Rolling Through Royal Rumbles

[Jacob Fox]

1990 Rumble is an odd one. After years of watching Rumbles where winning it REALLY means something, watching the first few can be a little underwhelming.

Much like the 1989 Rumble was about the Mega Powers, the 1990 was about Hogan and the Warrior. There were some good moments but nothing REALLY important.

So:

Rumble Winner: 3

For me, Hogan fatigue was beginning to set in. There was no reason to have him win the Rumble except that he wanted the spotlight. It would have been better to let someone else win it since it wasn't something that involved a title match.

Rumble Match: 5

It was nice seeing some old guys but the Rumble itself. Dibiase was the best thing about it.

Surprises: 0

Still before this was a thing.

 

[Jacob Fox]

1991 Royal Rumble

This was the last Royal Rumble to just be a regular match with no importance to the outcome. It wasn't the best either but there were some good moments. Rick Martel going nearly an hour in the match was great for me as I was a fan. We got a legendary moment when Luke of the Bushwhackers got eliminated very fast.

I was watching a GFW event years ago and Luke was in a battle royal. He got eliminated right away and the crowd began chanting "You still got i!" This match gave him something to be remembered for.

Well, this Rumble was once again the Hogan show. I think it was implied Hogan would get the title match with Sgt. Slaughter, so it was ALMOST like he got it because of the match but not really. Anyhoo, unlike 1990, I think it was important for Hogan to win and get momentum for his eventual match with Slaughter.

Winner: 6.

Yeah, it was another Hogan win but it meant a little more than last year. I recall when this happened and there was a LOT of hostility toward Slaughter. There were death threats and if I recall correctly, bomb threats for Wrestlemania. Having Hogan win after Slaughter win the championship was pretty important.

Match: 5

It had a few good moments, such as Luke getting eliminated and Savage not entering the match because he was worried about the Warrior. But the Rumble was still finding its legs at this time. Rick Martel was awesome and probably the best thing about it to me.

Surprises: 4

I am going to include Luke's elimination and the Macho Man's non entry as surprises. Plus the Model nearly going an hour, which was unheard of in WWF at the time.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Now we are getting somehwere! The first year the Rumble meant something and it was the WWF Championship.

I have seen this one 100 times. I have it memorized. People talk about Ric Flair's performance, which was LEGENDARY but Bobby Heenan was maybe the MVP of the Rumble. His commentary really made this match tense and entertaining.

In this match, you have almost an entire cast of Hall of Famers. You also have a lot of guys who deserve to be there.

But anyway, this is Flair's story. When people in the WWF didn't tend to have long matches at this point, long matches were Flair's speciality. He told a great story that still entertains me to this day.

The biggest thing about this other than Flair, is that the Rumble now meant something. After having the winner get the WWF Championship, they had to make sure the subsequent Rumbles meant something. So, the next year, the winner became the opponent of the champion at Mania.

Winner:10/10

To this day, this is Flair's moment in WWF. The only thing that might compare is his retirement match. He was the big heel yet was popular with many fans. This was the match that made me a Flair fan.

Match: 10/10

This was one of the first Rumbles widely circulated on DVD so it was easy to watch it many times. But it really was the first great Rumble match. It doesn't have all of the facets of recent Rumbles, but it was amazing. It wasn't just Flair, it was the cast of stars who made this match a classic.

Surprises: 8/10

WWF didn't have men doing hour long matches. Flair coming in at third and winning was absolutely shocking at the time. I came in the match not liking Flair really and I was cheering for him at the end. This was something else.

Macho Man accidentally eliminating himself was something else too. It was a mistake but still a surprise someone would do that. It was fun listening to Heenan and Monsoon try to correct it.

Flair winning with his two last opponents being Sid and Hogan. It looked like the end for him but we know it wasn't.

 

[Jacob Fox]

1993 Rumble

Okay, the true fact is that this is probably one of the worst Rumbles ever. BUT it was also the first PPV I ever bought, so I have a bit of love for it.

This was the first Rumble to send the winner to the main event of Wrestlemania. It was also the last PPV to have the best commentary team of all time, Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon.

There were some good moments. I liked Earthquake's performance in the match. I also liked Yokozuna. This was long before he got tremendously out of shape and couldn't wrestle. It was nice to see him have a good moment.

But the bad outweighs the good. Giant Gonzales.... ugh... I can't even talk about that. Bob Backlund acting like a goody two shoes. Virgil wearing those vertical striped tights. Paul Diamond as Max Moon. Close ups of Mr Perfect's ass when he was being eliminated... actually that wasn;t that bad...

I have seen this one a lot because I illegally taped it and watched it a lot lol. It was hard to get wrestling tapes back then, so this is how we did it. But it wasn't great.

