’s didn’t stand a chance…

And now you’re probably thinking ‘who’s Tenryu?’ aren’t you, you philistine?

Genichiro Tenryu is a legend in Japan, but relatively unknown elsewhere.

Long-time WWE fans will remember him for his appearances at WrestleMania 7 and in the 1993 and 94 Royal Rumbles, which came about due to a working relationship between Vince’s company and Tenryu’s Super World of Sports outfit.

He entered at number 9 in 93 and lasted 13 minutes before getting eliminated by The Undertaker.

In 94 he managed to make it to the final five, coming in at number 24 and hanging around for 17 minutes before co-winners Bret Hart and Lex Luger hoyed him over the top.

Tenryu – along with The Great Kabuki – were entered into the match by Mr. Fuji in a bid to hinder Luger and prevent him from winning and facing Yokozuna at WrestleMania.

They also helped Yoko beat ‘Taker in his WWE Title match earlier in the show, as well as attacking Mr. USA backstage.

Takao Omori was another arbitrary entry from the far East, showing up in 1996 at number 11 and doing much of nothing for a few minutes before being sayonara’d by Jake Roberts and Triple H.

3. Carlos Colon

A wrestling deity in his native Puerto Rico, Carlos Colon was essentially an unknown in the United States and especially to WWE audiences.

On the Island of Enchantment, Colon participated in countless bloody and brutal brawls, earning one of those foreheads that looks like it lost a fight with Freddy Krueger’s glove.

Carlito and Primo’s Dad had actually worked for Vince McMahon Senior and the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the late 1960s, before he forged his reputation as a bleeder.

His one-night-only return came as a participant in the 1993 Royal Rumble match.

He entered at number 24 and lasted a respectable seven-and-a-half minutes, during which time he managed to eighty-six Damien Demento.

He was eventually eliminated by winner Yokozuna, but the most amazing thing about Colon’s appearance was Gorilla Monsoon saying there was a ‘lot of fire in this youngster’ as the 44-year-old made his entrance.

Monsoon – a former business associate of Colon – had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, of course, but it must have sounded ridiculous to the millions of fans watching the match unawares.

Colon’s appearance in the Rumble, devoid of context, was a head-scratcher but he was a genuine legend and rightfully took his place in the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014.

2. Drew Carey

Speaking of WWE Hall of Famers, let’s talk about Drew Carey for a bit, shall we?

The star of ‘The Drew Carey Show’ (of course) and one-time host of The Price is Right (the man is no Bob Barker, let me tell you), Carey entered the 2001 Royal Rumble, not to win a shot at the WWE Champion in the main event of WrestleMania, but to promote his upcoming Improv All-Stars pay-per-view.

Drew showed up at the event and, after hitting on Trish Stratus, was convinced by Vince McMahon to enter the big battle royal.

The Chairman then replaced Low Down with the actor.

Entering at number 5, Carey watched The Hardys eliminate themselves before Kane came out at number six.

And that’s when he knew he had messed up.

Earlier in the night, Carey had referred to The Big Red Machine as ‘that goofy guy in a mask’, setting up this epic in-ring confrontation.

Sadly, we didn’t get to see Kane Tombstone the glasses off his annoying little face as, following a vain attempt at bribery, Raven came out to save his backside and Drew simply eliminated himself.

It’s at this point that I would like to stress, once again, that Drew Carey is officially a member of the WWE Hall of Fame while Owen Hart, Vader and The Steiners are not.

1. The Headhunters

With Vince McMahon and WWE creative craving surprises for the 1996 Rumble, Mick Foley suggested a tag team that he had previously worked with in Japan.

The Headhunters were certainly a unique act – less than six feet tall but weighing 350 pounds apiece, the face-painted bruisers made up for a lack of technical ability or finesse with a penchant for putting their bodies through hell and an awe-inspiring agility not seen in many men of their size.

They were successful in Mexico, Japan, Puerto Rico and on the indies but that success did not translate to WWE.

Renamed The Squat Team, they entered the Rumble at number 15 and 16 and were duly dispatched of with ease by fellow monsters Vader and Yokozuna.

The duo lasted a combined ninety seconds and, impressive as they were to look at, they didn’t get to show a single thing that made them such an in-demand team around the world.

In what was possibly the weirdest Rumble ever as far as the lineup goes, they stick out as the oddest of odd entrants.

Flash forward a year-and-a-half and they got another bite at the WWE cherry, appearing as the Arabian Butchers and getting involved with The Headbangers and Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith on Raw before disappearing once again.