Throwback Thursday: Looking back at WWE Royal Rumble 2005

Each and every Thursday I will look back at a different pay-per-view event from the past via the WWE Network. Want to see a certain event covered? Send your suggestions to @VaughnMJohnson on Twitter.

Last time, I covered the WWE Royal Rumble 2001.

WWE Royal Rumble 2005

Date: Jan. 30, 2005

Venue: Save Mart Center at Fresno State, Fresno, Calif.

Some random notes

This was the 18th annual Royal Rumble.

During the course of the show there were segments backstage where the wrestlers would pick their number of entry for the Royal Rumble. The first two were Ric Flair and Eddie Guerrero.

Flair drew his number first and couldn't have been more thrilled with his positioning. Meanwhile, Guerrero seemed distraught over his.

Guerrero was a good sport about it though and showed as much by hugging Flair and wishing him good luck before leaving.

Flair was then asked what number he got. Flair opened up the paper and much to his surprise it wasn't the number he originally drew.

Guerrero was known to tell a lie, cheat and steal and apparently in the midst of hugging Flair, he managed to steal his number for the Royal Rumble.

As soon as Flair saw the number, he immediately knew that Guerrero had swindled him.

Later in the show, Teddy Long ordered Guerrero to return Flair's number, which he reluctantly did. Long also asked for him to cough up something else. Guerrero pretended he didn't have anything else, but eventually gave up Flair's wallet, too.

Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler were on hand to call the action for Raw while Michael Cole and Tazz called it for Smackdown. For the Royal Rumble match, however, Ross joined Tazz, as the match featured wrestlers from both brands.

With that said, let's get to the matches:

Edge def. Shawn Michaels

This was the beginning of Edge's ascent to the main-event picture and part of that ascent was having a one-on-one match on pay-per-view with Michaels. It was arguably Edge's biggest match to that point.

Michaels didn't do his usual gyrating once he entered the ring. Instead, he delivered some knuckle sandwiches to Edge before the bell rang.

Michaels eventually knocked Edge out of the ring. Edge took his time re-entering the ring, but eventually did, but was still fell victim to Michaels' onslaught and was tossed out of the ring yet again.

Edge was finally to gain the upper hand once the two men battled outside of the ring.

Edge maintained that control once he and Michaels returned to the ring by working on his back and routinely tugging on Michaels' hair to gain an unfair advantage.

He eventually went to the top rope and attempted a cross body, but Michaels ducked out of the way and went for pin, but Edged kicked and quickly regained control.

Michaels eventually found the energy to fend off Edge and deliver his own barrage of offense.

After taking a beating, Edge had enough of Michaels and attempted to leave, but Michaels chased him down and brought his opponent back to the ringside area.

The official tried to intervene, but in doing so he inadvertently gave Edge enough to time to recover and deliver a spear to Michaels on the outside of the ring.

Michaels managed to crawl back into the ring just before he was counted out, but the damage to his midsection was already done.

Edge then retreated to a corner and imitated Michaels tuning up the band for sweet chin music. Instead of a super kick, delivered yet another spear and covered Michaels, but the latter kicked out.

Michaels was still able to fight his way back into the match and eventually drove his elbow right into Edge's chest from the top rope.

Once both men were up, Michaels tuned the band up for real and attempted sweet chin music, but Edge countered and hoisted Michaels up in the electric chair and slammed him.

After trading some blows, Edge locked Michaels in a modified sharp shooter of sorts, but Michaels was able to make it to the ropes to break the hold.

Michaels managed to roll up Edge and go for pin, but Edge pulled Michaels' hair, countered the pin and grabbed the ropes to pick up the victory.

Casket Match – The Undertaker def. Heidenreich

Before the match, Heidenreich was confronted backstage by Gene Snitsky. Heidenreich told Snitsky about how much he loathed caskets.

Snitsky responded by telling Heidenreich that he liked him and that he had an idea. This was weird and featured a lot of heavy breathing.

Heidenreich had a great physique, but was saddled with strange creative that didn't help him at all. If he was just a serious big guy that beat people up as oppose to a mentally broken (DELETE!) person that escaped a mental institution, he may have had a longer stay in WWE.

It was almost like Vince McMahon saw Heidenreich and instantly thought he met Sid Vicious' little brother.

The Undertaker began the match by locking Heidenreich in a headlock and attempting to drag him over to the casket to take advantage of Heidenreich's fear of it.

Heidenreich got a little too close to the casket than he was comfortable with at one point and attempted to leave, but The Undertaker tracked him down.

Heidenreich was able to counter by shoving The Undertaker into the side of the casket, which allowed him to take over the match. He cornered The Undertaker and attempted to talk some trash, but The Undertaker locked him in a triangle choke.

