*SPOILERS*The Royal Rumble seems to follow an inverse proportion: the better the Rumble, the worse the undercard. The exception is 1991, which had a great undercard and the best battle royal yet. Nowadays, the undercard is always fantastic, while the battle royal is just short of pathetic.In 1993, the undercard was fine, while the battle royal started off well and just ended horribly. The Steiners had about as good a match as was possible with the Beverly Brothers. The Big Bossman and Bam Bam Bigelow, the two best superheavyweight performers ever, did quite well.The two title matches were outstanding. Few remember that Razor Ramon was actually favored to beat Bret Hart. This match showed us that Bret was not a fluke champion and solidified him as one of the better champions. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty put on a great match. Remember, later that year they would wrestle in 1993's Match of the Year. The aftermath of this match is a treat, as Sensational Sherri gets really emotional and Gene Okerlund uses language that is still WWE taboo.The battle royal was mixed. Curt Hennig was impressive, eliminating three legends (Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler and Skinner). The Undertaker also accounted for himself well. Bob Backlund performed none of the heroics of Ric Flair from the year before and probably should not have broken iron man record. Backlund's record will never be broken. Once Yokozuna showed up, it was downhill. The match had a really boring ending, and they probably could have done better. Still, it was a good surprise having him win. So see it if you can.
... View More*possible spoilers*This was a very good and solid pay-per-view event. I really like it. Around this time (1993) we're starting to move out of the golden years of the Royal Rumble (Hogan's departure from the WWF being one of the key factors, obviously), but that doesn't mean it's not exciting anymore. It definitely is.The opener of the night is the Steiners (in their pay-per-view debut) vs. the Beverly Brothers, it's a decent match, lots of agility and great techniques by both teams, and the crowd really got into it.There's also the Big Boss Man against the "Beast from the East," Bam Bam Bigelow, in a battle of the big boys. Bossman gets some good offense in throughout the match, but Bam Bam prevails in the end with a flying headbutt off the top. Not a really good match, but it was ok.One of the best regular matches on the night, Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty, his former tag-team partner, really got things going. Some spectacular and high flying moves make this really something to watch. Jannetty controls the first few minutes, then Michaels manages to bang up Marty's shoulder a bit, but could not pin him. Jannetty at one point comes tantalizingly close to pinning Michaels, but in the end, it is Shawn who stands victorious. Great match.There's also a segment in which we get our first look at "the Narcissist" Lex Luger in the WWF, who is unveiled by Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. Heenan is so excited and anxious to show him off to everyone, silly stuff.Then the main event, Razor Ramon against Bret "Hitman" Hart. Another great match, for the Intercontinental Championship. Typical good guy/bad guy match. Bret gets control fairly early (after the taunts and toothpick flinging), then Razor really owns him from the middle on up towards the end, where Bret clamps on his infamous Sharpshooter finishing move and makes Ramon submit. Second best match of the night.Now the rumble match. Winner gets a title shot at Wrestlemania IX. Guess who has the #1 spot this year? Yep, Wooooo! Ric Flair. Everyone knows what happened in '92 but this year, Flair was expected to jump to WCW, and on Monday Night Raw, the day after the rumble, he and Mr. Perfect squared off in a "loser leaves the wwf" match. He lost. Flair didn't last as long in this one as he did in '92, but he was in for a good 18 minutes, when Mr. Perfect eliminated him. The man who drew #2, Bob Backlund, started with Flair, and hung on in the match for an incredible 61 minutes. He was the 28th overall man eliminated (by the 27th entrant, Yokozuna).About halfway into the match, Giant Gonzalez strolls down to ringside, and steps over the ropes and confronts the Undertaker, who had just cleared the entire ring. This guy was billed 8 feet tall but was actually 7'8". He chops the Dead Man over the top rope, and continues to beat on him outside the ring. This set up their match at Wrestlemania IX, which was a dud. The rumble match slows down dramatically here. The first half was excellent.When Yokozuna entered the match, he simply dominated. No one wanted anything with him, except for Earthquake. They collided, but Yoko tossed him out. And it was clear who was the winner was going to be. At one point, everyone in the ring all ganged up on Yoko, trying to eliminate him, but he fought them all off. Near the end it was Yokozuna, Bob Backlund, who was still there, Rick Martel, and Randy Savage. Backlund knocked Martel over the ropes, the crowd is going insane for him now, he already has the longevity record. But he made a mistake and charged at Yokozuna and was thrown out right at 61 minutes. WOW. So it's down to the sumo wrestler and Savage, they fight for a long time, Savage gets the crowd riled up, I mean REALLY riled up. But Yokozuna got the last laugh, as he tossed Savage out from lying on his back, AFTER being hit by a Flying Elbow Drop. This was the 2nd longest rumble ever at 66+ minutes, and it was excellent from the start, but it died down the 2nd half.
... View MoreThis Royal Rumble was quite mediocre. The Rumble match itself wasn't the best ever and the undercard was quite average.The Steiners battled the Beverly Brothers in an average match. The same can be said for Big Boss Man VS Bam Bam Bigelow. Shawn Michaels battled Marty Jannety in a reasonable match. The WWF Title match pitted Bret Hart against Razor Ramon. This was quite good.(SPOILER AHEAD) The Rumble itself was okay. The late Yokosuna won the Rumble-in fact everybody knew he would win. Unlike previous events where you never knew who the winner was going to be, this Rumble was quite predictable. The most memorable part of this Rumble was the debut of Giant Gonzalez who was billed as being 8 foot tall. He was probably closer to 7 foot but he was real mean looking. He beat the stuffings out of the Undertaker at this event. That was the best part of the Rumble.
... View MoreHighlights: Steiners and Beverlys had a decent opener, Steiners first PPV in WWF. The IC title match was great, Jannetty returned after a year and Sherri returned after 3 months but Michaels still gets the better of them both. The match : Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect's confrontation was classic especially with Bobby Heenan selling in the booth. The WWF should have used Perfect's performance to built him into a main-eventer. The crowd went nuts for him! Bob Backlund showed he can still go. Nice to see Carlos Calon on a PPV. Yokozuna and Earthquake also had a great standoff, and he was the right choice to go over. Lex Luger should not have been brought in like that. Bigelow's match with Bossman was a squash. Bret Hart and Razor Ramon was forgettable. Giant Gonzalez run in took way
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