Misplaced Pages

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129-408: The Royal Rumble differs from the classical battle royal as the contestants do not enter the ring at the same time, but instead are assigned entry numbers, usually via a lottery , although desirable spots are occasionally assigned by other means, the most common being winning a match. The match begins with the two wrestlers who have drawn entry numbers one and two, with the remaining wrestlers entering

258-628: A TNA Knockout Championship match and the loser has her head shaved . A women's battle royal may allow women to be eliminated by being thrown through or under the ropes as well as over the top rope, although WWE's first official women's Royal Rumble match in 2018 used the same rules as the men's version. Created by World Championship Wrestling in 1995, the World War 3 battle royal had three rings and 60 competitors. 20 wrestlers started in each ring, where they wrestled under regular battle royal rules. When 30 competitors remained (except in 1997, where

387-414: A battle royal (sometimes battle royale ; plural battles royal or battle royals ) is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared the winner. Typical battles royal begin with a number of participants in the ring , who are then eliminated by going over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor. In a two-ring variation on a battle royal,

516-563: A trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship . Stone Cold Steve Austin , would receive the title match in his stead. Austin defended his championship opportunity against McMahon at the February pay-per-view, then defeated The Rock in a no disqualification match at WrestleMania. Bold indicates the winner of that year's match. Bold indicates the winner of that year's match. Bold indicates

645-673: A "Mongolian stretcher match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. The same type of match was also held in Toronto. In early 1982 the two also fought in a series of matches in Japan with Arnold Skaaland in Roussimoff's corner. In 1982, Vincent J. McMahon sold the World Wide Wrestling Federation to his son, Vince McMahon As McMahon began to expand his newly acquired promotion to

774-524: A 17-man battle-royal at a house show in Detroit , which was won by Kerry Von Erich . This was Andre's final WWF match, although he was involved in several subsequent storylines. His last major WWF storyline following WrestleMania VII had the major heel managers (Bobby Heenan, Sensational Sherri , Slick , and Mr. Fuji ) trying to recruit Roussimoff one-by-one, only to be turned down in various humiliating ways (e.g. Heenan had his hand crushed, Sherri received

903-564: A 50-man field) was the longest, lasting one hour and 17 minutes of a five-hour pay-per-view event while the first televised Rumble match in 1988 involved only 20 men and lasted 33 minutes of the two-hour broadcast. The 1998 match nominally had the traditional 30-man field, but only 28 individual wrestlers competed as Mick Foley entered the Royal Rumble match three different times as three different gimmicks—first as Cactus Jack, then Mankind and finally Dude Love. The 2018 Royal Rumble PPV

1032-635: A WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate him and ended up being the focal point of the interview. Apparently annoyed, Roussimoff walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. A discussion between Roussimoff and Hogan was scheduled, and on a Piper's Pit that aired 7 February 1987, the two met. Hogan was introduced first, followed by Roussimoff, who was led by longtime rival Bobby Heenan. Speaking on behalf of his new protégé, Heenan accused Hogan of being Roussimoff's friend only so he would not have to defend his title against him. Hogan tried to reason with Roussimoff, but his pleas were ignored as he challenged Hogan to

1161-559: A briefcase that entitles them to a match for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship at any time and place of their choosing for up to one year, after which it becomes invalid (like WWE's Money in the Bank briefcase). Major League Wrestling 's "Rumble" style battle royal. Participants enter at one minute intervals and are eliminated via pinfall, submission or by being thrown over the top rope. Aztec Warfare

1290-581: A certain amount of money as well as pay McMahon's WWF booking fee. On 24 March 1973, Roussimoff debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Federation) as a fan favorite , defeating Frank Valois and Bull Pometti in a handicap match in Philadelphia. Two days later he made his debut in New York's Madison Square Garden , defeating Buddy Wolfe . Roussimoff was one of professional wrestling's most beloved babyfaces throughout

1419-410: A child, he displayed symptoms of gigantism , and was noted as "a good head taller than other kids", with abnormally long hands. In a 1970s television interview, Roussimoff stated that his mother was 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm) tall and his father 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall, and that according to his father his grandfather was 7 feet 8 inches (234 cm) tall. By

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1548-503: A couple of guest appearances for Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation , in 1991, feuding with Big John Studd , though he never had a match in the promotion. In his last U.S. television appearance, Andre appeared on World Championship Wrestling 's (WCW) Clash of the Champions XX special that aired on TBS on 2 September 1992, where he gave a brief interview. During the same event, he appeared alongside Gordon Solie and

1677-536: A different gender at WrestleMania. With the first brand extension introduced in mid-2002, the 30 male entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands, respectively. At first, the winner of the match received a shot for their brand's top championship, either the original World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship. Starting in 2004, the Royal Rumble winner had

1806-837: A fireball was thrown in Andre's face, knockout to Jerry Lawler in Memphis in 1975 and a count out to Lawler in Louisville in 1977, draw with Bobo Brazil at a battle royal in Detroit in 1976, Ronnie Garvin in Knoxville in 1978, Stan Hansen by disqualification in Japan in 1981, Kamala by countout in Toronto in 1984 and Canek in Mexico in 1984 and submission losses in Japan to Strong Kobayashi in 1972 and Antonio Inoki in 1986. He also had sixty-minute time-limit draws with two of

1935-548: A large, immovable monster, and to enhance the perception of his size, McMahon discouraged Roussimoff from performing maneuvers such as dropkicks (although he was capable of performing such agile maneuvers before his health deteriorated in later life). He also began billing Roussimoff as "André the Giant" and set up a travel-intensive schedule, lending him to wrestling associations around the world, to keep him from becoming overexposed in any area. Promoters had to guarantee Roussimoff

