Royal Rumble - USF Sun Dome, Tampa Florida, January 22nd 1995

The PPV starts with, appropriately enough, the main thing they were pushing on TV in the build up - the arrival of Pamela Anderson. She was probably the most famous woman in the world in 1995 so this is a BIG deal. She will accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble to the ring for their WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania XI. Quite funny to see all the assembled WWF roster trying to get her attention. She even ignores her obvious famous - the absolute gremlin Jimmy Del Ray.

Vince’s revolving door of commentary partners continues with Jerry “The King” Lawler tonight. This is a pretty enduring duo and the team that most people think of when thinking of the New Generation era of WWF. 

WWF Intercontinental Championship

Razor Ramon © vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie)

Vince gives a little shout out to the fans watching live in the UK on Sky Sports. That was new at the time, as most WWF shows aired on tape delay. That did continue 2002 for the weekly shows but the PPVs were always live, starting with this show.

Razor and Double J start fast - they haven’t interacted much on TV, this is a good example of Jeff being given a title shot because of his won-loss record and then the feud beginning with that, rather than him getting a title shot BECAUSE they’re feuding. More realistic I guess but this is a show which has a wrestling garbage man, race-car driver and clown on it so lets not get too gung ho about “realism”. 

Razor wins the first exchange and Jeff bails to the outside to be consoled by the Roadie, and then wins the next exchange and stops to strut, taunt and tap his temple. Jeff LOVES to show off. He does it again and it works - the crowd boos and The Roadie mirrors Jarrett’s strut on the outside. 

Razor gets control of the match and slows things down with an armwringer which is very much not his normal M.O. When the pace picks back up, Jeff wins that exchange with a pair of dropkicks and avoids an elbow drop and goes into a sleeper hold. Razor counters into a rollup but Jeff kicks out and immediately goes back on the offensive. This is more back and forth than I expected - during this era, the members of the backstage Klique tended to only look out for each other so Razor being so given with Double J is a pleasant surprise. 

Razor mounts a comeback but Jeff sidesteps him and sends him up and over the top rope to the floor. Jarrett quickly distracts the referee allowing The Roadie to run around the ring and clip the champion with a chop block on the concrete! Razor goes down, heavily selling his knee and is counted out. Double J wins the match but NOT the Intercontinental title. Jarrett isn’t happy about it and Roadie fetches him a microphone so that he can complain about it - he didn’t want to win the match, he wanted to win the Championship and so goads an injured Razor, limping up the ramp into restarting the match. He calls him chicken and the Bad Guy’s Machismo won’t allow that to stand and hobbles back to the ring. 

Given that Razor now has an injured knee, and Jeff’s finishing move is the Figure Four, you might all think you see the finish of this match coming but stay tuned. 

Ramon goes right for a roll up back in the ring but Jeff kicks out and goes right after his leg with a kick to the knee and wails on it, slamming it into the mat and dropping his weight across it. Roadie shows a lot more personality than he has since his debut last month, shouting abuse at Ramon as he flails on the mat. This also marks the first time he’s gotten physically involved in a Jarrett match. 

Jeff locks in the Figure Four in the middle of the ring and the end is high for Razor’s Intercontinental title reign. Razor struggles in the hold for a long long time, trying and failing to roll it over before he finally breaks it by throwing punches at Jarrett from a seated position. Back on their feet, he rocks the challenger with big right hands, but still can barely stay on his feet. He signals for the Razor’s Edge but when he lifts Jarrett, he crumbles on his bad leg and Jeff quickly pulls him into a small package for the three count! Jeff Jarrett wins and is the New Intercontinental Champion. 

This was a decent match with a straight-forward story. I feel like Jeff should have won by submission with the Figure Four, or at least had Razor pass out from the pain if they wanted him to stay strong. I can only assume that was the planned finish but Scott Hall and the Klique got it changed even more to keep him looking even stronger. But I’m nit-picking, Jeff Jarrett is the new Intercontinental Champion and that’s pretty cool. 

