Nickrj’s rant for Royal Rumble 1995
BTW If you’re wondering why I use star ratings. I use star ratings to rate matches based on workrate, storyline or storytelling, flow and psychology. The better all of those things are the higher the match value.
***** - Match of the year candidate
**** - Great
*** - Good
** - Average
* - Okay
DUD - Bad
Negative Stars – Awful
Live from the Sundome in Tampa Florida on January 22 1995
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler
Not only will the winner of the Royal Rumble get a title shot at Wrestlemania
XI, he’ll get to have Pamela Anderson escort them at Wrestlemania. She’ll also
congratulate the winner here tonight.
IC Title Match: Razor Ramon VS Jeff Jarrett (with The
Roadie)
Roadie gets a toothpick in the face and Jarrett takes some right hands. He leaps over Razor and gets a right. Razor catches Jeff and is backslammed. Chokeslam rolls Jarrett to the outside. Jarrett gets a towel to clean himself off before climbing back in. Armdrag by Jarrett followed by the strut. Waistlock by Jarrett which is reversed but Jarrett gets an armdrag. Jarrett with a hammerlock which Razor reverses. Jarrett takes down Razor and does a flurry of slaps drawing some heat. Ramon with a right hand and he clotheslines Jarrett to the outside. Jeff gets some water to psych out the Bad Guy. Jeff wants a test of strength but Razor doesn’t buy it and he works on the right arm. Vince mentions that Lawrence Taylor is at ringside as a guest of Diesel as Jeff hits a series of dropkicks and a butt splash on the ropes. Flying clothesline gets 2. Jeff misses an enzuguri and Razor misses an elbow for 2. Jeff goes to the chinlock. Razor gets up and blocks a hiptoss and gets a backslide for 2. Clothesline by Jeff for 2. Jeff gets a sunset flip but Razor catches him for 2. Jeff reverses it for 2. He hits a dropkick for another 2. Jeff hooks in a sleeper hold. Razor gets out and takes a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Jeff tries to gets a pin with his foot on the ropes but ref. Tim White catches him. Razor slides out from a charge and rams Jarrett into the post outside. Razor hits a 2nd rope clothesline for 2. Jeff sends Razor flying to the outside. Razor is limping as the Roadie clips him from behind. Razor is selling a knee injury now and he is counted out at 11:45. Good matchup **1/2. But Jarrett is not happy. He grabs the mike and starts taunting Razor. He asks him to come back in the ring and get this match restarted. Razor does indeed get back in the ring and White restarts the match!
IC Title Match Take Two: Razor Ramon VS Jeff Jarrett
(with The Roadie)
Razor sends Jeff into the corner and rolls him up for 2. Jeff goes after the injured leg now but Razor gets a small package for 2. Jeff is back to the knee and he’s really working on it now. Razor sends Jeff to the outside however but Jeff goes back to the leg. Jarrett hooks the Figure Four on Razor. Razor tries to reverse but can’t. He breaks it with a few right hands however. Razor starts to fight back with some right hands. He hits the back superplex but Jeff falls on top but Razor reverses it for 2. Razor knocks down Jeff and falls down on the injured leg. He gets up and signals the Razor’s Edge. He gets Jarrett up but collapses and Jarrett cradles him for the pin at 6:19 to become the new Intercontinental champ. Another fairly good match between these two in one night! **1/4
The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) VS I.R.S. (with Ted
Dibiase)
This was after I.R.S almost cost UT the casket match at Survivor Series. Afterwards IRS was bring druids with him during his matches and one time one of them was Tatanka. Here tonight however there aren’t any druids. They stall for a moment. Irwin dropkicks UT from behind and UT no sells and Irwin goes to the outside. He stalls for a minute more. UT misses a clothesline and Irwin tries to psych out UT and he goes to the outside again! Cmon Rotundo get in the ring and go for it. He goes after Paul Bearer and UT comes out after him. Irwin catches UT in the ring and UT hits a big boot. UT rams Irwin hard into the corners. He grabs Irwin by the tie and tosses him. UT does the top rope walk and forearm. He grabs Dibiase and Irwin almost nails his former partner and is clotheslined to the outside. Money Inc. get into an argument outside and Dibiase goes out and calls out the Druids. IRS runs into an elbow though and UT works on the right arm. He