What the World Was Watching: Royal Rumble 1993

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, live from Sacramento, California in what would be their last pay-per-view together as a team. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a sellout crowd of 16,000, with 15,000 of those fans paying to attend. The pay-per-view drew a 1.25 buyrate (300,000 buys). The buyrate was less than the previous year but 40,000 more households bought the show than the prior Royal Rumble, showing that the U.S. pay-per-view audience continued to expand.

Opening Contest: The Steiner Brothers (2-0) defeat the Beverly Brothers when Scott pins Blake after the Frankensteiner at 10:45:

The Beverlys were a team composed of Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom. They came to the WWF in June 1991 as a team of arrogant pretty boys and were briefly paired with Coach (John Tolos) before getting the Genius as a manager after SummerSlam. They started 1992 by beating the Bushwhackers in a feud, beating the Kiwis at The Royal Rumble. Any boost from that was short-lived, though, because the Beverlys jobbed in less than three minutes to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Sergeant Slaughter weeks later on Saturday Night’s Main Event. And the blows continued as a feud with the New Foundation never had a satisfying conclusion because of Jim Neidhart’s firing so the duo were programmed against the Legion of Doom. It was a terrible feud, driven by the Beverlys calling the former WWF Tag Team champions “The Legion of Sissies” and not getting much in the way of comeuppance on television. The Beverlys would go on to lose that program at house shows. The Beverlys stock also took a hit when they were jobbed in less than three minutes to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Sergeant Slaughter on a February Saturday Night Main Event show. Despite all of this, they were given a tag team title shot against the Natural Disasters at SummerSlam but the Beverlys fell short. After that pay-per-view, the Beverlys were not given anything to do and they ended the year by teaming with Money Incorporated in a losing tag team elimination match at Survivor Series against the Disasters and the Nasty Boys.

This is the fifth consecutive year that The Royal Rumble opens with a tag team match. Like the previous year, the outcome of this bout was never in doubt because the Steiners were a new act and the Beverlys had yet to appear on television. As a showcase for the Steiners it is okay as they flatten the Beverlys with some suplexes until Scott is placed in peril. They work his back for a long time but the crowd does not care about them and the heat sequence takes place in silence. There is a nice spot late where Blake puts Scott on his shoulders for Beau to come off the top rope but Scott turns that into a victory roll counter for a near-fall. He goes on to plant Blake on his head with a Frankensteiner for the win. This would turn out to be the Beverlys last pay-per-view match. Rating: **¼

Gene Okerlund narrates a video package to recap the Shawn Michaels-Marty Jannetty feud. This is a departure from the last few years of WWF pay-per-views when backstage interviews would lead into the next match.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Shawn Michaels (Champion) (4-0) beats Marty Jannetty (4-0) after a superkick at 14:24:

Sensational Sherri comes out before the match, wearing a red dress and positioned as a neutral observer at ringside. Michaels tries to get her to come into the ring to remove some of his wardrobe before the match but Sherri refuses. One would anticipate a fast start and for Jannetty to rip into Michaels but Jannetty’s actions are tentative. When Michaels takes control he rams Jannetty’s right shoulder into the ring post but Jannetty sells the left one so that is where Michaels focuses his attack. Deciding to work the arm is a weird choice anyway because Jannetty is a highflyer so would it not make more sense to target a leg? So Michaels spends a third of the match working the shoulder, all for Jannetty to stop selling it anyway. Once that part of the match is abandoned, things kick into another gear as Jannetty blitzes near-falls from a back suplex, DDT, and slingshotting Michaels into the ring post. After Michaels get suplexed to the floor, Sherri slaps him but that spot seems to happen too early because it should be a big reveal that the match builds to. The referee is bumped by an inadvertent Michaels elbow and Jannetty grabs Michaels so Sherri can hit him with her shoe. However, babyface miscommunication occurs and a distraught Sherri is confronted by Michaels for a while. Jannetty recovers but when he gets to his feet, Michaels blasts him with a superkick and retains. This match was a mess even those these two were getting rave reviews working the house show and one wonders if part of the reason was because they were working without Sherri. In the years since blame has been given to both men due to partying, drinking, and drugs. Jannetty was fired the next day for passing out at a Superstars taping, something Jannetty contends was not the case because he just fell asleep. Regardless, this match was a big disappointment and has no replay value. Rating: **½

