WWF Royal Rumble 1994 (Version II)

Original Airdate: January 22, 1994

From Providence, Rhode Island; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Ted DiBiase

Opening Match: Tatanka v Bam Bam Bigelow: Bigelow is subbing for Ludvig Borga, who got hurt during a match with Rick Steiner earlier in the week at Madison Square Garden. Bam Bam tries sneak attacking, but Tatanka dodges it, and knocks Bigelow down with a few shoulderblocks and a dropkick. Bodypress gets two, and Tatanka grounds the Beast from the East in an armbar. Tatanka with a DDT, but a flying bodypress misses, and Bam Bam hits an avalanche. Bigelow is almost clean shaven here, which looks weird. Tatanka fights him off in the corner, and goes up for a flying sunset flip, but Bigelow counters with a seated senton splash, and he puts the boots to the Native American. Tatanka tries slugging back, but Bam Bam quickly clobbers him with a dropkick for two, and he slaps on a bearhug. He holds onto that one for a while, but Tatanka manages to escape before the third arm drop, so Bigelow shoulderblocks him back down. Another one hits, but try number three is countered with a powerslam for two. Criss cross ends in both men colliding while trying a bodypress at the same time (in a spot I absolutely love), but Bigelow recovers first. He tries a turnbuckle smash, but Tatanka starts dancing a jig! Bigelow puts a stop to that with an enzuigiri, but the flying moonsault misses, and Tatanka is able to land the flying bodypress for the pin at 8:12. I can say with relative certainty that this was better than anything Tatanka would have gotten out of Borga. * ¾ (Original rating: *)

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Quebecers v Bret Hart and Owen Hart: Ah, the Quebecers! One of my favorite teams to watch, and one of my least favorite to review. 'Jacques' and 'Pierre' are not the easiest names to type when in a hurry, and trying not to miss anything. Pierre and Bret start off, and the champ hits a bodyslam early, but a criss cross goes Hart's way when he throws a knee. Tag to Owen for a flying axehandle, and he trades wristlocks with Pierre. Criss cross goes Owen's way with a hiptoss for two, but the Quebecer powers out of an armbar, and passes to Jacques. He hammers the younger Hart, but puts his head down to try a backdrop, and gets countered with a vertical suplex. Looked like they were trying something else that got mistimed there, but they expertly covered it up. Owen adds a dropkick and a leg-feed enzuigiri for two, then over to Bret for a backbreaker/2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop combo for two. Hitman with a small package for two, and a sunset flip is worth two. Rollup for two, but he runs into a cheap shot from Pierre this time. That draws Owen in, but the heels attempts at whipping the challengers at each other backfires, and Jacques ends up taking a schoolboy from Owen for two. That was a really nicely timed sequence. The champs bail to regroup, but Bret is right on top of Jacques with an inverted atomic drop the moment he comes back in. Tag to Pierre, but that doesn't slow the Hitman down - forcing the Quebecer in by using the top rope as a slingshot. Owen tags in with a clothesline for two, and a gutwrench suplex is worth two. Legdrop gets two, but Bret runs into a powerslam during a criss cross, and Pierre hooks the leg for two. He quickly passes to Jacques for a turnbuckle smash, and the Quebecers double team in the corner to put Bret down for two. Tandem knife-edge chop follows, and Pierre dives onto poor Bret with a straddling ropechoke for two. The champs cut the ring in half on the Hitman, but Pierre hits boot while trying a 2^nd rope flying splash, and Bret tags. Owen rushes in with dropkicks for both Quebecers, and Pierre eats an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Spinheel kick on Jacques sets up the Sharpshooter, but Pierre bulldogs the Rocket to break it up, and the champs hit him with a tandem hotshot for two. They try a tandem clothesline next, but Owen counters with a double-dropkick, and Bret tags back in. He knocks the tag champs around, with Jacques taking a Russian legsweep, and Pierre getting a backbreaker. Atomic drop sends Pierre to the outside, but Johnny Polo pulls down the ropes as Bret bounces off them to finish off Jacques, and the Hitman crashes out of the ring - banging up his knee in the process! The Quebecers immediately capitalize on that out there - Pierre diving off the steps with a flying seated senton splash onto the leg, and Jacques using a chair. Owen scares them back, but he gets overwhelmed dealing with both of them, and Jacques is able to beat Bret's leg with the polo mallet! Satisfied, Jacques heads in and instructs the official to start counting, but gold hungry Owen rolls Bret in before he's nearly ready. The Quebecers pounce right on the leg, and they cut the ring in half on Bret while working the part. Quebec Crash to the leg looks to finish, but Bret rolls out of the way! He can't get to a vertical base, but from flat on his back, he starts tying Pierre up in the Sharpshooter! He tries using Pierre as a crutch to apply the hold, but the knee gives out, and the referee stops the match - awarding it to the Quebecers at 16:48. Bret is in bad shape after that, but Owen only feels badly for himself, and turns on his brother to move onto phase two of the biggest push of his life. Not only was this a tremendous match, but it has an all time classic angle attached to it - a fantastic combination! As I noted in the original review, tons of nuanced spots here, like greedy Owen forcing the injured Bret back in before he was ready (on the more obvious side), and stuff like Bret taking a heat segment and actually making the tag earlier in the bout (to show that he isn't the glory hog Owen claimed), or injuring his knee during a criss cross (the same spot that started their tensions at Survivor Series) on the more subtle side. **** (Original rating: *** ¼)

