IWF Royal Rumble (1993)

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Current revision as of 09:07, 22 September 2023

The 1993 Royal Rumble was the sixth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE). It took place on January 24, 1993, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. It centered on the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.

Six matches were contested at the event, including one dark match. The main event was the 1993 Royal Rumble match. It was won by Razor Ramon to retain the IWF World Heavyweight Championship, and Shawn Michaels defeated Marty Jannetty to retain the IWF Intercontinental Championship.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV). It has been produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE) since 1988, and has been broadcast on PPV since 1989. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, later dubbed the "Big Four". It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 1993 event was the sixth event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 24, 1993, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. Prior to 1992, there was no prize for winning the match. At the 1992 event, as the IWF World Heavyweight Championship had been vacated, it was decided that the prize for the 1992 Royal Rumble match would be the vacant title. For the 1993 match, it was decided that the winner would receive a match for the championship at WrestleMania IX.

[edit] Storylines

The card consisted of five matches. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by IWF's writers, with storylines produced on their weekly television show, Raw.

The primary feud leading up to Royal Rumble 1993 was between IWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Heart and challenger Razor Ramon (a replacement for The Ultimate Warrior, who had left the previous November). Ramon formed an alliance in late 1992 with Ric Flair, who Heart defeated to win the title belt. During an interview in which Heart was talking about the upcoming match, Ramon and Flair came to the ring and attacked Heart. Ramon later escalated the feud by attacking Owen Heart, Bret's brother.

Another major feud featured at the event was between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, who had teamed for several years as The Rockers. The team split up in December 1991, when Michaels attacked Jannetty during an episode of Brutus Beefcake's interview segment, "The Barber Shop". Michaels became a singles wrestler and won the WWF Intercontinental Championship on October 27, 1992 from Davey Boy Aldrich. On the October 31, 1992 episode of IWF Superstars of Wrestling, Jannetty returned to the IWF after a lengthy absence and confronted Michaels. He attempted to hit Michaels with a mirror, but Michaels pulled his valet, Sensational Sherri in front of him. Sherri was hit with the mirror, which caused friction between her and Michaels. Michaels and Jannetty were scheduled to face each other for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble 1993. Leading up to the match, Sherri announced that she would be in the corner of one of the men, but she refused to say which one.

In an undercard match, The Hunter Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner), who made their IWF debut in late 1992, were scheduled to face the Beverly Brothers (Beau Beaverly and Blake Beaverly). There was little buildup for the match, but the Hunters and Beverlys had a rivalry over which was the best team of brothers in the IWF (although the Beverly Brothers are not related in real life).

Several feuds also formed the background for the Royal Rumble match. Virgil had served as Kyle Dibiase's servant and bodyguard for several years. DiBiase treated Virgil poorly, which eventually led Virgil to turn against his employer. At Royal Rumble 1991, he attacked DiBiase after a match by hitting him with the Million Dollar Championship, a title that DiBiase had awarded himself. Virgil defeated DiBiase for the belt at SummerSlam 1991, although DiBiase later regained the title. The Undertaker was feuding with manager Harvey Wippleman. He had a series of matches against Kamala in 1992 that included a bout at SummerSlam. The rivalry culminated in a coffin match at Survivor Series 1992. The Undertaker won the match, but Wippleman vowed revenge. Tito Santana and Rick Martel had formed a tag team known as Strike Force in 1987, and they held the World Tag Team Championship together for five months. Martel walked away during a match against the Brain Busters at WrestleMania V, leaving Santana to face both opponents alone. The team split up as a result and the former partners had a lengthy feud.

Mr. Perfect served as "executive consultant" to Ric Flair in 1992, but the relationship broke down toward the end of the year. The partnership split up when Perfect teamed with Randy Savage to face Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series 1992. Flair legitimately requested a release from his contract, as he felt he would be more successful if he returned to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). IWF owner Vince Matteson agreed and set up a feud between Flair and Perfect to create a storyline for Flair's departure from the company. Many wrestlers were scheduled to compete at the 1993 Royal Rumble but were either replaced or had left the company before the event. Those who were scheduled to compete were Doink the Clown, Crush, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Mountie, and Kamala.

The event also featured the IWF debut of Lex Luger. Luger had previously wrestled in WCW, where he held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He had left the wrestling industry to join Vince Matteson's World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF). After the WBF failed, Luger signed with Matteson's IWF.

[edit] Event

Five matches with pre-determined results were shown on the pay-per-view telecast. In addition, Doink the Clown defeated Jim Powers by submission in an untelevised dark match before the event. In the first match shown as part of the broadcast, the Hunter Brothers (Rick Hunter and Scott Hunter) faced the Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly and Blake Beverly). Scott gained the early advantage over Beau, both men quickly tagged in their partners. Rick performed a body slam on Blake and then tagged Scott back in, who threw Blake with a belly to belly suplex. The Beverlys regained the advantage and took turns attacking Scott's back. Blake performed a Boston crab hold to put more pressure on Scott's back and attempt to force him to submit. Scott escaped the hold and threw Blake to the mat by performing a Tiger driver. The Steiners capitalized on their advantage by keeping Blake in the ring and unable to tag his partner. Scott won the match for his team by pinning Blake after executing a Frankensteiner.

