WWE Royal Rumble: 15 Worst Performances in Event History

We are getting close to the 24th annual Royal Rumble event, which takes place on Jan. 30. Over the previous 23 years, there have been many great performances and many more that have failed to impress.

With it being announced that the Royal Rumble match will now feature 40 participants, at least one historically bad performance is bound to occur in 2011.

As we amp up for the biggest Rumble in history, we can take a look back at the awesomely bad moments that we all attempted to forget and, due in part to this article, will not wipe from our minds. You're welcome.

No. 15: Mae Young 2000

We can start this countdown in the most brutal way possible: the image of Mae Young stripping her clothes off. At the 2000 Rumble, Mae Young won the Miss Rumble pageant and then proceeded to attempt to strip her clothes off.

Whether this was meant to be done or something that can be chalked up to elderly senility is anyone's guess.

Based on how quickly people reacted to cover it up makes us believe that this may not have been meant to happen.

No. 14: Kaientai 2000

Was there a more pathetic tag team in the Attitude Era than Kaientai? Taka Michinoku and Funaki were apparently promised spots in the Rumble in 2000, only to be left off.

Instead, we were treated to seeing these two glorified jobbers jump into the ring and attempt to eliminate people.

They were both unsuccessful... twice. Funaki actually was thrown out three times, while Taka did it only twice. This was because Taka suffered a concussion on the second "elimination."

What made it worse was that Jerry "The King" Lawler took so much pride in Taka's injury that he made them show a replay of it while he laughed. Nothing says comedy like blunt trauma to the head.

No. 13: Steiner Brothers 1994

Howard Finkel explained the rules in the 1994 Royal Rumble by including the phrase "no friends, only foes." Someone should have given the memo to The Steiner Brothers.

The Steiner Brothers make the list for attempting to bring a black eye to WWE when they refused to fight each other during the Rumble match.

Scott and Rick Steiner drew No. 1 and 3, respectively, and were scheduled to fight amongst each other, just like many other factions and tag teams have over the years.

In protest of the company and on their way to WCW, the Steiners shocked Vince McMahon on commentary when they did not care to fight one another.

No. 12: Mick Foley 1998

In 1998, Mick Foley seemed determined to win the Royal Rumble. That night, Foley used all three of his alter-egos to try and be the last man standing in the match.

As Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love, in that order, Foley failed to win despite having a 10 percent chance of winning.

It would have been interesting if one of the alter-egos lasted long enough that another one of Foley's entrance spots would have been scheduled, only for nobody to come out.

No. 11: Mark Henry 1998

Within the same Rumble match was Mark Henry, who was a member of the Nation of Domination at that time. Henry was one of the final six men in the match and had lasted over 19 minutes in the ring. So why is he on this list?

Mark Henry was never officially eliminated. After ending up on the apron, Henry attempted to re-enter the ring by going through the ropes.

However, Faarooq hit Henry, which knocked him back through the ropes and out of the ring. Everyone knows that in order to be eliminated, you must go over the top rope. Therefore, Mark Henry was still in technically.

The mistake was good enough for WWE. If you watch it closely enough, you can see Henry want to go back into the action, only to be told by an official to just stay out.

No. 10: Muhammad Hassan 2005

Muhammad Hassan was never really appreciated until he was gone from WWE. While he was still there, he had no shortage of enemies.

When UPN wasn't criticizing him and forcing him out of his contract, he was entering the Royal Rumble and being ganged up on.

Hassan was picked apart by Edge, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Booker T, Shelton Benjamin and Luther Reigns. Normally, you need to be close to seven feet tall and be at least 350 pounds to get that many men after you.

For a guy who was destined to be a world champion, the payoff was taken away from Hassan. His build was like that of Alberto Del Rio today, but the outside politics screwed his character.

No. 9: Giant Gonzalez 1993

The trainwreck that was Giant Gonzalez was born in the 1993 Rumble, when the giant with the skin suit and random hair patches came into the ring to eliminate The Undertaker.

The scary thing is looking at it now and instantly picturing The Great Khali. Let's be honest, people. They were very similar in the way they were booked.

