WWE made a late call to have Matt Hardy interfere in the WWE Championship match instead of Christian because they felt that too many fans knew what they had planned.
Rob Van Dam was called two days before the PPV about making a surprise appearance. That gave him no time to get into shape, so he was a little heavier than he was when he was a full-time wrestler. He did of course appear on Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Wrestling show, which contradicted Vince McMahon’s statement about never using anyone who appeared on it ever again, but then WWE already booked guys on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show since then anyway.
The Undertaker now has the most eliminations in Royal Rumble history, breaking Steve Austin’s record of 36. Chris Jericho was his 37th elimination.
Also, Triple H staying in for 50:33 this year means he has broken the record for most time spent in Royal Rumble matches. His grand total is now 3 hours, 34 minutes, which breaks Shawn Michaels’ time of 3 hours, 22 minutes. Damn you, JBL.
And, as you may have heard, The Brian Kendrick was booked to be eliminated in short order as a punishment for failing to follow advice given to him backstage in recent weeks. He entered at 39:10 and was thrown out by the Hs at 39:47.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 02 February 2009 (subscribe here)
