Royal Rumble Reviews

[HarmonicGenerator]

Just been reading through this thread again, and it's great, but I think it would be brilliant if we could complete the set and have a review for every Rumble, even though it's no longer Rumble season.

 

According to the first post, there's 1996, 1998 and 2009 remaining, as well as 1988 which hasn't been included as part of SOC's assignment but is still, technically, a Rumble. If anyone else is up for helping me get this done, I'm sure we'd be doing the entire world a favour.

 

EDIT: Obviously, 2013 hasn't been done either.

[Nexus]

I'll take 2009 if you want.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Right, fuck it, I'm in the mood for this. Hope it's okay resurrecting your thread, ShortOrder.

 

You have been warned.

 

Royal Rumble 1996

 

 

I should say before I begin the review that I have never seen the 1996 Rumble. I don't know anything that happened on it, and I can only assume Shawn Michaels won because Bret was the champion at the time and they were both in the main event at WrestleMania that year. I don't know the undercard, though Wikipedia tells me the following happened, as well as confirming a Michaels win:

 

Ahmed Johnson def. Jeff Jarrett by DQ (and I assume that this picture

 

 

is from that match)

 

The Smoking Gunns def. The Bodydonnas

 

Goldust def. Razor Ramon

 

and The Undertaker def. Bret Hart by DQ. That match took place after the Rumble itself.

 

Speaking of the Rumble itself, let's get started. Vince McMahon and Mr Perfect are on commentary, and they tell us that Hunter Hearst Helmsley is number 1, while Duke 'the Dumpster' Droese is number 30. Perfect wants Vader to win.

 

Hunter has a face like this

 

 

because Droese beat him in the Free For All, and his mood doesn't get better when Henry O Godwinn joins as number 2. I can never remember which Godwinn ended up being Mideon, I think it was the other one, Phineas. Hunter gets stuck in straight away, and he was pretty good even in 1996, I think, but Godwinn produces the highlight of the opening exchange with a cracking back body drop.

 

Scratch that, Hunter just did his tribute to this

 

 

only without the apron bit or Hulk Hogan.

 

It gets a bit boring after that, except for Vince revealing himself to be a bit of a Terry Pratchett fan by calling Godwinn The Hogfather, until Bob Backlund enters to 'Hail to the Chief'. This is during the time he wanted to be the President, and I think business is about to pick up!

 

 

I'd vote for him.

 

The three of them try to eliminate each other

 

 

but it's not very exciting. In comes Jerry 'the King' Lawler at 4 to liven things up, hopefully. On a side-note, all the entrance themes thus far have been instrumentals, and none have been generic rock, which is a nice change from the present day. Lawler's mullet is shocking.

 

Backlund and HHH hold Godwinn's arms while Lawler fetches the slop bucket, and they're going to slop Henry, but Henry fights back, kicking Lawler for having such shit hair.

 

 

Lawler, Backlund, and Helmsley bail to the outside but they get slopped regardless. "Start your engines," cries McMahon as Bob Holly heads out, and fucking hell, his hair's worse than Lawler's.

 

 

That picture doesn't do it justice; it's truly awful. He and Lawler have been the most exciting guys in the match up to this point, though.

 

I'm beginning to realise why nobody had reviewed this one. It's pretty dull. Not a lot's happening, and I couldn't have seen any of this lot winning even if I didn't already know Michaels was going to do it. We haven't even had any eliminations yet, but that'll hopefully change with the entry of King Mabel, weighing in at (according to Perfect) 568 pounds at this point.

 

Sadly, Mabel's presence makes fuck all difference and we continue on a road to nowhere, until Jake 'the Snake' Roberts turns up at number 7. He unleashes this beast

 

 

And several people jump out of the ring pretty damn sharpish. Seriously, I think Mabel's dive through the middle rope is the fastest he's ever moved. Jake pulls Lawler towards the snake, and the crowd are reacting as if it's the first exciting thing to happen all match. Which, to be honest, it is.

 

We get our third shocking haircut of the night as this man enters:

 

 

Bald at the front, long and straggly at the back. Shocking. Anyway, it's Dory Funk, whose brother Terry was in Germany with Bruce Willis at that point in time. What did Terry Funk and Bruce Willis do together? 8 men in and no eliminations so far. Jake is the only guy who's getting any kind of reaction from the crowd, until we catch a glimpse of Jerry Lawler doing this:

 

 

The clever bastard's hiding under the ring!

