Old Royal Rumbles (Nostalgia Thread)

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Friends, the Royal Rumble match is my absolute favorite gimmick match of all time, so every January I fire up the WWE Network (or Dailymotion or Vimeo, shoutout piracy) and watch as many old Rumble matches as I can.

This year I invite you to join me and follow along as we watch and discuss the very best and the very worst of the Royal Rumble in all its glory.

Tonight, for absolutely no reason, I’ve started with the 2012 Royal Rumble. I don’t remember a thing about it so let’s see what we’ve got.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

First surprise entrant is Ricardo Rodriguez dressed up like Alberto Del Rio and driving a busted Trans Am looking vehicle.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

There’s a Mexican standoff between Mick Foley w/ Socko and Santino w/ Cobra. Broken up by Miz and Cody (who is jacked). Compelling stuff so far.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Ezekiel Jackson forgot about him. They wanted this guy to succeed so bad but they won’t give Big E a singles push. Garbage company

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Oh this is the one where all three announcers enter the Rumble. Kinda gay except for Booker who can do whatever he wants.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Also the first Kofi spot where we does the handstand to save himself. Pretty crazy how he’s gone from being a spot monkey (not racist) to being a champion.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Oh I remember this now. This is when I started to hate Michael Cole as an announcer and hoped he got cancer.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan as a surprise entrant and Cole just reading his stats like he’s some nothing jobber.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Randy Orton big hometown favorite and big hunk IMO

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Sheamus wins. An ok Rumble. Pretty good flow. Nothing really memorable. 6/10

[GD]

Sheamus would go on to open Wrestlemania XXVIII and defeat Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds to win the World's Heavyweight Championship.

[xrodmuc316]

Sheamus would go on to open Wrestlemania XXVIII and defeat Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds to win the World's Heavyweight Championship.

Many would argue, including myself, that this was the beginning of the Yes movement.

[RP]

The Flair rumble was the best.

[Mr. Nerfect]

All the Rumbles have started blurring together. I remember I was pissed off Jericho didn't win the 2012 Royal Rumble. It was the most logical way to make his story with CM Punk make sense.

[BigCrippyZ]

All the Rumbles have started blurring together. I remember I was pissed off Jericho didn't win the 2012 Royal Rumble. It was the most logical way to make his story with CM Punk make sense.

In fairness, all the Rumbles in the last 10+ years have been awful in comparison to the first 15 or so Rumbles.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It sucks that they don't have that magic spark to them anymore. The brand split being around doesn't help. It feels like the Rumble Winner is always the afterthought challenger.

[xrodmuc316]

In fairness, all the Rumbles in the last 10+ years have been awful in comparison to the first 15 or so Rumbles.

The last really good one was the one with 40 people instead of 30. It had good surprises, spaced out really well, CM Punk and his Nexus running the ring for about 5 entrants, the almost fluke win by Santino, and the elevation of a new main eventer with Del Rio getting the win. I think that was 2011.

The ending of the 2nd one Orton won, countering the spear into an RKO was a good finish to an otherwise boring Rumble. I think that was 2016.

Other than those, my memories are of the stupid booking in 2014 and 2015 with Batista and Roman's wins.

I honestly can't even tell you who won it in 2017, I don't remember.

Last year just felt like a lazy way to give Rollins a title match, there was no real drama since WWE already showed their hand with Braun that they were never going to pull the trigger on him.

[xrodmuc316]

The Flair rumble was the best.

I really liked the one that happened in 2004, but for some reason WWE never brings that one up :(

[Emperor Smeat]

The last really good one was the one with 40 people instead of 30. It had good surprises, spaced out really well, CM Punk and his Nexus running the ring for about 5 entrants, the almost fluke win by Santino, and the elevation of a new main eventer with Del Rio getting the win. I think that was 2011.
The only real complaint I have about the 2011 Rumble was the whole 40-man aspect being useless in the end since WWE wasted the big hyped up faction warfare moment by doing it before the Rumble started.

That and Cena taking out most of the New Nexus on his own before the bulk of the Corre showed up.

[xrodmuc316]

The only real complaint I have about the 2011 Rumble was the whole 40-man aspect being useless in the end since WWE wasted the big hyped up faction warfare moment by doing it before the Rumble started.

That and Cena taking out most of the New Nexus on his own before the bulk of the Corre showed up.

The Corre, that was such a stupid faction lol.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I really liked the one that happened in 2004, but for some reason WWE never brings that one up :(

Yeah, they act like some suicidal murderer won it that year, or something. Very strange. :shifty:

[Evil Vito]

I really liked the one that happened in 2004, but for some reason WWE never brings that one up :(

Honestly, 2004 is still my favorite. It's brilliantly booked from beginning to end and has a little bit of everything.

