Welcome to “A Taste of the New Generation”. A review article that looks back at the tumultuous and infamously bad new generation era of the wwf from 1993-1996. And this week, it’s time to rumble. It’s one of the biggest matches in the WWF, the Royal Rumble. Aired live from the ARCO Arena from Sacramento California. With an interesting card including a WWF title match with current champion Bret Hart facing hot challenger Razor Ramon. Also former Rockers turned bitter rivals Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels battle for the prestigious Intercontinental Championship. And of course the 30-man over the top rope royal rumble to determine who will go to Wrestlemania IX to challenge the WWF champion in the main event. So, let’s get rumbling.
We’re welcomed into the ARCO arena with our commentators for the night, Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. Monsoon runs down the big matches of the card, while Bobby reminds Gorilla about the debut of Narcissus, much to Gorilla's chagrin.
Our opening contest is Beau and Blake, the Beverly Brothers taking on Rick and Scott, the Steiner Brothers. Gorilla says that the Steiners are receiving a standing ovation, but that’s far from the case. Match starts extremely slow with Scott in control early, while the Beverlys mostly complain about the Steiners cheating. Rick gets tagged in to a pretty strong pop, but his momentum is taken away quickly by Blake Beverly. A nice powerslam by Blake, but Rick gets a big slam off a leapfrog by Blake. Scott gets tagged in, and hits a big belly to belly on Blake. But Beau stops an attempted underhook.
Gorilla and Heenan talk about the Narcissist’s debut, as Gorilla is concerned about the royal rumble match being spoiled. Quick tags from the Beverlys who continue to work down Scott Steiner. Blake Beverly chokes out Scott with the tag rope, and Beau lands a nice double underhook. Steiner gets locked in the Boston crab, but that is quickly broken. Scott finally gets a suplex counter on Blake, but is still unable to get the hot tag to Rick. More offense, but Scott gets an underhook powerbomb almost out of nowhere, and finally gets the tag to Rick, who just starts launching the Beverly brothers. He hit a big suplex, dropping Beau on his head. Rick gets in clotheslines to both Beverlys, and tags in Scott, who punches one Beverly in the corner. Big counter of a doomsday device by Scott. Match ends with Scott getting in a Frankensteiner, dropping one of the Beverlys right on his head for the three.
While the match started rather slow, it picked up by the end big time. Both Rick and Scott put on a great performance, and the Beverly Brothers did solid work in this match as well. For an opening match at the Rumble, it does a good job in warming up the crowd for the show.
Up next is the match that was a year in the making. Former rockers turned bitter rivals Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty square off for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. And we get a video package detailing the long history between the two. From their time together as the Rockers, to the infamous edition of “The Barber Shop”, where Shawn would superkick Marty, and throw him through the barber shop window. Janetty would vanish from the WWF for a while until the October 31st edition of Superstars where as Shawn was posing in a mirror held by Sensational Sherri, he would get a vision of his past as Marty would jump the guardrail and attack Shawn.
Trying to give Shawn a taste of his own medicine, Marty would try to hit him with the mirror. However, the dastardly intercontinental champ would pull Sherri in front of the mirror, causing her to be smashed over the head with it. Therein leads to this match, as not only does Shawn have to defend his gold, but we’re left wondering where Sherri’s loyalties lie after Shawn’s act of cowardice, as she returns to the WWF tonight.
Before the match begins, Sherri would go to ringside on her own, leaving it open to debate just who she’s on the side of. And with that we get the long awaited encounter between the rockers for the IC Strap. Shawn invites Sherri into the ring, but she declines, showing a bit of disdain over the cocky champion. Bell rings as Shawn pushes Marty around, and gets a right hand. Shawn runs around, but eventually gets caught by Marty. Marty sends Shawn over the rope for the first time in this match, only to do it again moments later. A decent dive out of the ring by Marty keeping Shawn down, and it’s followed by a dive right off the top rope. However, a second attempt gets caught by Shawn.
With Shawn now in control, he rams Jannetty into the post shoulder-first, and continues working on the injured shoulder. They cut to a concerned Sherri, as Heenan is still convinced that she’s on Shawn’s side. Shawn continues work on the left shoulder for quite a while. Heenan suggests that he should piledrive Marty on the steps to break his head and shoulders. Wow, Brain is bloodthirsty tonight. Marty eventually starts to fight back, but Shawn keeps on the bad shoulder. Arm wringers by Shawn get met with offense, but again, it’s too little as Shawn continues focus on the bad shoulder.