In Pamela Anderson’s locker room, Todd Pettengill interviews the bombshell and she shows off all the gifts she’s been sent by the generous wrestlers. A shrunken-head from the Headshrinkers, a big piggy bank from Henry Godwin and, hilariously, a Lex Lugar t-shirt from Lex Lugar. Bet he got that for free.

Elsewhere, Stephanie Wyland interviews the new Intercontinental Champion. He’s euphoric and calls this the greatest stop on his “Ain’t I Great?” album launch tour. He runs off to see Pamela because “he knows she’s waiting for him”. Good luck JJ. 

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted Dibiase)

The first of three big matches for the Million Dollar Corporation tonight. King predicts victory for the tax man but is nervous because the druids he’s had with him for the past two months aren’t here tonight. Vince suggests that President Jack Tunney has banned them from ringside. Undertaker’s entrance continues to evolve with the arena lights out, his theme music changing to be more epic rather than the familiar funeral march and crackling thunder and lightning giving everyone in the arena a chill. It was cool in 1995 and it’s cool now. 

This starts slow and stays there - IRS tries to brawl but is no match for the bigger, stronger Undertaker who dominates him and puts him down with the big arm-wringer and club off the top rope. Classic old-school. Undertaker gets distracted by Dibiase and IRS tries to attack from behind but it almost backfires and he strikes his own man. Irwin and Ted argue on the outside so the Million Dollar man has an idea and calls for the druids as back up, which puts a big smile on IRS’s face. Vince speculates about the druid’s identities; since you’re asking, it’s Jimmy Del Ray and one half of the Blu Brother’s tag team under the robes tonight. They pay dividends right away, shaking the ropes when Undertaker goes for a second old-school. He falls but immediately sits up and shrugs it off. Irwin clotheslines him out of the ring but he lands on his feet and grabs both druids around the throat. It gets a big cheer but he pays for it when IRS attacks him from behind and takes control of the match on the outside, distracting the referee so that the druids can get in cheap shots before throwing him back into the ring. Plan B seems to have worked out for the Million Dollar corporation and IRS goes into submission holds, holding the ropes for an illegal advantage. 

IRS slowly works over Undertaker and when he does fight back and sets up a Tombstone, the druids get up on the apron and he has to fight them off instead. Paul Bearer calls out about the “power of the urn” and Undertaker sits up again. King speculates that the urn gives Undertaker power. Yeah well duh, that’s been the case since 1990? Undertaker plants IRS out of nowhere with a chokeslam to win this match. IRS isn’t a bad wrestler but he is a very boring one - this wasn’t a good match. The druids and Dibiase gather with IRS on the outside of the ring as Undertaker and Bearer celebrate in the ring. A happy ending.

Or is it? The druids rush the ring and attack Undertaker, beating him up two on one in the darkness. Thankfully the lights do come back on. Undertaker fights them both off and drops them both with a chokeslam and a clothesline just as another Million Dollar Corp member arrives - King Kong Bundy. He gets in Undertaker’s face and with him focused, IRS attacks Paul Bearer from behind and steals the urn! Bundy beats up Undertaker, crushing him in the corner and then  a series of elbow drops, knee drops and splashes. With no urn for him to draw power from, Undertaker has no chance and is left laid out by the big man. IRS has repossessed The Undertaker’s urn. Bearer draws on the crowd instead of the urn and it works, kind of. Undertaker sits up and leaves under his own power with Bearer. 

Undertaker’s issues with Ted Dibiase began in the summer of 1994 with the fake Undertaker. He took a little detour to deal with Yokozuna at Survivor Series but even then, was feuding with IRS. He’s now moving onto King Kong Bundy and believe me, the Million Dollar Corporation isn’t going anywhere. They dominated Undertaker’s schedule for over a year. He gott some good stuff to do in 1996 though, so have faith, Creature’s of the Night. 

Before the WWF Championship match, Vince shows us Todd Pettengill’s attempts to interview both Diesel and Bret Hart on The Action Zone before the PPV. Neither was very successful - they are both very quiet, introspective and focused on their Championship match. King offers some decent insight into the match too - he’s not terrible when he acts like a real commentator rather than a heel character.