does the top rope walk again but the Druids shake the rope and Irwin throws UT off who does the zombie sit up. Irwin counters a headdown and clotheslines UT out but UT lands on his feet and grabs the Druids which allows Irwin to nail UT and he throws him to the steps. The Druids gets some licks too. Back inside Irwin with an ab stretch while holding to the ropes. UT comes out with a hiptoss and he hits a slam but misses an elbow drop. He seems to always miss that but he does the Zombie sit up again. Irwin hits a flying clothesline and some elbows followed by a legdrop. He misses a falling headbutt and both men collide concurring in a double knockout spot. A Druid comes in and puts Irwin on top of UT for a 2 count. UT grabs the druid and he sends Irwin into him. UT tries the Tombstone but the druids distract him and Irwin hits another flying clothesline. UT zombie sits up and hits a chokeslam for the pin at 12:20. Boring match but what can you expect from UT? DUD. The druids come in and attack UT but UT fends them off but King Kong Bundy comes in the ring and he and UT staredown while Irwin nails Paul Bearer and steals the urn. Bundy then destroys UT.
Diesel won the title on November 26th 1994 from Bob Backlund in 8 seconds. Backlund won the title from Bret 3 days earlier so Bret wants the title back. This is a rematch of the King of the Ring except this time Diesel has the title. Big Daddy Cool hugs his guest LT before the match. Tie up to start and Diesel powers him to the corner. Bret gets a waistlock and tries to get Diesel down. They slug it out and Diesel catches Bret and slams him but misses an elbow. Bret runs into an elbow and is clotheslined to the outside. They slug on the apron and Bret is knocked off again. Bret takes down Diesel and rams his leg into the ringpost. He starts working on the right leg now. Bret is really working on it now and he hooks the Figure Four. Diesel manages to make it to the ropes but Bret doesn’t release the hold at first. Bret continues to work on the right leg and hooks the Figure Four again. Diesel makes it to the ropes again but Bret doesn’t let go again so the ref has to break it up. Bret continues to work on the leg and he hits a 2nd rope plancha on the outside. He rams him to the ringpost but Bret is rammed to the steps. Diesel limping starts to hammer the Hitman now. He hits a sidewalk slam for 2 and he hits a butt splash on the ropes. Diesel hits a backbreaker and holds him on the knee. Diesel is pounding on Bret now. He gets a shoulderbreaker style submission hold. Bret brakes it but is taken down. Diesel hits a big boot and hits an elbow for 2. Diesel runs into a boot and Bret hits a 2nd rope clothesline. He goes outside but Diesel catches him but Bret falls on top of him for 2. Bret takes down Diesel and ties up the tape from his wrist and wraps Diesel around the legs around the post and Bret takes some free shots but the ref breaks the tape. Bret hits a bulldog for 2. Bret starts the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM. Russian leg sweep for 2. Backbreaker followed by a 2nd rope elbow for 2. Bret hits a headbutt and clotheslines Diesel to the outside. He does a slingshot but Diesel catches him and rams him into the post. Back inside, Diesel signals for the Jackknife drawing some heat from the Bret Hart marks. Diesel hits the jackknife but Shawn Michaels runs into the ring and pounds away on Big Daddy Cool. However the ref doesn’t call a DQ he allows the match to continue. Bret goes back to work on the right leg of Diesel. He hooks the Figure Four for the third time. Diesel punches the bad ribs of Bret to break the hold. Bret hooks the leg of Diesel underneath the 2nd rope and doesn’t listen to the ref again. Bret misses a charge however and Diesel goes back to work on the ribs. I had ribs for dinner last night and they were good. J Diesel hits a gut wrench suplex for 2. Diesel with the boot to the throat. He misses a kick in the corner and Bret goes outside and rams Diesel’s bad leg into the post again. He grabs a chair and hits Diesel’s leg with it drawing some heat. He then hooks the sharpshooter but Owen Hart comes in and breaks it. He takes the top turnbuckle off and rams Bret stomach first into it. Once again however the ref allows the match to continue and both men are right for the pickings right now. The heels backstage must be loving this. Bret is out and Diesel covers him for 2. Bret block the ram into