Royal Rumble Review: 1993-1997: The New Generation Era

We covered the Golden Era in the last Royal Rumble Review and it's now time for the New Generation Era Review for the Royal Rumble.

1993:
At the end of 1992, The Golden Era had now slowly reached it's peak, Superstars like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and others were out of the WWE giving new stars their time to shine. In October of 1992 after he lost the Intercontinental Championship to the British Bulldog at Summerslam, Bret Hart reached main event status and gained the WWE Championship by defeating The Nature Boy Ric Flair and had spent 3 months as the WWE Champion. Meanwhile Monday Night Wrestling would change for the better, on January 11, 1993. Monday Night RAW was born and more importantly a New Generation was born. The New Generation Stars featured guys from the late 80s like The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Shawn Michaels, amongst all the others that had made quite the name for theirselves. But the only way that they had to prove superstar status was begin their journey on the Road to WrestleMania and they would gain that opportunity for a title shot but in order to get that title shot, one of the 30 superstars had to win the 1993 Royal Rumble.

The Steiners/The Beverly Brothers: Just like all the 4 Royal Rumble Matches since 1989, A Tag Team Match would kick off first for the Royal Rumble, But this was a new talented tag team in the form of Steiner Brothers as they took on the Beverlies in a Tag Team Match. Opening Tag Team Bout with 2 great teams, of course the Steiner Brothers came fresh off of WCW wanted to make the big time and the big time they did as they beat the Beverlies with Scott getting the win for his team by hitting the Frankensteiner, match gets a 4/5. Good opening decent bout between The Steiners and The Beverlies.

Michaels/Jannetty: The revenge of Jannetty, The Rockers had teamed up for 5 years since they came to the WWE in 1988. But on January 11, 1992. Michaels would officialy turn heel on Jannetty and become the singles superstar known as The Heartbreak Kid to everyone, after Jannetty's disappearance. Michaels would become the Intercontinental Champion and gain Sensational Sherri as his manager. Jannetty returned later in the fall to try to get his revenge on Michaels and was successful in doing so, but he wanted to hurt Michaels bad in the way he possibly could. He not only didn't want his title, but he wanted his redemption to what he did to Shawn. Now Sherri was also a victim, because the night of Jannetty's return. Michaels inadverently rolled Sherri out of the way and Jannetty accidentally hit Sherri, now in this match. Sherri was on neither side of both men. Apparently the eyes she had on was Shawn. Jannetty got the upper hand on Michaels, but it would be Michaels who would fight back, however Sherri would immediately slap Michaels square in the face giving Jannetty the advantage, but when the referee was knocked out. Sherri tried to hit Michaels with her shoe, however she wound up hitting Jannetty instead, that was all Michaels needed, one superkick later, wham, bam, done. Michaels retains over Jannetty, The match gets a 3/5. Great Intercontinental Matchup, but the ending was a little out there.

Bigelow/Bossman: You don't need me to tell you that this was a bad of a match, and Bossman was way past his prime after the mid-card feuds with The Mountie in 1991 and Nailz in 1992. But Bam Bam was not like Nailz and The Mountie. He was a big man and this was his first time back in the WWE since 1988. Bossman and Bigelow fought a pretty okay match, but it didn't click. Bigelow gets the win. Match gets a 2/5. Bigelow however needed this win while The Bossman would head to WCW where he stayed there for 4 years until returning to the Attitude Era in 1998 to be a Corporate Puppet for Vince McMahon.

Bret/Razor: If you wanna talk about a good WWE Championship Match, then look no further then Bret & Razor. Razor Ramon, a talented guy who was ready to beat Bret Hart for the title, this match came about when Razor attacked Bret's brother Owen so Bret wanted to get his revenge, and this by far was one of Bret's good title defenses ever, Razor was a big guy so you know Bret wanted to go for the legs of Razor. Razor tried to use the Razor's Edge but Hart reversed it into an unsuccessful pin attempt. And with both men exhausted, Hart applied the Sharpshooter and forced Razor to submit by retaining the WWE Title. Match gets a 3/5. Nothing too special, but good match.

Lex Luger Promo: This was the debut of Lex Luger with Bobby Heenan introducing him as the Narcissist. Luger of course did the mirror pose. Wasn't too fond of that, promo gets a 2/5.

