#7: Royal Rumble 2001
Winner: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Nearing the end of the Attitude Era, this was still one of the more chaotic Rumble matches. It seperated itself from the pack immediately by included its first ever celebrity guest contestant, Drew Carey. ECW alumni Raven, Perry Saturn and Al Snow brought with them an abundance of foreign objects, which only escalated when Steve Blackman brought a bag full of kendo sticks with him to the ring.
Following the madness of the Rumble’s first segment, the “Big Red Machine” Kane went on a rampage, eliminating seven men in a row before coming face-to-face with The Rock. The 500-pound Big Show then added to the unusual amount of violence in this Rumble, taking Rock from the ring and chokeslamming him through the announce table, taking him out of action for the next ten minutes. The remainder of the contest was an epic partnership between the Brothers of Destruction, a viscious brawl between Steve Austin and Triple H that took them around the arena, and an all-out sprint to the finish line between some of the greatest stars in history. Jim Ross put the icing on the cake with his now-famous exclamation, “Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold is going to WrestleMania!”
