Royal Rumble '97

Legacy Review

Royal Rumble '97

January 19, 1997 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX

Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

As usual when WWF hit Texas during this era they really play up the cliche "Texas" aspects in ways that makes native Texans like me cringe a little. The Alamodome is an impressive looking venue though, more large football stadium than arena. They would return to the Alamodome for the Rumble in '17 and the next one in '23 is scheduled to be here as well (side bragging note, I was in attendance for the '17 Rumble and will be again in '23). WWF started turning a creative corner in the last part of '96, but the roster was still a bit thin so lots of guys will be doing double duty tonight, undercard matches and the Rumble. To help shore up the roster, and to try to counter WCW building outside company partnerships, WWF has put together a short cross promotion deal with the famous Mexico lucha promotion AAA to have some of their wrestlers appear tonight.

The opening video is a bit unintentionally funny saying Shawn Michaels is A MAN instead of a boy now because he cared more about Jose Lothario having a heart attack in the middle of his title loss to Sid at Survivor Series than the title itself. Is that what "becoming a man" is really all about? I've been doing it all wrong.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c) (w/Mr. Hughes) def Goldust (w/Marlena) in 16:50- This feud had been percolating for a bit with both guys heels, but took off in full when Trips couldn't stop going after Marlena and Goldust answered a definitive NO to Jerry Lawler's "are you a queer" question. No lectures, it was a different time back then. Goldust is now officially a face but has yet to be fully embraced by the fans. Hughes is making a surprise WWF return as HHH's bodyguard, a position he'd only hold a few weeks before he was replaced by Chyna. Goldust charges and attacks HHH during his entrance! Brawl on the aisle. Goldust drops HHH over the guardrail. Back in he goes for mounted punches and HHH takes advantage for an inverted atomic drop counter and some breathing room. He goes for the Pedigree early. Goldust counters with a double leg takedown and slingshots HHH over the top rope back to the floor. They're going to be spending a lot of time down there. Goldust picks up the top half of the steps and straight DROPS them onto HHH's back! Man, that had to hurt for real. HHH does a classic Trips delayed flop face first into the stairs. Getting back in HHH snaps Goldust's throat over the top rope. Goldust turns it back around with a boot up in the corner and clothesline. HHH uses the ref to get a cheap shot in. Goldust rolls out and HHH gives him an ax handle off the top rope on the floor, then whips Goldust into the post. Goldust dodges and HHH knees the rail, opening up a new target. Goldust drops, much more gingerly this time, the steps on HHH's knee then goes to work on the knee in the ring. Figure four! HHH fights and Goldust uses the ropes for leverage behind Hebner's back because once a heel always a heel. After a bit with no submission Goldust lets go and HHH rolls out agian. Goldust clips the knee. Kneebreaker on the steps! Commentary gets on Hebner for letting literally everything go. It's interesting to see how the rules go in flux during this period of in-ring style transition. Speed run back in. HHH ducks a Goldust crossbody and he, once again, falls out to the floor. They've spent more time outside the ring in this match than inside. HHH whips Goldust into the rail while shaking his knee off. He gets Marlena's chair and Hebner finally intervenes to stop something. We go picture in picture as Todd Pettingill interviews a country music guy that's there. HHH snap mare and kneedrop, but that just hurts his knee again. He recovers to cover Goldust for 2. Goldust flying clothesline. Backdrop. He goes up top. HHH kicks Hebner into the ropes and Goldust gets crotched. He fights off a HHH superplex, wobbles precariously, and manages to launch with an elbow drop but he misses HHH by a mile. Hughes slips HHH the IC belt. Marlena gets up to distract. HHH kisses her! Goldust gets the belt off HHH and whacks him with it. Cover. Hughes pulls HHH out to save him. Goldust takes Hughes out. HHH gets him with a clothesline from behind. Pedigree and good night. The match was mostly psychologically sound, but also very slow paced and deliberate. **

Bret Hart and Mankind give their pre-Rumble promos. This was during the time Foley was quietly becoming one of the best promos in the business.