2064-786: A later edition of Piper's Pit , the two were part of a 20-man over-the-top-rope battle-royal on 14 March edition of Saturday Night's Main Event X at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Although the battle royal was won by Hercules , Roussimoff claimed to have gained a psychological advantage over Hogan when he threw the WWF World Heavyweight Champion over the top rope. The match, which was actually taped on 21 February 1987, aired only two weeks before WrestleMania III to make it seem like Hogan had met his match in André

2193-458: A match against Owen Hart at In Your House 6 . The second time was in 2002, when Triple H lost his WrestleMania X8 Undisputed WWF Championship opportunity at No Way Out to Kurt Angle , but regained his spot in a rematch against Angle on the following episode of Raw . The third time was in 2006, when Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio at No Way Out for Mysterio's WrestleMania 22 World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, though Mysterio

2322-556: A match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III . Hogan was still seemingly in disbelief as to what Roussimoff was doing, prompting Heenan to say "You can't believe it? Maybe you'll believe this, Hogan" before Roussimoff ripped off the T-shirt and crucifix from Hogan, with the crucifix scratching Hogan's chest, causing him to bleed. Following Hogan's acceptance of his challenge on

2451-425: A new team enters every 90 seconds. When all three members of a team are eliminated, then the team is ruled out of the match. The winner (or winners if more than one team member is remaining) receives $ 300,000 to be split amongst the team. Established in 2022 by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on their Rampage program, Royal Rampage takes place on the same night as their Dynamite : Blood and Guts event because of

2580-617: A psychological edge over the much larger and stronger Roussimoff. In 1989, Roussimoff and the returning Big John Studd briefly reprised their feud, beginning at WrestleMania V, when Studd was the referee in the match with Roberts, this time with Studd as a face and Roussimoff as the heel. During the late summer and autumn of 1989, Roussimoff engaged in a brief feud, consisting almost entirely of house shows (non-televised events), and one televised match on 28 October 1989, at Madison Square Garden with then- WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior . Roussimoff began to wear face paint with

2709-451: A reverse case in 2008, John Cena decided that instead of waiting until WrestleMania XXIV , he would use his world championship opportunity and challenge WWE Champion Orton at the preceding No Way Out event, though won the match but not the title when Orton intentionally got himself disqualified; however, after Triple H became Orton's WrestleMania opponent, Cena earned another opportunity and was inserted into that championship match, making it

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2838-634: A roving "special attraction" who wrestled for promotions throughout the United States, as well as in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . During the 1980s wrestling boom , Roussimoff became a mainstay of the WWWF (by then renamed the World Wrestling Federation ), being paired with the villainous manager Bobby Heenan and feuding with Hulk Hogan . The two headlined WrestleMania III in 1987, and in 1988, he defeated Hogan to win

2967-454: A similar design to The Warrior and began called himself "The Ultimate Giant" when he appeared on The Brother Love Show . The younger Warrior, the WWF's rising star, regularly squashed the aging Roussimoff in an attempt to showcase his star quality and promote him as the "next big thing". In late 1989, Roussimoff was joined with fellow Heenan Family member Haku to form a new tag team called

3096-559: A singles and tag team competitor, he quickly was made the IWA World Tag Team Champion alongside Michael Nador. During his time in Japan, doctors first informed Roussimoff that he suffered from acromegaly . Roussimoff next moved to Montreal, Canada in 1971, where he became an immediate success, regularly selling out the Montreal Forum . Promoters eventually ran out of plausible opponents for him and, as

3225-544: A singles competitor, with the final two in the ring named joint winners, earning the right to challenge for the promotion's tag team championship later that night. Andr%C3%A9 the Giant This is an accepted version of this page Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s André René Roussimoff ( French: [ɑ̃dʁe ʁəne ʁusimɔf] ; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André

3354-458: A spanking, Slick got locked in the trunk of the car he was offering to Roussimoff, and Mr. Fuji got a pie in his face). Finally, Jimmy Hart appeared live on WWF Superstars to announce that he had successfully signed Roussimoff to tag-team with Earthquake . When asked to confirm this by Gene Okerlund , Roussimoff denied the claims. This led to Earthquake's attacking Roussimoff from behind (injuring his knee). Jimmy Hart would later get revenge for

3483-526: A stay at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Roussimoff returned with payback on his mind. The two battled on 20 July 1981, at Madison Square Garden in a match that resulted in a double disqualification . Their feud continued as fans filled arenas up and down the east coast to witness their matches. On 14 November 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum , he decisively defeated Khan in what was billed as

3612-470: A steel cage match held at WrestleFest on 31 July 1988, in Milwaukee. Hogan was the winner. At the inaugural SummerSlam pay-per-view held at Madison Square Garden , Roussimoff and DiBiase (billed as The Mega Bucks ) faced Hogan and WWF World Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage (known as The Mega Powers ) in the main event, with Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee. During

3741-424: A surprising amount of common ground and bonded over their love of cricket , with Roussimoff recalling that the two rarely talked about anything else. At the age of 18, Roussimoff moved to Paris and was taught professional wrestling by a local promoter, Robert Lageat, who recognized the earning potential of Roussimoff's size. He trained at night and worked as a mover during the day to pay living expenses. Roussimoff

3870-703: A tournament to become the number one contender for the AEW World Championship , also held by MJF. It was in turn decided that at Winter Is Coming, MJF would defend both the AEW World Championship and the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring against Starks in a Winner Takes All match . MJF defeated Starks to retain the championship and ring. The fifth match was moved up to the October 18, 2023, episode of Dynamite . Like

3999-487: A triple threat match. In another case in 2017, Randy Orton relinquished his WrestleMania 33 WWE Championship opportunity after his stablemate Bray Wyatt won the title, but later turned on Wyatt and reverted his decision; he then defeated AJ Styles , who had become the new title challenger, to re-earn his title shot at WrestleMania. During the 50 men- Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018, the winner Braun Strowman received

