Austin101

Well I wanted to put it on a new page, no point in it being the 10th post which is the forums default for "last post of the page."

I think I write out enough to earn a spot so I'm gonna post it right after you here, but yeah I'll try not to do that.



Austin101's "WWF Royal Rumble 1995" Review:

A couple things here first...

This is the last WWF PPV event to use the "classic" WWF logo.

This is also the last Royal Rumble to use the original purple and gold ring aprons and rafter banners that had been used since the 1989 Royal Rumble.

Live on PPV from the Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.

Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler talk about the night and strangely enough this is the first and only time the King and McMahon broadcast a Rumble ppv together. I would have figured there was more but I guess not.

I should start by saying it was THIS event that brought me into wrestling. I watched it before the 95 Rumble and even a little in the late 80's but me and my brother rented this video from the video store and I was hooked. For no paticular reason either. So this event brings back good memories for me.

And what better way then to start it off seeing a Blonde Bombshell like Pamela Anderson walk out of a limo. Hmmm, I wonder what got me hooked?



1) Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie) vs Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship


These two are always fun to watch when there in the ring together. There match at Wrestlemania 11 is good but not as good as this one in my estimation this is the better of the two. I think this one flowed a lot smoother and there was a better story told. Jarrett was over as a heel as he did many struts, and of course Razor was over as a face. This was the third Rumble PPV in a row Razor Ramon was involved in a title match and not the actual Rumble match it self. (93 against Bret, 94 against IRS) Jarrett originally won by countout, but Ramon agreed to have the match re-started when I guess he didn't like Double J calling him a "Chicken." The match picked up again and Double J controlled the pace with a lot of sleepers, and eventually Razor fought his way out of them and applied some of his own offence. Razor was in control until out of no where Jarrett pinned Ramon with a small package to become the new InterContinental Champion at 18:03. A great opening Intercontinental title match between these two to open the PPV.


*** 1/2




2) The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) defeated Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase)

Just when I thought the undercards of the Royal Rumble were getting SO MUCH BETTER (when you take into account 94 then this) all of the sudden your typical snooze fest comes in. Fortunately enough The Undertaker can always be interesting in his own little way and this was definately not even in his worst 50 matches ever, it was still a bad match by this PPV's standards. There was a 38 second pause from when the two men were standing in the ring and the bell rung and then IRS went after Taker. What I mean by that is a 38 second pause of no commentary...at all. You just never see that. Truely strange. There must have been something wrong with there head sets or they were going over something during the pause. I can't imagine they'd leave that much air time for the viewer to sit with nothing to listen to. Watch for that the next time you see this match. This kind of moved slow as most Taker matches in the early-mid 90's did and when you're in the ring with IRS it doesen't help things. IRS isn't bad at all but the two styles didn't exactly blend well. The Undertaker pinned IRS after a chokeslam at 12:20 to win the contest. After the match, King Kong Bundy came out and beat down Undertaker while IRS ran off with Paul Bearer's urn. This would set up the famous five star classic with Bundy and the Deadman at Wrestlemania 11.


*




3) Diesel vs Bret "The Hitman" Hart for the WWF Championship

It always makes a PPV look good when you put a huge match like this in the early-middle like Wrestlemania 8, 19 and 23 did for instance. These two like Ramon and Jarrett (and even better might I add) had GREAT chemistry together as they would eventually end up having a series of classic matches at King of the Ring 94, Survivor Series 1995 and this one. Many people argue that the Survivor Series 95 bout with the Hitman and Diesel is one of the two men's greatest matches ever. I'd agree. I rate that match **** 3/4. Story telling at it's absolute finest with some rough spots and an incredible ending. This match was second best to that epic battle and it's a personal favourite of mine. While not the better of the two it's still my favourite of the two because as I said when I was younger I'd watch this all the time and just flat out enjoy it more. Bret Hart did an amazing job working on Big Daddy Cool's legs throughout the contest and he had a great strategy going throughout the match. He was determined to win the title at any way he even started throwing punches with the big man, which Vince then pointed out wasn't such a good idea. While there was a lot of intereference in the match, when the two just wrestled it was great. The match was declared a draw after continued interference from Owen Hart and Bob Backlund who came out to attack Bret while Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, and The Roadie came out to attack Diesel. So Diesel retained the title at 27:18.


