(01.22.95)Live from Tampa, FLAttendance: 10,000Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry LawlerPamela Anderson receives a bunch of gifts from the superstars. It's pretty corny.Intercontinental ChampionshipRazor Ramon (C) Vs Jeff Jarrett (W/The Roadie)Jarrett tosses Razor over the top rope, causing Razor to fall awkwardly on his knee. The Roadie chopblocks Razor from behind on the outside behind the ref's back. Jarrett wins by countout. HOWEVER, Jarrett goads Razor into restarting the match. Razor tries the Razor's Edge but his leg buckles. Jarrett gets him in an inside cradle to win the title. This is one of those matches that goes unnoticed because of the terrible overbooking. This is a pretty good match with both men on top of their game. If it wasn't for the terrible booking, it would be considered a great opener.***1/2The Undertaker (W/Paul Bearer) Vs I.R.S (W/Ted Dibiase)The Undertaker wins with a chokeslam. This match isn't bad as I remembered. That's kinda a backhanded compliment, though. It's still a pretty mediocre match with nothing special about it what so ever. Nobody bought I.R.S as a threat to The Undertaker.*1/2WWF ChampionshipDiesel (C) Vs Bret HartDiesel has it won with a jackknife powerbomb until Shawn Michaels runs in and prevents Diesel from winning. In lieu of a DQ, the referee elects to continue the match. Bret has the match won with the Sharpshooter, but Owen Hart runs in to prevent a submission. The referee declares that the match MUST continue AGAIN. Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Jeff Jarrett, The Roadie, and Bob Backlund run in to Finally make this a no-contest. Diesel and Bret embrace after the match in a show of respect. Thoughts: Bret Hart gives Diesel his best matches. This is an excellent match that's loaded with creativity and suspense. I liked how both men acted heelish in this match, especially Bret. The psychology is also excellent with Bret doing a great job of going after Diesel's leg. It's overbooked a little bit but it doesn't detract from the match too much. It's the perfect example of finesse Vs power.****Tag Team ChampionshipBam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka (W/Ted Dibiase) Vs The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob HollyThe Kid & Holly win the titles after a heel miscommunication. This was a fun little match with a great Cinderella story. The Kid & Holly played the perfect underdogs and managed to make you care about them. ***Lawrence Taylor starts laughing at Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow shoves him. This would lead to a match at Wrestlemania 11.The Royal Rumble1. is Shawn Michaels. 2. is The British Bulldog. Like an idiot, The Bulldog picks up Shawn for a military press slam, but he slams on the mat instead of the floor. 3. is Eli Blu. 4 is Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. 5. is Jimmy Del Ray. 6. is Sione (The Barbarian) of The Headshrinkers. Bulldog eliminates Del Ray. 7. is Tom Pritchard. 8. is Doink, and the crowd pops huge for some odd reason. 9 is Savio Veg...I mean, Kwang. 10. is Rick Martel, who has outlived his usefulness at this point. 11. is Owen Hart. Bret attacks Owen in the aisle way to get revenge. 12. is Timothy Well. Owen Hart gets eliminated off camera. Shawn Michaels eliminates Droese. The Bulldog follows that by tossing Timothy Well. Sione ends Martel's night, and Michaels gets rid of Pritchard. Kwang eliminates Doink as 13. is Bushwhacker Luke. Eli Blu and Sione eliminate each other. So many quick eliminations! Michaels quickly ends Luke's night by throwing him out. 14. is Jacob Blu. He goes out almost as quickly as he came in. 15. is King Kong Bundy. 16. is Mo from Men on a Mission. He lasts a few seconds before getting thrown out by Bundy. Mo breaks Bushwhacker Luke's quickest elimination record. 17. is Mabel. He goes after Bundy, of course. 18. is Bushwhacker Butch. Mabel eliminates Bundy. Michaels gets rid of Butch. 19. is Lex Luger. He starts off with a bang by eliminating Mabel. 20. is Mantaur. 21. is Aldo Montoya. (Justin Credible) 22. is Henry Godwin. 23. is Billy Gunn. 24. is his brother Bart Gunn. 25. is Bob Backlund. to thunderous boos. He's greeted by an attack from Bret Hart as well. 26. is Steven Dunn. Luger tosses Backlund to a big pop. 27. is Dick Murdoch. 28. is Adam Bomb. 29. is Fatu. Luger eliminates Mantaur. 30. is Crush. Crush gets rid of the Smoking Gunns simultaneously. Montoya eliminates Steven Dunn. Crush gets rid of Adam Bomb. Montoya is eliminated by Crush. He follows that up by getting rid of Fatu. Murdoch eliminates himself after the effects of an airplane spin. Luger eliminates Henry Godwin. Murdoch gets a standing ovation on his way out. The final four are Luger, Michaels, Crush, and The British Bulldog. Michaels eliminates Luger. The Bulldog clotheslines Crush out, leaving Michaels and Bulldog as the final two. The British Bulldog clotheslines Michaels out to WIN the Royal Rumble...WAIT! Michaels dangled his feet above the ground, and only one foot hit the floor. He comes back in while Bulldog is celebrating on the top rope, and knocks him to the floor to eliminate The Bulldog. Shawn Michaels has won the Royal Rumble.Thoughts: Shawn winning the rumble after drawing number one was unheard of back then. It's one of the most memorable rumble performances of all time. Despite Michael's heroics, this one suffers greatly from a lack of star power. I did enjoy Shawn teasing elimination, and the ending to the Rumble was cool as well. I just wish the rumble itself was more exciting and had more star power. ** 7/10 overall.