Shawn dives off the 2nd rope only to meet a foot to the face. Shawn rushes into the corner only to get a taste of his medicine as he goes shoulder-first into the post. Marty wins over an exchange of blows, but gets tossed out by Shawn to the outside. Suplex attempt on the apron is countered by Marty, sending Shawn again over the top rope. Sherri goes over to Shawn, and we see where her loyalties are as she slaps him, much to the disgust of Bobby Heenan.
Nice back suplex by Marty from the apron to the outside for two. And for the fourth time in this match, Shawn gets thrown over the top rope. Marty gets a huge powerslam on Shawn, and goes to the top rope with Shawn over halfway across the ring. He lands on his feet when Shawn moves, and gets a DDT for a close two count. Marty nails Shawn with a superkick for another close two. Michaels tries to sunset flip, gets countered into an eventual slingshot and roll into another close two count . Ref gets bumped as Marty holds Shawn. Sherri comes in, and takes off one of her heels in an attempt to smack Shawn with it, only to end up hitting Marty accidentally.
Shawn corners Sherri, while berating her. Shawn lands the superkick for the three as Sherri runs to the back. Mean Gene tries to get a hold of the hysterical Sherri as Shawn gives chase in the back. He confronts Sherri, but is attacked by Marty, as the officials try to hold the two apart.
This match was easily the best of the night so far, but I will say it was a bit underwhelming in-ring. Mostly consisting of a bit too much focus on Marty’s shoulder, only for it to be ignored by the end of the match. However, when it picked up by the end, it was some great action, and plenty of close near-falls. What made the match great however was the drama, and the continuation of this feud, even though it seems like we’re going to focus less on Shawn and Marty from this point on, and more on the situation between Shawn and Sherri.
Up next is a match between Bam Bam Bigelow and the Big Boss Man. First off, I love the Boss Man’s theme. Absolutely screams cheesy early 90’s. Boss Man gets a pretty decent pop for his entrance. Bam Bam starts with early offense in the corner. Boss Man finally gets the advantage by finally knocking Bam Bam down with two clotheslines. Boss Man is favoring the wrapped right hand, but scores a bulldog. However, Bam Bam sends Boss Man over the top rope with his back smashing into the ring apron. Heenan makes an “Achy Breaky Back” joke, which is worth a cringe worthy chuckle.
Bam Bam continues to work on the lower back of the Boss Man. A waistlock is applied, trying to squeeze the lower back on Boss Man, but he can’t get them all the way around due to Boss Man’s girth. Despite an attempt by Boss Man to gain advantage, Bam Bam sends him throat first into the rope, which leads to a more successful waistlock. Suplex attempt by Bam Bam is countered by the Boss Man, but he doesn’t get all of it as he collapses. Cross body by Bam Bam is ducked by Boss Man, who gets a big back drop, which does his injured back no favors. A guillotine on the ropes and a loaded punch is all the advantage Boss Man gets as Bam Bam sends him down, and goes to the top rope to deliver his headbutt for the three.
This match was far better than I had worried. It was slower than Shawn vs Marty, but I liked it more because the focus was always on the lower back of Boss Man, and both guys worked the best they could for a big man match. A sad note coming out of this match is that this will be Boss Man’s final pay per view appearance. He’ll still be around for a couple more months though. As for Bam Bam, he’s going to be around for quite some time, with the biggest highlight of his career coming in 1995.
It's almost time for our WWF title match, but first we take a recap of WWF Mania from a couple weeks ago where Razor Ramon executed a sneak attack on Bret Hart's brother Owen, which is the biggest storyline going into this championship match. Mean Gene talks with Bret, who says that this is more than a title match. It's personal. He's defending his family's honor.
It's the challenger Razor Ramon taking on WWF champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Stu and Helen Hart are in attendance. Before the match begins, Bret takes off his shades and gives them to a young boy in the audience. Not to be outdone, Razor, in true heel fashion, tosses his toothpick at the boy, which is enough to enrage Bret and get this match underway.
An exchange of blows starts until Razor takes Bret into the corner with stomps, and follows with a series of hard Irish whips. Bret gets control when Razor's knee makes contact with the turnbuckle. Figure four by Bret, but Razor quickly grabs the rope. But Bret continues offense on the injured left leg, even slamming it on the turnbuckle. Razor finally gets back momentum by sending Bret sliding into the bottom of the turnbuckle, followed by a series of rib breakers, and ramming Bret into the post.