Royal Rumble match - Misplaced Pages Continue

4128-652: A wrestler has gone over the top rope and both feet hit the floor; a team is eliminated when both members of the team have been ruled out of the match. The match ends when one wrestler or team is left. The winning tag team earns an AEW World Tag Team Championship match. A variation for three-man teams (referred to as trios by AEW) has also been established, called the Casino Trios Royale . Debuting in December 2022 on Rampage , this version features eight trios teams (24 total wrestlers). Two teams start, and

4257-457: A year as part of their weekly television program, Dynamite —the inaugural match took place in November 2019, and then from 2020 to 2022, it was held in December to coincide with the annual Winter Is Coming television special , but moved up to October in 2023. The original rules featured 12 wrestlers competing in a standard battle royal, but ended when there were two wrestlers remaining, with

4386-507: Is based on a random draw of the cards. The 21st and final entrant is the wrestler who drew the joker . The winner receives a world championship match of their respective gender's division—either the AEW World Championship or the AEW Women's World Championship . The first Casino Battle Royale, which was a men's match, was held at Double or Nothing in May 2019. A men's tag team variation of

4515-404: Is credited with inventing this variation. WWE 's Royal Rumble is the original battle royal to use this format. It begins with two wrestlers in the ring, with the remaining participants introduced one by one at a set time period, usually 90 seconds or two minutes. Elimination occurs in the normal way with the last person standing as the winner, after all participants (traditionally 30) have entered

4644-536: Is getting a championship match at the time, the place, and for the title of the winner's choosing. Square Go! is Insane Championship Wrestling 's (ICW) own hybrid of WWE's Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank matches, and is named for the Glaswegian term for a street fight. It features 30 competitors that compete in an over-the-top-rope battle royal, with the winner earning the Square Go! Briefcase. It has mostly

4773-467: Is the Lucha Underground version of the "Rumble Rules" battle royal. Upwards to 20 participants enter every 90 seconds and elimination occurs by either pinfall or submission and has to take place inside the ring. There are no count-outs and no disqualifications. As of April 2019, four Aztec Warfare matches have occurred—one in each season of Lucha Underground . The Casino Battle Royale

4902-421: Is utilized by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a modified rumble rules battle royal that features 21 entrants. It begins with a group of five wrestlers, and every three minutes, another group of five wrestlers enters, while the 21st and final entrant enters alone. The wrestlers are grouped based on the suit they drew from a deck of cards —spades, diamonds, clubs, or hearts—and the order of when each group enters

5031-733: The FFCP World Heavyweight Championship In 1969 he appeared on the United Kingdom's World of Sport program's regular wrestling slot and defeated Jim Hussey, father of Mark Rocco . Roussimoff also began making a name for himself wrestling in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. He made his Japanese debut for the International Wrestling Enterprise in 1970, billed as "Monster Roussimoff". Wrestling as both

5160-550: The NXT Women's Championship for women) were also eligible choices. This ended when NXT reverted back to developmental status in September 2021. Since the return of the brand extension, the number of participants from each brand has not been evenly divided, as matches have also featured NXT wrestlers, as well has surprise entrants such as WWE Hall of Famers and/or debuting wrestlers. WWE's top championship has been booked as on

5289-546: The New Japan Pro-Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata , —as "a new tag-team from Japan" and claimed not to know the identities of the wrestlers, even though it was obvious to fans that it was Roussimoff competing as the Giant Machine. Heenan, Studd, and Bundy complained to Tunney, who eventually told Heenan that if it could be proven that Roussimoff and

Royal Rumble match - Misplaced Pages Continue

5418-462: The WWE and Universal Championships ) on SmackDown . Similarly, the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match (first contested in 2018) is awarded a match at WrestleMania for their choice of one of WWE's top women's championships: Raw's Women's World Championship , or SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship . However, it has never been officially confirmed that a man or woman would be barred from challenging

5547-469: The WWF Championship , his sole world heavyweight championship , on the first episode of The Main Event . As his WWF career wound down after WrestleMania VI in 1990, Roussimoff wrestled primarily for All Japan Pro-Wrestling , usually alongside Giant Baba , until his sudden death. After his death in 1993, Roussimoff became the inaugural inductee into the newly created WWF Hall of Fame . He

5676-471: The "Mongolian Giant" Killer Khan . According to the storyline, Khan snapped Roussimoff's ankle during a match on 2 May 1981 in Rochester, New York by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. In reality, he had broken his ankle getting out of bed the morning before the match. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing Roussimoff/Khan storyline. After

5805-470: The "Rumble" style of battle royal on their shows, billing it as the Honor Rumble . New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's annual "Rumble" battle royal takes place on the pre-show of the first night of the two-night Wrestle Kingdom show on January 4. Participants enter at one-minute intervals and are eliminated via pinfall, submission, or by being thrown over the top rope. Typically leaning towards light comedy,

5934-658: The 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon often stated that Roussimoff had not been defeated in 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III . He had lost matches outside of the WWF: a loss to Adnan Al-Kaissie in Baghdad, Iraq in 1971, pinfall losses to Don Leo Jonathan in Montreal in 1972, Killer Kowalski in Quebec City in 1972 two draws and a countout loss to The Sheik in Toronto in 1974 after

6063-581: The Bulldog faced Earthquake; Smith hit Earthquake with Roussimoff's crutch, allowing Smith to win. After WrestleMania VI, Roussimoff spent the rest of his in-ring career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), where he performed under the name "André el Gigante". He toured with AJPW three times per year, from 1990 to 1992, usually teaming with Giant Baba in tag-team matches. Roussimoff made

6192-708: The Colossal Connection , in part to fill a void left by the departure of Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson ( the Brain Busters , who were also members of Heenan's stable) from the WWF, and also to continue to keep the aging Roussimoff in the main event spotlight. His last singles match was a loss to The Ultimate Warrior in 20 seconds at a house show in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on 11 December 1989. The Colossal Connection immediately targeted WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (who had recently won