 

Ahmed Johnson def Faarooq (w/The Nation of Domination) by DQ in 8:48- Faarooq put Johnson on the shelf with a kidney injury that almost claimed Johnson's life (cover for a real life kidney issue he needed emergency surgery for) and this is his big return for revenge. I'd forgotten how many goons the Nation had. It's like a boxing entourage. I've always wondered why professional fighters need so many people around them to keep them safe but anyway. Johnson charges in during his entrance and attacks Faarooq while he's still got his entrance pants on. Speaking of kind of, Johnson's famous every match wedgie is already astronomical. Faarooq rolls out. Johnson follows and posts him. Back in he rips off Faarooq's tear off pants. Faarooq attacks the bad kidney. He gets a belt. Johnson ducks it and hits a horrible .5 Thesz Press, then whips Faarooq with his own belt. JR gets his government mule line in. Always a crowd pleaser. They go outside again and Faarooq gets "tossed" (gently nudged) into the steps. Faarooq sacrifices one of his Nation stooges to get an opening (I mean, he's got plenty of them, what's losing one?) and clotheslines Johnson. He sets up a chair and runs Johnson's back into it. More kidney kicks in the ring as things slow down to about .3 Rotunda time. That's slow. And now Faarooq puts on a double chinlock. Good, we needed to catch our breaths. They do the arm drops but Faarooq lets go after two, does an obvious setup, and Johnson lifts him up in an electric chair and slams him. Faarooq is still up first and goes up top. Johnson catches and powerslams him. Faarooq spinebuster. More jawing time wasting, and he turns around into a Johnson spinebuster. Faarooq calls the Nation goon squad in and we have a cheap DQ. Johnson fights them off, tries to get Faarooq again on the aisle, but is cut off by another Nation goon. Johnson takes him back ringside and Pearl River Plunges him through the French announce table. 1/4*

Terry Funk cuts a promo on his Rumble entry tonight. Nice to see Vince get him between his WCW runs. Faarooq says his business with Johnson isn't over and calls him Uncle Tom again.

 

Vader def The Undertaker in 13:19- This has serious potential if done right, especially with Taker showing a new spring in his wrestling step after his feud with Mankind. Commentary comments on Jim Cornette's absence after being tombstoned by Taker on weekly TV, and JR speculates if Vader is a free agent. Vader tries the pre-bell jump but Taker dodges. Slugfest. Vader counters a backdrop with Taker no selling it. Taker corner choke. He runs into a Vader back elbow. Clothesline and Taker situp. Vader hits a couple of tackles but Taker keeps sitting up, flustering Vader to the point he steps outside. Taker attacks from behind on the floor. Vader cutters Taker over the top rope. Taker counters a backdrop with a high leaping legdrop. He slams Vader and hits another legdrop for 2. Taker tries for old school but Vader makes him slip off the rope and crotch himself. Both guys are very slow to get up. When they finally do Vader low blows Taker. After some more recovery time Vader starts laying in the corner potato shots. Avalanche. Tackle off the second rope for 2. Vader hooks in the Nerve Pinch of Time Wasting +1 but Taker fights out pretty quickly. Rapid fire strikes and a back suplex from Taker. Vader dodges an elbow drop and hits an elbow to the extreme lower gut or possibly a bit south of Del Rio. Taker powerslams Vader off the second rope (I love Vader, he's one of my favorites of all time, but I can always see that move coming a mile away). Vader powerbomb for 2. More Taker strikes and a flying clothesline. He successfully hits old school as Paul Bearer makes his way to ringside. Taker sees Bearer, clotheslines Vader 360 to the floor on the opposite side, then flips out in front of Bearer and takes him out! Bearer crawls around in the ring and begs for mercy. Taker goozles him. Vader tries another ambush but again Taker cuts him off. Another 360 clothesline and both guys slowly, deliberately make their way over the top to the floor. Taker sets Vader up on the guardrail. Bearer pulls Vader away and Taker goes into the rail. Bearer with an urn shot off the apron! He slips and falls as he lands on the floor, which is funny but he also hits his head on the guardrail which could have been much worse than it was. Vader rolls Taker in, hits the Vader bomb and it's done. Vader and Bearer leave together. Guess that answers the free agent question. Pissed off Taker gives ref Jack Doan a chokeslam, has a little hissy fit around the ring and has some words for Vince. Yeah, that was a big disappointment. For whatever reason it never came together. *1/2

More Rumble promos. First is Steve Austin with a great, classic Austin "I don't give a shit what you want get that camera out of my face" promo. He's followed by the British Bulldog, who says he's going to win the Rumble this year because he's "bizarre". All right then.