Just as it looked like Heidenreich was ready to fade away, Snitsky ran out and began beating on The Undertaker.

Heidenreich and Snitsky then tried to drag The Undertaker over to the casket. The referee's opened it and revealed that The Undertaker's brother Kane was inside of it. He jumped out of the casket and helped his brother fend off Snitsky and Heidenreich.

Kane and Snitsky apparently had an issue with each other heading into the event and the two fought their way out of the arena.

Back in the ring, Heidenreich tried to get rid of the casket by pushing up the aisle, but The Undertaker thwarted him.

Heidenreich quickly recovered by tossing The Undertaker into the steel steps and picked up the floor mats to expose the arena floor. This never came into play during the match though.

Heidenreich walked back to the casket and wheeled it into The Undertaker's head. He then rolled The Undertaker back into the ring and locked in the cobra clutch.

Heidenreich rolled The Undertaker into the casket and attempted to close the lid, but the latter fought his way out. The Undertaker then put Heidenreich's head into the casket and dropped a leg drop from the ring apron on him.

Although he was almost decapitated, Heidenreich quickly recovered and shut down The Undertaker. He rolled The Undertaker into the casket again, but The Undertaker fought Heidenreich off again.

The Undertaker then stalked Heidenreich and hit with a choke slammed and followed that up with a tombstone. The Undertaker rolled Heidenreich over to the casket and shut the lid to clinch the victory.

WWE championship – John "Bradshaw" Layfield def. Big Show & Kurt Angle

Angle and Layfield walked into the match at less than 100 percent, as they faced each other in a last man standing match on the final episode of Smackdown before this event.

As expected, Big Show held court once the bell rang by beating on JBL while Angle stood outside of the ring. Big Show eventually went for a cover, but Angle broke it up.

Angle may have saved himself from losing the match, but he also put himself in the crosshairs of Big Show, who knocked him and JBL out of the ring.

Big Show then began clearing off one of the announce tables and attempted to choke slam JBL through it.

Angle thwarted Big Show by low blowing him. He then hit him with one of the monitors, which caused him to fall back first through the table. That allowed Angle and JBL to fight amongst themselves.

They didn't fight each other for very long, as Big Show made his way back into the ring and reasserted his dominance over them.

Big Show tried to put both men away by choke slamming them simultaneously, but Angle and JBL countered with JBL hitting the clothesline from hell while Angle took out Big Show's left knee.

Angle then managed to hit Big Show with Angle slam, but was unable to capitalize due to JBL knocking him out of the ring. Layfield then tried to pin Big Show, but the giant easily kicked out.

Big Show quickly recovered and choke slammed JBL. Big Show went for a pin, but the champion kicked out.

JBL rolled out of the ring in an effort to get away from Big Show, but the giant followed him and drove him through the guardrail.

With Layfield out of commission, Big Show went back into the ring to finish off Angle, but the Olympic gold medalist was waiting for him with a steel chair. That quickly backfired, as Big Show hit him with a flapjack that ended with Angle's face smacking the steel chair.

While JBL was about to be wheeled away by paramedics, Big Show went for cover, but Angle's protégés Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns ran down to help out their mentor.

JBL's chief of staff Orlando Jordan picked up the seemingly dead weight of the champion and tossed him back into the ring. Layfield mustered up enough strength to hit a reeling Angle with the clothesline from hell and picked up the win.

World Heavyweight championship – Triple H def. Randy Orton

After seeing Smackdown's championship match marred by interference, Raw general manager Eric Bischoff banned Evolution from ringside to ensure his match wouldn't end the same way.

It looked strange seeing Orton playing the role of the clean-cut babyface, but that was the role he was cast in at the end of 2004 and in the beginning of 2005.

Fortunately, that ended soon after this match, as he went on to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania as a heel.

Orton literally came out swinging, as he landed a big slap on the champion while he was flaunting his title.

Triple H weathered the early storm and shook off Orton's RKO attempt by dumping him out of the ring. The champion followed that up by tossing Orton into the steel steps.

Orton slowly made his way back into the ring, but Triple H pounced on him and began to dictate the pace.

The challenger tried to fight his way back into the match, but Triple H attacked Orton's injured left knee and began working on it to hinder his former protégé.

Triple H eventually locked in the figure four in an effort to punish the challenger. Orton kept his championship aspirations alive by turning Triple H over, which reversed the pressure of the hold.

Triple H quickly released the hold and made it back to his feet while Orton still writhed in pain on the mat. That was all the champion had to see, as he resumed his offensive onslaught on the challenger's knee.

Orton found a moment of respite by shoving Triple H over the Spanish announce table. When Triple H made his way back into the ring, Orton mounted a comeback.

