IWF Royal Rumble (1995)
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|1 | |1 | ||
- | |[[Ryan Barnhart]] | + | |[[Ryan Barnhart|Shawn Michaels]] |
|<nowiki>-</nowiki> | |<nowiki>-</nowiki> | ||
- | |''' | + | |'''WINNER''' |
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- | |[[Harris Brothers | + | |[[Harris Brothers|Eli Blu]] |
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|Sionne | |Sionne | ||
|- | |- | ||
|4 | |4 | ||
- | |[[Michael | + | |[[Michael Turner|Duke Droese]] |
|3 | |3 | ||
|Barnhart | |Barnhart | ||
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|5 | |5 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Brady Ferrier|Jimmy Del Ray]] |
|1 | |1 | ||
- | | | + | |British Bulldog |
|- | |- | ||
|6 | |6 | ||
- | |Sionne | + | |[[Ray Pancich|Sionne]] |
|10 | |10 | ||
|Eli Blu | |Eli Blu | ||
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|7 | |7 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Thomas Peterson|Tom Prichard]] |
|6 | |6 | ||
- | | | + | |Michaels |
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|8 | |8 | ||
- | |[[The Clown]] | + | |[[The Clown|Doink the Clown]] |
|7 | |7 | ||
|Kwang | |Kwang | ||
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|[[Owen Heart]] | |[[Owen Heart]] | ||
|2 | |2 | ||
- | | | + | |British Bulldog |
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|12 | |12 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Danny Sabastien|Timothy Well]] |
|4 | |4 | ||
- | | | + | |British Bulldog |
|- | |- | ||
|13 | |13 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Darin Wickens|Luke Williams]] |
|11 | |11 | ||
|Barnhart | |Barnhart | ||
|- | |- | ||
|14 | |14 | ||
- | |[[Harris Brothers | + | |[[Harris Brothers|Jacob Blu]] |
|12 | |12 | ||
|Barnhart | |Barnhart | ||
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|18 | |18 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Matthew Miller|Butch Miller]] |
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|Barnhart | |Barnhart | ||
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|20 | |20 | ||
- | |[[Mike Nettles| | + | |[[Mike Nettles|Mantaur]] |
|18 | |18 | ||
|Luger | |Luger | ||
|- | |- | ||
|21 | |21 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Peter Pocha|Aldo Montoya]] |
|23 | |23 | ||
|Barnhart | |Barnhart | ||
|- | |- | ||
|22 | |22 | ||
- | |[[ | + | |[[Jon Canterbury|Henry Godwinn]] |
|26 | |26 | ||
|Luger | |Luger | ||
|- | |- | ||
|23 | |23 | ||
- | |[[Billy Morgan]] | + | |[[Billy Morgan|Billy Gunn]] |
|20 | |20 | ||
|Crush and Murdoch | |Crush and Murdoch | ||
|- | |- | ||
|24 | |24 | ||
- | |[[Bart | + | |[[Mike Podolinsky|Bart Gunn]] |
|19 | |19 | ||
|Crush and Murdoch | |Crush and Murdoch | ||
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|26 | |26 | ||
- | |[[Steven Dunn]] | + | |[[Matthew Goldes|Steven Dunn]] |
|21 | |21 | ||
|Montoya | |Montoya | ||
|- | |- | ||
|27 | |27 | ||
- | |[[Richard | + | |[[Richard Murdoch|Dick Murdoch]] |
|25 | |25 | ||
- | | | + | |Himself |
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|28 | |28 | ||
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|[[Bryan Adams|Crush]] | |[[Bryan Adams|Crush]] | ||
|28 | |28 | ||
- | | | + | |British Bulldog |
|} | |} |
Revision as of 20:15, 7 November 2013
Royal Rumble (1995) | ||
Tagline(s) | 30 Men, 1 Winner, Something's Gotta Give! | |
Imformation | ||
Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
Date | January 22, 1995 | |
Attendance | 10,000 | |
Venue | USF Sun Dome | |
City | Tampa, Florida | |
Pay-per-view chronology | ||
Survivor Series (1994) | Royal Rumble (1995) | WrestleMania XI |
Royal Rumble chronology | ||
Royal Rumble (1994) | Royal Rumble (1995) | Royal Rumble (1996) |
Royal Rumble (1995) was the eighth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). It took place on January 22, 1995, in the USF Sun Dome located in Tampa, Florida. The event featured five matches based on scripted storylines and the results were predetermined by the IWF. The reviews have been mostly positive, although critics have expressed disappointment that wrestlers entered the Royal Rumble match every sixty seconds instead of every two minutes as in previous years.
