1995 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   I've written previous blogs about how I thought WrestleMania XI was the worst WrestleMania of all time and that 1995 in general was WWE's worst year.  This may be also be the worst Royal Rumble event of all time as well.  The matches included too much interference and inconclusiveness, the time between entrants was cut down to one minute intervals, and the Rumble match's star power left a lot to be desired.  

Intercontinental Title - Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett

   In an effort to win more matches and to be portrayed even more as a Country Music star, Jeff Jarrett added The Roadie.  The Roadie would constantly aid Jarrett in matches.  It was no different here. While the referee was distracted, the Roadie took out Razor's knee. Razor was hurt but continued the match anyway.  It looked like it was all down hill for Jarrett when he was put in place for a Razor's Edge.  Razor's knee gave out and he collapsed under the pressure. Jarrett took advantage and got the pin, winning his first of six Intercontinental Championships.  It was good story telling but Jarrett was always pretty boring to me.

Undertaker vs. IRS

   Ever since Ted DiBiase brought in an Undertaker clone, the Undertaker feuded with his Million Dollar Corporation.  During the Undertaker's Casket Match with Yokozuna at the 1994 Survivor Series, IRS attacked the Undertaker and put him in a Sleeper Hold, which led to this match. IRS didn't stand a chance against the Undertaker but with DiBiase and the rest of the stable on hand, they had a plan.  After the Undertaker defeated IRS, King Kong Bundy came out and attacked him and they stole Paul Bearer's urn, which was of course the source for the Undertaker's power.  The match wasn't great but at the very least the story had continuity.

WWF Title - Diesel vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart

   Diesel was just two months into his sudden run with the WWF Championship and the rightful challenger was Bret Hart, having lost the Title to Bob Backlund thanks to brother Owen.  Of course, days later Diesel took the belt from Backlund.  The match started out nicely and it was good until it was riddled with interference. Throughout the match, Shawn Michaels attacked former bodyguard Diesel.  Later on, Owen Hart attacked his brother Bret.  Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie then attacked Diesel, followed by Bob Backlund attacking Bret.  The referee ruled the match a no contest, which meant Diesel would remain Champion.  They finally settled their differences 10 months later at Survivor Series.

Tag Team Championship Finals - Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka vs. 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly

   After Shawn Michaels and Diesel split up and relinquished their Tag Team Titles, a tournament was set to determine new Champions.  Everyone expected Bigelow & Tatanka to win the Titles when they advanced to the finals of the tournament.  The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly were a last minute thrown together team to replace the injured Smoking Gunns and they also somehow advanced to the finals.  In a true Cinderella story, the underdogs won the Titles.  Unfortunately, they lost them to the Smoking Gunns the next night on Raw.  However, the match itself was a minor part of the story.  Bigelow was extremely upset about losing and noticed former NFL star Lawrence Taylor seated in the front row.  Bigelow didn't take kindly to Taylor laughing at him so he shoved him to the ground. The two men had to be separated and it led to a match at WrestleMania. While I disliked celebrity involvement, the controversy got the WWF massive news coverage.

Royal Rumble Match

   This was one of the worst Rumble matches I've ever seen!  Just to put it into context, I'll list all 30 participants.  Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog drew numbers one and two, so off to a decent start.  Next up were Eli Blu, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, Jimmy Del Ray, Sionne (formerly the Barbarian), Tom Prichard, Doink, Kwang, and Rick Martel.  Not exactly a who's who of talent and none of these men were good enough to headline WrestleMania!

   On Owen Hart's way to the ring, he was attacked by his brother Bret due to what took place earlier in the night.  Once Owen entered the ring, he was quickly eliminated.  Following this, the participants were Timothy Well, Bushwhacker Luke, Jacob Blu, King Kong Bundy, Mabel, Bushwhacker Butch, Lex Lugar, Mantaur, Aldo Montoya, Henry Godwinn, and both members of the Smoking Gunns.  Of these men, only Lugar was worthy enough to go to WrestleMania, especially as he had co-won the previous Royal Rumble.  Bret returned to blindside Bob Backlund on his way to the ring, due to their earlier encounter.  The same fate met Backlund as it did Owen.  The last five men to enter were Steven Dunn, an almost 50 year-old Dick Murdoch, Adam Bomb, Fatu, and Crush.

 Meanwhile, I should mention that by the time everyone had entered, both Shawn Michaels and the Bulldog remained in the ring.  The final four were Michaels, Bulldog, Lugar, and Crush. After eliminating Lugar, Michaels asked Crush to help take out the Bulldog.  Crush didn't trust Michaels so he attacked first.  During their scuffle, the Bulldog eliminated Crush and now we were down to two. Davey Boy threw Michaels over the top rope, his music started playing, and everyone thought he had won.  What no one saw was that only one of Shawn Michaels' feet hit the floor, therefore he was not eliminated.  During Bulldog's premature celebration, Michaels reentered the ring and pushed Bulldog out of the ring to win the Royal Rumble.  While it was impressive that Michaels started from number one and won the whole thing, it was ruined by the one minute intervals.  His time was just over 38 minutes, whereas in 1992, Ric Flair started at number three and lasted over an hour.   I think the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons can best describe how I feel.

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