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Irwin R. Schyster: This is the first of three consecutive IC title defenses for Ramon at Rumble events - and the only one where he retained. Whoops, spoiler. Razor unloads with right hands at the bell, sending IRS to the outside. Back in, Ramon keeps slugging away, until Irwin bails again. In for a criss cross - won by Ramon with an atomic drop, and followed up on with a shoulderblock for two. Another criss cross sees Schyster sidestep a charge, and Razor goes flying over the top, in a nice bump. IRS follows out to beat the Bad Guy down, and he hits a bodyslam on the way back in. To the top for a dive, but Razor lifts his boot to block, so IRS thinks fast - landing on his feet, and dropping an elbow for two instead. Nice. Chinlock, but Ramon quickly escapes it, so Schyster throws a knee to put him back down, followed by a legdrop to the groin. Turnbuckle smash gets reversed, so Irwin elbows him in the face to buy time, and a legdrop gets two. Back to the chinlock, and he manages to get Razor properly grounded this time around, and uses the ropes for leverage. Ramon slugs free, and a fallaway slam gets the champion two. Whip into the corner gets reversed, however, and the referee gets bumped in the process. That allows IRS to grab his briefcase, but it backfires, and Ramon covers - only there's no referee to count! Ramon stays on track with a side superplex on his challenger, but the Razor's Edge is stopped when Shawn Michaels races into the ring to clobber the Bad Guy with his bogus Intercontinental title belt! That leaves both combatants down, and IRS is able to crawl over for the groggy referee to count the pin at 10:46. Another referee runs down to alert him to what happened (using the bogus title belt sitting on the mat as evidence), but Ramon doesn't even bother waiting for them to finish debating - hitting Irwin with the Razor's Edge to retain at 11:47. Nothing special, but competent, before the goofy finish. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

WWF Title Casket Match: Yokozuna v Undertaker: Undertaker manages to get him down early on by using a series of clotheslines punctuated with a jumping version, and Yoko bails. 'Taker follows, so Yoko tries to send him into the steps, but Undertaker no-sells, and gives Yoko a taste of steel! Back in for the ropewalk forearm, but a second jumping clothesline misses, and Undertaker ends up on the outside. The champion follows, and grabs a chair, but it backfires on him, and Undertaker goes to town with the weapon. Yoko thinks fast, and throws a handful of salt into the challengers eyes to shake him off, and now a shot into the steps isn't no sold, and using the chair doesn't backfire. It would have been cool if 'Taker rolled his eyes back into his head as a counter. Yoko goes for the casket, but he stupidly tries to close the lid without getting him all the way inside of the box, and Undertaker escapes. Yoko responds with a belly-to-belly suplex, but Undertaker sits up, and grabs the stunned champion in a chokehold, which he then shifts into a chokeslam. Kinda. Jumping DDT connects, and he tries rolling the champion into the casket, but just as he's about to close the lid to win the title, Crush runs down. He attacks Undertaker on the floor to save Yokozuna, and he rolls the Dead Man inside to assault. Undertaker fights him off, and he goes for the lid again, but now Great Kabuki and Genichiro Tenryu run in. Undertaker fights them off as well, but before he can get the lid shut, Bam Bam Bigelow joins us. With a four-on-one advantage, they manage to get some traction on Undertaker, as Yokozuna recovers, and gets out of the casket. Undertaker starts to fight his assailants off, so Adam Bomb runs down to add to the beat down, as does Jeff Jarrett. They still can't quite bring down Undertaker, so the Headshrinkers pile on as well. They manage to beat Undertaker down, but he starts to recover again, so Diesel runs in as well. This group is able to get Undertaker inside the box, but he won't let them close the lid, and escapes again. Seeing this, Yokozuna decides to grab the urn away from Paul Bearer, and a shot with that (coupled with Yoko then opening the urn, which releases green smoke), allows them to put Undertaker down. Everyone takes turn hitting him with their signature moves, and this time they're able to stuff him into the casket at 14:20. And given what happens next, having 'four' and 'twenty' in there is quite apt. Honestly, from a kayfabe perspective, why wouldn't a heel orchestrate something like this, given that it's no DQ? If anything, this is one of the most psychologically sound versions of this match type. And, yes, Undertaker no-selling ten guys is pretty goofy, and yes, the stuff that happens after the bell is downright silly, but that was par for the course for this time period, and for Undertaker's gimmick. I mean, pretty much everything about the Undertaker character required extreme suspension of disbelief to begin with, so why not go whole hog with it? It's also worth noting that the match, before all of the interference, was actually pretty decent. Would having to watch Yoko work multiple extended nerveholds really have been preferable to what we ended up with? I never thought I'd find myself defending this albatross, but I'm letting my freak flag fly on this one. * (Original rating: -** ½)