WWF Championship

Diesel © vs. Bret Hart

When Diesel comes out, he makes his way over to say hello to NFL player for the New York Giants, Lawrence Taylor. Vince did mention that he’s here earlier in the show, invited personally by Diesel at some charity event during the week. That’ll be important later in the show. The two fist-bump before the bell rings, and Jerry Lawler actually predicts Bret will win this, praising his in-ring skills despite how much he “hates” him. Bret goes right for Diesel’s leg and then he gets to the ropes, gets frustrated and shoves the champion, turning this into a brawl.

It works as Diesel goes high with punches so Bret can go low and focus on the big man’s leg. He picks him apart with elbows and knees and locks in the figure four. Diesel is so tall he can get to the ropes pretty quickly but the damage is done. A smart game plan against the 7 foot tall power wrestler. 

Jerry Lawler actually applauds this show of aggression by Bret Hart, who drags Diesel away from the ropes, drops a few elbows and then locks the figure four back in. Vince reminds us of their last match against each other at the King of the Ring last June which ended by disqualification.

The champion rolls to the outside and manages to get back into the match, sending Bret hard into the ring steps. He’s walking with a limp but back in the match and scores a big sidewalk slam. That looked great, and Bret kicked out.

Bret’s first attack on the legs worked and now, on the back foot, gets desperate going back to the legs and in a really dirty trick he wraps the big man’s legs around the ring post and ties his ankles together with his wrist tape. That gets some boos but allows Bret to stomp and kick away at Big Daddy Cool until the referee cuts him free. Bret is desperate to regain the WWF Championship. He dives to the outside onto Diesel who catches him and runs the challenger spine-first into the ring post and then sets up for the Jackknife, which he hits. Bret is out but before the referee can count the three, Shawn Michaels sprints to the ring and breaks it up. He hammers on Diesel with punches and kicks like a wild animal as the referee screams at him to leave. This match is surely over by disqualification but with no explanation, the referee decrees that the match must continue. 

They both stagger back to their feet and Bret goes right back to the leg, kicking away at the champion’s knee and dropping elbows into the hamstring. He is laser focused and still showing a lot more aggression than usual. He locks in a third figure four but Diesel breaks that with furious punches to the ribs, which have become Bret’s weak point in this match. Bret’s desperation continues as he hammers on Diesel’s legs, wrapping them around the ring post and this time hitting him in the leg with a steel chair! That gets a lot of boos from the crowd. He locks Diesel in the Sharpshooter and has the title won, but Owen Hart runs down and attacks his brother.

He removes the turnbuckle cover and whips him hard, chest first, into the exposed steel. The referee ejects Owen from ringside and once again declares that this match must continue. Both men are badly hurt and no doubt, as big babyfaces, would want the match to continue so I guess it’s fine. Bret hasn’t moved since hitting the turnbuckle but when Diesel crawls slowly into a cover, the Hitman kicks out.

The two of them fight to their feet and trade punches and forearms with Diesel bouncing against the ropes to stay on his feet and Bret actually collapsing through the ropes to hang upside down. Big Daddy Cool continues using a steel chair but Bret rolls into the ring and, after shooting a glance at the champion, collapses selling his knee. The referee holds Diesel back but the Hitman was playing opossum and pulls him into a small package, almost stealing the victory! 

They run into the referee, knocking him down and with no referee the ring is rushed by Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart and Bob Backlund, as well as Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie. The five heels attack both men until the bell rings and referees and officials flood out to stop the assault. It takes a bit of time to gain control and the match is officially declared a draw. That gets loud boos from the crowd. 

Diesel rescues Bret from Bob Backlund’s chickenwing and with the heels all finally cleared away, Big Daddy Cool helps Bret up to his feet and the two embrace like the big babyface heroes they are. That gets a big cheer and a round of applause which I’m sure made Vince McMahon very happy. Even Lawler gives both men his respect.