Royal Rumble 1993 Match: The first 2 that kicked off the match was last year's Royal Rumble Winner entering at #1. Ric Flair, and #2. Making his PPV Debut and his WWE Return after losing the title to The Iron Sheik in 1983, Bob Backlund. Backlund and Flair started the match off pretty good, then #3 was Papa Shango, he's immediately eliminated by Flair in 28 seconds, Ted Dibiase, who entered the 1989 Royal Rumble at #30, #1 in 1990, and #2 in 1992. Entered at #4. It's Backlund, Flair and Dibiase in the ring together legendary. #5. Brian Knobbs of the Nasty Boys, first Rumble Appearance since 1991. Virgil enters at #6. Knobbs is immediately eliminated by Dibiase after lasting 2 minutes. Then #7, another Rumble Debut in the form of Jerry Lawler, cause The Royal Rumble is certainly fit for a King. #8. Max Moon, he's tossed out by Lawler before 2 minutes. #9. Genichiro Tenryu, ring fills up for a while, then Mr. Perfect enters at the perfect #10 and just goes straight for Flair because remember Perfect was Flair's manager Last Year, at the 1992 Survivor Series, The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage were supposed to team up to take on Ric Flair and Razor Ramon but due to the Warrior and Bulldog buying drugs. Warrior was fired from the WWE and Mr. Perfect for the first time in his WWE Career turned face to team with Savage at the Survivor Series. Perfect immediately eliminates Flair just before their loser leaves RAW Match. #11 is Skinner. Skinner doesn't do much, he's immediately eliminated by Mr. Perfect. Koko B. Ware enters at #12, his first Royal Rumble Match appearance on the card since 1990. Then Samu enters at #13, another Rumble debuter. So we have Backlund, Shango, Lawler, Max Moon, Tenryu and Samu all make their Rumble debuts. That's 6 of them. The #14 curse goes to Good old Berzerker, He immediately eliminates Virgil. Perfect eliminates Lawler, but then Lawler comes back in and helps Dibiase and Koko eliminate Perfect. Then #15 is The Undertaker, and business has picked up. Taker eliminates Tenryu and Samu. Berzerker and Backlund brawl on the outside with Berzerker hitting Backlund with a chair. #16 is Terry Taylor formerly known as The Red Rooster. But he doesn't last long as Dibiase eliminates both Koko and Taylor, but then he gets eliminated by the man that he brought to the WWE at the 1990 Survivor Series. Undertaker, it's down to Taker and Berzerker. Taker immediately gets rid of him and has the ring to himself, but then out comes Harvey Whippleman and a big dude by the name of Giant Gonzales formerly known as El Gigante from WCW. Gonzales stares down Taker. Undertaker just tries to throw his signature uppercut but Gonzales blocks it and is all over Undertaker knocking him over the top rope and just continues to dominate him on the outside. Nobody had taken advantage of The Undertaker like that. Gonzales grabs Undertaker and chokeslams him to the mat. #17 is Damien Demento followed by I.R.S. They gang up on Backlund until Tatanka comes out at #19. Paul Bearer arrives with the urn in hand to revive Undertaker. Undertaker sits up but limps in search for Gonzales. #20. Jerry Sags makes his way to the ring followed by Typhoon who enters at #21. The ring fills back up again. Fatu comes out at #22, followed by Typhoon's partner Earthquake at #23. He immediately eliminates I.R.S. and his former partner Typhoon, #24 is Carlos Colon. He immediately eliminates Damien Demento. Backlund eliminates Fatu. Entering at #25 is Tito Santana followed by the 1991 longevity record holder Rick Martel who enters at #26. Ring still fills up, but then the game changes as Yokozuna enters at #27. He just one by one eliminates everyone, Tatanka is his first victim. Bye bye Tatanka. Then up next Carlos Colon, see you. He then tosses Earthquake out with a Belly to Belly. He's gone. #28 is Owen Hart. Yokozuna continues his elimination spree by next eliminating Tito Santana. #29. Repo Man who is also in possession of Randy Savage's hat because the RAW before the Rumble. Repo Man jumped him and stole his hat and speaking of Randy Savage, he enters at #30 wanting to get his hands on the Repo Man, Sags is the first of the final seven to be eliminated by Owen. But poor Owen is the next to go by Yokozuna. That's now 5 superstars Yokozuna has taken out. Repo Man is gone by Randy Savage, Martel's eliminated by Backlund and at this point Backlund has held the 1993 Longevity Record. Backlund hangs on in there until he's immediately thrown out by Yokozuna. It's down to Savage and Yokozuna. Yokozuna of course as usual dominates, Savage starts to fight back and at one point hits his signature elbow drop on Yokozuna and goes to pin him, what a stupid move Savage did. Then Yokozuna just overpowers him over the top rope to get the win. Yokozuna is going to WrestleMania 9 to face Bret Hart for the WWE Championship. Rumble Match for me gets a 3/5. Some spots I liked, liked Undertaker and Yokozuna cleaning house for sure. Backlund lasting over an hour, but the spot I cringed so much about was the ending.

MVP of the 1993 Royal Rumble: Yokozuna. Bob Backlund's record breaking longevity.
Worst MVP of the 1993 Royal Rumble: Randy Savage forgetting the rules.

I'll give this Rumble a 6/10. Nothing special, but a decent PPV setting the stage for the outcome of WrestleMania 9.

1994:
Yokozuna's Royal Rumble Victory would be culminated with a WWE Title Win at WrestleMania 9 until losing it to Hulk Hogan minutes later, but Yoko would defeat Hogan at the King of The Ring to win back his title and would continue to piss America off even further that Lex Luger turned American Hero couldn't even stop him. But would someone try to stop him, that person would try to be The Undertaker as he made Yokozuna scared by making a double wide double deep casket for Yokozuna. Bret Hart's dominance would still continue in 1993 despite losing the title to Yokozuna when he won the 1993 King of The Ring, but his brother Owen would be jealous of Bret's success, The cracks started at the 1993 Survivor Series when Owen inadverently hit Bret causing him to be eliminated by Shawn Michaels at the 1993 Survivor Series. After the match, Owen shoved Bret sensing jealousy between the two, but the two reconciled and wanted to win the World Tag Team Titles against The Quebecers who oddly enough lost the titles to The Kid and Jannetty until regaining them back.

Tatanka/Bigelow: This was scheduled to be Tatanka vs Ludvig Borga, giving the fact that Borga had ended Tatanka's undefeated streak. Tatanka wanted revenge, but before the match could take place, Borga would end up with an injury just 5 days before the show against Rick Steiner. So Bam Bam was called in to take Borga's place. The two had a great rivalry in 1993 but they never faced off in singles matches on the PPVs giving the fact that they wrestled in a 6 Man Tag at Summerslam. Tatanka and Bigelow had a good back and forth battle, but it would be Tatanka fighting back hitting a cross body to win the match. I give this match a 3/5. Nothing special, but it was decent.

Harts/Quebecers: As I said on in the prelude, The Quebecers lost the titles to The 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty on the one year Anniversary of RAW. But they regained them back at Madison Square Garden, and their Tag Title Match was on. This was a very great tag team match, no complaints here. But the whole situation of the match was when Bret fell out of the ring hurting his knee when Johnny Polo pulled on the ropes. The Quebecers focused on the leg of Bret. Bret tried to make a comeback and when he did, he attempted to apply the Sharpshooter, but couldn't stand. So the referee stopped the match and soon afterwards. Owen berated Bret for not tagging out of the match with Owen kicking Bret in the injured leg and leaving him in the ring. Owen then cut a backstage interview with Todd Pettengill but it looked like he botched his promo with Owen saying that he kicked Bret's leg out of his leg. This match was a 4/5 and here's why, the ending was great, planted the seeds for a heel turn for Owen and one of the greatest rivalries in the New Generation Era of all time.

Razor/IRS: This match was for the Intercontinental Title. In 1993, Razor had captured the Intercontinental Title because the man who held the Intercontinental Title before Razor was Shawn Michaels, Michaels failed to show up for his title defenses but in reality, he was suspended for using drugs and threatened to quit the company but returned at the 1993 Survivor Series with another version of the Intercontinental Championship. Meanwhile IRS still had his problems with Razor Ramon for the way Razor put Ted Dibiase out of the WWE at Summerslam who was now on commentary for the night with Vince McMahon. IRS did everything he could to try to put Razor down but Razor would always fight back, then intereference from the Heartbreak Kid assumed that I.R.S. would walk out with the Intercontinental Title, Right?. No, Wrong!. The match restarted because HBK used the fake Intercontinental Title Belt and the referee restarted the match with Razor hitting the Razor's Edge on I.R.S. taking both titles and setting up the potential Ladder Match in WWE History between Razor and Shawn at WrestleMania 10, Match gets a 2/5.

