Greatest Royal Rumble Matches

[daileyxplanet 0]

In light of the current season, I was wondering what everyone considers their favorite Royal Rumble Matches.

 

Go here if you need a refresher.

 

Mine would have to be the '95 because I was a major HBK mark when I first watched it.

[Black Lushus 0]

Rumble 92 was the best, hands down. So many big stars, it was for the title, the ending was well done. Tons of fun spots all throughout. I really don't think there was one boring stretch at all, unlike most other Rumbles. 89, 90, 91, 04 and 05 also.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Took the words out of my mouth.

 

Definitely think the 1989 match is underrated. Seems like everyone poos on it because Big John Studd won and the crowd died. IIRC, they seemed to pick up at the finish as Studd was chucking DiBiase from one end of the ring to the other. Also, it put over the importance of the luck of the draw as Studd had #27 I believe.

 

The only two Rumbles I remember sucking were 1997 and 1999. Too much one and done for too many guys in the 97 Rumble though there were a few fun spots sprinkled w/in. Can't think of anything redeeming about the 1999 Rumble.

[Black Lushus 0]

1993-boring, WWF had a weak roster here and guys like UT, Hennig, Savage and Flair were pretty much wasted. It was fun seeing Backlund last to the end, though.

 

1994-it was OK, had too many boring spots. Decent roster. Highlight was that it pretty much made Diesel.

 

1995-bad roster again for the WWF. Good finish, but pretty blah match...at least the time between entrants went fast.

 

1996-totally built for HBK...I hate when they build Rumbles around 1 person. Another weak roster.

 

1997-wasn't any good until the final 10...though Austin had some fun spots while he sat around by himself. The best is when Jake Roberts music starts and Austin has a look like "give me a fucking break" and then gets on his knees and starts praying. Then when Bret comes out, his shock is priceless.

 

1998-another one totally built around 1 guy, this time Austin...another weak roster for the WWF, very very boring match.

 

1999-basically the Austin/McMahon show, weak roster, horrible horrible match.

 

2000-again, weak roster, this time it's built around the Rock/Big Show fued.

 

I don't remember much about 01 through 03 because I stopped watching wrestling completely around that time. The only thing that really stands out was, I believe in 02 when Maven eliminates UT, the look on UT's face after it happened was great! Then he kicks Maven's ass all over the arena for the next half hour.

[billdynamite 0]

Where can i get my hands on Rumble 92 and 97 via download? I haven't seen either since the actual event.

 

EDIT: found 92.

[pochorenella 0]

All you guys are totally justifyed in mentioning 92 as the greatest Rumble match ever, but where's the love for the 2004 Rumble match? Pretty close to the 92 match IMO, with great performances all around, specially Benoit who was the eventual winner, building for his great year when nobody believed it possible. Even Big Show's outing was totally fun in the final stretches when everybody tries to eliminate him. If the 92 Rumble is tops then 2004 is firmly in second place for me.

 

Another one that seems to be forgotten is 2001. Great action, a hardcore portion even, terrific performances by Kane specially (eliminating 11 men no less) and The Rock also. Another one of my favorites.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, lord knows Scott Keith would agree with you on 2004, but it's not really the best Rumble. It's a very good one, but I lower it a notch since 1) It follows the cliche of "Oh wow, the #1 guy wins the Rumble!" and 2) Benoit vanished from my thoughts several times in the match. As in Flair commands the 1992 Rumble...it's about HIM, and yet they also focus on a million other things. Benoit just sorta is in the match the whole time...he's just there.

 

I watched most of these on 24/7 last year leading up to the PPV. 1989 was pretty good but once Hogan and Savage are gone it goes way downhill. 1990 was a killer Rumble I thought, but I still don't get why the Warrior didn't win this thing to set up his title shot at WM. 1991 was solid as well, Hogan had to win this one and Martel delivers a great effort (and should have finished 3rd really...why the fuck have Knobs in there?). 1993 was good for the first half of it, but once all the great veteran guys are elminated and you realize Yoko is the only possible winner, it sucked. Macho was also a dumbass for trying to PIN Yokozuna.

