Time to return back to the WWF, as the calendar changes to 1993. With that comes the Royal Rumble, which now has the added stipulation that the winner will be guaranteed a spot in the WrestleMania main event, challenging for the WWF Championship. I'm not exactly certain how it was now decided that that would now be the prize for emerging victorious in this match, but obviously, the decision was a home run, with that stipulation firmly in place for the match going forward. Unlike the previous year's Royal Rumble, however, this show is noteworthy for more than just the main event. This card was stacked up with two additional title matches, as the split between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty escalated to a showdown over the Intercontinental Championship, while new star Razor Ramon attempted to wrest the WWF title away from Bret Hart. It's clear that the Rumble has finally taken that next step to be regarded as a true marquee event in the eyes of Vince McMahon, and with so much at stake, this show seemed to be a lock to get 1993 off to a hot start.
- Royal Rumble 1993 comes to you from the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, the long-time home of the Kings. This is the second WWE pay-per-view I've reviewed in this venue, with the first being Judgment Day 2001. For the final time on pay-per-view, Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon are on the call, as both men would be working with different partners for the rest of the year, before Heenan left for WCW. End of an era, man.
- Our opening contest is the WWF pay-per-view debut of the Steiner Brothers, as they take on a fellow team of brothers (at least in kayfabe) in Beau and Blake of the Beverlys. Rick and Scott Steiner were probably the best tag team on the planet at this time, and while they haven't exactly been given the most interesting opponents to work with here, the two University of Michigan boys put on a show. The crowd pops big for each time the Steiners manage to toss someone, and Beau and Blake do just enough to keep drawing heat, ensuring the fans stay invested. Scott gets to show off his agility by escaping a double team move with a front roll, before driving Blake's noggin into the canvas with a sick Frankensteiner to get the win. This match accomplished it's primary objective, giving the Steiner Brothers a brand new spotlight and making them the team to watch in the WWF.
- It's time for a grudge match one year in the making, as Shawn Michaels defends the Intercontinental title against former partner, Marty Jannetty. Of course, every wrestling fan is familiar with the tale of The Rockers, the revolutionary team that ended in violent fashion, with Marty's head being driven through the window of The Barber Shop. The angle was supposed to get a spot on the WrestleMania 8 card, but Jannetty got into an altercation with a police officer, and he would be released a few months after the biggest moment of his career. All was not lost, however, as after Marty served his time under house arrest, he would be re-hired by Vince, and finally, we would get to see this match. Rather than a straight up singles match, some extra intrigue was added by the presence of Sensational Sherri, the valent of Shawn Michaels who had been constantly mistreated by the champion, and also struck with a mirror by Jannetty, although that appeared to be an accident. Sherri would be in a neutral corner for this championship collision.
- With the background out of the way, on to the actual match. All things considered, this was a bit muted, especially for a rivalry with so much history and bad blood. Marty doesn't get much of a reaction for his early attacks on Shawn, although the fans do eventually rally behind the challenger after Michaels takes control. Shawn does a lot of work on Marty's shoulder, which I thought would be a big plot point for the remainder of this match, but they just abandon it shortly thereafter. After Jannetty deposits Michaels on the outside with a suplex, Sherri gets involved, aligning with the challenger by smacking her former charge in the face. At this point, it would seem like a surety that we're getting a new champion, but Jannetty can only get a couple near falls on Michaels, which gets the crowd and the announcers going as the drama builds. Once again, Sherri attempts to be the difference maker, but this time, her interference backfires, as Michaels ducks a shoe haymaker and Jannetty is left laying. One superkick later, and Shawn Michaels keeps the gold around his waist, escaping a seemingly unwinnable predicament. This wasn't as good as I thought it could be, as the story coming in was electric, and Jannetty, Michaels, and Sherri all suited their roles perfectly. But even if the match took a while to warm up, by the closing stretch, it had everyone in the arena completely hooked, and while I would've appreciated a cleaner finish, this did do a great job building another match between the two. Of course, this is during the days of Michaels as a backstage tyrant, and out of pure pettiness, Shawn managed to get Marty fired again by claiming that Marty had been passed out backstage. Michaels would still lose the Intercontinental title to Jannetty in the future anyways, after Mr. Perfect got Marty re-hired, but their feud would once again miss out on a spot on the WrestleMania card.
- The Big Boss Man is making the final pay-per-view appearance in his first run with the WWF, as he takes a rare pinfall loss to one of the company's new monster heels, Bam Bam Bigelow. This was a slow brawl, with some heavy shots traded back and forth, and Bigelow spending a lot of time working on Boss Man's back. It definitely borders on being too slow at points, but Boss Man adds some excitement by keeping the pace up when he's on offense, and the crowd is still very much in the corner of the Cobb County enforcer. Boss Man's fiery nature does end up costing him in the end, as he charges into a kick from Bigelow, who then gets the shockingly clean win with a flying headbutt.
