1993 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   This Royal Rumble was historic as it was the first time that the winner would earn an opportunity at the WWF Championship in the main event of WrestleMania.  Who would earn the right to take on the WWF Champion at the granddaddy of them all?  Would Ric Flair be able to do it again?  What about the Macho Man?  Could the returning Bob Backlund win and go on to become Champion once again?  There were numerous possibilities!  Let's get to the action!

Steiner Brothers vs. Beverly Brothers

   Unlike their opponents, the Steiner Brothers were actually brothers.  Rick and Scott had been tearing up the tag team scene in the NWA and WCW for several years and were set to make their WWF Pay-Per-View debut.  This match was basically to showcase the skill of the Steiners.  As you could imagine, there were suplexes galore and great athleticism shown.  After an impressive Frankensteiner by Scott, it was all over for the Beverly Brothers.  The Steiners would go on to become two-time WWF Tag Team Champions.  

Intercontinental Title - Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty

   This contest was over a year in the making.  At the end of 1991, the Rockers appeared on the Barber Shop to talk about their recent problems.  After appearing to have made up, Michaels turned on his long time partner by super kicking him and then throwing him headfirst through the Barber Shop window.  Jannetty was gone for almost a year until he reappeared in the Fall of 1992.  Marty wanted a piece of Shawn but now he also had the chance to win the Intercontinental Title.  Michaels was estranged from manager Sensational Sherri, as he pulled her in front of him when Jannetty wielded a mirror and accidentally smashed it over Sherri's head.  This was a decent match and as a 13-year-old, I thought Marty had a chance.  With the referee incapacitated, Sherri tried to garner some revenge but hit Jannetty instead.  A super kick later, the Heartbreak Kid was still Intercontinental Champion.  Unfortunately, we never got this match at a WrestleMania, due to employment issues with Jannetty and other events. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Bossman

   "The Beast From the East" made his return to the WWF after a nearly five year hiatus.  This time around, he was not friendly anymore and those flames tattooed on the big man's skull were quite intimidating.  This was close to the end of the line for the Big Bossman in the WWF and with his size, he was the perfect first opponent for the returning Bam Bam.  Bigelow dominated most of the match until a brief comeback by the Bossman.  Bigelow got back in control and ended the match with his dreaded head butt off the top rope.  It was a great reintroduction for Bam Bam Bigelow.

The Narcissist Debuts

   When Mr. Perfect dumped former manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in favor of helping Randy Savage in a tag team match, Heenan was furious and wanted revenge.  For weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, Heenan claimed he found a man that was beyond perfection and would take out Mr. Perfect for good.  This man was referred to as the Narcissist.  At the Royal Rumble event, Heenan unveiled this mystery man, who turned out to be none other than Lex Lugar.  Lex had been recovering from an injury and was a spokesperson for the WWF's bodybuilding company, the WBF.  Lugar was a former World Champion and this time around, he was completely infatuated with himself.  He surrounded himself with large mirrors while he flexed his impressive physique, as beautiful women stood by his side.  Heenan of course, was right there and it was actually reminiscent of four years prior, when Heenan was with Rick Rude in his Posedown with the Ultimate Warrior.

WWF Championship - Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Razor Ramon

   The backstory to this is Razor's love for gold.  He wanted to add more to his collection than just his gold chains so he decided to go for Championship gold.  In order to get Bret's attention and get a Title shot, Razor had attacked Bret's brother Owen.  Any time Bret Hart was in the ring, fans were in for a treat.  Bret and Razor had a great chemistry in the ring and it was enjoyable.  After a great back and forth match, Bret was able to counter the Razor's Edge and lock "The Bad Guy" in the Sharpshooter for the submission win.  Now Bret had to concern himself with the winner of the Royal Rumble, as that man would compete against Bret at WrestleMania.

Royal Rumble Match

   Much like the previous year, Ric Flair did not have luck drawing a good number.  This time around, he was the number one entrant. Number two was the returning Bob Backlund, who hadn't been seen in nine years since losing the WWF Title to the Iron Sheik.  Both men, even at age 43, had the stamina to go all night.  A few more entrants followed in Papa Shango, Virgil, Ted DiBiase, Max Moon, and Skinner.  This was a pretty lackluster Rumble.  When Mr. Perfect arrived, he eliminated his nemesis Ric Flair, followed by defeating him in a retirement match the next night on Raw.  

   After a few more entrants made their way into the ring, the buzzer rang for the #15 spot.  It was the Undertaker and he came to collect souls on his way to WrestleMania.  Suddenly, a giant man started walking to the ring, along side manager Harvey Wippleman.  It was the former El Gigante, now known as Giant Gonzales.  It was an amazing sight as he entered the ring and dwarfed the Undertaker. In a funny moment, Damien Demento was visibly scared and just stayed back to let them go at it.  The giant manhandled the Undertaker and then eliminated him from the Rumble.  Gonzales was not even in the match.  Unfortunately, he was also a terrible wrestler and his outfit was pretty ridiculous.  The two men would soon settle their differences in some pretty awful matches.  

   A few more entrants followed after this spectacle, as the Berzeker, IRS, Tatanka, and the legendary Carlos Colon entered the match.  Typhoon then entered, shorty followed by his Natural Disasters tag team partner Earthquake.  The big men came to blows and Earthquake eliminated his partner.  Though Earthquake tried to make sure they were okay, Typhoon blew him off and left ringside.  Once again, when Tito Santana and Rick Martel found themselves in the ring at the same time, they went right after one another.  Then the 500 lb newcomer Yokozuna entered the match.  His immediate adversary was Earthquake and the ring shook when these behemoths locked horns.  

   A few more men entered until the buzzer rang for #30.  It was "Macho Man" Randy Savage!  At this point in the match, Bob Backlund was still in there, an hour plus into the match.  Backlund eliminated Martel and then was eliminated himself by the mighty Yokozuna.  The last two men were Savage and the Sumo Champion.  In an exhausting effort, Savage managed to knock the big man off his feet.  He then climbed to the top rope to perform his elbow drop finisher.  In an extremely odd moment, Savage tried to pin Yokozuna, forgetting that there are no pin falls in the Royal Rumble match.  Even as a kid, I thought to myself; that is so stupid.  In the weirdest Rumble ending to date, Yokozuna kicked out of the pin attempt, sending Savage flying over the top rope to win.  The main event for the WWF Championship was now set, with Bret Hart defending against Yokozuna.

   This was a pretty bad Royal Rumble as a whole.  The other matches left a lot to be desired and the Rumble match itself did not deliver.  It had a lot to live up to considering how good the previous year was but things changed.  The talent was just not as good anymore and this Rumble match was filled with people no on cared about.  I myself would have gone with an early Hulk Hogan return and Rumble win so he could put over Bret Hart at WrestleMania, but that's just me.  Stay tuned for my thoughts on the 1994 Royal Rumble!

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/