Razor continues his control over Bret, including hitting him with his patented fallaway slam. Razor's offense continues in a long abdominal stretch until Bret manages to turn it around briefly, but gets hiptossed by Razor. Razor stomps down on the ribs, and slams Bret's face on the mat. Bret gets a cross body, but rolls out of the ring. Bret attempts a sunset flip, gets caught, but still manages to roll in for a two count. Razor gets back offense with a chinlock while sitting on Bret's back. He follows with a bearhug. Ref goes for the three hand drop spot, and as expected Bret gets it up at the last second. Bret gets back momentum, sending Razor out of the ring, and following with a suicide dive.
Back in full control, Bret lays in multiple right hands on Razor. Inverted atomic drop and clothesline by Bret only gets a two. He follows with a back breaker and a clothesline off the second rope. Still only manages a two count. Bulldog for a two. Monsoon is wondering why Bret won't try for a sharpshooter. And not long after that Bret attempts a sharpshooter, but Razor grabs the rope. Bret just pulls him off, and tries to lock him in, but Earl Hebner just falls on top of Bret. This gives Razor his momentum back as he clubs at Bret's ribs. Razor sets up for a back drop off the top turnbuckle. Bret counters it into a back suplex, following up with his elbow, only to take a foot to the face.
Razor calls for the Razor's Edge, He lifts Bret up, but Bret slides out, and attempts a backslide pin for a two. Razor whips Bret hard into the buckle, and begins to nonchalantly slap at Bret's head. More boots to the ribs, but Bret gets another pinfall for a two. But Bret quickly turns into the sharpshooter, locking Razor who quickly gives up. Bret retains his championship much to the joy of Stu and Helen.
this was a solid back and forth match. While Bret was worked on a lot more during the match, he never felt too much like an underdog, which is definitely the best thing to do. While Bret and Razor's styles fare differently from one another with Bret being more technical and Razor being a more ground and pound style brawler, they worked really well. While there were some slow spots, it picked up big time by the end. Definitely one of the best matches of the night.
Bobby Heenan leaves the announce position as it's time to unveil Narcissus. The curtain goes up, and the world gets the first glimpse of "The Narcissist" Lex Luger, who poses in front of three mirrors as Heenan is going nuts describing the absolute beauty and brawn of Lex. He pretty much is close to calling Luger a golden god.
So what led to Lex Luger joining the WWF? Well in early 1992 Lex would drop the WCW title to Sting at SuperBrawl II (Which was actually held on a Saturday, so Lex has a long history with SuperBrawl Saturday). He would leave WCW to join up with Vince McMahon's latest crackpot scheme the World Bodybuilding Federation, or the WBF for short. I think it's no well kept secret that Vince has a thing for oiled up, super muscular men, and thus he started up his own bodybuilding company. Luger even appeared at Wrestlemania VIII to promote his appearance for WBF.
However, before he could compete at a WBF Pay Per View, Lex would be injured in a motorcycle accident. During Luger's recovery time things went sour for the WBF. Their PPV suffered from a horrible buyrate, and this was just around the time the steroid scandal had gained momentum. In such, the WBF went out of business. Since Luger was still under contract, he would end up wrestling for the company, with his gimmick being that of The Narcissist. A perfect looking man obsessed with his own reflection. And it's led us to where we are now.
Heenan gives Luger the mic, and he proceeds to cut your basic "I'll be the most dominant man of all time" promo. He then directs his focus on Mr. Perfect, and that when he steps in the ring, that's when he will find out how perfect the Narcissist.
For a big debut, this did its job. It sells the whole Narcissist gimmick, and with Heenan near cumming over him, Lex isn't a master of the mic, but he didn't stumble and put forward his character and his issues with Mr. Perfect. Although I do have to wonder that with Mr. Perfect's career being on the line on the next episode of Raw against Ric Flair why we'd start a feud for Perfect before the match even sees air? Kinda spoils who would be going over, and which superstar was leaving.
Out comes Caesar and Cleopatra with a big announcement. Why Caesar and Cleopatra exactly? Well, Wrestlemania IX was to be held at Caesar's Palace this year (Or to be more specific, the parking lot of Caesar's Palace). During Caesar's proclaimation, I swear he calls Cleopatra "Cleopantra". This segment pretty much tells us what we knew already, with Wrestlemania being held at Caesar's Palace and that the winner of the Royal Rumble will compete for the WWF championship in the main event. With that said, It's now time for the main event, the 30-man over the top royal rumble match.
