Welcome everybody to the 1994 Royal Rumble Review! That’s how Vince McMahon would introduce this review. This is the seventh annual Royal Rumble and this one much like last years features a World Heavyweight Title match and a Royal Rumble match where the winner will earn a shot at the champion at Wrestlemania. We’ve got three singles matches on this show, a tag team match and a Royal Rumble match. All three titles will be defended.

In the WWF title match Yokozuna defends the belt against The Undertaker. Yokozuna and Undertakers feud dates back to Survivor Series where the two men were on opposing teams and they would battle to the outside where both men would get counted out together. Over the last couple of months Undertaker has been constructing his biggest ever casket for Yokozuna whilst the champion has watched on looking petrified.

The main story in the Royal Rumble match focus’s around Lex Luger. When he didn’t win the WWF title at Summerslam it meant he wasn’t allowed a world title match in the future. However President Jack Tunney has allowed Luger to partake in the Royal Rumble match but it also means that Mr Fuji has been allowed to being in two of his own guys, namely The Great Kabuki and Tenyru. Other top contenders in the Rumble match are Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Crush.

Razor Ramon is still the Intercontinental champion and tonight he’ll defend his belt against Irwin R Shyster. I.R.S is trying to establish himself as a singles competitor since Ted Dibiase retired. This’ll be his biggest singles match to date whilst Razor will be looking to successfully defend his title on pay per view. The Quebecers are the tag team champion despite losing the belts to the 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty since Survivor Series, they would win the belts back a week later. They defend the titles against Bret and Owen Hart who have had their problems as of late most notably at Survivor Series. They look to get back on track by winning the tag team titles together.

Besides that we’ve lost and gained a few of the roster. Ludvid Borga most notably was injured at the hands of Rick Steiner and forced into early retirement. He’s replaced by the likes of Kwang, Sparky Plugg, Jeff Jarrett and the returning Greg Valentine. Time to Rumble.

We start with a fancy intro that includes the likes of Tatanka and The Undertaker before Vince McMahon welcomes everyone to The Royal Rumble 1994. He seems to be alone on the commentary booth. We have three big title matches tonight that McMahon tells us all about. He is then about to introduce is commentary partner and Ted Dibiase’s music hits! The Million Dollar Man is here to call the show with Vince McMahon. Ted Dibiase says he’s been in every Royal Rumble match but that’s not true. He wasn’t in the first. Time for our opening match now!

Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Well this was supposed to be Tatanka against Ludvid Borga but it was announced earlier in the day that Borga has an ankle injury so is replaced by The Beast From The East. Bigelow has Luna Vachon with him of course. This is the first time a singles match has opened The Royal Rumble PPV since the very first Rumble show in 1988 which was opened by Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat. Tatanka gets Bam Bam before the bell but Bigelow dropkicks the Native American and suddenly it’s back and forth. The ring looks well lit as Tatanka gets the first near fall of the match. He then locks on an armlock. Tatanka missed the last PPV, Survivor Series after Ludvid Borga put him out of action. He hits a DDT but then misses a high cross body from the top. Bam Bam now in control. He’s actually looking for his first win on pay per view since he beat “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan at King Of The Ring last year. Tatanka with a sunset flip from the top but Bam Bam just sits on him. These two men were on opposite teams at Summerslam in 6 man tag action and it was Tatanka team that came out on top. Bam Bam hits another dropkick and gets a near fall.

Bam Bam locks on a bearhug now. Bigelow returns to WWE PPV at the last Royal Rumble event, defeating The Big Boss Man. Tatanka’s only loss on pay per view was in the 1993 Royal Rumble. Tatanka starts to fade but as the referee checks on him he gets up to his feet. Bam Bam fights him off though and barges him to the floor but as he tries again Tatanka hits a big powerslam! The two men then run off the ropes and cross body each other! Both men hit the deck but it’s Bam Bam Bigelow up first. He makes the mistake of slamming Tatankas head off the top buckle as it first up the Native American! Bam Bam hits him with an enzeguri though and then heads up top for a moonsault but Tatanka moves out of the way! Tatanka then goes up top and hits a cross body which is enough for a three count! Tatanka stays undefeated on PPV (besides the Royal Rumble)! Bam Bam still looks for his first win since King Of The Ring. Both of these men return later on in the Royal Rumble match.