Undertaker/Yokozuna: Now here we go. The most eagerly talked about match here in this Royal Rumble Review is here. So yes, as Samuel L. Jackson would say in the 1993 classic "Jurassic Park" "Hold on To Your Butts!. The match started off with classic Undertaker offense hitting uppercut after uppercut and then a few clotheslines trying to take down the Champion followed by his signature diving clothesline. Taker then took Yoko to the outside with an uppercut with Yoko fighting back and attempting to take Undertaker into the steel steps in which he did, but just like the 1993 Survivor Series. Undertaker no sold it and gave the death stare to Yokozuna with Undertaker tossing Yoko into the steel steps, the match returned with Undertaker hitting his signature ropewalk. Yoko then missed another one of Undertaker's flying moves sending Taker to the outside. Yoko would fight back and attempt to whack Taker's brains in with a chair, Taker dodged it and hit Yokozuna with a brutal chair shot, but then as Taker had the upper hand. Yokozuna would use the ceremonial salt bucket that he used to win his first WWE Championship over Bret Hart at WrestleMania 9 in The Undertaker's face. Undertaker was blinded and that gave Yoko advantage to take down Undertaker in the ring. Yoko was the first to try to put Undertaker in the casket, but Undertaker blocked the dirtnap and the two went at it, blow for blow with Yokozuna fighting back and hitting a belly to belly suplex on The Deadman, but Undertaker no sold it all. He then grabbed Yokozuna and performed the weakest chokeslam on the champion similar to what he had done with Hulk Hogan eight years later at Judgment Day 2002 and even Kane and Big Show reincarnated some of that in 2012 when they had a match together. Yoko gets to his feet, but Taker runs off the ropes and hits a flying DDT taking Yokozuna down, Taker sits up and signals for the casket to be open, he then puts Yokozuna in there. Undertaker starts to close the casket on Yokozuna, but then Crush. Yokozuna's good buddy comes out to attack The Deadman in the ring. Taker fights him off and knocks Crush out of the ring. Then Tenryu & Kabuki, Mr. Fuji's hired guns also come down to try to fight Undertaker. But they are no match for the Phenom as they get taken out with a Double Clothesline. Then Bam Bam shows up, this is his second appearance tonight, Bam Bam, Crush, Tenryu & Kabuki all gang up on The Undertaker while Yokozuna is in the casket. Fuji and Cornette steal the urn, eventually Paul Bearer gets the urn back by knocking Fuji and Cornette with it. Taker fights back with the Power of The Urn. Adam Bomb and Jeff Jarrett both run in to try to attack, but Undertaker does not budge. He uses Yokozuna's salt bucket as a weapon, but doesn't throw salt at them. He just hits them with the bucket. Then it comes to a 9 on 1. Headshrinkers run in, hit a double superkick on Undertaker. Taker still sits up and tries to fight all of them off cause it is impossible. And you oughta hear Dibiase on commentary saying "I don't believe it McMahon, I just can't believe it". Well Believe it Ted, you're seeing the guy who you brought at the 1990 Survivor Series fight off 9 guys. Diesel then shows up to attack Taker and all 10 start to put Undertaker in the coffin but Undertaker defiantly says "no". Taker starts fighting them all off, then Yokozuna grabs the urn and hits Undertaker in the face with it, he opens the urn up and green smoke comes out of the urn. Now this isn't the first time the urn was opened in WWE History, in December of 1991. Hulk Hogan used the urn to win his fourth WWE Championship by throwing ashes in The Phenom's face. Then finally, Undertaker is finally weakened, he's beaten down. Crush hits a suplex on Taker, then Jarrett hits a weak fistdrop to The Phenom and then Bigelow & The Headshrinkers put the final exclamation point by hitting big splashes on The Undertaker and even an elbow drop by Diesel for good measure. Then the heels start rolling Undertaker into the casket, Yokozuna does the sayonara and the last rites to the Deadman with Yokozuna kicking the weakened Undertaker into the casket and shutting the lid for good. Yokozuna retains the title but not without help, but if you think that's over. It's not, Yokozuna and the heels start rolling the casket to the backstage area, then the lights go out followed by green smoke coming out of the casket followed by the infamous gongs of The Undertaker. Then, the video wall lights up with an image of The Undertaker inside the casket. Taker rises up after the last gong and says this infamous speech "Be Not Proud, The Spirit of The Undertaker lives within the soul of all Mankind, The Eternal Flame of Life that cannot be Extinguished. The Origin of Which Cannot Be Explained, the answer lies in the everlasting spirit, soon all Mankind will witness the Rebirth of The Undertaker. I will Not Rest In Peace". Then Taker closes his eyes to assumingly die in the casket, then we see the casket go into x ray sounds and then go into explosion, the casket did not explode at all in the arena, but the image of The Undertaker turns into a negative white form, then we see The Undertaker ascend from the video wall to the heavens dressed in the infamous entrance ring gear as he flies through the Heavens, now granted that was not The Undertaker, wherever The Undertaker was. He probably used a device to get out of the casket. So they had like a indy wrestler have Undertaker gear and descend through the heavens, rumours speculated to this day that it was Marty Jannetty flying to the heavens. But in 2017 as we found out on the Something to Wrestle With, that was not true, and plus. The Casket footage was filmed just days before this match because Undertaker needed to take some time off cause he had a baby on the way. Bruce Prichard explains that The Undertaker went into the WWE Studios to film the vignette inside the casket. After Undertaker's disappearance, people reported that Undertaker was seen somewhere, and that of course set up Ted Dibiase claiming that he had found The Undertaker again, but it was not the same Undertaker we were used to seeing. At Summerslam, the Real Undertaker returned in purple gear defeating the Fake Undertaker. As far as the match goes, it gets a 2/5. The match was not very good, but the superstars coming out to help Yokozuna and the classic ending of The Undertaker inside the casket. A great moment, I had nightmares seeing these classic photos of Undertaker speaking inside the casket, scared of seeing it on Video, but in 2007, my fear was conquered when I saw it, And I gotta say, best moment The Undertaker had ever done giving that speech inside the casket, Taker and Yokozuna would fight again at the 1994 Survivor Series with Undertaker winning the second casket match for bragging rights and the rest is history.