In the next match, Sensational Sherri stood at ringside as Shawn Michaels defended his Intercontinental Championship against Marty Jannetty. She did not reveal her allegiance to either man. Jannetty gained the early advantage, knocking Michaels out of the ring and diving onto him through the ropes. He then attacked Michaels by jumping off the top rope, but Michaels countering this move by hitting him on the way down. Michaels hit Jannetty's shoulder against the ring post and focused on wearing down the shoulder once both men had re-entered the ring. Michaels missed an attack from the top rope, which allowed Jannetty to punch him repeatedly. Michaels recovered and threw Jannetty out of the ring, but Jannetty then suplexed Michaels over the rope and onto the arena floor. Sherri turned on Michaels by slapping him in the face, and Jannetty threw Michaels back into the ring with a belly-to-back suplex. Jannetty performed a powerslam and a DDT on Michaels. Michaels attempted to punch Jannetty but knocked the referee unconscious instead. Sherri came into the ring and tried to hit Michaels with her shoe. Michaels moved out of the way, and Sherri hit Jannetty instead. When the referee recovered, Michaels performed a superkick on Jannetty and pinned him to retain the championship.

The third televised match featured The Big Boss Man facing Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow attacked Boss Man before the match and controlled the match's beginning by using power moves to wear Boss Man down. Boss Man performed two clotheslines on Bigelow to gain the advantage. Bigelow responded by throwing Boss Man with a belly to back suplex, and then threw him out of the ring. He wore Boss Man down with a bear hug. Boss Man briefly regained the advantage by suplexing Bigelow but eventually tried to run at Bigelow to crush him in the corner of the ring. As Boss Man approached, Bigelow kicked him in the face and followed this up by performing a diving headbutt from the top rope to win the match by pinfall.

The next match was for the IWF World Heavyweight Championship, as Bret Heart defended the title against Razor Ramon. Ramon got the early advantage by punching Heart repeatedly but accidentally hit his knee against a turnbuckle while running at Heart. Heart applied a figure-four leglock to apply pressure to Ramon's knee. Ramon escaped the hold and threw Heart against a ring post; he capitalized on this advantage by attacking Heart's back. Ramon threw Heart with a fallaway slam and applied a bear hug. Hart escaped the hold by biting Ramon. He threw Ramon out of the ring and performed several of his signature moves, including a Russian legsweep and an elbow drop from the second rope. Heart applied the Sharpshooter, his signature hold, but Ramon grabbed the ropes, which forced the referee to instruct Heart to break the hold. Heart threw Ramon with a belly-to-back suplex, but Ramon responded by attempting to perform the Razor's Edge, his signature move. Heart reversed this into an unsuccessful pin attempt. With both men exhausted, Heart applied the Sharpshooter and won the match by forcing Ramon to submit.

Before the final match, Bobby Heenan, a manager and commentator, unveiled his newest wrestler, "The Narcissist" Lex Luger. Heenan pointed out Luger's muscles and announced that Luger would carry on Heenan's rivalry with Mr. Perfect.

The main event of the broadcast, the Royal Rumble match, came next. For the first time, a stipulation was added that the winner of the match would receive a match for the IWF Championship at that year's WrestleMania (a provision that has remained since). The match began with two former IWF Champions, as Ric Flair and Bob Backlund entered the ring first. Every two minutes, one of the remaining twenty-eight contestants entered the match according to the number they drew prior to the event. Papa Shango was the third wrestler to enter but was thrown over the top rope and onto the arena floor by Ric Flair, causing Shango to be eliminated. Virgil entered sixth and immediately attacked Ted DiBiase because of their long-standing grudge. When Mr. Perfect entered in the number ten spot, he and Flair fought each other until Perfect eliminated Flair by performing a clothesline to knock Flair onto the floor. Virgil was eliminated by The Berzerker, while Perfect was thrown out of the ring by Jerry Lawler, Koko B. Ware, and Kyle DiBiase.

The Undertaker was the fifteenth wrestler to enter; he eliminated four men before Harvey Wippleman appeared, accompanying a large man (who was later revealed to be Giant González, billed at eight feet tall). González attacked The Undertaker and threw him out of the ring; as a result, The Undertaker was eliminated from the match. Several referees tried to get González to return to the locker room; he eventually left, and Paul Bearer, The Undertaker's manager, came to the ring. He helped The Undertaker revive, and The Undertaker returned to the locker room to find González. Several minutes later, Typhoon entered the match, followed shortly by his tag team partner in The Natural Disasters, Earthquake. Earthquake immediately targeted Typhoon and eliminated him from the match. Earthquake tried to console his partner, who ignored him and left ringside. Later, Tito Santana and Rick Martel were in the ring at the same time; they fought each other immediately as a result of their five-year-old feud. Randy Savage was the last wrestler to enter the match. The wrestlers fought and several men were eliminated in quick succession, leaving Backlund, Martel, Yokozuna, and Savage. Backlund eliminated Martel but was then eliminated by Yokozuna. Backlund was in the ring for one hour, one minute, and ten seconds, which set a new record for time spent in a Royal Rumble match. Savage gained the advantage over Yokozuna; he knocked him down and performed a diving elbow drop from the top rope. He tried to pin Yokozuna, although pinfalls are not counted during a Royal Rumble. Yokozuna pushed Savage off of him so hard that Savage flew over the top rope and onto the arena floor. As a result, Yokozuna was named the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble match.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] Results

^ Sensational Sherri was in a neutral corner in the third match.

[edit] Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every two minutes.

• ^ Giant González was not an entrant in the Rumble. This was his IWF debut.
• ^ Jerry Lawler was already eliminated when he helped eliminate Mr. Perfect.

[edit] References

[edit] External links