Disclaimer: Yeah I know, don't rush me. I don't own the WWE talent in any way, nor do I own the venues. For the record, the Royal Rumble is one of my favorite events.
The Road to WrestleMania: One Man's Journey to the Top
Chapter XIV
Royal Comeback
The day of the WWE Royal Rumble had finally arrived and final preparations were underway for the event. Drake Williams roamed about the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. Tonight he would enter the thirty-man Royal Rumble match in the hopes of winning the chance to headline WrestleMania; all he had to do was defeat twenty-nine like-minded superstars. Not an easy task! Drake has been in the rumble match before but did not win it then; so tonight it was all or nothing. This match was extremely important to Drake not only because the winner goes to WrestleMania to be in the main event, but because Drake wanted to redeem himself for his previous sins. Basically, this was comeback match for Drake Williams.
Seeing as the Royal Rumble was a dual branded PPV, Drake had an opportunity to hang out with his former Smackdown buddies, Shawn Michaels in particular. There was sort of a father/son relationship between them as Shawn was always there to help Drake if he was feeling down; in fact they often prayed together. For the moment, Drake just wondered about the arena aimlessly, sometimes helping with any additional equipment. Drake returned the locker room where he was greeted by Kurt Angle.
"Hey Kurt," Drake said. "Hi, Drake. You ready for tonight?" Kurt asked. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Drake said. "You wouldn't happen to have any strategy for the rumble, would you?"
"We may be on the same show together," Kurt laughed. "But I'm not sharing my strategy with anyone." Drake shrugged and said, "Can't blame a guy for trying. Good luck, anyway."
Drake Williams took his leave to prepare for the event. Several hours past and now it was time for the Royal Rumble match. As the first and second entrants, Chris Masters and Carlito made their way out to begin the match, Drake hung out in the Raw locker room with the other participants; among them were Kurt Angle, Big Show and John Cena, who was last year's winner. Drake looked over his entry number and was ever so thankful that he had a late number. Surprisingly, he was more thankful it was not number thirty; he considered that as a gutless approach. He would rather be the number one entrant as opposed to number thirty. Too bad the Undertaker had that number; he was going to be tough with whom to deal.
Drake Williams waited by the gorilla position as the count down began again. The Rumble was over halfway over and the entry order was the low twenties. By Drake's count, there were about eight other competitors in the ring. Chris Masters and Carlito surprisingly were still alive in the bout. JBL was also in the match for a long time having drawn number five. Chris Benoit was there as well; he was number ten and Kurt Angle was in there as number eighteen. The other wrestlers having already been in the ring drew mid numbers. The buzzer finally sounded in the arena Drake's music playing. The Crusader was entrant number twenty-three and once inside the ring, Drake immediately cleaned house. The Crusader eliminated Orlando Jordan, then Rene Dupree and Chavo Guerrero before focusing on a weary JBL. Ninety seconds later, the buzzer sounded and out came Batista as number twenty four. Batista also cleaned house by tossing out Nunzio and Carlito.
As the minutes flew by, three more entrants came into the match; John Cena at twenty-five, Rey Mysterio at twenty-six and Triple H at twenty-seven. With only three entrants left, Drake knew for sure it was not going to be a walk in the park. The Crusader traded German suplexes with Benoit while Rey Mysterio hit 619 on JBL before tossing out Paul London. Triple H and Kurt Angle traded shots in the corner as the count down reached zero. The buzzer sounded and for some reason, another countdown came in. To everyone's shock, the twenty-eighth entrant was none other Chris Jericho. Y2J came right into the match and tossed out Masters and almost tossed Mysterio but he held on. Drake was inwardly hoping to tangle with Jericho and now was his chance. With everyone else down, Jericho and Williams came face to face and started trading chops until Jericho attempted the Walls of Jericho. Drake rolled through the pressure and tried lock in the Sharpshooter. Kurt Angle popped out of nowhere and hit the Angle Slam on Drake. Y2J got back up and hit a bulldog on Angle followed by the Lionsault.
The buzzer sounded again and Shawn Michaels came in at twenty-nine. HBK jumped into the fray and super kicked Jericho's head off. (Figuratively) Michaels did not last too long after Triple H tossed him out. Ninety seconds later, in comes the Undertaker as the thirtieth entrant. Everybody left in the ring stopped fighting to focus on the Dead Man; as it stands Williams, Jericho, Mysterio, JBL, Cena, Angle, Batista, Benoit, and Triple H waited for Undertaker to enter the match. Everyone in the match ganged up on Taker as he came in underneath the ropes. As if unfazed, the Dead Man threw them all off of him and proceeded to dominate the match.