The finish to this match was universally unpopular. ECW owner Paul Heyman actually used it in a storyline, booking a main event for his own show and marketing it with promises to give fans a real finish unlike the most recent WWF PPV (which was this one). The fans booed it too, and that shows the way fans tastes were shifting. The WWF has, for years, been built on squash matches against no-name jobbers and big name vs. big name matches normally ending by either count out or disqualification to protect both parties. Fans were starting to see through it and I’m excited to see how the booking of Raw changes to reflect that - the format has been one proper match and then a bunch of jobber squashes since day one but at a certain point the three minute non-matches disappeared. I wonder how different it’ll be by the end of 1995. 

Jerry Lawler uses his telestrator (that’s Bobby Heenan’s old Brain Scan) to show us why Pamela is so happy to be here tonight - he draws himself giving her a big kiss. 

Back in Pamela Anderson’s changing room, a nervous Todd has to hand her her purse as she gets changed behind a partition. Saved by the Bell levels of racy scandal here. Elsewhere, Stephanie Wyland interviews The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly. She calls them a Cinderella story - something Vince calls them a lot on commentary too - and they cut a bland babyface promo about how they’re nervous but excited and this is their biggest opportunity to date. I mean The Kid won the Tag Titles once before with Marty Jannetty, and had a WWF Championship match on Raw so the biggest? Come on kid. Sparkplugg made his PPV and TV debut during last year’s Rumble match so he’s come a long way.

Tournament Finals for the vacant WWF Tag Team Championships

Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka (w/Ted Dibiase) vs. The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly

The Million Dollar Team beat Men on a Mission and The Headshrinkers, while Kid and Holly beat Well Dunne and The Heavenly Bodies to get to this final match. So that’s four actual full time tag teams passed over by two make-shift singles duos. The Tag Team division was not in a great spot in early 1995.

The Kid and Bob Holly took The Smoking Gunns’ spot in this tournament as Billy got injured in “a rodeo contest” which is nonsense and just a bit of character building. Billy was and is fine, and they’ll get a match with the winners of this for the Tag Team titles tomorrow night on Raw.

Bob and Tatanka kick things off. Weirdly, Bigelow and Kid are in different corners to the normal ones for a tag team match, so the layout looks backwards. Throwing me off, lads! Before long they tag out and Bam Bam launches the Kid around the ring with ease with slam after big slam. He boosts him HIGH into the air but he catches him with a hurricanrana on the way down. That gets a great reaction but Bigelow quickly puts him down with a kick to the head. 

Bam Bam and Tatanka tag in and out quickly, working over the 1-2-3 Kid for a while. He finally makes a tag to Holly who also runs into a brick wall and gets worked over. Tatanka actually hits his Samoan drop finisher but doesn’t go for the pin for some reason and they continue to work him over to near silence from the crowd. 

Holly tries his best to make the tag more than once but Tatanka and Bigelow do a good job of distracting the referee so he misses the tag, and then at one point he goes to the wrong corner and is wailed on two on one. He finally hits a nice dropkick and tags and the Kid picks up the pace with spinning heel kicks, a missile dropkick to Bigelow and then a big flipping senton to the outside on Tatanka. 

Back in the ring, Bigelow puts him down again and sets up for a moonsault but Tatanka doesn’t see his partner and bounces off the ropes, knocking Bam Bam down to the mat with a thud. That seems to knock him out cold and after a very long pause, the 1-2-3 Kid crawls into a cover. It’s enough and the fans go wild! They were so quiet all through the match but pop huge for the new Tag Team Champions.

This tournament was necessary because Shawn and Diesel dropped the belts without actually losing. I talked about The Klique at Summerslam and how their politics got them the titles in the first place but here we see the first of many examples of them losing championships without actually losing - it wasn’t the last time Shawn Michaels did it. He later defended the move, saying that Diesel was about to win the WWF title so having him lose to a tag team in the build up to that would have hurt him. He might have a point but its easy to work around that kind of thing. Regardless, the Tag titles are back in play and The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly have their first defence tomorrow on Raw. 