Entrant number one is Ric Flair, getting a slightly worse number than his spot last year at number 3. Entrant two is Bob Backlund who comes out to near crickets. Crowd is more behind Flair, as Backlund starts strong with a series of trips to Ric. Back and forth between both as the countdown reaches zero for the third man, who turns out to be Papa Shango.
Shango puts his focus entirely on Backlund, but Ric manages to throw out Shango quickly. Ric continues his offense on Backlund, but is unable to get rid of him. More back and forth until we get entrant number four: Ted Dibiase. Like Shango before, Dibiase puts his focus square on Backlund. Backlund gets caught in the ropes, as the Ric and Dibase lay blows on him. Backlund holds on as entrant number five comes in. That entrant being Brian Knobbs of the Nasty Boys.
Like a house of fire, Knobbs puts in work on both Flair and Dibiase, almost managing to eliminate Ric in the process. Back and forth between all four men, as the counter leads to entrant number six, Ted Dibase's former assistant Virgil. Virgil gets plenty of offense on Dibiase, and gets a double back body drop on Dibiase with the help of Knobbs. However, Knobbs gets eliminated by Dibiase, taking us back to four men.
Entrant number seven is Jerry "The King" Lawler. Lawler rains shots on Ric, who rolls under the rope, and is warned by referee Bill Alfonso to get back in. Entrant number eight arrives, and it's Max Moon, bringing us to six in the ring right now. Moon and Flair go at it, as Flair tries to throw him out. But Max Moon skins the cat and continues offense. Entrant number nine arrives as Max Moon gets thrown out by Jerry Lawler.
Tenryu enters next and proceeds to chop the everloving hell of Ric. Virgil is nearly thrown out, but Flair sends him back in for some reason. Entrant ten arrives and it's Mr. Perfect, who heads straight for Flair. The crowd is alive as Perfect lays blow after blow on Flar. Ric tries to go up top, and Perfect drops him back into the ring. Cheap shots by Flair get the control back to him. The sound of the chops from both men just sound incredibly painful. Perfect tries throwing out Flair as we get entrant number eleven, Skinner.
Despite Skinner's aid, it's not enough to stop Mr. Perfect from eliminating Ric Flair. Heenan is in full panic mode, reminding us that it's not fair to Flair. Doesn't matter if it's fair or not, it's been done. Entrant number twelve arrives, and it's Koko B. Ware with his neon hammer pants up to his nipples. Skinner skins the cat (or skins the gator?), but gets eliminated by Mr. Perfect.
Entrant number thirteen is Samu of the Headshrinkers, being thrown right into the battle by Afa. Lawler, Perfect, and Backlund work on each other for a while, while entrant number fourteen arrives. And it's the Berserker. At this point, Backlund has been in the longest at 26 minutes. Lawler throws out Mr. Perfect, but Dibiase and Koko try to send Pefect out. Thanks to Lawler, Mr. Perfect gets sent out. Refs hold the two back. While that happened, Virgil was thrown out.
With the rumble past the halfway point now the fifteenth entrant being The Undertaker. Berserker gets thrown out by Backlund, but not eliminated. An angered Berserker then destroys Backlund on the outside. Meanwhile, Taker eliminates Samu, and follows that with Tenryu. While Backlund is being checked on, entrant sixteen shows up. It's Terriffic Terry Taylor. However, both Taylor and Koko are eliminated by Dibiase in short time. Taker then takes out Dibiase and Berserker. And then all of a sudden...
A giant man in a furry ape suit being led to the ring by Harvey Whippleman arrives and stares down the Undertaker. Damien Demento is entrant seventeen, but right now the focus is entirely on Undertaker and the Giant Gonzalez. Gonzalez throws Undertaker over the top rope and proceeds to beat him down. He brings him back in, and chokeslams the dead man. Meanwhile, entrant number eighteen arrives, and it's Irwin R. Shyster. However, Gonzalez continues his assault, slamming Taker's leg into the steel post. The refs and officials eventually send the giant to the back.
So who is Giant Gonzalez? The Argentenian Jorge Gonzalez started his career in Basketball. In fact, at his massive height of 7'6, he was the tallest Argentinian basketball player in history. He was drafted to the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, but was injured quickly. He would end up in WCW under the name El Gigante, and stuck around from around 1990 to about 1992. And here he is now in a spray painted body suit with fake fur beating down the Undertaker. For a debut, it's definitely memorable. Perhaps more for how absurd the character looks, but nonetheless this was one of the biggest beat downs the Undertaker had ever been a part of at this time. So to make the Undertaker look weak to someone else is quite the accomplishment for its time.
