If you’re a long-time reader of columns on this very site, you might know all about the “Curse Of The #14” in Royal Rumble history.
Way, way, way back in the day, the original column about the curse was written by LoP legend, sheepster. He wrote the column, but he didn’t follow up on it the next year. I’m not sure if I had started writing daily columns yet, or if I was “only” putting out six or seven a month, but I was always looking for more content to add to my arsenal. Since sheepster seemed to have no desire to follow up on the Rumble Curse column, I messaged him and asked if I could write about it. He gave me his blessing, and I wrote about the Curse on a regular basis for years, even taking the idea with me to other sites once I left LoP. I had to mention sheepster because I want to make sure he gets his proverbial flowers for coming up with the idea. Because I’ve written about it so often, the idea is often attributed to me, but he merely passed the baton to me and I’ve been running with it ever since.
If you’re new around these parts, or have otherwise missed any of the columns written through the years, the idea is that the #14 spot in the Royal Rumble is cursed. Many of the men who have entered the Rumble in the #14 spot through the years have gone on to suffer from wide ranging issues, and usually not too long after their #14 spot took place. There are personal issues, professional issues, and physical issues ranging from minor surgeries to passing away at an early age. When you look at the entirety of the Curse, it really is breathtaking to see how often it has struck over the years.
It has been a few years since I did one of these, so I figured I’d go back and give some updates. Let’s take a look back at the history of the #14 spot in the Royal Rumble together, shall we?
“Outlaw” Ron Bass (1988): The veteran was already pushing 40 when the first Royal Rumble aired, but his body was really starting to break down on him here. He floated around on the WWF midcard aimlessly for a while before losing his hair in a Hair vs Hair Match against Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake a year later, and was out of the company soon thereafter. After retiring from the business in 1991, he stayed out of the spotlight until 2016, when he was named in a lawsuit filed against WWE that accused the company of hiding the risks of brain injuries over the years. He would pass away in 2017, at the age of 68, due to complications following surgery after a burst appendix. In a postmortem report given by his family, it was revealed that he was suffering from Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which was become a term that almost every sports fan knows by now. Unfortunately, the lawsuit that Bass was a part of had already been thrown out of court by this point. Passing away at the age of 68 can hardly be used as evidence of a “curse” here, but things were still pretty downhill for him after the 1988 Rumble.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Marty Jannetty (1989): As part of The Rockers, Jannetty looked like one of the hottest young talents in all of wrestling at one point. In December 1990, The Rockers were competing in a tag team match against enhancement talent. Jannetty would perform his Rocker Dropper finisher on a man named Charles Austin, but Austin tucked his head when he shouldn’t have, breaking his neck instantly upon impact with the mat. Austin would go on to sue Jannetty and the WWF, going on to win $27 million in a settlement. About one year later, Jannetty was thrown through a glass window by Shawn Michaels, officially ending their team. There were plenty of people who thought Jannetty would go on to become a singles star after the split, but it just never happened. Not only would Jannetty fail to become a singles star, but he had to sit back and watch Michaels become one of the biggest names in the history of pro wrestling. A few months after the split, Marty would be released from the company after being arrested for attacking a police officer. He would make multiple returns to the company, but nothing would stick, and he was always battling drug, alcohol, and legal issues along the way. If you want to know his real legacy, you can look no further than the fact that we’re almost 30 years removed from The Rockers breaking up, and when a tag team wrestler today is referred to as the “Marty Jannetty” of the duo, everyone knows exactly what that means.