Rating: 4.5/10

We now go to some footage of how the upcoming tag team match came about. First the Survivor Series PPV where Owen Hart was the only man eliminated from the match and then him and Bret getting into it in the ring. A couple of weeks later on Superstars we’re shown an interview with Owen where he challenges Bret Hart to a match. Now to Bret who refuses to fight his own brother. Then we have a joint interview with Bret and Owen who now want to fight together and challenge for the tag team titles held by The Quebecers. However the next footage shows the 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty winning the tag team titles! But they would only hold the belts for one week as The Quebecers won the title back one week later.

Now backstage to Todd Pettingill who is with Bret and Owen Hart. Bret says that when they win the belts they will defend against the likes of The Steiner Brothers and 123 Kid and Jannetty. Owen says he’ll make Bret proud tonight when they win the tag team titles.

The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) (c) vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart & “The Rocket” Owen Hart – WWF Tag Team Title Match

I hate to put a downer on this match but the tag team titles have never changed hands at a Royal Rumble pay per view. Owen Hart is still looking for his first title in the WWF. This is Pierre’s pay per view debut. He was supposed to be on the Survivor Series PPV but he got injured by Lex Luger. So a debut for him and a debut for The Quebecers. Bret and Owen are scheduled to be in the Royal Rumble match later on. Bret and Pierre start the match. It’s back and forth but Bret takes the advantage with a knee before tagging in his brother. Owen flips around and gets a near fall. Jacques is tagged in and he sarcastically claps Owen. Owen botches one flip but saves it with a neckbreaker. Jacques holds one victory and three losses at The Royal Rumble pay per view. Owen tags Bret in. Bret and Jacques have loads of history both in tag action as The Hart Foundation and Fabulous Rougeaus and in singles competition. Bret was on a winning six man tag team against Jacques at the 1989 Royal Rumble PPV.

We see some nice double teaming from The Hart Foundation which leads to a near fall. Bret has only missed one Royal Rumble PPV and that was days after Jacques defeated him for the Intercontinental title. Jacques tags out to Pierre now who Bret springboards in. Bret then tags in Owen who hits a big clothesline on Pierre. Johnny Polo is at ringside for The Quebecers hoping to oversee their first PPV victory together. Bret is tagged in now and Pierre hits a big powerslam. It’s all the champions now as they double team Bret behind the referees back. The fans are right behind Bret as a “Go Bret Go” chant rings out. Pierre goes for a move off the top but Bret gets his foot up and Pierre goes straight into it. Pierre tags Jacques and in comes Owen. Owen goes after everyone! He hits a big belly to belly suplex on Pierre and tries for The Sharpshooter on Jacques! Pierre breaks it up though as the referee tries to get Bret out of the ring.

Jacques tags Pierre back in and then we get some quick tags between the champions. Owen finally gets the advantage though hitting both men with a double dropkick. Owen then tags in Bret who goes after both men with big right hands. He hits backbreakers on both men before hitting them with a double noggin knocker! He atomic drops Pierre out of the ring but then goes to bounce off the ropes and Johnny Polo opens the ropes up so Bret flies straight through them and smashes his knee on the guardrail! Bret sells the knee as The Quebecers use it as a target. Owen kicks off which does nothing but distract the referee! Jacques smashes Bret with Polo’s golf club! All the while Owen Hart distracts the ref. Somehow they haven’t been counted out yet but I don’t know how. Owen chucks Bret back in the ring and The Quebecers continue to dominate. Owen Hart is looking for his first win on pay per view in nearly two years where he beat Skinner at Wrestlemania 8. The Quebecers go for their senton finisher but Bret gets out of the way!