 

1994 was just whatever, not good or bad. Interesting finish, though Bret actually won, and also of course for Nash's star making performance. 1995 was total crap and I hate that fucking Rumble, it was way too fast and at that time I detested HBK and was a huge Bulldog fan. Still the most bullshit finish ever to a Rumble. 1996 was a bit better, at least the intervals were solid. 1997 had way too many Mexicans and guys nobody cares about from other promotions, guys who obviously couldn't win. Austin saves this one from being forgettable. 1998? There's some fun stuff there like Foley going under all 3 IDs (though doesn't that mean he assumed he'd be eliminated?). Winner was obvious in that one, but that's a good thing in this case. 1999 was one of the worst Rumbles ever with Vince winning, just a stupid decision but Austin I guess couldn't 3 peat. 2000 should have simply been the Rock winning, the Big Show stuff was stupid and pointless. Who was even the real winner of that one anyway? 2001 was a solid Rumble, Kane had a great outing. 2002 was obviously HHH's to win and he did, but I've been sour on this one since RVD got so lamely buried in it. 2003 was just whatever, I can't hardly even remember it other than Lesnar won at like #29. 2004 I already discussed might be the 2nd best one. 2005 was pretty good, though it was a bit botched at the end. And last year's? I hated that Rumble, since it was the now tired cliche of the guys #1 and 2 lasting till the end. And Rey Mysterio should NEVER win something like a Royal Rumble, since someone could easily toss him with no effort.

[Black Lushus 0]

Rey Mysterio should not have one it as the #1 entrant...maybe post 15 or so...he's CLEARLY shown (or is it clearly booked?) that he can hang with anybody in any given match, so him actually winning a Rumble isn't that far of a stretch.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

They need to have #30 win it one year, just to prove that it really is the best number. It would be the perfect way to put over some sneaky heel on the cusp of the main event.

[Aero 0]

I was bored, so here are my rankings...

 

1. 2004

My favorite. Most usually rank 92 ahead of this, but I still think this is the better Rumble. 92 gets the edge on its iron man, Flair for his awesome performance, and for surprisingly and randomly entering early as opposed to Benoit's # 1 spot being announced weeks ahead of time. Still, overall I think 2004 is more exciting. Each has its moments, but I like the finish to 2004 much better. 1992's never sat right with me. Plus, I mark for Benoit winning and being their to see it live.

 

2. 1992

Not much needs to be said. Everyone loves this match. I just hate the finish.

 

3. 1990

Probably has the second best first half to a Rumble due to the mini-match of DiBiase & Savage vs. Piper & Jake. Later, there's the awesome Hogan-Warrior confrontation. There was almost always something interesting going on.

 

4. 2005

The only problem I have with this one is that as soon as # 30 enters, eliminations go into serious rapid fire. Botched finish aside, I love how it came down to Cena and Batista, because we all knew they were the only serious contenders, so there was a little bit of intrigue. Raw vs. Smackdown, Hassan's elimination, Rey's performance, Angle's attack on HBK, and a ton of awesome guys like Benoit, Eddie, Edge, Rey, Jericho, Booker, & Shelton all there in the beginning make this one of the better Rumbles.

 

5. 2001

I love the finish with bloody Austin (with chair) vs. iron man Kane. It's probably my favorite finish of them all. Surprise entrants like Haku, Big Show, Honky Tonk Man, and sort of Drew Carey are fun. There was the hardcore portion in the beginning, and The Rock got to last a while too. The big problem in here is a very slow portion right around the middle until Big Show entered.

 

6. 2003

I think this had the best first half to a Rumble, ever, but it severly slowed down once one of the 3MW guys entered right in the middle. While I don't mind the finish as much as most people, it still is disappointing to see Jericho eliminated way earlier than he should have by TEST.

