5 Royal Rumbles that happened on WWE RAW or SmackDown
Royal Rumble is always the most exciting pay-per-view on the WWE calendar, with anticipation building for the titular match. As a concept, it is simple yet so effective. It is an annual tradition to have a Royal Rumble Match - two now - at the end of January to set the stage for WrestleMania in two months.
However, there have been a few matches born out of the Royal Rumble concept that happened on free TV. Aside from Royal Rumble events and Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, WWE has booked five unconventional Rumble matches on RAW or SmackDown.
A lot of them were made in relation to that year's Royal Rumble Match, either as part of the build to it or in its aftermath. There have also been several non-televised Royal Rumbles that happened at house shows, but this list will focus on those Rumble matches that took place on normal episodes of WWE.
Here are five Royal Rumbles that happened on RAW or SmackDown.
#5 Tag Team Royal Rumble won by Kane and Mankind (WWF RAW 15/6/1998)
The only match on this list not to be based around that year's Royal Rumble Match in January, this number one contender's tag team Royal Rumble. It was an express version of the Rumble, with teams entering in 30-second intervals and only one member of each team needing to be eliminated.
This match included such 'staple' tag teams like LOD 2000, The Headbangers, and The Disciples of Apocalypse. However, it was the Kane and Mankind show. They entered first and dominated their way through the field, last eliminating Terry Funk and 2 Cold Scorpio.
As a result, the masked pair earned a WWE Tag Team Championship match against The New Age Outlaws. This match came directly before their Hell in a Cell challenge against 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Undertaker, as it was during the build to the infamous King of the Ring 1998 pay-per-view.
That show proved to be quite a memorable night for both Kane and Mankind, for very different reasons. One won his only WWE Championship, while the other nearly fell to his death. As for the title shot they earned by winning the tag team Royal Rumble, Kane and Mankind became Tag Team Champions in July 1998.