Instead of tagging though he instead goes for The Sharpshooter on Pierre! He can’t get it on properly though because of his knee! The referee then calls for the bell! He grabs the tag team titles and awards them to The Quebecers! The referee has elected to end the match because of Bret Hart and his knee! Owen can’t believe it! He goes mad at Bret shouting at his brother that he should have tagged him! Bret finally gets up to his feet and Owen Hart kicks him back down! He kicks him right in the knee! Owen then leaves screaming into the camera that Bret should have just tagged him but he’s too damn selfish. This was an ok match, it went a bit dead when they were all on the outside fighting. Bret and Owen are scheduled for The Royal Rumble match later on but will Bret even make it?

Rating: 5/10

Interesting that Raymond Rougeaus is then at ringside ironically he’s the ex partner of Jacques but he’s not allowed to have a word with Bret anyway, Patterson doesn’t let him. Raymond then assumes Bret won’t be allowed in the Royal Rumble match later on. Vince McMahon talks through Brets achievements like he’s dead.

Todd backstage wants to know why Owen would do such a thing. Owen says the match was a dream come true but Bret was too selfish. We see a shot of Bret watching Owen on the big screen whilst he gets carried to the back. Owen says he could have won the match and Bret is too damn selfish. Owen says that he’ll win the Royal Rumble match.

Razor Ramon (c) vs. Irwin R. Shyster – Intercontinental Title Match

 Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon are on commentary for this one, a much better team that, no offence, Vince McMahon and Ted Dibiase. I don’t mind Dibiase though. Anyway we’ve got the Intercontinental title match up next. This is Razors first PPV defence and for the second year running he’s involved in a title match at The Royal Rumble PPV and not the Royal Rumble match itself. I.R.S looks for his first win a t a Royal Rumble pay per view as the “Irwin” chant breaks out. Shyster stole Razors gold and has been keeping it in his briefcase. These two were involved in the same match at Survivor Series, a match that neither of these guys won. Ramon goes to work on Shyster with big right hands leading to I.R.S exiting the ring. He’s looking for his first win on PPV since Summerslam where he defeated Ramons friend the 123 Kid. Ramon hits an atomic drop and knocks the challenger down with a clothesline to get a near fall. Ramon comes bounding off the ropes but I.R.s manages to throw Ramon over the ropes to the outside.

The Intercontinental title has been defended twice at the Royal Rumble PPV before, last year Shawn Michaels retained against Marty Jannetty and the year before Rowdy Roddy Piper beat The Mountie for the gold. It’s all I.R.S now as he slowly picks apart The Bad Guy. Shyster locks on a reverse chinlock using the ropes for some extra leverage. Ramon finally gets out of it and starts a comeback which results in a near fall from his fallaway slam. He then goes for an irish whip but I.R.S reverses it and throws Ramon into the referee! Shyster then grabs the briefcase and tries to nail Ramon with it but the champion reverses it and instead smashes the challenger with it! There’s no referee to make the count though. Ramon continues the assault hitting a belly to back suplex off the top. Razor then signals for The Razors Edge but from behind comes Shawn Michaels! He nails Razor with his own Intercontinental belt before scarpering. I.R.S then crawls over to Razor and hooks the leg. The referee comes to life and counts the three! But oddly the bell doesn’t ring.

As Shyster celebrates with the gold another referee runs down and explains to the actual referee what happened. Razor then gets up and hits the Razors Edge on I.R.S as he’s celebrating before pinning him and getting the three! Apparently the match has continued and the winner is the Bad Guy Razor Ramon! This match was pretty good. Plenty of drama and some interesting twists.

Rating: 5.5/10

We now go to a package of Undertaker vignettes where he has threatened to defeat Yokozuna and lock him in a casket. Sprinkled in are some shots of Yokozuna looking very scared.

