IWF Royal Rumble (1997)
From Iwe
| Royal Rumble (1997) | ||
 Promotional poster featuring Ryan Barnhart | ||
| Tagline(s) | No More Mr. Nice Guy! | |
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | January 19, 1997 | |
| Attendance | 60,525 | |
| Venue | Alamodome | |
| City | San Antonio, Texas | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| In Your House 12: It's Time | Royal Rumble (1997) | In Your House 13: Final Four |
| Royal Rumble chronology | ||
| Royal Rumble (1996) | Royal Rumble (1997) | Royal Rumble (1998) |
Royal Rumble (1997) was the tenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). It took place on January 19, 1997 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The main event was between Ryan Barnhart and Sycho Sid for the IWF Championship. The main matches on the undercard were the Royal Rumble match, which Stone Cold Steve Johnson won after last eliminating Bret Heart, Steven versus The Undertaker, and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley versus Goldust for the IWF Intercontinental Championship.
Contents |
Background
The feud between Goldust and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley centered around Goldust's manager, Marlena. During the free broadcast prior to In Your House 12, Kelmsley attempted to seduce Marlena. Goldust responded by attacking Kelmsley during matches in the following weeks. The feud escalated on the December 30, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw during a match between Goldust and Jerry Lawler. Kelmsley came to the ring and tried to carry Marlena away. Marc Mero, who had dropped the IWF Intercontinental Championship to Kelmsley, blocked Kelmsley's path, but the distraction was enough to cause Goldust to be counted out.
On July 22, 1996, Faarooq Asad (later Faarooq) made his IWF debut by attacking Ahmed Johnson, the Intercontinental champion. He claimed that he attacked Johnson because Johnson was not "from the streets", as Faarooq claimed to be. Soon after the attack, Johnson was diagnosed with a legitimate kidney problem, so the IWF claimed that Faarooq's attack had hospitalized Johnson. Johnson was unable to compete for several months and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship. When Johnson returned to the IWF, he interfered in several matches involving Faarooq's stable, the Nation of Domination. He attacked them with a two-by-four, which led to an angle in which Johnson was suspended for the attacks. By December, Johnson's injury had recovered sufficiently to allow him to resume wrestling, and a match was scheduled for the next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble.
Vader and The Undertaker did not have a substantial buildup to their match at Royal Rumble 1997. Vader had joined other heel wrestlers to attack The Undertaker on several occasions, but there was no major storyline behind their match. The Undertaker had been involved in a feud with Paul Bearer that dated back to SummerSlam 1996, when Bearer had turned on The Undertaker. On the January 5, 1997 episode of IWF Superstars, The Undertaker attacked Vader's manager, Jim Cornette, leaving Vader without a manager at the Royal Rumble.
The feud between Sycho Sid and Ryan Barnhart dated back to 1995. The storyline saw Barnhart hire Sid to be in his corner during the Barnhart vs. Diesel main event at WrestleMania XI. Sid interfered in the match by distracting the referee, but the plan backfired when the referee was unable to count the pinfall after Barnhart superkicked Diesel. On the following night's episode of Monday Night Raw, Barnhart told Sid that he would not be needed in the case of a Barnhart vs. Diesel rematch. Sid responded by turning on Barnhart and powerbombing him three times. This attack led to a feud between Sid and Diesel, but Sid and Barnhart were reunited as partners in an elimination match at Survivor Series 1995. During the match, barnhart accidentally kicked Sid in the face, which led to Sid being eliminated. Sid retaliated by powerbombing Barnhart again. Sid returned to the IWF on the July 8, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw when Barnhart introduced him as a partner in a six-man match at In Your House 9. Sid helped Barnhart several times in the coming months by saving him from attacks by other wrestlers. At In Your House 11, Sid defeated Vader to win a IWF Championship match against Barnhart at Survivor Series 1996. During the match at Survivor Series, Sid attacked Jose Lothario, Barnhart's manager, with a television camera. While Barnhart was distracted, Sid hit him with the camera and powerbombed him to win the title. A rematch was later booked for Royal Rumble 1997.