Also, Heenan's commentary occasionally pissed me off. He made the Headshrinkers seem like animals, calling their manager a "feeder." Also, wondering if Yokozuna understood the rules. He tried to make it seem like just because he was supposedly from Japan that he couldn't understand wrestling rules.

Winner: 4/10

I am trying to be objective here. I like Yokozuna but NO ONE was excited about him winning. The crowd was dead. It was just something that wasn't expected and that no one cared about at the time. There were some great potential match ups in the match: Undertaker, Mr Perfect, Jerry Lawler,.. actually, when I think about it, there weren't many good potential match ups lol. Those three were the only ones.

Match: 2/10

Also trying to be objective. I enjoy watching this but I realize it sucked bad. It is just nostalgia for me.

Surprises: 1/10

This was the first year with a real surprise. But it was an awful surprise. I have nothing against Jorge Gonzalez, but he never had any purpose to be in a wrestling ring. It may be the worst surprise in Rumble history.

So, I won't rank this higher than it deserves. It was a BAD Rumble. The only thing I cared about was that it was my first PPV I watched live and didn't watch on tape.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

The 93 Rumble isn't all that bad tbh. I certainly don't think it's one of the worst either.

 

[Jacob Fox]

The 93 Rumble isn't all that bad tbh. I certainly don't think it's one of the worst either.

I really enjoy it but I was trying to look at it through the eyes of other people. It is the second most watched Rumble I have ever seen.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I remember watching this Rumble live when it came out. It was actually a really good and entertaining match. We all know it had a weird ending, with both Bret Hart and Lex Luger winning the match. But even up to then, it was a surprisingly good match. I was rooting for Bret Hart at the time, so I was half happy when he half won. But the show going off the air without a resolution for Wrestlemania was a bit frustrating.

Winner: 10/10

Both Bret Hart and Lex Luger won and got their title shots at Wrestlemania. It was a really new idea and it was executed decently. Both Luger and Hart were the big faces who were Wrestlemania caliber main eventers. Both had beef with Yokozuna. This was really the right choice.

Match: 8/10

This match had Diesel dominate the ring for a period of time. This was the match that made Kevin Nash seem like a main event talent. He wasn't cheered coming in, but he was cheered during his domination and chants of "We want Diesel" filled the arena when he was gone.

Other than that, there were some good moments but it slowed down a little when Diesel was gone. Fortunately, it picked back up when Luger came in and was entertaining the whole way.

Surprises: 6/10

They played it very well by not having Bastion Booger enter the Rumble and everyone (including me) thinking it was Bret Hart. So when Bret came in, it was quite the surprise and I loved it.

There were two surprise entrants: Virgil and Bob Holly (Sparky Plugg at the time) but they were completely forgettable. They were announced as alternates to Kamala and the 1 2 3 Kid.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Here we have the unique Royal Rumble that everyone came in 60 second intervals. It is the only time that WWE did something like that, and I am glad for that. Even though this Rumble was fun to watch, it was too short and not as fun as the longer ones. Having the number one and number two entrants being the last two people in the ring was great. Plus, WWF kept repeating the "Both feet touch the floor" line for WEEKS before the Rumble. We all knew that something was going to happen with a wrestler only having one foot touching the floor and we were right.

Another odd thing was that throughout the match, it seemed like Lex Luger kept saving Shawn Michaels from being eliminated. The King talked about it a little and it REALLY seemed like it was happening. Shawn Michaels was obviously going to win to face Diesel at Mania.

Winner: 9/10

HBK had to win the match to face Diesel. It was the right choice. When it seemed like the Bulldog won, it was a bit shocking at first. But then, it became obvious they were using the two foot rule. Still, it was what had to happen to get the title match at Mania.

Match: 8/10

It was a fun match, but I don't like the 60 second interval. It made the match shorter and a lot less suspenseful. I am glad they haven't done this again.

Surprises: 7/10 This is the only time the first and second entrants were the last entrants. That was very cool and surprising to happen. It was the best thing about the match and it was so exciting watching it live.

I don't rewatch this one often but glad I did for this thread.

 

[Chris]

I like that one but the 60 seconds felt very indie looking back lol 90 seconds is definitely the sweet spot to me. Two minutes was too long

 

[Jacob Fox]

Agreed. 90 seconds is perfect. It is just the right amount of suspense but not too long that it is boring.

 

[Jacob Fox]

What can I say about this Rumble? I really liked it. There was something really comfortable about how the set was set up. It felt sort of enclosed and comfortable. Not sure how to convey that.

Anyway, this was a huge deal when it happened. I mean, Vader was coming to the WWF. At the time, it was HUGE. Of course WWF completely fucked Vader up. But not on this night. On this night, Vader was the dominant monster we knew in WCW. This was his night...and was even more brutal after he was eliminated.