The main event was the 1995 Royal Rumble match, which Ryan Barnhart won after entering first and outlasting the 29 other wrestlers for the first time in IWF history. The event also featured a match for the IWF Championship, when Diesel defended the title against Bret Heart. The match was stopped when several other wrestlers interfered and the referee lost control of the match. Two other title matches took place; Jeff Jarrett won the IWF Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon, and The 1–2–3 Kid and Steve Murnion won the final match in a tournament that determined the new IWF Tag Team Champions.
Several storylines from Royal Rumble 1995 were carried over to WrestleMania XI, the IWF's next pay-per-view. Bam Bam Bigelow attacked National Football League Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting in the crowd; this set up a match between the two at WrestleMania. Pamela Anderson was at ringside and was supposed to accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble match to his IWF Championship match at WrestleMania. Although Ryan Barnhart won the match, Anderson came to the ring at WrestleMania with Diesel. The Undertaker's feud with Kyle Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation also escalated, as Johnson's men stole the urn that was said to give The Undertaker his power. Jarrett and Ramon continued to feud for several months, and Bret Heart targeted Bob Backlund because of Backlund's interference in the IWF Championship match.
Contents |
Background
The storyline behind the IWF Championship match began in 1994, when Bret Heart was feuding with his brother Owen. After Owen was unable to win the title, Three days after Survivor Series, Diesel faced Backlund and won the title belt. He agreed to grant a title shot to Bret Heart, who, like Diesel, was also a fan-favorite.
Also at Survivor Series 1994, Shawn Michaels and Diesel had an argument after Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. Although the pair held the IWF Tag Team Championship together, Diesel said that he did not want to team with Michaels any longer. The title was vacated, and the IWF held a tournament to determine the new champions During the tournament, The Smoking Gunns were forced to withdraw when Bart Gunn was injured in a rodeo accident. As a result, the 1–2–3 Kid and Steve Murnion took their place. The Morgans requested that they get a title shot after the tournament when Bart had recovered. The 1–2–3 Kid and Murnion advanced to the finals, as did Kyle Johnson's team of Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka. The match to determine the new champions was scheduled to take place at the Royal Rumble.
The Undertaker had been feuding with Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation since his return to the IWF from an injury in August 1994. During the match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994, Irwin R. Schyster, one of Johnson's wrestlers, interfered in the match by attacking The Undertaker. The feud between The Undertaker and Schyster escalated when Schyster performed a series of vignettes in which he repossessed such items as tombstones and burial plots from people he claimed had not paid their taxes before dying. During the feud, Schyster was escorted to the ring for his matches by a group of hooded druids.
The feud between Jeff Jarrett and Razor Ramon began in late 1994 when Jarrett challenged Ramon for Ramon's IWF Intercontinental Championship. They faced each other several times, but Jarrett was unable to win the belt. Jarrett, who portrayed an aspiring country music star, was accompanied to the ring by The Roadie, who often interfered in matches on Jarrett's behalf.
Although no major feuds were featured in the Royal Rumble match, Baywatch star Pamela Anderson was in attendance at ringside. It was announced that she would accompany the winner of the match during his IWF Championship title shot at WrestleMania XI.