The Verdict: Cursed
Haku (1990): Perhaps the toughest man to ever step foot in a wrestling ring, Haku came into 1990 riding some success with the WWF. He was one of the first “Kings” for the company, and was one-half (with Andre The Giant) of the WWF Tag Team Champions at the time of the 1990 Royal Rumble. Within two months of being the 14th entrant in the Rumble, he and Andre would drop their titles. Within a couple months of that, Haku was dropping matches at the beginning of house shows and never came close to regaining the same level of success he once had. I’m still not going to say he was cursed, though, mainly because I don’t want the man to come find me and bite the tip of my nose off. Let’s move on.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
The British Bulldog (1991): Well, it didn’t start off looking like he would be cursed. He moved up the ranks, making his way to the main event of the following year’s SummerSlam event in his home country of England. In one of the most memorable matches in WWF history, he would defeat Bret “The Hitman” Hart that night to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Three months later, everything came crashing down for him, as he would be released from the company after being caught receiving shipments of Human Growth Hormone. He would then go on to have a brief stint in WCW that would be cut short after an altercation at a bar led to a lawsuit against him and the company, forcing them to release him. A return to the WWF in 1994 looked like a great decision. He nearly won the 1995 Royal Rumble, and a heel turn later in the year would lead to some main event play and some WWF Championship matches. He would then become a member of The Hart Foundation in their feud with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, but he would leave the WWF in the aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997. After a quick bounce back in WCW, he would suffer a knee injury that sidelined him for a bit, but another injury that took place a few months later was far more severe. During a match at Fall Brawl 1998, he would take two separate bumps on a trapdoor that had been set up under the ring canvas so that The Warrior could use it for his entrance in the show’s main event. The bumps led to a spinal infection that would nearly paralyze him and had him in a hospital for six months. He would be released from his WCW contract while he was out, but the injuries he suffered led him to become addicted to morphine and painkillers. He would enter rehab for his addictions during yet another stint with the WWF, but that return didn’t lead to much. On May 18th, 2002, he would suffer a heart attack and die at the age of 39. Years worth of steroids and drug addictions likely played a role in his death.
The Verdict: Cursed
Hercules (1992): Within a couple months of his appearance in the 1992 Rumble, Hercules was gone from the company. He landed in WCW, wrestling as Super Invader, but only had three televised matches for the company before he was no longer working there, either. He had some brief success in New Japan Pro Wrestling after that, teaming with Scott Norton to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles, but that was it. He would work for various independent promotions until retiring from the ring in 1999. On March 6th, 2004, Hercules would pass away in his sleep at the age of 47. He had been dealing with heart disease before his death, with his heart also weakened by years of steroid use. Unfortunately, he is another sad statistic from a bygone era where drug use was rampant.
The Verdict: Cursed
The Berzerker (1993): Another quick exit, he was gone from the WWF within weeks of the 1993 Rumble. He would eventually work for WCW, and then bounced around to different promotions around the world, all without a ton of success. After retiring from the ring, he has had a ton of legal issues, including seven DUI arrests and 16 overall arrests for various misdemeanors and felonies. He was also a part of the same lawsuit that Ron Bass was involved in, and most recently, only avoided prison time for some of those arrests because he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease/motor neurone disease) and will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. A pretty sad post-wrestling life for multiple reasons.
The Verdict: Cursed
Doink The Clown (1994): During this time in the WWF, Vince McMahon apparently wasn’t paying his wrestlers very much money, because it seems like half his roster needed a day job to make ends meet. Doink was a clown, but there was also a garbage man, a plumber, a race car driver, a repo man, a hockey player, and more on the roster. A wrestling clown shouldn’t have worked, but the man behind the face paint, Matt Osborne, made it work because of his dedication to the gimmick. Unfortunately, Osborne would be fired in late-1993 for multiple drug offenses. The Doink gimmick would then be given to a wrestler named Ray Apollo, but things weren’t the same. Apollo wasn’t the wrestler Osborne was, nor did he have the same mastery of the gimmick. The gimmick itself became nothing more than a joke (go figure) under Apollo’s watch. All I’ll say about that is Doink, Dink, Wink, and Pink vs Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queazy, and Cheezy. Look it up if you don’t know what that’s referring to. Several men would portray Doink through the years, but nothing really happened with any of it. Although Osborne wasn’t Doink during the 1994 Rumble, an added note to this topic came on June 28th, 2013, when he would pass away at the age of 55 from an accidental drug overdose. Call it a “cheap” connection if you want, but it’s still an early wrestling death tied in to someone who was in the 14th spot during a Rumble.