Yokozuna (c) vs. The Undertaker – Casket Match for WWF Title

The WWF title has been defended three times on the Royal Rumble PPV before and twice new champions were crowned. In 1991 Sgt Slaughter defeated The Ultimate Warrior and in 1992 The Royal Rumble winner won the vacant title. Last year however Bret Hart retained his title against Razor Ramon. Undertaker is still looking for his first win at this pay per view having entered the Royal Rumble match itself three times and not won. Yokozuna has only wrestled on this PPV once before and that was last year when he won the Royal Rumble match. Yokozuna is actually looking for his first pay per view since since King Of The Ring 93 seven months ago where he won the WWF title. Yokozuna has had a good 12 months main eventing pay per views against the likes of Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger and The Undertaker. This one is a casket match now after previously being called a coffin match when Undertaker defeated Kamala at Survivor Series 92.

The two men start face to face much like they did when they were on opposite teams at Survivor Series. Undertaker starts the match well taking Yokozuna off his feet with a big clothesline then sending the champion outside of the ring. Back in the ring and Undertaker goes to the top rope and hits his single axe handle. Yokozuna soon brings a chair into the fray though but Undertaker grabs it off him and smashes him with it twice! Yokozuna soon gets the advantage though, throwing salt into Undertakers eyes and then using the chair. It’s all Yoko now as both men are back in the ring. For the first time in the match the champion tries rolling Undertaker into the casket but Undertaker gets back out. Undertaker goes for a chokeslam and sort of hits it. Not much airtime for Yoko though. The dead man then hits a big DDT and then signals for the referees to open the casket. He rolls the champion into the casket and looks to close it but Crush comes from nowhere and attacks The Undertaker!

Undertaker disposes of Crush but then comes Kabuki and Tenryu! But Undertaker manages to get rid of them too! But in comes Bam Bam Bigelow and he slows Undertaker down! All four men take down Undertaker as Mr Fuji looks on laughing and Paul Bearer panics. Bearer then attacks both Mr Fuji and Jim Cornette, clocking them with the urn! Yokozuna gets out of the casket and Undertaker starts a comeback! Just as Paul Bearer holds up the urn. Undertaker takes down everyone but in comes Adam Bomb! Bam Bam accidentally hits Crush with the salt bucket and then in comes Double J Jeff Jarrett! Undertaker still fights everyone off but here come The Headshrinkers! It becomes too much for The Undertaker now. Where is his help? Nobody seems to want to help him. Diesel is the newest man to join the in. They get Undertaker in the casket but once again he fights everyone off and gets out of it! Yokozuna then grabs the urn and nails Paul Bearer before hitting The Undertaker with the urn. He takes off the lid and throws it on the floor and green smoke pours from it.

All the men in the ring take it in turns to take shots at The Undertaker. Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers fly off the top rope with headbutts. Then they roll The Undertaker into the casket with Yokozuna kicking him in to get the win. They look the casket door and Yoko holds up his WWF title belt. I’ve never seen anything like it! Practically the whole heel roster came out and helped Yokozuna. The heels wheel the casket to the back but suddenly Undertakers music hits and green smoke pours from the casket! The screen then comes on and shows Undertaker lying in the casket. He says his soul will never be extinguished and soon all mankind will witness the rebirth of The Undertaker, he will not rest in peace. The screen then flickers and we see Undertaker rise up from the casket and into the rafters! Little fun fact, that was actually Marty Jannetty dressed as The Undertaker.

A really interesting match this one. I love all the heels coming out and helping Yokozuna. It made what could have been a really bad match, a good one.