The match continues as Demento and IRS continue to work on the injured Bob Backlund. Entrant number nineteen arrives in Tatanka, while Taker takes a nap in the ring. Paul Bearer manages to wake him up with the urn, but Taker is still beaten and weakened. Backlund is now in for over a half hour as entrant number twenty is up next, and it's Jerry Saggs of the Nasty Boys. Tatanka and Backlund work on Demento while Saggs works on IRS.
It's time for Entrant number twenty one, and it's Typhoon, bringing the entrants back to six. Entrant number twenty two follows shortly after and it's Fatu of the Headshrinkers, also being chucked in by Afa. Entrant twenty three arrives after that, and it's Earthquake, meaning both natural disasters are in. However, Quaker and Typhoon go after one another instead on their common foe in IRS. Quake manages to get Typhoon over the top rope.
The twenty fourth entrant arrives next, and it's Carlos Colon... whoopee. Colon manages to throw out Demento though, while we're reminded that Bob Backlund has been in for 46 minutes. It's time for the twenty fifth entrant, and it's El Matador Tito Santana. Backlund eliminates himself over his own momentum. Rick Martel is entrant number twenty six, and the former Strike Force teammates got at it, while IRS is tossed out. Backlund still survives, and has earned the crowd's love as he's hung on in this match.
Entrant twenty seven is Yokozuna, as Monsoon and Heenan consider him the odds on favorite. Tatanka gets thrown out, followed by Carlos Colon (Yay). Next hus is a face off between Yoko and Earthquake. Crowd is behind Earthquake in this faceoff. While this goes down, entrant number twenty eight Owen Hart enters. Earthquake almost gets rids of Yoko with an avalanche. He goes for a second, but misses, leading to a throw out by Yokozuna. The Repo Man enters at number twent nine. Everyone attempts to throw out Yokozuna, but it doesn't work. It's time for the final entrant in the rumble, and it's...
The Macho Man!
Savage focuses on the man who stole his hat last week in Repo Man as Santana gets viciously dumped out by Yokozuna. Owen dropkicks Jerry Sags out. Owen botches a skin of the cat, but manages to get back in. However, he's the next to be taken out by Yokozuna. Macho Man throws out Repo Man.
Our final four are Rick Martel, Randy Savage, Bob Backlund, and Yokozuna. Martel tries to throw Backlund out, but to no avail. Backlund sets Martel on the top rope, and knocks him over. Backlund attempts to take out Yokozuna, and is unable to knock him down. Yoko then finally throws Backlund out. The final two are Randy Savage and Yokozuna.
Yoko continues his offense, while the kayfabe Japanese man yells "Samoa forever!" in front of the camera. After some back and forth, Savage eventually fights back as Yoko misses a splash in the corner. And then comes the stupidest moment in Royal Rumble history in my opinion. Savage drops his patented elbow, goes for a pin cover, and gets lauched over the top rope. Your winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble: Yokozuna.
Overall a decent Royal Rumble, but for the most part, there was no real spectacular moments save for the debut of Giant Gonzalez. The roster for the most part consisted of midcarders and new faces, and old stars like Bob Backlund. Speaking of Mr. Backlund, he set the then longest time in the Royal Rumble of 1:01:10, and the fans, while tepid to Bob at first, did give him respect by the end. Save for the ending with Savage's strange choice to cover Yokozuna, there was nothing offensive about this event, and most of the elimnations were booked quite well. It's no classic like the previous year's and lacks star power, but it was still a fun watch
And that wraps up the Pay Per View. Overall, while there was nothing bad about the show, I'd definitely say it felt average at best. None of the matches were exactly must-watch, but were still great, with the best probably being Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty, based mostly on the fact that this was a year in the making, and the storyline involving Sherri Martel. I also enjoyed the WWF title match, the opener with the Steiners, and while not the most amazing one in history, the Rumble was a fun watch. This show gets a B
So now we're set for our main event of Wrestlemania IX as Yokozuna Challenges Bret Hart for the WWF title. However we're still quite a ways there, and when next we meet, we head to the third episode of Monday Night Raw where Macho Man faces Repo Man and Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair square off in a loser leaves the WWF match.