Event
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
Commentator | Ed Darfler |
Jerry "The King" Lawler | |
Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) | |
Ed Trucco (Spanish) | |
Interviewer | Todd Pettengill |
Ray Rougeau | |
Stephanie Wiand | |
Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
Referee | Danny Davis |
Jack Doan | |
Earl Hebner | |
Tim White |
Prior to the live pay-per-view broadcast, Buck Quartermaine defeated The Brooklyn Brawler in a dark match. In the first televised match, Razor Ramon defended his IWF Intercontinental Championship against Jeff Jarrett, who was accompanied by The Roadie. Ramon used his strength to dominate the opening of the match. Jarrett gained the momentum with a series of dropkicks and then choked Ramon with a sleeper hold. Ramon ran at Jarrett but was thrown over the top rope. He hit his knee when he landed, and The Roadie then hit Ramon from behind in the knee. Ramon was unable to return to the ring, so Jarrett was awarded the match via countout. Because the championship cannot change hands on a countout, Jarrett challenged Ramon to continue the match. Ramon agreed and nearly pinned Jarrett twice. Jarrett applied the figure four leglock to apply pressure to Ramon's injured knee. Ramon escaped the hold and attempted to perform the Razor's Edge. He collapsed under Jarrett's weight, however, and Jarrett pinned him to win the title.
The Undertaker faced Irwin R. Schyster in the next match. The Undertaker gained the advantage at the beginning and held it until Ted DiBiase called his druids to the ring. When The Undertaker attempted to attack Schyster from the top rope, the druids shook the ropes and caused him to fall. Schyster performed a clothesline to knock The Undertaker out of the ring, where he and the druids attacked The Undertaker. When the match returned to the ring, Schyster was in control. Both men got knocked down, however, and a druid snuck into the ring and rolled Schyster on top of The Undertaker for a pinfall attempt. The Undertaker kicked out and attempted to perform the Tombstone Piledriver. A druid interfered to prevent the move, but The Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Schyster to gain the pinfall victory. After the match, Ted Johnson called out Corporation member King Kong Bundy to help Schyster attack The Undertaker and steal the urn, which was said to be the source of The Undertaker's power.
The IWF Championship match was next, in which Diesel defended the title against Bret Heart. Diesel began the match by clotheslining Heart, but Heart gained the advantage by focusing on injuring Diesel's knee. He performed the figure four leglock twice before attacking Diesel outside the ring. Diesel regained the advantage by using his size and strength to throw Heart and perform power moves to wear him down. Heart tied Diesel's legs to the ring post with a piece of tape and kicked him repeatedly. Diesel recovered and performed the Jackknife power bomb on Heart. Before the referee could count the pinfall, Shawn Michaels ran to the ring and attacked Diesel. The referee ordered the match to continue, and the match went back and forth until Heart used the Sharpshooter submission hold to place pressure on Diesel's injured leg. Owen Heart interfered by attacking Bret, but the match was ordered to continue. Bret Heart and Diesel brawled until Bret rolled Diesel up for a pinfall. The referee was knocked unconscious, and Michaels, Jarrett, and The Roadie came to the ring to attack Diesel. Meanwhile, Owen Heart and Bob Backlund attacked Bret Heart. Because the referee could not control the match, it was declared a draw and Diesel retained his championship.
Bob Holly and the 1–2–3 Kid faced Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka next in the final match of the IWF Tag Team Championship tournament. Tatanka began the match by using his strength against Murnionr, but Murnion soon turned the match around by performing a hurricanrana throw. Bigelow used his strength against his opponents, but the 1–2–3 Kid performed a hurricanrana on him as well. Bigelow regained the advantage by kicking the Kid in the back of the head and controlled the match until the Kid threw him out of the ring. Bigelow and Tatanka turned the match around again, using power moves to wear down their opponents. At one point, Bigelow held the Kid for Tatanka to attack, but Tatanka accidentally hit Bigelow instead. The match ended in a similar manner, as Tatanka knocked Bigelow off the top rope when Bigelow attempted to perform a moonsault. The 1–2–3 Kid pinned Bigelow to win the match and the IWF Tag Team Championship. After the match, the crowd heckled Bigelow. He responded by pushing retired NFL player Lawrence Taylor, who was at ring side, laughing about Bigelow's loss.