After the bell, Dibiase and Tatanka leave in disgust and when Bam Bam finally wakes up he looks around in confusion both at having lost and at having been abandoned by his team mates. His mouth is bleeding too - maybe he bit his tongue? He walks around the ring arguing with the fans until reaching Lawrence Taylor. The NFL great has a good laugh at Bigelow’s expense. He gets in Taylor’s face who smiles and offers a handshake. Bam Bam shoves him and that turns things heated! Taylor looks like he could kill someone and wants a fight, held back by his various entourage. Vince and King react in awe and disgust and make the whole thing feel like a very unscripted moment. After some replays from last year’s Royal Rumble match and comments from Shawn Michaels and Lex Lugar about their chances tonight, back at ringside Vince and Lawler apologise on behalf of Bam Bam and the World Wrestling Federation, treating his altercation with Lawrence Taylor as seriously as a heart attack.

Before the Rumble match begins, Howard Finkle gives a glowing introduction to Pamela Anderson as tonight’s host. WWF officials including Pat Patterson are on hand to stop the fans from being able to touch her, which a bunch of them reach out to try and do. Gross, be cool guys. She’s going to sit at ringside and watch this match - she’s very friendly I’m sure but looks like she has no interest in any of this.

The 1995 30-man Royal Rumble match

The Number One entrant is Shawn Michaels! Vince reacts with shock - HBK drew his number earlier and Vince suggests that Michaels must be devastated and putting a brave face on things with his over confidence. Number Two is another one of the favourites this year, The British Bulldog. Starting strong with these two - there aren’t many men in this match who have a realistic chance of winning so this is about 30% of the entire field. HBK attacks Bulldog immediately and throws jabs at his face. There’s only one minute between entrants this year so this should be a fast moving match.

Bulldog bounces Shawn around with clotheslines and almost throws him out more than once before Number Three, Eli Blu makes his way to the ring. This is the first time I’ve seen either of the Blu Brothers on TV but I’m sure this tag team of twins debuted on the weekend shows or something before now. Number Four is Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. He slams Michaels and then locks him in a bearhug. Number Five is Jimmy Del Ray who springs to the ring. There’s almost no down time between entrants here. Number Six is one half of the Headshrinkers, Sionne. He’s brought out by Captain Lou and Afa, who turn around and leave as soon as he’s in the ring. Jimmy Del Ray is the first man eliminated, clotheslined out by the British Bulldog. Number Seven is the other half of the Heavenly Bodies, Tom Prichard. Shawn Michaels continues to just barely escape elimination, being lifted by the big men and wriggling free as they approach the ropes. Number Eight is Doink the Clown, led by Dink. The only spots so far have been Shawn Michaels getting very, very close to being thrown out…and escaping at the last second. Number Nine is Kwang. He doesn’t do anything. Number Ten is Rick “The Model” Martel. This is the first time I’ve seen him on TV in months, I honestly thought he’d left for WCW by now. Number Eleven is Owen Hart, who is attacked during his entrance by Bret! Like Michaels and Bulldog, he’s one of a few small group who could realistically win this. Bret is pissed at Owen for costing him the title earlier and hammers on his little brother until finally being held back by referees and taken to the back.

Number Twelve is Timothy Well from Well Dunne who gets a huge pop? No, the crowd cheered because Owen got into the ring and was immediately eliminated! There’s a little bit of a ring clear as Michaels and Bulldog take it in turns to dump people up and over and I missed who went out when. Number Thirteen is Luke from the Bushwackers and just as he gets to the ring, Shawn and Bulldog are the only men left in the ring! Luke is instantly dumped out to keep it one on one between numbers one and two. Number Fourteen is Jacob Blu who throws big clotheslines at both men but HBK ducks his charge and he’s thrown out quickly. Number Fifteen is another of the small group of favourites, the massive King Kong Bundy. Ted Dibiase promised he’d win it anyway. Number Sixteen is one half of Men on a Mission, Mo. He runs across the ring and is instantly thrown out by Bundy, lasting roughly 1 second in the ring! That gives Jerry Lawler a big laugh. Number Seventeen is his tag team partner Mabel! He’s even bigger and heavier than Bundy. They get face to face and trade blows. The fans are into it, but not as much as they would have been for this kind of spot a few years earlier in the Hulkamania era.