Backstage, Sherri throws a fit over the outcome of the match and Michaels races back to tell her to crawl into the gutter. Jannetty attacks him from behind until WWF officials intervene.

Bam Bam Bigelow (4-0) pins the Big Bossman after the flying headbutt at 10:09:

The Bossman had been with the WWF for four and a half years. He had a strong campaign for the first eight months of 1991 but after beating the Mountie at SummerSlam his momentum stalled after a lengthy, inconclusive feud with Irwin R. Schyster. Much of 1992 saw the Bossman engaged in a feud with ex-convict Nailz, who alleged that the Bossman beat him up in prison. A brutal attack from Nailz sidelined the Bossman for more than two months and when he returned the WWF kept him away from Nailz on television until the two were booked to fight at Survivor Series. The Bossman won a blowoff nightstick match but the feud lost its energy and the Bossman slid further behind other babyfaces like Bret Hart and the Undertaker that had stronger years. By this point it seemed like his best days were behind him, reinforced by Yokozuna beating him in quick house show matches before this show.

While both men had the potential to turn this into a unique bout of two big men throwing bombs and power moves, it turns into a lengthy squash for Bigelow. He swallows up a lot of what the Bossman tries to do, denying him a shine spot early and working a long bearhug in the middle. When the Bossman does make a comeback he never threatens to put Bigelow away and a blind charge eats boot, allowing Bigelow to hit his finisher. This was yet another disappointing match on tonight’s show because if it was going to be booked to go this amount of time then the Bossman needed to be allowed to do a lot more. Rating: ¾*

Razor Ramon does a taped promo from the previous night during a Sacramento Kings game with Ray Rougeau, reiterating how he is going to win the WWF Championship and have new gold on his waist.

Gene Okerlund interviews WWF Champion Bret Hart, who says that Ramon has made their feud personal and he is going to defend his family’s honor.

WWF Championship Match: Bret Hart (Champion) defeats Razor Ramon (2-0) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 17:59:

Bret had a great 1992. Although he started the year losing the Intercontinental Championship at a house show to the Mountie, he regained the title in an amazing match against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania. After fending off the Mountie’s attempts to regain the gold, Bret denied Shawn Michaels’ attempts to take his title. He proved less able to do so against brother-in-law the British Bulldog at SummerSlam, though, although that match elevated Bret more than the Bulldog because he was over with the London crowd and put on yet another classic match that went on last. After SummerSlam it looked like Bret might get lost in the shuffle as he was placed against Papa Shango but an inner ear injury to Ric Flair forced an abrupt title change and Vince McMahon decided to book Bret as the new champion due to Bret’s less chemically enhanced physique, his reliability, and his draw with international audiences. So Bret won the WWF Championship at a television taping in October from Flair and, to solidify him as a top guy, the WWF gave him a fighting champion gimmick, having him defeat the Berzerker, Papa Shango, Virgil, and Shawn Michaels in November. As 1993 began, Bret was feuding with Flair and Ramon and trying to keep the title away from them.