The Verdict: Cursed
Jacob Blu (1995): While Jacob and his twin brother, Eli, would leave the WWF by the end of 1995, that’s about it for him as far as being cursed. The brothers would go on to wrestle for damn near everyone, from ECW (The Bruise Brothers) to WCW (Creative Control/The Harris Brothers) to TNA (The Harris Brothers), but they were perhaps best known for their second stint with the WWF. That’s when Jacob Blu became Skull, and Eli Blu became 8-Ball, and they were members of the Disciples Of Apocalypse stable. They even won the WCW Tag Team Titles on three different occasions. A perfectly acceptable career that lasted a long time.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Doug Gilbert (1996): The younger brother of “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, Doug Gilbert was a relative unknown to most of the viewers of the 1996 Royal Rumble. Surprise entrants weren’t as popular back then as they are now, and when someone was a surprise, it was usually an international star like Mil Mascaras, Carlos Colon, or Genichiro Tenryu, who were used to build excitement for the event in other countries. Gilbert lasted a shade under three minutes in the match, meaning that before people could even wrap their head around who the hell he was, he was gone. When I say he was gone, I mean he was GONE. Not only was he out of the Rumble, that would be his only appearance for the WWF. He would then go on to have his most infamous career moment in 1999, working for a promotion called Power Pro Wrestling. In an unscripted shoot promo, he started off by saying that Brian Christopher (best known as Grandmaster Sexay in the WWF) was only successful in the business because he was Jerry “The King” Lawler’s son. That was one of wrestling’s worst kept secrets, but it was still something that wasn’t mentioned in storylines or on television. Gilbert then said that company promoter Randy Hales couldn’t have his mic cut during the promo because Hales was probably too busy smoking crack in the control room. He closed things out by saying Jerry Lawler “raped a 13-year-old girl” recently. That was an actual charge Lawler was facing at the time before the accuser recanted her story. Needless to say, PPW fired Gilbert immediately, and they would be out of business themselves soon thereafter. That’s quite the post-Rumble career.
The Verdict: Cursed
Goldust (1997): The most memorable part of Goldust’s 1997 was that he was in the middle of feuding with Brian Pillman when Pillman passed away. From there, his time with the WWF/WWE has been a roller coaster. He’s had successes in the ring, including title victories as a singles and as a tag team wrestler. He’s also had failures, including being fired by WWE in 2006 after no-showing an appearance. His personal life has also seen some problems, going through two divorces and a serious drug addiction issue in the years after this Rumble appearance. He looked like a future main event player in 1996, but never got that far up the card for the company again after 1997. Some would say he could be listed in the “Cursed” category, but I think the last few years have seen him bounce back quite nicely. Now drug and alcohol free, he has had a prominent role for AEW pretty much from the company’s start. He’s going to be 52 years old soon, but he’s in great shape and is putting on some very good work. I think that has saved him from being labeled with the “Cursed” tag.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Ken Shamrock (1998): This is a weird one, because it’s basically split into two different arguments, representing two different careers for Shamrock. As a pro wrestler, Shamrock saw a lot of success after this Royal Rumble appearance. He would win the 1998 King Of The Ring tournament, followed by winning the Intercontinental Title in October 1998 and the World Tag Team Titles (with The Big Boss Man) in December 1998. After leaving the WWF in late-1999, he resurfaced on the very first TNA pay-per-view, winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. As an MMA fighter, things were different. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, Shamrock had a 23-5-2 record as a pro fighter, and was widely regarded as one of the most dangerous men in the history of MMA. His record after returning to MMA was 5-12, and he did great damage to his legacy by fighting into his 50’s and suffering some bad losses. Honestly, I wouldn’t argue with you if you wanted to give him the “Cursed” label for what happened to him in MMA, but I think his pro wrestling successes outweighed that.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Kurrgan (1999): He’s another name that was gone from the company soon after being in the #14 spot, with his final WWF match taking place a month after the Rumble. He would wrestle for Mexican promotion, CMLL, a few times in the summer of 1999, but that was it for his wrestling career. Cursed, right? Not quite. He has transitioned to an acting career, having roles in movies such as 300, Sherlock Holmes, Immortals, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters, Pacific Rim, Hercules, and Deadpool 2. Movies that he’s acted in have brought in well over $3 billion in box office sales. He’s doing better now than he ever could’ve done as a wrestler. No curse here.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Bob Backlund (2000): Coming back as a surprise entrant, Backlund’s in-ring prime was obviously behind him by this point, but nothing too offensive really happened. He worked in a bit of a managerial role for Kurt Angle after the Rumble, but has also worked for TNA since then, as well as wrestling in Japan. He would go on to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2013. The only real “down” part for him is that he ran for a seat in Congress later in 2000, but was unsuccessful. He’s the fourth consecutive person to avoid the curse.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
