Favorite Royal Rumble Moments - January 20, 2008

My Favorite Royal Rumble Events: These are the actual overall PPV events and are in order.

1. Royal Rumble 2000 - I think this has to go for my favorite Rumble. The show took place from MSG which is obviously going to have to be a solid show in front of that crowd. The show is probably best remembered for several things. The first is the incredible Triple H/Cactus Jack street fight!! This match was a brutal one and it went all over ringside with even a barbed wire bat involved. Just a nasty brutal match. The second thing that it is probably best remembered for is the debut of Tazz. This was his first WWF match taking on the undefeated Kurt Angle in the first match of the show. Tazz was a surprise opponent (or not so much to the smart audience that was there at MSG) and a very pro ECW crowd at MSG gave him a HUGE pop when he walked to the ring. Tazz ended Angle's undefeated reign and got an amazing reaction. The third thing is the amazing tables match between the Hardys and The Dudleys which saw Jeff Hardy do a dive out of the lower level on to the aisle way through the table. The Rumble match itself was very good as well which culminated in the controversial Rock/Big Show finish. Big Show went to dump The Rock out of the ring but Rock held on eliminating Big Show. Or did he? Video would later show the next week that Big Show had a complaint in saying that he had won the Rumble and they used that to build to WrestleMania with Rock and Big Show facing off at No Way Out a month later. Remembering all of this makes me want to watch this show again.

2. Royal Rumble 2001. This is probably one of those that is remembered better cause of the group we had watching the show that night cause we had a great time. The Rumble match itself was a lot of fun which saw Stone Cold Steve Austin complete his comeback by winning it and getting the title shot at WrestleMania. He won by eliminating Kane which was big cause Kane had done all sorts of damage in this Rumble including him eliminating 10 guys and also cutting the Honky Tonk Man's return short. We also had the very good Jericho/Benoit ladder match for the Intercontinental title where Jericho won the match and the title. The Dudleys won the tag team titles from Edge and Christian to a huge pop. Kurt Angle and Triple H faced off for the championship with Angle retaining the title much to our disagreement. The Rumble match itself saw a lot of highlights and fun surprises including the Rumble debut of Drew Carey which was surprisingly pretty funny when he tried to pay Kane off and then eliminated himself. It also marked the return of The Big Show. The Rumble even saw the Hardcore division get involved as well.

3. Royal Rumble 1996 - Shawn Michaels returns to action and wins his second Rumble match in a row. Shawn entered at number 18 and won when he superkicked Diesel out of the ring to get the WWF title shot at WrestleMania XII. This also featured a good match between The Undertaker and Bret Hart for the WWF title. This was back when we had a very good battle over the championship between Bret, Undertaker, and Diesel. Diesel who was still frustrated over losing the Rumble had a battle with the Undertaker who was on his way to the ring for his title match against Bret. Undertaker would later have Bret beat with a tombstone but Diesel would return and pull the ref out of the ring. This got Bret DQ'd and Undertaker wins but can't win the belt on a DQ. Diesel had cost him the belt and then gave him the finger while leaving the ring. The feud between the three would continue on for the next couple of months. I have fun memories of watching this show with some of the family.

4. Royal Rumble 1991 - This show set up WrestleMania VII. This match took place in the midst of Desert Storm and the main event title match was The Ultimate Warrior defending the WWF title against Sgt. Slaughter. This was also when Randy Savage was getting in on the Warrior feud as well. Warrior and Sherri had a confrontation earlier in the night and it wasn't a surprise later when she and Savage would get involved in the title match. I should point out that at this point that I really didn't like the Warrior as this was almost a year after he beat Hogan at WrestleMania VI and I was ready for the heel Savage to tear him up. I also disliked Warrior so much that I was cheering for the heel Slaughter in the match. I also looked at it as if Warrior lost, Hogan was next in line for the belt. Ah, the way that all the things link together when watching it as a kid. So, Sherri gets Warrior to chase her to the back and Savage runs into the aisle from the dark and nails Warrior big time. Warrior eventually recovers against Slaughter but then Savage makes his way back out. Savage breaks the scepter over the Warrior's head while the ref has his back turned and Slaughter makes the pin to win the title. Me and my friend cheer and love it knowing that the Warrior has lost. All attention then turned to the Rumble and seeing if Hogan would win the Rumble. Winning the Rumble then didn't mean that you got the title shot but it sure didn't hurt. Hogan won a fun Rumble match with many legends in it. Hogan had the American flag in his hands for the posing and you knew then that he would be the challenger for Slaughter. Hogan would win the belt at WrestleMania and things would be right in the world once again. LOL. Savage was set to be in the Rumble match itself but never appeared as when his time appeared, no one showed and it was later figured out to be Savage which was said to be that he was escaping the building from the Warrior. One thing that this Rumble is especially remembered for is when Bushwhacker Luke entered the ring, got immediately thrown out, and then just kept walking to the back for the quickest elimination ever at that point. Not sure if it has been topped or not. Other matches on the show was a Rockers/Orient Express match, Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs. Dibiase and Virgil, and more.

5. Royal Rumble 2002 - Much like 2001 was the culmination of Austin's return, 2002 would be the culmination of Triple H's return as he would win the Rumble by eliminating Kurt Angle. We had the very fun Rock/Jericho title match in which Jericho retained the title by cheating following a low blow and by grabbing the ropes which was popular among our pro-Jericho watching group that night. Don't get me wrong, we were big Rock fans but we were bigger Jericho fans. Other matches included an opener of Tazz and Spike against The Dudleys, Trish Stratus against Jazz, Regal defeating Edge to win the Intercontinental belt, and the Vince McMahon vs. Ric Flair street fight.