1. Intercontinental Title Match: Jeff Jarrett Vs. Champ-Razor Ramon 6/10 2. I.R.S. Vs. The Undertaker - I think Taker needed change in 1995, this match was ordinary. And his waking up after getting stunned was overbooked at this moment. And stealing urn from Bearer? It was there already. 6/10 3. WWF Heavyweight Title Match: Bret Hart Vs. Champ-Diesel - Another ordinary Title match. Can't hear some exclusive crowd reaction. Diesel bored me. I like him better as Michael's small fries. After 2 possible DQ we get DQ already. Blah. 5.5/10 4. WWF Tag Title Match: Champs(Goes first)-Bam Bam Bigelow/Tatanka Vs. Bob Holly/1-2-3 Kid 6.5/10 5. Royal Rumble: Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, Eli Bu, Duke Droese, Jimmy Del Ray, Sione, Tom Prichard, Doink the Clown, Kwang, Rick Martel, Owen Hart, Timothy Well, Mentally Ill Human Woodcracker, Jacob Blu, King Kong Bundy, Mo, Mabel, Another Useless Woodcracker, Lex Luger, Mantaur, Aldo Montoya, Henry Godwinn, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, Bob Backlund, Steven Dunn, Dick Murdoch, Adam Bomb, Fatu, Crush - Who were all those jobbers? Bushwackers again?? Dick MUrdoch? That was weakest Royal Rumble ever. Shawn really deserve that win. 7/10

*SPOILERS*The Rumble from the previous years had great under cards, with the exception of 90. 89 wasn't so great either, because there was on great match and two other lackluster ones. But this was the first time we had a lackluster battle royal.The under card was superb. Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett had a fine match. Did anyone notice that he was in 5 Royal Rumbles, but never once fought in the battle royal? The Undertaker-IRS match was fun because of Vince McMahon's commentary. Every time the Undertaker rises miraculously, he makes this weird noise. Vince McMahon's commentary has always been so bad it's good. Bret Hart and Diesel did quite well.The tag team tournament final stole the show. It was a lengthy, exciting match, with plenty of heat. A few notes: I'm sure the Kid and Bob Holly's combined weight of 344 lbs. was a typo. Either that or they were trying to add to the momentum they were trying to build about Kid and Holly being underdogs. When I saw the match on pay-per-view, I knew Kid and Holly would win just because of McMahon and Lawler constantly pointing out that they didn't stand a chance against Bigelow and Tatanka.Now, on to the battle royal. The reason Michaels and the Bulldog lasted the whole match is that there was no competition. Was anyone holding his breath when Duke the Dumpster held Michaels over the top rope, or when Eli Blu ran down to face the Bulldog? This was also the reason they shortened the entries from 2 minutes to 1. Out of 30 men, only about 5 of them were A-list stars, and 2 of them got taken out prematurely by Bret Hart. Did anyone want to see Henry Godwinn and Well Dunn slug it out for a solid hour?Ultimately, this was the first of many Rumbles with a poorly-executed battle royal and a great under card.

This was a major event for the WWF, with the setup for Wrestlemania. First of all the appearance by Pamela Anderson was great and definitely was attractive. The Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett match was great right up until the end and a great way to start the show. The Undertaker Vs. IRS match was not quite as good as the other matches, but still entertaining. Bret Hart and Diesel worked their butts off for the crowd, and would have been better if there wasn't all of the interferences. The Tag Team Match had a surprising outcome, and set up the big Bam Bam Bigelow/Lawrence Taylor match. But the Royal Rumble match itself was what stole the show. Shawn Michaels and The British Bulldog were the first two in and the last two in the Rumble, with Shawn being the only man to come in at the number one spot and win. Great show 5 out of 5 all the way!!!