15 Years WWE got the Royal Rumble winner wrong

Stone Cold Royal Rumble 1997
A year too early.

1997

Stone Cold Royal Rumble 1997
Not the man yet.

Who won: Stone Cold Steve Austin

Who should have won: The Undertaker

Winning by trickery, Stone Cold's victory was overturned and didn't add anything of consequence to the WrestleMania title picture, although Shawn Michaels' infamous "lost my smile" promo also blew up the plans that year. Additionally, Stone Cold was hot, but he wasn't yet the man who would define the Attitude Era. That would have to wait another year.

The whole thing was a big mess, so it's hard to say who should and shouldn't have won, but Undertaker seems like the best choice in hindsight, given what happened.

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