6321-618: The Giant after seeing a snake in 1989 , Mil Máscaras diving out of the ring from the turnbuckle in 1997, Kane in 1999, and Pat McAfee in 2024, although Randy Savage 's jump over the top rope in 1992 was not ruled as self-elimination), elimination by previously eliminated participants (such as The Undertaker eliminating Maven in 2002 , Kurt Angle eliminating Michaels in 2005 or Sonya Deville eliminating Naomi in 2022) or non-participants (such as Shane McMahon eliminating Shawn Michaels in 2006 and The Miz eliminating John Cena in 2011). Furthermore, an injured wrestler can return to

6450-540: The Giant , was a French professional wrestler and actor. Dubbed "the Eighth Wonder of the World ", Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess human growth hormone . Beginning his career in 1966, Roussimoff relocated to North America in 1971. From 1973 to the mid-1980s, Roussimoff was booked by World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) promoter Vincent J. McMahon as

6579-523: The Giant Machine were the same person, Roussimoff would be fired. Roussimoff thwarted Heenan, Studd, and Bundy at every turn. Then, in late 1986, the Giant Machine "disappeared" and Roussimoff was reinstated. Foreshadowing Roussimoff's heel turn, Heenan expressed his approval of the reinstatement but did not explain why. Roussimoff agreed to turn heel in early 1987 to be the counter to the biggest " babyface " in professional wrestling at that time, Hulk Hogan . On an edition of Piper's Pit in 1987, Hogan

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6708-486: The Giant slammed (Roussimoff had also previously allowed Harley Race , El Canek and Stan Hansen , among others, to slam him). By the time of WrestleMania III, the WWF went national, giving more meaning to the Roussimoff–Hogan match that took place then. The feud between Roussimoff and Hogan simmered during the summer of 1987, as Roussimoff's health declined. The feud began heating up again when wrestlers were named

6837-632: The Giant, who was preparing to defend himself with one of his crutches. The Disasters left the ringside area as they were outnumbered by the Legion of Doom, the Bushwhackers and Roussimoff, who struck both Earthquake and Typhoon (the former Tugboat) with the crutch as they left. His final WWF appearance came at a house show in Paris, France, on 9 October 1991. He was in Davey Boy Smith's corner as

6966-483: The Giant. At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 520 lb (236 kg), and the stress of such immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. In front of a record crowd, Hogan won the match after body-slamming Roussimoff (later dubbed "the bodyslam heard around the world"), followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. Years later, Hogan claimed that Roussimoff

7095-468: The Rumble match and then challenged Lesnar for his title at WrestleMania 36 . In 2022, although she did not defend her title in the match, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair entered the Royal Rumble match as entrant number 17, feeling as if no one on any brand deserved to challenge her at either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. This was the first time in which a reigning women's champion competed in

7224-533: The World Wrestling Federation announced his return as a participant in the 1991 Royal Rumble (to be held in Miami two months later). Roussimoff was also mentioned as a participant on television but would ultimately back out due to a leg injury. His on-air return finally took place at the WWF's Super-Stars & Stripes Forever USA Network special on 17 March 1991, when he came out to shake

7353-417: The battle royal. The two faced each other at the second annual Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite the following week. For this third year, the ring's design was updated with a new net worth of $ 150,000. MJF defeated Martin by submission to win the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring for the third time. The fourth match took place on the December 7, 2022, episode of Dynamite , but with a slight change over

7482-466: The belts from the Brain Busters). At a television taping on 13 December 1989, the Colossal Connection defeated Demolition to win the titles. Roussimoff and Haku successfully defended their title, mostly against Demolition, until WrestleMania VI on 1 April 1990, when Demolition took advantage of a mistimed move by the champions to regain the belts. After the match, a furious Heenan blamed him for

7611-424: The captains of rival teams at the inaugural Survivor Series event. During their approximately one minute of battling each other during the match, Hogan dominated Roussimoff and was on the brink of knocking him from the ring, but was tripped up by his partners, Bundy and One Man Gang , and would be counted out. Roussimoff went on to be the sole survivor of the match, pinning Bam Bam Bigelow before Hogan returned to

7740-409: The co-winners then facing each other in a singles match on the following week's episode for the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring. The winner of the championship ring held it until the following year's battle royal. Since 2022, there is now only one winner of the 12-man battle royal, who then goes on to face the reigning ring holder from the prior year. Four such matches have taken place so far. The first

7869-567: The contest. Following a final tour with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in mid-1986, and a win in Austria over CWA World champion Otto Wanz , Roussimoff began appearing exclusively with the World Wrestling Federation . After WrestleMania 2, Roussimoff continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy . Around this time, Roussimoff requested a leave of absence to tend to his health, since the effects from his acromegaly were beginning to take their toll, as well as to tour Japan. He had also been cast in

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7998-591: The entries for each brand were not evenly divided. The ECW Championship was deactivated in 2010, leaving the two remaining titles until they were unified in December 2013 as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This singular option lasted until the brand extensions' return in 2016, which introduced the Universal Championship, as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship reverted to being called the WWE Championship. Like

8127-466: The fall. Concurrent with the developing feud with the Mega Powers, Roussimoff was placed in a feud with Jim Duggan , which began after Duggan knocked out Roussimoff with a two-by-four board during a television taping. Despite Duggan's popularity with fans, Roussimoff regularly got the upper hand in the feud. Roussimoff's next major feud was against Jake "The Snake" Roberts . In this storyline, it

8256-409: The film The Princess Bride . To explain his absence, a storyline was developed in which Heenan—suggesting that Roussimoff was secretly afraid of Studd and Bundy, whom Heenan bragged were unbeatable—challenged Roussimoff and a partner of his choosing to wrestle Studd and Bundy in a televised tag-team match. When Roussimoff failed to show, WWF president Jack Tunney indefinitely suspended him. Later in

