Best Royal Rumble Match

[bob_barron 0]

The dumbest thing about that was they went right back to the "Yokozuna has never been off his feet" gimmick the next night on Raw. Bartlett - in one of the only intelligent things he ever said - mentioned Randy's good outing in the Rumble and how he took down Yokozuna, met by Savage having to yell back that he didn't. Though I guess it's debatable whether or not Yokozuna knocked himself over or Savage did with axe handles (I don't remember the spot exactly, but I thought it was Yoko runs at the trunbuckles, Savage moves, Yoko is groggy and Savage does an axehandle knocking him down).

 

Savage eliminating himself but not really is an odd moment from 92.

 

I thought that Yoko had been off his feet before that by Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Yoko destroying Duggan is why he wasn't in the Rumble.

 

2005 is another great Rumble, but I think since it followed 2004, it gets forgotten.

 

[haws bah gawd 0]

1997 has great moments, but it drags a lot. It's one of those Rumbles that exposed the depth problems in the WWF.

 

2000 really isn't that good. Once the Rikishi period ends, it drags a lot to the point that Jerry Lawler becames obviously bored on commentary.

 

Yea, hence him asking every 2 or 3 minutes if they can just replay Taka face-planting. Still my favorite Rumble elimination.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

The dumbest thing about that was they went right back to the "Yokozuna has never been off his feet" gimmick the next night on Raw. Bartlett - in one of the only intelligent things he ever said - mentioned Randy's good outing in the Rumble and how he took down Yokozuna, met by Savage having to yell back that he didn't. Though I guess it's debatable whether or not Yokozuna knocked himself over or Savage did with axe handles (I don't remember the spot exactly, but I thought it was Yoko runs at the trunbuckles, Savage moves, Yoko is groggy and Savage does an axehandle knocking him down).

 

Savage eliminating himself but not really is an odd moment from 92.

I thought that Yoko had been off his feet before that by Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Yoko destroying Duggan is why he wasn't in the Rumble.

 

2005 is another great Rumble, but I think since it followed 2004, it gets forgotten.

 

 

I think the Duggan thing happened in February, and that's just going by memory, but they were still building to that on the Raw after the Rumble. I don't know why he wasn't in the Rumble though other than the review of the 1992 Primetime show that was on 24/7 that I read on TOA made some mentions about Duggan being mentioned for the match as something that would need to be corrected, said in a way that implied contract issues.

[Black Lushus 0]

The crowd reaction when Cena's music hits in the 05 Rumble is amazing.

 

 

[SteakGrowsOnUecker 0]

In the 97 Rumble I always enjoyed the spot Lawler does where his music plays, he gets in the ring and Bret punches him once to eliminate him. He immediately goes back to commentate and acted as if he wasn't even in there.

[bob_barron 0]

It takes a king....

 

 

::goes in, gets clotheslined out and returns to the commentary table::

 

to know a king!

 

Classic

[Black Lushus 0]

I think JR asked him later on if he even remembered being in there at all.

 

"If I were in there I'd let Bret Hart have it!"

 

"You WERE in there, King, don't you remember?"

 

something along those lines.

[JHawk 0]

The dumbest thing about that was they went right back to the "Yokozuna has never been off his feet" gimmick the next night on Raw. Bartlett - in one of the only intelligent things he ever said - mentioned Randy's good outing in the Rumble and how he took down Yokozuna, met by Savage having to yell back that he didn't. Though I guess it's debatable whether or not Yokozuna knocked himself over or Savage did with axe handles (I don't remember the spot exactly, but I thought it was Yoko runs at the trunbuckles, Savage moves, Yoko is groggy and Savage does an axehandle knocking him down).

 

Savage eliminating himself but not really is an odd moment from 92.

I thought that Yoko had been off his feet before that by Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Yoko destroying Duggan is why he wasn't in the Rumble.

 

2005 is another great Rumble, but I think since it followed 2004, it gets forgotten.

 

 

I think the Duggan thing happened in February, and that's just going by memory, but they were still building to that on the Raw after the Rumble. I don't know why he wasn't in the Rumble though other than the review of the 1992 Primetime show that was on 24/7 that I read on TOA made some mentions about Duggan being mentioned for the match as something that would need to be corrected, said in a way that implied contract issues.

