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Royal Rumble 1994

This is a Rumble I'm sure almost everyone remembers over pretty much every other Rumble, at least second hand, if for no other reason than the finish. Luger and Hart spilling out and hitting the floor at the exact same time was so controversial and interesting at the time, and I feel like this is a finish you can't actually do ever again with the way wrestling is now. Like it's just not treated enough like a sport anymore. These old Rumbles really had that feel to it-- how often do the announcers say to each other "how long has X been in!?" with such enthusiasm these days? Never. And I miss it. And that kinda mindset, treating it like a legitimate sporting event where stamina matters and all that, I think that was very necessary for this ending to work.

The funny thing is I didn't even remember Luger being injured from a "backstage assault" or whatever. Like yeah, Bret got crippled, remember that clearly, but Luger was kind of a footnote. Kinda felt that way this time too, but I acknowledged it existed. Oh, and the fakeout where no one comes out for 25, and they're like "oh that must be Bret's number :(" only for Bret to actually limp out at 27 was excellent too-- the best thing Bastion Booger ever contributed to wrestling, for sure.

Anyway, finish aside, there are two moments that stick with me on this one, the first being that I actually really liked the opening to this one. I'm always a fan of the tag team uniting and kicking ass so the Steiners being 1 and 3 got me started hyped. Really unfortunate that Kwang misted Rick Steiner and their dominance stops before it can even get started, but it was an exciting start for me.

Second, of course, and my actual favorite part of the rumble, is Diesel kicking all kinds of ass, emptying the ring and just gauntlet styling through jobbers. This is made even better when after plowing through like 10 guys, Randy Savage comes out to go 1v1... and sure, Diesel may be 7 feet tall, but you just get that feeling as Macho removes his coat and hat and tassels and s***, that it is on-- and sure enough, the guy just beats the ever living hell out of Diesel for 2 minutes. Savage is just not taking any of Diesel's crap. Jarrett is the next number, tries to interfere, Savage tosses him out and continues to destroy Diesel. It's so good. I wish these two like, had a feud. I feel like the matches would actually be great. I know that's weird to say, Kevin Nash having a great match, but this was just so fun to watch for the 5 minutes or so it lasted.

Now that being said, aside from those moments mentioned, I didn't much care for this. Great beginning, great end, but like, all the guys I pulled for early (Steiners, Diesel, Savage) were all out before the match was half over. Just kind of a bunch of whatever in the middle. Not 1993 tier, as there were actual stars in there, but it just wasn't very hype. I think Savage and Diesel were too good and I was just drained after that until crippled Bret came out. Like the people's enthusiasm for chanting "WHOOP THERE IT IS!" for Mabel was the most entertaining thing other than what I mentioned which should say it all.

Probably Undertaker having the most ridiculously overbooked match ever with Yoko didn't help energy levels either. What was that. What are these undercards in general jeez.

Royal Rumble Ranking:
1992 > 1990 > 1994 > 1989 > 1988 > 1993 > 1991

Still a solid Rumble for sure with all things considered, but only good enough for 3rd best so far.
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