There are certain events in the sporting world where you look back as the greatest or the worst. They are memorable due to the fact that it pops in your head as memorable. Then, there are obscure events you remember due to it being so bizarre. This Royal Rumble event was.
Taking place at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. And yes, it has been called other names, but its Arco Arena. The band Cake named a song after it. No, seriously. The 1993 Royal Rumble was an event to start the year after a very successful 1992. The WWF did have a strong roster after the company's cashcow, Hulk Hogan, took a "sabbatical". This event also had a stipulation for the actual Royal Rumble that would change the company forever. The winner of the match would have an opportunity to earn a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania. They have used this stipulation ever since as a platform for the Road to WrestleMania.
The event started with a very competitive tag team match between the Beverly Brothers and the Steiner......Brothers. Side note: Both Rick Steiner and Beau Beverly have sons in NXT 2.0. The match ended with the Steiners picking up the victory, but that wasn't the weird part. The first five minutes of the encounter was silent, probably due to the audio feed being cut off. They would fix it and throughout the Pay-Per-View, there was an echo between the arena and the announcers. Also, we missed five minutes of bantering between Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan.
The Intercontinental Championship between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty was set up to be a classic. The backstory was that Jannetty came back to extract revenge on Michaels for throwing him through the Barber Shop window. Jannetty attacked Michaels during a taping of Superstars and retrieved the mirror that Sensational Sherri carried to the ring. As Jannetty was ready to swing the mirror to hit Michaels, Shawn put Sherri in front of him and the mirror connected to her head. Sherri would be at ringside for this encounter. Shawn Michaels has had the same entrance music for over 30 years. Wrap your head around that. Also, were mullets really a thing in 1993? Jannetty would dominate the first few minutes of the match, as Michaels selling a beating is a joy to watch. Shawn would take control off a Jannetty miss off the top rope. Michaels would ram Marty's right shoulder into the ringpost, which Jannetty reacts by grimacing the WRONG shoulder. I had to watch this a couple of times to make sure I wasn't going nuts or seeing things. Yep, Marty Jannetty is grimacing at the left shoulder when the right one went into the post. This has to be one of the biggest botches in wrestling history. Michaels continues to work on the shoulder that wasn't met with ringpost. Sherri is looking on in disbelief. She is wearing a dress that is showing a lot of skin. Thirteen-year old A.J. was fawning over that. Shawn is standing on the second rope for what seems like 30 seconds. Plenty of time to recover. Take a guess what happens? Jannetty lifts his right leg up to catch Shawn's face with his foot. Michaels gets his left shoulder rammed into the post. Jannetty is starting to mount an offensive onslaught on Michaels as the crowd starts to liven up. Marty suplexes Shawn outside of the ring. Sherri comes over to console Michaels, but ends up clocking him to the crowd's delight. Heenan proceeds to call Sherri "a bimbo" and added that she is like Mr. Perfect and calls him "a male bimbo." You got to love old school Bobby Heenan. He also said if Shawn got his hands on Sherri, he needed to slap the teeth out of her mouth. You could get away with that in 1993, I guess. Shawn Michaels continues to kick out at two with every pin attempt. Jannetty executes a Slingshot, a move that no one uses anymore, as Michaels hits the post. After a near fall, Shawn elbows the referee in the head. Marty holds Shawn as Sherri comes into the ring, holding her high heel. She attempts to hit Michaels, but Shawn ducks and she ends up hitting Jannetty. Shawn confronts Sherri as she is crying. Michaels executes a Superkick, which would later be dubbed "Sweet Chin Music," for the three count. Sherri runs out of the ring and to the backstage area, where Mean Gene is there. Both Michaels and Jannetty run to the backstage area. Sherri is hysterical as Gene tries to calm her down. He is flustered to the point where he has to yell "Damn it!" Michaels tries to confront Sherri, but Jannetty attacks him as officials try to separate the two.
The Boss Man/Bam Bam match was uninspiring and boring. Ray Traylor would leave the company a few weeks later.