The Goodfather (2001): Ah, back when The Godfather turned heel and renounced his pimping ways, joining Stevie Richards’ Right To Censor stable. The character would be gone from WWE programming later in the year, and he would return as The Godfather in the 2002 Rumble match, followed by numerous special appearances for the company in the years to come, having largely retired from in-ring competition in 2003. He now spends his time as the manager of a strip club, while being the proud owner of a WWE Hall Of Fame ring after being inducted in 2016. That’s five consecutive men that have avoided the curse.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Diamond Dallas Page (2002): After a bit of a spotty WWE debut, 2002 looked like it was going to be a good year for DDP. Two weeks after the Rumble, he won the European Title from Christian, and then successfully defended the title against Christian in a match at WrestleMania that I feel is one of the most underrated matches in Mania history. That’s when things began to unravel. Days after Mania, he dropped the European Title to William Regal. A month later, in a match against Hardcore Holly, he suffered a neck injury that was severe enough to force him into retirement. He would return to the ring two years later, and ended up wrestling in TNA for a bit, before returning to WWE in 2011 to make sporadic appearances here and there. In some of my initial columns about the curse, I had DDP listed as being cursed. He was riding a nice wave of momentum to start 2002, and then suffered what appeared to be a career-ending injury only a couple months later. That’s a big fall. Since then, though, DDP Yoga has become a thing, making DDP a very rich man (again) and has seen him help people all over the world. He has helped turn the life of Jake “The Snake” Roberts around, introducing Jake to DDP Yoga to help heal his body, as well as putting him through a rehab program, of sorts, to help with Jake’s drug and alcohol addictions. In 2017, DDP became a member of the WWE Hall Of Fame, and has made appearances for AEW in the last year or so. Page is someone who has deserved the change in curse status. Originally, he ended the streak of five consecutive men to avoid the curse, but now, he makes it six straight. We’re on a roll.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Eddie Guerrero (2003): Fuck. Well, it was fun while it lasted. I’m going to go ahead and guess that you know Eddie Guerrero’s story. Let’s go over it ever-so-briefly, though. It looked good for Eddie after this. A mere 13 months after this Rumble appearance, he defeated Brock Lesnar to become the WWE Champion. A year-and-a-half after becoming the WWE Champion, Eddie Guerrero was dead at the age of 38. Acute heart failure due to underlying atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease took him down, making it one of the saddest deaths in wrestling history. Enough said.
The Verdict: Cursed
Rikishi (2004): Two weeks after the Rumble, Rikishi would team with Scotty 2 Hotty to win the WWE Tag Team Titles, but three months after they dropped the titles, WWE would release him after repeated requests to lose weight. He had some matches for promotions around the world before landing in TNA, where his stint lasted a whopping six weeks. He went into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2015. His sons, Jimmy and Jey Uso, are, arguably, one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. His cousin, Roman Reigns, is one of the biggest stars in wrestling over the last seven-ish years. Lots of ups and downs there, but his personal life has also seen some tragedy since 2004. His brother, Eddie, best known as Umaga in WWE, passed away in 2009 at the age of 36 after suffering a drug-induced heart attack. His cousin, Matt, best known as Rosey in WWE, passed away in 2017 at the age of 47 due to congestive heart failure. Those tragedies, mixed with being fired from WWE for such an undignified reason, make the decision for me here.
The Verdict: Cursed
Orlando Jordan (2005): A month after this appearance, Jordan would defeat John Cena to become the United States Champion. That’s great and all, but his title reign didn’t amount to much. He dropped the title to Chris Benoit at that year’s SummerSlam event in a feud that was marked by several matches that lasted no longer than 50 seconds. In May 2006, Jordan was released from his contract, supposedly because he was bringing unauthorized people backstage at various events. The rumor was that he was bringing an underaged boyfriend on the road with him. He would later admit that he was breaking the rules to bring his boyfriend on the road with him, but would deny that said boyfriend was not of legal age. Jordan would end up in TNA, where he had an 18-month stint with the company cut short because of supposed issues backstage involving inappropriate actions with male employees. In 2017, more accusations came out, this time from an Australian pro wrestler, who claimed that Jordan had been paying underage male wrestlers to hang out with him, go to dinner with him, and so forth. The accusations also stated that Jordan would pay these teens extra money for the opportunity to grab their backsides. True or not, other Australian promotions apparently thought there was enough to the accusations that they stopped wanting to book Jordan for their shows. A whole lot of weird ways for one person to lose job after job.