8385-522: The final entrant won the Royal Rumble: The Undertaker in 2007 , John Cena in 2008 , Triple H in 2016 , Brock Lesnar in 2022 , and Cody Rhodes in 2023. The most common number to win is 30, and 16 eventual winners entered at number 25 or later. The Royal Rumble match traditionally involves 30 wrestlers and usually lasts an hour (the 2011 edition had a 40-man field). The Greatest Royal Rumble (the only edition to have

8514-507: The final match of his career on 4 December 1992, teaming with Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura to defeat Haruka Eigen , Masanobu Fuchi , and Motoshi Okuma. Roussimoff branched out into acting again in the 1970s and 1980s, after a 1967 French boxing film, making his USA acting debut playing a Sasquatch (" Bigfoot ") in a two-part episode aired in 1976 on the television series The Six Million Dollar Man . He appeared in other television shows, including The Greatest American Hero , B. J. and

8643-476: The first brand extension, the winner of the 2017 event earned a match for their brand's top championship, the Universal Championship or WWE Championship, but beginning with the 2018 event , the winner has a choice. NXT - WWE's developmental brand - was elevated to main roster status from September 2019 until September 2021, during that time NXT's top championships (the NXT Championship for men and

8772-659: The first time that Hogan had successfully body-slammed him in a WWF match. A then-heel Hogan had slammed a then-face Roussimoff following their match at the Showdown at Shea on 9 August 1980, though Roussimoff was somewhat lighter (around 210 kg (470 lb)) and more athletic at the time (Hogan also slammed him in a match in Hamburg, Pennsylvania , a month later). This took place in the territorial days of American wrestling three years before WWF began national expansion, so many of those who watched WrestleMania III had never seen

8901-400: The floor. In the 1994 match, the last two participants ( Bret Hart and Lex Luger ) were declared co-winners when officials were unable to determine whose feet touched the floor first. Although this was the intended outcome, a similar situation occurred by a legitimate accident in 2005 , when Batista and John Cena eliminated each other and hit the ground at exactly the same time. This time,

9030-556: The hand of Big Boss Man after an altercation with Mr. Perfect . The following week at WrestleMania VII , he came to the aid of the Boss Man in his match against Mr. Perfect. Roussimoff finally returned to action on 26 April 1991, in a six-man tag-team matchup when he teamed with The Rockers in a winning effort against Mr. Fuji and The Orient Express at a house show in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On 11 May 1991 he participated in

9159-543: The humiliation by secretly signing Tugboat and forming the Natural Disasters . This led to Roussimoff's final major WWF appearance at SummerSlam 1991 , where he seconded the Bushwhackers in their match against the Disasters. Roussimoff was on crutches at ringside, and after the Disasters won the match, they set out to attack him, but the Legion of Doom made their way to ringside and got in between them and

9288-489: The interim champion. Whoever held the title at end of the time limit was declared the winner and official champion. A Last Blood battle royal is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match . The winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. Generally used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a reverse battle royal begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At

9417-438: The line during the Royal Rumble match on two occasions. In 1992, the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship was contested in the Royal Rumble match, which was won by Ric Flair , while in 2016, Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a participant of that year's Royal Rumble match as entrant number one. This has thus far been the only time that a reigning champion had to defend his title in

9546-399: The match and collect the $ 15,000 prize, then proceeded to throw cash to the fans before having the bag taken from him by Studd's manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan . At WrestleMania 2 on 7 April 1986, Roussimoff continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal which featured top National Football League stars and wrestlers. He last eliminated Bret Hart to win

9675-494: The match in which the champion could choose their opponent; Flair's participation was used as a way to set up her WrestleMania challenger, which ended up being Ronda Rousey , who eliminated Flair, won the Rumble match and then challenged Flair for her title at WrestleMania 38 . The Royal Rumble winner may also choose to put his championship opportunity on the line in a match. This was first done in 1996, when Shawn Michaels risked his WrestleMania XII WWF Championship opportunity in

9804-440: The match in which the winner could challenge them. In 2020 , although he did not defend his title in the match, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar entered the Royal Rumble match as entrant number 1, feeling as if no one on any brand deserved to challenge him at either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. Lesnar's participation was used as a way to set up his WrestleMania challenger, which ended up being Drew McIntyre , who eliminated Lesnar, won

9933-560: The match includes past stars as surprise entrants. It is also known as the "New Japan Ranbo", the Japanese word ranbo meaning "to run riot". Similar to NJPW Rambo match, its sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom also uses the same concept, as well as traditional Royal Rumble matches. On March 3, 2021, Unagi Sayaka won the inaugural "All-Star Rumble" at Stardom All Star Dream Cinderella . The first "Stardom Rambo" match took part on November 20, 2022, during Historic X-Over , which

10062-451: The match was restarted. Though various referees are charged with observing the match, some eliminations have gone unnoticed to allow the eliminated participants to sneak back into the ring to continue. Austin was able to re-enter the ring in this way and win the 1997 match. Although eliminations are usually caused by active participants, eliminations caused by other means have been ruled legitimate, including self-eliminations (such as André

10191-558: The match, called the Casino Tag Team Royale , was first utilized at Revolution in March 2021. Instead of being contested between 21 individual singles wrestlers, the match features 10-15 tag teams (for a total of 20-30 wrestlers). The rules in terms of entrants also differs. The order of entrants is based on a lottery. Two tag teams start the match, and every 90 seconds, a new team enters. Individual eliminations occur when

10320-520: The match, the Mega Powers' manager, Miss Elizabeth , distracted the Mega Bucks and Ventura when she climbed up on the ring apron, removed her yellow skirt and walked around in a pair of red panties. This allowed Hogan and Savage time to recover and eventually win the match with Hogan pinning DiBiase. Savage forced Ventura's hand down for the final three-count, due to Ventura's character historically being at odds with Hogan, and his unwillingness to count