the exposed corner and he rams Diesel into it. Bret hammers on Diesel and knocks him down but Diesel gets back up and hammers on Bret. He knocks him to the outside. Diesel grabs a chair but the ref unhooks Bret so Diesel drops hit. Bret starts selling a leg injury but is faking it. Diesel tries to help him but Bret cradles him for 2. Bret hammers on Diesel again but he sends Diesel into the ref and Shawn, Owen, Bob Backlund, Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie come in the ring and pound on both athletes as the ref stops the match at 27:18 and declares it a draw. Bad ending to an otherwise terrific match ****1/4. Backlund comes back in the ring and hooks the Chicken Wing and the others pound on Diesel again. Diesel fights back and pounds on the heels and kicks Backlund breaking the hold. Both Diesel and Bret Hart hug in the ring after a hard fought match. I always love to see that.
Shawn Michaels and Diesel were the tag team champions but they vacated it at Survivor Series after breaking up. Thus a tournament was held.
1st round
Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka def. Men On A Mission
The Headshrinkers def. Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart
The Heavenly Bodies def. The Bushwhackers
The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly (filling in for the Smoking Gunns) def. Well Dunn
2nd round
Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka def. The Headshrinkers
The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly def. The Heavenly Bodies
Tag Team Tourney Finals: The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly VS Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka (with Ted Dibiase)
The Kid and Holly are announced at 344 lbs combined. I think it’s actually 444. Holly and Tatanka start. Tatanka tosses off Holly and hammers on him. Tatanka hits a sidewalk slam. Holly comes out of a slam with a head scissors. Bob Holly comes back with 2 dropkicks and they’re very good. Bam Bam comes in and is tripped. The kid comes in and they hit a double elbow but Bammer comes back with a double clothesline. Bammer tosses the Kid around like a rag doll. Kid is thrown up but catches Bammer in a hurricurana. Bammer hits an enzuguri for 2 however. Tatanka is back in and chops away at the Kid. He throws him into the turnbuckles. Bammer gets the tag again. Kid hits a dropkick but is slammed down. Bammer hits a suplex and a shoulderblock. But the kid backdrops him to the floor. Kid is nailed by Tatanka but Kid dropkicks Tatanka into Bam Bam. Both heels catch the faces and decide to ram em but instead the heels ram each other. Holly hits another dropkick for 2. Holly with some clotheslines on Tatanka but is pulled to the outside thanks to Bam Bam. Kid is upset but he’s held back by Danny Davis the ref. Tatanka slams Holly and hits an elbow. He hits a clothesline. Tatanka slams Holly and again and he nails the Kid. Tatanka hits a powerslam for 2 and Kid elbows his own partner. Bam Bam is in and Tatanka hits his own partner with a 2nd rope fist. Bammer hits an avalanche on Holly. He throws him to the outside. Holly gets a sunset flip but Bammer butt splashes him. Enzuguri by Bammer for 2. Bammer gets another 2 count. Holly makes a tag, to Tatanka. Holly is in the wrong corner and the heels work over him. Holly takes a gut wrench suplex by Tatanka. Tatanka hits a clothesline. Holly fights back but takes an eye rake. Tatanka chops Holly down like a tree. They both went for a cross body and knock each other out. Holly gets the hot tag to the Kid. Kid hits a missle dropkick on Bam Bam and a slingshot moonsault on Tatanka outside. Kid hits a flying bodypress for 2. Bammer picks up Kid and press slams him to the outside about a 7 foot drop. Bammer slams Kid to the outside and goes for a moonsault but Tatanka bounces off the ropes for whatever reason and Bammer falls off and the Kid gets the pin at 15:45 and the Kid and Holly are the new tag team champs but they would lose them the next night to the Smoking Gunns. Match was very good ***1/2. Dibiase and Tatanka leave Bam Bam in the ring and Bam Bam is embarrassed and not happy. He has to deal with fans laughing at him and then he spots Lawrence Taylor. He argues with LT a bit before LT offers Bam Bam a handshake. Bammer responds by shoving LT to the ground. LT wants to have at Bammer but is restrained. This angle leads to the main event at Wrestlemania and it’s a good one.
