WWE Royal Rumble 1995

WWE Royal Rumble 95'

Tampa, Florida - January 1995

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this event, Diesel is the WWF World Champion, Razor Ramon is the Intercontinental Champion, and the World Tag Team Titles are vacant following the split of Diesel and Shawn Michaels.

COMMENTATORS: Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Pamela Anderson arrives in a large white van and is immediately bombarded by catcalls and hooting from most of the WWE lockerroom. Okay, that's one way to start a PPV.

Jeff Jarrett challenges Razor Ramon for his Intercontinental Championship in the opening bout. Razor is over and Jarrett was always a technically sound grappler, but this match just did absolutely nothing for me. Part of the problem is that Razor, while a terrific heel, was not nearly as captivating as a babyface. Jarrett, meanwhile, should be pinballing all over the place for the guy or doubling-down on his Ric Flair copycat stuff to break down the larger opponent but, instead, they just go through the paces and don't develop any sort of story until 2/3rds of the way through (when Razor takes a spill to the outside and tweaks his knee). Jarrett gets the countout victory, but demands that Razor return to the ring to actually defend the title. Razor agrees and the match continues (oh joy) and, at least this time around, there's some drama to build upon with Razor doing a really nice job of selling the knee from here to the end. Jarrett locks in the figure four and the crowd rallies behind Ramon, the Bad Guy eventually breaking out of the hold and nearly scoring the win with his Razor's Edge. His knee gives out, though, and Jarrett rolls him up to put this one to bed. Both guys have much better matches on their resume. (1/5)

Backstage, Todd Pettengill interviews Pamela Anderson and then we hear from Double J. 

Irwin R. Schyster makes his way down the aisle for his match against The Undertaker. At the previous SummerSlam, the Undertaker had defeated his clone. Then, at Survivor Series, the Undertaker finally got revenge on Yokozuna, the man that had put him out of action at the start of the calendar year. Now, he was just tying up loose ends apparently by continuing to take out random heels. For whatever reason there is a lengthy pause before the match starts and things are dead silent in the arena. IRS tries to dropkick Taker from behind but the Deadman no sells it. McMahon talks up Schyster's technical skills, even comparing him to Bret Hart - the key difference, though, is that Bret Hart has a bunch of really good, exciting matches to his name and Rotunda, especially at this time, was about as exciting as a glass of lukewarm water. The Undertaker grabs Schyster by the tie and tosses him across the ring before hitting the Old School (which wasn't called that then). Ted DiBiase gets on the apron and though it looks like Taker is going to be distracted, he ends up side-stepping and IRS and DiBiase nearly butt heads. On the outside, Schyster and DiBiase argue a bit and the Million Dollar Man goes to the aisleway to get some extra help in the form of two masked druids. I'm not sure who is under the hoods but McMahon speculates that they could members of the Corporation - Tatanka? Borga? Who knows? Who cares? Undertaker continues his dominance in the ring and attempts a second Old School, only for a druid to shake the ropes and allow IRS to hip toss him from the top rope. Undertaker sits up, though, and Schyster just can not catch a break to save his life. Undertaker gets distracted by the druids on the outside and IRS takes advantage, running him into the steel steps and then pulling the ref aside so that the druids can inflict more damage. Schyster applies an abdominal stretch because this match has had too much action at this point? Taker hip tosses his way out but misses a running elbow. IRS gets some stomps in, then a back elbow, and then a clothesline. IRS continues to strike with elbows and a leg drop but wastes too much time before attempting a big splash. Undertaker is on his feet and looks to be going for his flying clothesline, but the Deadman and IRS end up colliding in the middle of the ring. A druid pulls IRS on top of the Phenom for two, but then gets choked on the apron for his trouble. A Tombstone tease gets a huge reaction, but the druids prevent him from hitting his finisher. Schyster connects with another big clothesline as Paul Bearer tries to rally his man on the outside of the ring. Chokeslam from the Deadman for 3. I wonder why they didn't just go with the Tombstone finish? Very standard house show-ish match from these two. I forget who the Undertaker ended up taking on at WrestleMania that year - maybe Kama? Anyway, the druids attack again after the match but beaten up for their efforts. Oh, here's my answer. King Kong Bundy shows up and stares down the Undertaker while IRS grabs the urn. Bundy hits several very unimpressive and off-mark splashes in the ring, laying the Undertaker out and setting up their program. (2/5)

Diesel is backstage taping up his fists with Todd Pettengill. He refuses to comment on tonight's title match. We then cut to Pettengill sitting with the Hitman. Hart says he wants the title back and his been focused on that goal since dropping the belt at Survivor Series. 