It's almost time for our WWF title match, but first we take a recap of WWF Mania from a couple weeks ago where Razor Ramon executed a sneak attack on Bret Hart's brother Owen, which is the biggest storyline going into this championship match. Mean Gene talks with Bret, who says that this is more than a title match. It's personal. He's defending his family's honor.
It's the challenger Razor Ramon taking on WWF champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Stu and Helen Hart are in attendance. Before the match begins, Bret takes off his shades and gives them to a young boy in the audience. Not to be outdone, Razor, in true heel fashion, tosses his toothpick at the boy, which is enough to enrage Bret and get this match underway.
An exchange of blows starts until Razor takes Bret into the corner with stomps, and follows with a series of hard Irish whips. Bret gets control when Razor's knee makes contact with the turnbuckle. Figure four by Bret, but Razor quickly grabs the rope. But Bret continues offense on the injured left leg, even slamming it on the turnbuckle. Razor finally gets back momentum by sending Bret sliding into the bottom of the turnbuckle, followed by a series of rib breakers, and ramming Bret into the post.
Razor continues his control over Bret, including hitting him with his patented fallaway slam. Razor's offense continues in a long abdominal stretch until Bret manages to turn it around briefly, but gets hiptossed by Razor. Razor stomps down on the ribs, and slams Bret's face on the mat. Bret gets a cross body, but rolls out of the ring. Bret attempts a sunset flip, gets caught, but still manages to roll in for a two count. Razor gets back offense with a chinlock while sitting on Bret's back. He follows with a bearhug. Ref goes for the three hand drop spot, and as expected Bret gets it up at the last second. Bret gets back momentum, sending Razor out of the ring, and following with a suicide dive.
Razor calls for the Razor's Edge, He lifts Bret up, but Bret slides out, and attempts a backslide pin for a two. Razor whips Bret hard into the buckle, and begins to nonchalantly slap at Bret's head. More boots to the ribs, but Bret gets another pinfall for a two. But Bret quickly turns into the sharpshooter, locking Razor who quickly gives up. Bret retains his championship much to the joy of Stu and Helen.
this was a solid back and forth match. While Bret was worked on a lot more during the match, he never felt too much like an underdog, which is definitely the best thing to do. While Bret and Razor's styles fare differently from one another with Bret being more technical and Razor being a more ground and pound style brawler, they worked really well. While there were some slow spots, it picked up big time by the end. Definitely one of the best matches of the night.
Bobby Heenan leaves the announce position as it's time to unveil Narcissus. The curtain goes up, and the world gets the first glimpse of "The Narcissist" Lex Luger, who poses in front of three mirrors as Heenan is going nuts describing the absolute beauty and brawn of Lex. He pretty much is close to calling Luger a golden god.
So what led to Lex Luger joining the WWF? Well in early 1992 Lex would drop the WCW title to Sting at SuperBrawl II (Which was actually held on a Saturday, so Lex has a long history with SuperBrawl Saturday). He would leave WCW to join up with Vince McMahon's latest crackpot scheme the World Bodybuilding Federation, or the WBF for short. I think it's no well kept secret that Vince has a thing for oiled up, super muscular men, and thus he started up his own bodybuilding company. Luger even appeared at Wrestlemania VIII to promote his appearance for WBF.
However, before he could compete at a WBF Pay Per View, Lex would be injured in a motorcycle accident. During Luger's recovery time things went sour for the WBF. Their PPV suffered from a horrible buyrate, and this was just around the time the steroid scandal had gained momentum. In such, the WBF went out of business. Since Luger was still under contract, he would end up wrestling for the company, with his gimmick being that of The Narcissist. A perfect looking man obsessed with his own reflection. And it's led us to where we are now.
Heenan gives Luger the mic, and he proceeds to cut your basic "I'll be the most dominant man of all time" promo. He then directs his focus on Mr. Perfect, and that when he steps in the ring, that's when he will find out how perfect the Narcissist.
For a big debut, this did its job. It sells the whole Narcissist gimmick, and with Heenan near cumming over him, Lex isn't a master of the mic, but he didn't stumble and put forward his character and his issues with Mr. Perfect. Although I do have to wonder that with Mr. Perfect's career being on the line on the next episode of Raw against Ric Flair why we'd start a feud for Perfect before the match even sees air? Kinda spoils who would be going over, and which superstar was leaving.