In a nice piece of heeling, Ramon throws his toothpick at a kid that Bret gives his shades too before the bell rings. The only thing that would have been better is throwing it at Stu and Helen Hart, who are sitting in the front row. Good psychology is employed by both men as Bret works Ramon’s left leg and Razor works Bret’s ribs after Bret takes a nasty slide into the ring post. What makes it better is despite the use of various submissions, the action never bogs down and keeps moving. If one were to criticize anything it would be that Ramon stops selling the leg in the opening minutes. The ribs slow down a pin Bret makes after the moves of doom and Ramon has a creative escape from the Sharpshooter, pulling referee Earl Hebner’s pant leg and sending him into the champion. Bret counters Razor’s super back suplex and slips out of a Razor’s Edge. Then, he has a creative counter of a test of strength into a pinning combination and before Ramon can get back to his feet, Bret applies the Sharpshooter on the canvas and turns it over to retain. There were lots of creative spots of this match that put over Bret’s ingenuity as a wrestler. It told a great story of Ramon being outmaneuvered by a more skilled opponent, just like one would see in another professional sport. Rating: ****

Heenan introduces Lex Luger as the Narcissus. A curtain lifts to reveal Luger, who faces three mirrors and flexes as Heenan gushes over his physique. This was like Vince McMahon decided to bring the defunct World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) into the WWF. Luger does a promo where he promises to be a dominant force in the WWF. He challenges Mr. Perfect to a match at a later date, basically telegraphing that Perfect is winning the “loser leaves town” match tomorrow night on Monday Night RAW. Heenan thirsting over Luger’s look was good for laughs but this segment went on too long.

Since WrestleMania IX is taking place at Caesar’s Palace, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra come to the ring so Caesar can read a proclamation inviting people to the event on April 4. The crowd was not happy to sit through this.

Yokozuna wins the Royal Rumble after eliminating Randy Savage at 66:39:

In the first third of the match there are some interesting pairings as Ric Flair’s streak of awful Rumble luck continues by drawing #1 and Bob Backlund draws #2. That leads to a clash of former WWF champions. Papa Shango briefly interrupts that, only to get dumped by both men and continue his slide down the card. Flair and Ted DiBiase form a fun team for a while, fighting DiBiase’s existing rival Brian Knobbs and old rival Virgil. The world champion brigade increases when Jerry Lawler comes out as #6, battling Flair in a fight of old territory stars. Then, Genichiro Tenryu adds to the champions brigade as #9. He gets into a chopfest with Flair. This phase of the match culminates in Mr. Perfect coming out to a loud pop at #10 and targeting Flair, who he eliminates minutes later to continue their feud.

One deficiency of this match is that it is a lot like 1991 where there are not a lot of acts that are over and there is a long parade of midcarders and tag team wrestlers that no one thinks can win. The crowd pins its hopes on Perfect early but DiBiase, Koko B. Ware, and Lawler eliminate Perfect, with Lawler acting like a sore loser in helping to eliminate Perfect after Perfect backdrops him out. While the crowd is disappointed with that outcome, the Undertaker comes out at #15 and the crowd rallies behind him. The Dead Man eliminates Samu, Tenryu, DiBiase, and the Berzerker. However, the Undertaker’s run is stopped by a giant man in a body suit Harvey Wippleman brings to the ring. Fans who watched WCW recognize him as El Gigante. The giant man knocks the Undertaker over the top rope, which counts as an elimination even though the giant is not a legal participant in the match, and he destroys him. While that sets up a feud for WrestleMania, it wrecks the flow of the match as Damien Demento and Irwin R. Schyster’s numbers are called but they do not dare enter the ring.

The last third of the match features the big men but that does little to excite a crowd that has seen its favorites eliminated. It does not help that there are no fun spots to keep the crowd engaged as the ring fills back up with long shots like Demento, Fatu, Jerry Sags, El Matador, and Carlos Colon (who Monsoon famously refers to as a youngster even though Colon is in his 40s). The only thing of note is the Natural Disasters turning on each other and Earthquake tossing Typhoon. What seems to get the crowd buzzing at this late stage is Backlund sticking around, with the crowd popping every time he avoids eliminations and chanting “We want Bob!”