The Verdict: Cursed
Joey Mercury (2006): Heading into the Rumble, Mercury was one-half (with Johnny Nitro) of the WWE Tag Team Champions. They would hold the titles until May, and would split up almost immediately after losing them because Mercury was about to serve a 30-day suspension for a Wellness Policy violation. Even after the suspension was served, Mercury remained off of WWE television for six months to go to rehab before returning and reuniting with Nitro and their manager, Melina, to reform MNM. At December 2016’s Armageddon pay-per-view, MNM competed in a Fatal Four Way Ladder Match for the Tag Team Titles. During the match, Mercury suffered one of the more gruesome injuries wrestling has seen. A ladder was propelled into his face, breaking multiple bones and causing blood to gush out. Within seconds, both of his eyes were swelling shut and he had to be taken out of the match and sent to the hospital, where he would also require more than 30 stitches to close his wounds. An already self-admitted drug addict since he was a teenager, Mercury would add an addiction to painkillers after the Armageddon incident. Vince McMahon himself had to step in and intervene, and Mercury credits his WWE release with saving his life, as it led him to directly address his issues. It’s a crazy downward spiral for someone who came into his Rumble year as a successful member of the WWE roster.
The Verdict: Cursed
Jeff Hardy (2007): 2007 was the year Jeff Hardy finally started making a bunch of noise, working his way to the top of the WWE card as a singles wrestler. Starting in 2008, combining WWE and TNA, he would go on to become a six-time World Champion. That’s not even counting the other titles he won, both in singles and tag team competition. As you’ve figured out in this column, it isn’t just about in-ring activity here. Digging a little deeper, you’ll see that 2007 saw him miss time with an injury, and then a second Wellness Policy violation in March 2008 caused him to serve a 60-day suspension and had him removed from WrestleMania 24, where he was scheduled to participate in the event’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match. Mere days after his Wellness Policy violation, his home in North Carolina burned to the ground, killing his dog. In September 2008, he was barred from boarding a Southwest Airlines flight after airport employees deemed him to be too intoxicated. He would go on to leave WWE in 2009 so that he could deal with numerous injuries, including herniated discs in his back and Restless Leg Syndrome. Weeks after his departure, he was arrested on charges of drug trafficking. A search of his home found 262 Vicodin pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, 180 Soma pills, cocaine residue, and drug paraphernalia. He pled guilty to the charges, receiving a $100,000 fine to go with ten days of jail time and 30 months of probation. At TNA’s Victory Road pay-per-view in 2011, Hardy would show up for his match clearly intoxicated in one of the most embarrassing and sad moments in wrestling history, forcing the company to cut his match… a main event TNA World Title against Sting, by the way… short in a shoot. A four-month stint in rehab followed the incident. He spent the next few years seemingly turning his life around, but two different arrests in 2019 (one for public intoxication and one for driving while impaired) show that his battle with addictions is something he’ll continue to deal with. With everything going on… and I hate, hate, hate to say this… but sometimes, it’s almost a surprise that Jeff Hardy is still alive.
The Verdict: Cursed
Umaga (2008): Six months after this Royal Rumble appearance, Umaga tore his PCL, putting him on the shelf for six months. Four months after returning from the knee injury, he violated WWE’s Wellness Policy for the second time. He was ordered to go to rehab, but when he refused, WWE released him. Six months after his release, he was dead, suffering the drug-induced heart attack that I mentioned in Rikishi’s section of this column. That’s a stunning fall for someone that came into 2007 looking like he could be on his way to becoming the next big “monster heel” main event player for the company.