Out comes Caesar and Cleopatra with a big announcement. Why Caesar and Cleopatra exactly? Well, Wrestlemania IX was to be held at Caesar's Palace this year (Or to be more specific, the parking lot of Caesar's Palace). During Caesar's proclaimation, I swear he calls Cleopatra "Cleopantra". This segment pretty much tells us what we knew already, with Wrestlemania being held at Caesar's Palace and that the winner of the Royal Rumble will compete for the WWF championship in the main event. With that said, It's now time for the main event, the 30-man over the top royal rumble match.
Entrant number one is Ric Flair, getting a slightly worse number than his spot last year at number 3. Entrant two is Bob Backlund who comes out to near crickets. Crowd is more behind Flair, as Backlund starts strong with a series of trips to Ric. Back and forth between both as the countdown reaches zero for the third man, who turns out to be Papa Shango.
Shango puts his focus entirely on Backlund, but Ric manages to throw out Shango quickly. Ric continues his offense on Backlund, but is unable to get rid of him. More back and forth until we get entrant number four: Ted Dibiase. Like Shango before, Dibiase puts his focus square on Backlund. Backlund gets caught in the ropes, as the Ric and Dibase lay blows on him. Backlund holds on as entrant number five comes in. That entrant being Brian Knobbs of the Nasty Boys.
Like a house of fire, Knobbs puts in work on both Flair and Dibiase, almost managing to eliminate Ric in the process. Back and forth between all four men, as the counter leads to entrant number six, Ted Dibase's former assistant Virgil. Virgil gets plenty of offense on Dibiase, and gets a double back body drop on Dibiase with the help of Knobbs. However, Knobbs gets eliminated by Dibiase, taking us back to four men.
Entrant number seven is Jerry "The King" Lawler. Lawler rains shots on Ric, who rolls under the rope, and is warned by referee Bill Alfonso to get back in. Entrant number eight arrives, and it's Max Moon, bringing us to six in the ring right now. Moon and Flair go at it, as Flair tries to throw him out. But Max Moon skins the cat and continues offense. Entrant number nine arrives as Max Moon gets thrown out by Jerry Lawler.
Tenryu enters next and proceeds to chop the everloving hell of Ric. Virgil is nearly thrown out, but Flair sends him back in for some reason. Entrant ten arrives and it's Mr. Perfect, who heads straight for Flair. The crowd is alive as Perfect lays blow after blow on Flar. Ric tries to go up top, and Perfect drops him back into the ring. Cheap shots by Flair get the control back to him. The sound of the chops from both men just sound incredibly painful. Perfect tries throwing out Flair as we get entrant number eleven, Skinner.
Entrant number thirteen is Samu of the Headshrinkers, being thrown right into the battle by Afa. Lawler, Perfect, and Backlund work on each other for a while, while entrant number fourteen arrives. And it's the Berserker. At this point, Backlund has been in the longest at 26 minutes. Lawler throws out Mr. Perfect, but Dibiase and Koko try to send Pefect out. Thanks to Lawler, Mr. Perfect gets sent out. Refs hold the two back. While that happened, Virgil was thrown out.
With the rumble past the halfway point now the fifteenth entrant being The Undertaker. Berserker gets thrown out by Backlund, but not eliminated. An angered Berserker then destroys Backlund on the outside. Meanwhile, Taker eliminates Samu, and follows that with Tenryu. While Backlund is being checked on, entrant sixteen shows up. It's Terriffic Terry Taylor. However, both Taylor and Koko are eliminated by Dibiase in short time. Taker then takes out Dibiase and Berserker. And then all of a sudden...
A giant man in a furry ape suit being led to the ring by Harvey Whippleman arrives and stares down the Undertaker. Damien Demento is entrant seventeen, but right now the focus is entirely on Undertaker and the Giant Gonzalez. Gonzalez throws Undertaker over the top rope and proceeds to beat him down. He brings him back in, and chokeslams the dead man. Meanwhile, entrant number eighteen arrives, and it's Irwin R. Shyster. However, Gonzalez continues his assault, slamming Taker's leg into the steel post. The refs and officials eventually send the giant to the back.
So who is Giant Gonzalez? The Argentenian Jorge Gonzalez started his career in Basketball. In fact, at his massive height of 7'6, he was the tallest Argentinian basketball player in history. He was drafted to the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, but was injured quickly. He would end up in WCW under the name El Gigante, and stuck around from around 1990 to about 1992. And here he is now in a spray painted body suit with fake fur beating down the Undertaker. For a debut, it's definitely memorable. Perhaps more for how absurd the character looks, but nonetheless this was one of the biggest beat downs the Undertaker had ever been a part of at this time. So to make the Undertaker look weak to someone else is quite the accomplishment for its time.
