Rebooking The WWF: Royal Rumble 1995

WWF Royal Rumble 1995
Date: 1/22/1995
From: Tampa, FL
Announcers: Jim Ross & Bobby Heenan
Attendance: 10,411

A video package promoting the Royal Rumble event is shown. The video focuses on the 30 man battle royal along with the WWF World Championship match between King Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan. Tonight, will the dangerous King Yokozuna continue to reign supreme or will Hulk Hogan prove that he still has what it takes to be the WWF World Champion one more time?

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan are on commentary as they welcome us to the show. Ross is excited as we marching our way towards WrestleMania XI and tonight is the beginning of that journey. Ross asks Heenan who he believes will walk out the WWF World Champion. As per usual, Heenan believes that tonight Hogan and all the Hulkamaniacs will be greatly disappointed thanks to King Yokozuna proving his royalty and dominance when he squares Hogan like the bug that he truly is. Ross doesn’t see it that way and believes that Hogan is very likely to walk out with the WWF World Championship one more time. Also, they talk about the Royal Rumble and who could possibly main event WrestleMania XI. Heenan thinks tonight is going to be a good night for the Movement as Ron Simmons is his favorite to win the bout. Ross sends it over to the ring to kick off the event with Hunter Hearst Helmsley taking on Mr. Perfect.

Opening Contest: Mr. Perfect vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: After twelve minutes of action, Perfect was able to counter the Pedigree and roll Helmsley up to pickup a much needed victory. Following the match, Helmsley flipped out at ringside calling the victory a fluke and demanded that Finkel never announce that ever again.

Backstage, Todd Pettengill is with the Movement members Tatanka and Carlos Vega, also the WWF World Tag Team Champions. Tatanka says that they finished 1994 on a high note and their mission is clear to control the WWF by having all the gold. Tonight, they will retain the titles against the two cowboys and Ron Simmons will continue his quest for the WWF World Championship when he wins the Royal Rumble tonight.

Backstage, Mean Gene is with the Smoking Gunns regarding their title rematch. Billy is excited but determined to get their tag titles back after losing them a few months ago. Billy says they are focused and they are going to put the Movement in reverse. Bart says they are the best tag team in the WWF and you can’t keep gold away from the best for too long.

Second Contest: WWF World Tag Team Champions Carlos Vega & Tatanka vs. The Smoking Gunns: After eleven minutes of action, Carlos Vega pinned Bart Gunn following a spinning heel kick to retain the titles. Tatanka had grabbed Bart’s foot while on the floor brawling with Billy causing Bart to stumble into the move.

Backstage, Todd Pettengill is with Rick Steiner regarding his title match with his brother WWF Intercontinental Champion Scott Steiner. Rick has the family picture with him from RAW. Rick says that family means nothing to him and its about getting recognition as being the better brother. He is tired of hearing about Scott being champion and tonight he is going to show everyone that Rick Steiner has always been better than Scotty Steiner.

Backstage, Mean Gene is with WWF Intercontinental Champion Scott Steiner. Scott says he isn’t going to sit here and wish he wasn’t going to fight his brother. This is what Rick wanted and it’s what he is going to get. Tonight, Scott Steiner is going to retain the title and knock reason into his brothers head.

Third Contest: WWF Intercontinental Champion Scott Steiner vs. Rick Steiner: After an intense eleven minutes of action, Rick Steiner was able to pull off the victory after hitting Scott with his headgear while the referee was out of position. Rick taunted the fans all the way to the backstage area while Scott struggles to his feet trying to make sense of what just happened. Rick Steiner is the NEW WWF Intercontinental Champion.

A video promoting the feud between Scott Norton and the Undertaker is aired. The video focuses on Norton wanting to be the guy to put Undertaker six feet under.

Backstage, Todd Pettengill interviews Scott Norton who has the Dynasty members with him. Ric Flair takes control of the segment saying that tonight is the night for the Dynasty to make 1995 the year they take over. Flair discredits the Movement saying that the real movement is the Dynasty and it starts tonight when Scott Norton finally becomes the man to destroy the Undertaker and get rid of him in the WWF. Flair hypes up the big man and concludes with saying that at the end of the night, he will win the Rumble for the second time in his career and main event WrestleMania like the Nature Boy should be doing every year!

Fourth Contest: The Undertaker vs. Scott Norton in a casket match: It took eight minutes for the Undertaker to lift the powerful Norton up and spike him down with a tombstone and roll Norton into the casket to prevail. Towards the end of the match, Flair continually got involved at one point holding a chair on the apron but Taker managed to send Norton head first into the chair and knocked Flair off the apron leading to the finish. After the match, Flair attempted to attack the Undertaker but was met with a choke slam. The Dynasty members pulled Flair from the ring and retreated to the backstage area.