The Verdict: Cursed
Finlay (2009): Already on the verge of turning 51 by this point, Finlay was on the last legs of his in-ring career. He would retire in 2010 to become a full-time trainer and agent for WWE. Nine months after his final televised match, he would be fired from his agent job after putting together a segment at a house show that saw The Miz interrupt the National Anthem. Finlay put it together to get more heat on Miz, who was about to main event WrestleMania, but WWE received so much angry backlash over the incident that they had no choice but to punish the person responsible. If that was it, he might be listed as another victim here. He would return to WWE a year later and has largely been praised as being one of the people behind the women of WWE going from eye candy to respected wrestlers. He has been credited as someone who has helped coach many of the top women of this generation, from Becky Lynch to The Bella Twins to Sasha Banks to Ronda Rousey to Beth Phoenix, and just about everyone in between. That more than saves him here, and he ends the six-year victim streak.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
MVP (2010): MVP’s 2010 was the definition of a “meh” year. Some wrestlers have great years, while others have terrible years. His 2010 was one of those years that falls in the middle, meaning that it won’t be remembered moving forward. That’s part of the business. You’ll always remember when so-and-so had a lengthy title reign in a calendar year, but you’ll also remember when so-and-so lost 28 consecutive matches. When a midcarder blends into the background, it is what it is. The most noteworthy part of his 2010 was that he requested, and was granted, his release. He joins the list of people who entered a year’s Royal Rumble at #14, only to not be employed by the company by the end of the year. He would head to New Japan, where he found a nice bit of success. He became the promotion’s first IWGP Intercontinental Champion, holding the title for five months. In a tag team match, he was also able to force then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi, to tap out. After leaving New Japan, he would show up in TNA, in a laughably dumb “investor” storyline that nobody was buying. He was rumored to be in line to become the new TNA World Champion after a heel turn, but he tore his meniscus and needed to be replaced in the match. Bobby Lashley would take his place and go on to win the title. Upon his return from injury, he wasn’t able to regain the momentum he had before. As TNA was going through a stretch of some of their worst ratings, eventually being removed from Spike’s television lineup, MVP was again finding himself lost in the mix. His time with TNA lasted a year-and-a-half. His time with Lucha Underground, however, lasted a mere eight days after he inadvertently violated terms of his contract by having members of the LU roster on his podcast. After some minor success on the independent circuit, he made his return to WWE at the 2020 Royal Rumble, and has been there ever since. As an in-ring performer, he has, once again, blended into the background, with a win/loss record hovering around the .500 mark. As the manager and mouthpiece for The Hurt Business, though, he has excelled. After some rough early stretches, he has the group looking like one of the best parts of Raw every week. A lot of bouncing around, but outside of an injury costing him a World Title, I don’t know if you can count anything he has been through as part of a curse of any kind.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Chris Masters (2011): Hey, it’s another wrestler who entered the Rumble at #14, only to be gone from the company soon thereafter! A little over six months later, he was released, but he spent most of that six months not even competing on television, anyway. When he did appear on television, it was in a losing effort. Masters went from competing for titles to not even being able to get on television for months at a time. He would perform all over the world after leaving WWE, finding success here and there, but nothing too wild. In 2012, he caused a commotion by tweeting a picture of himself with a gun pointed at his head. It was said that he was drunk at the time, but he was still forced to apologize as he tried to convince the world that he wasn’t suicidal. Another fall from grace for someone after entering the Rumble in this particular spot.
The Verdict: Cursed
Jinder Mahal (2012): Mahal, of course, was a designated “job guy” for WWE. He held that role for a while, only achieving brief success after a move to NXT, where he advanced to the finals of the Gold Rush Tournament to crown the first NXT Champion. In the finals, he would lose to Seth Rollins, and would then head back to the main roster for another job role, albeit in a more entertaining fashion as a member of 3MB. Two-and-a-half years after this Rumble appearance, he was released from his contract. If that was it, he would still be someone that avoided falling victim here, but that wasn’t it, was it? After two years away, he would return to WWE, continuing his losing ways. Then… OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE… Jinder would defeat Randy Orton to win the WWE Title. I still can’t believe that happened, to be honest. He was the WWE Champion for nearly six months after spending his entire WWE tenure losing, losing, and losing some more. Since dropping the title, he has spent more time away with injuries than being a healthy member of the roster, but still… six months as the WWE Champion?!? Wow.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Rey Mysterio (2013): The 2013 Royal Rumble was Rey Mysterio’s first appearance in over a month, as he was taking time off to battle some nagging injuries. Six weeks after the Rumble, he injured his knee and needed to take the next eight months off. Five months after returning from the knee injury, he took more time off, this time to deal with an injury to his wrist. He was away for nearly 11 months and was, ultimately, gone from the company after choosing not to re-sign with them. Three weeks after leaving WWE, during a match in Mexico, he was in the middle of a tragic accident that saw one of his opponents, Perro Aguayo Jr., die in the middle of a match. After being dropkicked into the ropes to set up for the 619, Aguayo’s body went limp. He was tended to by medical staff and taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack that was brought on by a cervical stroke suffered due to a broken neck. Rey was cleared of any wrongdoing, but there’s no way that could be easy to deal with as a wrestler. Rey’s WWE return has seen mixed results. On one hand, he won the United States Title, albeit for a month. On the other hand, he has been in the middle of a seemingly never-ending feud with Seth Rollins that has involved nearly losing an eyeball and unnecessary family drama with his children being involved in WWE programming for the first time. The combination of his body falling apart on him and the passing of Perro Aguayo Jr. is just too much for me to ignore. Just a sad stretch of time for one of the sport’s all-time greatest performers.