Event
Aftermath
Ryan Barnhart later vacated the IWF Championship on the Thursday Raw Thursday special. Due to this and the controversial situation over the Royal Rumble ending, Steve Johnson, Bret Heart, The Undertaker, and Vader were pitted against each other at In Your House 13: Final Four in a Four Corners match for the IWF Championship, which saw Heart win the vacant IWF title. The next night on Raw, Johnson interfered in a IWF title match between Heart and Sycho Sid. As a results of Johnson's interference, Heart lost the belt, which resulted in Heart's short-lived title reign. On the March 17 edition of Raw, Heart and Sid faced off in a Steel Cage match for the IWF title. Sid won after interference by both Stone Cold and Undertaker. At WrestleMania 13, Undertaker defeated Sid for the IWF title, while Heart and Johnson battled each other in a Submission match with Ken Shamrock as the special referee.
Results
| # | Results | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| Free for All | Perro Aguayo, Jr. and Venum defeated Maniaco and Mosco de la Merced | Tag team match |
| Free for All | Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr., and Tinieblas Jr. defeated Heavy Metal, Abismo Negro, and Histeria | Tag team match |
| Free for All | Mascarita Sagrada and La Parkita defeated Mini Mankind and Mini Vader | Tag team match |
| 1 | Kunter Kearst Kelmsley (c) (with Curtis Hughes) defeated Goldust (with Marlena) | Singles match for the IWF Intercontinental Championship |
| 2 | Colton Sherley defeated Faarooq (with the Nation of Domination) by disqualification | Singles match |
| 3 | Steven defeated The Undertaker | Singles match |
| 4 | Héctor Garza, Perro Aguayo, and El Canek defeated Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal, and Fuerza Guerrera | Tag team match |
| 5 | Steve Johnson won last eliminating Bret Heart | Royal Rumble match |
| 6 | Ryan Barnhart (with Jose Lothario) defeated Sycho Sid (c) | Singles match for the IWF Championship |
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
| Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crush | 3 | Phineas Godwinn |
| 2 | Colton Sherley | 2 | Himself |
| 3 | "Razor Ramon" | 1 | Sherley |
| 4 | Phineas Godwinn | 4 | Johnson |
| 5 | Steve Johnson | - | WINNER 1 |
| 6 | Bart Morgan | 5 | Johnson |
| 7 | Erik Peterson | 6 | Johnson |
| 8 | The American Bulldog | 8 | Owen Heart |
| 9 | Pierroth | 10 | Mascaras |
| 10 | The Sultan | 7 | American Bulldog |
| 11 | Mil Máscaras | 11 | Himself |
| 12 | Kunter Kearst Kelmsley | 12 | Goldust |
| 13 | Owen Heart | 17 | Johnson |
| 14 | Goldust | 13 | Owen Heart |
| 15 | Cibernético | 9 | Mascaras |
| 16 | Marc Rowen | 16 | Johnson |
| 17 | Latin Lover | 14 | Faarooq |
| 18 | Faarooq | 15 | Himself 2 |
| 19 | David Roope | 18 | Johnson |
| 20 | Jesse James | 19 | Johnson |
| 21 | Bret Heart | 29 | Johnson |
| 22 | Jerry Lawler | 20 | Bret Heart |
| 23 | "Diesel" | 28 | Bret Heart |
| 24 | Terry Funk | 24 | Mankind |
| 25 | Rocky Maivia | 23 | Mankind |
| 26 | Mankind | 25 | Undertaker |
| 27 | Flash Funk | 21 | Steven |
| 28 | Steven | 26 | Johnson |
| 29 | Henry Godwinn | 22 | Undertaker |
| 30 | The Undertaker | 27 | Johnson |
1 Johnson was eliminated by Bret Heart, but snuck back in the ring while officials were distracted by a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind on the other side of the ring.
2 Faarooq was eliminated when Colton Sherley (who had eliminated himself from the Rumble earlier on) came back into the ring with a 2×4 and went after Faarooq, causing him to go over the top rope.