Favorite 30 Man Rumble Matches (These are in order too)

1. 1992 - The only time in Rumble history where the WWF title was on the line in the Rumble match. This was after the WWF title controversy coming from Survivor Series and This Tuesday In Texas. The decision was made to put the belt on the line in the Rumble. The final four would be Savage, Hogan, Flair, and Sid where you really felt that any of the four could win the belt. It would come down to Hogan, Sid, and Flair. Hogan was dumped out by Sid and then Hogan begun to try and pull Sid out. As this went on, Flair snuck up and dumped Sid out of the ring. Flair wins the Rumble and his first WWF title.

2. 2001 - I pretty much said all my highlights of this Rumble earlier but it was a great and fun one. Austin wins by eliminating Kane.

3. 1997 - Ok, this Rumble match was basically about two guys, Steve Austin and Bret Hart. Austin was riding a ton of momentum in his feud with Bret. He was also a heel at this point but my room of viewers were cheering on Austin. Austin would have a ton of great moments in the Rumble including the highlight shown for years to come of him stunnering Phineas Godwinn and then getting right in his face and telling him all about it before throwing him out. Austin had this great attitude that had won us over a couple months earlier and we loved him. You may remember Austin throwing out Jake The Snake and then throwing the snake at him as well. Austin and Bret would have a great showdown in the middle of the match. The match would end when Bret would eliminate Austin and then the fake Diesel to seemingly win the Rumble. However, the refs did not see Austin eliminated (and our biased selves said we didn't see it either) and Austin would jump back in and throw Bret out to win the Rumble. It was a clever bit of booking that continued the huge build in the Austin/Bret feud which would continue to lead up to the double turn.

4. 1990 - This Rumble is always remembered for the showdown between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. The two would go at it for a minute before knocking each other down with a big double clothesline. Hogan would go on to win his first Royal Rumble match after eliminating Mr. Perfect throwing him over the turnbuckle. Nice showdown early on in the match when Jake The Snake and Ted Dibiase go at it in the midst of their feud. I remember it being a very fun Rumble.

5. 2002 - Triple H wins the Rumble just a few weeks after his return following his quadriceps injury. His lone opponent upon his entry into the Rumble was Austin and the two had a nice exchange. This Rumble also saw the reuniting of the Hardys as they teamed up big time in this one. We had the shock of The Undertaker getting eliminated by the rookie Maven to which Maven paid for it all the way to the popcorn stand. Fun surprises and fun ending for Triple H fans getting to cheer him on for the win.

Favorite Non Rumble Matches (Yep, in order too)

1. Triple H vs. Mankind - Rumble 2000 - The nasty street fight that saw Triple H retain the WWF title.

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H - Rumble 2004 - The last man standing match that resulted in both of them being knocked out and unable to answer the 10 count.

3. Rock vs. Mankind - Rumble 1999 - The I Quit match for the WWF title. This is one brutal match that is remembered mostly for the nasty chair shots that Mankind took. Rock ends up winning the WWF title after a voice recording is played over the sound system of Mankind yelling "I Quit" which was taped from a show earlier in the week.

4. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit - Rumble 2003 - Very fun wrestling match for the WWE title at Rumble 2003 which saw Angle retain the belt.

5. Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty - Rumble 1993 - Underrated Shawn/Marty match for the Intercontinental title which saw Shawn retain the belt.


Favorite Rumble moments: (In no particular order)

The Hogan Rumble wins. Flair winning the gold in 1992. Shawn Michaels wins the WWF championship defeating Sycho Sid in his hometown of San Antonio at the Alamo Dome. Shawn Michaels winning both the 95 and 96 Rumble matches. Owen Hart turning on his brother Bret in 1994 (all you had to do was tag him Bret, LOL). Austin's 1997 Rumble win against Bret. Last year's Rumble coming down between two of the biggest legends in history with Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker as Undertaker gets his first Rumble win. Triple H's 2002 Rumble win. Ted Dibiase buying number 30 in the 1989 Rumble match but then drawing number 1 in the 1990 Rumble match. So many more too that I'm sure I'll kick myself later for not remembering.

Worst Moments (In no particular order)

Anytime that WWE decides to cut the entry time in the Royal Rumble match below 2 minutes. Chyna's injury storyline with Chyna injuring her neck against Ivory by just barely stumbling into the corner on her hand spring elbow. It looked weak!!. RVD getting a huge pop and then getting eliminated immediately in the 2002 Rumble match to which the whole crowd and us booed loudly. Brock Lesnar winning the Rumble match in 2003. Yeah, this wasn't so bad overall but for a person that wasn't a Lesnar fan, it wasn't good!! LOL. The finish of the 1994 Rumble and not because of the actual tie finish but because of the lameness of the fact that they kept showing replays to try and find out if Luger or Hart won but completely IGNORE THE CAMERAMAN THAT WAS RIGHT THERE and had a good angle of it!! Obviously, they must not have hit at the same time or they would have shown that camera but I always remember how lame it was that they had a camera right there and didn't go to it. Again, probably plenty more moments that I have forgotten to mention.

So, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.