The Verdict: Cursed
Kevin Nash (2014): After making his return at the Rumble, Nash was able to induct his long-time friend and tag partner, Scott Hall, into the WWE Hall Of Fame a couple months later. The following year, he would be inducted himself. Although it didn’t officially take place because of COVID, Nash was named as a Class Of 2020 Hall Of Fame inductee as a member of the nWo, making him one of the rare two-time inductees in the Hall. He did get into a bit of legal trouble in December 2014 when he was arrested and charged with battery against his son, but charges were dropped, and it has been stated that Nash was merely defending his wife in the altercation. Overall, nothing to really complain about here. Getting to induct one of your wrestling brothers into the Hall Of Fame must’ve been special, followed by him becoming a Hall Of Fame member himself the following year. No curse here.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Diamond Dallas Page (2015): DDP has entered two different Royal Rumbles in the #14 spot, and he has been able to become a happy and successful person in his post-wrestling life?!? DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE IS THE MOST POWERFUL MAN ON THE PLANET.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Stardust (2016): Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but… a few months after entering the Royal Rumble in the 14th spot, someone was gone from WWE altogether. Cody Rhodes was very frustrated with the Stardust gimmick, and when WWE repeatedly ignored his requests to end the gimmick and move him on to something else, he asked to be released. Cody would work for different promotions across the globe after leaving WWE, achieving success and showing that he had more to offer than what WWE was allowing him to show. He won the Ring Of Honor World Championship, and also won the IWGP United States Championship for New Japan. Then… Cody became Elite. As one of the Executive Vice Presidents for All Elite Wrestling, Cody has helped create a ton of buzz in the wrestling world, building a promotion from the ground up and putting them on pay-per-view and national prime-time television. Sounds like he has avoided being cursed.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Kofi Kingston (2017): Kofi would miss a short amount of time with an ankle injury two-and-a-half months after the 2017 Royal Rumble. He has certainly bounced back from that, though. As a member of The New Day, he would achieve something in the vicinity of 528 Tag Team Title reigns, and would go on to set the wrestling world on fire with KofiMania, winning the WWE Championship in 2019. That’s a ton of things to celebrate. He remains a successful member of WWE to this day. If he isn’t a Tag Team Champion, he’s always on the verge of becoming a Tag Team Champion. He can be penciled in as the fourth consecutive man to avoid being cursed.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Shinsuke Nakamura (2018): See, now this is where things get VERY interesting with the Royal Rumble Curse. Nakamura was able to spit in the face of everything curse-related, actually winning the Rumble from the #14 spot. That’s it. Wrap it up. Curse finished. Well… not so fast. He went into WrestleMania 34 with all the momentum in the world, but he failed to win the WWE Championship that night, losing to AJ Styles. Three weeks later, he and AJ went to a double count-out, and Nakamura was unsuccessful in becoming the champion again. Two weeks later, at Backlash, both men went to another draw, failing to respond to the referee’s ten count as they landed simultaneous nut shots on each other. Five weeks later, Nakamura was pinned by Styles in another title match. If you’re keeping track, that’s four title matches in the span of ten weeks. Two losses and two draws for Nakamura meant he failed to reach the top of the WWE mountain. He was never the same after that. Even after winning the Intercontinental Title, the United States Title (twice), and the Smackdown Tag Team Titles (with Cesaro), Nakamura was never seen as the same threat as he was coming out of the 2018 Royal Rumble. Honestly, it’s one of WWE’s biggest failures in a long time. To have someone build that much momentum, turning themselves into the hottest act in all of wrestling, only to have them fail to become WWE Champion after four attempts… with a heel turn thrown in that nobody wanted or asked for… that boggles the mind. You can say he avoided being cursed, but I’m going in the other direction, simply based on the historic bungling of his career after the Rumble.
