-Today we take a look at the 1996 Royal Rumble from the WWF.

-The 1996 Royal Rumble took place on January 21, 1996 from the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. There were 9,600 in attendance and the show did 269,000 buys.

-Intro of Sunny in the tub saying viewer discretion is advised. Then an intro of the event. Vince McMahon welcomes us to the event and he and Mr. Perfect run down what we are going to see.

-Jeff Jarrett vs. Ahmed Johnson: Jarrett out first. Johnson receives a great ovation when he comes out, and he attacks Jarrett right away. Jarrett rolls out and Johnson follows. Jarrett beats Johnson down in a corner. Johnson comes back. Jarrett with a side headlock. Johnson shoves him off. Johnson keeps knocking Jarrett down. Johnson with a slam for a two count. Johnson goes to crossbody Jarrett, who moves. Johnson gets caught in the ropes, and Jarrett kicks him to the outside. Jarrett clotheslines Johnson from the apron. He then runs Johnson into the ring steps. Jarrett throws Johnson back in. Jarrett with a Leapfrog Body Guillotine. Johnson comes back. He catches Jarrett coming off the ropes and hits an inverted atomic drop. Johnson with a clothesline. Johnson hits a spinebuster. Jarrett rolls out and Johnson hits a suicide dive to Jarrett. He throws Jarrett in. He goes to hit a tumbleweed, but Jarrett moves. He looks like he hurt his knee. Jarrett puts the figure four on. He gets a two count. Johnson reverses the hold. Jarrett lets go. Jarrett goes back to working on the leg. Johnson kicks Jarrett outside. Jarrett grabs the guitar and hits Johnson with it to get disqualified. Johnson destroys the guitar and takes off after Jarrett.

-Todd Pettengill talks to Diesel. He says he's the man, and he's going to get his title back.

-WWF Tag Team Championship Match. The Smoking Gunns Billy and Bart vs. The Body Donnas Skip and Zip with Sunny: Body Donnas out first. Skip and Billy start. Skip with a side headlock. Quick takedown and Billy gets a two count. Skip with a headscissors. Billy is thrown and falls out of the ring. Body Donnas double team Billy. Double back elbow to Billy. They try to slingshot Bart in, but he reverses and slings the Body Donnas out. Billy with a crossbody to the Body Donnas on the outside. The crowd loves it. Skip bouncing all over for the Gunns. Gunns in control. Sunny distracts the Gunns. Bart tagged in. He trades moves with Zip. Bart slammed Zip in the corner. Bart slams Zip down. Skip tagged in. He leapfrogs Bart. Billy tagged in, and they did their version of the Hart Attack on Skip. Sunny gets up on the apron. Skip Irish whips Billy into the ropes, which knocks Sunny to the floor. Billy comes out to check on her. He gets jumped by the Body Donnas. It was a ruse. Zip gets a two count on Billy. Body Donnas doing some quick tags. They goad Bart in and double team Billy as the referee tries to get Bart out. Billy comes back. Skip tagged in. He hits a flying fist drop. Zip tagged in. Billy is fighting to tag Bart. Skip gets a two count. Double hit and Billy and both Body Donnas down. Bart tagged in and unloads on the Body Donnas. He gets a two count on Zip. All four men in. Billy hits the top rope guillotine leg drop on Zip, but Sunny has the referee distracted. Skip comes off the second rope on Bart and covers Bart even though Zip is the legal man. He gets a two count. Double backdrop to Bart. Billy tackles Skip, allowing Bart to get the pin.

-Billionaire Ted skit compilation. This was classless. It would end up backfiring on Vince McMahon.

-Flashback to what's been happening between Goldust and Razor Ramon. Intercontinental Championship Match. Razor Ramon vs. Goldust: Goldust out first with Marlena and this is Marlena's debut. His entrance takes a while. Ramon out to a fantastic ovation. Goldust bails out when Ramon gets to the ring. It takes a while to get started. Ramon objects to Marlena being there. The bell rings, and they circle each other. Ramon throws a toothpick at Goldust. Ramon with a wrist lock, and he yanks Goldust down into an arm bar. Goldust gets out. Standing switch and Goldust feels all over Ramon, who loses it and breaks away. They lock up and drive to a corner, and Ramon again pushes Goldust away. Moves and reversals. Goldust slaps Ramon. Ramon with a drop toe hold and slaps Goldust. Goldust seems to like it. Ramon slugs Goldust. Goldust rolls out and hides behind Marlena. Referee Tim White trying to get Ramon and Goldust back in the ring. They trade moves and counters. It then goes back outside. They finally get back in. Ramon clotheslines Goldust out to a big pop. Goldust again hides behind Marlena. Ramon moves her out of the way, only to get hit from behind by Goldust. Goldust drives Ramon into the apron and does a drop down shot to Ramon. Back in, he hits a double ax handle to Ramon. Goldust hits a bulldog for a two count. Goldust with a slingshot back suplex. He gets a two count. Goldust brings Ramon over to Marlena by the ropes and she blows gold dust into Razor's face. Goldust drives Ramon into the mat. He gets another two count. Goldust gets a sleeper on Ramon. Ramon fading quickly. He fights back. He gets to the ropes and mule kicks Goldust. Both men are down, and a double count is going. Goldust covers Ramon and gets a two count. Ramon comes back. Ramon with a choke slam for a two count. Ramon hits the fall away slam for a two count. Goldust goes up top, but gets caught. Ramon hits a top rope belly to back suplex, but Marlena had gotten on the apron. White tries to get her down, allowing the 1-2-3 Kid to come out of the crowd and hit Ramon with a top rope spin heel kick. Goldust covers and gets the pin to become the new Intercontinental Champion. He and Marlena celebrate and then leave and Ramon is still on the mat.