Mabel wins the exchange and actually gets Bundy up and over the top rope as Number Eighteen, Butch bounces to the ring. Bundy is gone, and Butch quickly follows. Number Nineteen is Lex Lugar, one of last year’s winners. He goes right after everyone in the ring and in an awesome show of strength, throws the 500lbs Mabel over the top like he’s nothing. Number Twenty is Mantaur. He clubs Lex across the back and actually dominates the three main-eventers in waiting. Vince must have had big plans for Mantaur. Twenty One is Aldo Montoya, the Portuguese Man O’War. A talented worker but he joins Mantaur on the pile of “people who got zero crowd reaction”. Vince calls the action unbelievable as they all slowly club each other. Twenty Two is the farmer from Arkansas Henry O. Godwin. More apathy from the Tampa crowd. For the first time since the match started, Pam Anderson is shown watching at ringside looking exceptionally bored. Twenty Three is Billy Gunn, who sprints to the ring and goes right after Mantaur. Twenty Four is Bart Gunn. That’s the second time in this match that two halves of a tag team have entered one after another (Mo and Mabel). Entrant Twenty Five is former WWF Champion Mr. Bob Backlund. Just like Owen earlier, he’s attacked by Bret before he’s able to get into the ring. The Hitman hammers on him for his actions earlier until being physically restrained by referees.

They’re still fighting on the outside when Twenty Six, Steven Dunne enters. That’s also the second time a member of Well Dunne entered right after Bret Hart attacked someone. Backlund is thrown into the ring and then immediately thrown out by Lex Lugar. He rushes after Bret and the two of them fight in the entrance way, disappearing backstage. Twenty Seven is Dick Murdoch. The crowd could not care less about this fat old man and neither do I. Dick Murdoch was a member of the KKK so you’ll forgive me if I pay him zero attention. Number Twenty Eight is Adam Bomb and Number Twenty Nine is Fatu. The ring is VERY full with only Michaels, Lugar or Bulldog being real contenders for victory here. Number Thirty is Crush, who I feel like I haven’t seen on TV for months. He was such a big part of the show before Summerslam. Vince starts talking about Crush like he’s already won.

The camera shows Pamela Anderson again now that everyone has entered and she awkwardly points at the ring, presumably because she doesn’t want to be on camera at this event. After more punches and clubs and eliminations, the final four is Lex Lugar, Crush and amazingly the men who began the match at numbers one and two - Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog. Lugar stupidly mounts the ropes to punch Crush in the corner and it backfires as Michaels is able to hit him from behind and knock him out of the ring. Shawn asks Crush to trust him and team up against the British Bulldog for this final stretch. The big man sees the double cross coming and lifts Michaels to throw him out but he wriggles free and Bulldog clotheslines Crush out of the ring! The crowd applauds when they realise that the final two men in the ring are the two men who started the match over 35 minutes ago. Michaels bumps all over the ring and finally Bulldog clotheslines him up and over!

He celebrates and his theme music even plays even though in the background we can see Michaels holding onto the ropes. He rushes the ring, knocks Bulldog out of the ring from behind! There’s confusion until Howard Finkle makes the iconic call - only ONE of Shawn Michaels’ feet touched the floor therefore the winner of the match is Shawn Michaels! He’s done it, from number one all the way to the end. On a slow motion replay, Shawn hangs and flails, struggling to hold on. This moment is why from 1995 onwards, the “both feet must touch the floor” stipulation is known as the Shawn Michaels rule.

The PPV ends with Michaels posing and celebrating in the ring while Pamela Anderson stands behind him looking deeply uncomfortable. It kind of works given that he’s a heel and she’s not supposed to be impressed by him but in reality I’m sure she just wasn’t really into this sweaty man with a mullet trying to grind on her.