30-Man Royal Rumble: Moving on to The Undertaker/Yokozuna fiasco, we end the show with the 1994 Royal Rumble with the winner going to Madison Square Garden on the 10th Anniversary of WrestleMania, the first 2 entrants in the match was Scott Steiner who entered at #1, and #2. Headshrinker Samu. A way to kick it off with 2 tag teams in the New Generation. Samu had the advantage over Steiner, but then #3 showed up and it was Rick Steiner. The Steiners gang up on Samu and as they try to eliminate him. Samu does the infamous Mick Foley ropehangman that spelled danger for Samu with the Steiners tossing Samu out, The Ropehangman would come into danger for Mick Foley as i'm sitting here talking about it in March of 1994 when he took on Vader in Kuwait with Vader ripping off his ear as Foley did the Ropehangman move, anyway. #4. Kwang shows up. Blows mist in Rick's face. Rick is impaired while Scott and Kwang attack each other. This was way before when we saw Tajiri use the mist in the WWE in 2001. Tajiri's mist was way better than Kwang's I have to say. Owen Hart enters at #5 and when he enters, the crowd just goes full on hate for Owen for what he did to Bret. Owen attacks the blinded Rick and throws him out, he then helps Kwang against Scott. Bart Gunn of the Smoking Gunns enters at #6. And then Diesel shows up at #7. Diesel goes straight for everyone, house of fire. He first eliminates Bart Gunn and then Scott Steiner, Owen gets immediately tossed out and so does Kwang. The fans chant for Diesel's flurry of eliminations. Diesel is all by himself, but then Last Year's record breaker Bob Backlund enters at #8. He tries to go after Diesel which is a dumb move. Diesel has none of it and immediately throws the former WWE Champion out of the match, sorry Backlund, you ain't going to last like you did last time in 1993. #9 is Billy Gunn. He tries to get revenge on Diesel for eliminating Bart. Diesel is just a monster and he eliminates Billy immediately. Then Vince shows us a clip of Tenryu & Kabuki attacking Lex Luger. Now everybody wonders is Luger out of the Rumble Match?. Everyone also thinks that Bret Hart is unlikely to make it to the Rumble?. The Rumble Match continues with Virgil entering at #10. Vince says that Virgil was substituting for Kamala because apparently Kamala was supposed to be in the Rumble Match but no-showed. as far as Virgil's bad luck goes. It goes bad to worse as Diesel tosses him out and Dibiase is laughing with delight at his former friend Virgil getting eliminated. #11. Randy Savage, if there's anyone that can hang with Diesel. It's probably The Macho Man. Savage stops Diesel's clearing of the ring and lasts with him until #12 shows up and it's Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett goes to town on Savage but then Savage goes crazy on Jarrett and tosses him out, #13 arrives and it's Crush. Savage does not waste any time going straight for Crush, but it costs him dearly as Diesel and Crush gang up on him. Crush then eliminates Savage. #14 is Doink The Clown. Poor Doink getting the #14 curse. Doink sees Diesel and Crush having a slugfest as he is laughing, but then they turn around and Doink uses something to spray Diesel and Crush. But Diesel and Crush just absolutely maul him, Bam Bam Bigelow enters at #15 and it spells from bad to worse for Doink The Clown, they all gang up on Doink. Doink is eliminated by Bam Bam. Then Bam Bam, Diesel and Crush go at it, but here comes another big man. #16. Mabel, so we got a monster mash at the 1994 Royal Rumble. Mabel goes to town of all the heels, #17 shows up and it's Sparky Plugg. The Ring starts to fill up. This is Sparky Plugg's debut and is seemingly an alternate for the 123 Kid cause The 123 Kid was injured at the MSG Rumble when Diesel eliminated him. And before Sparky Plugg was the Hardcore Holly Hardcore Kickass we came to love. He was a racecar driver. Shawn Michaels enters at #18. Diesel stares him down and it looks like we are going to see a clash between Diesel and Shawn, but they shake hands and it looks like Diesel and Shawn are going to clean house, then everybody gangs up on Diesel and just literally they eliminate Diesel with Shawn Michaels helping out, After the elimination. Diesel gets cheered for his efforts, that would turn Diesel's 1994 career around as he won the Intercontinental Title, The Tag Team Titles and the WWE Championship later that year. #19. Mo from Men on A Mission. Men on A Mission of course team up, and then #20 comes another Rumble Veteran, another man who was close to having the 1991 Longevity record, Greg Valentine. Ring fills back up again, Tatanka enters at #21 and then Kabuki comes out at #22. Everybody starts to gang up on the biggest man in the match Mabel, Mo tries to help Mabel out. But he's beaten up and Mabel is officially eliminated from the match. Lex Luger comes in at #23 no selling the Tenryu & Kabuki attack comes in a house of fire. He eliminates Kabuki and goes to work on everybody, Tenryu enters at #24 to go after Luger, ring fills back up again. Then #25 enters and nobody shows up, What is this a repeat of 1991 all over again. The commentators state that that number was supposed to be Bret Hart, meanwhile. The ring is still filling up, Rick Martel. The 1991 longevity record enters at the same number he had last year at #26. And now everyone is wondering who will be #27. Then as #27 enters, it's Bret Hart walking with a limp. Dibiase just goes nuts saying that how stupid Bret was to take this opportunity, everybody targets Bret's leg. Bret eventually fights back in the match. Fatu enters at #28 after he enters, Crush is eliminated by Hart, Luger, Plugg and Bam Bam. Another big guy gone. Bret starts to fight back despite being injured, true testament to Bret coming out. #29. Marty Jannetty, Jannetty immediately starts going right for Shawn with both men going blow for blow with Jannetty hitting a superkick on Shawn, and #30 is Adam Bomb. So it's down to 13 people. Thurman Sparky Plugg a good effort on his part eliminating 3 big guys gets eliminated by Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels, then Valentine gets out by Martel. Tatanka then eliminates Martel, we finally figure out who #25 was. Bastion Booger because Bastion Booger had a habit of eating junk food that the commentators assume that he got sick due to eating too much. Anyway. Adam Bomb gets eliminated by Luger in the span of 5 minutes. Mo's eliminated by Fatu. Tatanka is eliminated by Bam Bam Bigelow, payback for what Tatanka did earlier tonight. Then Bam Bam also leaves by Lex Luger as well. It's down to six. Jannetty's eliminated by Michaels. Tenryu's eliminated by Bret and Luger. Final four, Fatu, Luger, Hart and Michaels. Luger and Hart both eliminate Fatu and Michaels with Bret eliminating Fatu and Luger eliminating Michaels, it's down to Luger & Hart and the crowd goes crazy, they both go blow for blow but both of them knock each other out of the ring and the bell rings and everybody is wondering who won the match. Jack Tunney, Howard Finkel and the Referees come in to discuss the situation, they play Lex's music at first as a tease and then Bret's music as well until Finkel says that the co-winners are both Bret Hart and Lex Luger. Crowd doesn't like it but what can you do?. The Rumble Match gets a 3/5. Lots of good stuff in this match seeing Diesel out there. And Bret Hart's resilency getting back in this match, the thing I didn't like most was the ending.

