-Today we look at Royal Rumble 1994 from the WWF.
-Royal Rumble was shown on PPV on January 22, 1994 from the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. There were 14,500 in attendance and the show did a 200,000 buy rate.
-Intro.
-Vince McMahon welcomes us to the Royal Rumble and brings out his color commentator for the event, Ted DiBiase. Welcome back to the MDM.
-Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow with Luna Vachon. Bigelow is subbing for the injured Ludvig Borga. Bigelow tries to attack Tatanka before the bell, but Tatanka chops Bigelow. Back and forth. Tatanka with a crossbody for a two count. Tatanka with an arm bar. He misses a top rope crossbody. Bigelow stomps Tatanka. He hits a corner charge. Tatanka chops Bigelow when he goes for another charge. Tatanka with a sunset flip, but Bigelow splashes down on Tatanka. Bigelow stomps Tatanka. They trade moves. Bigelow with a two count. Bigelow with a bear hug. Tatanka fading. He tries to get out of the move. He does, but Bigelow hits a shoulder block. A second shoulder block, and Tatanka comes back with a power slam for a two count. Double collision and both men down. Bigelow runs Tatanka into a corner. Tatanka goes into his war dance and Bigelow hits an enziguri to mock Tatanka. Bigelow misses a moonsault when Tatanka moves. Tatanka goes up top and hits a crossbody to get the pin.
-Flashback to what led to Bret and Owen Hart teaming up. Todd Pettengill talks to the Hart Brothers. Bret says when he and Owen become champions, they will give anyone a shot. Owen says they are ready.
-WWF Tag Team Championship Match. The Quebecers Jacques and Pierre with Johnny Polo vs. Bret and Owen Hart: Quebecers out first. Harts get a fantastic reaction when they come out. Bret and Pierre start. They circle each other. They trade moves. Bret with a knee to the gut. Owen tagged in. He gets a hip toss for a two count. Owen with an arm bar. Pierre with a takedown and Jacques tagged in. Jacques wants a handshake. Owen gives him a suplex. Owen with a flurry of offense. He hits Jacques with an enziguri and gets a two count. Bret tagged in, and he and Owen do a version of the Demolition Decapitation. Bret gets a two count. Bret gets a series of near falls. All four men in the ring. Owen tagged in. Quebecers roll out to regroup. Bret and Pierre tagged in, and Bret with the advantage. Owen tagged in. He gets a series of two counts. Bret tagged in. Pierre gets Owen down for a two count. Bret tagged in and gets double teamed by the Quebecers. A go Bret go chant goes out. Owen tries to help, but gets cut off by the referee. Jacques with a back elbow to Bret. Pierre tagged in and goes for a second rope elbow drop. Bret gets his boot up. Owen and Jacques tagged in. Owen cleans house and gets the Sharpshooter on Jacques. He gets hit from behind by Pierre as referee Tim White was getting Bret out of the ring. Quebecers guillotine Owen for a two count. Owen comes back with a double dropkick. Bret tagged in. He takes on both heels. Bret with a side Russian leg sweep and a backbreaker. He runs the Quebecers' heads together. Owen grabs Jacques for Bret to hit, but Polo holds the ropes open and Bret spills to the outside. Bret injures his knee. Quebecers double team Bret on the outside. Owen keeps trying to check on Bret. Heels dominating. Jacques attacks Bret's leg with Polo's putter. Owen throws Bret back in the ring. Jacques attacks Bret's leg immediately. Pierre tagged in. Quebecers quick tagging. Owen breaks up a submission attempt. Bret moves on the seated senton attempt. Bret puts the Sharpshooter on instead of tagging, but collapses as he is putting it on. The bell rings. White stops the match, and the Quebecers win. Owen yells at Bret. Bret is injured. He finally gets up, and Owen kicks him down again. Officials come out to check on Bret as Owen leaves. Owen yelling at the camera that Bret is selfish. Ray Rougeau comes into the ring to find out the status of Bret, and Pat Patterson says he is too injured to speak.
-Todd Pettengill interviews Owen. He says Bret is selfish. He says Bret's ego is too big. This was his biggest opportunity. All Bret had to do was tag Owen. He says that's why I kicked your leg out of your leg. It works somehow. Owen says he's going to win the Royal Rumble.
-Vince and Ted talk about what just happened.
