The 1996 Royal Rumble was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 21, 1996, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 1996 event, the winner received a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII.
The main event saw The Undertaker face Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, where Undertaker won via disqualification due to interference from Diesel; Hart retained as titles do not change hands on disqualification unless stipulated. The undercard featured the 1996 Royal Rumble match, which Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel, becoming the second person to win the Royal Rumble match twice, and back-to-back, after Hulk Hogan.