[johnsmagic]

2008 always holds up, great roster at the time and a few surprises through out, didn't rely on old timers to make it good either

[Supreme Olajuwon]

I think 2001 is still my favorite. It had everything. A surprisingly good comedy spot with Drew Carey segueing seamlessly into Kane being an unstoppable monster, a great old timey spot with Honky Tonk Man and of course the star power of Rock, Taker and Austin. Plus it probably helps that it happened during the time I was most into professional wrestling.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I think 2001 is still my favorite. It had everything. A surprisingly good comedy spot with Drew Carey segueing seamlessly into Kane being an unstoppable monster, a great old timey spot with Honky Tonk Man and of course the star power of Rock, Taker and Austin. Plus it probably helps that it happened during the time I was most into professional wrestling.

2002 was fun too.

[Bad News Gertner]

I don't like how the final two remaining wrestlers have to "have a match" with a long drawn out finish before someone finally wins.

[xrodmuc316]

I don't like how the final two remaining wrestlers have to "have a match" with a long drawn out finish before someone finally wins.

I get it because when HBK and Taker did it that was great, but not everybody is HBK and Taker.

[Mr. Nerfect]

1992 is obviously the best, but 2001 is a fun Rumble. I liked 2004, but that was mainly for Benoit winning. 2005 was a weird fucking Rumble. I think that's the one where everyone took turns beating up Daniel Puder, John Cena and Batista botched the finish and Vince blew out both his quads.

[Bad News Gertner]

I get it because when HBK and Taker did it that was great, but not everybody is HBK and Taker.

I remember Becky vs Charlotte doing this last year, made worse by Becky Lynch selling the wrong leg lol

[Supreme Olajuwon]

https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2018/02/62685e066740759a-600x338.gif

Shoutout to probably the stupidest ending to a Rumble where Macho Man Randy Savage gets eliminated to end the match because he went for a pinfall on Yokozuna after hitting the elbow.

[LibSuperstar]

Weakest ending fasho! I just watched '92, '00 and '01 Rumbles over the last 3 wks and '90 Rumble this past Sunday.

[Emperor Smeat]

That 1993 Rumble was both the first Rumble and WWF PPV I ever watched lived.

Thought the show itself was decent but hated Yokozuna winning the Rumble match. Also think my dad hated the show a lot since he never bothered ordering another WWF PPV afterwards.

[Big Poppa Pauly]

The undercard of '93 was excellent. Steiners/ Beverly Brothers, Shawn and Marty, Bret/Razor and a fun Bossman/Bigelow match. :yes:

[Gerard]

92 rumble > all

[Seanny One Ball]

The best Royal Rumble moment is the one where Vince blew out his quadriceps. Classic shit.

[Seanny One Ball]

The next best is Hogan cheating and being a bastard after being fairly ejected.
I think that was 1992 wasn't it?

[xrodmuc316]

The next best is Hogan cheating and being a bastard after being fairly ejected.
I think that was 1992 wasn't it?

Hogan kind of always did that when he got eliminated lol.

[xrodmuc316]

The best Royal Rumble moment is the one where Vince blew out his quadriceps. Classic shit.

The best Rumble moment was when Hornswoggle came out from under the ring and proceeded to try and rape Zelina Vega on live tv :rofl:

https://media1.tenor.com/images/cb1764c51b608fbb78211551583fa907/tenor.gif?itemid=13450785

https://media1.tenor.com/images/105bc4ad9fe0a4d9b7e7b649d9aa14a0/tenor.gif?itemid=13450786

[Supreme Olajuwon]

The next best is Hogan cheating and being a bastard after being fairly ejected.
I think that was 1992 wasn't it?

Yeah that was how Flair won.

[Seanny One Ball]

Goddamn, those YouTube Royal Rumbles are pretty much full length but they have been chopped up for some reason.

Impossible to watch.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

I watched the 92 one at your recommendation and yeah totally ruined. They cut off all the commentary. That match was an hour of Heenan and Gorilla at their absolute best. I’d argue Heenan’s call of that match is the best color commentator job ever.

[Seanny One Ball]

Hacked to pieces... What a way to ruin a classic.

I was looking forward to going through the 99 Rumble to see Vince's finest hour but they cut out almost every entrant and elimination...