 

That's the best thing that's happened up to this point, but oh fuck, Yokozuna is in at number 9, and we've GOT to get some eliminations now.

 

We do! Yoko (sporting an excellent ponytail-and-beard combo) chucks out Backlund, and then goes after Mabel. Poor Henry O Godwinn (whose initials are HOG, and I can't believe I only just got that. Phineas' middle initial is I, isn't it? PIG. Fucking hell, I'm an idiot for never realising that) gets stuck behind Yoko in the corner, Mabel runs into them both, Godwinn gets squished. Mabel then tries to eliminate Yokozuna, which seems like poor strategy to my mind - get rid of the skinny guys THEN go after your biggest threat, surely?

 

Not that it matters, because, although all the crowd want is a DDT (the only chant so far in the match), they instead bear witness to the continued destruction of the Hogfather. Holly hits a hurricanrana. HHH hits one of those knee drops he does. Mabel splashes him. All good fun, the crowd don't care, but here we go! 1-2-3 Kid enters at 10, chased by a pissed off Razor Ramon, who is soon removed from ringside. Razor and the Kid have woken both myself and the crowd up, though, and I live in hope that things are going to start getting exciting from here on in.

 

Omori is in next. I don't think anyone's expecting him to win. Mabel and Yokozuna appear to have taken my suggestion from earlier on board, and take turns chopping Omori. Roberts gets a huge pop for peppering Yokozuna with punches, eventually knocking him down. Yoko would be my favourite to win at this point, though Jake definitely has the people on his side.

 

Next in, Savio Vega. Lawler's still under the ring.

 

 

Savio takes down Mabel, and doesn't get half the reaction Jake got for doing something similar to Yoko just before. Yoko then eliminates Mabel and gets a big pop, so Roberts, not to be outdone, eliminates Omori and gets a bigger one. Did Omori ever do much else in the WWF? I don't remember him making any kind of impact.

 

I've just noticed that Godwinn is no longer in the ring. It's quite possible he's been eliminated, unless he's joined the King under the ring. But enough of Godwinns and their mysterious disappearances... it's VADER TIME.

 

 

This should be good.

 

They're really building Vader up as a monster as Savio Vega eliminates Funk. Vader goes straight for Vega, presumably for the cheek of him having a similar sounding name, and annihilates him. Good, I don't like Savio Vega. Vader's my new favourite.

 

Doug Gilbert is in at 14, and Triple H goes straight after him for having what may be the worst entrance music in history. Vader and Yokozuna have a mini shoving match, which is fantastic, and is a really nice touch because it doesn't last long before they both go after other people. It's like they're testing each other out, feeling out which of them is the dominant male in the ring, then both backing off because neither is significantly weakened at this point. Psychology, I'd call it.

 

Vader eliminates Jake with a forearm to the chest, causing Jake to tumble over the top rope from the middle of the ring. It looked a bit ridiculous, sadly, but Jake made it look better than a lot of others could have done. Jake gets an ovation as he leaves. Vader then KOs Gilbert before Savio goes after him because he just doesn't learn.

 

One of the members of the Squat Team is next in - did they even have individual names? - and McMahon comes out with the sentence "my goodness, what beef in there." Dear me.

 

Kid and HHH are going at it, but my attention is on Vader, who kills Gilbert again by pressing him over his head, bringing him down to chest-level, and then just dropping him over the top rope. It looked brutal. It was brilliant.

 

Lawler, meanwhile, has not emerged from under the ring.

 

 

Squat Team Member goes after Vader. You know what's coming.

 

 

That's what you get for not having a name, Member! VADER TIME!

 

So, at the halfway point, you've got 1-2-3 Kid and HHH, Savio Vega and Bob Holly, and Vader and Yokozuna. It's not been the best Rumble up to now, but it's had its moments. Jake the Snake was great, Kid has been very active, and Yoko and Vader have been effective monsters. Let us see what the second half will bring...

 

...deja vu, it would seem, as The other Squat Team member enters. The eliminated one joins him in the ring, and they both go after Vader. "Vader doesn't care," says Perfect. "He'll punch both their faces in."

 

 

Damn right.

 

Vader chucks one out, Yoko does the same for the other. I don't know which one was which. Neither did Vince. Sorry, Squat Team. Savio Vega just doesn't fucking learn, and goes after Vader again. Somebody eliminate that man. Owen Hart enters next, and let's hope he grants my wish.