MVP of the 1994 Royal Rumble: The Undertaker's Levitation. Tag Team Championship Match, Diesel's 7 eliminations and Bret Hart's resilency.
Worst MVP of the 1994 Royal Rumble: Undertaker vs Yokozuna.

I give this Rumble a 7/10, Planted the seeds for what would become a classic WrestleMania for the New Generation.

1995:
The title then switched to Bret Hart in the Spring of 1994, and then Bob Backlund and then 3 days later, it was Diesel. 1994 saw a little bit of the WWE starting to crack under when Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage and more of the former early 80s talent headed on to go to WCW and plus Vince McMahon and his steroid trial case. The WWE was just slowly going down, But could they be saved in 1995, well we would find out with the Royal Rumble coming up.

Razor/Jarrett: Great match to kick off the show, first time a Title Match kicks off a Royal Rumble. Razor and Jarrett have had great chemistry in the ring together after this and even in the New Generation Eras. Jarrett had the upper hand but Razor battled back in this match but then The Roadie chop blocked the leg of Razor causing Razor to get countedout. But Jarrett wanted to continue the match, but Razor was in bad shape so Jarrett continued to work the legs of Razor. Razor tried to do the Razor's Edge but he collapsed and that gave Jarrett the win and his first WWE Singles Championship. For me the match gets a 3/5. It was an allright match, but they just wanted to give Jarrett the big Intercontinental Title push in this one and it worked.

Undertaker/IRS: Just one year after losing to Yokozuna in the casket match, Undertaker finds himself back in the Royal Rumble, but this time facing one half of the Million Dollar Corporation, I.R.S. I.R.S. intimidated the Deadman throughout this match by using some of his druids to IRS's Advantage. Taker of course dominated the contest, but I.R.S. fought back in this one but he was no match for the Phenom as he destroyed him with ease, then after the match as Undertaker fought off the druids who was interrupting his celebration. King Kong Bundy appears and stares Undertaker down. I.R.S. hits Paul Bearer and then steals the urn allowing Bundy to attack Undertaker and weaken him down. The match gets a 2/5. Good showing again by The Undertaker, but the match was not one of Undertaker's good ones. If you really wanted someone to feud with The Undertaker for the Million Dollar Corporation, Bam Bam Bigelow could've been the guy.

Hart/Diesel: This was Hart's chance at Redemption, they've already fought one time, that was at the 1994 King of The Ring for the WWE Championship, that was when Bret's the Champion. This time it's changed, Diesel is the Champion now. Hart of course went for Diesel's legs. Diesel would however fight back by using the powerbomb on Bret. Shawn Michaels then shows up and attacks Diesel, but the match continues with Bret trying to go after Diesel, then Owen shows up to attack Bret. The match is then ordered to continue again. Bret and Diesel go at it again, then out comes Michaels, Jarrett and The Roadie, and Owen Hart and Bob Backlund, they attack Bret and Diesel. Backlund does the crossface chicken wing on Bret. Diesel fends off the attack by Roadie, Michaels and Jarrett and thus saves Bret. This match gets a 3/5. It was a good match, but the interference really killed it.

123 Kid & Holly/Bigelow & Tatanka: This was for the vacated Tag Team Titles because of the splitup between Shawn Michaels and Diesel in 1994. The Kid and Holly should've thanked their lucky stars that they won this tournament cause they had to face a roadblock against the same two guys who nearly destroyed one another at the 1994 Royal Rumble. Yes, Tatanka was a heel at that point turning on Lex Luger at Summerslam, But to be honest. I feel like Luger should've been the one to turn heel. Bigelow and Tatanka thought this was going to be easy as pie, but The Kid and Holly kept it up with them and that victory allowed them to win the titles, but it wasn't over. As the crowd heckled Bigelow, Lawrence Taylor who was also in the crowd was shoved by Bam Bam setting up the WrestleMania Match right then and there which was HORRIBLE!. 3/5. Decent Tag Team Match, but the part where they set up LT vs Bam Bam was just shocking.