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Watching 2000 Rumble now. Skimming through the opening card because I remember this being a hell of a show

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Starting with undefeated Kurt Angle vs debutant Tazz. MSG crowd super hot for Tazz.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

lol EMTs coming out after Tazmission

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Dudleys and Hardys in a table match. Bubba Ray with a stutter. Forgot about that.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Hardys cut an awful backstage promo. Crazy how far Matt has come in his promo work. Jeff hasn’t improved one bit.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Now into a bikini contest. Andy Richter is one of the judges.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Skipping ahead to RR. D’Lo #1 entrant and #1 theme music. You’re looking at the real deal now.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Kai En Tai run in. I think TAKA get his face broken getting tossed out of the ring.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Not yet. Maybe on a later run in

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Christian used to have a luscious head of hair. So thick.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Rikishi in. Bout to clean house. WWE fucked this guy up so bad. Should’ve been a star.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Too Cool massively over. Doing their dance in the ring.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Kai En Tai back. Is this when TAKA breaks his face?

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Yes.

[Evil Vito]

I've tried watching some old Rumbles before bed this week but my Network app on Roku always crashes before the end.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

This Rumble is like 90% jobbers + The Rock

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Ring is currently Albert, Crash Holly, Hardcore Holly, Al Snow, Val Venis, Test, Road Dogg, and the Rock. I wonder who will win

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Oh Gangrel is there too. Sorry, Gangrel.

[RaginRonic]

The 1994 WWF Royal Rumble, from the Providence Civic Center(now the Dunkin' Donuts Center) in Providence, Rhode Island was the 1st Rumble PPV I saw. The provider that we ordered the event from was Fundy(Fun-DEE(now Rogers)) Cable in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where the Countdown Show began at 8:30PM Atlantic Time that Saturday, January 22, 1994 night, with the event proper starting at 9PM Atlantic.

But I only saw bits and pieces of the live broadcast, because of what turned out to be a large problem.

It was due to 2 runaway satellites in space that disrupted the signal that was coming from Viewer's Choice PPV from Toronto, Ontario. The logo for Canada's Viewer's Choice looked like this then.

https://i.imgur.com/F3QzS4z.jpg

The satellites in question were the Anik-E1 and E2 units, and it was due to them losing orbit, because their primary and redundant momentum wheels went down. Once E1 failed, E2 went with it. They tried turning on some corrective tech, but it took a few days to get things fixed.

In terms of the whole event, once I got a chance to properly watch it all, I figured that it did what it was supposed to do. And I didn't mind that both Bret and Lex had that Rumble Match draw.

But I remember the 1994 Rumble most for The UnderTaker's rise to the ceiling, the end of his Western Mortician era, and then saw in August his return as the Undead Avenger, when he swapped grey for purple.

So...yeah. That's my account on that. =P

[M-A-G]

For some reason, 2004's Rumble is just a big blur. Meh...just chalk it up to age, I guess.

[GD]

The only Royal Rumble not to have a winner.

[Jordan]

I recently watched RR 2003 & 2005. Commentary was so much better then. Even Cole/Tazz (mostly because of tazz)..
Young Jr & King is the best.

Benoit is hard to watch. Steiner/HHH wasn't as bad as I remember. Big Show is legit the same as ever lol. Young Cena was great and young Brock was truly frightening but somehow is even scarier now with age. Chavo is great, why isn't he a producer for WWE?

[Evil Vito]

Chavo is great, why isn't he a producer for WWE?

Because he’s still wrestling. He turns 50 this year but in the world of Lucha those guys wrestle forever.

[xrodmuc316]

Rikishi in. Bout to clean house. WWE fucked this guy up so bad. Should’ve been a star.

They did it...for The Rock!

[Supreme Olajuwon]

After you get called a thong wearing fatty on national television, your credibility as a badass is kinda gone forever.

WHICH IS WHY HE SHOULDNT HAVE BEEN A HEEL IN THE FIRST PLACE

[Supreme Olajuwon]

The ROYAL RUMBLE is coming up soon I think. Someone please recommend an old ROYAL RUMBLE for me to watch.

[screech]

1998

[xrodmuc316]

The ROYAL RUMBLE is coming up soon I think. Someone please recommend an old ROYAL RUMBLE for me to watch.

97 was interesting because that was like WWE almost going out of business and they had to get a few Lucha Libre AAA guys and Terry Funk to fill out the 30. Plus the countdown timer was broke at the start of the match lol. Had a good ending though.

[Bad News Gertner]

2001

[Supreme Olajuwon]

2001 is my favorite.

[Bad News Gertner]

Stay away from 1998. It's terrible.

[screech]

lol just looked up 98. That sounds terrible. Don't watch that one.

[M-A-G]

1999 is a great case study into the cesspool of coked up monkeys pleasuring themselves that's known as Vince Russo's mindset.

[Volare]

Stay away from 1998. It's terrible.

Oh come on!! The highlight was Foley coming out 3 times! PLUS the ending set up the ultimate teaser of Rock vs Austin.

[Bad News Gertner]

Foley was just about it. The roster was horrid in early 98. The Rock wasn't the Rock yet. He was just becoming a upper card guy.

