The Royal Rumble is one of the most remarkable events in WWE and professional wrestling history. Usually, the Royal Rumble Match includes mid-card champions such as the Intercontinental Champion. With that element, there were also times when that wasn’t the case.
When the Attitude Era started, Vince McMahon treated the Intercontinental Championship as if it were another major title. Throughout this era, the Intercontinental Championship was always defended at the Royal Rumble.
The title brought immense prestige to the company, making stars out of innumerable wrestlers, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and many more. Here is a ranking of every Intercontinental Title Match from the Attitude Era at the Royal Rumble.
#5: Ken Shamrock vs. Billy Gunn – Royal Rumble 1999
When Ken Shamrock held the Intercontinental Championship, he was also one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions and a member of Mr. McMahon’s Corporation. During that time, he had an onscreen sister, known as Ryan Shamrock. Ryan unintentionally brought problems to Ken due to Billy Gunn pursuing her.
This brought stress upon Ken as not only did he have to worry about Ryan, but also the Intercontinental Title, which Gunn was also chasing. Gunn’s interest in Ryan led him to have a match with Ken at the Royal Rumble.
The feud escalated a whole lot more when Gunn exposed his rear to Ryan, thus leading to Shamrock brutally assaulting Gunn on RAW before the Royal Rumble.
The match started with Gunn wasting little time entering the ring by running for revenge against Shamrock. There was a whole lot of back and forth between the two men as they were trading finishers. At one point, Gunn hit his finisher, “The Famouser” on Shamrock, but it wasn’t enough to put him down.
Another close call was when Val Venis, who also had problems with Shamrock and interests in Ryan, interfered by helping Gunn almost win the Intercontinental Championship. Somehow, Shamrock gained the upper hand by catching Gunn with “The Ankle Lock, thus making him tap out to retain.
