5 Royal Rumble eliminations that were not supposed to happen

January is the month of WWE's yearly PPV, Royal Rumble, where thrills and spills and surprises aplenty hit our screens. Winners of the match go on to challenge for a World title at that year's WrestleMania, with legendary careers built on performances and surprise comebacks.

Weeks of planning can go into these matches to intertwine multiple stories and create new ones, and always provides a spectacle.

Throughout the years, however, there has been some unplanned mishaps which have either been covered up or played out live on air.

#5 Mil Mascaras

Mil Mascaras is the uncle of Alberto Del Rio (Patron) and one of the most famous Mexican luchadores to ever wrestle. 1997 was Mil's first and only WWE American PPV appearance, having wrestled in the early 90's for WWF in Madison Square Garden.

Mil had the reputation of being reasonably difficult to work with and so did not want to be eliminated by whomever WWF at the time had wanted.

So, Mil took it into his own hands, climbed the top turnbuckle and leapt to the outside onto two of his AAA colleagues and eliminated himself. Not something Vince would have signed up for.

#4 Alex Riley

Alex Riley was originally part of the second series of NXT, having The Miz as his mentor. Becoming Miz's secretary was all part of the grand plan to build up the hate towards the good-looking, athletic Superstar. Riley's singles run did not pan out as one might have hoped and he was used sparingly over the coming years.

2011 was a particularly strong year for Alex, feuding alongside The Miz against John Cena, and this led to a scheduled spot in that year's Royal Rumble with Cena.

After being pushed over the top rope by Cena and Kofi Kingston, Alex was meant to hang onto the ropes like many of the spots we see every year, and come back in via the bottom rope, ready to continue the feud with Cena for several more minutes.

Riley did not have a good grip however and ended up slipping and falling to the floor. Cena would have to improvise later on when Alex wasn't there.

#3 Stone Cold Steve Austin

The Sheriff of Monday Night Raw won the Royal Rumble a record three times, and his elimination in 1996 was always planned. Austin was debuting on PPV in the WWF and he was known at this point as The Ringmaster.

Steve was meant to be in the final four of the Rumble match but after going over the top rope by Fatu (Rikishi), Steve had too much baby oil on his hands from Fatu's body and slipped off the ropes.

His final four appearances were supposed to include spots with the eventual winner, Shawn Michaels, and Austin had to try and get Michaels' attention before going to the back to let him know he wouldn't be in the rest of the match.

#2 The Rock

The Rock was always meant to win the 2000 Royal Rumble and go to the main event of WrestleMania 16 or 2000. Big Show was always meant to pick up The Rock and throw him over the top rope, only to become entangled with the ropes and Rock's body and therefore eliminate himself instead of Rock.

Big Show on this occasion had far too much momentum taking him towards the ropes and so Rock was legitimately thrown further than planned and his feet actually touched the floor before Big Show did.

WWF cameras did not pick up the mistake and Rock won the match. It was brought back up in later on TV when viewers had complained, and was therefore made into the storyline and Big Show ended up participating in the main event of WrestleMania in a fatal four way with Mankind, Rock and HHH.

#1 John Cena and Batista

Perhaps the most famous Royal Rumble botch and one of the most famous Royal Rumble moments over the 30 previous instalments. Batista was meant to win the match and go on to face Triple H at WrestleMania 21 for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The match originally ended in controversy however when Cena and Batista both went over the top rope at the same time, and both hit the floor at exactly the same time, thus not giving a clear winner (Batista).

Whilst WWE officials backstage thought of a plan, the WWE referees argued the result to stall sometimes. Vince McMahon had seen enough and angrily stormed down the ramp and slid into the ring. Unbeknownst to all in the ring, Vince actually tore both quads and had to relay his decision from the canvas. The match was restarted, Batista threw Cena over the top rope with one hand and the rest is history.

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Edited by Nishant Jayaram