WWF Royal Rumble 1993

1) The Steiner Brothers vs. The Beverly Brothers - 4

This started off really sloppy and never really recovered. The Steiners throwing the Beverlys around the ring without any cause or care. Head drops were abound late in the bout with Rick nearly breaking Blake’s neck and Scott stuffing Beau headfirst on the mat with a Frankensteiner. This was hard hitting but messier than Lawler’s crown after Skinner shit all over it.

2) Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty - 3

Jannetty started off on fire but quickly fizzled out. Weird moment outside where Michaels rams Jannetty shoulder first into the ringpost and one of two things happened … either Shawn rammed the wrong shoulder into the post or Jannetty sold the wrong shoulder. I think the first option is probably the most likely. Jannetty’s weak ass selling of the shoulder by lightly putting his hand on it and making faces wasn’t cutting for me. On his comeback, Jannetty stopped selling completely. Jannetty tried to a move from the top rope but after he jumped he realized Shawn was too far away and just landed on his feet in a really awkward moment. There was a ref bump and Sherri interference which led to the ref sliding over like he was a pile of ooze and counting the pin. Afterwards, a weak-ass pull apart brawl backstage. I wasn’t buying the hatred either as both guys just coasted through an easy match and then did some lines together backstage.

3) Bam Bam Bigelow vs. The Big Bossman - 3

Bigelow worked an amateur ride for what seemed like forever, squeezing the life out of Bossman and the match. Bossman got a few good licks in but nothing out of the ordinary. Compared to the recent Bossman I’ve seen from 1993 All Japan, this sucked. They put forth the effort though so it counts for something.

4) Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon - 5

Heenan was making jokes against Bret’s dad during the opening portion of the match. Razor’s main offense was working over Bret’s ribs and back after ramming him into the ringpost. Bret worked over the legs of Razor to set him up for the sharpshooter. The main question of the match was “would Bret be able to apply the sharpshooter to Razor?” Bret hit a nice dive through the ropes and a back drop suplex that almost snapped Razor’s neck. The nearfall sequence near the end was nice. I thought the finish was a bit flat with Bret slapping on the sharpshooter while laying on the mat. Decent little match but nothing too spectacular. The selling by Bret was solid and Razor looked good for it only being his second big pay-per-view match.

5) Royal Rumble Match - 4

This featured probably the most random assortment of talent of any Rumble match with such names as Papa Shango, Max Moon, Koko B. Ware, Skinner, Damien Demento, Terry Taylor, Rick Martel, Owen Hart, and Carlos Colon. Of course, it also featured the main players at the time including Ric Flair, Yokozuna, Randy Savage, Bob Backlund, Mr. Perfect, and Undertaker. The crowd was pretty flat for most of the match, only popping for major moments such as Perfect eliminating Flair, the entrance of Savage, and Yokozuna and Earthquake squaring off. Flair and Tenryu had a nice chop exchange. Backlund also ahd a hell of a run, lasting roughly 62:00 until the he was the next to last man eliminated after entering the match at #2. The match hit a dead stop when Giant Gonzalez interfered and beat up Undertaker for about five minutes. The finish was super long and super dumb. It consisted of Yokozuna beating on Savage for about 9 minutes and Savage returning the favor for about one minute. Yoko missed a splash in the corner, Savage dropped an elbow, and pinned him. Huh? Why the fuck would he do that? Yoko pushes him straight up and it’s obvious that he jumped over the top rope. Bad finish to a bad Rumble.