Rating: 7/10

The 1994 Royal Rumble Match

Well we are straight into my favourite match of the year! At the moment it looks like the winner of this will face off against Yokozuna so you’ve got to fancy Lex Luger as the favourite. Especially as Jack Tunney allowed him to be in the match after he originally wasn’t allowed to because of his loss to Yokozuna at Summerslam. Interestingly this match doesn’t feature any previous Royal Rumble winner. Well it’s time to get started and #1 is Scott Steiner followed by #2 Samu. Plenty of history between these two guys who met in tag team action at both Wrestlemania 9 and King of The Ring 93. These two men get straight into it, Samu looking for his first PPV win since Survivor Series 92. This is Scott Steiners first Royal Rumble match. He and Samu go back and forth in the early going but because of time constraints the entries will be more regular. It’s already time for #3 who is Rick Steiner. Obviously he goes straight after Samu. Rick and Scott are former two time tag team champions and take it in turns to wear down Samu. It’ll never be a tag team wrestler that wins this match. Scott and Rick then duck a cross body from Samu and he goes flying over the top rope via getting his head stuck in the ropes. Samu is out of here just as #4 Kwang gets involved. Kwang sprays green mist in Ricks eyes taking him down for a while. Kwang and Scott Steiner go at it with Scott hitting a nice belly to belly suplex. Kwang actually replaced Ludvid Borga in this match because Ludvid got injured at the hands of Rick Steiner.

#5 Owen Hart comes out to a chorus of boos. Owen has been getting a great push recently and it’d be nice to see him and brother Bret in the ring together. Kwang is a newcomer to the WWF and this is his PPV debut. He goes at it with Scott Steiner just as Owen eliminates Rick Steiner. The clock counts down now and #6 is Bart Gunn. Both the Smoking Gunns are undefeated in the WWF on PPV having won matches at King Of The Ring 93 and Summerslam 93. #7 Diesel is next in to boos. He’s still looking for his first PPV win. Dibiase makes a nice joke about Diesel nearly being as big as him when he stands on his wallet. Interestingly Scott Steiner and Bart Gunn go at it in one corner whilst Diesel comes in and goes after Owen Hart. Diesel then eliminates Bart Gunn, Scott Steiner and Owen Hart before chucking Kwang out too. Diesel is left on his own for a few seconds before #8 Bob Backlund comes in. He crawls around the ring and then nearly throws Diesel out. But Diesel gets out of it and throws Backlund out of there.

We’re 8 men in now and Diesel is stood in the middle of the ring on his own. He’s looking very strong now as you wonder who will be able to eliminate him. Maybe it’ll be #9 Billy Gunn. Billy gets a boot in the face and then gets chucked out of here. We then go backstage to earlier scenes with Tenyru and Kabuki attacking Lex Luger backstage. #10 Virgil is next in replacing Kamala. He gets some nice shots in on Diesel but that doesn’t last long. Diesel picks up Virgil and quickly throws him out much to Ted Dibiase’s glee. We hadn’t seen Virgil since last years Royal Rumble match. He’s gone though. #11 next and it’s “The Macho Man” Randy Savage and the crowd go mental. Savage has never won a match at a Royal Rumble PPV. He does well against Diesel hitting him with lefts and rights and nearly eliminating him. #12 is Double J Jeff Jarrett another man we saw earlier help out Yokozuna. Jarrett is making his PPV debut and goes straight after Savage. He has horrendous ring gear. He knocks down Savage and struts around the ring before going up top and hitting a single axe handle on Savage. He then throws Savage over the top rope but the former WWF champion hangs on, gets back in the ring and throws Jarrett out.

#13 is Crush and he and Savage gets straight into it. They were responsible for each others eliminations at Survivor Series and they’ve been feuding for a long time now. Savage hits a powerslam on his rival before going up top and hitting a double axe handle. Finally though Diesel gets back into it and he and Crush double team Savage. Diesel and Crush are two big men. #14 now and it’s Doink The Clown making his Royal Rumble debut. He comes out with midget Dink just as Crush dumps Randy Savage out of the match. Diesel then goes straight after Crush and Doink gets into the match and laughs at the two big men going at it. Doink then goes after both men spraying his flower at them and kicking them in the shins but it doesn’t last long before the two big men take down Doink. Time for #15 and it’s the man who’s been having problems with Doink, Bam Bam Bigelow. Crush and Diesel hold the ropes open for Bam Bam who accepts the invitation and goes after Doink. He lifts the clown high about his head and then throws him over the top rope, eliminating Doink from the match.

