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What’s the story?
On an edition of the Wrestlinginc podcast, Bruce Prichard revealed the backstage reaction to the Batista-John Cena Royal Rumble debacle.
Prichard recalled that although there was a state of initial panic backstage at the botched ending to the Rumble match, Vince McMahon and WWE had to improvise to appropriately close out the show.
In case you didn’t know…
The 2005 Royal Rumble PPV saw the traditional Royal Rumble Match close out the show, as two of the WWE’s then-biggest superstars Batista and John Cena were the last remaining wrestlers in the match.
While the plan was for Batista to go over and headline WrestleMania, as ‘The Animal’ attempted a Batista Bomb on Cena, the latter countered with a head-scissors, leading to both men being eliminated over the top rope and their feet hitting the floor at the same time.
The heart of the matter
Bruce Prichard recalled the 2005 Royal Rumble botch and alluded that the initial backstage reaction was that of panic, however, Vince McMahon adapted on the fly and came up with a solution. Prichard stated—
“Let's take a look at it and see if, hopefully, Cena hit first…We looked at it and every angle, there was no angle that you can even argue that Cena hit first, they hit precisely at the same time...You couldn't have planned this better, they landed at the same time so Vince just went out and decided, 'Start it over, g**amnit, just get them out of there!'".
Furthermore, Prichard explained that this wasn’t the first time the WWE had to adapt their plans during a Royal Rumble match, as during the very first ‘Rumble match they’d forgotten to determine who would eliminate Rick Martel—with said decision being made midway through the matchup, and Martel resultantly lasting longer than initially expected.
What’s next?
Batista is presently one of Hollywood’s top action movie stars, while John Cena is also in the midst of a blossoming Hollywood career.
While Batista has spoken about potentially returning to the WWE, Cena continually wrestles for the WWE on a part-time basis.
Author’s take
Bruce Prichard’s account of the story truly depicts how fast-paced and frenetic the backstage environment often is in the WWE.
Regardless, it’s awesome to hear stories about the business from veteran industry insiders such as Prichard. As for the 2005 Royal Rumble, do you feel Batista winning the match was the right call?
Sound off in the comments below.