Now, the WW(F) Championship match is next. They show an interview with Owen Hart. Razor attacks Owen and continues to say in his fake Cuban accent "Did your daddy teach you that one, mane?" That was hilarious. They also show Razor Ramon in one of the skyboxes at Arco Arena in what looks like he's taking in a Kings game. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "LUCK-Y."
Before I start break down the match, there was one tiny thing I want to discuss. A few days before, there was a segment where Bret Hart is being interviewed by Ray Rougeau, when Razor interrupts it while on the video wall.
As you can see, instead of staring directly at the camera, Ramon looks at Bret, which looks like Gigantic Razor Head is talking to Miniature Bret. Then, when Razor is saying that he takes whatever he wants, the camera shows Bret mouthing the words. Towards the end of the segment, Bret bellows out that "the name is not Chico, it's Hitman." I don't know if he was trying to be tough, but it came out hilarious.
Both performers make their entrances......and the camera shows a man wearing Sacramento Surge merchandise! Remember the Surge from the WLAF? Probably not.
Bret gives his signature glasses to a young boy at ringside. Razor then throws his signature toothpick towards the boy, which infuriates Bret as the match begins with Hart punching away at Razor. Look at Scott Hall and how he delivers his punches. It looks familiar, doesn't it? A certain highest-grossing actor in Hollywood would imitate that motion when he was a wrestler. Also, would it killed the WWE if Scott Hall had one World title reign? Razor whips Bret to the corner, but misses and hits his left knee on the turnbuckle. Hart would continue to work on the LEFT knee. Remember, it's the left knee. Stu and Helen Hart, Bret's parents, are sitting at ringside, watching their son dominate the Bad Guy. Razor would get advantage back by whipping Bret into the ringpost. Ramon will punish Bret in the lower back and ribs for several minutes. After a flurry of near-falls, Bret tries to mount a comeback, but to no avail. While in a bearhug, Bret bites Ramon and flings him over the top rope. Bret then executes a Southside Suicida to Roman on the outside. The Hitman continues to pummel Razor with kicks and punches. Monsoon says that a backbreaker was beautifully executed and said to the TV, "He's the Excellence of Execution!" Ramon keeps kicking out at two. As Bret is applying the Sharpshooter, Razor grabs referee Earl Hebner's pant leg and uses it to propel him onto Hart, thus breaking the hold. Razor tries for his patented Razor's Edge finisher, but Bret wiggles his way out and uses his momentum to execute a Schoolboy for a two-count. The Bad Guy has The Hitman in a position where he can wretch his hands backwards while Bret is on his knees. While in the position, Bret wraps his legs around Ramon's arms, while yanking his hair forward, causing Razor to flip forward into a pinning situation, but only a two-count. While on the canvas, Hart wraps Razor's legs around his right leg and turns him around for the Sharpshooter. Ramon submits and Hart retains the title.
After the match, the Brain leaves the broadcast booth to unveil "Narcissist". This segment was full cringe. Heenan tells everyone that "Narcissist" is Lex Luger. So, the WBF tanked and Lex needs to wrestle now? Okay, I guess. There are two reasons why this segment was cringey.
Bobby Heenan was fawning over Lex because of his great physique. We get it, Brain.
How Bobby pronounces the word "Narcissist" has always bothered me for years.
They bring two actors portraying Caesar and Cleopatra to invite everyone to WrestleMania 9 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The Royal Rumble match is about to begin. Ric Flair enters at #1, and Heenan almost has a heart attack. The announcers remind everyone that Flair was #3 at last year's event and won the WW(F) Championship. Bob Backlund enters at #2. Hey, IT'S BACKLUND VS. FLAIR. THIS IS THE DREAM MATCH EVERYONE WANTED.......in 1983. Both men are past their prime and both decided wear the same color trunks and kneepads. Papa Shango is #3 and he gets eliminated quickly. Doesn't he have a gimmick where he could put curses on wrestlers? He could do that and easily win the Royal Rumble. I'm overthinking. Ted DiBiase is #4. Would it killed the WWE to give the Million Dollar Man one World title? Brian Knobbs comes out at #5.
