10 Greatest Iron Man Performances In Royal Rumble History | partsFUNknown - video Dailymotion

WrestleTalk

10 Greatest Iron Man Performances In Royal Rumble History | partsFUNknown You don't need a metal suit to be an Iron Man, you just need some time in the Royal Rumble match. These are the 10 greatest Iron Man performances in Royal Rumble history.  00:00 - Start 01:06 - 10 02:01 - 9 02:59 - 8 03:42 - 7 04:39 - 6 05:30 - 5 06:23 - 4 07:27 - 3 08:29 - 2 09:32 - 1  SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/ Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/ Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/

Transcript

00:00 What makes a good Iron Man performance? Well, ideally they should be conventionally handsome,

00:05 ideally with a slightly dark past to reflect the character's own demons,

00:08 look good in both a tailored suit and CGI suit, they should be able to do a lot of good close-up

00:13 face acting, a lot of shots from inside the helmet, and yeah, I'm bored of this bit too.

00:16 A Royal Rumble Iron Man is a yearly tradition, someone who sticks around from the start of the

00:20 Rumble and lasts roughly until the very end, someone around whom you can build a bunch of spots,

00:26 someone who provides the match with a spine, a sense of structure or identity,

00:30 an Iron Man would always win the match, but it's definitely a role only given to a select,

00:34 trusted few, someone the company believes can carry the biggest match of the year on their back.

00:41 I'm Adam Hailing from PartsFarKnown, and here are 10 Greatest Iron Man Performances

00:46 in Royal Rumble History. And while you're here, if you'd like to keep up with our very stupid

00:51 wrestling content like Survival Series, some more of these lists, my booking videos, make sure you

00:56 subscribe to PartsFarKnown, and you turn on your notifications, it really matters, it really does.

01:02 So, new year, new you, new sub.

01:05 Number 10, Shawn Michaels 1995. I mean, this immediately feels like it's breaking the rules

01:10 of this video, after all, in almost any other Rumble, an Iron Man is defined by lasting

01:14 about an hour in the ring, that's what Iron Man means in a wrestling sense, and everyone else on

01:19 this list clocks in around that 50 minute to an hour mark, with a capital mark, because it's

01:24 wrestling reference. Shawn Michaels' run in the 1995 Royal Rumble was 38 minutes long. This is

01:29 because WWE, perhaps they were concerned about someone going from number one all the way to the

01:34 end for the very first time, changed the Rumble format so that someone entered the match every

01:38 60 seconds, every f***ing minute, Jesus Christ. Still, even though it's a horribly rushed Rumble,

01:46 and the Rumble contained the Harris Brothers, who were literal Nazis, it's still an iconic

01:50 performance from HBK here, once synonymous with heroic endurance, overcoming the odds,

01:55 and Herculean task, which is what Iron Man performances are supposed to be, even in a

02:00 wet fart Rumble match. Number nine, Sasha Banks 2018. Of course, it had to be Sasha,

02:05 the woman now known as Mercedes Manet, and currently blue balling AEW fans, did everything

02:11 first for women in WWE in the 2010s. First NXT main event, first Iron Woman match, first Hell

02:17 in a Cell, first pay-per-view main event, so naturally when it came time for the first ever

02:22 Women's Rumble, Sasha came out first, and was the first Iron Woman in Rumble history. Of course,

02:27 she was. Made a lot of the Rumble seem more cohesive, too. The first Women's Rumble was a

02:31 bit scattershot, not enough main roster women to fill it out, a lot of nostalgia returned,

02:35 but Sasha's hour-long run throughout kept things grounded, mixing it up with pretty much everyone

02:40 who stepped through the curtain. Helps that Sasha's so good, she's a dream match machine as

02:43 well. Sasha versus Lita, check. Sasha versus Trish, check. Seeing your old favorites fight

02:49 with your new favorite just kept the hype machine rolling throughout the Women's Rumble 2018,

02:53 and speaks to why an Iron Man performance is so important. They keep things from falling apart.

02:59 Number eight, Chris Benoit 2004. The redacted Rumble is fairly underrated. There's a few

03:04 lovely little bits in it that you'll never see in a Rumble recap package. The Randy Orton/McFoley

03:08 stuff, the Goldberg stuff. The reason why you won't see it, because there's a chance you'll

03:12 catch the number one entrant in the background. Iron Man and Rumble match winner, Chris Benoit.