 

7. 2002

Taker's heel performance is awesome... from clearing the ring, destroying the Hardys, and then killing Maven. Of course, Maven eliminating Taker is a mark out moment. After Taker's elimination, it is slow, though. The portion from Angle's entrance onward is horrible booked. Big Show and Kane are gone in about a minute each. RVD comes in, still massively over, and gets shots in on everyone... and then falls dead to a Pedigree... and lays there dead for about a minute until Booker T enters and casually tosses him over. Then of course, Book is stunnered and flops over the top. It seemed like such a huge waste of everyone. I'm pretty sure everyone marks for Mr. Perfect's performance and the surprise of being second to last eliminated.

 

8. 1989

A solid match. Studd winning never bothered me, and Hogan's elimination is just a huge shock.

 

9. 1994

Diesel taking the first monster role is fun, especially when Backlund nearly has him eliminated. I think Savage and Owen were wasted in their minor roles, but this is otherwise a solid Rumble. But Fatu in the final four?

 

10. 2000

Nothing too special. Since the only real stars were Rock, Big Show, and Kane, I think someone like Jericho should've lasted much longer than he did. I remember all the guys who wrestled earlier in the night (Jericho, Chyna, Holly, APA, & Outlaws) weren't even originally scheduled to be in the match. Imagine how boring this would've been if the originally scheduled Kaientai, Mean Street Posse, Mark Henry, and Mideon actually were in the match.

 

11. 2006

This probably had one of the best line-ups of all the Rumbles, and there was next to no hype for possible winners, so the winner was almost in the air. Unlike 2005, Rey's iron man performance here just sucks and is forgettable. Maybe it's the production truck's fault for not focusing on him more, but he did absolutely nothing worthwhile during the match except for the last couple minutes. Even with an awesome line-up, this Rumble just felt dull and was disappointing.

 

12. 1998

Everyone seems to hate how there was always at least 10 people in the ring at a time, but it doesn't bother me too much. Foley's three entrances are funny, but you have to wonder if he purposely didn't try much as Cactus or Mankind so he could enter later as Dude. Owen and Shamrock, who both could've been "top contenders", are both underutilized. Even though we all knew that Rock didn't stand a chance, it was awesome seeing him as the iron man and going out last from Austin. As predictable as Austin's win is, the ending of Austin vs. mid-card heel Rock is awesome.

 

13. 1997

I'm a mark for Austin's iron man run here, and I love the finish given the history behind it and that it eventually made Bret turn heel within the next month and a half. The biggest flaw is the slowness, but it's fine once Bret enters, which makes Austin deliver his greatest facial expression ever. The AAA guys are annoying, though.

 

14. 1996

Really boring. HBK's win was predictable, and nothing exciting really happened outside of Vader going nuts after being tossed. Funny part in the middle when Doug Gilbert of the USWA comes out in the middle. Mr Perfect on commentary: "Who's that?" Vince responds: "Why... IT'S DOUG GILBERT!" Perfect: "Alright! ... of the USWA."

 

15. 1991

To be fair, I've only seen this one twice at most, but I remember being really bored throughout. Hogan winning was understandable since there was no one else, and it gave him extra momentum heading into WM VII. And damnit, Martel was never truly eliminated... he went through the ropes and then climbed onto the top rope. And Knobbs is one of the last guys...

 

16. 1993

Considering the only other credible guys were Taker (who had to go out via Gonzales), Savage, and Yokozuna, I think Flair and Perfect both should've lasted until the end. The field here is one of the worst, and it is boring once Flair & Perfect both go out early in the match.

 

17. 1999

Part I: Jobbers, Part II: Mid-carders, Part III: DX/Corporation. They really did a bad job in spreading out the stars. Too much silliness with Austin/McMahon stuff, the Ministry, and Kane and the asylum guys. Once Austin returns, it's not bad, but McMahon winning sucks, obviously.

 

18. 1995

Not flat out horrible, but it definitely has the worst line-up of any year. There was HBK, Bulldog, Luger, Backlund, and Owen, and the latter two lasted all of two seconds each in the ring. With lowcarder after lowcarder entering, it just gets tedious, even when it's only 38 minutes long.

[bob_barron 0]

2004 should be #1 just for the part with Mick Foley. That was a true holy shit moment

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

1988 - I've never actually seen this one.