 

Owen doesn't, but somebody must have heard me, because, after Vega tries to attack Vader AGAIN, Vader has had enough. Yokozuna holds Savio's arms and Vader punches him repeatedly. He whips Vega into the opposite corner and whips Yoko right into him.

 

YES!

 

Vader then smacks him with a Stinger Splash.

 

YES!

 

Vader picks Vega up for a bodyslam and literally throws him away, before hitting a big splash, followed by Yokozuna crushing Savio with a legdrop.

 

YES!

 

The crowd then pops massively for entrant 18 - it's Shawn Michaels! He goes after anyone he can find, while Vader and Yoko decide they're bored of Savio - who isn't, at this point? - and have a slapping match against each other instead, which swiftly turns into them punching each other in the face as hard as they can. Vader even takes his mask off.

 

 

Unfortunately they get a little carried away, and Shawn takes advantage, sneakily eliminating them both! Fantastic! He earns the biggest pop of the night for doing it, and deservedly so. Great stuff! The crowd is going absolutely nuts for HBK, so he follows it up by press slamming Kid out of the ring!

 

Hakushi is next in, but sadly nobody cares as Vader is going mental on the outside. He punches Yoko in the back of the head, gets back in the ring, and press slams Michaels out!

 

 

However, this is one of the Rumbles where it doesn't count as an elimination if your eliminator is not in the match, so Michaels is still in. Vader just doesn't care, though, as he throws out Hart, then Helmsley, then Holly, until a collective noun of referees get in there to stop him.

 

Gorilla Monsoon's out there as well, and Jim Cornette's trying to calm Vader down. Vader celebrates instead. I haven't seen Hakushi yet. Oh, hang on, there he is, flying off the top rope after Vader leaves. Tatanka enters just before Shawn throws Jim Cornette over the top.

 

Here's another view of Vader press slamming HBK, because Vader should have been massive after his showing here.

 

 

HHH and Holly have both been in ages - Helmsley for over 40 minutes now, according to McMahon. Michaels is the clear favourite in my eyes as Hakushi is eliminated by Owen - there's nobody else there who could feasibly win the thing. Aldo Montoya is next, to utter silence. He genuinely sucks the life out of the entire crowd, as they stay silent for about thirty seconds afterwards.

 

Michaels has remembered about Jerry Lawler being under the ring, so he drags him out and eliminates him. It had to be done.

 

Diesel comes in at 22 (I think) and destroys everyone, eliminating Tatanka. Diesel was fucking brilliant. IS fucking brilliant. The crowd picks up for him, and dies again as Kama enters. He's in the Million Dollar Corporation at this point, apparently.

 

But who's this at 24?

 

 

The Ringmaster! The announcers try to big him up, with Perfect comparing him to himself, but the crowd reaction says different... he's no Stone Cold yet. Bob Holly gets eliminated by him, via a knee to the bum. Hart and Michaels are having quite a good match in the midst of all this. Barry Horowitz is entrant number 25, entering to a terrible 'Hava Nagila' rip off. Strangely, Diesel doesn't immediately eliminate him.

 

Diesel does eliminate Hunter with style and ease, which sort of makes up for the Horowitz thing, but oddly, Barry's getting some good offence in on Shawn Michaels. Can't imagine the equivalent of that happening in a 21st century Rumble.

 

Fatu is next in, and after quite an exciting middle stretch, things are calming down again before the last four entrants. Perfect does not like Horowitz being in there, and I can't tell if that's him being in character or if he's serious. Owen almost eliminates Michaels with a beautiful delayed suplex, but doesn't. He does eliminate Horowitz, before knocking Michaels silly with an enziguiri. McMahon and Perfect are making a big deal of it. I think Michaels then eliminates Owen but it's a bit unclear. Ringmaster does some stupid posing and Diesel smacks him in the face. Yay Diesel.

 

Meanwhile, Isaac Yankem DDS has entered.

It's horrifying, like an even more effective version of the Right To Censor music. Yankem's also heralded a nostalgic return to the 'awful hair' period of this match. It ain't good.

 

Marty Jannetty is in at 28 and has an absolutely fantastic mini exchange with Michaels.

 

 

Happily, there's lots going on at this point, but only Shawn and Diesel have a chance of winning... except... hang on...

