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Introduction
The 2005 Royal Rumble in Fresno was a firm launch of the Ruthless Aggression era. Hailing from Fresno, the match was won by Raw’s Batista who was riding a wave of popularity going into the event, who last eliminated Smackdown’s John Cena. Batista – who was a part of Evolution – went onto Wrestlemania to beat his mentor, Triple H. Cena also had a successful Wrestlemania, winning WWE Smackdown’s top title by ending JBL’s long reign.
Sadly another rumble rarely talked about due to the Benoit tragedy, this match does feature two famous moments that are widely shared. The first was Paul London’s elimination by Gene Snitsky. The second is the ending which was farcical.
Like 1994, both Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time. However, unlike 1994, the match was supposed to end with Batista winning. Irate, Vince McMahon marched to the ring to restart the match. However he managed to tear both his quads getting into the ring, leaving him announce the match restarting from the floor.
30th January, 2005
Fresno, California
Save Mart Center at Fresno State
12,000
- All the rumbling, minus the dancing and singing
53:58
Notable Records
| Record | Individual |
|---|---|
| Winner | Batista |
| Iron Men | Chris Benoit (47:32) |
| Least time in Match | Scotty 2 Hotty (00:00) |
| Most Eliminations | Batista (6) |
| Potential Winners (wrestlers in the ring after last entrant) | 8 (Batista, John Cena, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Christian, Jonathan Coachman) |
| Number of debutants | 10 (Daniel Puder, Kenzo Suzuki, Luther Reigns, Muhammad Hassan, Orlando Jordan, Simon Dean, Jonathan Coachman, Mark Jindrak, Paul London, Gene Snitsky) |
| Last Rumble Appearances | 10 (Eddie Guerrero, Daniel Puder, Kenzo Suzuki, Luther Reigns, Muhammad Hassan, Scotty 2 Hotty, Charlie Haas, René Duprée, Mark Jindrak, Paul London) |
| Average Time in match | 10:42 |
| Number of individuals with at least one elimination | 53.33% |
Did You Know?
- The famous ending of the match, which featured Vince McMahon blowing out his quads, was repeated 18 years later where his son Shane McMahon had a similar injury at Wrestlemania 39. Both incidents took place in California.
- This match was the last appearance on the main roster of the Tough Enough winner – Daniel Puder. The runner up however was Mike Mizanin, who has had a long & successful career as The Miz.
- This is the first year that uses the army-style logo. It was used for 10 years.
- This was the second Royal Rumble to take place in Fresno, with the 1996 Royal Rumble taking place there.
Results
| Number of Entrant | Wrestler Name | Brand | Time of Entry | Time of Elimination | Time in Match | Finishing Position | Eliminations | Eliminated By | Other Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddie Guerrero | Smackdown! | 00:00 | 28:16 | 28:16 | 20 | 3 | Edge | |
| 2 | Chris Benoit | Raw | 00:00 | 47:32 | 47:32 | 6 | 2 | Batista, Ric Flair | |
| 3 | Daniel Puder | Smackdown! | 01:53 | 06:01 | 04:08 | 30 | 0 | Hardcore Holly | |
| 4 | Hardcore Holly | Smackdown! | 04:14 | 06:13 | 01:59 | 29 | 1 | Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero | |
| 5 | The Hurricane | Raw | 06:17 | 07:21 | 01:04 | 28 | 0 | Eddie Guerrero | |
| 6 | Kenzo Suzuki | Smackdown! | 07:56 | 11:28 | 03:32 | 27 | 0 | Rey Mysterio | |
| 7 | Edge | Raw | 09:16 | 49:39 | 40:23 | 3 | 5 | Batista, John Cena | |
| 8 | Rey Mysterio | Smackdown! | 10:51 | 49:19 | 38:28 | 4 | 2 | Edge | |
| 9 | Shelton Benjamin | Raw | 12:18 | 26:55 | 14:37 | 21 | 1 | Edge | |
| 10 | Booker T | Smackdown! | 13:56 | 24:41 | 10:45 | 22 | 3 | Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio | |
| 11 | Chris Jericho | Raw | 15:30 | 43:56 | 28:26 | 10 | 2 | Batista | |
| 12 | Luther Reigns | Smackdown! | 17:09 | 24:22 | 07:13 | 24 | 1 | Booker T | |
| 13 | Muhammad Hassan | Raw | 19:21 | 20:14 | 00:53 | 26 | 0 | Booker T, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Edge, Luther Reigns, Shelton Benjamin | |
| 14 | Orlando Jordan | Smackdown! | 20:50 | 24:26 | 03:36 | 23 | 0 | Booker T | |
| 15 | Scotty 2 Hotty | Smackdown! | 22:05 | 22:05 | 00:00 | 25 | 0 | Unable to Compete | Scotty 2 Hotty was attacked by Muhammad Hassan before entering the ring, and was unable to compete in the match. |
| 16 | Charlie Haas | Smackdown! | 23:57 | 30:18 | 06:21 | 18 | 0 | Shawn Michaels | |
| 17 | René Duprée | Smackdown! | 26:04 | 37:37 | 11:33 | 15 | 0 | Chris Jericho | |
| 18 | Simon Dean | Raw | 28:50 | 29:11 | 00:21 | 19 | 0 | Shawn Michaels | Simon Dean “warmed up” before entering the match, so time was taken from when he first entered the ring. |
| 19 | Shawn Michaels | Raw | 29:02 | 33:58 | 04:56 | 16 | 3 | Kurt Angle | Kurt Angle never left the ringside area after elimination and returned to the match to attack and eliminate Michaels. |
| 20 | Kurt Angle | Smackdown! | 30:39 | 31:16 | 00:37 | 17 | 1 | Shawn Michaels | |
| 21 | Jonathan Coachman | Raw | 32:40 | 46:31 | 13:51 | 8 | 0 | Ric Flair | |
| 22 | Mark Jindrak | Smackdown! | 33:52 | 42:07 | 08:15 | 12 | 0 | Kane | |
| 23 | Viscera | Raw | 36:02 | 39:02 | 03:00 | 14 | 0 | John Cena | |
| 24 | Paul London | Smackdown! | 37:09 | 40:24 | 03:15 | 13 | 0 | Gene Snitsky | |
| 25 | John Cena | Smackdown! | 38:29 | 53:57 | 15:28 | 2 | 3 | Batista | Both Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time. Mr McMahon then entered the ringside area for the match to be restarted. Cena then was eliminated by Batista pretty quickly. |
| 26 | Gene Snitsky | Raw | 39:33 | 43:11 | 03:38 | 11 | 1 | Batista | |
| 27 | Kane | Raw | 41:21 | 45:15 | 03:54 | 9 | 1 | John Cena | |
| 28 | Batista | Raw | 43:03 | 53:58 | 10:55 | 1 | 6 | Winner | Both Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time. Mr McMahon then entered the ringside area for the match to be restarted. Batista then eliminated Cena. |
| 29 | Christian | Raw | 44:45 | 46:55 | 02:10 | 7 | 0 | Batista | |
| 30 | Ric Flair | Raw | 46:06 | 48:06 | 02:00 | 5 | 2 | Edge |
Graphs
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
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