A video hyping up WrestleMania XI is aired. WrestleMania will take place in Hartford, CT on April 2nd.

Backstage Todd Pettengill is with both Bret Hart and Owen Hart for an interview. Owen says that tonight is his night to show the world what his family and Bret know deep inside, that he is just as good if not better than his brother Bret. Owen tells Bret that he wants to do it the right way and hopes that Bret has the same mindset. Bret tells Owen that he is looking forward to a clean fight with his brother and thinks the WWF fans are in for a treat with two of the best wrestlers going today competing fairly in the squared circle. Bret finishes off by saying “May the best brother win.”

Fifth Contest: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart: After an incredible seventeen minutes, Owen Hart picked up the biggest win of his career when he managed to counter the Sharpshooter leading to an impressive rollup to defeat Bret Hart, a former WWF World Champion. After the match, Owen Hart is overly thrilled with the accomplishment while Bret appears to be frustrated and disappointed in himself. Owen goes to the corner and Bret tries to keep his displeasure to himself and eventually embraces his brother for the hard-fought victory. Owen is overheard “I told you I was better than Bret!”

A video promoting the feud between WWF World Champion King Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan is aired. The video starts with a career retrospective on Hogan leading into the match and concludes with the dominance that Yokozuna has had since arriving in the WWF. This is the biggest challenge that Yokozuna has encountered in his young career.

Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Hulk Hogan regarding the upcoming title match. Hogan tells Gene that tonight Hulkamania reclaims a championship he never truly lost three years ago at the 1992 Royal Rumble. Hogan knows that Yokozuna has been dominate and is a big man, but no one man is bigger than the power of Hulkamania. Tonight, Hulkamania runs wild on King Yokozuna one more time!

Sixth Contest: WWF World Champion King Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan: The highly anticipated title match lasted just over ten minutes with King Yokozuna ushering in a new era in wrestling. Yokozuna was able to avoid the iconic leg drop and proceeded to drive Hogan down to the mat with a crushing belly to belly suplex. Yokozuna followed up with a devastating leg drop of his own before dragging Hogan to the corner and hitting the Bonzai Drop to earn the biggest win of his career and solidify his WWF World Championship reign. After the match, Hogan was helped to the backstage ares while the fans chanted his name.

A video highlighting the history of the Royal Rumble match is aired. After the video promos by Ron Simmons, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase and the British Bulldog saying they were going to win. DiBiase was referencing his first member of the Million Dollar Corporation being the guy who will lead him to gold and rule the WWF.

Main Event: 30 Man Royal Rumble Match:

Entrants:
1. Doink The Clown
2. Rick Martel
3. IRS
4. Fatu
5. The British Bulldog
6. Jimmy Del Ray
7. Crush
8. Mabel
9. Shawn Michaels
10. Bob Holly
11. Bam-Bam Bigelow
12. Marty Jannetty
13. Hughie The Clown
14. Tom Pritchard
15. John Bradshaw
16. Randy Savage
17. Razor Ramon
18. Duke Droese
19. Ron Simmons
20. Chris Benoit
21. Ric Flair
22. Mo
23. Jeff Jarrett
24. Lex Luger
25. Arn Anderson
26. Diesel
27. Brian Lee
28. Samu
29. Jerry Lawler
30. Psycho Sid (Ted DiBiase’s surprise entrant)

Eliminations:
1. IRS by the British Bulldog
2. Jimmy Del Ray by the British Bulldog
3. Fatu by Doink the Clown
4. Rick Martel by Crush
5. Bob Holly by Doink the Clown
6. Crush by the British Bulldog
7. Mabel by Bam-Bam Bigelow
8. Marty Jannetty by Shawn Michaels
9. Hughie The Clown by Shawn Michaels
10. Doink The Clown by Shawn Michaels
11. Tom Pritchard by John Bradshaw
12. Bam-Bam Bigelow by Randy Savage
13. Shawn Michaels by Ron Simmons
14. Duke Droese by Ron Simmons
15. The British Bulldog by Chris Benoit
16. Razor Ramon by Jeff Jarrett & Ric Flair
17. Chris Benoit by John Bradshaw
18. Mo by Ric Flair
19. Jeff Jarrett by Randy Savage
20. Randy Savage by Arn Anderson and with help from an interfering Bam-Bam Bigelow
21. Arn Anderson by Diesel
22. Brian Lee by John Bradshaw
23. Samu by Lex Luger
24. Ric Flair by Diesel
25. Lex Luger by Diesel
26. Jerry Lawler by John Bradshaw
27. John Bradshaw by Psycho Sid
28. Psycho Sid by Ron Simmons
29. Ron Simmons by Diesel

Winner: Diesel wins the 1995 Royal Rumble after 1 hour and 3 minutes to become the number one contender to the WWF World Championship and will main event WrestleMania XI.