I watch this match a lot, actually. It is one of my favorites.

On the first episode when Nitro would go head to head with Raw, WWF announced that the main event of Raw would be Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart. BUT they pulled the match at the last minute. Immediately everyone began to believe they did this because this was their best possible match up at the time and wanted to save it for Mania... well, we all know how that turned out.

Winner: 10/10

HBK had to repeat to set up a match with Bret Hart. This is what everyone wanted and was expecting. Anything else would not have made sense.

I am not a fan of the HBK/Hart Iron Man Match at Mania. I thought it was boring as hell and I love mat wrestling. But the Rumble set up for the match was perfect and exciting.

Match: 10/10

This is very rewatchable. It is engaging throughout the entire match and featured many of the wrestlers who would define the upcoming Attitude Era. It was a great Rumble and had several well told stories in it.

Surprises: 0/10

No surprises in this Rumble really, but it didn't need them. It was a fun match and that was what mattered.

 

[Chris]

I like this one a lot too, I wouldn't relate it quite as high as you but no disagreement from me really either. It's great fun

 

[Jacob Fox]

When Vader lost it after he was eliminated and came in and just whooped everyone's asses... that was so awesome.

Funny that when Vader was alone in the ring, Owen Hart got back in... lol... I would have been like the King and hid under the ring.

 

[Jacob Fox]

So we got the 97 Rumble, which was right before the WWF entered the Attitude Era. But there were so many pieces of the AE that were present in the Rumble and you can see them before they all played out, which makes it really interesting.

I recall enjoying watching this one when it came out, but it is also one of my many I tend to rewatch often. I had been a big Steve Austin fan from his debut in WCW and was really pulling for him in this match. When he debuted earlier and dominated the ring for the first time since Diesel three years earlier, I felt for sure that he wasn't going to win.

Things leading up to Wrestlemania 13 were pretty crappy. I mean, Shawn Micheals "lost his smile" and basically screwed up a lot, leading to one of the worst Wrestlemanias ever. I was at Mania 13 and the only good thing about it really was the submission match. But the main event was so underwhelming with no real build due to Michaels not wanting to drop the belt back to Hart.

Winner: 8/10

Austin winning was great, but it did seem out of nowhere. Other than Yokozuna, all previous winners who went to Wrestlemania for a title shot had an obvious storyline leading into it. It was widely expected Bret Hart would win and have a rematch of Wrestlemania XII's main event. Of course, that got all mixed up.

Personally, the way Austin won was fun for me too. So, I have to give it a good score.

Match 7/10

Maybe not the most exciting match throughout, but it definitely had its moments. Austin's dominance in parts of the Rumble was really fun. Bret Hart losing his cool at the end was just interesting to watch, if not unprecendented (he had beat the crap out of both Owen Hart and Bob Backlund during the 1995 Rumble). But there wasn't a whole lot amazing to come out of the match.

Surprises: 2/10

The only real surprise was how Austin won, which was fun. Other than that, it was pretty surprise free.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I guess that 98 Rumble was Austin trying out to be in the next Hellraiser movie...

This was the last Rumble I watched live until I started watching wrestling again in 2003. I took a hiatus from it because I really didn't care for a lot of the things that were going on in both major promotions and ECW.

It was pretty obvious that Austin was going to win this Rumble. But I still think they did a decent job of making it suspenseful at times. Austin vs HBK at Mania was the obvious main event and WWF wasn't the best at the time of keeping those things from being obvious.

Still, it had it's good moments. I particularly liked Mick Foley entering the Rumble three times as each of his three personas. Other than Austin winning, that is probably what it is best known for. Plus, everyone hating on Austin and wanting to eliminate him from the match was good too. It really made it seem like an uphill battle.

Winner: 7/10

As I mentioned, it was sort of obvious that Austin was going to win. But it is hard to look down on that because that was really all that made sense at the time. Back then, WWF wanted their most popular wrestler to be the champ and it was Austin. So he was going to win.

That being said, I , like many others, wanted him to win, so it was no problem at all.

Match: 7/10

About the same as the winner. It had its good moments and its slower moments. But all in all, it was an enjoyable Rumble. Mick Foley had one of his all time WWF moments and that was good to see. The Rock continued to grow on the fans, though it was really cool to see him eliminated last. I wonder how many people knew the rivalry that would eventually grow between those two over the years.

Surprises: 7/10

It is still the era before WWF/E did too much in the way of Rumble surprises. But Foley being in the match three times was pretty cool and unexpected at the time.

Not the best or most rewatchable Rumble but still a good one to watch every now and then in the mood.