Alright - World Title Match time - Bret Hart challenging Diesel for the biggest prize in wrestling. In an interesting note, McMahon mentions that Bret Hart is the most decorated wrestler in WWE history, having not only one all three major championships but being the first guy to have won them all twice. As he walks to the ring, Diesel shakes hands with Lawrence Taylor, who is in the front row. Hart tries to break Diesel down early, bringing the fight right to the big man but unwisely tries to throw fists with Big Daddy Cool. Within the first two minutes of this match, the effort and intensity of this match has already surpassed anything that either of the previous two matches had to offer, Hart wrestling with intent and targeting Diesel's knee repeatedly in a sound strategy. Hart applying the figure four twice is great psychology, the Hitman knowing that his best chance at winning the title is to keep this match on the mat as much as possible. Diesel's struggle and selling shouldn't be ignored here either, as he really puts the effort in. Hart pops the crowd with a tremendous dive through the middle ropes onto the arena floor! Diesel is able to use his strength to whip Hart into the steps, though, and back in the ring they go. Diesel's selling isn't as good as what we saw from Razor Ramon earlier, but he's sluggish enough naturally that it still registers that at least some damage has been done. Diesel takes over and hits a sidewalk slam for two. Diesel hits a huge guillotine leg drop on Hart on the ropes, a move that usually doesn't look as vicious as it does here. Diesel attempts a basic over-the-knee backbreaker submission from Hart slides out of it. A minute or so later, Diesel hoists him up again and applies another backbreaker submission, showing that he too knows how to target a body part and work it. Hart rallies, though, connecting with a second-rope clothesline. He goes up to the top rope again, but Diesel nearly press slams him off. At this point, its obvious the crowd is more behind the Hitman than behind Diesel, which is interesting considering just how subtly-heelish Hart has been working. Bret Hart uses his wrist tape to tie Diesel's legs together and then proceeds to stomp a mudhole in him. Hebner unties him but Hart just follows it up with more punishment via a bulldog headlock. Even after this, Hart gets cheered for his trademark offense. Everything Bret delivers is excellently-executed. Hart clotheslines the big man over the top but Diesel lands on his feet and catches Bret in midair, driving him back-first into the post. Diesel calls for the Jacknife and, for whatever reason, a portion of the audience boos. Diesel hits the Jacknife and goes for the cover but Shawn Michaels runs in and attacks Diesel, attempting to destroy his knee. Lawler wonders why the referee has not rung the bell, which is a really valid question considering that this was a clear DQ. Howard Finkel announces that the match will continue which the crowd appreciates. Bret continues to target Diesel's knee and Lawler posits that Shawn and Bret may be in kahoots. Diesel is in serious trouble as Hart applies a third figure four right in the middle of the ring. Diesel punches his way out, though, unloading on Hart's abdomen. The Hitman maintains control, though, wrenching Diesel's knee in the corner. Hart goes for a clothesline in the corner, but Diesel sidesteps and Hart hits the buckle with tremendous force. Diesel hits a gut wrench suplex for two, again showing considerable depth in his arsenal that I'm not sure he'd utilized before. Hart grabs a chair and bashes Diesel's knee, the crowd finally turning on the Hitman. Still, even as a portion of the audience boos, he gets cheered again as he applies the Sharpshooter. Owen Hart runs in, though, and breaks the hold. He then uncovers the buckle and sends Hart into the exposed corner, which Hart sells perfectly. Again Finkel announces the match must continue despite the fact that there have been at least three DQ-worthy moments. Diesel crawls over to the Hitman and makes a very labored cover for 2, the crowd popping when Bret kicks out. Booking-wise, this match has been somewhat of a mess, with Hart working as a heel at times and the crowd not playing along and two separate run-ins that should've been DQs, but when these two are just fighting it out themselves, the match is absolutely incredible. Hart tries to play possum, but Diesel kicks out of his small package attempt. Hebner gets knocked out and in comes Michaels, Owen, Backlund, Double J, and the Roadie to take out both the babyfaces. This finish protects both guys, which was smart, while also making the next Hart/Diesel match a must-see affair. Finally, the match is called and Finkel announces that it has been declared a draw. Backlund locks in the Chickenwing as Diesel clears the ring then saves the Hitman in a show of respect. If you can ignore the ridiculous lack of rule-following, this is just a tremendous match and effort from both guys, easily the best Diesel/Kevin Nash match I've reviewed on this blog and one of the best Bret Hart performances too. (4/5)