10449-427: The match, which was ultimately won by Triple H , who eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win; Reigns would earn a rematch against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 and won back the title. In 2008, ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero entered the Royal Rumble match as entrant number 26 before being eliminated by eventual winner John Cena. This was the first time in which a reigning world champion competed in

10578-444: The match, with the prize being a future championship match. Team variations of battle royals consist of designated tag teams of wrestlers, usually two to a team. There are different types of such matches, and though most follow normal battle royal rules, teams may be eliminated when either one or both partners are eliminated from the ring. One notable version was the battle royal prior to WrestleMania XV , where each wrestler fought as

10707-407: The meantime, the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to Roussimoff to win it for him. He and DiBiase had teamed several times in the past, including in Japan and in the WWF in the late 1970s and early 1980s when both were faces at the time, but this

10836-432: The national level, he required his wrestlers to appear exclusively for him. McMahon signed Roussimoff to these terms in 1984, although he still allowed him to work in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Roussimoff feuded with Big John Studd over which of the two men was the "true giant" of wrestling. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, Roussimoff and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try to determine who

10965-652: The novelty of his size wore off, the gate receipts dwindled. Roussimoff was defeated by Adnan Al-Kaissie in Baghdad in 1971, and wrestled numerous times in 1971 for Verne Gagne 's American Wrestling Association (AWA) as a special attraction. In 1973, Vincent J. McMahon , founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), became Rousimoff's agent. McMahon suggested several changes to Roussimoff's booking and presentation to enhance his starpower. He felt Roussimoff should be portrayed as

11094-441: The number was 20), all competitors entered the center ring and continued under regular rules until only one was left standing. In this version - unlike traditional battles royal, where all wrestlers begin the match in the ring - only the first two competitors begin the match. The rest enter at timed intervals, according to numbers they draw, until the entire field has entered. Former wrestler and longtime WWE official Pat Patterson

11223-533: The option of challenging for either brand's top championship. For instance, Chris Benoit switched from SmackDown to Raw after winning the 2004 event to challenge for Raw's top championship at the time. From 2007 to 2010 , participants from the ECW brand competed along with the Raw and SmackDown brands, with the ECW Championship added as an option, although no winner ever chose it. During ECW's participation,

11352-415: The previous three iterations. Due to MJF being the only winner of the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring, he was given a bye with there instead only being one winner for the 2022 Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale who would go on to face MJF for the ring at the third annual Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite the following week. Ricky Starks won the battle royal. Prior to the battle royal, Starks had also won

11481-523: The previous year, there was only one winner of the battle royal, who would then face reigning ring holder MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring on the following week's Dynamite . Juice Robinson won the battle royal. MJF subsequently defeated Robinson to retain the Dynamite Diamond Ring for the fifth consecutive year. A WWE women's battle royal with the addition of fetish outfits, such as french maid , lingerie , nurse and schoolgirl. Often

11610-473: The real giant of wrestling was. In 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level when he and partner Ken Patera knocked out Roussimoff during a televised tag-team match and proceeded to cut off his hair. After gaining revenge on Patera, Roussimoff met Studd in a " body slam challenge" at the first WrestleMania , held 31 March 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Roussimoff slammed Studd to win

11739-460: The ring and The Colossal Connection lost via count-out. After the match, Roussimoff and Haku would fight each other, marking the end of the team. His final WWF match of 1990 came at a combined WWF/All Japan/New Japan show on 13 April in Tokyo, Japan when he teamed with Giant Baba to defeat Demolition in a non-title match. Roussimoff would win by gaining the pinfall on Smash . Roussimoff returned in

11868-534: The ring as long as the match is still ongoing (such as Austin in 1999, Roman Reigns in 2016, and Randy Orton in 2021), but not if the match has already ended (such as Spike Dudley in 2004, Scotty 2 Hotty in 2005, Curtis Axel in 2015 , R-Truth in 2019 and Rey Mysterio in 2023) and can also be replaced by another wrestler (such as Mick Foley replacing Test in 2004, Sami Zayn replacing Tye Dillinger in 2018 , Nia Jax replacing R-Truth in 2019, and Becky Lynch replacing Lana in 2019). Since 1993 ,

11997-661: The ring at regular timed intervals, either 90 seconds or two minutes (60 seconds for the 1995 event ), according to their entry number. This format is credited to Pat Patterson . To date, only six wrestlers who have been one of the starting two entrants have won the Royal Rumble: Shawn Michaels in 1995 , Vince McMahon in 1999 , Chris Benoit in 2004 , Rey Mysterio in 2006 , Edge in 2021 , and Rhea Ripley in 2023 . (Michaels, Benoit, Edge, and Ripley were entrant number 1 while McMahon and Mysterio were number 2), while only five wrestlers who have been

12126-403: The ring only to return later in the match. Furthermore, a wrestler who only touches the floor with one foot is not eliminated from the match, a rule which greatly affected the 1995 match, allowing Michaels to re-enter the ring and win the match. Although he has not won a Royal Rumble match, Kofi Kingston has become synonymous with finding various ways to keep at least one of his feet from touching

12255-474: The ring to attack André and knock him out of the ring. Roussimoff later got revenge when, after Hogan won a match against Bundy on Saturday Night's Main Event , he snuck up from behind and began choking Hogan to the brink of unconsciousness, not letting go even after an army of seven face-aligned wrestlers ran to the ring to try to pull him away; it took Hacksaw Jim Duggan breaking a piece of wood over his back (which he no-sold ) for him to let go, after which Hogan

12384-447: The ring. There is both a men's and women's Royal Rumble match, with the winners getting a world championship match (in their respective divisions) at that year's WrestleMania , which is WWE's biggest annual show. Deviations from the traditional 30 wrestler field include the original 20-man Royal Rumble in 1988 , the 40-man 2011 Royal Rumble and the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018. Ring of Honor (ROH) also periodically features