The Duggan thing was taped a few weeks before the Rumble but didn't air until after the Rumble, making the booking for the Rumble finish that much more silly. With the angle in the can, why have Yoko go off his feet at all?

[Diamonddust 0]

It takes a king....

 

 

::goes in, gets clotheslined out and returns to the commentary table::

 

to know a king!

 

Classic

 

Best Rumble comedy spot ever was '91 when one of the Bushwhackers enters doing the whole Bushwhacker arm motion... Greg Valentine watches him enter, grabs him, chunks him over the rope, and the Bushwhacker keeps doing the arm motion back to the locker room as if nothing happened. I remember my parents pointing out that a cameraman could be seen cracking up at that spot.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

We really should get a mod to combine these threads.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

It takes a king....

 

 

::goes in, gets clotheslined out and returns to the commentary table::

 

to know a king!

 

Classic

 

Best Rumble comedy spot ever was '91 when one of the Bushwhackers enters doing the whole Bushwhacker arm motion... Greg Valentine watches him enter, grabs him, chunks him over the rope, and the Bushwhacker keeps doing the arm motion back to the locker room as if nothing happened. I remember my parents pointing out that a cameraman could be seen cracking up at that spot.

I thought it was Earthquake that did that to Luke.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

It takes a king....

 

 

::goes in, gets clotheslined out and returns to the commentary table::

 

to know a king!

 

Classic

 

Best Rumble comedy spot ever was '91 when one of the Bushwhackers enters doing the whole Bushwhacker arm motion... Greg Valentine watches him enter, grabs him, chunks him over the rope, and the Bushwhacker keeps doing the arm motion back to the locker room as if nothing happened. I remember my parents pointing out that a cameraman could be seen cracking up at that spot.

I thought it was Earthquake that did that to Luke.

 

It was.

[Diamonddust 0]

It takes a king....

 

 

::goes in, gets clotheslined out and returns to the commentary table::

 

to know a king!

 

Classic

 

Best Rumble comedy spot ever was '91 when one of the Bushwhackers enters doing the whole Bushwhacker arm motion... Greg Valentine watches him enter, grabs him, chunks him over the rope, and the Bushwhacker keeps doing the arm motion back to the locker room as if nothing happened. I remember my parents pointing out that a cameraman could be seen cracking up at that spot.

I thought it was Earthquake that did that to Luke.

 

It was.

 

I could have sworn it was Greg Valentine.

[cabbageboy 0]

I find that 1991 Rumble quite underrated. Martel's effort was awesome in it and Hogan winning was fine with me, but what was up with Knobs lasting to the very end? Was it just to have some jobber heel to double team Hogan with Earthquake?

 

Oh, and why didn't the Warrior win the Rumble in 1990? Considering they went with him vs. Hogan for WM it makes zero sense. Hogan was already champion, why didn't he defend on the show and let Warrior win the Rumble?

[Nate 0]

I gotta say 2001, 2002 and 2007 are my favorites I can think of right off hand

[majormayhem1 0]

It blew my mind to find out there was a secret Royal Rumble. When I found out about it I was like "How come nobody told me? Where have they been hiding it?" Then to find out that Hacksaw won the first Royal Rumble totally changed everything I thought I'd known about wrestling. For years I've thought Big John Studd won the first Rumble.

 

Imagine how different things would be if Hacksaw had wrestled The Giant or Hulk Hogan at WM4, instead of there being a tournament.

[majormayhem1 0]

91 was the Rumble when Valentine had his face turn. He came out and I think he was arguing with Jimmy Hart, he might have punched him or pushed him down. Suddenly, he was a good guy. I remember watching it and thinking it came out of left field. He and Martel lasted over 40 minutes.

 

One of my favorites.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Actually, the face turn came at MSG in Dec of 1990. Hart accidentally hit Valentine w/ the megaphone (might have been a guitar) in a match against Saba Simba. Valentine had enough and turned face. Not exactly sure when this was acknowledged on WWF TV but I know they showed a clip of it at some point.