-They show several Superstars saying they are going to win the Royal Rumble. McMahon and Perfect then preview the Rumble.

-1996 Royal Rumble: It's weird not having the Rumble be last. 1. Hunter Hearst Helmsley. 2. Henry Godwin. They trade blows when Godwin gets in the ring. Godwin with the early advantage. Helmsley bumping all over. He chokes Godwin on the ropes. Back and forth. 3. Bob Backlund. He attacks Godwin. He then attacks Helmsley. Backlund almost eliminated. I'm tired of McMahon and Perfect referring to Godwin as the Hog Farmer. 4. Jerry Lawler. The crowd chants Burger King. Lawler grabs the slop bucket, but Godwin gets it and everyone bails. He throws it on them at ringside. 5. Bob Holly. People start to pair off. 6. King Mabel. He comes out with Mo. 7. Jake Roberts. He comes out with his bag and the crowd goes wild. A huge snake is dumped out and everyone else bails out. He pulls Lawler over and puts the snake on him. 8. Dory Funk Jr. People pair off again. A DDT chant goes out. They show Lawler hiding under the ring. 9. Yokozuna. Backlund puts Funk in the chicken wing. Yoko eliminates Backlund. Mabel splashes Yokozuna and Godwin in a corner. Godwin is eliminated. 10. The 1-2-3 Kid. Razor Ramon comes out and chases the Kid. Officials out to try to get Ramon out. A Razor chant goes out. 11. Takao Omori from All-Japan Wrestling. People pair off again. The crowd cheers Roberts taking down Yoko. 12. Savio Vega. He takes down Mabel. Yoko eliminates Mabel. Roberts almost eliminated. Omori eliminated. 13. Vader. He comes out with Jim Cornette. His singlet is backwards again because some things never change. He pummels Holly. Funk eliminated. 14. Doug Gilbert. McMahon and Perfect put him over big time. Roberts DDTs Vega. He goes to DDT Gilbert and Vader clotheslines Roberts out. 15. Squat Team member #1. He goes after Yoko. Vader choke slams Gilbert. He eliminates Gilbert. Squat Team 1 eliminated. 16. Squat Team member #2. Both men come down the aisle. They both come in. Vader takes both on. He and Yoko eliminate both. 17. Owen Hart. People start to pair off again. Yoko and Vader work over Vega. 18. Shawn Michaels. Vega eliminated. Yoko and Vader trade blows. They try to eliminate each other and Michaels pushes both out. Kid eliminated. 19. Hakushi. Vader beats Yoko down on the outside. Vader gets back in and throws Michaels out. He throws Helmsley and Holly out. Officials and referees pour out to try and get Vader out. Vader throws Hart out. Gorilla Monsoon is out and forces Vader out of the ring. 20. Tatanka. The other wrestlers get back in and Michaels throws Cornette out of the ring. Michaels is almost eliminated. People pair off again. 21. Aldo Montoya. Hakushi eliminated. Michaels knocked through the ropes. Michaels goes under the ring and grabs Lawler out and hits him. He throws Lawler in and eliminates him. 22. Diesel. He gets a great ovation. He throws Tatanka out. He and Michaels go at it. Hart attacks Diesel. Michaels almost eliminated. 23. Kama. 24. The Ringmaster. Steve Austin's WWF PPV debut. He attacks Holly and Diesel. Austin almost eliminated, but comes back and eliminates Holly. Michaels almost eliminated by Hart. 25. Barry Horowitz. Hart almost eliminated. Diesel eliminates Helmsley. 26. Fatu. He attacks Kama. People pair off again. Michaels and Hart try to eliminate each other. 27. Isaac Yankem. Horowitz eliminated. Hart hits Michaels with an enziguri. Diesel almost throws Michaels out. Hart does go out. Diesel goes after Austin. 28. Marty Jannetty. Michaels almost eliminated again. Michaels and Jannetty trade blows. 29. The British Bulldog. He goes after Michaels. Diana Hart Smith is shown in the crowd. Bulldog eliminates Jannetty. Austin eliminated. He would say later that this was inadvertent at the time and is shown signaling Michaels that he had been thrown out. Fatu eliminated. 30. Duke Droese. He goes after Yankem. Bulldog and Michaels go through the ropes to fight outside. Hart comes out as well and we have a double team on Michaels. Officials over to break it up. Yankem eliminated. Droese eliminated. Hart was eliminated earlier when he came over. We are down to the final four. Michaels eliminates Bulldog. Kama eliminated. Michaels super kicks Diesel to eliminate Diesel and win the Rumble. The crowd goes wild. Dok Hendrix tries to talk to Diesel. He attacks Bulldog. He tells Hendrix the only reason Michaels is breathing is because Diesel allows it. He comes back to the ring where Michaels is dancing. They stare at each other. They high five, and Diesel then leaves the ring. Michaels celebrates with the fans.