He later attempted another RKO, but Triple H countered into a high knee. Triple H then attempted the pedigree, but Orton countered that into a clothesline.

Orton then landed almost a dozen punches on Triple H and went for a DDT, but the champion held on to the ropes, which sent Orton crashing to the mat.

Orton got up with a far away look in his eyes as if he had a concussion. His equilibrium was off, as he tried to stand up outside of the ring — not a story you would see being told during a match today.

He eventually made his way into the ring, but was clearly in a bad way. That didn't stop Triple H from drilling Orton, but he knocked down referee Earl Hebner in the process.

With the referee down, Triple H went fishing for his sledgehammer. He found it and went to squash Orton's head with. However, Orton pulled Triple H into the ring post, which cut him open.

Orton, still on spaghetti legs, spotted the sledgehammer and attempted to pick it up, but the champion clothes lined him before he could get a hold of it.

He then picked up Orton's lifeless body and hit him with the pedigree just as the referee was making his way back to his feet and pinned him for the win.

Batista won the Royal Rumble

It appeared that Guerrero had good reason to not want his number because he was the first entrant.

No. 2 in the match was Guerrero's good friend Chris Benoit. The two former champions engaged in chain wrestling before Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder entered the match at No. 3.

Before getting into the ring, Puder took the microphone and told everyone that he was going make history by becoming the first Tough Enough winner to win the Royal Rumble.

That immediately drew the ire of Benoit and Guerrero, who teamed up to teach the young lad a lesson by taking turns chopping him in the chest.

They then took turns tossing him around the ring.

Unfortunately for Puder, things got worse at No. 4, as Hardcore Holly entered the match. As Tough Enough fans may remember, he wasn't always the easiest coach to deal with in the world.

Holly hit the ring and asked Benoit and Guerrero if he could have his turn with Puder. They obliged and Holly almost caved Puder's chest in with chops.

All three men continued to beat on Puder before they mercifully tossed him out as the fifth entrant, Hurricane, made his way to the ring.

Before Hurricane got to the ring, however, Benoit and Guerrero teamed up again to eliminate Holly.

Hurricane finally ran to the ring and met the same fate as Puder, as Benoit and Guerrero beat the daylights out of him, too. Guerrero abruptly ended the alliance when he tried to toss Benoit over the top rope, but to no avail.

Hurricane tried to hold his own, but was eventually tossed out by Guerrero.

Before Guerrero and Benoit could go at it again, Kenzo Suzuki entered the match at No. 6. Like the other men before him, Suzuki was met with an attack from Benoit and Guerrero.

Benoit attempted to put Guerrero out, but the former WWE champion held on.

Business picked up at No. 7, as Edge entered the fray, finally ending the run of dominance from Benoit and Guerrero.

The ring began filling up, as Rey Mysterio entered at No. 8. It didn't take long for Mysterio to make an impact, as he sent Suzuki packing.

At No. 9 was the Intercontinental champion, Shelton Benjamin. The talent level in the ring at this point was extremely high. The wealth of talent in the ring got richer when Booker T entered at No. 10.

At No. 11 was Chris Jericho. Yeah, this Rumble was pretty stacked.

While the ring was packed full of talent, Luther Reigns entered the ring at No. 12.

However, the battle lines were drawn, as there were four Raw superstars (Edge, Jericho, Benjamin and Benoit) in the ring with four Smackdown superstars (Booker T, Guerrero, Reigns and Mysterio).

The eight men sized each other up and eventually went at it. It looked like a Survivor Series match broke out in the middle of the Royal Rumble.

The mood changed when Muhammad Hassan entered the match at No. 13. Hassan was such a hated figure, that all eight men in the ring stopped fighting and watched him walk to the ring.

Hassan entered the ring and quickly realized that he was a marked man. Suddenly, men from both brands beat on Hassan, which was highlighted by Mysterio hitting the 619.

They then picked up Hassan and collectively tossed him out. Moments later, Jordan waltzed to the ring as the 14th entrant. Scotty 2 Hotty followed him at No. 15.

Before Scotty could get to the ring, however, Hassan attacked him from behind and was left for dead in the aisle.

At No. 16 was Benjamin's former tag team partner Charlie Haas. Seconds after he got into the ring, Booker T hit him with a spin kick. Booker T followed up by eliminating Reigns and Jordan while Scotty was being helped backstage by an official.

Back in the ring, Booker T hit the spinarooni, but went sailing over the top rope courtesy of Mysterio and Guerrero.

No. 17 was another person that wasn't fond of the United States in Renee Dupree. Dupree didn't enjoy his initial time in the match, as he was double-teamed by Benjamin and Haas.