 

1989 - This is really good for most of it and certainly contained the biggest names of the day (although I do wish Rude & Warrior were in it). The fact that the two biggest stars (Savage/Hogan) are gone at the end is in some ways unique, but also kills the crowd. Had Warrior been used in the John Studd role, it probably would have gone over a lot better.

 

1990 - One of the best Rumbles. We get the Rumble's first truly memorable performance by Ted Dibiase, and who didn't mark out for the Warrior/Hogan dustup. The Savage/Piper/Roberts/Dibiase mini-match at the beginning was great too, as was Hennig/Rude teaming again at the end only for Hennig to accidently (or did he?) eliminate Rude. Big names throughout the match here.

 

1991 - This Rumble is pretty much forgotten. Much like 1996, it was the same guy winning who did so in a much more memorable match the year before. This is actually better than 1996 with future stars like Bret Hart & Undertaker putting in a good performance, and it probably was the biggest highlight of Rick Martel's WWF career.

 

1992 - Nothing needs to be said here. Easily the greatest Rumble of all-time with the Rumble's most memorable performance from Ric Flair, with many of the biggest names from the late 80s/early 90s. Flair, Dibiase, Slaughter, Taker, Savage, Hogan, Sid, Piper and more are all here.

 

1993 - It was a weak roster by this point, with much of the above stars onto other things, but the booking here was quite strange with fan-favourites Mr. Perfect & Undertaker going out early along with classic heels Dibiase & Flair. Thus for a long period we were stuck with Backlund & IRS as the biggest stars in the match. If they wanted Yokozuna to win, either Perfect should have lasted a lot longer or Savage should have come out a lot earlier to keep things interesting.

 

1994 - The time between entrants got toned down this year, which annoyed me at the time, but this holds up better than most with great performances from Diesel & Shawn Michaels and the memorable ending. I liked how the booking made it seem like either Luger or Hart could win it too.

 

1995 - Shawn Michaels was great here, but the roster was really weak (made worse by the quick exits by Owen Hart & Bob Backlund) and the intervals killed it. Things happen too fast and their isn't enough time given between entrants for eliminations to take place properly resulting in the ring being filled with 20 guys by the end.

 

1996 - Back to longer intervals, but there was lack of anything interesting happening here. Shawn was an absolute lock to win, and the only fresh thing here was Vader. HHH gets to stay in for 50 minutes over two years before he was any good. Skip it.

 

1997 - The weak roster hurts most of the mid-90s Rumbles and this is no exception, but the last third of the match is very good regardless. It takes too long to get going though.

 

1998 - A repeat of 1996 with Austin being an absolute lock, only this time he has more talent to work with than HBK did. Still a weak Rumble.

 

1999 - An abomination. Massive amounts of interference and dead space with one guy stuck in the ring waiting for the next entrant. The winner was a non-wrestler who had #2 and was in the ring for about 4 minutes tops. The runner-up also missed 30+minutes of time he was supposed to be in. All of the major PPVs were a disaster in 1999 and this could be the worse of the lot.

 

2000 - The best Rumble since 1994 (and arguably 1992), it suffers from a bit of star power as this was just before the Radicalz came back and Undertaker & Austin were both out with injuries. But Rikishi had a memorable performance, and it was generally a fun Rumble all around.

 

2001 - Notable for Kane's dominating performance which is the highlight of his career to this point. Like 2000 this was just a lot of fun, but with a better roster.

 

2002 - Not as good as the two previous years, this was all about HHH. Mr. Perfect doing so well was a surprise, but was unfortunately Hennig's last hurrah. The two major problems holding this one back is the very slow opening (until Undertaker comes out) and Austin/HHH treating pretty much everyone after they came out like a jobber, save Hennig & Angle.

 

2003 - Started off very well, but really gets slowed down by the end as the guys with talent were tossed out in favour of the big guys like Kane, Taker, Test, 3MW and Batista (before he meant anything). They didn't do a good job of spreading out the talent here with Lesnar being forced to carry pretty much everybody in the ring by the end.

