Jimmy Korderas Recalls How the WWE Royal Rumble 2005 Finish Was Supposed to End

– During a recent interview with WrestlingInc.com’s Nick Hausman, former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas recalled the finish to the Royal Rumble match at the 2005 event, where both John Cena and Batista went over the top rope at much the same time. This led to an improvised finish with Vince McMahon coming out and inadvertently tearing both of his quad muscles. Below are some highlights of Korderas discussing the finish:

Korderas on how the match was supposed to end: “I guess the biggest audible that people would remember is the 2005 Royal Rumble, when John Cena and Batista went over the top rope at the same time. Dave was supposed to hook the top rope and just missed it and they both landed and it was pretty much simultaneous. Oh my goodness. So Batista was the one who was supposed to go over. John was supposed to be on the ground. And when they landed, instinctively, the RAW referees went over to Batista and raised his hand.”

On McMahon coming to the ring: “When we saw Vince coming out, that wasn’t Mr. McMahon angry. That was, ‘Oh my goodness. Vince is pissed.’ Boy, and then of course, the infamous sliding in the ring and blowing out both quads.”

Ultimately, Cena and Batista got back into the ring to restart the match. Batista was able to toss Cena out of the ring and was declared the final winner.