 

Canek, Hector Garza and Perro Aguayo def Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal and Jerry Estrada in 10:56- This is AAA's entry for the undercard. Full disclaimer- I'm not much of a lucha guy (Japanese wrestling, specifically New Japan, is my international jam as you'll see elsewhere on the blog) so we'll breeze through it. It's lucha trios rules, so tags and selling are optional. JR tries to call the match and Vince, to his credit, lets him have at it while trying to keep up. A huge backdrop over the top rope to the floor is completely no sold by Estrada. Yup, lucha. Metal and Garza work the best together and desperately try to get the crowd into it but no one in the arena could care less. Canek rolls Estrada around and Guerrera and Aguayo trade some stiff chops. Metal gets his knee worked over and is default face in peril. Donnybrook with lots of confusion. Garza hits a big corkscrew dive off the top to the floor. Aguayo hits Metal with a double stomp off the top and gets the pin. The crowd cheers the match being over. It certainly didn't hold a candle to the cruiserweight matches WCW was putting on, but they'd already pinched the best talent. *

 

Royal Rumble- For the second straight year, and the second time ever, the Rumble is not the main event. That would become even more common over the next few years. I completely disagree with it, the Rumble should always be the main event, even if there's a world title match. Soon to be standard 90 second intervals this year.

1. & 2. Crush & Ahmed Johnson- This is Crush is his Nation of Domination member phase. The Nation comes out with him and are not happy about who #2 is. Crush jumps Johnson getting in the ring. Johnson clothesline. They fumble and roll around on the ground a bit. Crush hits some shots and Johnson just lays on his knees and doesn't react at all. Is he blown up already?

3. (Fake) Razor Ramon- There's no countdown or horn, Fake Razor's music starts out of nowhere. Vince says they're having "clock issues". Johnson tosses Ramon right out. He knocks Crush over but Crush lands on the apron. Faarooq is out and Johnson sees him. Johnson jumps over the top rope down to the floor and chases Faarooq! He eliminated himself! Glad to see they've cleaned that rule up since Savage did that to get at Roberts in the '92 Rumble.

4. Phineas Godwinn- Phineas and late career Crush? Yeah, it's an ugly 90 seconds. The next guy in can't come soon enough.

5. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin- Oh hell yeah! It's still so weird the glass shatter not getting a massive pop. Very little reaction for Austin overall, but then again this crowd's been pretty dead the whole show. Might partially be large arena acoustics. Godwinn meets Austin with a clothesline. Crush gets in control and bitches at Austin to help him. Austin accidentally takes Crush out and laughs. Godwinn eliminates Crush. Ah good, the clock is working now. Stunner! Austin eliminates Godwinn as the clock hits 0!

6. Bart Gunn- This is right after the long teased Smoking Gunns breakup and Billy Gunn isn't in this Rumble as he's out with an injury. Bart hits Austin with a very ugly Fameasser. He charges, Austin dodges, Bart was supposed to go over the top but hit the ropes like a wall instead. Austin helps him over a second time and Bart is eliminated. Austin does some pushups in the ring, gets impatient, then in one of the most iconic images of his time in WWF gets up on the top rope and looks at his wrist tape like a watch waiting for the next victim to come in. Even non-wrestling fans use that GIF on social media today.

7. Jake "The Snake" Roberts- Austin defeated Roberts to win the '96 King of the Ring to begin his rise to the top, aided by the legendary Austin 3:16 promo right after. Roberts tosses his snake under Austin and comes in with flying fists. Arm wringers from Roberts. Interesting strategery for a Rumble. Austin punches to try to get out but Roberts won't let go. A ref slides in to get the snake bag out.