12513-407: The same rules as WWE's Royal Rumble, where two competitors draw the numbers 1 and 2 and the remaining participants enter the match one-by-one every 2 minutes. There are also five random numbers that allow those entrants to carry a weapon of their choice into the ring. As with battle royals, participants are eliminated when thrown over the top rope with both feet landing on the floor. The winner receives

12642-412: The start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, at which point a standard last person standing wins the battle royal. The match begins as a multi-woman over-the-top elimination battle royal. Participants are eliminated as they are thrown over the top rope and both feet land on the floor. When two competitors remain, they face each other in a ladder match, where the winner receives

12771-513: The summer of 1986, upon Roussimoff's return to the United States, he began wearing a mask and competing as the "Giant Machine" in a stable known as the Machines . Big Machine and Super Machine were the other members; Hulk Hogan (as "Hulk Machine") and Roddy Piper (as "Piper Machine") were also one-time members. The WWF's television announcers sold the Machines—a gimmick that was copied from

12900-579: The three major world champions of the day, Harley Race in Houston in 1979 and Nick Bockwinkel in Chicago in 1976. In 1976, at the second Showdown at Shea , Roussimoff fought professional boxer Chuck Wepner in an unscripted boxer-versus-wrestler fight. The wild fight was shown via telecast as part of the undercard of the Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki fight and ended when he threw Wepner over

13029-647: The time he was 12, Roussimoff stood 191 cm (6 ft 3 in). Roussimoff was an average student, though good at mathematics. When he was 14, Rousimoff decided against further schooling and joined the workforce, believing what he learned was sufficient for a career as a farmhand. He did not drop out of school, as compulsory education laws in France were no longer applicable to those aged 14 or older. Roussimoff spent years working on his father's farm in Molien , where, according to his brother Jacques, he could perform

13158-525: The time of Wrestlemania VI and Haku actually wrestled the entire match against Demolition without tagging him in. On weekend television shows following WrestleMania VI, Bobby Heenan vowed to spit in Roussimoff's face when he came crawling back to the Heenan Family. He wrestled one more time with Haku, teaming up to face Demolition on a house show in Honolulu on 10 April, Roussimoff was knocked out of

13287-411: The title loss and after shouting at him, before Heenan slapped him in the face; an angry Roussimoff responded with a slap of his own that sent Heenan staggering from the ring. Roussimoff also caught Haku's kick attempt, sending him reeling from the ring as well, prompting support and turning Roussimoff face for the first time since 1987. Due to his ongoing health issues, Roussimoff was unable to wrestle at

13416-406: The title was declared vacant. This was shown on WWF's NBC program The Main Event . At WrestleMania IV , Roussimoff and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that Roussimoff was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterward, Roussimoff and Hogan's feud died down after

13545-640: The top rope and outside the ring and won via count-out. In 1980, he feuded with Hulk Hogan , when, unlike their more famous matches in the late 1980s, Hogan was the villain and Roussimoff was the hero, wrestling him at Shea Stadium's third Showdown at Shea event and in Pennsylvania, where after Roussimoff pinned Hogan to win the match, Hogan bodyslammed him much like their legendary WrestleMania III match in 1987. The feud continued in Japan in 1982 and 1983 with their roles reversed and with Antonio Inoki also involved. One of Roussimoff's feuds pitted him against

13674-425: The two ring setup used for the eponymous match. A modified Rumble rules battle royal, Royal Rampage involves two rings and 20 competitors. It starts with two wrestlers in each ring, with a new wrestler entering every 60 seconds to their assigned ring, until all 20 wrestlers have entered (10 in each ring). The two final wrestlers from each ring then consolidate into a single ring, where the last wrestler remaining wins

13803-416: The type of outfit is chosen by an audience poll. A battle royal with hardcore rules (no disqualifications and no count-outs) involving several competitors in the ring at the same time. The match could last for either 15 or 20 minutes. Participants are not eliminated by being thrown out of the ring and both feet touching the floor. Pinning or forcing to submit the current Hardcore champion made that participant

13932-548: The winner of that year's match. Bold indicates the winner of that year's match. These wrestlers have competed more than once in the same Rumble match. Bold indicates the winner of that year's match. Bold indicates the winner of that year's match. Bold indicates the winner of that year's match. Highest number of wrestlers working together to eliminate one wrestler WWE has also booked several Royal Rumble matches outside of pay-per-view events: Battle royal (professional wrestling) In professional wrestling ,

14061-619: The winner of the Royal Rumble match is traditionally awarded a title match for WWE's top championship at WrestleMania —WWE currently promotes two main roster brands with a top championship for each and the winner can choose which championship to challenge for, regardless of the brand they belong to. For the men, that is the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (respresenting both

14190-615: The winter of 1990, but it was not to the World Wrestling Federation. Instead, Roussimoff made an interview appearance for Herb Abrams ' fledgling Universal Wrestling Federation on 11 October in Reseda, California. (the segment aired in 1991). He appeared in an interview segment with Captain Lou Albano and put over the UWF. The following month on 30 November at a house show in Miami, Florida,

14319-451: The work of three men. He also completed an apprenticeship in woodworking , and next worked in a factory that manufactured engines for hay balers . None of these brought him any satisfaction. While Roussimoff was growing up in the 1950s, the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett was one of several adults who sometimes drove local children to school, including Roussimoff and his siblings. They had

14448-421: The wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into the second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in the first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to a double elimination tournament . The two-ring version

14577-439: Was "detained backstage", and a replacement (whom Hogan afterwards initially accused of having been paid by DiBiase to get plastic surgery to look like Dave, but was revealed to have been his evil twin brother, Earl Hebner ), who made a three-count on Hogan while Hogan's left shoulder was off the mat. After winning, Roussimoff "sold" the title to DiBiase; the transaction was declared invalid by then- WWF president Jack Tunney and

