WWF Royal Rumble 1995
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WWF Royal Rumble 1995 (1/22/1995)- Tampa, FL
WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Razor Ramon(c) vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie)- 8/10.
AWESOME opener. The crowd was hot as hell for this match, and Jarrett’s antics really got under their skin. The restart was a little awkward, but Razor’s selling was great!
THE UNDERTAKER (w/Paul Bearer) vs. IRS (w/Ted Dibiase)- 5.5/10.
This was painfully slow in the beginning. Good aftermath, though.
WWF TITLE MATCH: Diesel(c) vs. Bret Hart- 8.75/10.
Great storytelling in the beginning... then Shawn interfered, breaking up a pin and doing more damage to Diesel's injured leg... and rather than doing the obvious, logical thing and calling for a DQ, the ref does the exact opposite and rules that the match must continue! WTF? We have blatant, one-sided interference here! Then they go back to telling their awesome story... until Bret uses a chair right in front of the official... still no DQ. Once again they go back to telling this awesome story... then Owen blatantly interferes on behalf of Diesel, breaking up a sharpshooter... still no DQ! Back to the awesome story until we get a ref bump, leading to a whole bunch of interferences attacking both guys... but the ref pops right back up and rings the bell for a double DQ. WTF? When they finally do it right, the ref pops right back up! If they had had ref bumps for the interferences, I would probably would have given this something in the 9.5/10 range (probably the full 10 if it had had a real finish). Instead it is an awesome story marred by logic-defying ridiculousness. Still an awesome match, but it could have been so much better.
MATCH TO CROWN THE VACANT WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: Bob Holly & The 1-2-3 Kid vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka (w/Ted Dibiase)- 6.75/10
Good underdog story here. The finish was pretty telegraphed, but that is usually the way that sort of finish works.
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH: 7.5/10.
The story was good, but they focused way too much on Shawn and not enough on Davey Boy with the elimination teases. I also really didn't like the finish. The sound guy shouldn't have played Davey Boy's music if the ref didn't signal him as the winner. Without that the finish would have been good. I have said before that I think that two minute intervals between entries can make things go too slowly and make it seem like the wrestlers are stalling to get to the next entrant. One minute intervals felt entirely too fast, and the rumble felt like it was over before you knew it.
Overall, this show was pretty awesome. Everything was solid, and almost all of it was great. The fact that there were only five matches was slightly disappointing, though, as it doesn't feel like a full show (especially with the short rumble), but this show is definitely worth watching.
WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Razor Ramon(c) vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie)- 8/10.
AWESOME opener. The crowd was hot as hell for this match, and Jarrett’s antics really got under their skin. The restart was a little awkward, but Razor’s selling was great!
THE UNDERTAKER (w/Paul Bearer) vs. IRS (w/Ted Dibiase)- 5.5/10.
This was painfully slow in the beginning. Good aftermath, though.
WWF TITLE MATCH: Diesel(c) vs. Bret Hart- 8.75/10.
Great storytelling in the beginning... then Shawn interfered, breaking up a pin and doing more damage to Diesel's injured leg... and rather than doing the obvious, logical thing and calling for a DQ, the ref does the exact opposite and rules that the match must continue! WTF? We have blatant, one-sided interference here! Then they go back to telling their awesome story... until Bret uses a chair right in front of the official... still no DQ. Once again they go back to telling this awesome story... then Owen blatantly interferes on behalf of Diesel, breaking up a sharpshooter... still no DQ! Back to the awesome story until we get a ref bump, leading to a whole bunch of interferences attacking both guys... but the ref pops right back up and rings the bell for a double DQ. WTF? When they finally do it right, the ref pops right back up! If they had had ref bumps for the interferences, I would probably would have given this something in the 9.5/10 range (probably the full 10 if it had had a real finish). Instead it is an awesome story marred by logic-defying ridiculousness. Still an awesome match, but it could have been so much better.
MATCH TO CROWN THE VACANT WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: Bob Holly & The 1-2-3 Kid vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka (w/Ted Dibiase)- 6.75/10
Good underdog story here. The finish was pretty telegraphed, but that is usually the way that sort of finish works.
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH: 7.5/10.
The story was good, but they focused way too much on Shawn and not enough on Davey Boy with the elimination teases. I also really didn't like the finish. The sound guy shouldn't have played Davey Boy's music if the ref didn't signal him as the winner. Without that the finish would have been good. I have said before that I think that two minute intervals between entries can make things go too slowly and make it seem like the wrestlers are stalling to get to the next entrant. One minute intervals felt entirely too fast, and the rumble felt like it was over before you knew it.
Overall, this show was pretty awesome. Everything was solid, and almost all of it was great. The fact that there were only five matches was slightly disappointing, though, as it doesn't feel like a full show (especially with the short rumble), but this show is definitely worth watching.