Royal Rumble (2004)

The 2004 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 25, 2004, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the seventeenth annual Royal Rumble event.

The event featured professional wrestling matches with predetermined outcomes, with wrestlers portraying heroes, villains, or more ambiguous characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match.

The main event was the Royal Rumble match itself, a battle royal where 30 participants enter at timed intervals, attempting to eliminate each other until only one remains. The winner of the Royal Rumble match receives a world championship match at WrestleMania XX.

Other prominent matches on the card included a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship between champion Triple H and challenger Shawn Michaels, and a match for the WWE Championship between champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Hardcore Holly.

The 2004 Royal Rumble is notable for the return of Chris Benoit to WWE after a nearly year-long absence due to injury. Benoit ultimately won the Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Big Show. He would go on to challenge and defeat Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX. The event is also recognized for the controversial ending of the Last Man Standing match, which resulted in a draw after both Triple H and Shawn Michaels were unable to answer the ten-count.