03:18 Honestly, the performance completely makes the Rumble as well. Benoit has the most eliminations

03:21 throughout. His cardio's insane, so he's always around to get involved in spots. His performances

03:26 are beating hard, the whole thing, and if he removed it, the Rumble would have been nowhere

03:29 near as good as it was. Just considering everything, it's a hard thing to go back and

03:32 rewatch. Knowing that the hell that Chris Benoit would regularly put his body and brain through

03:36 was such a contributing factor to what ended up happening. Objectively, though, it is a standard

03:40 bearer Iron Man performance. Number seven, Chris Jericho 2013, 2016, and 2017. Three years. Three

03:48 separate goddamn years Chris Jericho's turned in an Iron Man performance at the Rumble. Bloody

03:53 hell, he did it in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017. In 2013, Chris Jericho came in number two

03:58 and lasted for 47 minutes alongside co-Iron Man Dolph Ziggler. In 2016, he entered number six and

04:04 lasted 50 minutes. In 2017, he entered number two and lasted over one hour. Bloody hell, Chris,

04:10 you're not here for a good time, you're here for a long time. He may never have won a Rumble in his

04:14 WWE career, which is bonkers considering a natural WWE title match at WrestleMania in 20 bloody 12,

04:22 but he does at least have one record to his name. Longest total time in the ring,

04:27 almost five hours ring time across 11 Royal Rumble matches. That's silly, Chris Jericho.

04:33 Why are you so silly? Did Fozzie drive you insane? I'm guessing they did by the tattoos

04:38 you've chosen to get. Number six, Edge and Bianca Belair 2021. God, the 2021 Rumbles were weird.

04:44 Like, neither of them were bad. From an objective standpoint, as Rumbles, they were both structured

04:48 fine, were stacked with talent, had lots of fun moments, love you forever, Christian, but also

04:52 took place in the Thunderdome, which is to the enjoyment of a wrestling match as a mousetrap is

04:56 to the enjoyment of a christening. It's weird, certainly interesting, but ultimately puts a

05:00 dampener on things. Also, a bit of a weird thing about 2021, both Rumbles were won by the person

05:05 putting in the Iron Man performance. Odd bit of double booking there. Bianca Belair won it from

05:09 number three, clocking in 57 minutes. Edge won it from number one, clocking in at 58 minutes,

05:14 a star-making turn for Bianca and a you-still-got-it turn for Edge, although it is worth

05:19 pointing out that Bianca's hair looked a lot better than Edge's by the end of the Rumble. Bloody hell.

05:23 Two really impressive performances in a pair of impressive Rumbles that would be much more

05:26 beloved in fan memory if it wasn't for that stupid bloody plague. Number five, Rey Mysterio, 2006. It

05:32 is very funny that everyone constantly talks about Rey Mysterio's admittedly very good indeed

05:37 performance in the 2006 Royal Rumble, lasting one hour and two minutes, and everyone ignores it in

05:42 the same Rumble, Triple H lasts one hour, even eliminating six dudes, same as Rey Rey. But no,

05:47 Mysterio got the record and the acclaim, and that is objectively hilarious considering Triple H

05:52 and the whole ruthless aggression, you know, reign of terror. Regardless of that fun fact,

05:57 this is a brilliant showcase for Rey Mysterio, like Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit perform

06:02 exactly the kind of performance needed to cement a wrestler's promotion from the upper mid-card to

06:06 the main event scene. Rey Mysterio is the heart and soul of this year's Rumble, with extra emotional

06:11 weight owing to him dedicating the match to the recently passed Eddie Guerrero. His time in the

06:15 ring was record-setting and for over a decade stood as the longest individual time in a Royal Rumble,

06:21 that is until... Number 4. Daniel Bryan - Greatest Royal Rumble

06:26 Look, if Tempest is going to count it on Survival Series, and hey, you should watch that video by

06:29 the way, it's bloody brilliant, then I have to count it here. The Greatest Royal Rumble,

06:33 aka when the Saudi Royal Family bought themselves a Rumble and tricked it out with 20 extra wrestlers,

06:38 that's exactly what makes a Royal Rumble great, it's how many f***ing more mid-carders and

06:41 Hiroki Sumis you can cram into the f***er. Honestly, the Rumble is fairly crap, but there

06:47 is no denying that certain furry friend goes above and beyond to try and make the whole thing work,

06:51 with Daniel Bryan entering at number 1 and being in the Rumble for 1 hour and 16 minutes. F***ing

07:00 hell. And he left half his ribcage in the ring, quite literally bloody hell Daniel. Like Y2J,

07:06 Bryan has criminally never won a Rumble, but at least has a record to his name, because I don't

07:10 think anyone's breaking this one any time soon. At some point, quantity has a certain quality of

07:16 its very own, and it may be a tainted Rumble with a capital Taint, but what a superhero performance

07:20 from the best to ever do it. An hour and 16 minutes. That's too long.

07:26 Steve Austin, 1997

07:29 One of the best things about the Royal Rumble is it gives people a chance to make a name for

07:33 themselves, a statement, a chance for WWE to say to its fans, "Hey, we're pretty sure this is the

07:38 guy." Thoughts? Sometimes, when that guy is Roman Reigns, the response is a polite "f*** off and

07:44 die." But in 1997, when it was Stone Cold Steve Austin, the fans responded, "Yes, that'll do

07:49 nicely." Austin's star had been rising for a while in '96 with his Stone Cold persona, an excellent

07:54 match at Survivor Series against Bret Hart, but the '97 Rumble is what truly made him, and he

07:58 bloody worked for it too. He arrived at number 5, lasted 45 minutes, eliminated 10 people,

08:04 tying Hogan's record at the time, but most importantly, there were multiple points throughout

08:08 the match where Austin eliminated the entire field and was left alone in the ring, a pure and

08:15 perfect spotlight on him, with WWE screaming in all caps, "This is the guy!" The whole Austin

08:21 sitting on the turnbuckle looking at his watch gimmick was brilliant, and brought back five

08:25 years later, almost to the day, with Austin's performance in the 2002 Rumble.

08:29 Number 2, Ric Flair, 1992

08:32 God, the '92 Rumble's good. That's really good, though, in a way that you imagine it might not

08:36 be, considering, you know, it's old and that, but no, watch it again, it still hums. One of the big

08:41 reasons why is because of the stakes in the match. The WWE Championship is on the line for the first

08:46 time ever, and as such, the field of competitors is potentially the most stacked it's ever been.

08:51 Flair, Hogan, Justice, Undertaker, DBRC, Piper, Roberts, any of these guys could have conceivably

08:56 walked out with the title, but of course, it had to be Flair. How else were we going to get

09:01 Hogan vs. Flair at WrestleMania 8? Oh, f***ing wait a minute, it's an absolutely iconic Rumble

09:06 performance from so many angles. First time an Iron Man had won it, lasting over an hour as well,

09:11 the whole 'not fair to Flair' narrative being constantly pushed by Bobby Heenan, having an

09:15 all-time great showing on commentary, the post-match promo, it feels like the whole match

09:19 was built around Flair because it was, which combined with the unique stakes, technically,

09:25 probably, makes it the best Iron Man performance in Rumble history. It's just not my favourite,

09:31 that would be... Number 1. Kane, 2001. Oh, f*** yeah. I mean, it's my favourite Royal Rumble,

09:37 the first time I properly stayed up late to record it, then run home from school the next day to

09:42 watch it without knowing who'd win, magical little Rumble for me, and this match is one of the reasons

09:46 that I loved Kane so much. What a showcase for the big red machine, arrives in an all-time great

09:51 comedy spot that in no way diminishes Kane's aura, got the hardcore championship segment,

09:56 Kanan clears the whole ring, honky-tonk man comedy spot, amazing, Kane versus The Rock,

10:02 Undertaker arrives and the Brothers of Destruction clear the ring again, poor Scotty, then Kane's

10:07 part of the final two, the entire time he is in the Rumble, all 53 minutes, he is just built up

10:14 and up as his unstoppable final boss, setting an elimination record that would stand for over

10:19 a decade. WWE like to hype up their supernatural monsters with a lot of smoke and mirrors,

10:24 but in the 2001 Royal Rumble, they truly made one right there, right in front of our eyes,

10:31 and it was beautiful.

10:33 Rumble, Rumble, man, I want to be a Rumble man, look everyone forget last year,

10:40 the Rumble's the best time of the rest in calendar year, and why do we love it so much?

10:44 For all the lovely surprises, returns from injury, calls up from NXT, beloved nostalgia

10:50 pops, all the fun of the fair, anyway, shut the hell up.

10 Greatest Iron Man Performances In Royal Rumble History | partsFUNknown

Category

Transcript

Recommended