An alternative Winner for the 2004 Royal Rumble.

[Eunös ✈]

So when WWE looks back on past Royal Rumbles, this is the one they normally skip.. I don't think I need to tell you why at this point.

It has become the forgotten Rumble which is a shame in away because it is one of my personal favourites.. In WWE's defence they weren't to know what would happen in the future.

But let's just assume they could and they could go back and change the result.

Who would have been an good choice for Rumble winner that year?

Looking back I think Kurt Angle would have been a good choice. A Royal Rumble win is one of the few things missing from his otherwise impressive run in WWE. He could have win it and gone for Eddies WWE Belt.

Chris Jericho might also have been a good choice.. Like Angle it seems a Rumble win is one of the few things he never quite achieved during his time in WWE.

I don't think Cena and Orton were quite Main Event material just yet.. Cena was getting there and this was sort of the very early beginning of his push to the top. Orton was IC Champ at the time and perhaps wasn't quite ready to be main eventing just yet.

Despite not being in the Royal Rumble itself perhaps Eddie Guerrero could have been a good choice.. I know he was feuding with Chavo at the time and they had their match at that Rumble.. But Maybe Guerrero could have won the Rumble, Angle could have beaten Brock at No Way Out then Eddie wins the belt at Mania.

So yeah, I know you can't change history but if somehow you could. Who do you think would have been a good alternative winner for this Rumble so that it is no longer ignored by WWE today.

[KingPooper]

Yeah Eddie steals Nunzio's entrance numbers and wins it.

[bob]

I remember thinking going into that Benoit and Cena were the favorites going into...but looking back I don't think Cena was ready to be "the guy" just yet

Eddie Guerreo, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Christian or Chris Jericho would also be great alternatives

[Gerard Gerard]

Kurt Angle kinda naturally slots in as the alternative given he was on his way to Mania anyways and you still could've pulled off the heel turn despite winning a Rumble.

[tirtefaa]

I'll go with Angle. Maybe even have him act like he wants Eddie to beat Brock, because he respects Eddie, but then it's revealed that Angle just preferred Eddie because he felt he could beat him easier, while Eddie sets out to prove he can beat Kurt.

Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels could be a problem since I'd rather neither guy win. Both Booker T and RVD weren't being used for anything unique, take them out of the tag match, and maybe make it a Fatal Fourway, with Booker getting the win to make up for the year prior. I also want to see the impossible task of Shawn Michaels hitting the SCM on RVD as he is airborne for the Five Star Frogsplash.

[James Fabiano]

I'll be the one to go for the low hanging fruit...

Stevie Richards?

[hassanchop]

Mr America

[coleslaw]

Should've been Goldberg only because 10 year old me would have marked the f*** out

[hassanchop]

Another one, Kevin Nash. In a twist he goes after Brock Lesnar at No Way Out, beats him and Eddie Guerrero challenges him at Wrestlemania for payback for being held back in WCW and being called a Vanilla midget. He even does a shoot interview where pours coffee on himself and shoots on Bischoff and refers to him as Uncle Eric. At Mania Nash comes out to his Wolfpac theme, where as Eddie comes out to the LWO theme. After Eddie wins, all members of LWO congratulate him.

[Hypnosis]

Jul 20, 2023 17:36:10 GMT -5 James Fabiano said:

I'll be the one to go for the low hanging fruit...

Stevie Richards?

He did replace Big Show in No Mercy's WWF Championship mode due to the company being unhappy with Show's weight.

[Jindrak Mark]

I remember feeling pretty much all the potential winners were Smackdown guys with Benoit/Cena/Angle or possibly even Eddie entering the Rumble after beating Chavo. On Raw HHH/HBK were feuding over their title, Orton/Foley were busy with each other and Goldberg was obviously going to face Brock at Mania but I didn't think he would win the Rumble to make the match happen. I think word was already out that he was leaving after Mania so why give him the big Rumble win.

[hassanchop]

Was Batista an option? Like if word was out that Goldberg was leaving, would they use Batista as a back up?

[KingPooper]

Zack Gowen.

[Andee9001]

Jul 21, 2023 17:29:29 GMT -5 hassanchop said:

Was Batista an option? Like if word was out that Goldberg was leaving, would they use Batista as a back up?

At that time Batista was only a few months back from injury and was mostly teaming with Flair. He just wasn't quite where he needed to be at that time to be in the main event. Funny to think in another year everything just clicked and he caught fire.

[Magnus the Magnificent]

Angle makes me most sense.
Brock won the WWE Title from him, was still champion after the Rumble, so it's and easy build for a Mania match.
Now, since Eddie beat Brock at NWO, Angle feels cheated of his *rightful* chance to defeat Brock, once and for all.
Angle does the heal-turn pretty much as it was, faces and loses to Eddie at Mania, and then the Smackdown timeline is pretty much as it was.

The problem is how you book the Raw side of things.
HHH needed to lose, but to who**?
Is there anyone to build up as a credible threat in that short a time?

























































**No, not a triumphantly returning Jim Neidhart.

[Feyrhausen]

Jul 22, 2023 10:03:12 GMT -5 Magnus the Magnificent said:

Angle makes me most sense.
Brock won the WWE Title from him, was still champion after the Rumble, so it's and easy build for a Mania match.
Now, since Eddie beat Brock at NWO, Angle feels cheated of his *rightful* chance to defeat Brock, once and for all.
Angle does the heal-turn pretty much as it was, faces and loses to Eddie at Mania, and then the Smackdown timeline is pretty much as it was.

The problem is how you book the Raw side of things.
HHH needed to lose, but to who**?
Is there anyone to build up as a credible threat in that short a time?

























































**No, not a triumphantly returning Jim Neidhart.

Michaels would have been the only one who would make sense. Maybe put in Booker T but he had been depushed considerably since the year before.

[fw91]

Eddie is the only one where they payoff would have been just as good.

[hassanchop]

Jul 22, 2023 11:15:00 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Jul 22, 2023 10:03:12 GMT -5 Magnus the Magnificent said:

Angle makes me most sense.
Brock won the WWE Title from him, was still champion after the Rumble, so it's and easy build for a Mania match.
Now, since Eddie beat Brock at NWO, Angle feels cheated of his *rightful* chance to defeat Brock, once and for all.
Angle does the heal-turn pretty much as it was, faces and loses to Eddie at Mania, and then the Smackdown timeline is pretty much as it was.

The problem is how you book the Raw side of things.
HHH needed to lose, but to who**?
Is there anyone to build up as a credible threat in that short a time?

























































**No, not a triumphantly returning Jim Neidhart.

Michaels would have been the only one who would make sense. Maybe put in Booker T but he had been depushed considerably since the year before.

What about Kevin Nash?

[mrtuesday]

Considering WWE did a second Rumble match just a few days later on SmackDown, I would go with acknowledging that as the true 2004 Rumble.

Eddie Guerrero, 2004 Royal Rumble winner. I like the sound of that.

[Instant Classic]

If Goldberg and Lesnar weren’t leaving then Goldberg who beats Lesnar for the title at Mania. That leaves Eddie as not winning the title but that’s the way it would have gone.