The Verdict: Cursed
Dean Ambrose (2019): Say it with me… within a few months of his Royal Rumble appearance, he was gone from the company. Three months after being the 14th entrant in the Rumble, Ambrose’s contract expired after he refused to re-sign. He shed no tears, though, as he has achieved a ton of post-WWE success. Two reigns as the IWGP United States Champion for New Japan saw him shine, but it was his nine-month reign as the AEW World Champion that helped change the game, allowing AEW to continue growing at a rapid rate. After being creatively stifled for a long time to end his WWE tenure, he has shown that he can truly excel in his post-WWE life. Oh, and he’s going to be a father for the first time, so that’s the icing on the cake, really.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
Braun Strowman (2020): Once one of the hottest acts in WWE, Strowman has cooled off quite a bit. Sure, he won the Intercontinental Title a week after the Rumble, having a month-long reign. Yes, he won the Universal Title at WrestleMania 36, but that came off of being a last-minute replacement for Roman Reigns, who had pulled out of the event over COVID concerns. He was the Universal Champion, but it almost came across as him borrowing and holding the title for someone else, you know? Following WrestleMania, he fell into WWE’s trap of booking people against Bray Wyatt and having them be involved in ridiculous nonsense. This led to him losing multiple matches to Wyatt, including dropping the Universal Title at SummerSlam, where he would then be attacked by a returning Reigns. To close out 2020, he would miss two months with a leg injury, making his return in the build to this year’s Royal Rumble. He had more than enough success to avoid being cursed, but I’ll be damned if he still hasn’t been knocked down a few pegs.
The Verdict: Not Cursed
There you have it. By my rating, nearly half the competitors to enter a Royal Rumble in the #14 spot have fallen victim to THE CURSE. Of course, there’s still time for more people to become victims. This is the type of thing you need to keep track of on a yearly basis, seeing if anyone is added to, or removed from, the list of victims.
What about this year’s Royal Rumble? Damian Priest was the 14th entrant, and he is now a member of the Raw roster, seemingly building to a WrestleMania match where he might be teaming with music superstar Bad Bunny to take on The Miz and John Morrison. You know what that means… he’s cursed. I kid, I kid. Time will tell what happens to him, but he might want to improve his health insurance, just in case.
Weekly Power Rankings
- Bianca Belair: An absolute star-making performance. She has everything necessary to become the next woman to carry the division on her back, but this is WWE we’re talking about here. You… just… never… know. She also picked up a nice victory over Bayley on Smackdown before the Rumble, solidifying her spot here.
- Edge: Not only did he win the Royal Rumble, he did it from the #1 spot, going coast-to-coast and lasting 58:32 to do it. He also defeated Randy Orton on Raw after Orton was distracted with yet more stupid ass Alexa Bliss/Bray Wyatt bullshittery. A win over Randy Orton is nice, but hey, maybe your Royal Rumble winner should be picking up decisive wins, not by weird distractions.
- Jungle Boy vs Dax Harwood: The best non-PPV match of the week. Harwood did everything in his power to make Jungle Boy look like a future star, and Jungle Boy held his end of the bargain, too.
- Roman Reigns: Another big win for Reigns, continuing his fantastic Universal Title reign. Ho hum.
- Drew McIntyre: He was able to dispose of Goldberg quickly, and is now primed for a feud with Sheamus, which should provide for at least one very good, and very stiff, match.
- Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax: Regaining the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles puts them here. Maybe now WWE will actually have some focus on the belts, instead of having the champions be involved in two entirely different singles feuds.
- The Dark Order vs The Young Bucks & The Good Brothers: A really entertaining eight-man tag on Dynamite. The Dark Order, even after losing this match, continue to look great as a team. There is such a new, and different, focus on them in the wake of Brodie Lee’s passing. They’ve earned it.
- Finn Balor & Kyle O’Reilly vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch: Every bit of the hard-hitting match you would expect with the men involved.
- KUSHIDA & Leon Ruff vs Grizzled Young Veterans: It’s good to see GYV pick up a big win, and now, I would like to see them be able to build on that. They should be a very solid addition to NXT’s tag division.
- MSK: I don’t know if they’re going to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but they’re certainly having fun as they try to do so. Another good performance from them. They’re ready to become big stars in NXT.
This Week’s Playlist: No music this time. Random episodes of The Monday Night War on the WWE Network were playing in the background as I wrote this week’s column.