30-Man Royal Rumble: Of course the main event ends with the 30-Man Royal Rumble and entering at #1 is Shawn Michaels followed by The British Bulldog entering at #2, the winner of that match of course would have to face the Champion at WrestleMania 11 and not only that an added bonus, they would be escorted to the ring by Pamela Anderson. They changed up the time as well with every 60 seconds which I think was stupid, #3. Eli Blu, Blu goes after Michaels and Bulldog, then Duke Droese comes out at #4. This Rumble lacked a lot of mainevent star power, I mean you could've had Undertaker, Razor, Jarrett, Kid, Holly, IRS, Bam Bam, Even a surprise return entrant by Yokozuna for crying out loud but that didn't happen. #5. Jimmy Del Ray enters, Lawler goes on commentary saying that he likes Del Ray but McMahon questions him in thinking if Del Ray's going to win the Rumble. Sionne known as The Barbarian comes out at #6. So technically this is Barbarian's first Rumble Appearance since 1992. Del Ray is the first man eliminated by The British Bulldog, Tom Prichard enters at #7 and of course Lawler says that he likes him too, McMahon questions him again if Prichard's going to win the Royal Rumble. #8 is Doink The Clown, ring fills up. Kwang is next at #9. Followed by Rick Martel at #10. And then Owen Hart comes out at #11 but before he enters the ring, he gets beaten up by Bret Hart. Owen gets in the ring and in 3 seconds, boom tossed out by The Bulldog. #12. Timothy Well, Droese is eliminated by Shawn. Well only lasts 23 seconds as he's eliminated by The Bulldog. Rick Martel is also eliminated by Sionne, Prichard's eliminated by Shawn Michaels. Doink is eliminated by Kwang. Kwang is also being followed out by Sionn. Sionne and Eli Blu are also eliminated. Luke enters at #13. He's immediately eliminated by Michaels. Eli's brother Jacob enters at #14. He's also eliminated by Michaels. Michaels & Bulldog are still in the ring despite being #1 and #2. Entering at #15. King Kong Bundy, his first and only Rumble Appearance. The crowd also gives him major heat for what he did to The Undertaker earlier on in the show. Mo enters the ring at #16. But Bundy immediately tosses him out in 3 seconds. Mabel eventually enters at #17 and he and Bundy get into a slugfest. Mabel has trouble trying to eliminate Bundy, but when #18 enters and Bushwhacker Butch arrives. Bundy is eventually eliminated by Mabel while Butch is thrown out by Michaels. Lex Luger comes out at #19 and singlehandedly throws Mabel out with ease. Mantaur enters at #20. Followed by Aldo Montoya at #21. Ring starts to fill back up with Henry Godwinn entering at #22. Both Billy & Bart of the Smoking Gunns enter at #23 and #24. Followed by former 2-time WWE Champion Bob Backlund at #25. But then he gets attacked by Bret Hart, Backlund enters the ring. 16 seconds later, he's dumped out by Luger. Mantaur also gets eliminated by Luger. #26 is Steven Dunn, then we have Dick Murdoch as the first surprise entrant in the Rumble at #27. #28 is Adam Bomb, #29 is Fatu and #30 is Crush. Crush starts to clean house eliminating The Smoking Gunns, Montoya eliminates Dunn. Adam Bomb is eliminated by Crush. Michaels eliminates Montoya. Fatu is eliminated by Crush. Murdoch is out by Henry O. Godwinn. Godwinn is eliminated by Lex Luger and it's down to the final four. Luger, Crush, Bulldog and HBK. Luger is eliminated by both Crush and Michaels but Crush immediately gets tossed out by Bulldog and look how it all comes down to this. Bulldog and Michaels who entered at #1 and #2 are the final two left standing in the ring. Bulldog almost wins the match by sending Shawn over the top with a clothesline. His music plays, he starts to celebrate. But then one of Shawn's foot hit the floor and then Shawn comes from behind The Bulldog and knocks him out of the ring becoming the first man in WWE History to win at #1. That's an accomplishment folks. That is how the Showstopper always Steals the show in the WWE. Rumble Match gets a 3/5. But the lack of talent and the lack of mainevent stars is what killed it, but I was impressed by Shawn's performance.

MVP of the 1995 Royal Rumble Winner: Michaels & Bulldog, Shawn Michaels winning at #1.
Worst MVP of the Year: The Lack of Rumble Competitors

I give this Royal Rumble 1995 a 6/10.

1996:
Now later on in 1995 we started to see the Monday Night Wars begin with WCW Nitro being builded up in the fall, that means WWE & WCW were now at war in the Fall of 1995, Diesel's title reign lasted for one year until he was finally dethroned by Bret Hart at the 1995 Survivor Series. Shawn Michaels was now loved by the fans and having that collapse injury by Owen Hart in November and after being beat by a couple of thugs in October that he was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Title, and yea. The 2 worst things in the WWE. The Main Event at WrestleMania 11 and Mabel winning the King of The Ring. 1995 WWE was mediocre at best cause WCW was having the edge on them cause they had their stars from the late 80s. But they would try to turn it around in 1996 with their first PPV. The Royal Rumble.

Ahmed/Jarrett: Jarrett once again opens the Royal Rumble like he did last year when he beat Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Title, this time he faces Ahmed. Of course Jarrett makes the stupid mistake as he gets disqualified for cracking Ahmed in the head with a guitar, this match gets a 1/5. So the first match of the night is not off to a good start, damn.

Smoking Gunns/Bodydonnas: Now may I say, the Bodydonnas's manager Sunny was way more hotter in the 90s than she ever looks now. But christ, she's terrible now. Anyway back to the matter at hand. The Gunns retain the titles, match gets a 2/5. Nothing special.

Goldust/Razor: In 1995, we were bedazzled to the newest superstar arrival as Dustin Rhodes quickly left WCW to transform himself into Goldust. A Bizarre Character that we would come to love today even as he is still wrestling for AEW. But in 1996, he was more bizarre and that's what kind of kicked off the first cracks of the Attitude Era when you brought Goldust & Marlena into play. They psyched in Razor's head long enough. This was a fantastic match, Just when Razor is about to get the victory. The 123 Kid shows up and hits Razor with a heel kick off the top rope. Goldust wins the match not without controversy and wins his first singles title. I'll give this a solid 3/5. Although Goldust won the match not without controversy. He deserved winning that title. As for Razor, he stuck around a little bit until the MSG Curtain Call Incident in May and both him and Kevin Nash would form the Outsiders in WCW later that year and then they would have Hulk Hogan by their side forming perhaps one of the most infamous groups in WCW History, the nWo.