[zappafrank 0]

I really like the 2005 Rumble. It was the first time that the Raw/Smackdown divide was used in a Rumble match. Crowd went bananas for it. The Hassan ejection, Puder being brutalised, improvised botchery at the end, torn quads, Cena calling the improv finish audibly on camera.

 

And Paul London's elimination.

 

Had it all. No suprises needed.

 

 

I agree completely, exactly for the reasons you've listed. The thing about this match is that it was awesome both from an in-ring perspective and a storyline perspective. And another thing that was great was when Haas and Benjamin realized they were there together and busted out the "Broken Eagle" (I think that's the name...the move where Haas has a guy face down, throat across the middle or top rop and Benjamin springs off the other side and leapfrogs over Haas onto the guy's back). The crowd went nuts for it. I also liked that they had the GM's come down to ringside to cheer their men on. It gave it a real sense of importance.

 

It's the only Rumble match I can think of where I knew it was going to be one of the better matches as I watched it. Usually I have to go back and watch a Rumble match again to appreciate it, but this one was on all cylinders from the get-go. I enjoyed it more than the 2004 Rumble, which so many members of the IWC have deemed the best ever simply b/c Benoit won (not that Benoit wasn't my favorite wrestler).

 

And planned or not, the ending worked well, IMO. It wasn't just a rehash of 1994 b/c Vince came out right away to make sure there was a clear winner, and it was handled well.

 

2002 will always be up there for me b/c I saw it live.

[Guest TheFabulousJakey]

Actually, 2000 stands out for me just for Kentai's constant run ins and TAKA's awesome faceplant.

 

Didn't he dislocate his shoulder after the last one? Another thing I remember about 2000 is that they had a bunch of slots "open" and then they were filled by all three competitors in the previous IC Title match.

 

2002 and 2004 are some of my favorites as well; 2002 had a lot of guys at the top (a newly face "Stone Cold", Undertaker, Angle, Triple H, RVD) and the Maven/Undertaker elimination is classic. '04 had the Goldberg run-in and the spot where Nunzio stays out of the ring forever until Cena throws him in.

[cabbageboy 0]

I've never cared a huge amount about the 2002 Rumble. The winner was too blatantly going to be HHH, and he made damn sure to bury RVD in it before Booker casually tossed Van Dam. Hennig finishing 3rd didn't quite make up for that, but it came close. That Rumble was also the moment that pretty much showed that Austin was running out of steam.

[Hawk 34 0]

I find that 1991 Rumble quite underrated. Martel's effort was awesome in it and Hogan winning was fine with me, but what was up with Knobs lasting to the very end? Was it just to have some jobber heel to double team Hogan with Earthquake?

 

Oh, and why didn't the Warrior win the Rumble in 1990? Considering they went with him vs. Hogan for WM it makes zero sense. Hogan was already champion, why didn't he defend on the show and let Warrior win the Rumble?

 

You should consider that Knobs and Hogan are close friends before you ask, also don't forget Knobs was another member of the Jimmy Hart group. I still don't get why Sags didn't appear in the match (which was the opposite in 1992). 1991 had a bunch of guys lasting 20+ minutes (Martel, Valentine, Douglas, Hart, Hercules, Santana, Bulldog, Earthquake, Hogan). Which was interesting.

 

They wanted the Rumble to tease interaction between the two and get the ball rolling for WM. This was before the notion of the winner getting a shot at the champion. Warrior was the upstart, having him win the Rumble would give him too much momentum. Hogan needed to win the Rumble to show he's the top guy thus making it a bigger deal that the "torch" was passed at WM (which it really wasn't).

 

 

 

[cabbageboy 0]

That's why I say that Hogan should have defended against someone on that Rumble card, then let the Warrior win the Rumble. Then do a confrontation later with Hogan and Warrior. I recall reading somewhere about Hennig originally being booked to win, but that doesn't really work for me since Perfect/Hogan at WM isn't as big of a draw as Hogan/Warrior.

 

As far as 1991 goes, yeah I sorta knew the answer before asking about Knobs. When you watch it though he comes across like the biggest random jobber guy to be THAT late in a Rumble. Did they not have Martel last that long in fear the crowd would root for him due to his longevity in the match?

