WWE are looking to create history with next year’s Royal Rumble pay per view. With the recent announcement that the pay per view will be returning to the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, WWE is looking to break the attendance record for the event.
The Alamodome has a seating capacity of about 65,000 and the WWE needs big names on the card to push the ticket sales to the sky. It is now being rumored that WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will be present at the event in some capacity. It is interesting to note that Shawn Michaels won the WWE Championship from Sycho Sid at the same venue twenty years ago, at the Royal Rumble.
Another name being talked about is Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold can light up a ring be it when he laces his boots for action or with the mic. He was also present at WrestleMania earlier this year with Michaels and Mick Foley by his side. But the downside to this is that Stone Cold had hurt himself at WrestleMania and WWE wouldn’t want him to be involved in anything too physical.
Stone Cold had also made an impact, the last time the event was held at the Alamodome. He was in the Royal Rumble match and was eliminated, but took advantage of the referees not seeing his elimination and entered the match again at number 30 to win the Rumble by eliminating Bret Hart.
This was Austin’s first victory in the Royal Rumble match and he would go on to win the Royal Rumble match two more times to become the only man to win it thrice.
Given that both Austin and Michaels are from Texas, their presence at the event would surely boost attendance. It is safe to assume that they will be present in a non-wrestling capacity, like a special enforcer, guest referee for some top match or as the host of the event.
The Undertaker is another Texas native whose presence could see ticket sales shoot up, but there are some complications regarding his return. The last thing was rumoured to have said was that he was done with wrestling for good and his match with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 32 was his last. So the chances of Taker being used the event’s promotion are slim to none.
WWE will go all out to make Royal Rumble a grand success. After all, it is one of the biggest events of the year and officially kicks off the ‘Road to WrestleMania’. The dual brand pay per view will emanate from San Antonio, Texas on January 29.
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