-WWF Intercontinental Championship Match. Razor Ramon vs. IRS: IRS does his tax cheat bit as he comes out. Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon from Radio WWF call this match. Razor gets a fantastic reaction when he comes out. Ramon in a unique teal color. They trade shots to begin, and IRS rolls to the outside. IRS comes back in and attacks Ramon. Ramon comes back with a right hand, and IRS rolls out again. Crowd taunts IRS with an Irwin chant. Ramon with a flurry of offense. IRS throws Ramon out. IRS follows and runs Ramon into the ring steps. Back in, IRS with a scoop slam. IRS drops the elbow. He gets a two count. IRS with a headlock. Ramon breaks out, but IRS keeps the assault up. IRS with a back elbow. He gets a two count. IRS goes back to the chin lock. IRS uses the ropes for leverage. Ramon is trying to get out. He gets to his feet. They trade blows. Ramon hits a fall away slam for a two count. IRS reverses a corner whip, and Ramon ran into referee Joey Marella. IRS tries to hit Ramon with the briefcase, but Ramon blocks it and hits IRS with the briefcase instead. Ramon covers, but the referee is still out. Ramon puts IRS on the top rope and hits a belly to back suplex. Ramon signals for the Razor's Edge. Ramon goes for it. Shawn Michaels runs to ringside and hits Ramon with Michael's IC belt. Michaels then leaves. JR says it looks like a car wreck on 95, so TASIYDAH. IRS comes to and goes to cover. IRS pins Ramon. The crowd boos. Referee Earl Hebner comes down and tells Marella what happened as IRS celebrates. Ramon recovers and hits the Razor's Edge on IRS. Marella counts the pin. That was needlessly complicated. Ramon lifts both belts up.
-Paul Bearer tells Yokozuna that the Undertaker will bury him. You then see the Undertaker build the casket. The Undertaker then menaces Yokozuna leading up to their match.
-WWF Championship Match. Yokozuna with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette vs. The Undertaker with Paul Bearer: Yokozuna and company out first. Undertaker and Paul Bearer with a massive ovation when they come out. The entrance takes a while. The bell rings and it also takes a while to start. They are face to face. Yoko ran into the ring post. Undertaker with a series of shots to try to knock Yoko down. Yokozuna knocked to the outside. Undertaker follows, but Yokozuna can't knock him down. Back in, Undertaker does old school. Undertaker misses a clothesline when Yokozuna ducks. Yokozuna grabs a chair. He and Undertaker battle for the chair, and Undertaker hits Yokozuna with the chair. Yoko grabs salt and throws it into Undertaker's eyes. Yokozuna hits Undertaker with a chair. Yoko headbutts Undertaker, who struggles to get back to his feet. Back in, Yoko hits a clothesline. A USA chant goes out. Yokozuna rolls Undertaker into the casket, but Undertaker stands up. They trade shots in the center of the ring. Undertaker choke slams Yokozuna. He hits a DDT. Undertaker up. He signals that it's over. He rolls Yokozuna into the casket, but gets attacked by Crush before he can close the casket. Crush and Undertaker go back and forth. Kabuki and Tenyru come down. Bam Bam Bigelow comes in as well. They get Undertaker in the corner. Fuji has the urn. Bearer gets the urn back. Yokozuna gets to his feet. Undertaker fighting off everyone. Adam Bomb and Jeff Jarrett come in. Undertaker fighting them off. The Headshrinkers come in. Undertaker knocked down. He comes back again. Diesel comes in. They put Undertaker into the casket. He fights to get out. He gets back in the ring, but gets beaten down again. Yokozuna hits Paul Bearer and grabs the urn. He opens the urn and green smoke starts to pour out. Undertaker is beaten down, and all the heels take turns beating him and coming off the top rope onto Undertaker. They dump Undertaker into the casket and close it. Crush locks the casket, and Yokozuna wins. Yokozuna waves the Japanese flag. The heels wheel the casket back. About halfway down, green smoke comes out of the casket. We then have the Undertaker ascending segment. Bearer has the urn again and raises it up, and the crowd cheers.
-We get comments from Royal Rumble participants about the match. Howard Finkel announces the Rumble and goes over the rules. There are 90 second intervals this year.