No. 8: Jonathan Coachman 2005

I've never been too fond of non-wrestlers getting involved in the Rumble match, as if they are trying to prove something to all of us.

This was much of the same with Jonathan Coachman, who entered the 2005 Royal Rumble and was out rather quickly after being eliminated by Big Show.

It gave us all a big laugh, especially when you see that Coachman even looks like he tries to hang on and "skin the cat," but can't do it the right way.

Coach is the one laughing now from his sweet gig at ESPN.

No. 7: The Great Khali 2010

Take a seven-foot giant that is a former world champion and is mostly around to be the sole selling point to the country of India.

Now, take all of his scariness away, make him a face, and have him obsessed with kissing mostly ugly women.

Now, let's throw Beth Phoenix into the match to take on the giant and use her womanly powers to make out with him and eliminate him like how Chris Benoit won the Rumble over Big Show... except with making out not being involved.

India must hate Beth Phoenix...

No. 6: Finlay 2008

This one annoyed me because of the attention I always try to pay toward the rules. The Royal Rumble match is classically known as a no disqualification match, yet Finlay was DQ'd in the 2008 Rumble match for coming to the aid of his son, Hornswoggle, with a shillelagh in hand.

The problem was later explained to be that it wasn't the weapon being used but that Finlay entered earlier than the countdown allowed him to. Since we can all see that the countdown hasn't been legitimate in many years, it was a lame cop-out.

In reality, Hornswoggle should have never even been in the Rumble in the first place. While hiding under the ring for most of his time in the match, he ended up with a time of 26:57 and never officially re-entered the match, meaning he was never officially eliminated.

Regardless, his official time is better than all but four entrants: The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, John Morrison and Batista. John Cena, who won the match, lasted almost 18 and a half minutes less than the leprechaun.

No. 5: Shelton Benjamin 2008

Shelton Benjamin had a rather short stay in the Royal Rumble in 2008. Before you could say "ain't no stoppin' me, now," The Gold Standard was out.

Quite literally, Benjamin slid into the ring and leaped up to the top rope, where both The Miz and John Morrison were standing, dazed and confused.

After slamming both of their heads onto the ropes below, he countered a CM Punk kick into Paydirt, only to eat a Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere. Exit stage left.

If your computer lags during videos, you may literally miss it.

No. 4: Daniel Puder 2005

The $1,000,000 Tough Enough winner seemed to show some promise to bring the MMA feel to professional wrestling.

The problem is that Puder was the best fighter in a season that also featured Skip Sheffield and The Miz, but was not the best entertainer.

Not only did Puder enter with the idea that he was going to win the Royal Rumble, but they also gave him a microphone.

After a promo that would make Michael McGillicutty cringe, Puder was assaulted and purposely not thrown over the ropes for a few minutes until he fell out of the ring and, seemingly, out of WWE entirely.

No. 3: Drew Carey 2001

Drew Carey was at the Royal Rumble promoting an improv pay-per-view he was doing.

Instead, he was the only man standing in the ring at one point during a Royal Rumble match, a moment normally only enjoyed by the winners of the match.

The next man in was Kane, who looked at Carey, a native of Ohio, and treated him like fellow Ohio great Pete Rose.

It was the closest WWE ever came to a David Arquette moment.

No. 2: The Warlord 1989

The Warlord lives on forever because of his performance in the 1989 Rumble. After entering the ring, Hulk Hogan eliminates the man. It took literally two seconds to happen.

In the time it took to read the words in this slide, The Warlord has been eliminated seven times.

No. 1: Santino Marella 2009

You had to know that this was going to be the top spot. There are videos out there disputing if Santino Marella was actually eliminated earlier than The Warlord. Does it really matter?

They both get mentioned annually in the Royal Rumble by the numbers segment. Besides, can't The Warlord get remembered for at least one thing?

Marella has been a two-time Intercontinental Champion and is currently one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions.

Meanwhile, guys like Shad Gaspard never hold any gold in WWE and, in the situation of Gaspard, get fired twice? I'd love to understand the thought process behind all of that...