Main Event: #1 Contender's 30-Man Royal Rumble Match: Ninety second intervals this year. Scott Steiner and Samu start us off, and Scott hammers away, but gets reversed during a cross corner whip, and Samu follows in with a clothesline. He hits another cross corner whip, but this time Scott rockets out of the corner with a clothesline of his own, and he delivers a tigerbomb. He tries to toss the Headshrinker, but Samu holds on, and a criss cross ends in the Samoan clotheslining Steiner. #3 is Rick Steiner, and he saves brother Scott from elimination, and hits Samu with a belly-to-belly suplex. Scott adds a vertical suplex, and Rick piles on with a Steinerline, so Samu tries a bodypress - the Brothers ducking, and Samu eliminating himself! #4 is Kwang, and he counters the disadvantage by spraying Rick in the eyes with mist, and pounding Scott down. I'm sure Great Kabuki really appreciated the gimmick infringement. Scott fights him off with an overhead suplex, but he gets distracted by checking on Rick, and Kwang attacks again. Owen Hart draws #5, and he capitalizes on the blinded Steiner, tossing him in short order. He moves on to Scott next, but Kwang stupidly wants to fight instead of working together, and #6 draw Bart Gunn is in before long. Diesel gets #7, and he immediately makes his mark by tossing both Bart and Scott. And Owen. And Kwang. I'm actually surprised they booked such a weak elimination for Owen. #8 is Bob Backlund, but he's gone almost as quickly, as the Diesel truck rolls on. Billy Gunn draws #9, and he manages to get a few shots on the way in, but hits a boot while trying a charge, and he's gone. As we wait for the next victim (um, I mean 'entrant'), we see that Great Kabuki and Tenryu have attacked Lex Luger backstage, to try and keep him out of the Rumble. See, they're Japanese, and thus in cahoots with Yokozuna. Virgil gets #10, and Diesel tries to steamroll him, but misses a cross corner charge. Virgil tries to fight him off with a series of jabs, but Diesel shrugs him off, and Virgil is gone. #11 draw Randy Savage is next, and while he may not be a master of all you can eat breadsticks, he does hold his own better than the likes of Virgil where it counts. He takes the fight to Diesel, and though he fails to eliminate him, he manages to still be in the ring when #12 draw Jeff Jarrett enters, and that's a victory of sorts. Jeff jumps Savage, and a 2^nd rope flying fistdrop hits. Dropkick follows, and Jarrett comes off the top with a flying punch. He tosses Randy, but Savage hangs on, and sneaks up being Double J - tossing him. Crush gets lucky #13, and Savage immediately forgoes fighting Diesel to take it to Crush! Macho with a flying axehandle, and a bodyslam leads to a second flying axehandle. Hopefully he doesn't try for the pin this year. Diesel attacks to allow Crush time to recover, and he hits Savage with a gutwrench backbreaker to set up an elbowdrop fro Diesel. Crush with a superkick, and he tosses Macho, just as #14 draw Doink the Clown makes his way out. He hangs back as Diesel and Crush slug it out in the corner, but they quickly realize they're in the ring with a literal clown, and opt to beat him up before waging war on one another. Bam Bam Bigelow gets #15, as the Undertaker party posse hold the ropes open for him. Bigelow wastes no time going after nemesis Doink, and the Clown actually takes a nice bump on his way out - via a press-drop from Bigelow. Diesel and Crush gang up on the Beast, as #16 draw Mabel makes his way in. He hits Diesel with a pair of avalanches, then gives one to Crush for good measure! And one for Bigelow as well, so he doesn't feel left out! What a guy! #17 is Thurman Sparky Plugg, but Crush kills him with a savate kick, and everyone decides to gang up on Bigelow, but can't get him out. #18 is Shawn Michaels, and he immediately wants a truce with Diesel. Rumble or not, what kind of bodyguard would beat up on his own client? It's a moot point anyway, as the distraction of Shawn's negotiating allows the others to gang up on Diesel, and Shawn even helps them with a subtle superkick to knock the seven footer out. That was a nice bit of character work there from Michaels. #19 is Mo, but no one cares. #20 is Greg Valentine, and if you thought no one cared about Mo, that's nothing compared to the Hammer. Seriously, how hard up were they for talent during this period that they needed to scrape Valentine