-1994 Royal Rumble: 1. Scott Steiner. 2. Samu. They go back and forth. Samu beats Scott down. Scott trying to throw Samu out. Samu with a clothesline. 3. Rick Steiner. The crowd barks when Rick comes out. He goes after Samu. Rick hits a belly to belly suplex on Samu. Rick and Scott take turns taking Samu down. 4. Kwang. Samu eliminated before Kwang gets to ringside. Kwang sprays Rick with mist. Scott attacks Kwang. Scott checks on Rick, and Kwang attacks Scott. 5. Owen Hart. The crowd boos him heavily. The heels are trying to eliminate the Steiners. Owen eliminates Rick. 6. Bart Gunn. He attacks the heels trying to eliminate Scott. The participants pair off. 7. Diesel. This is the start of a great year for Kevin Nash. He goes after everyone in the ring. He eliminates Bart and Scott. He then eliminates Owen and the crowd cheers. He eliminates Kwang and the crowd goes wild. 8. Bob Backlund. Backlund tries to bring Diesel down. He can't get Diesel out. Diesel dumps Backlund out. Diesel wants his next victim. 9. Billy Gunn. He attacks Diesel and gets eliminated. The crowd goes wild. They show Lex Luger being attacked by Tenyru and Kabuki in the back. Officials break them up. 10. Virgil. DiBiase says he's going to enjoy this. Virgil is the alternate for Kamala. Virgil is trying to stick and move against Diesel. Diesel beats Virgil down and dumps him. A Diesel chant goes out. 11. Randy Savage. The crowd may like Diesel, but they love Randy Savage. He gets a huge ovation when he comes out. The Rumble has never been Savage's match, though. Savage attacks Diesel. He tries to dump Diesel out. 12. Jeff Jarrett. He attacks Savage from behind. He hits a second rope fist drop. Jarrett follows it up with a dropkick and clothesline. Jarrett throws Savage out, but he doesn't hit the floor. Savage runs Jarrett into Diesel and then throws Jarrett out. 13. Crush. Savage attacks him as soon as Crush gets in. Savage with a double ax handle and scoop slam. All Savage so far. Crush and Diesel double team Savage. 14. Doink. Savage eliminated by Crush. Diesel is trying to eliminate Crush. Doink just waits in the corner. He laughs at both. He squirts them with his lapel flower. They double team Doink. 15. Bam Bam Bigelow. He goes after Doink. He eliminates Doink. Crush and Diesel both try to eliminate Bigelow. All three trade forearms. 16. Mabel. The crowd chants Whoomp there it is. Diesel attacks Mabel while Crush battles Bigelow. Mabel with a corner splash to Diesel. 17. Sparky Plugg. He is a replacement for the 1-2-3 Kid, who has a bad knee. This is the unlucky Rumble. Everyone is trying to eliminate each other. 18. Shawn Michaels. He gets in, and he and Diesel are face to face. Diesel goes after Michaels, who begs off. Diesel attacked from behind and eliminated. The crowd gives Diesel a round of applause as he leaves. 19. Mo. He attacks Crush when he gets in. 20. Greg Valentine. He chops people as soon as he gets in the ring. He gets double teamed by Bigelow and Mo. They pair off with MOM teaming up on Bigelow. 21. Tatanka. He goes after Michaels. They pair off again. 22. Kabuki. Everyone is trying to get Mabel out, and they do. 23. Lex Luger. He comes out to a huge ovation. He cleans house. He eliminates Kabuki. Crush attacks Luger. 24. Tenyru. He attacks Luger. 25. The buzzer sounds. No one comes out. McMahon speculates that it was Bret Hart. 26. Rick Martel. They pair off again. 27. Bret Hart. He comes out limping to a big ovation. Crush attacks him immediately. 28. Fatu. Crush eliminated. 29. Marty Jannetty. He and Michaels start to fight. Jannetty with a superkick to Michaels. Michaels with a suplex to Jannetty. 30. Adam Bomb. Plugg eliminated. The person who didn't come out was Bastian Booger because he was sick. People pair off. Valentine eliminated. Martel eliminated. Bomb eliminated. Bigelow and Tatanka eliminated. Jannetty Eliminated. Bret and Luger eliminate Tenyru. We are down to Luger, Hart, Michaels, and Fatu. Michaels and Fatu get Luger and Bret down. Michaels and Fatu shot towards Luger and Hart and both eliminated. We are down to Hart and Luger. They trade shots. They tangle up and both fall outside. Confusion as to who won. They play Luger's music first. Mixed reaction. They play Hart's music. He gets a bigger reaction. Referee's arguing over who won. Jack Tunney comes down. Announcers speculate what is going to happen. Replay is unclear. Tunney, the referees, and Howard Finkel in the ring. They announce both men as winners. They speculate on who will wrestle at WrestleMania. Luger and Hart shake hands as they sign off from Providence.
-Final Thoughts: This was a good show that sets up the year in style with a great performance by Kevin Nash.