When Yokozuna shows up at #27 the fans know that everyone in the ring is in trouble. Yokozuna tosses Tatanka and Colon and wins a big man showdown with Earthquake, tossing the former Tag Team champion after a missed avalanche. Late in the match six wrestlers try to toss him but that effort fails. When Randy Savage comes in at #30, Yokozuna tosses El Matador and Owen Hart, with Owen taking a nasty bump on his knee after going over the top rope. Savage also gets some revenge on Repo Man for stealing his hat six days before, throwing him out.

The final four comes down to Yokozuna, Savage, Backlund, and Rick Martel. Backlund and Martel, who had his own Rumble ironman run in 1991, have an inspired fight near the ropes but Backlund survives and in a nice spot, he suplexes Martel onto the top rope and knocks him off with a forearm. Backlund has a great facial expression to sell “I’m still in this? I have a chance!” but he makes the fatal error of charging Yokozuna near the ropes and gets backdropped out, setting a new ironman record of 61 minutes that would not be broken until 2004. Yokozuna and Savage have arguably the best last two battle in Rumble history to this point, having a five-minute battle that ends with Yokozuna missing a corner avalanche and taking the flying elbow drop. Savage, who has been knocked silly to that point, covers Yokozuna out of instinct but Yokozuna powerfully kicks out, sending Savage over the top rope and earning the WrestleMania title shot. That finish has been criticized a lot as too convoluted and making Savage look like an idiot but one could buy he was running on adrenaline.

This Rumble demonstrated that the WWF had a problem with marketable stars. There were not a lot of people for the crowd to get behind and there was a noticeable lack of storytelling in this Rumble compared to previous editions. The only redeeming elements for it was Backlund’s ironman run, which was less impressive because of Backlund napping on the outside while the Undertaker got destroyed by Wippleman’s giant, and the Yokozuna-Savage battle at the end. Just a disappointing effort to end a rather disappointing show. Rating: **½

A video montage ends the show and WWF Champion Bret Hart is shown confronting Yokozuna in the locker room.

The Last Word: The only good thing about this show was the WWF Championship match between Bret Hart and Razor Ramon. The other singles match had the potential to be good but fell short of expectations. The WWF decided to use the Rumble to build a new monster in Yokozuna and his elimination of Earthquake was a “passing of the torch” moment between big men. He also got a rub from defeating Randy Savage at the end. That sets up a Bret Hart-Yokozuna main event for WrestleMania, which is the WWF going out on a limb as this will be the first time in the history of the show that it will not be headlined, or have the chance to be headlined, by Hulk Hogan. And at the time one wondered whether Yokozuna’s push was to build a short-term challenger for Bret or to create an act that would be a part of the company for years to come.

Backstage News*: The Royal Rumble sold out five days before it was held and generated a gate of $187,000. The pay-per-view buyrate give the company a gross of $2.85 million. The 15,000 paid attendance would be the second-largest wrestling gate in the history of wrestling in Northern California.

-The dark match at The Royal Rumble saw Doink beat Jim Powers via submission to a Stump Puller at 5:57. Doink got loud boos from the crowd, showing that his angle with Crush worked.

-Crush was replaced in the Rumble by Terry Taylor. Max Moon was a replacement for Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who was injured by Yokozuna at a television taping.

-Monday Night RAW is drawing strong ratings, with the pilot episode scoring a 2.5 and the second episode drawing a 2.8 rating. However, this is behind the 3.2 rating that Prime Time Wrestling drew this time last year so it does show that the wrestling audience is trending downward.

-The New York Daily News was critical of the Crush-Doink angle, arguing that it was tone deaf because of the neck injury suffered by New York Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd against the Kansas City Chiefs back in November.

-In talent relations news, Earthquake is wrapping up his dates with the WWF this week. There are rumors that Hulk Hogan has opened negotiations with WCW. His nephew has been doing house shows matches for the WWF as the Predator, losing nightly to Jim Powers.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for February 1.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for January 25!

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