Unfortunately for Benjamin, he was sent packing moments later at the hands of Edge.

Then Simon Dean came out at No. 18. Yeah.

Dean took the opportunity to warm-up outside of the ring. While he was doing Hindu squats, Guerrero was tossed over the top rope by Edge.

Dean finally entered the ring, but didn't last very long, as the 19th entrant, Michaels, ran down and quickly eliminated him.

Michaels tacked on another elimination by dispatching Haas.

Business quickly picked up when Angle, who intimidated Nunzio out of his spot in the match, ran down to the ring at No. 20. Angle didn't waste any time tossing people around the ring, as he suplexed at least five people.

His run of momentum ended when Michaels blocked the suplex. Michaels went for sweet chin music, but angle caught his foot and tried to slap on the ankle lock.

Michaels managed to wiggle his way out of that and knocked Angle out of the ring with sweet chin music.

For whatever reason, Jonathan Coachman was in the match at No. 21. He spent most of his time in the match cowering in the corner.

At No. 22 was Jindrak, but out of nowhere, Angle jumped back into the ring and tossed Michaels out of it. He then hit Michaels in the head with the steel steps and drilled him with a series of punches.

Angle then slapped on the ankle lock as a bloody Michaels shouted in pain before officials separated the two. This was the beginning of their eventual feud that culminated at WrestleMania.

As Michaels was being dragged away, Viscera entered the match at No. 23. Paul London followed him at No. 24.

London ran to the ring and ran into Dupree. Dupree got the better of him and attempted to perform the French tickler, but Jericho tossed him out before he could finish.

The crowd came alive for No. 25, as it was Cena, who went to the ring with his spinner United States title.

Cena didn't even take off shirt before he began hitting everyone in sight and eliminating Viscera.

At No. 26 was Snitsky, who somehow evaded Kane backstage in time to come out for the Rumble.

Snitsky had probably the most memorable elimination of the match when he clotheslined London off the ring apron. The force from the clothesline made London do a backflip all the way to the floor. It was rather epic, but London was stretchered out of the arena.

Unfortunately for Snitsky, Kane wasn't too far behind, as he entered the match at No. 27. In a scene reminiscent to 2001, Kane choke slammed everyone insight and then tossed Jindrak over the rope.

At No. 28 was Batista, who came out to a huge ovation. Seconds after entering the ring, he eliminated Snitsky. He then hit Kane with the Batista bomb.

Batista continued his run of dominance by press slamming Jericho out of the ring.

Christian entered the match at No. 29 with Tyson Tomko in tow and went right after Cena. Cena fended off Christian and found a way to toss Kane out of the ring.

The 30th and final entrant in the match was Flair, who quickly teamed up with Batista to eliminate Coach and Christian.

Benoit got a hold of Flair and hit him with a series of chops, but Batista intercepted the former world champion and eventually tossed him out.

Flair then tried to pull fast one and eliminate Batista, but he failed miserably. Moments later, Edge sent the 16-time world champ packing, leaving him with Mysterio, Cena and Batista.

Edge went on a rampage by hitting Cena and Batista with a pair of spears and attempted to hit Mysterio with one, but missed. Mysterio then hit him with the 619.

Edge managed to toss Mysterio through the ropes, but Mysterio landed on the apron. Edged fixed that by spearing Mysterio off the apron. Unfortunately for Edge, Cena and Batista combined to toss him out.

Now all that remained was Raw's Batista and Smackdown's Cena in a scenario that told the world who WWE was planning to build its two brands around for the future.

Batista hoisted Cena up for the Batista bomb, but Cena hung on to the rope and brought Batista with him. By some stroke of dumb luck, both men hit the floor at the same exact time.

That seemed a planned climactic finish, but it apparently wasn't. Apparently, Batista was supposed to hang, but failed to.

The Raw officials raised Batista's hand in victory while the Smackdown officials raised Cena's in a brilliant showing of improvisation amongst the refs.

Because this wasn't planned, confusion filled the ring.

This brought a legitimately angry Vince McMahon, who tossed down his jacket and attempted to run and slide into the ring.

There was one problem: He tore both of his quadriceps in the process. McMahon tried to get back to his feet, but immediately collapsed.

McMahon, now sitting, yelled at the top of his lungs for a solution. Everyone in the ring were pros, as they managed to talk to him with a straight face.

Batista and Cena took matters into their own hands by tossing each other out of the ring. Ring announcer Howard Finkle eventually announced that the match was being restarted by orders of McMahon who was still sitting in the ring.

The chairman was eventually ushered from ringside, as Batista tossed Cena out to finally win the craziest Royal Rumble to date.

It was planned that way, but it still worked in the end.