Retro Wednesday: A Record-Breaking Royal Rumble

The 2001 Royal Rumble match was indeed one for the record books. During this time, Kurt Angle was the number one guy in the company, feuding with Triple H for the WWE Championship. Angle was set to main event WrestleMania 17 against the Royal Rumble winner if he could get past the cerebral assassin.

The match itself saw two records being broken. Putting Drew Carey's appearance aside, both Kane and Steve Austin put on valiant performances by eliminating 11 superstars (still the most single match eliminations in Royal Rumble history) and winning three Royal Rumble matches (still the most total wins in Royal Rumble history), respectively. Austin went on to face the Rock, who defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship at No Way Out, at arguably the greatest WrestleMania of the entire series.

Some interesting facts regarding the 2001 Royal Rumble match
- R-Truth appeared in the match as K-Kwik
- Kane lasted the longest in the match at 53:46; The Rock was second at 38:42
- Tazz lasted the shortest amount of time at just 10 seconds. The Goodfather had the second shortest amount of time at 14 seconds
- Current WWE Hall of Famers that competed in the match were Faarooq, Drew Carey, and Steve Austin
- R-Truth is the only wrestler who is also competing in the 2014 Royal Rumble match; 2001 Royal Rumble participants Billy Gunn and Big Show are competing at the pre-show match and a singles match at the PPV, respectively

Many people throughout discussions and commentary name the 2001 Royal Rumble match as the greatest ever. Personally, I give that award to the '92 Rumble match.

What do you believe is the greatest Royal Rumble match of all time? Sound off below.

Author's Link: Batista's return falling flat, Kofi Kingston in the main event, Royal Rumble: 2011-13, Rumble '14 predictions