30-Man Royal Rumble: Now before the Royal Rumble started, everyone knew who #1 and #30 was. #1 was Hunter Hearst Helmsley because he was disqualified for using a foreign object at the freefor all show to what he did to Duke Droese and Duke Droese was the #30 entrant, #2. Henry Godwinn, Godwinn & Helmsleyhave had a rivalry because of what Godwinn and Helmsley did to each other back in December of 1995 when they faced off in that hogpen match, That reminded you of how far WWE fell in 1995. Bob Backlund enters at #3 followed by Jerry Lawler at #4. Lawler, Backlund & Helmsley although they are heels gang up on Godwinn and attempt to use that slop bucket on Godwinn but Godwinn counters it and Backlund & Helmsley each get the brunt of it with Godwinn throwing it on them. #5 shows up and Bob Holly makes the save for Godwinn. Surprisingly, nobody has been eliminated yet. King Mabel then enters at #6 after that reckless 1995 he had against Diesel and The Undertaker trying to permanately put them out on the shelf. Then, we get our first return of the night and for the first time since 1992. Jake Robberts arrives at #7. He takes his snake and everybody is literally running for their life, Roberts puts the snake on Lawler but thank god Lawler doesn't suffer a heart attack like what happened to Andre in 1988. Oops i should've not said that. Another surprise shows up and it's Dory Funk Jr. Who enters at #8 because assumingly, WWE wanted to have Terry Funk in there too and so they should've. Still, nobody gets eliminated which normally before the end of the 1s, you would see somebody get eliminated. Then #9 shows up and it's Yokozuna. Yokozuna eliminates Backlund, Backlund is the first casuality of the night. The 123 Kid comes in at #10 but he's chased by Razor Ramon. Razor tries to enter the ring but officials stop him from doing so. Godwinn is eliminated by Roberts. #11 comes out and it's Takao Omori, I don't know a lot about him. So no comment on him, #12. Savio Vega shows up after Vega makes his appearance, Yokozuna tosses out Mabel, Mabel would leave the WWE after that until he returned in 1998. #13, it's time, it's time. It's Vader Time, Vader makes his first WWE Appearance now for those who don't know why he's in the WWE. Is because in September of 1995, he was in WCW having an argument with Paul Orndorff, and I have the Lie, Cheat and Steal Book from Eddie Guerrero with Guerrero saying that Orndorff used sandals to attack Vader. God rest both of their souls. Vader, Orndorff and also Guerrero. Omori gets eliminated by Helmsley & Jake Roberts, and Dory Funk is also history by Savio Vega. #14 is Doug Gilbert. Vader starts off his elimination right by eliminating Jake Roberts, Gilbert tries to make the mistake of going after Vader. But you do not wanna make Vader angry like Gilbert did, See you later Gilbert. Then Squat Team #1 and Squat Team #2 come in at #15 & #16 and they are quickly eliminated by Vader and Yokozuna, wham bam done. #17. Owen Hart shows up followed by the returning Shawn Michaels at #18. After, Vader eliminates Vega. Then Vader & Yokozuna try to dump each other out, Shawn gets a hold of both of them and eliminates them both. The Kid is also tossed out by Michaels, but then Vader decides to have a post elimination rampage by going after everyone until Gorilla Monsoon stops him from doing so, but Helmsley and Holly have both stayed in there for so long. #19 is Hakushi. And after Hakushi, Tatanka enters at #20. Hakushi's eliminated by Owen Hart. Aldo Montoya enters at #21 while Shawn assumingly takes a break but then he looks under the ring to go after Jerry Lawler. That's right. Lawler after all this time was scared of the snake by Jake Roberts enters the ring and Michaels tosses him in the ring and officially eliminates him, Diesel comes out at #22 and cleans house eliminating Tatanka. Kama enters at #23 followed by The Ringmaster who would now be known as Steve Austin at #24. In all the chaos of the midst. Montoya is eliminated by Tatanka by the way. #25 is Barry Horowitz followed by Fatu at #26. Holly is eliminated by The Ringmaster, and Helmsley is also eliminated by Diesel. Helmsley lasted 48 minutes while Holly lasted 39 minutes. Horowitz is then eliminated by Owen Hart. Isaac Yankem comes out at #27. Owen attempts to toss out Shawn after using the enziguri that knocked Shawn out 2 months ago, but then Diesel saves his best buddy from elimination and it's Owen that gets eliminated. #28 is Marty Jannetty, he and Shawn of course go at it cause of their history together, The British Bulldog, runner up enters at #29. He disposes of Marty Jannetty, Fatu then eliminates Austin who is disposed of by Isaac Yankem DDS. And then Droese enters at #30, Isaac Yankem is eliminated by Shawn followed by Droese as Diesel and Kama eliminate him, Kama, Diesel, Shawn and Bulldog are the final four. Owen returns to the ring and helps Bulldog attack Shawn, but Shawn fights back and tosses Bulldog out while Diesel tosses Kama out and then HBK superkicks Diesel. That ends the 1996 Royal Rumble Match, Match rating for me gets a 3/5. Glad that HBK returned and proved that he was still the showstopper like he was in 1995. The returns and debuts were good, even Jerry Lawler staying under the ring. That was a true one right there.

Undertaker/Hart: Finally the first one on one PPV Match everyone waited for, The Undertaker vs Bret Hart. Before the match starts, Diesel who was upset about being eliminated tries to attack The Undertaker but officials stop them from fighting. And by the way, Taker has that facial appliance mask cause of what King Mabel and Yokozuna had done to him. Taker and Hart put on a great main event here in this match. Hart of course goes for the legs of Undertaker, but this was a more fighting Undertaker looking like he was the heel in this match of course using some of his old school heel moves like the claw hold he would use when he debuted in 1990 and even in 1991. In the end point of the match. Taker's facial appliance is ripped off but Taker however hits the Tombstone and we're about to see a New Champion, but Diesel shows up and pulls the referee out, Bret's disqualified. Taker wins the match and Taker goes in pursuit of Diesel, all in all the match gets a 4/5 despite the Disqualifaction win by Undertaker. But it was still a pretty good match.

MVP 1996 Royal Rumble of The Year: Shawn Michaels, Vader, Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Worst MVP 1996 Royal Rumble of The Year: Jarrett/Ahmed

The 1996 Royal Rumble for me gets a 5/10. A little Improvement from 1995.

1997:
After the 1996 Royal Rumble, the boyhood dream was true for Shawn Michaels as he beat Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12 for the title that forced Bret to take some time off now that Shawn was finally the #1 guy in the WWE. Shawn held on to the title for a prestigious 8 months until he dropped the belt to Sycho Sid at the 1996 Survivor Series. There was also more superstars making waves in 1996. Stone Cold Steve Austin who had won the 1996 King of The Ring and had somewhat of an attitude by doing the infamous Austin 3:16 Speech that of course would see more cracks of the Attitude Era starting. The WWE was starting to gain more fanbase cause of the vulgar and edgier stuff. Paul Bearer had turned on The Undertaker with The Undertaker changing his attire to all black leather and Bearer would wind up joining Mankind. Bret Hart would of course come back and start to show signs of a heel turn. But the question was was the Alamodome in Texas ready for the Royal Rumble in 1997. We would find out.

Helmsley/Goldust: The Intercontinental Championship was on the line as it kicked off the first match of the 1997 Royal Rumble, Helmsley was now the reigning Intercontinental Champion as he beat Marc Mero to win the title in October of 1996 with help from Mr. Perfect who at the time was still in the WWE. Goldust who had now become a face at this point with Marlena started gaining more fan favorite attention. Mr. Hughes would also manage Hunter Hearst Helmsley, now for those who don't know about Mr. Hughes, Mr. Hughes was part of the Giant Gonzales/Undertaker feud in 1993. Towards the middle of the match, they interviewed country singer Collin Raye who was believe it or not a big fan of Owen Hart. Pettengill wanted him to sing his classic hit "Little Rock" with Raye singing some of it but this time singing "I think I'm on The Road here in San Antonio". During the match, Helmsley kissed Marlena upsetting Goldust. But the pedigree did Goldust in and Helmsley retained the Intercontinental Title, I'll give this a 3/5. Good solid match.

