7 Things You Should Know About WWE Royal Rumble 2006

4. Triple H Was The Original Choice For Rumble Match Winner

Triple H was one of the favorites to win the 2006 Rumble. He was a heel at the time and like usual, he was always a threat to win either of the main titles. Since he was pushed as much as anybody, most people figured he was going to win.

According to former WWE writer Court Bauer, Hunter was booked to win the Rumble until it was changed about ten days before the match.

Here’s how Bauer explained it: “It came down to Hunter or Rey winning and obviously most people were pushing for Hunter. Very few people were pushing for Rey, but the right guy was able to push that through and get it into the end zone, and that guy was Pat Patterson. Pat Patterson, Bruce Prichard and myself obviously wanted Rey to win. Pat had the most influence because he’s Pat Patterson, and [he] really was the most influential in getting that decision and getting Rey over… But that was something that came down to the last ten days.”

Looking back at it, they made the right call by not having Hunter win. He won enough things in his career. Instead of winning, Triple H lasted 60:09, which is the longest time for anybody that didn’t win a Rumble match.

Hunter still went on to headline WrestleMania 22 against John Cena, so deciding on the winner ultimately meant very little since Hunter was in the bigger WrestleMania match.