 

2004 - Second to 1992 as the best Rumble ever. Foley returns and Benoit begins his march to the title. Even Big Show is booked properly for once. Everything you want in a Rumble.

 

2005 - This is one of my favourite Rumbles up until the botched ending that left a bad taste in my mouth. A lot of talent in this one with the two best wrestlers in the company starting things off. Eddy stealing #30 only to get caught is the best pre-match happenings since Dibiase bought the last entry way back in 1989. The Smackdown & RAW wrestlers going at it only to team up and destroy Hassan was fantastic. Basically everything was going real good until the ending.

 

2006 - Not nearly as good as the year before. I agree with others that say that #1 & #2 going the distance has really been done too often by this point. The reason it was so special when Flair & HBK did it was because it didn't happen often, but this was just two years after Chris Benoit's classic performance in 2004. It was also hurt by Misterio's poor showing. In 2005 Misterio was the highlight of the Rumble, going 50 minutes pretty much non-stop the entire way before being eliminated by Edge. In this one he gets the crap kicked out of him and then sits around resting pretty much until there are only three guys left. Really disappointing.

 

So my rankings...

 

1. 1992

2. 2004

3. 1990

4. 2001

5. 2000

6. 1989

7. 2005

8. 1994

9. 2003

10. 2002

11. 1991

12. 1998

13. 2006

14. 1997

15. 1995

16. 1993

17. 1996

18. 1999

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

92 gets my nod on pure fun. 2004 is a close second, and 90, though I don't remember it as vividly as the previous two I mentioned, is #3.

 

 

I was typing what Barron said when he posted it. I'd forgotten how hot the crowd was for that.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

In fairness, they booked Mysterio to go from #9 to the final four just one year prior to 2006, so for kayfabe purposes you could argue he had some good experience built up.

 

I generally don't have that built-up smark resentment towards HBK that some do, but my least favourite Rumble spot in history is when Superman Michaels eliminated Vader AND Yokozuna - at the SAME TIME - BY HIMSELF - in 1996. Several guys couldn't do it in 93, but Shawn could on his own in 96. Yeah, yeah, Vader and Yokozuna were in the middle of fighting each other... but still.

 

I don't remember details, but I think the 10th anniversary of that spot was commemorated by HHH dumping two big guys all by himself in 2006.

 

Moments I loved:

 

88-91: Don't know. I haven't seen the first two (I may have seen 89 and forgot about it) and, as I don't own a copy, have little memory of 90 or 91. I'm sure one of those early ones has Axe and Smash entering at the same time, and that's cool. Of course the Warrior/Hogan criss-cross from 1990.

 

92: Heenan on commentary. Bossman's self elimination, catching his throat on the rope (I'm sure he didn't love it, but I found it funny), and of course, Flair being Flair.

 

93: Backlund going the distance, Jerry Lawler and Ric Flair going at it for no apparent WWE kayfabe reason, Macho Man dropping the elbow on Yokozuna (then being retarded and trying to pin him). Virgil and DiBiase fighting as well as Martel and Santana with Gorilla and Heenan acknowledging past feuding was a nice touch, but it's otherwise a dull match.

 

94: Diesel's eliminations.

 

95: I loved this when I was 13, don't recall much to love about it now.

 

96: The debut of music for all 30 entrants, Shawn and Marty fighting, all clique members being eliminated by each other.

 

97: Haven't seen it in a decade, but I recall Austin being awesome.

 

98: 3 Faces of Foley (good thing he got eliminated prior to needing to re-enter, eh?). Austin and Rock as the last two.

 

99: Nothing

 

00: Too Cool dancing (hey, it was big stuff 7 years ago!), Taka's big bump, Bob Backlund.

 

01: The way it was divided up (midcard session with the Hardyz, Drew Carey / Hardcore session, main eventer session)

 

02: Mr. Perfect, hands down. Spitting his gum while on the verge of elimination was classic. The Hardyz reunion to battle Undertaker was nice.

