Shawn Michaels didn’t anticipate the Royal Rumble event to be as popular as it’s become.
The man known as “HBK” made his Royal Rumble debut back in 1989. At the time, he couldn’t have imagined the event becoming a huge pit stop on the road to WrestleMania. The event has become its own massive weekend for wrestling fans to the point where it’s being held in stadiums.
Shawn Michaels Talks Growth Of Royal Rumble
Serving as a guest on WWE’s The Bump, Shawn Michaels admitted he didn’t anticipate the Royal Rumble event becoming so big.
“No. So, gosh the first time you — I don’t know. You hear about it, it’s a battle royale essentially. I had no idea that it would become — look, as everybody knows now the Royal Rumble comes and it has so many implications now towards WrestleMania and that’s where you start thinking about it.
“So, no I gotta be honest, I didn’t know that the event would be such the landmark that it is now. It was an unbelievable concept but at the same time, I don’t know I guess you always feel to have almost 30-plus years of longevity in this line of work, pretty tough to do.
“But again, it’s something that to me I feel like once the Rumble comes that’s when everybody gets excited and the road to WrestleMania is right around the corner. As I say, I don’t know that that does justice to just how big that event’s become.”
This year’s Royal Rumble event will emanate from The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It’ll take place on Jan. 29, which falls on a Saturday.
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