off the bottom of whatever barrel he was in? And the sad thing is that this field is actually stacked compared to what we'd get the following two years. Tatanka gets #21, and goes right for Shawn - Michaels doing some quality overselling for him. #22 is Great Kabuki, as everyone (save for Mo) gangs up to toss Mabel. Lex Luger draws #23, and he goes wild on any and everyone - tossing Kabuki out in short order. He hits Bigelow with a well executed clothesline next, but Crush attacks him to take the pep out of Luger's step. #24 is Genichiro Tenryu, and he goes after Luger, as Shawn continues his battle royal specialty of teasing eliminations. #25 is a no show, and everyone assumes that it must have been Bret Hart, who was stretchered out following the tag title match. #26 is Rick Martel, and we need some deadwood cleared out here. Can someone please summon Undertaker down from the rafters? Bret Hart gets #27 (the no show ended up being Bastion Booger), and he limps all the way down the aisle, selling the heck out of the beating from earlier. Crush shows him no mercy by going right after the leg, as does Tenryu, and just about anyone else who gets near him. Fatu draws #28, and he goes right for Luger. There are currently twelve guys in the ring (that's nearly half the full field!), and bodies have got to start flying. Bigelow manages to toss Crush, which isn't quite what I meant by 'deadwood,' when the likes of Mo, Sparky, and Valentine are still in there. Marty Jannetty draws #29, and he goes right for Shawn - in a nice bit of continuity. Michaels tries to superkick him, but it gets reversed, and HBK does another elimination tease for his former partner. Marty tries to vertical suplex him, but Michaels reverses, as Fatu works to try and dump the Hitman. Adam Bomb gets #30 to round out the field, and I expect that the bodies are gonna hit the floor here. Bret and Shawn work together to toss Sparky (that may be the high point of Bob Holly's career, frankly), and Bomb nearly gets Martel out, but Valentine saves. It feels like they're trying to stretch this thing out, because Bomb has been in for a good few minutes now, and the bodies aren't flying like you'd expect. Martel gets rid of Valentine, but Tatanka gets rid of his right after, as Luger dumps Bomb. Fatu keeps hammering Bret's leg as Bigelow eliminates Tatanka, but misses a charge at Luger, and Bam Bam is done. Shawn gets Marty out, and Luger works with Hart to end Tenryu's night - leaving us Shawn Michaels, Lex Luger, Bret Hart, and Fatu as the final four. I'd have went with Bigelow instead of the Headshrinker, but it's a solid field. Everyone goes to opposite corners to plan out their next moves, before settling into Michaels/Hart and Luger/Fatu. Bret nearly tosses Shawn, but his knee gives out, and he goes down. Meanwhile, Fatu hits Luger with a 2^nd rope flying splash, and he signals Shawn over to help dump Lex, but Luger fights them off to avoid elimination! He and Hart whip Shawn and Fatu at each other from opposite corners, and backdrops eliminate both heels - Michaels taking a pretty crazy bump over the post on his way out! That leaves the predictable (but well booked) Luger/Hart finale, and after a brief slugfest, both men end up toppling over the top at the same time at 55:08! And so, we have the controversial co-winner decision, after much debate between the officials. That one gets some flack to this day, but I've always thought it was pretty neat, and set up a cool angle for WrestleMania - allowing them to book the Hart brothers match, and still give us Yoko/Luger, and Bret getting the title back all in one night. No one really remembers this one outside of the finish, but it's actually a pretty fine Rumble. It's funny, but the one they ran a few nights earlier at a Madison Square Garden house show was actually a better Rumble. A little too much deadweight piled up near the end, but strong overall, and with one of the more memorable finishes. ** ¾ (Original rating: ** ¾)

BUExperience: Sue me, I liked it. I realize it’s probably the nostalgia talking (this was the first wrestling pay per view I ever watched the buildup for, and then listened to on scramble vision), but I enjoyed revisiting this one a lot. And, hey, even the Casket match is worth seeing at least once, if only to see what all the fuss is about, if you never have before.

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