The finals of the WWF World Tag Team Title Tournament is our next match - the underdog duo of Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid taking on The Million Dollar Team's Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow. For context's sake, the tournament was held because the former champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels had officially split apart after months of teasing the break-up. Now, why the WWE decided to basically have two thrown-together teams end up in the finals is a different question, but I'm guessing that one of the issues was that the division pretty much stunk, with one half of the the Headshrinkers replaced and teams like the Blu Brothers, Men on a Mission, and Well Dunn were just kinda there and not over. The Steiners, who I'm sure the WWF believed were going to be around for the long haul and make them loads of money, had left in the middle of 94' after an overall unremarkable run in somewhat the same vein as Lex Luger's brief stay in Stamford. Anyway...Holly throws a mean dropkick, 1-2-3 Kid had some innovative offense for the time, and Bam Bam Bigelow is one of the best big man in the business and was really good here. Still, after the near-masterpiece that was the previous match, this one was just never going to have the same impact or engage the audience as much. On the plus side it also doesn't suffer from overbooking and the good guys score a hard-earned victory that gets a strong response from the crowd. Extra half-point for Bigelow's post-match angle with Lawrence Taylor, which starts out kinda hokey but then feels much more genuine when Bigelow shoves Taylor to the floor. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog drew number one and number two in this year's Royal Rumble match and immediately get to duking it out. Michaels is blatantly trying to steal the show from the very moment the match starts, bouncing around the ring to tease his own elimination constantly. Eli Blu and Duke Droese follow and I'm reminded how thin the WWE's roster was during this period. After Sione (aka the Barbarian) comes in we get our first elimination - Jimmy Del Ray of the Heavenly Bodies hitting the bricks. Tom Prichard (the other Heavenly Body) is next in the ring, followed by Doink The Clown, who gets one of the loudest reactions yet. I'm not sure if this is the first year they did a new entry every 60 seconds (or if they ever repeated this style), but it sure keeps things moving. Compared to previous Rumbles, where the announcers really built up the stamina and endurance of the guys who came in early and stuck around, in this edition, they have their foot on the gas and are just flying through this match as quickly as possible. "The Model" Rick Martel comes in and Vince notes that this was his 7th Rumble. Owen Hart is next, but before he can get to the ring, Bret Hart shows up and beats him down as the crowd roars. Its interesting booking that in January 95' they were still running the same feuds for Bret and Taker that they'd run 4 months earlier at SummerSlam. After Owen's immediate elimination, a whole slew of guys get tossed out, bringing the count back down to just two. Bushwacker Luke comes in to make it three but doesn't last long. They really missed an opportunity for a callback there. Jacob Blu comes in, but Michaels is able to eliminate him and, again, we're down to just two - the Bulldog and HBK. King Kong Bundy is the next entrant and immediately seeks to eliminate Davey Boy. Mo of Men on a Mission comes in guns blazing and is eliminated in less than a second by Bundy - shattering the record for briefest Royal Rumble stay in the process, I believe. Mabel arrives next, though, and he and Bundy go at it to the delight of the crowd. Mabel is able to, very slowly and with immense effort, eliminate King Kong Bundy - which is certainly interesting booking considering he was meant to be the next big threat to the Undertaker. Bushwacker Butch comes in and doesn't last long. Lex Luger shows up next and eliminates Mabel in an impressive show of strength. Luger and Bulldog work together to try to take out Michaels, but HBK is able to survive as Mantaur comes in. I definitely forget about Mantaur. According to wikipedia, Mantaur had debuted earlier in the month and this would end up being his sole WWE pay-per-view appearance. Another recent addition to the roster comes out next - Aldo Montoya, the