 

03: Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore's antics. And while it was essentially the same spot repeated twice, I loved it when Christian tried to team with Edge and Matt with Jeff. Notable for being the first "Raw vs SmackDown" Rumble so some oof the in-ring match-ups were pretty fresh. Rey and Edge mistiming their missile dropkicks on Nowinski is pretty sick.

 

04: Benoit winning, Foley attacking longtime rival (in terms of someone being at the BUTT of his jokes) Test to earn a spot in the Rumble to get Orton - didn't see that one coming. Nunzio's antics and Goldberg's spear on Nunzio later were cool moments as well.

 

05: Some good action, but sadly my favourite part has nothing to do with the wrestling ("OU REVIOUR!" call by JR when Haas is eliminated). WGTT's breif reuniting to deliver their double team move was good.

 

06: I don't remember a lot of moments as I have only seen it twice. I'm sure I laughed at some jobbers being eliminated (Simon Dean?) though.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I still think 1990 had a more star studded cast than 1992. You had Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Rude, Hennig, Dusty, Piper, DiBiase, Andre, Jake etc. Not to mention all the elite tag teams of the day.

[Wyld Cannon 0]

I hate 96 for one reason - Shawn lightly grazes Diesel with the superkick knocking him out. One of the worst superkicks, if not THE worst I've ever seen Shawn throw.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Going back to my rant about HBK eliminating Vader and Yoko at the same time and HHH doing a similar spot 10 years later, I believe it was Kane and Big Show that HHH tossed under the same circumstances HBK tossed Yoko and Vader.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I still think 1990 had a more star studded cast than 1992. You had Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Rude, Hennig, Dusty, Piper, DiBiase, Andre, Jake etc. Not to mention all the elite tag teams of the day.

 

They appear to be about equal on paper, but the difference is that Savage, Piper & Roberts were much bigger players in 1992 and Flair, Undertaker & Sid were bigger names than Andre, Dusty & Rude were in 1990.

 

In 1992, you had...

 

Randy Savage & Jake Roberts - In the middle of the hottest feud in the company, and the biggest for both men in years. Savage was 2 months away from winning the WWF Championship.

 

Hulk Hogan - Legend who was recently stripped of the championship.

 

Undertaker - Just lost the championship to Hogan in a controversial finish.

 

Ric Flair - NWA legend and the self-proclaimed Real World's Champion.

 

Roddy Piper - Flair's nemesis and new Intercontinental Champion.

 

Sid Justice - Being pushed as the replacement for Ultimate Warrior.

 

Sgt. Slaughter - Main evented the previous Wrestlemania.

 

Shawn Michaels - New, hot heel after sending his partner through a window.

 

Ted Dibiase - Former main eventer who had recently dispatched his former servant in a long running feud.

 

British Bulldog - About to begin a new push that will eventually result in him winning the IC Championship in the main event at Summerslam.

 

Rick Martel - The current record holder for longest time in a Rumble match, a fact repeated several times throughout the show so that we would forget he's a JTTS by then.

 

Plus, the winner of the match became the new WWF Champion. At the time it was very much in the air who was going to win this (I personally thought Sid was going to), whereas in 1990 it was pretty much between Hogan, Warrior & Hennig. The final four in 1992 (Hogan, Savage, Flair & Sid) could all have easily won the match as could Undertaker. The final four of Hogan, Rude, Hennig & Hercules in 1990 was much weaker.

[TheFranchise 0]

1997-wasn't any good until the final 10...though Austin had some fun spots while he sat around by himself. The best is when Jake Roberts music starts and Austin has a look like "give me a fucking break" and then gets on his knees and starts praying. Then when Bret comes out, his shock is priceless.

 

 

This sounds AMAZING.

 

I wish I'd seen this rumble.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

What I remember about the 1997 Rumble is Phineas Godwin throwing some of the worst punches in the history of wrestling. You really have to see them to see how bad they were.

[bob_barron 0]

The 1997 Rumble match is bad. Austin's performance is funny, but as a whole, the Rumble is bad

[Big McLargeHuge 0]

Hey now, there was Jerry Lawler entering the Rumble mid-sentence and then finishing it after getting dumped by Bret seconds later. I love that spot.