 

 

British Bulldog! He goes right after Michaels, but then eliminates Jannetty. Back to Michaels. Fatu is also eliminated, and the announcers realise that Ringmaster's also gone and nobody noticed. Duke 'the Dumpster' Droese is being really hyped up as number 30, which is odd because I never thought he was any kind of big deal... he enters, and we have our last six: Droese, Yankem, Diesel, Kama, Shawn and Bulldog.

 

Shawn and Bulldog go out to the outside, leading Owen Hart to make a sneak attack with Bulldog, taking out Michaels - for a moment, anyway.

 

 

Yankem gets eliminated, shortly followed by Droese, which is even odder considering he had more pre-entry hype than any of the four men left in the thing.

 

It's Diesel vs. Kama and Bulldog vs. Michaels here, but not for long as Michaels eliminates Bulldog in a fantastic fashion! Kama suckerpunches him, but Michaels skins the cat! Diesel shoves Kama out! Shawn eliminates Diesel! HE DID IT! TWO IN A ROW!

 

 

Shawn is ecstatic! He's going to WrestleMania! He celebrates in the ring, we get a touching moment with him and Diesel, and he celebrates out of the ring too. And that's the 1996 Royal Rumble all done and dusted!

 

Final thoughts.... it was okay. A deathly dull opening section with the occasional highlights from the likes of Lawler and Jake the Snake. Things pick up with Vader and Yokozuna clobbering people, then quieten down a little before an extremely exciting ending that was better than I could have expected. There weren't many people I thought could have won, and really the closing stretches were just paving the way for an obvious HBK victory, but they made those stretches a bit of a joy to watch. Good result, good way to get there, and from the mid-point onwards it built really nicely. It'd have been a brilliant Rumble if the early parts were more interesting, but as it is... good second half (highlights being Michaels, Vader, and Diesel), not so good first half (but still worth watching if you're a Jake fan).

 

I'd definitely watch this one again, I get the feeling I would appreciate it a lot more than going into it completely ignorant of the various backstories. Certainly, I think the excitement that picks up from Vader Time up to Michaels' victory will be even better on second viewing.

 

Bugger Savio Vega, though.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Still in the mood, day off work, thought I'd finish up the 1990s. If Nexus can still do 2009, and some hardy soul braves 1988, it'll be a full complement of Rumbles! Apart from this year's, of course, but if nobody fancies reviewing that one then so be it.

 

With that said -

 

Royal Rumble 1998

 

(The full match is available here if you want it)

 

The world has changed since the 1996 Rumble - in fact the WWF of this match is a totally different landscape to that of two years previously. JR and Lawler kick off proceedings with a video package focusing almost entire on Stone Cold Steve Austin, and it's obvious from the off that this Rumble's going to be all about him.

 

Cactus Jack is the first entrant. The main thing I remember enjoying about the 1998 Rumble is the appearance of all three of these chaps

 

 

so I reckon we're off to a good start. Cactus has brought several bins with him, which means we're heading into some definite pre-Benoit unprotected headshot territory as far as weapons go. Chainsaw Charlie is number 2, complete with chainsaw as a substitute for entrance music.

 

Cactus chucks loads of chairs into the ring, which Charlie tries to saw in half. Cactus gets in the ring with another chair, knocks the chainsaw out of Charlie's hands...

 

 

... the bell rings, and approximately 2.5 seconds later we get an unprotected chairshot to the head. I knew it! Several chairshots later, and Funk and Foley are taking turns at bashing each other's heads in.

 

"The human anatomy was not constructed to take these shots to the head," says JR. See, he knew it too. It's wince-inducing viewing in a post-Benoit world, but this is what happened in those days. Tom Brandi enters, is eliminated, and Cactus and Terry continue their actually-quite-good hardcore match.

 

The Rock is entrant 4, and goes after both men. I wonder how many would have known Rock and Foley would be competing for the WWE Title one year on from this? Rock eats a bin shot, and then this happens:

 

 

There's been no lull in proceedings up to this point, quite indicative of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it nature of a lot of the Attitude Era. Mosh enters next, and by now most of the weaponry's been cleared from the ring, and we settle into more regular Rumble proceedings. Phineas Godwinn's in at 6, followed by 8-Ball. Cactus has been eliminated! But the main story from JR and Lawler is about Stone Cold and how he may have been taken out backstage. The guys in the ring are really just killing time until Austin comes in.