8. WWF Tag Team Champion "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith- Austin eliminates Roberts during Bulldog's entrance. This is an interesting heel vs heel feud that's been simmering a while with Austin constantly attacking Bulldog. Bulldog pounds on Austin and hits the powerslam.

9. Pierroth- The first AAA entrant in this year's Rumble. He goes right for Bulldog. Bulldog Alabama slams him. Pierroth keeps pounding and gets Bulldog down with a clothesline. Austin and Bulldog forget their differences for a moment to gang up on the outsider.

10. The Sultan- Sultan is the artist formerly known as Fatu and soon to be known as Rikishi under a mask with a short lived Abdullah the Butcher ripoff gimmick. He's also got the Iron Sheik managing him. He goes for Pierroth as Austin and Bulldog go at it again.

11. Mil Mascaras- Another AAA entrant and the Mexican wrestling legend, possibly the most important and most influential luchador of all time, at the worst until Rey Mysterio. He goes to work on Sultan. Flying burrito! Sultan gives Mascaras a horrible belly to belly suplex.

12. WWF Intercontinental Champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley- He's still limping a little coming to the ring after the knee damage in the opener. Bulldog eliminates Sultan. Austin tosses HHH but he lands on the apron. Austin elbow off the second rope.

13. WWF Tag Team Champion The Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart- One or two more awards and Owen's intro is going to get to Toru Yano levels. Wonder if the position of goodwill ambassador to Hokkaido was open at the time? Owen and Austin go at it, which will be a big feud later in the year with serious consequences for Austin. Bulldog saves Owen, then lifts Austin up to try to get him out. Owen sneaks behind and eliminates Bulldog! Bulldog is furious at his tag partner but Owen claims it was an accident. The replay shows it clearly wasn't.

14. Goldust- Austin jumps him as he gets in. Mascaras almost gets Owen out.

15. Cibernetico- Another AAA entrant. He and Pierroth are former tag partners turned enemies. He goes right for Mascaras. Nothing of note happening otherwise.

16. "Wildman" Marc Mero- Cibernetico is eliminated by Pierroth and Mascaras. Right after Mascaras eliminates Pierroth. Mascaras gets on the top rope and dives onto both of them on the floor! But by doing that he eliminated himself! What a dummy. He gets back in but the refs force him out. I wonder if that was all planned or if Mascaras did it without thinking and the refs did what they're generally trained to do in WWE, follow the rules and call it like a shoot absent any other instructions. And that's two self eliminations in this Rumble. Goldust eliminates HHH. Owen nails Austin with an enzuguri.

17. The Latin Lover- Our final AAA entrant. He superkicks Goldust's ass! That's a new one. Owen eats a superkick. Goldust tosses Owen but he skins the cat. Owen eliminates Goldust.

18. Faarooq- Faarooq eliminates Lover. Austin and Faarooq get in a high energy slugfest that this match really needed. Ahmed Johnson runs in with a giant 2x4. More like a 2x8. He whacks Faarooq around and eliminates him. Austin eliminates Mero and Owen! Austin's all alone! In another awesome image he lays on the mat exhausted, but also gestures with his arm to get the next guy in here already.

19. Savio Vega- Another recent Austin rival. Vega does a leg takedown and they brawl on the ground. Austin is slingshot into the turnbuckle and Vega hits a spinning heel kick. Austin works Vega into a hot shot. Austin eliminates Vega! He's alone again and this run is starting to get into epic territory as Austin lays down but waves for more again.

20. "Double J" Jesse James- There's a whole story here with James, the future Road Dogg, taking the no longer with WWF again Jeff Jarrett's nickname and essentially his gimmick but with it being a Rumble I won't get into the details here. James hits some corner shots and a clothesline. Kick wham Austin eliminates James! The crowd is getting behind Austin big time. Austin gets up on the top turnbuckle again.

21. Bret "Hitman" Hart- The look on Austin's face the second Bret's music hits is priceless. Absolutely perfect. As soon as Bret hits the ring it's on! Bret inverted atomic drop and clothesline. Back and forth in the corner. Bret hooks on the Sharpshooter.