[cabbageboy 0]

I thought Owen and Bulldog were totally wasted in the 1997 Rumble. Bulldog does get off the classic line beforehand though: "I have a history in Royal Rumbles! I'm going to win...because I'm BIZARREEEEE!" Love it.

 

I think the 2004 Rumble is remembered fondly due to what happened afterward. Benoit went on to WM and finally won the title, so it's remembered fondly in that light.

 

Speaking of 1992, aside from having the best Rumble I'd say that year also had a top tier WM, my favorite SummerSlam of all time, and a pretty good Survivor Series. It's a shame that year that business totally tanked between WM and SummerSlam, but stuff during the spring/summer of 1992 was ungodly boring.

[J.T. 0]

Well, lord knows Scott Keith would agree with you on 2004, but it's not really the best Rumble. It's a very good one, but I lower it a notch since 1) It follows the cliche of "Oh wow, the #1 guy wins the Rumble!" and 2) Benoit vanished from my thoughts several times in the match. As in Flair commands the 1992 Rumble...it's about HIM, and yet they also focus on a million other things. Benoit just sorta is in the match the whole time...he's just there.

 

I watched most of these on 24/7 last year leading up to the PPV. 1989 was pretty good but once Hogan and Savage are gone it goes way downhill. 1990 was a killer Rumble I thought, but I still don't get why the Warrior didn't win this thing to set up his title shot at WM. 1991 was solid as well, Hogan had to win this one and Martel delivers a great effort (and should have finished 3rd really...why the fuck have Knobs in there?). 1993 was good for the first half of it, but once all the great veteran guys are elminated and you realize Yoko is the only possible winner, it sucked. Macho was also a dumbass for trying to PIN Yokozuna.

 

1994 was just whatever, not good or bad. Interesting finish, though Bret actually won, and also of course for Nash's star making performance. 1995 was total crap and I hate that fucking Rumble, it was way too fast and at that time I detested HBK and was a huge Bulldog fan. Still the most bullshit finish ever to a Rumble. 1996 was a bit better, at least the intervals were solid. 1997 had way too many Mexicans and guys nobody cares about from other promotions, guys who obviously couldn't win. Austin saves this one from being forgettable. 1998? There's some fun stuff there like Foley going under all 3 IDs (though doesn't that mean he assumed he'd be eliminated?). Winner was obvious in that one, but that's a good thing in this case. 1999 was one of the worst Rumbles ever with Vince winning, just a stupid decision but Austin I guess couldn't 3 peat. 2000 should have simply been the Rock winning, the Big Show stuff was stupid and pointless. Who was even the real winner of that one anyway? 2001 was a solid Rumble, Kane had a great outing. 2002 was obviously HHH's to win and he did, but I've been sour on this one since RVD got so lamely buried in it. 2003 was just whatever, I can't hardly even remember it other than Lesnar won at like #29. 2004 I already discussed might be the 2nd best one. 2005 was pretty good, though it was a bit botched at the end. And last year's? I hated that Rumble, since it was the now tired cliche of the guys #1 and 2 lasting till the end. And Rey Mysterio should NEVER win something like a Royal Rumble, since someone could easily toss him with no effort.

 

You like 92 because Flair commanded the rumble. It was all about him, and thats a great point. But 95 was all about Bulldog/HBK and HBK COMMANDED that ring. He sold more than Flair, he was in trouble far more than Flair and never was not doing something. Flair never sold being tired, which is a small point. But Flair never put over anybody in that rumble other than comedy bumps and powders. HBK made you think they could eliminate him.

 

If back then you hated the heel and loved the face, good for you and the WWF. But the Rumble wasnt the best nor the worst, and it had its strengths. One of its strengths is what you like about the 92 rumble, so you got to give it some props dude!

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

You like 92 because Flair commanded the rumble. It was all about him, and thats a great point. But 95 was all about Bulldog/HBK and HBK COMMANDED that ring. He sold more than Flair, he was in trouble far more than Flair and never was not doing something. Flair never sold being tired, which is a small point. But Flair never put over anybody in that rumble other than comedy bumps and powders. HBK made you think they could eliminate him.