So we’ve got Diesel, Crush and Bam Bam Bigelow in there, three monster heels. We saw them all earlier helping out Yokozuna but now they’re all going at it. #16 is another monster, Mabel and he goes after Diesel who has been in there sometime now. Mabel takes down Diesel then goes after Bam Bam and Crush. #17 is “Sparky Plugg” Bob Holly who replaces the 123 Kid and makes his PPV debut. #18 is Shawn Michaels as the entrants come think and fast. Michaels and Diesel tease going at it but then shake hands. Mabel, Crush, Diesel and Sparky Plugg all go after Diesel then and Michaels jumps in at the last minute helping eliminate Diesel! The fans break out in a “Diesel” chant! It’s Crush who’s been in there the longest now as #19 Mo comes out. Mo is quite rotund himself and he goes after Shawn Michaels. There are plenty of potential main event heels in there at the moment, guys like Shawn Michaels, Crush and Bam Bam Bigelow but not so many faces. #20 Greg “The Hammer” Valentine is out next and comes out to a big cheer! He’s been in plenty of Royal Rumbles before but never won one. Not sure if Valentine is a heel or a face but he goes after everyone. #21 is Tatanka who beat Bam Bam earlier in the night. Tatanka goes straight after Shawn Michaels but Mabel soon gives Michaels a hand.

So we’ve got Shawn Michaels, Greg Valentine, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mabel, Mo, Crush, Bob Holly and Tatanka in there with 9 men still to come in. #22 is The Great Kabuki who helped out Yokozuna earlier. Kabuki tries to get Mabel out with the help of everyone else in the ring, except Mo. They manage to lift him up then dump Mabel out of the match. Valentine still in there, he wouldn’t have had matches with many of the guys in the ring. Shawn Michaels being the only one perhaps. #23 now is Lex Luger and he goes straight after Kabuki throwing him out sharpish. He then goes after another of Mr Fuji’s men, Crush. This is Lex Lugers debut match on a Royal Rumble pay per view. #24 now and it’s Tenryu who featured in the 1993 Royal Rumble match and was eliminated by The Undertaker. Tenryu goes after Luger, chopping away at him. Tatanka almost eliminates Michaels but the former Intercontinental champion hangs on. #25 doesn’t turn up and it’s presumably Bret Hart who’s not fit enough to make the match. Tatanka and Bam Bam get into it in one corner whilst Shawn Michaels tries to eliminate Lex Luger. I know Bastion Booger was scheduled for this Royal Rumble, maybe it was him in at #25? #26 is Rick Martel who is another man that has never won a match at The Royal Rumble PPV.

Plenty of men in the ring now including Rick Martel, Greg Valentine, Shawn Michaels, Tenryu, Mo, Tatanka, Crush, Bob Holly and Bam Bam Bigelow and they’re joined by #27 Bret Hart. Bret Hart limps down to ringside and Shawn Michaels and Crush meet him in the ring, going straight after his knee. Crush is so much more impressive since turning heel. Martel and Sparky have Michaels over the ropes but he hangs on. #28 Fatu is next out and he goes after Luger. Luger then goes after Crush who has been in there the longest and has him over the ropes. Bam Bam gives Luger a hand as does Sparky Plugg. And they manage to eliminate Crush which means Bam Bam has now been in there the longest. #29 is Marty Jannetty and he and Michaels go mad on each other. There are 12 men in the ring now with one man still to come and here he comes, #30 Adam Bomb. This is the first Royal Rumble ever not to have Tito Santana in it. Good little fact there. Bret Hart eliminates Sparky Plugg. McMahon then reveals it was Bastion Booger that didn’t come out at #25 because he felt sick. Could Mo win the Royal Rumble?! I don’t think so. Bret Hart goes after Adam Bomb which isn’t smart. Bomb nearly eliminates Hart. Bam Bam has been in there the longest, over 30 minutes.

