WWF Royal Rumble 1996
WWF Royal Rumble 1996 (1/21/1996)- Fresno, CA
AHMED JOHNSON vs. JEFF JARRETT- 4.75/10
WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Smoking Gunns(c) vs. The Bodydonnas (w/Sunny)- 5.75/10. Good nearfalls towards the end.
WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Razor Ramon(c) vs. Goldust (w/Marlena)- 7.25/10. Awesome character work from both guys, and good storytelling.
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH- 9/10. Absolutely awesome! They made Vader look like a BEAST! He took it to Yokozuna, he took it to both Samoan Swat Team members AT ONCE, and just plain dominated things. The face-off between Yokozuna and Vader was a great moment. Shawn pulling Lawler out from under the ring was great. I had totally forgotten about him! This rumble felt full of star power, with Shawn Michaels, Owen hart, Diesel, the British Bulldog, Yokozuna, the much-hyped debut of Vader, and Jake Roberts making his big return. Even the guys clearly at the end of their careers like Jerry Lawler, Bob Backlund, and Dory Funk helped make this feel huge. The last few eliminations were pretty awesome. I, of course, popped huge for Isaac Yankem.
On the way to the ring, Taker and Diesel had small brawl, which was a great tease to build up to their match at Wrestlemania 12.
WWF TITLE MATCH: Bret Hart(c) vs. The Undertaker- 8.25/10.
Awesome match with an unfortunate but necessary ending. The lack of nearfalls did kind of hurt this match in terms of excitement, but I can see why they wouldn’t want to do any with the finish being what it was.
Vince & Mr. Perfect were GREAT on commentary.
Overall, a great show from the WWF. With one of the better Royale Rumble matches that I have seen.
AHMED JOHNSON vs. JEFF JARRETT- 4.75/10
WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Smoking Gunns(c) vs. The Bodydonnas (w/Sunny)- 5.75/10. Good nearfalls towards the end.
WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Razor Ramon(c) vs. Goldust (w/Marlena)- 7.25/10. Awesome character work from both guys, and good storytelling.
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH- 9/10. Absolutely awesome! They made Vader look like a BEAST! He took it to Yokozuna, he took it to both Samoan Swat Team members AT ONCE, and just plain dominated things. The face-off between Yokozuna and Vader was a great moment. Shawn pulling Lawler out from under the ring was great. I had totally forgotten about him! This rumble felt full of star power, with Shawn Michaels, Owen hart, Diesel, the British Bulldog, Yokozuna, the much-hyped debut of Vader, and Jake Roberts making his big return. Even the guys clearly at the end of their careers like Jerry Lawler, Bob Backlund, and Dory Funk helped make this feel huge. The last few eliminations were pretty awesome. I, of course, popped huge for Isaac Yankem.
On the way to the ring, Taker and Diesel had small brawl, which was a great tease to build up to their match at Wrestlemania 12.
WWF TITLE MATCH: Bret Hart(c) vs. The Undertaker- 8.25/10.
Awesome match with an unfortunate but necessary ending. The lack of nearfalls did kind of hurt this match in terms of excitement, but I can see why they wouldn’t want to do any with the finish being what it was.
Vince & Mr. Perfect were GREAT on commentary.
Overall, a great show from the WWF. With one of the better Royale Rumble matches that I have seen.