-WWF Championship match. Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker with Paul Bearer: Undertaker and Diesel face to face in the aisle. They trade blows. Officials out to break them up. Diesel yells out that he's not afraid of the dark. Undertaker finally gets in the ring. Hart comes out to a fantastic reception. McMahon and Perfect compare and contrast the two competitors. Hart does his sunglasses presentation. The bell rings, and they circle each other. Undertaker chokes Hart in a corner. Hart gets away, and Undertaker beats him down. Undertaker continues the beat down. Hart is corner whipped hard. Undertaker gets the claw on, and Hart struggles to get out. He gets a two count. Hart gets to the ropes, and Bearer shoves the ankle off. Hart then grabs the ropes. Undertaker does Old School. Undertaker reapplies the claw. Hart gets to his knees. He gets back to the corner. Undertaker dominating. Hart comes back with a shot and a second rope clothesline. He clotheslines Undertaker over the top rope, and Undertaker lands on his feet. Hart with a tope to Undertaker. They trade blows on the outside. Undertaker gets Hart down. Hart throws Undertaker into a ring post. Undertaker comes back with a boot to the face. He slams Hart into a barricade. Back and forth on the outside. Undertaker ran into the ring steps on a reversal. Hart attacks Undertaker's injured leg. He throws Undertaker in. He continues to beat on the leg. Hart drops down on the leg. He works on it some more. He puts the figure four on. He gets some two counts. Bearer tries to get the crowd behind Undertaker. Undertaker reverses the hold, and Hart gets to the ropes. Hart goes back to working on the leg. He beats Undertaker down in a corner. He puts a leg lock on. Undertaker fighting to get out. Hart keeps the assault up on the leg. Undertaker fights out and throws Hart out. He follows and runs Hart into the ring steps and wraps a cable around Hart's neck while Bearer distracted the referee. Hart ran into the timekeeper's table, and Undertaker attacked Hart with a chair. Back in, Hart goes back to working the leg. He runs the leg into the ring post. Back in, Hart reapplies the leg lock. Undertaker fights out. He hits a leg drop. He follows it up with a clothesline. They trade blows and Hart falls outside. He guillotines Undertaker on the top rope. Hart hits the DDT and gets a two count. Hart with a Russian Leg Sweep. He follows it up with a bulldog. Undertaker won't stay down. Hart with a backbreaker and a second rope elbow drop. Hart goes for the Sharpshooter. Undertaker grabs Hart by the throat. Double clothesline, and both men are down. Hart gets back up and takes a turnbuckle cover off. Hart tears Undertaker's face cover off that he had been wearing since Mabel leg dropped him in the Fall. Undertaker's hair blocks his face at first, so you can't see anything. Back and forth. Hart runs Undertaker's face into the exposed buckle, and the crowd boos. Hart follows it up with a headbutt. Undertaker grabs Hart and hits the Tombstone and covers Bret. As the referee comes to count, Diesel appears and pulls the referee out of the ring. The bell rings, and Hart is disqualified. Undertaker wins the match, but not the title. Diesel looks satisfied. He flips Undertaker off. Undertaker takes off after Diesel.

-Todd Pettengill talks to Gorilla Monsoon. He announces that Diesel will face Bret Hart at February's IYH. Dok Hendrix talks to Shawn Michaels. He says he's completed phase one of his mission to win the World Title. Monsoon and Pettengill talk about Michaels' win. Undertaker gets in Monsoon's face and says it will be a cold day in hell before Diesel will be the champion. Monsoon makes the IYH match a cage match. Dok talks to Diesel. He says he is #1. He says he's the best thing going today. He says he's not afraid of the dark. He says he's going to manipulate things in 1996. Very prescient. Todd talks to Jim Cornette and Vader. Cornette says Vader can't be beaten. They then sign off with a highlight package.

-Final Thoughts: A very good show that starts off a pivotal year.