The Royal Rumble is a match presented by the WWE (formerly known as World Wrestling Entertainment) that features a number of wrestlers struggling to be the last man standing (or women, in this case). The match was first introduced as part of the company’s flagship program, Monday Night RAW, back in January 1999. In the 23 years since its premiere, the Royal Rumble has grown in popularity and is considered one of the biggest events of the year. In fact, the last time the match was not featured on an episode of RAW was January 2018.
The event is named after the Royal Rumble match that took place at the 1977 edition of the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) pay-per-view (PPV) event, Royal Rumble. In that match, wrestler Tommy Gunn was the last man standing after 74 exhausting minutes of continuous fighting. The match was named after Gunn’s famous wrestling move, the Royal Rumble. The 1977 event also introduced a brand new addition to the Royal Rumble match: the tag team match. Before then, the match had always been a singles competition.
The 2000 edition of the annual Royal Rumble was one of the most exciting in history. It was the last time that the match was held in front of a live audience, as well as the final pay-per-view of the millennium. While the event has been met with some controversy regarding how the match was settled, several exciting matches and finishes made up for this. Many believe that WrestleMania XV was the best installment of the Royal Rumble yet.
Biggest Winners and Losers From the 2000 Rumble
It’s always interesting to watch the reactions of the betting public (sportsbooks) to major events, as they can provide a hint as to the actual outcome of a contest. The odds for the match, as compiled by several bookmakers, are listed below. These were released promptly after the match and may change, as public perception of the winner can change almost immediately after the fact.
- Women’s Royal Rumble winner: AJ Lee (AJ) – 18/1
- Royal Rumble winner: The Rock (SR) – 4/1
- WWE Championship winner (cousin of The Rock): John Cena (JCF) – 8/1
- Triple H (HHH) – 12/1
- WWE Hall of Fame (class of 2019) winner: Shawn Michaels (SMH) – 16/1
- Andre the Giant Memorial Prize winner: Bubba the Dog (BBT) – 18/1
- WWE Vintage winner: The Ultimate Warrior (TWF) – 28/1
- Royal Rumble loser: Stone Cold Steve Austin (STX) – 33/1
- Edge (EDG) – 35/1
- WWE Hall of Fame (class of 2020) loser: The Ultimate Warrior (TWF) – 40/1
- Royal Rumble consolation prize (someone had to lose): Mick Foley (MFL) – 60/1
- Survivor Series 2000 winner: Lita (LIT) – 80/1
Who Would You Rather See Win the 2000 Royal Rumble?
While it is always interesting to see which sportsbooks reacted first to a particular event, sometimes we’re more interested in the public’s perception of a winner or loser. This can provide an idea of the actual outcome of a contest. In the case of the 2000 Royal Rumble, for example, even though AJ won the actual match, she was perceived by many, including the sportsbooks, as the clear loser of the event.
If you had to choose between Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Ultimate Warrior to win the 2000 Royal Rumble, which one do you think would get more popular support? Austin won the match, but the public overwhelmingly supported the winner of the previous year’s Rumble, The Ultimate Warrior. This could be attributed to two factors: (1) Austin was relatively unknown at the time, while The Ultimate Warrior had been one of the most popular wrestlers in the ring for a decade; and (2) many fans felt that the streak The Ultimate Warrior had been on, winning every pay-per-view event starting with the 1999 Royal Rumble, was over.
Interestingly, had the 2000 edition of the Rumble been held six months later, i.e., after the September 11th attacks, it’s likely that the public’s perception of Austin would have risen significantly, considering that he was the first major superstar to emerge from the WWE’s own Austin, Texas. But as the saying goes, tragedy plus time equals comedy.
One should also remember that, in addition to the live audience that got to see the final matches on pay-per-view, millions more watched on WWF TV worldwide. So, even if one didn’t necessarily “like” the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble after the fact, one would have had to acknowledge that they were, in fact, the winner.