22. Jerry "The King" Lawler- Wait, isn't Lawler on commentary? Yup. His music hits, he gets up midsentence, takes his headset and jacket off, and gets in the ring. Old rival Bret meets him, punches him, and Lawler goes over the top and out! He walks right back to commentary, puts his jacket and headset back on, and finishes the sentence he had started like nothing happened! Absolutely brilliant. Austin wants a time out but Bret gives him the gut headbutt.

23. Fake Diesel- This is Glenn Jacobs, who would be Kane in the very near future. He goes after Bret. Bret and Austin end up together again. Bret bump!

24. Terry Funk- He takes it to Austin, which would have been a hell of a singles match if it had happened. Austin gets Funk upside down but Bret saves him. Funk thanks Bret with a punch to the gut.

25. Rocky Maivia- Vince goes nuts as Rocky hauls the rocket ship strapped to his back with him. No reaction from the crowd. Funk gets tied up in the ropes. Bret tosses Funk, who barely doesn't go over. Lawler: "Maybe I should get in there!". Vince: "Um, King, I hate to tell you but you already were". Lawler spends the rest of the match forgetting he was in there at all. Fantastic.

26. Mankind- He rolls in and after a moment's sitting goes after his old deathmatch partner Funk. Funk's tied in the ropes again. Austin suplex and ground & pound on Bret. Bret tries a sleeper but Austin jawbreakers out.

27. Flash Funk- Oh great, now there's two Funks in and they're in no way related. Bret piledrives Austin. Flash dives off the top rope onto Diesel and Terry. Terry and Mankind find each other again.

28. Vader- Terry flops in the ring. Vader goes after Bret. Flash tries Vader and instantly regrets it. Austin runs into a Vader tackle.

29. Henry O Godwinn- He manages to knock Vader down. Vader was tired. Rocky barely hangs on.

30- The Undertaker- The lights go out for Taker's entrance. It'd be hilarious if someone had gotten eliminated while they were out. Vader no sells Flash's stuff, catches him on a crossbody and tosses him backwards over the top to eliminate him. Classic Vader. Bret and Austin are at it again. Vader gives Rocky some shots. Austin and Funk chop the hell out of each other. Taker eliminates Godwinn. Austin gets tossed to the apron by Bret and Taker. Rocky leaps right into a Mandible Claw and Mankind eliminates him. Funk and Mankind are playing again. Cactus Clothesline! Both guys land on the apron! Funk gets back in and tries a suplex. Mankind reverses it and Funk is eliminated! Taker eliminates Mankind. Funk and Mankind keep brawling on the floor. Bret eliminates Austin! But the refs were busy with the brawl and none of them saw it! Austin gets back in. Austin eliminates Vader and Taker! Bret eliminates Diesel! Austin sneaks up and quickly eliminates Bret! Austin wins the Royal Rumble! It's the first of what would be a record three Rumble wins, still the record today, and certainly the most controversial. He was also easily this year's Ironman winning from #5, and even though it's not mentioned on commentary he actually tied the record for most eliminations in a Rumble to date with 10, matching Hulk Hogan in '89. Bret is furious, protesting and tossing the refs around. He goes over and grabs Vince on commentary. "Do something about it!". He drops a couple of f bombs as he walks away. Now, the plan at this time was that Bret would end up with the title shot at Wrestlemania and get his win back from Shawn, they were just creating a more swervey path to get there. WWF President Gorilla Monsoon later took away Austin's title shot due to the controversy (but not the Rumble win) and set up a four way #1 contender's match for the next In Your House. Of course, everything went out the window when Shawn left his smile behind at home in San Antonio. The In Your House match became for the vacant title and everything for WM had to be reshuffled. Either way Austin would become the first man ever to win the Rumble with the title shot at WM stip and not get the title shot.