It was literally just Austin

[GD]

Remember Cena winning the 2008 Rumble and challenging Orton for the strap at the very next PPV, not waiting for Mania.

[Bad News Gertner]

2003 and 2006 are also really good

[Supreme Olajuwon]

I need to rewatch last years again because watching it live I was getting annoyed with Lesnar dominating everyone but then his elimination popped me real good. I think I’ll enjoy it even more on a 2nd watch.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Gonna watch 2019 over my lunch break here

[Supreme Olajuwon]

2019 was fine. Nothing really special. The correct but obvious guy won. Surprise entrants: Jeff Jarrett, Nia Jax. Eh. Don’t really need to watch it again

[OssMan]

Nice. Maybe we can watch one over twitch later

[Rammsteinmad]

2011's is super underrated. The booking of the Rumble match is tremendous from start to finish. Feels like everyone truly has a moment to shine and nobody is just there filling up space.

[M-A-G]

Almost forgot about 2015. The crowd just shitting on the whole thing after Daniel Bryan got tossed and the realization of Roman Reigns being the guy to win it is just a masterpiece of a trainwreck.

[xrodmuc316]

Going way back, I think 1988 where Big John Studd won, that was a good one. Demolition starting off fighting each other, Andre eliminating himself cause of Damien. Million Dollar Man buying number 30. Good stuff

[Jordan]

When I was a kid I loved the fact that Shawn Michaels won two Rumbles in a row. That to me made him like as big as Hogan. I had so much disappointment from HBK growing up. His first title reign was so epic to me. Also I absolutely loved his match against Sid at The Alamo Dome, Royal Rumble 1997. I loved his tights, the look of the huge arena with so many fans. That was a great victory as well. So big in my eyes. I was really upset when he lost his smile though. I definitely cried.

[Bad News Gertner]

Going way back, I think 1988 where Big John Studd won, that was a good one. Demolition starting off fighting each other, Andre eliminating himself cause of Damien. Million Dollar Man buying number 30. Good stuff

88 was Duggan, 89 was Studd

[drave]

Was it 02 when Steven Austin just whipped everyone's ass? That one.

[Lock Jaw]

What about THE GREATEST Royal Rumble live from Saudi Arabia?!?!

[Evil Vito]

Almost forgot about 2015. The crowd just shitting on the whole thing after Daniel Bryan got tossed and the realization of Roman Reigns being the guy to win it is just a masterpiece of a trainwreck.

The first third of that Rumble was so good, too. Bubba as a surprise mystery entrant, the Wyatt Family all brawling with each other. And then of course it all went downhill after Bryan.

I don't think Vince would pay enough attention to details like this but that they went immediately from a dejected Bryan on the ramp to "SHATTERED DREAMS" coming up on screen for Goldust's entrance was an extra fuck you.

[screech]

I was at the 2015 Rumble. The excitement of hearing Rock's music followed by the realization of what he was coming to do was quite something.

The pop for Bubba was unreal, though.

[James Steele]

2002. Mr. Perfect's last real time to shine. Goldust returned as well.

[Bad News Gertner]

I remember Perfect being in the Final 4, looking like he was going to get a push, and the getting squashed by Austin on Raw the next night in 4 minutes

[OssMan]

Gonna go live in the tpww discord in a little with some old royal rumbles. Join here: https://discord.gg/DPwgxFaCxA

[slik]

I like the Rumble at MSG with the side entrance and the car as part of the set...think it was 2000

#RandomRumbleShare

[XL]

It was 2000. Great show.

The Rumble was solid with Kaientai as the MVPs. Great Tag Team Tables Match, Cactus vs. HHH, Tazz debut. And of course May Young’s tits.

It was the first PPV that was on Channel 4 over here as part of their ill-fated 2 year deal. First time I got to watch a PPV live at home. Sooooo tired at school the next day.

[xrodmuc316]

Watched the first 2 today. Since the first one wasnt an actual PPV, Jesse Ventura slides the same line in 2 years in a row lol

[Evil Vito]

What sucked about 2002 was that WWF announced all 30 participants in the 2002 Rumble ahead of time, even though 4 of them could have been surprises. Godfather had been off TV since the start of the Invasion 6 months prior. Venis went off TV a little earlier when RTC ended. But Goldust and Perfect were gone for years, those two especially didn't need to be announced early.

[OssMan]

We are live watching rumbles https://discord.gg/EvxQB7VT2T

[joshwoodsrohfandm]

I didn't know until a few days ago that Tony Schiavone worked a rumble in 1990.
Pretty interesting to see. Older rumbles though are so far behind it's like centuries to me.

[OssMan]

JOHNSOUTHWOODSNO1FAN :love::love::love: