You don't need to win the Royal Rumble to make your name in the match.
WWE's iconic annual event first began in 1988, with Shawn Michaels taking part in every edition from 1989 until 1998. In those 10 years, HBK competed in the Royal Rumble match 6 times, winning it back-to-back in 1995 and 1996.
Appearing on WWE's The Bump, HBK explained how watching Curt Hennig helped him realized the significance of the Royal Rumble.
"I can say this, the first time that I really -- it was watching Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig out there in the Rumble and just everything he did and how he made everything look so spectacular. He didn't win, he never won a Royal Rumble, but he was the first guy that I watched to where I realized, 'Oh my goodness, even in this event with 30 other people, you can become the focal point.' When I saw him do that, that's when I looked at it from a standpoint of 'The Rumble can now be a performance engineered type event where you can really get yourself over in a way that I thought was pretty challenging with 30 other people and so much else going on on the show. But after watching Curt that night it just stuck in my brain forever. It wasn't so much about winning, it was about everything else you did in the duration of the time you were out there," Michaels said.
Elsewhere during the interview, he shared how he was sick prior to his match with Sycho Sid at Royal Rumble 97. Learn more here.
The 2022 WWE Royal Rumble is set to take place next Saturday, January 29. The full card for the event can be seen here.
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