[MillenniumMan831 0]

It would have been nice to to have Hogan hulking up on Quake w/ an oblivious Martel posing on the other side of the ring. As soon as he turns around, Hogan could have clotheslined him out then have the one-on-one deal w/ Quake to end the Rumble.

[Diamonddust 0]

That's why I say that Hogan should have defended against someone on that Rumble card, then let the Warrior win the Rumble. Then do a confrontation later with Hogan and Warrior. I recall reading somewhere about Hennig originally being booked to win, but that doesn't really work for me since Perfect/Hogan at WM isn't as big of a draw as Hogan/Warrior.

 

As far as 1991 goes, yeah I sorta knew the answer before asking about Knobs. When you watch it though he comes across like the biggest random jobber guy to be THAT late in a Rumble. Did they not have Martel last that long in fear the crowd would root for him due to his longevity in the match?

 

It might not have been as big a draw, but Mr. Perfect was pretty much the top heel in the company at that point.

[majormayhem1 0]

Actually, the face turn came at MSG in Dec of 1990. Hart accidentally hit Valentine w/ the megaphone (might have been a guitar) in a match against Saba Simba. Valentine had enough and turned face. Not exactly sure when this was acknowledged on WWF TV but I know they showed a clip of it at some point.

 

 

Good to know.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

You should consider that Knobs and Hogan are close friends before you ask, also don't forget Knobs was another member of the Jimmy Hart group. I still don't get why Sags didn't appear in the match (which was the opposite in 1992). 1991 had a bunch of guys lasting 20+ minutes (Martel, Valentine, Douglas, Hart, Hercules, Santana, Bulldog, Earthquake, Hogan). Which was interesting.

 

Knobs would've been in the '92 Rumble but suffered a shoulder injury.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I've never cared a huge amount about the 2002 Rumble. The winner was too blatantly going to be HHH, and he made damn sure to bury RVD in it before Booker casually tossed Van Dam. Hennig finishing 3rd didn't quite make up for that, but it came close. That Rumble was also the moment that pretty much showed that Austin was running out of steam.

 

Maven eliminating the Undertaker was pretty cool at the time. I watched the PPV at the movie theatre, and I remember everyone marking out. Takers beatdown on Maven afterwards was pretty cool to, he smashed his head into a popcorn machine.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I find that 1991 Rumble quite underrated. Martel's effort was awesome in it and Hogan winning was fine with me, but what was up with Knobs lasting to the very end? Was it just to have some jobber heel to double team Hogan with Earthquake?

 

I love the 1991 Royal Rumble. 1992 is great but the 1991 Rumble was the first that I watched and I'm a Rick Martel mark so it's my favorite for both of those reasons.

 

I suppose the idea of the WWF brass not wanting Martel in there to the end due to sympathetic heat may have been an issue but when your up against Hulk Hogan I doubt it would've been much of a problem. Personally, I wish they would have had a final four of Hogan, Bulldog, Earthquake, and Martel with Martel eliminating Bulldog after Bulldog nearly tosses him out, Earthquake and Martel having some bad communication and Hogan tossing Earthquake out, and then Hogan outlasting Martel to win. There was no way Hogan was NOT winning the Rumble that night, especially with the Warrior-Slaughter match earlier in the evening, and I don't argue against him winning but I think Martel should've been the last man eliminated. The crowd desperately wanted someone to toss him out all match long and if they had included a spot where Hogan hurled Martel over the top rope only to have Martel land on the apron, Hogan turn his back to the crowd with Martel sneaking in and clotheslining him in the back of the head, then have Martel taunt the crowd about how smart he was only to have Hogan pop up behind him, grab him by the hair, and toss him out to win the crowd would've eaten it up. Would've been a better finish than Hogan just slamming Earthquake and hurling him out.

 

However, I guess they just used Hogan-Earthquake as the last two because it was the "blowoff" for their feud in 1990.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Plus, they used it to lead in a Hogan/Tugboat vs Quake/Bravo match on The Main Event a couple weeks later.