14706-492: Was billed as "Géant Ferré", a name based on the Picardian folk hero Grand Ferré . This later became "Jean Ferre". Canadian promoter and wrestler Frank Valois met Roussimoff in 1966, years later to become his business manager and adviser. Roussimoff began his career wrestling in his native France . He made his TV debut that year on French national television against Le Petit Prince . In 1968 he defeated Franz Van Buyten for

14835-481: Was born on 19 May 1946 in Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne , the son of immigrants Boris Roussimoff (1907–1993) and Mariann Roussimoff Stoeff (1910–1997); his father was Bulgarian and his mother was Polish . He was raised Catholic . He had two older siblings and two younger. His childhood nickname was Dédé ( / ˈ d eɪ d eɪ / , French: [dede] ). At birth, André weighed 13 pounds (6 kg); as

14964-517: Was described as "bunkhouse gear"—cowboy boots, jeans , T-shirts—instead of their normal wrestling tights, and not only allowed but encouraged the bringing of weapons . In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede , headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede match in a cage . The Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale is utilized by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is held once

15093-560: Was held in World Championship Wrestling's 1991 Starrcade event. Subsequent Battlebowl matches occurred under normal battle royal rules. This format uses any number of wrestlers in a standard one-ring, over-the-top-rope elimination, but includes tables covered with barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light bulbs around the ring's perimeter, onto which losing wrestlers may be thrown. The National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Bunkhouse Stampede involved wrestlers wearing what

15222-589: Was later a charter member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ; the latter describes him as being "one of the most recognizable figures in the world both as a professional wrestler and as a pop culture icon." Outside of wrestling, Roussimoff is best known for appearing as Fezzik, the giant in the 1987 film The Princess Bride . André René Roussimoff

15351-432: Was later seen talking with him during the gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of wrestling on TBS. He did his final tour of Mexico in 1992 in a selection of six-man tag matches alongside Bam Bam Bigelow and a variety of Lucha Libre stars facing among others Bad News Allen and future WWF Champions Mick Foley and Yokozuna . Roussimoff made his final tour with AJPW from October to December 1992; he wrestled what became

15480-471: Was not acknowledged during this new storyline. The earlier attack and DiBiase's insertion into the feud set up the Hogan-Roussimoff rematch on The Main Event , to air 5 February 1988, on a live broadcast on NBC. Acting as his hired gun, Roussimoff won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Hogan (his first singles title) in a match where it was later revealed that appointed referee Dave Hebner

15609-408: Was on the November 20, 2019, episode of Dynamite, where Adam Page and MJF were the cowinners of the inaugural battle royal. MJF then defeated Page on the following week's episode of Dynamite to win the inaugural AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring. Wrestling veteran Diamond Dallas Page presented the ring to MJF. Then-AEW Executive Vice President and wrestler Cody Rhodes stated that the original ring

15738-627: Was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three years; Roussimoff came out to congratulate him, shaking Hogan's hand with a strong grip, which surprised the Hulkster. On the following week's Piper's Pit , Roussimoff was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "the only undefeated wrestler in wrestling history." Although he had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF, he had never been pinned or forced to submit in

15867-468: Was pulled to safety. As was the case with the SNME battle royal a year earlier, the series of events was one of the pieces that helped build interest in a possible one-on-one rematch between Hogan and Roussimoff, and to make it seem that Roussimoff was certain to win easily when they did meet. Meanwhile, Rousimoff returned to Germany in December 1987 for another match with Wanz, which he lost by countout. In

15996-411: Was reinserted into the title match, making it a triple threat match. The fourth time was on the February 25, 2013 edition of Raw, where John Cena successfully defended his WrestleMania 29 WWE Championship opportunity in a match against CM Punk . The fifth time was in 2015 at Fastlane , where Reigns defended his WrestleMania 31 WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Daniel Bryan . In

16125-513: Was said Roussimoff was afraid of snakes, something Roberts exposed on Saturday Night's Main Event when he threw his snake, Damien, on the frightened Roussimoff; as a result, he suffered a kayfabe mild heart attack and vowed revenge. During the next few weeks, Roberts frequently walked to ringside carrying his snake in its bag during Roussimoff's matches, causing the latter to run from the ring in fright. Throughout their feud (which culminated at WrestleMania V ), Roberts constantly used Damien to gain

16254-403: Was so heavy, he felt more like 320 kg (700 lb), and that he tore his latissimus dorsi muscle when slamming him. Another myth about the match is that no one, not even WWF owner Vince McMahon , knew until the day of the event whether Roussimoff would lose the match. In reality, he agreed to lose the match sometime before, mostly for health reasons. Contrary to popular belief, it was not

16383-461: Was the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match, contested under the same rules as the men's match, including having 30 participants. According to the rules, participants are eliminated from the match if moved over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. Hence, a wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest. For example, during the 1999 match, both McMahon and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin left

16512-476: Was valued at US$ 42,000. The second match occurred at the inaugural Winter Is Coming event, which aired as a special episode of Dynamite on December 2, 2020. MJF and Orange Cassidy were the co-winners. They faced each other on the following week's episode of Dynamite, where MJF defeated Cassidy to win the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring for the second time. The third match occurred on the December 8, 2021, episode of Dynamite , with MJF and Dante Martin cowinning

16641-604: Was won by Mirai . The Call Your Shot Gauntlet (originally called Gauntlet for the Gold) is the "Rumble" style battle royal used by TNA Wrestling . In this version two wrestlers begin in the ring, with additional wrestlers entering on a set time period. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and to the floor until two wrestlers are left, at which point a standard singles match begins. The prize for winning this match (which in recent years has become intergender and held at Impact's biggest annual show Bound For Glory )

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