Now, I'm going to skim through and talk about the key moments during this match.
-The announcers keep referencing that Bob Backlund is 43 year old. At present day, guess who is 43 now?
-Jerry Lawler is in the ring, and Bobby Heenan states that the host of Superstars. Monsoon shoots back "I thought Vince McMahon was the host?" Heenan replies "No, he just gets the coffee." Its funny now since Vince owns the company.
-Mr. Perfect comes in and Heenan goes ballistic. They also make a mistake here. Flair will be taking on Perfect in a loser leaves WW(F) match the following night on Raw. They basically just told who was going to win that match since the company was setting up a Luger/Perfect feud. Also, would it killed the WWE to give Curt Hennig a world title reign?
-Genichiro Tenryu is a legend in Japan, but in this match, he really didn't do much.
-After watching Dark of the Ring, you realize that the Berzerker is the WWE's attempt at their Bruiser Brody.
-Lawler gets eliminated by Mr. Perfect, but continues to pull Perfect from the outside and gets him eliminated. Was this in the script?
-Lawler flips a fan off on his way to the backstage area.
-Undertaker enters and eliminates one half of the Headshrinkers in a way that would caused permanent damage.
-Its Taker and Berzerker alone in the ring, when Harvey Wippleman appears with a giant individual. I knew who this guy was. El Gigante from WCW and he is wearing this weird looking costume. The giant one pummels the Undertaker for about three minutes, as two participants look on.
-Bob Backlund has surpassed the 36 minute mark. Kids, see that old man in the ring? He was the WW(F) Champion for five years.
-Headshrinker Fatu is in. Who would have thought that Fatu would become a Hall of Famer as Rikishi and have three of his sons become superstars in WWE?
-Carlos Colon enters the ring. Still can't believe WWE allowed him here a few years after the murder of Bruiser Brody.
-This is the fourth time that they mentioned that Bob Backlund is 43 years old. We get it! He's a fossil, just like me.
-Yokozuna comes in and destroys everyone.
-Tito Santana hits Repo Man with an elbow that clearly doesn't land.
-Yoko throws Owen Hart out of the ring and Owen lands awkwardly on his knee. These two would become Tag Team Champions a few years later.
-Backlund eliminates Rick Martel and receives a well-deserved standing ovation from the Arco Arena crowd.
-Yoko and Macho are the final two participants. Yoko misses a splash and hits the floor for the first time in his career and Savage hits his patented elbow drop from the top rope. Savage goes for the cover, but can't since pinfalls do not count in the Royal Rumble match. Yoko is able to lift Macho off of him and parallel him over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble match. Caesar and Cleopatra come to the ring to celebrate Yokozuna's victory.
The 1993 Royal Rumble was a solid show. It wasn't the Royal Rumble from the previous year, which was one of the greatest RR Pay-Per-View event of all-time, it didn't have to be. This was the event when I realized that Shawn Michaels is a future Hall-of-Famer for the company. Bret vs. Razor was a workman-like title match. What I mean is that both wrestlers put each over in a good way. Bret winning the title was logical. Razor was a rising star and could be a player in the future, which he was. (RIP Bad Guy).
On a closing note, the Yokozuna win at the Royal Rumble was historical for many reasons.
-He is the first superstar to win the Royal Rumble under the stipulation that the winner of the Royal Rumble will get a WW(F) title match at WrestleMania.
-He is the first wrestler of Samoan decent to win the Royal Rumble match and headline a WrestleMania main event.
While doing this piece, I realized how Agatupu Rodney Anoa'i was the guy who paved the way for wrestlers of Samoan decent to win a Royal Rumble and headline a WrestleMania main event. The last two are the Rock and Roman Reigns, both are his cousins. You did well, Yoko. (RIP)
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