WWF Royal Rumble was a 1994 professional wrestling event put on by the World Wrestling Federation. It was the 8th iteration of the Royal Rumble event, the first event of 1994, and the 55th event overall in the alternate WWF timeline. Taking place in the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island, the main event of the show was the annual 30-Man over the top rope Royal Rumble match, with the winner receiving a WWF Championship Match at Wrestlemania X. Other matches on the card included WWF Champion Yokozuna defending his title against The Undertaker in a Casket Match, Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon defending against Ludvig Borga, and a one on one contest between Bam Bam Bigelow and Doink the Clown.
Prelude[]
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble was between WWF Champion Yokozuna and The Undertaker, as the Deadman sought his first real chance at the WWF title. The two had crossed paths at the previous Wrestlemania, ending in a disqualification victory for The Phenom. At Survivor Series the two's paths crossed again, and it was clear that "The Shogun" was terrified at the prospect of facing The Undertaker, even more so once the Undertaker actually managed to bodyslam the 450 pounder with relative ease. At the behest of new WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter (replacing WWF President Jack Tunney, who had retired), the match between the two was made a Casket Match, in an attempt to limit the interference of the respective managers in either corner. It would be the first time the WWF Title was on the line in such a match.
The Royal Rumble itself seemed wide open, as the odds on favorite Bret Hart suffered a knee injury just prior to the Rumble. 13 days before the event, Bret and his brother Owen Hart teamed up to face The Quebecers for the WWF Tag Team Titles on an episode of Monday Night Raw. However Bret suffered his injury and the pair lost the match as a result. After the match, Owen lost his cool again and kicked Bret's leg out from under him, stomping on the leg and further damaging it. The Hitman refused to leave the Rumble Match, but with his knee in questionable health, it had opened the door to other favorites such as Shawn Michaels, Lex Luger and Crush to win the big event and go on to Wrestlemania X in Madison Square Garden.
Razor Ramon had defeated The Narcissist for the Intercontinental Title, and had immediately entered a feud with Ludvig Borga, who was seeking his first bit of championship gold in the WWF. This was despite the simmering tensions with the returned Shawn Michaels, who also wore an Intercontinental Title Belt around his waist claiming to be the real champion (since he had been stripped of the title and never actually lost it in the ring). Razor had paid little mind to the Heartbreak Kid, but Michaels was adamant at proving himself the real IC Champion one way or another.
At the Survivor Series, Doink and Bam Bam Bigelow had nearly come to blows during an Elimination Tag Match. This sortie continued as Doink "apologized" to Bam Bam with a prank, squirting water in his face from a bouquet of roses. Bigelow didn't take kindly to Doink's antics, interfering in a match against IRS and costing Doink the Television Title in the process. This led to a one on one match between the two to try and settle their issues.
Event[]
The event began with a dark match featuring Juan Rivera (the future Savio Vega) going over the Brooklyn Brawler in six minutes. The event proper began with the one on one match between Bam Bam Bigelow and Doink the Clown. The Beast from the East wasted no time in going after Doink, ignoring the Clown's attempts to distract him with humorous antics and attacking him with reckless abandon. This led to Bigelow making some mistakes, giving Doink an opening to try and slow the match down. But Bigelow relied on interference from Luna Vachon to throw the match back in his favor, eventually finishing off the Clown with greetings from Asbury Park. The next match was for the Intercontinental Title as Razor Ramon defended against the Finnish Superman Ludvig Borga. As with many of Borga's opponents, Razor was initially overpowered by Ludvig and struggled to try and get in some offense against the onslaught. At one point it looked as if Borga had won the Intercontinental Title, as the referee accidentally counted three despite Razor's feet being underneath the bottom rope. The match was restarted and Borga tried to finish off Razor. But The Bad Guy battled back and eventually hit the Razor's Edge, overcoming the odds and retaining his title.
The television title match was next between Irwin R. Schyster and the 1-2-3 Kid. The issue between the two had dated back to the summer when the Kid had upset IRS's former tag partner and current manager, Ted DiBiase, with the Kid now challenging for the TV Title. IRS's methodical approach contrasted with the Kid's high flying offense. It seemed as if the 1-2-3 Kid would have the match won, pulling off a crossbody block right at the end of the match, but DiBiase's distraction bought enough time for the time limit on the match to expire, and the match to end in a draw, keeping the belt on IRS. The WWF title match was next as Yokozuna took on Undertaker in a Casket Match. Like with their Wrestlemania encounter, both men threw haymakers at the other, tossing their best shots in an effort to win the title. Yokozuna warily eyed the double wide casket at ringside anytime it came time to try and roll an incapcitated Undertaker into it, and Undertaker always fought back. Eventually Undertaker rallied after two huge legdrops from Yokozuna, sitting up and delivering several flying clotheslines, before once again slamming the champion. He signaled for the casket to be opened, inches away from winning the title, only for a returning "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to come to ringside. Dressed in a gi and wearing a bandana, Dr. Death attacked the Deadman with reckless abandon. Undertaker tried to fight him off, but Williams was joined by several other heels off the roster, including Double J, IRS, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Headshrinkers and The Narcissist. The group all beat down the Undertaker as Yokozuna got back to his feet, hitting their respective finishers on the dead man while also taking out Paul Bearer and smashing the Undertaker's urn. They dragged Undertaker to the corner where the champion hit a massive Banzai Drop across the challengers chest, before rolling him into the Casket, slamming the lid and locking it, winning the match. As the heels took the casket to the back, an eerie silence befell the Providence Civic Center, and a ghostly image of the Undertaker rose from the Titantron up to "the heavens", promising that he would return.