 

Blackjack Bradshaw is entrant 8, sporting this facial hair:

 

 

Nice.

 

The way Chainsaw Charlie acts in this match, you have to believe the 'middle-aged and crazy' nickname has more than a smidgen of reality about it. He's been the highlight of the early stages. Owen Hart is in at 9, and this man loves it

 

 

but Owen gets taken out by Jeff Jarrett and Jim Cornette. Steve Blackman is entrant number 10, and Chainsaw makes every one of his kicks look like killers, but avoids elimination. I can't help but feel the ring's filling up so Austin can come in and eliminate loads of people at once. Once D'Lo Brown enters (to the Nation of Domination's music, disappointingly) there are eight guys in there. I could be wrong, though, because Kurrgan enters at 12, looking intimidating. Kurrgan eliminates Mosh. Blackman tries to kick Kurrgan, but he doesn't like it.

 

 

Marc Mero is in next, doing what appears to be a boxing gimmick, and Kurrgan eliminates Blackman.

 

In comes Ken Shamrock to by far the biggest reaction so far. Shamrock is MEGA popular here, and goes straight for Kurrgan, who gets eliminated by a group of people. Shamrock is looking fantastic, and the people love him. It's a shame he didn't make it up to to the top of the card for a sustained period.

 

 

Bring back Shamrock, I say. Thrasher is next in. Not a lot's actually happened at this point, but the match has never felt like it's dragged. In comes Mankind at 16, eliminating Chainsaw Charlie. Two Foleys down, one to go!

 

We get Rock vs. Foley II, before Shamrock pummels Rock in the corner. I liked their rivalry from around this time, and it's a good touch that the two guys who had had a match against each other earlier in the night should go after each other again in the Rumble.

 

At 17, it's...

 

 

The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust, whose look resembles that of the picture above, except his face is painted red and he has a silver outfit on instead of that stripey one. Bizarre, but effective as he eliminates Mankind. There's a huge variety of characters in 1998 WWF. This is a good thing; basically everybody is recognisable in one way or another.

 

Jeff Jarrett is back out to enter the match at 18, and Owen, who they're calling the Sole Survivor and the Blackhart, rushes out to attack him. Does this mean Owen is officially in the match now as well? Owen eliminates Jeff. "Goodbye, NWA!" cries JR. And hello! I recognise this music!

 

 

It's The Honky Tonk Man! We don’t have much time to register this, though, as not only does Rock eliminate Shamrock, but Triple H’s appearance behind Honky (on crutches, but still European Champion) results in Owen’s elimination too. Owen is having terrible luck tonight, as he gets clobbered by Triple H's crutch. Trips exits, swiftly followed by Owen.

 

Ahmed Johnson is entrant 20. Still a surprising number of arguable low-carders still in the match - Thrasher, Godwinn, 8-Ball... sadly, none of them are going to get their wigs split tonight, despite the entrance of Mark Henry, because... well, Menry's not that good at this point in his career. Somewhere in the region of 10 guys in there at the moment, and things have slowed to a virtual crawl. We really are biding our time for Austin now.

 

Entrant 22 was meant to be Austin, JR and Lawler, suspect, but nobody comes out. Ahmed gets eliminated, and Menry gets rid of Godwinn for good measure - in a humorous aside, Godwinn's foot catches a referee in the face on the way out. Ahmed decides to fight Godwinn on the outside - possibly he was avenging the ref. Good on ya, Ahmed.

 

The Nation's music plays for what seems like the 10th time as Kama enters. The crowd is quieting, and the action has slowed down even further, if that's possible.

 

Hang on! Stone Cold Steve Austin's music has hit! Everybody stops to look for him... but he turns up behind them, sneaking into the ring! The crowd is alive again!

 

 

This is one mean individual. I never liked Austin during his heyday, but you can see exactly why he's so popular, and why he's been saved until now to make his appearance in the Rumble. He eliminates Mero! He eliminates 8-Ball! "Austin said no more Mr Nice Guy... as if he ever was one!" calls JR, which is a fantastic phrase for putting Austin over. He brawls and chokes his way through everyone, and if you're an Austin fan you've got to love it, because he's doing everything right here.

 

Henry Godwinn is either 24, or 25, I'm not sure, but either way, he takes Austin down somehow, as JR notes that Blackjack Bradshaw just hit the 38 minute mark. I think possibly only Rock has been in there longer, and oh, for fuck's sake...