Drake was the first to sample Taker's wrath, receiving a choke slam. Angle and Triple H tried a double team but that came back to haunt them after Taker clotheslines the both of them. John Cena charges in but walks into a big boot. Rey Mysterio slips under the ropes and comes back in with a springboard but Taker catches him and then Benoit and double choke slams them. Then Batista takes down the Dead Man with a vicious spine buster. Batista picked up Taker and set him for the Batista Bomb but Taker back dropped him over the top rope to eliminate him. JBL made an effort to fight Taker but he was tossed out as well.
The numbers game finally caught up with Taker after Jericho hit a back elbow from the top turnbuckle to knock Taker down. The Dead Man sat right up and Drake Williams hit the Widowmaker on him but Taker sat up again. John Cena picked him up and hit the FU; then Mysterio dropped the dime on the Phenom. Chris Benoit came off the top turnbuckle with a diving head butt. Once again the Undertaker sat up and Triple H sent him back down with the Pedigree; then Kurt Angle picked up Taker and hit the Angle Slam. This time Taker stayed down so everyone else went back to fighting each other; Angle would go on to eliminate Chris Benoit. The remaining competitors failed to notice the Undertaker sitting up yet again. John Cena was the first to suffer his fate when Taker tossed him out. The Dead Man dominated everyone; giving the Last Ride to Triple H, a Tombstone to Jericho and choke slamming Angle and Mysterio. But Undertaker failed to stave off the attack of Drake Williams and to the crowd's astonishment, the Crusader eliminated the Phenom.
Triple H recovered enough to eliminate a dazed Chris Jericho and now the Royal Rumble was down to the final four; Drake Williams, Rey Mysterio, Triple H and Kurt Angle. Triple H worked on Rey Mysterio while Angle and Williams when at it. Triple H hit the Pedigree on Mysterio while Williams suffered another Angle Slam from Angle. The Game and Angle then seemingly agreed to work together and threw Mysterio over the top rope but Rey held on. Triple H and Angle went back to work on Drake, unaware that Mysterio was still in the match.
The alliance did not last long as Triple H and Angle went after each other. Kurt Angle eventually raked the eyes of the Game, who went staggering around the ring. Rey Mysterio used the opportunity to springboard back into the ring onto Triple H. The Game did catch Rey and tried to throw his out, but the momentum carried them both over the top rope. Triple H was eliminated from the rumble but Rey still held on, so he was still alive. Kurt Angle tried to catch Rey off guard but Drake Williams surprised Angle from behind to send over the ropes while Rey pulled the top rope down; with Kurt Angle eliminated it was down Rey Mysterio and Drake Williams.
Rey Mysterio tried the springboard attack again and this time he hit a seated-senton on the Crusader. Rey Mysterio quickly ran off the ropes and hit a running leg drop before trying to eliminate Williams. Drake would have none of that and stopped Rey before hitting those triple Germans. Drake picked up Rey and pressed him overhead as if to toss him out, Rey raked the eyes and dropkicked him onto the middle rope. With Drake in position, Rey ran off the ropes and was able to hit 619 on Williams. As Drake staggered around the ring, Rey stalked his prey before doing one more springboard. Drake saw it coming and caught Rey in mid-air. Mysterio tried to maneuver Drake over to the ropes but Drake used his strength to his advantage and catapulted Rey up and over the ropes to the floor and Rey Mysterio is gone. Drake Williams had done it; he had won the Royal Rumble.
"Here is your winner of the Royal Rumble match," Howard Finkle announced. "Drake Williams."
Drake was on his knees in disbelief as the crowd went crazy for him. Rey Mysterio was very disappointed with the outcome and returned to the ring. The two wrestlers stood face to face and Rey held out his hand as a sign of respect. Drake accepted the gesture and the competitors, friends outside the ring received a grand ovation the capacity crowd in the ARCO Arena. Rey hugged Drake and thanked him before leaving the Crusader to soak up the reception. After the show went off the air, Drake returned to the locker room where many other performers congratulated for his comeback. Drake inwardly wondered if he deserved it, but then again he was not the first person to make their return to the WWE. Later that night, Drake was packing up his think when there was knock on the door. The door slowly opened to reveal Shawn Michaels stepping in; he was holding a small book at his side and handed it over to Drake.
"What's this?" Drake asked curiously. "Just something for the road." Shawn answered. "I figured you could use it during those rough times. Congratulations and good luck at WrestleMania."
"Thank you Shawn," Drake said. "I know going to need this."
After Shawn Michaels left the room, Drake sat down for a moment to examine the book. It was evident that Shawn never lost faith in Drake and he wanted him to have his own bible. For Drake Williams the performer, it was his victory in the rumble that sends him to WrestleMania. But for Drake Williams the man, it was his faith in himself that keeps him going through life.
Author's note: I love the Royal Rumble. Just for the record, Drake is now a Raw superstar for the remainder of the story. Please review.