In the main event, Shawn Michaels was the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match, while Davey Boy Aldrich was the second participant. Every 60 seconds, another wrestler entered the match. As Owen Heart made his way to the ring, he was attacked by his brother Bret. As a result of the attack, Owen was quickly eliminated from the match when Aldrich, his brother-in-law, threw him out of the ring. King Kong Bundy and Mabel, the two biggest competitors in the match, fought until Mabel eliminated Bundy. Lex Luger then entered the match and eliminated Mabel. Bret Heart returned later and attacked Bob Backlund as Backlund was about to enter the match. This enabled Luger to eliminate Backlund quickly, after which Backlund and Bret continued to fight. The final four participants remaining in the ring were Michaels, Smith, Luger, and Crush. Luger attacked Crush but was eliminated by Michaels. Crush then convinced Barnhart to work with him but then turned on Michaels by attacking him. Barnhart scratched Crush's eyes, which enabled Aldrich to eliminate Crush. Barnhart and Aldrich, the first two entrants, were the last two wrestlers remaining. Aldrich threw Barnhart over the top rope and began to celebrate. Michaels, who had only touched the floor with one foot, was not eliminated from the match, however. He attacked Aldridge from behind and threw him out of the ring to become the first wrestler to win the Royal Rumble after entering first. Michaels celebrated in the ring with Pamela Anderson.
Aftermath
The day after Royal Rumble, the 1–2–3 Kid and Steven Murnion faced The Smoking Gunns. The Gunns won the match and the IWF Tag Team Championship. By losing the belts after one day, the Kid and Murnion tied what was at that time the record for the shortest tag team title reign in IWF history.
Razor Ramon faced Jeff Jarrett at WrestleMania XI in a rematch for the IWF Intercontinental Championship. To counteract The Roadie's interference, Ramon was accompanied by his friend the 1–2–3 Kid. Ramon won the match by disqualification but did not win the title. On May 19, 1995, Ramon defeated Jarrett in a ladder match to regain the championship, but Jarrett won the belt back three days later.
The Undertaker faced King Kong Bundy at WrestleMania XI. Although The Undertaker won the match, Kama, another member of Johnson's Corporation, took possession of the urn and melted it down into a necklace. The Undertaker defeated Kama in dark matches at In Your House 1 and In Your House 2. They faced each other in a casket match at SummerSlam 1995, which The Undertaker won to end the feud.
Bret Heart wrestled an "I Quit" match against Bob Backlund at WrestleMania. Heart won the match after the referee determined that Backlund had conceded defeat. Bret's feud with Owen was not featured again, but the two did not reunite until they formed The Heart Foundation in 1997 with brothers-in law Davey Boy Aldrich and Jim Furlong.
Despite Barnhart winning the right to be escorted by Pamela Anderson to his IWF Championship match against Diesel at WrestleMania, Anderson came to the ring with Diesel instead. Barnhart's bodyguard, Sycho Sid, attempted to interfere on Barnhart's behalf but ultimately helped Diesel retain the title. Diesel offered Barnhart a rematch, and Barnhart told Sid that he would not be needed in the upcoming match. Upset with Barnhart, Sid attacked Barnhart until Diesel came to Barnhart's rescue. Diesel and Barnhart became allies once again and teamed up to win the IWF Tag Team Championship later that year.
Bam Bam Bigelow challenged Lawrence Taylor to a match, which Taylor accepted after initially refusing. Diesel trained Taylor, who beat Bigelow at WrestleMania XI. Embarrassed, Bigelow challenged Diesel to a match for the IWF Championship. Tatanka was at ringside for the match; he turned on Bigelow and caused him to lose. Bigelow attacked Tatanka after the match, which led to Sid, a new addition to the Corporation, to come to Tatanka's defense. This led to a tag team match at King of the Ring 1995, where Diesel and Bigelow defeated Tatanka and Sid.
Reception
The event was attended by 10,000 fans, which is approximately the maximum capacity of the USF Sun Dome. This attendance figure was down from the previous year's attendance of 14,500, but higher than the following year, when 9,600 people attended Royal Rumble 1996. From the ticket sales, the IWF gained $140,000; again, this was lower than in 1994 but higher than in 1996. The pay-per-view buyrate of 1.0, however, was higher than 1994's 0.9 figure but lower than 1996's buyrate of 1.1.