- The penultimate match of the evening is for the WWF Championship, as Bret Hart defends against the "Bad Guy", Razor Ramon. In contrast to the Michaels/Jannetty match earlier, the crowd is fully into this contest from the opening bell, as Bret starts hot, throwing rights and lefts, putting the challenger on his heels early. Ramon battles back by using his power advantage, wearing down the champion with a bearhug, but Bret will not be denied, and in a rare sight, Hart takes the cheap way out, biting Ramon to force a release of the hold. Momentum continues to ebb and flow, as both men close in on victory. Ramon manages to fight to the ropes to avoid the Sharpshooter, while Bret uses his expert wrestling to get Ramon to the mat after a Razor's Edge attempt. From the canvas, Hart applies a bow and arrow hold for a near fall, then hooks the legs of the challenger, rolls over, and stands up, as just like that, the Sharpshooter has been applied and Ramon quickly gives up. The finish was a work of art, as Bret shows just how dangerous the Sharpshooter can be, and just in general, I thought this was one of the best performances in Bret's career. Bret was on point with everything here, putting Ramon over as a powerhouse, getting the crowd in his corner, both as a force of vengeance against a detestable challenger, and then as the battered, exhausted babyface, getting beaten down but still finding a way to win with pure cunning and ingenuity. He truly is the "Excellence of Execution".
- Main event time, as the 1993 Royal Rumble match will begin with last year's winner, Ric Flair, and the recently returned Bob Backlund, as they will attempt to fight off 28 other men on the path to the main event of WrestleMania 9. I've heard a lot of negativity about this match, but at least for the first half of it, I struggled to understand some of the criticism. This match starts really well, with former WWF champions Flair and Backlund squaring off, a re-visiting of the Ted DiBiase and Virgil feud, the WWF in-ring debut of Jerry Lawler, who gets some good shots in on Flair, and then the arrival of Mr. Perfect. Perfect and Flair have continued feuding after Perfect's betrayal of Bobby Heenan, and the crowd is psyched to see them go after each other, leading to a massive pop when Perfect tosses Flair out. Perfect then beefs with Lawler, leading to the former Intercontinental champion's elimination in a really cool spot, as he tries to fend off DiBiase, Koko B.Ware, and the eliminated Lawler on the outside, leading to a massive scramble on the apron. At about the exact mid-point of the match, The Undertaker enters to clear house, before being stopped by the debuting Giant Gonzalez, and it's here where the wheels fall off this wagon. Gonzalez is impossible to take seriously as a threat, and the clumsy brawl between the two behemoths is a warning sign of the snoozer that was to come at WrestleMania. After the big guys are gone, we get a long stretch of nobodies, with the midcard boys bumbling about, and no name value to be found. When the biggest star you've got in over 15 minutes of action is effing Tatanka, you know you're in trouble. Thankfully, things do get more interesting by the finish, as Yokozuna enters at number 27, adding an actual threat into the mix. The crowd, which was mostly lifeless after that Undertaker/Gonzalez showdown, gets back into it for the clash between Earthquake and Yokozuna, as the actual former sumo competitor takes on the fictional one. Yoko wins that battle, and it eventually boils down to him versus lucky number 30, Randy Savage. The two men have a fun mini-match, with Savage taking a beating but staying alive, avoiding a running splash in the corner, as Yoko finally falls. Savage connects on the diving elbow drop, before he finally embraces the true form of "Macho Madness", attempting a pinfall in this battle royal, and getting tossed out for his stupidity.
- All in all, I thought this year's Rumble was a definite step down from the legendary '92 match, but it wasn't the complete trainwreck I've been lead to believe. That first half hour was very close to perfect, and while it did fall off a cliff after that, the final few minutes were highly entertaining. I enjoyed the work of Bob Backlund, especially before the finish, as after surviving over an hour, he managed to take out Rick Martel, before bringing the fight to Yokozuna despite being completely spent, a true fighting babyface all the way to the end. Beyond that stretch of non-entities following Undertaker's elimination, my two main negatives were the horrific debut of Giant Gonzalez, and the ending, which made Savage look like a complete dolt. My understanding of what happened there is that Yokozuna was supposed to catch Savage after the elbow drop, then hoist him out, but the big man was too blown up to make that happen, so Savage had to instead make a cover, then sort of leap out of the ring of his own accord. I'm not sure if that's accurate, but Yoko did look like he was about to faint out of exhaustion, so I have no difficulty believing that he was incapable of making a spot like that work.
7/10
This show was surprisingly solid, as other than the underwhelming Bigelow/Boss Man match, and a few slower periods in the Rumble match, there was a lot of entertainment to be found in these two and a half hours. I would definitely recommend both the Intercontinental and WWF title matches, as though neither was truly top notch, they're both well-worth watching. If the events of this show left you interested in what happens next in the timeline, you can check out my review of WrestleMania 9 here.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: SummerSlam 1993, where Yokozuna is now the WWF Champion, and defending against ......................... Lex Luger? See you soon.
- Henry
Comments