Greg Valentine and Rick Martel go at it, they’ve been around a long time. Fatu superkicks Jannetty in the face which sounded painful. Now if Yokozuna was a good sport, you’d think he’d be out here helping some of his buddies who helped him earlier. Rick Martel eliminates Greg Valentine accidentally by the look of it. Tatanka then eliminates Martel. I’m a big fan of Adam Bomb but Luger disposes of him. Michaels and Jannetty are paired off just as Bam Bam Bigelow eliminates Tatanka. Fatu headbutts away at Bret Hart as Luger eliminates Bam Bam Bigelow then Shawn Michaels eliminates Marty Jannetty! Michaels and Fatu go after Tenyru now but then Bret Hart and Lex Luger send Fatu and Michaels into one another. Bret Hart and Luger then team up to eliminate Tenryu.

We’re down to Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Lex Luger and Fatu. Michaels and Hart have a lot of history and go after each other. Fatu superkicks Luger to the floor. Fatu the most unlikely to win this goes up to the middle rope and headbutts Luger. Michaels is the strongest heel, we saw him earlier try to cost Razor Ramon the Intercontinental title. He and Fatu nearly eliminate Lex Luger but not quite. Hart and Luger then irish whip Fatu and Michaels into one another but Shawn leapfrogs Fatu but Bret and Luger both back body drop the men coming at them and eliminate them!

We’re down to just Bret Hart and Lex Luger! The two babyfaces go at it, Luger gets Hart up for a powerslam but Luger gets out of it and pushes Hart over the top, both men go over the top and to the outside! Luger and Hart both lie on the outside as the referees discuss who won the match. Lex Luger is then announced as the winner! His music hits but then soon after stops. The crowd boo, but then The Fink announces that Bret Hart wins the match and the crowd go nuts! You can see who’s corner the crowd are in. His music then stops. One referee holds Lugers arm up (to boos) and the other referee holds up Hart arm (to cheers). Here comes Jack Tunney though as we go to the replay which is inconclusive. Tunney speaks to The Fink who then announces the winner of The Royal Rumble is…..Lex Luger and Bret Hart! Both men win. Some soft jazz music blasts over the speakers. The two men shake hands and then leave. I enjoyed this Royal Rumble match. It was split up into the tag guys at the start, then Diesels domination, then the Savage/Doink/Double J/Crush part and then the big brawl at the end. I like a rumble split up like that.

Rating: 7.5/10* Match Of The Night

And that was the 1994 Royal Rumble PPV. It had an overall good feel to it. You can tell the bookers are getting more maverick with their booking. We had three big title matches, a singles match and the Royal Rumble match. The match quality good better and better as the night went on. Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka’s match was a replacement for Tatanka/Ludvid Borga which obviously had the bigger history with Borga ending Tatanka’s undefeated streak. Tatanka got the win though which meant that Bam Bam Bigelow hasn’t actually won on PPV since he returned to the WWF at the 1993 Royal Rumble event.

The tag team title match was really good from a storyline point of view. It finally turned Owen Hart into a heel whilst giving The Quebecers a huge win. It wasn’t designed to be a technical classic it was on the card to develop the storyline between Bret and Owen. The Intercontinental match wasn’t too dissimilar in that it was designed to develop the rivalry between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels over who is the true Intercontinental champion. I.R.S was a great challenger because of the feud that had been going on since July of 1993.

The World title match between Yokozuna and Undertaker was another match that wasn’t a technical classic but booking made you remember the finish to the match forever. The casket match was much better than the previous one between Undertaker and Kamala. Having half of the heel roster come out and helped Yokozuna is something I’d need seen before or since so it makes this one really memorable. With Yokozuna still being champion despite clashes with Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger and The Undertaker it makes him look really strong.

The Royal Rumble match itself was a good one. It was certainly better than last years although it was lacking in star quality. The two favourites definitely won the match. I like the way it was booked though and it leaves you wondering how this sets up Wrestlemania with two number one contenders. Overall an enjoyable show that got better as the night progressed.

Overall Rating: 59/100 (Ranked 2nd out of 37)