 

 

Bloody Savio Vega enters, and naturally he goes straight for Austin. Get him, Stone Cold! Savio blocks a Stunner, because he's a twat. You know, before I watched these two Rumbles, I wasn't that fussed about Savio Vega, but he has not endeared himself to me with his efforts in 96 or in 98. Faarooq is in at 26 or 27 (which means we get the Nation music AGAIN), and there's a bit of confusion about whether Austin has been eliminated. Regardless, Rock heads out of the ring to brawl with him. I can't find a picture of the brawl, but here's a good one of TAFKA Goldust...

 

 

Even in early 1998, Rock and Austin have got great chemistry. Still loads of people left in as we count down to (a confirmed) number 28... and... it's .... Dude Love! Fantastic! Dude eliminates Bradshaw, who can't quite believe it. Austin clobbers Goldust on the outside before getting back to Rock. Chainz is entrant 29. Rock's been in for ages.

 

The final entrant is... ah! Vader! Can he repeat his command performance from 96?

 

Eliminations start coming a bit quicker now as Honky, Thrasher and Kama all go out. Savio Vega goes for a piledriver on Austin, the cock, but Austin blocks it and eliminates him in a spectacular fashion. Good. Goldust eliminates Vader, which is disappointing, and soon we're down to our final four - Faarooq, Rock, Austin and Dude Love. We're set for a really strong closing stretch before the inevitable Austin win, I reckon.

 

 

Everybody starts going after everybody. Dude gets Austin in the Mandible Claw

 

 

but Austin low blows him, leading to his elimination by Faarooq. Rock then eliminates Faarooq, and it's down to two!

 

 

Rock and Austin go at it, the crowd are loving it, it's great brawling. Rock's momentum almost leads to his elimination - Austin thinks he's won, but Rock sneaks back in, only to be met with a Stunner! This time Rock does go over the top, and Austin wins... as we all knew he would, but still, what a great ending!

 

 

Thoughts - I enjoyed that. If you're an Austin fan you'd love it, naturally - and you could sense his winning was a foregone conclusion right from the off, but that doesn't detract from the match at all as there's plenty to enjoy on the way. Rock puts in a good marathon showing, and there's the Foley thing (unfortunately not as good as I remember, but still fun). What's interesting is how different January 1998 feels from January 1996. Worlds apart, and you can tell it's a different environment. Gone is the mediocre response for the Ringmaster (and dominant Vader ) and in is the massively popular Stone Cold. It's an easy-to-watch Rumble in that there's not a lot of background knowledge you need to have at hand before you watch. The announcers fill you in on Austin and it's a case of joining the dots from there. The only slight confusion is the mysterious entrant 22 stuff - I think it was Austin in the end, but I'm not sure. Still ... Good fun.

[Nexus]

The 2009 Rumble is not one of my favourites. This was when ECW was still sort of a big deal (although iirc they had the shit silver belt by now), and Jeff Hardy was WWE Champion. I don

[wandshogun09]

HG - if I remember right, entrant umber 22 in the '98 Rumble was supposed to be the other DOA twin (Skull?). I think anyway. He was mistake for Austin because of the bald head and leather vest, and got jumped backstage.

 

Always loved the '98 Rumble. Tyson was great as well, going on about how big a fan of "Cone Stold" he was, and that "young, up and coming hungry tiger" Shawn Michaels.

[fraserbee]

I think Michaels' press slamming of The 123 Kid at the 1996 Rumble deserves another mention. The move really looked vicious.

[ShortOrderCook]

Nice one HG. A couple of crucial points from the '96 and '98 Rumbls you've missed that were the big stories going in - Michaels big thing was he was returning from a career threatening concussion/injury. This was his big return, his grand comeback. His big valiant babyface push leading into his big first WWF title capture at WrestleMania. He suffered the injury during a match with Owen Hart when he took an enziguri. That's why the commentators made a big deal when he took one in the Rumble match itself. A massive deal was made of it. Shawn sold it fantasically at the time and it was following a series of bad occurrences for Shawn - relinquishing the IC title after getting battered by those Marines for example and it was very much pushed and sold as the end of his career. This was his triumphant return and return to form, a little bit like Cenas story this year in a few respects. Also, I'm certain the Rumble match was on last not the WWF title match. That was actually a little disappointing and finished in a double DQ, when Diesel interfered flipping the bird (which got blurred out). He was very much a tweeners at this point and was one of the guys very much responsible for ushering in the early change in character and presentation of WWF into the Attitude era and the shades of grey style booking. So due to his interference it was somewhat believable that Diesel could potentially win the Rumble and the ending also planted the seeds for Big Ds eventual full on turn on HBK en route to. 'Mania at a MSG house show tagging against Bret and 'Taker.