Portugese Man of War. Was the WWE expanding into Portugal at the time? I mean, really, what was the idea behind this character? Henry Godwinn comes in next, the former Shanghai Pierce having debuted in mid-94'. Billy and Bart Gunn come out next and Vince notes that they were prevented from being in the World Tag Team Title tournament due to a "rodeo injury." Former World Champion Bob Backlund is next and he gets pretty strong heel heat, maybe the most since Owen. Speaking of Harts, Bret shows up and goes after him in retaliation for Backlund putting him in the chickenwing earlier in the show. Steven Dunn enters, but the focus remains on Backlund, who briefly enters the ring and is almost immediately eliminated only to end up brawling with the Hitman in the aisle. Dick Murdoch comes in and I'm dumb-founded. Weren't they promoting themselves as "The New Generation" around this time? Adam Bomb comes in with lots of energy but the crowd could absolutely care less about him. Michaels dangles precariously in the corner as Fatu (the future Rikishi) comes in. Mantaur is eliminated by Luger around this time, but the ring is still plenty crowded with guys that have no chance of winning. Speaking of no chance of winning, Crush is next. He eliminates both Smoking Gunns and then goes after Luger. For whatever reason we then get one of the dullest stretches of the entire match, everyone either brawling with minimal effort or just kinda standing around. Shouldn't the closing minutes of this match be the most dramatic? Luger, inexplicably, saves Michaels from elimination two times and this poor showing of psychology isn't ignored by Lawler on commentary. Out goes Fatu as Dick Murdoch lifts up Godwin for an airplane spin. Murdoch accidentally eliminates himself in the process and we're down to 5. Luger eliminates Godwinn and there are now 4 remaining - Shawn, Bulldog, Crush, and the Total Package. Luger's next out, though, shoved over the top rope by Michaels as he was hitting Crush with some right hands. Michaels and Crush form a brief alliance, but Crush ends up breaking the deal and trying to toss the Showstopper out. He gets him up for a press slam, but Michaels fights his way down with a rake of the eyes. Bulldog is back up and he clotheslines the former Demolition member out of the ring. Things have now gone full circle as Bulldog and Michaels stare each other down from across the ring. The final minutes are fantastic, though, it doesn't quite make sense that they would play the British Bulldog's music (signaling his victory) before the bell rang. Michaels' elimination teasing is goofy, but its also exactly the level of camp and ridiculousness that this match, with all of its zany characters, needed. While nobody could ever compare Shawn's work here to Flair's 91' performance (even though its clear he's going for that), his efforts to give this match at least a few jolts of excitement exceed absolutely everyone else's and its not even close. One of the worst Rumbles ever, for sure, but also, because of its brevity (the whole thing runs under 40 minutes), one of the easiest ones to get through. (1.5/5)


With only one match worth watching, Royal Rumble 95' is hard to recommend as a whole, but after the overlong and dull opener, things pick up considerably and, though the action isn't always stupendous (save for the title match, where Bret is incredible), Vince's over-the-top delivery gets less grating and enough ridiculous characters appear in rapid enough succession for the show to become pretty watchable. Again, it'd be false advertising to call this a fun watch through and through (and its Kwang Score of 2.2-out-of-5 spells that out) - but its nice to watch a WWE show that doesn't take itself too seriously or try to present its undeniably thin card and roster as premier athletes competing in a deadly serious competition of toughness. Vince knew that only 3-5 guys had enough credibility to be considered potential WrestleMania main eventers - namely Michaels and Luger then, to a lesser degree, Bulldog, Owen, and Backlund - and wisely sped up the process. While this taints Michaels' victory (which isn't hard to do when you look at his non-competition anyway), it makes the match that much easier to sit back and enjoy as a parade of "'Memba That Stupid Gimmick?" moments. And, sometimes, Wrestlecrap can be fun.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver