Professional wrestling legend and a former 11 times Tag Team champion in WWE Matt Hardy who is also a former WWE United States champion recently talked about the famous Royal Rumble 2005 botch from Batista and how Vince McMahon reacted to it.
Royal Rumble match of 2005 is pretty iconic for a number of reasons. The first and the biggest reason was the rise of two of the biggest upcoming faces of WWE, Batista and John Cena. John Cena was the runner up of the Royal Rumble match and Batista won the match.
Matt Hardy Remembers Vince McMahon’s Reaction To Royal Rumble 2005 Botch
Both of the stars went on to win the World Championships of WWE at WrestleMania 21. John Cena defeated JBL to win the WWE championship where Batista went on to beat Triple H to win the World Heavyweight Championship. This was the first rise of these biggest faces of WWE.
But the Royal Rumble match of 2005 is famous for two more different things. The first thing was the botch by Batista. He was supposed to carry John Cena on his shoulders and hit him on the four turnbuckles. But he accidentally fell down from the ring while holding John Cena on his shoulders.
The officials came out to handle the situation. Even Vince McMahon came out to see what was happening. While entering the ring, he hurt himself which was also a big botch. He received a leg injury which kept him in pain for months. Both botches where funny yet memorable.
The next plan was the duo starting the Royal Rumble match as the final two remaining competitors, where Batista finally throws off John Cena from the ring to win the Rumble match. Batista went on to win the world heavyweight championship at WrestleMania 21 after that.
Matt Hardy who is also a former WWE United States champion recently spoke on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy Podcast where he talked about the famous Royal Rumble 2005 botch from Batista and how Vince McMahon reacted to it. He said;
“I was like ‘What the f*** was that?’ What is going on? Vince got so furious, so hot, as only Vince McMahon could. They made people leave, so they took Vince out of there. He didn’t want anyone to see him weak, and that’s very much how it was. He wouldn’t let anyone see him for weeks if he couldn’t walk. It was a chaotic situation.”
Quotes via Wrestling Inc