After a couple of years of bottom barrel Rumbles this was an improvement. The first half was pretty bad outside the early Austin stuff with a lot of fumbling around and uninspired weak brawling. I don't think the AAA guys had been well briefed on what they needed to do. But the second half was much better. They did a good job of holding most of the big names for the end, leaving a lot of plausible winners still in the match at the end run despite the thin roster. The Lawler stuff is genuinely hilarious too. On the whole I'd call it solid but not spectacular by Rumble standards. It was also the latest in a series of great star making performance for Austin, arguably the best Rumble performance since Ric Flair in '92. ***1/4

The video package for the main event highlights something that's real interesting to me at this particular point in history: WWF was still trying to portray Shawn as the happy go lucky plucky babyface as they had all through '96. But, and not to completely try to bury Shawn because he'd be the first to admit all this now, his general bad attitude and, frankly, dickishness from this time was seeping more and more onscreen and even the most casual fans couldn't help but notice it. After Shawn came back from his impromptu hiatus (more on that later) after WM WWF gave up on pretending with Shawn and let him fully embrace who he was then, leading to the start of DX, DX vs the new Hart Foundation, his feud with Bret becoming real life drama, and one of the most compelling years of wrestling television we've ever seen that was the first major step WWF took to catch back up with WCW. But, I'm getting way ahead of myself. In the video package we also get clips from weekly TV of Sid beating up Jose Lothario's son Pete, who was just starting his wrestling career.

 

WWF Championship: "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) def Sycho Sid (c) in 13:49- The backstage camera follows Shawn all the way through Gorilla to the entrance. You don't get to see much of Gorilla but it's still cool. Shawn gets easily the pop of the night from his hometown. This definitely isn't the smarky anti-Shawn MSG crowd from Survivor Series. He's wearing his famous Texas themed tights for this match. Sid still thinks he's a face which is hilarious, and actually fits his character. Completely delusional. Nose to chest nose at the bell. Sid pushes Shawn around and gets some early shots in. Shawn runs, ducks a clothesline, hits a crossbody, and kicks Sid to the floor. After a minute Shawn follows but gets whipped into the ring apron. Sid presses Shawn on the floor but Shawn eye rakes out. Sid gets back in. Shawn hops to the top rope but Sid catches him coming off and powerslams him for 2. Sid goes right to the camel clutch. It's like he's got a minimum resthold quota he's got to get in and he's trying to knock it out early. Every time Shawn tries to get out Sid drops on him. Shawn learns, baits, dodges and Sid splats on his ass. Corner whip and Shawn flip! He goes down to the floor. Sid posts his back. And MOAR CHINLOCK! Gotta hit that quota. Shawn fights out quickly.....then gets killed by a Sid clothesline. Cover for 2. Corner whips and now Sid hooks on a bear hug. Shawn bell rings out....then gets punched and Sid puts it right back on. Shawn works his arms under Sid's and gives him an inverted atomic drop. Ax handle off the second rope. He comes off the second again but goes right back in the bear hug. Shawn goes down. Sid lets go and covers for 2. Legdrop for 2. YET MOAR CHINLOCK. Sid scoops but Shawn slips out, hits some punches and slams Sid. Flying forearm. Kip up. Elbow off the top. The band is tuned up. Sid blocks the superkick. Shawn ducks a clothesline. Sid backdrops Shawn to the floor. Powerbomb on the floor! Lothario comes over and Sid goozles him. Son Pete Lothario comes out of the crowd and also gets goozled. Shawn gets in the ring and Sid lets the Lotharios go. Corner whip reversals and Hebner gets squashed. Sid hits a chokeslam. Cover but no ref. Backup ref Mike Chioda runs in, but Shawn had enough time and kicks out. Sid knocks Chioda out. Lothario gets on the apron to distract Sid. Shawn grabs a TV camera and whacks Sid with it! That's a good callback to the Survivor Series match, where Sid did the same thing to Shawn. Hebner milks every damn second slowly crawling over, then does his epic slow count. Sid kicks out! SUPERKICK! Another slow Hebner count, but Shawn gets the pin and wins the title back! Massive pop for the hometown win. Shawn celebrates with the fans, and with Vince. Of course as I've alluded to already, this title run would be short lived after Shawn lost his smile, but more on that in the next review. As far as this match goes, Shawn tried his best but it had way too much Sid to be good. **1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Outside a solid Rumble there's not a lot to recommend this show. I think all the undercard matches were hurt by everyone in them pulling double duty and saving themselves for later. Historically this is an important show for Shawn's second title win that he would later abdicate, and for Austin's first Rumble win as he continued to rise up the ranks.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-