 

 

I just watched 1992 again last night. Flair got the crap kicked out of him all night long by everyone from Roddy Piper & Hulk Hogan to Undertaker & Jake Roberts. The problem that completely kills 1995 is that it is less than 40 minutes long. Shawn's performance in 1995 didn't even last as long as Dibiase's way back in 1990 and there is somebody almost every year that does better than it. I blame the booking and not Shawn for that, but it is what it is and it really hurts the match. Plus Shawn fought very few credible opponents that year. There was Bulldog, Luger and umm...King Kong Bundy and Crush were about the biggest names of the rest (not counting Owen & Backlund being taken out by Bret Hart before they got into the ring). Flair had to beat some of the biggest names of the 80s/90s and he won the title for winning it. HBK just won a shot at the title. 1992 was much more eventful than 1995.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Hell, I'd probably say that every single person in the 92 Rumble (except for Dibiase, of course) probably at least was in some kind of physical contact with Flair during the match. It might have only been a few punches/forearms or whatever, but he did take some sort of punishment from 28 other guys. I don't even think Shawn can say that (though I haven't seen that Rumble in FOREVER)

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

This is sort of hinted at above, but one of the biggest problems I have with the 1995 Rumble is the way history treats it. They put over how Shawn went the distance from #1 and won it when, due to the time intervals, he didn't even last as long as several past and future Rumble losers. It kinda bothers me that they need to push both Benoit and Shawn as going from #1 to win it as an equal feat.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

You like 92 because Flair commanded the rumble. It was all about him, and thats a great point. But 95 was all about Bulldog/HBK and HBK COMMANDED that ring. He sold more than Flair, he was in trouble far more than Flair and never was not doing something. Flair never sold being tired, which is a small point. But Flair never put over anybody in that rumble other than comedy bumps and powders. HBK made you think they could eliminate him.

 

 

I just watched 1992 again last night. Flair got the crap kicked out of him all night long by everyone from Roddy Piper & Hulk Hogan to Undertaker & Jake Roberts. The problem that completely kills 1995 is that it is less than 40 minutes long. Shawn's performance in 1995 didn't even last as long as Dibiase's way back in 1990 and there is somebody almost every year that does better than it. I blame the booking and not Shawn for that, but it is what it is and it really hurts the match. Plus Shawn fought very few credible opponents that year. There was Bulldog, Luger and umm...King Kong Bundy and Crush were about the biggest names of the rest (not counting Owen & Backlund being taken out by Bret Hart before they got into the ring). Flair had to beat some of the biggest names of the 80s/90s and he won the title for winning it. HBK just won a shot at the title. 1992 was much more eventful than 1995.

1994 might be the ONLY year where no one topped Shawn's 38 minutes. I agree with it totally killing the match when compared to others. Shit in 1992, Bulldog lasted like 10 minutes or so less than he did in 1995 and he lasted not even half the Rumble.

 

I rewatched 1994 yesterday and it's really good stretches with a REALLY hot crowd. Having 14 guys in the ring at the end though, hurts it. Not to mention guys like Savage and Diesel being gone by the half way point. What is it with Savage and Royal Rumbles? He ALWAYS does horribly. In 1992 he made the Final 4 but got maybe 3 offensive moves in during his entire time in the ring.

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't even see how the 1995 and 1992 Rumbles are in the same ballpark. The 1995 Rumble was frankly a piece of shit, had 1 minute intervals, and quite possibly the dumbest finish of any Rumble ever. Add in that 1) Bulldog was definitely my favorite wrestler from 1992-97 and 2) I hated Shawn Michaels with a passion in that same period of time. So do you really think I'd put over the 95 Rumble in any way, shape, or form?

[Wyld Cannon 0]

I wouldn't highly rank the 95 Rumble but I would say that it's probably the best finish any Rumble has ever had. I wouldn't want them to ever do it again but at the time it was a really neat idea.