We look at last years Royal Rumble and Diesel throwing out 7 men at one time but he is eliminated by Shawn Michaels. We go to the end where Lex Luger and Bret Hart are the last two men and they elimnate each other at the same time and Jack Tunney declares them both co-winners.
We have 1 minute intervals this year and the reason is because the other matches got 2 hours so the show was running short of time. A lot of people have complained about this but I can see why they did it. Pamela Anderson will watch the match from ringside as she will escort the winner at Wrestlemania. Shawn Michaels is #1 and The British Bulldog is #2. Shawn jumps the Bulldog to start and Bulldog hits a backdrop and a press slam. Clothesline is oversold by Shawn. He sends Shawn upside down into the corner and he’s tied in the ropes but he kicks Bulldog. Shawn misses an elbow as Eli Blu (8-Ball) is #3. He goes after the Bulldog and kicks away at him. Shawn does the 10 punch count on Eli but is slammed in the corner. Shawn tries to get both his opponents over. Duke Droese is #4 and is caught by Shawn and Eli. Duke hammers on Shawn as the Bulldog tries to get Eli out. Bear hug by Droese but he is eyeraked. Jimmy Delray is #5. He hammers on the Duke but is nailed from behind by Eli. Shawn and Jimmy double team Duke and go at each other. Jimmy almost dumps Shawn out. Headshrinker Seone is #6. He goes after Shawn as well. Bulldog clotheslines Delray out. Seone and Eli go at it now. Droese and Bulldog in a corner. Tom Pritchard is #7. Seone almost gets Shawn out. Eli goes after Pritchard. Doink the Clown is #8. He goes after Seone. Dumpster continues to try to get Shawn out. Kwang (Savio Vega) is #9. He goes after the Bulldog. Seone is choking Pritchard in the corner. Rick Martel is #10. He goes after Doink. Kwang hits a running knee on Bulldog and almost gets Shawn out. Owen Hart is #11 and he comes out to huge heat. Bret Hart attacks him from behind and pounds on him. Timothy Well is #12 as Owen finally makes it to the ring and he charges Bulldog and is backdropped out. Shawn dumps Droese out as Bulldog throws out Well. Seone eliminates Martel as Shawn elminates Pritchard. Doink is backdropped to the apron and is kicked off by Kwang. Seone eliminates Kwang and Seone and Eli eliminate each other. Bushwhacker Luke is #13 and he’s dumped out by Shawn but he lasts longer than he did in 1991. Down to Shawn and Bulldog now. Bulldog hits a suplex as Jacob Blu (Skull) is #14. He pounds on Shawn but is backdropped out. Bulldog hits a headbutt and tries to dump Shawn out but can’t do it. King Kong Bundy is #15 to some huge heat as well. Bundy goes after the Bulldog and tries to dump him out. Shawn tries to get Bundy out but he is nailed. #16 is Mo and he comes in charges at Bundy and is backdropped out joining Luke and The Warlord as those who have lasted the shortest in a Royal Rumble. Bulldog tries to slam Bundy but Bundy is JUST TOO FAT. #17 is Mabel as Bundy almost has Bulldog out. Mabel and Bundy staredown and the slug it out. Mabel starts to get Bundy out. Bushwhacker Butch is #18 as Mabel dumps out Bundy. Butch goes after Michaels but he’s thrown out by Michaels as well. Mabel and Bulldog almost have Shawn out. Lex Luger is #19. He goes after Mabel and dumps him out like a feather. Luger pounds away on Shawn and he press slams him. Bulldog and Luger almost get Shawn out. Mantaur is # 20. He pounds on Luger but is caught by Bulldog. Shawn hits a double axhandle on Lex. Mantaur gets