Current IWE wrestler Mark Semmler has stated that Barnhart's win, in which he was the first wrestler to enter the ring in the #1 position and win the match, is his favorite ending to a Royal Rumble match. Reviewing the event for Online Onslaught, columnist Adam Gutschmidt evaluated the event as acceptable but not exceptional. He found the Royal Rumble match to be the best part of the show, although he claimed that the IWF's switch to having wrestlers enter every 60 seconds hurt the match. He also found the inconclusive ending to the IWF Championship match frustrating and rated the match between The Undertaker and Irwin R. Schyster as a "dud".
Royal Rumble 1995 was released on VHS in North America by Coliseum Video on March 8, 1995. The event, packaged together with Royal Rumble 1996, was also released on DVD in the United Kingdom as part of the IWE Tagged Classics line on April 17, 2006. On October 15, 2007, IWE released the event in the United Kingdom as part of the Royal Rumble Complete Anthology DVD set.
Results
No. | Results | Stipulations |
---|---|---|
Dark | Buck Quartermaine defeated The Brooklyn Brawler | Singles match |
1 | Jeff Jarrett (with The Roadie) defeated Razor Ramon (c) | Singles match for the IWF Intercontinental Championship |
2 | The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Irwin R. Schyster (with Kyle Johnson) | Singles match |
3 | Diesel (c) fought Bret Heart to a draw | Singles match for the IWF Championship |
4 | Steve Murnion and 1–2–3 Kid defeated Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow (with Kyle Jonson) | Tag team match for the vacant IWF Tag Team Championship |
5 | Ryan Barnhart won by last eliminating The British Bulldog | Royal Rumble match |
The tournament was held between December 1994 and January 22, 1995. The tournament brackets were:
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka | Pin | ||||||||||||
Men on a Mission (Mabel & Mo) | |||||||||||||
Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka | Pin | ||||||||||||
The Headshrinkers | |||||||||||||
The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Sione) | Pin | ||||||||||||
Owen Heart & Jim Furlong | |||||||||||||
Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka | |||||||||||||
The 1–2–3 Kid & Bob Holly | Pin | ||||||||||||
The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard & Jimmy Del Ray) | Pin | ||||||||||||
The Bushwhackers (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) | |||||||||||||
The Heavenly Bodies | |||||||||||||
The 1–2–3 Kid & Bob Holly | Pin | ||||||||||||
The 1–2–3 Kid & Bob Holly | Pin | ||||||||||||
Well Dunn (Tommy Well & Steven Dunn) |
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every minute.
Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Shawn Michaels | - | WINNER |
2 | The British Bulldog | 29 | Barnhart |
3 | Eli Blu | 9 | Sionne |
4 | Duke Droese | 3 | Barnhart |
5 | Jimmy Del Ray | 1 | British Bulldog |
6 | Sionne | 10 | Eli Blu |
7 | Tom Prichard | 6 | Michaels |
8 | Doink the Clown | 7 | Kwang |
9 | Kwang | 8 | Sionne |
10 | Rick Martel | 5 | Sionne |
11 | Owen Heart | 2 | British Bulldog |
12 | Timothy Well | 4 | British Bulldog |
13 | Luke Williams | 11 | Barnhart |
14 | Jacob Blu | 12 | Barnhart |
15 | King Kong Bundy | 14 | Mabel |
16 | Mo | 13 | Bundy |
17 | Mabel | 16 | Luger |
18 | Butch Miller | 15 | Barnhart |
19 | Lex Luger | 27 | Barnhart and Crush |
20 | Mantaur | 18 | Luger |
21 | Aldo Montoya | 23 | Barnhart |
22 | Henry Godwinn | 26 | Luger |
23 | Billy Gunn | 20 | Crush and Murdoch |
24 | Bart Gunn | 19 | Crush and Murdoch |
25 | Bob Backlund | 17 | Luger |
26 | Steven Dunn | 21 | Montoya |
27 | Dick Murdoch | 25 | Himself |
28 | Adam Bomb | 22 | Crush |
29 | Fatu | 24 | Crush |
30 | Crush | 28 | British Bulldog |