**** 1/2




4) Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid vs Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Ted DiBiase) for the vacant WWF Tag Team Championship

This was the finals of a tournament for the vacant Tag Team Championship. The 1-2-3 Kid was of course over and Bob Holly had to have been happy to tag with him as it probably saved him a night of jobbing, and a pretty decent Rumble pay check. Bam Bam and Tatanka who were apart of Dibiase's Million Dollar Family were partners on this night. That's interesting to see as I just reviewed there match together from Royal Rumble 1994 earlier today. This tag team match flowed very well and both teams put on a good show in the finals of the tournament. I also liked the spot on the card it was put in, some solid booking overall throughout. The 1-2-3 Kid pinned Bam Bam Bigelow after Tatanka accidentally made Bigelow fall off the top ropes to win the match. The Kid and Holly became the new WWF Tag Team Champions at 15:45 and there reign wouldn't last to long. The Smoking Gunns I think beat them due to the Gunns losing the titles to Owen and Yokozuna at Wrestlemania 11. After the match Lawrence Taylor who was at ringside got pushed by Bam Bam to the floor and set up that amazing five star classic at Wrestlemania 11. Very worthy of the main event spot to might I add.


*** 1/2




5) Main Event- The 1995 Royal Rumble Match

Pamela Anderson (Wow she is fine in 1995, what am I saying she still can be at times in 2007) sits her fine ass down at ringside to watch the Rumble as she will accompany the winner to ringside in the main event of WM 11. Or she was supposed to anyway and ended up going with Diesel while the winner of this match got Jenny McCarthy instead. The real question is...what's the difference?

HBK and the Bulldog started it out and every 60 seconds a new wrestler came to the ring.This is the only Royal Rumble that has participants entering at one minute intervals.

Owen Hart, King Kong Bundy, The Bulldog, HBK, and Lex Luger. OH MABEL TO IF YOU WANT TO COUNT HIM! We're the only people you could logically see winning this contest (And some of the ones I named I still couldn't see it.) I'm SERIOUS! Look at the roster for crying out loud.

1 Shawn Michaels
2 The British Bulldog
3 Eli Blu
4 Duke Droese
5 Jimmy Del Ray
6 Seone
7 Tom Prichard
8 Doink the Clown
9 Kwang
10 Rick Martel
11 Owen Hart
12 Timothy Well
13 Luke Williams
14 Jacob Blu
15 King Kong Bundy
16 Mo
17 Mabel
18 Butch Miller
19 Lex Luger
20 The Mantaur
21 Aldo Montoya
22 Henry Godwinn
23 Billy Gunn
24 Bart Gunn
25 Bob Backlund
26 Steven Dunn
27 Dick Murdoch
28 Adam Bomb
29 Fatu
30 Crush

That reminds me. If the WWF wants us to buy into the random drawing (through kayfabe of course) then WHY on earth do they continue to put tag teams so close together on the drawings list. Yes it can be entertaining to see them double team someone or sqaure off on one another to prove it IS infact every man for themself. But could they have at least seperated at the very least ONE spot between Billy and Bart. Or Mo and Mabel? WOW. It not only happened, once, BUT TWICE. Unbelievable.


The final two participants were Shawn Michaels and The British Bulldog, who yes were also the first two participants in the match as well. (The first time anything like that ever happened so it was unique) The Bulldog threw Michaels over the top rope and thought he had won the match. However, referees noted that only one of Michaels' feet touched the floor making him still legally in the match. Michaels then re-entered the ring and eliminated the Bulldog (who was celebrating on the second rope, facing the crowd) to win the Royal Rumble at exactly 39:39. HBK celebrated to his music and Pam got in the ring and I guess didn't want to grind with the boy toy so she left. HBK goes to Wrestlemania for the first time. (And it's to bad he didn't get the REAL main event even though I consider it to be of WM 11)



*3/4 (any more and I'd either be insane or biased to HBK's 38 minute performance which in my mind is the only reason it has at least one star to begin with)
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Final PPV Rating for RR 1995= 7.5/10

Two *** 1/2 matches, a **** 1/2 WWF Title match, and a couple of bad matches including a very poor Rumble that doesen't come off as bad because it's shoter and the ending with HBK-Bulldog (AS WELL AS PAM!) make this Rumble PPV's rating very respectable.


Up NEXT from Austin101: Royal Rumble 1996 (stay tuned).....


Feedback as always if you want to discuss...