a hiptoss on Bulldog and an elbow. Aldo Montoya is #21 and he goes after Shawn. Bulldog and Luger double team Mantaur as Shawn goes to work on Montoya and tries to dump him out. Henry Godwinn is #22 who goes after Mantaur and Luger. Shawn and the Bulldog are still hanging in there Billy Gunn is #23 who goes after Mantaur as well. Why not? He’s the biggest man currently in the ring right now. Aldo almost gets Shawn out. Bart Gunn is #24 so we now have both Gunns in there. Bart is caught by Mantaur though. He tries to get Mantaur out but can’t. Luger and Henry go at it in the corner. Bob Backlund is #25 to huge heat. Backlund almost gets in the ring when Bret Hart attacks him just as he did Owen Hart earlier. Steven Dunn is #26 and he goes after Henry. Backlund is in the ring now and he is clotheslined out by Luger. Bret and Bob go after it in the aisleway again. Dick Murdoch is #27 who was a tag team champion with Adrian Adonis in 1984. He goes after everyone. Too many guys in there right now. Adam Bomb is #28 and he’s fired up. He goes after Steven Dunn in the corner. Mantaur hits an avalanche on Luger and almost gets him out #29 is Fatu who goes after Billy Gunn and almost gets him out. Bomb almost gets Shawn out as Luger dumps out Mantaur but is caught by Henry. Crush is #30 and he comes in the ring and he and Murdoch eliminate both Smoking Gunns as the Gunns were fighting each other. Idiots. Montoya elminates Dunn. Down to like 9 men now. Crush and Bomb go at it in the corner. Fatu and Shawn go at it. Crush pokes the Bulldog. Both Shawn and the Bulldog have been in there 30 minutes now. Murdoch almost dumps Shawn but Luger stops him. Crush is almost dumped by Bulldog. Murdoch hits some kneeling headbutts on Fatu but it has no affect. Those samoans have hard heads. Crush elminates Adam Bomb. Fatu is almost gone. Shawn dumps Montoya and Shawn is almost dumped by Murdoch again and is saved by Luger again. Crush hits a wicked clothesline on Fatu and dumps him out. Down to 6. Murdoch hits a dropkick on Henry and picks him up in a firemans carry and Shawn gets kicked in the face by Henry’s feet. Dick eliminates himself but Henry is still in. Henry and Shawn go after Luger as Bulldog tries to get Crush out. Henry runs into a foot and takes a lariat from Luger. Luger dumps out Henry and it’s down to 4. Shawn and Crush double team Luger in the corner and Shawn stops Bulldog from intervening. Shawn and Crush almost have Luger out but Luger fights back as Bulldog is taking a rest. Luger does the 10 punch count but is nailed by Shawn and dumped by Crush. Crush and Shawn now form a bond to try to get Bulldog out. They hit a double clothesline. Crush hammers Shawn and has him in a press slam but is eye raked and Bulldog clotheslines Crush out. Shawn and Bulldog are going to start and end this Royal Rumble!! They slug it out and Bulldog gets a kneelift he kicks Shawn on the turnbuckle and Bulldog almost press slams him out. Bulldog clotheslines Shawn out and it looks like Bulldog has won and his music starts playing but Shawn comes back in and eliminates Bulldog at 38:41 to win the Royal Rumble. Replays show that only one of Shawn’s feet has hit the floor. Good Royal Rumble despite the 1 minute intervals ***1/2
Summary: Both Hitman383 and Scott Keith have given
Neutral Feelings for this show. I beg to differ. Everybody put on a great show
and this is actually one of the best shows in WWF History. HIGHLY
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