The match continues as Demento and IRS continue to work on the injured Bob Backlund. Entrant number nineteen arrives in Tatanka, while Taker takes a nap in the ring. Paul Bearer manages to wake him up with the urn, but Taker is still beaten and weakened. Backlund is now in for over a half hour as entrant number twenty is up next, and it's Jerry Saggs of the Nasty Boys. Tatanka and Backlund work on Demento while Saggs works on IRS.
It's time for Entrant number twenty one, and it's Typhoon, bringing the entrants back to six. Entrant number twenty two follows shortly after and it's Fatu of the Headshrinkers, also being chucked in by Afa. Entrant twenty three arrives after that, and it's Earthquake, meaning both natural disasters are in. However, Quaker and Typhoon go after one another instead on their common foe in IRS. Quake manages to get Typhoon over the top rope.
The twenty fourth entrant arrives next, and it's Carlos Colon... whoopee. Colon manages to throw out Demento though, while we're reminded that Bob Backlund has been in for 46 minutes. It's time for the twenty fifth entrant, and it's El Matador Tito Santana. Backlund eliminates himself over his own momentum. Rick Martel is entrant number twenty six, and the former Strike Force teammates got at it, while IRS is tossed out. Backlund still survives, and has earned the crowd's love as he's hung on in this match.
Entrant twenty seven is Yokozuna, as Monsoon and Heenan consider him the odds on favorite. Tatanka gets thrown out, followed by Carlos Colon (Yay). Next hus is a face off between Yoko and Earthquake. Crowd is behind Earthquake in this faceoff. While this goes down, entrant number twenty eight Owen Hart enters. Earthquake almost gets rids of Yoko with an avalanche. He goes for a second, but misses, leading to a throw out by Yokozuna. The Repo Man enters at number twent nine. Everyone attempts to throw out Yokozuna, but it doesn't work. It's time for the final entrant in the rumble, and it's...
The Macho Man!
Savage focuses on the man who stole his hat last week in Repo Man as Santana gets viciously dumped out by Yokozuna. Owen dropkicks Jerry Sags out. Owen botches a skin of the cat, but manages to get back in. However, he's the next to be taken out by Yokozuna. Macho Man throws out Repo Man.
Our final four are Rick Martel, Randy Savage, Bob Backlund, and Yokozuna. Martel tries to throw Backlund out, but to no avail. Backlund sets Martel on the top rope, and knocks him over. Backlund attempts to take out Yokozuna, and is unable to knock him down. Yoko then finally throws Backlund out. The final two are Randy Savage and Yokozuna.
Yoko continues his offense, while the kayfabe Japanese man yells "Samoa forever!" in front of the camera. After some back and forth, Savage eventually fights back as Yoko misses a splash in the corner. And then comes the stupidest moment in Royal Rumble history in my opinion. Savage drops his patented elbow, goes for a pin cover, and gets lauched over the top rope. Your winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble: Yokozuna.
Overall a decent Royal Rumble, but for the most part, there was no real spectacular moments save for the debut of Giant Gonzalez. The roster for the most part consisted of midcarders and new faces, and old stars like Bob Backlund. Speaking of Mr. Backlund, he set the then longest time in the Royal Rumble of 1:01:10, and the fans, while tepid to Bob at first, did give him respect by the end. Save for the ending with Savage's strange choice to cover Yokozuna, there was nothing offensive about this event, and most of the elimnations were booked quite well. It's no classic like the previous year's and lacks star power, but it was still a fun watch
And that wraps up the Pay Per View. Overall, while there was nothing bad about the show, I'd definitely say it felt average at best. None of the matches were exactly must-watch, but were still great, with the best probably being Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty, based mostly on the fact that this was a year in the making, and the storyline involving Sherri Martel. I also enjoyed the WWF title match, the opener with the Steiners, and while not the most amazing one in history, the Rumble was a fun watch. This show gets a B
So now we're set for our main event of Wrestlemania IX as Yokozuna Challenges Bret Hart for the WWF title. However we're still quite a ways there, and when next we meet, we head to the third episode of Monday Night Raw where Macho Man faces Repo Man and Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair square off in a loser leaves the WWF match.