 

I got SKY just after Survivors '95 for Crimbo so this was the very first PPV I'd caught within 24 hours of it happening. I was super excited about it and threw a sicky to get off school for it. So remember it fondly and vividly for those reasons. Oh yeah, the other point...Vader in his big debut... amusingly wore his outfit back to front.

 

With '98 - it was a sort of big story going in with The Nation in the struggle for power between The Rock and Farooq. Rock was rapidly getting over and rising up the ranks, this Rumble being one of the signals of WWF being high on him and that he was getting a big push and had main event potential. Rock was recruiting Nation lads to his ways and leading them away from Farooq. Menry had literally just joined The Nation when Rock took him unboard, unbeknownst to a miffed Farooq who had no part in it. A big deal was made of them having so many guys in the Rumble and that they could win it, hence them having their main guys in the final three and Rock eliminating Farooq was a big moment and the first physical turn on him. Some actually great booking there and handling of The Rock.

 

I've got to wait indoors all day Thursday for a load of massive deliveries so may do a disgruntled review of this years Rumble. Or I might finish my Triple H review. Or I might do something else.

[CTXRussomark]

Oh yeah, the other point...Vader in his big debut... amusingly wore his outfit back to front.

 

I was just about to post this but thought I'd double check to make sure nobody else had already. I remember watching the PPV live and my lasting memory of the entire show was exactly that. Being a massive WCW fan I couldn't wait to see Vader debut and the main thing I remember thinking at the time is that the idiot put his gear on back-to-front!

[ratedrpoed]

Never understood why Mysterio was #2 entrant in the 06 rumble & not #1.

[children of bodom]

Also, I'm certain the Rumble match was on last not the WWF title match. That was actually a little disappointing and finished in a double DQ, when Diesel interfered flipping the bird (which got blurred out).

 

sorry but your wrong. the title match was last .after the rumbles finished diesel goes back into the ring to high five shawn (mr perfect wants diesel to knock shawn out) then as he slowly leaves the ringside the undertaker is coming down for his title match. theres a little bit of a fight and diesel keeps saying "i'aint afraid of the dark". officals break them up and undertaker gets in the ring ready for bret hart whilst diesel still yelling he's not afraid of the dark heads backstage

[children of bodom]

What was the point of the 1989 and 1990 rumble?

 

We all know the winner of the rumble gets to go to wrestlemania for a title shot

 

But all the 1989 winner (big John studd ) did was ref the match between Andre and jake.

 

The winner of 1990 was already WWF champion so he won nothing

[wandshogun09]

Was the 'winner gets the title shot at WrestleMania' stipulation introduced in 89/90 though? I can't remember but it wasn't so much of a focal point in the early Rumbles was it?

[neil's bitch]

Was the 'winner gets the title shot at WrestleMania' stipulation introduced in 89/90 though? I can't remember but it wasn't so much of a focal point in the early Rumbles was it?

I cant remember when it first came on, but it was just a concept of its own to begin with. Hogan won it two year in a row as WWE champion I beleive, and Flair won the '92 rumble in which the winner won the Vacant title.

 

I presume rumble 93 was the first to have the Wrestlemania match included in the win, which Yokozuna won I believe.

[CTXRussomark]

Was the 'winner gets the title shot at WrestleMania' stipulation introduced in 89/90 though? I can't remember but it wasn't so much of a focal point in the early Rumbles was it?

I cant remember when it first came on, but it was just a concept of its own to begin with. Hogan won it two year in a row as WWE champion I beleive, and Flair won the '92 rumble in which the winner won the Vacant title.

 

I presume rumble 93 was the first to have the Wrestlemania match included in the win, which Yokozuna won I believe.

Yeah 93 was the first year with the WM stip. "The point" of the pre-92 Rumbles was to see who could win. Nothing more complicated than that. The concept was so new at that point that it didn't need anything else. Similar to how the Survivor Series worked for years purely on the novelty of the elimination tag matches.