Faarooq/Ahmed: The feud started in 1996 with Faarooq coming to the WWE and injuring Ahmed's kidney that Ahmed had to force to relinquish the Intercontinental Championship. This was a hard-hitting match of ourse Faarooq had his Nation Buddies in Crush, Clarence Mason and D-Lo Brown. Johnson would win this match by disqualifaction but he went on a rampage and even put a Nation of Domination Member through the table, the match receives a 2/5. Nothing special about this match.

Undertaker/Vader: Probably one of the toughest challenges Undertaker has ever had to date. The man They Called Vader after coming off an impressive 1996. This match was a slugfest no doubt about it. Undertaker certainly had his work cut out for him, Taker's 1996 was also tough feuding with Mankind and losing Paul Bearer as his manager with Paul Bearer betraying him as well. But one of these guys needed redemption for 1997. This was a solid back and forth match, but when Paul Bearer came out to interefere in the match, you knew he would certainly cost Undertaker and boy, were we right. Vader wins the match after winning the Vaderbomb. The match receives a 2/5. It was an allright match, but the ending really stunk.

AAA 6-Man Tag Team Match: Of course they had to pull it before the 2 big matches, the Rumble Match and the WWE Championship Match. Hector Garza was in this match, but there's nothing special about the match although the face team won. I will give it a 1/5.

30-Man Royal Rumble: The Royal Rumble kicked off with the #1 entrant Crush, followed by Ahmed Johnson who entered at #2. Ahmed wanted to go after another NOD Member and what a way to do that was to go after Crush, before the match. The Rumble Clock Interval was broke, so #3 was the Fake Razor Ramon, yes the Fake Razor Ramon. If you recall in 1996. The Real Razor Ramon who is Scott Hall left for WCW and the Real Kevin Nash who was known as Diesel left for WCW. So Jim Ross did a storyline angle with the Fake Diesel and the Fake Razor Ramon. Yea, that was bad and it showed because in no time at all. Ahmed eliminates Razor then goes back to work on Crush but jumps out of the ring and eliminates himself because Faarooq was right there waiting for him. Crush stays in the ring. Phineas Godwinn enters at #4. The two have a back and forth but out comes Steve Austin who enters at #5. Austin and Crush go to work on Godwinn. Godwinn fights back and eliminates Crush, but he's taken out by a Stone Cold Stunner and Austin throws Godwinn out. Bart Gunn enters at #6 and although he's a tough texan, he's no match for the Rattlesnake as he tosses him out with ease. #7 is former rival Jake Roberts. Roberts & Austin have a brief exchange for a while, but as British Bulldog enters at #8. Roberts is tossed out, this would be Roberts's last PPV Appearance until he's seen at WrestleMania 30 in 2014 at the WWE Hall of Fame. Bulldog and Austin exchange blows because of Bulldog being a brother in law with Bret Hart cause at the time, Austin had feuded with Bret Hart. Pierroth enters at #9 and he's followed by the Sultan at #10. Mil Mascaras, Texas Legend enters at #11. The Sultan's eliminated by The British Bulldog, Hunter Hearst Helmsley enters at #12, he is soon followed by Owen Hart at #13. Owen immediately eliminates his partner and tag team champion British Bulldog. #14 is Goldust, now I've talked about the #14 curse but with Goldust entering at #14 was kind of not so troublesome, yes he was released from WWE numerous times and did win the Intercontinental and Tag Team Titles. So I would say he's had a good wrestling career and also you can see him wrestle as Dustin Rhodes in AEW. Cibernetico enters at #15. But he's eliminated by Mascaras & Pierroth. Pierroth is also eliminated by Mascaras but then Mascaras does a dumbass move by eliminating himself flying after Pierroth, #16 is Marc Mero. Goldust eliminates Helmsley, but he's eliminated by Owen. Latin Lover enters at #17 but he's immediately eliminated by Faarooq who enters at #18 but Faarooq doesn't last long because similar to the earlier previous part of the match. Faarooq distracted Ahmed only for Ahmed to distract him back with his 2X4. Faarooq eliminates himself for that. Austin tosses out Owen & Mero and he's once again all alone. #19. Savio Vega. Austin eliminates him with ease in 46 seconds. Jesse James enters at #20. He's eliminated in 29 seconds. Austin stays in the ring waiting to see who can stop him, Then the Hitman's music blares and Bret Hart enters at #21. The two get into a major slugfest to continue their hot rivalry. #22 is Jerry Lawler. Hart punches him out of the ring. Lawler lasts 7 seconds, The Fake Diesel appears at #23 followed by Terry Funk at #24 who I'm surprised didn't have any music. Rocky Maivia who we know now today as The Rock enters at #25. Mankind follows him at #26, Flash Funk also enters at #27. No one's eliminated. Vader enters at #28 but still nobody is eliminated. Henry O. Godwinn enters at #29 but no one is yet eliminated. And then #30 hits and it's The Undertaker. 10 men are left. Flash Funk is eliminated by Vader while Henry Godwinn is also eliminated by The Undertaker. Mankind picks up 2 eliminations by eliminating Maivia and Funk, but Mankind is eliminated by The Undertaker. Bret tosses Austin out but the referees were breaking up a fight between Mankind and Funk so Austin stays in. Bret tosses out the Fake Diesel while Austin tosses out Undertaker and Vader at the same time and Bret's eliminated by Austin. Bret who had assumingly won the 1997 Royal Rumble was set up by Austin, that also made Austin the third man in WWE History to win at an early 1-5 number. The match gets a 3/5. Really enjoyable Rumble. Austin was the star of the match.

Michaels/Sid: And of course to top it off to end the Royal Rumble was the main event between Michaels and Sid for the Championship in Michaels's Hometown, could the Boyhood Dream be reopen for business?. Sid and Michaels really worked well similar to their Survivor Series encounter. It was back and forth between the two, Sid almost tried to end this match by using the same camera with the referee down that he used at Madison Square Garden to try to beat Shawn again but Shawn wouldn't have none of it as Shawn used that camera and the Sweet Chin Music to beat Sid to win back his second WWE Championship, Match gets a 3/5. This wasn't a bad nor good main event, but it was pretty decent and the hometown crowd definitely loved Shawn Michaels on this night.

MVP of the 1997 Royal Rumble: Stone Cold Steve Austin
Worst MVP of the 1997 Royal Rumble: Mil Mascaras eliminating himself.

I'll give the 1997 Royal Rumble a 6/10 same as 1996, little improvement but it would be a feeling of what would be to come before the Attitude Era started.

So that wraps it up for the New Generation Era, we'll go to the Attitude Era, comments are appreciated as always.