The next match was for the tag team titles, as The Quebecers took on the makeshift tag team of Virgil and PJ Walker, both of whom had scored individual victories over the tag team champions in recent weeks on Raw. The Quebecers were obviously overconfident heading into the match, as they didn't take the challengers seriously at all. This almost cost them the tag titles, as Walker rolled up Jacques and nearly scored a three count. Jacques was able to kick out and The Quebcers started taking their opponents seriously, isolating Walker and working him over in their corner. Walker dodged a cannonball attempt from Pierre and tagged in Virgil, and the perennial underdog made a feiry comeback. He hit a huge right and left combo on Jacques that seemingly knocked the Quebecer out, but Johnny Polo distracted the referee during the pin attempt. Walker took out Polo, but it left Virgil open for Pierre to attempt a senton on the prone Virgil, only to hit his partner instead. Virgil and Pierre fought briefly, but when Virgil tried to pin Pierre, the referee rightly stopped him as Jacques was still the legal man. Jacques rolled up Virgil from behind, holding the trunks to secure the win and keep the titles.
The Royal Rumble match closed the show, with "Double J" Jeff Jarrett and Bob Backlund kicking off the 30-Man Elimination style match. Diesel dominated the early going, eliminating people left and right until a colaition of talent finally managed to get the seven footer up and over the top rope with difficulty. Bret Hart limped to the ring at #18, and it was clear that he was favoring his previously injured knee throughout the match. Despite this, The Hitman made it to the final four, alongside "The Narcissist" Lex Luger, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels & Scott Steiner. Steiner was the first of the four to be eliminated, leaving Luger and Michaels to double team the injured Hitman. Bret turned the tables and dropkicked Michaels out of the ring, leaving him in the ring with the Narcissist. Luger hit his Forearm shot on the Hitman which sent Bret staggering over the top rope and seemingly to his elimination, causing Luger to prematurely celebrate. However Bret saved himself from being eliminated, crawling back into the ring and clotheslining Luger out to win his second straight Royal Rumble and go on to Wrestlemania X to challenge for the title. Bret celebrates in the ring to the crowd's elation to end the show.
Results[]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Juan Rivera d. The Brooklyn Brawler | Singles Match | 6:00 |
| 2 | Bam Bam Bigelow w/Luna Vachon d. Doink the Clown | Singles Match | 11:03 |
| 3 | Razor Ramon (c) d. Ludvig Borga by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Intercontinental Title | 12:50 |
| 4 | Irwin R. Schyster w/Ted DiBiase (c) & The 1-2-3 Kid Wrestled to a Time Limit Draw | Singles Match for the WWF Television Title | 10:00 |
| 5 | Yokozuna w/Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette (c) d. The Undertaker | Casket Match for the WWF Championship | 13:03 |
| 6 | The Quebecers [Pierre & Jacques] w/Johnny Polo (c) d. Virgil & PJ Walker by Pinfall | Tag Team Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship | 10:00 |
| 7 | Bret "The Hitman" Hart won a 30 Man Royal Rumble | 30-Man Royal Rumble Match | 66:22 |
Royal Rumble Entry Order[]
| No. | Entrant | Eliminated by |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Double J" Jeff Jarrett | Crush |
| 2 | Bob Backlund | Diesel |
| 3 | "The Rocket" Owen Hart | Mabel |
| 4 | Boo Bradley | Diesel |
| 5 | Rick Steiner | Diesel |
| 6 | Diesel | Bret "The Hitman" Hart |
| 7 | Earthquake | Diesel |
| 8 | Mabel | "The Narcissist" Lex Luger |
| 9 | Billy Gunn | Diesel |
| 10 | Fatu | Bret "The Hitman" Hart |
| 11 | Crush | Adam Bomb |
| 12 | Marty Jannetty | "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels |
| 13 | Bart Gunn | Diesel |
| 14 | Scott Steiner | "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels |
| 15 | Tatanka | Scott Steiner |
| 16 | Steven Dunn | "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan |
| 17 | Bret "The Hitman" Hart | WINNER |
| 18 | "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels | Bret "The Hitman" Hart |
| 19 | Greg "The Hammer" Valentine | Adam Bomb |
| 20 | Adam Bomb | Crush |
| 21 | "The Narcissist" Lex Luger | Bret "The Hitman" Hart |
| 22 | "The Model" Rick Martel | Bret "The Hitman" Hart |
| 23 | "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan | "The Narcissist" Lex Luger |
| 24 | "Macho Man" Randy Savage | "The Narcissist" Lex Luger |
| 25 | Samu | Scott Steiner |
| 26 | "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton | "Macho Man" Randy Savage |
| 27 | Timothy Well | "The Narcissist" Lex Luger |
| 28 | Mo | "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels |
| 29 | Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly | "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels |
| 30 | Jerry "The King" Lawler | "Macho Man" Randy Savage |
Aftermath[]
Bret would pull double duty at Wrestlemania, taking on Yokozuna in the main event but also facing his brother Owen in the opening match of the show (willingly accepting it as a way to try and heal the fence between himself and Owen). Undertaker took time away to heal nagging back injuries, and would not return officially until Summerslam, though a "fake" Undertaker would turn up in the summer managed by Ted DiBiase. The storyline between Razor and Shawn Michaels as to who the actual IC Champion was would be solved in a Ladder Match at Wrestlemania, while Lex Luger would enter a feud with Randy Savage.