Video: Todd Pettengill looks back at last year’s Royal Rumble, a night where Diesel completely dominated and controlled the ring for the majority of the match before being eliminated with help from Shawn Michaels. Earlier today, The Heartbreak Kid spoke about his chances tonight in the Rumble, reminding us that he can handle big guys just like he did last year. More video from last year is shown, Lex Luger and Bret Hart the last two men remaining before being eliminated at the exact same time and getting named co-winners. Lex Luger spoke earlier today, stating 1994 is history and yesterday’s news, a new year starting with the Royal Rumble. He says he’s sick and tired of only being a contender in the WWF, claiming that he will not be denied in 1995.

Match #5 – Royal Rumble w/Special Guest Hostess Pamela Anderson

• Entry #1 is Shawn Michaels. Entry #2 is The British Bulldog. Michaels ambushes Bulldog as he enters the ring and we’re underway, Shawn hammers him with lefts and rights in the corner, irish whip across is reversed and Davey Boy elevates him with a back body drop. He shoots Michaels to the ropes and powers him up with a military press slam, drops him to the canvas, flattens him with a clothesline and sends him into the corner. HBK goes upside-down, gets clocked by a big right, staggers to the ropes and gets his arms tied up. The Bulldog hits the ropes for a head of steam and runs into a big boot as the countdown begins…
• Entry #3 is Eli Blu. Eli steps in and clobbers Bulldog, puts the boots to him in the corner and Michaels rips at his eyes from behind. They all trade shots, Bulldog & Michaels work to toss Blu over the top as our next entrant comes out…
• Entry #4 is Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese. The Dumpster slides in and is immediately met by a big boot from Eli, the four men pair-off and trade blows, Droese body slams Shawn, then powers him up into a bearhug as the clock hits zero…
• Entry #5 is ‘Gigolo’ Jimmy Del Ray. The Gigolo goes right at Droese with a flurry of fists, Eli makes him pay with shots of his own and double teams him with The Dumpster. Michaels gets involved, Del Ray has him teetering on the top rope, the buzzer sounding off…
• Entry #6 is Sione. HBK is able to hang on, climbs up top and comes back in with a double axe to The Bulldog. Sione gets ahold of Shawn and powers him up to throw him out, on the other side Davey Boy delivers a clothesline to The Gigolo and he spills to the outside. ‘Gigolo’ Jimmy Del Ray has been eliminated…
• Entry #7 is Dr. Tom Prichard. Sione presses Shawn over his head, looks to drop him to the floor, Michaels rips at the eyes to escape, then puts the boots to him in the corner…
• Entry #8 is Doink The Clown…
• Entry #9 is Kwang…
• Entry #10 is ‘The Model’ Rick Martel…
• Entry #11 is Owen Hart. Owen saunters to the ring and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart attacks him from behind on the floor, clocks his younger brother with a flurry of right hands, WWF officials coming out to try and pull them apart. The Hitman cracks Owen with a headbutt, leaves him laying in the aisle and makes his way to the back as the timer ticks down…
• Entry #12 is Timothy Well. Owen rolls into the ring and immediately gets tossed out, HBK delivers a back body drop to The Dumpster and finishes his night seconds later. Owen Hart & Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese have been eliminated. The Bulldog shoots Well hard into the corner, turns him inside-out, Well is disoriented and gets sent over the top, Davey Boy immediately dumping Martel outside after. Timothy Well & ‘The Model’ Rick Martel have been eliminated. Shawn grabs Prichard by the hair and tosses him to the outside, Doink charges Sione near the ropes, gets elevated over, lands on his feet on the apron, but gets dropped by a superkick from Kwang. Dr. Tom Prichard & Doink The Clown have been eliminated…
• Entry #13 is Bushwhakcer Luke. Sione back body drops Kwang to the floor, Eli charges in with a clothesline, both men spill over the top rope and their evening is finished. Kwang, Sione & Eli Blu have been eliminated. Luke slides in and double teams Michaels with Bulldog, HBK fights it off, grabs Luke by tights and deposits him to the outside. Bushwhacker Luke has been eliminated. Shawn batters The Bulldog with knees to the midsection, looks for a vertical suplex, Davey Boy blocks it and hits one of his own as the horn goes off…
• Entry #14 is Jacob Blu. Jacob decapitates Michaels with a clothesline, delivers a slam to The Bulldog, rushes Shawn near the ropes and gets tossed out just as quickly as he came in. Jacob Blu has been eliminated. Davey Boy clocks Shawn with a right hand, scoops him up to throw him over, The Heartbreak Kid, hooks the ropes and the countdown begins…
• Entry #15 is King Kong Bundy. The Walking Condominium bludgeons The Bulldog, gets him leaning over the ropes, Michaels tries to tip Bundy over from behind, but can’t lift the weight…10…9…8…
• Entry #16 is Mo. Mo slides in, charges right at Bundy and earns a quick paycheck as he gets elevated to the floor. Mo has been eliminated. The Walking Condominium gets double teamed by Bulldog & Shawn, Davey Boy, drops HBK with a fist, shoots Bundy to the corner, attempts a body slam off the rebound, but can’t lift the weight…
• Entry #17 is Mabel. Mabel points out Bundy on his way to the ring, they meet face-to-face, exchange words and then trade-off shots. Mabel gets The Walking Condominium teetering over the top, his hand getting caught in the ropes before falling to the floor with the next man on his way. King Kong Bundy has been eliminated…
• Entry #18 is Bushwhacker Butch. Butch goes right at HBK, buries lefts and rights to the breadbasket, Michaels fires back with shots of his own, grabs him by the back of the head and swiftly ends his night. Bushwhacker Butch has been eliminated…
• Entry #19 is Lex Luger. Lex comes in like a house of fire with punches for everybody, deadlifts Mabel up-and-over and he spills to the outside. Mabel has been eliminated. Luger flattens Shawn with multiple clotheslines, plants him with a military press slam, works with The Bulldog to toss him out in the corner, but Michaels, fights it off as the clock hits zero…
• Entry #20 is Mantaur. The big man clobbers Lex from behind, Davey Boy intervenes and pays for it, Mantaur burying shoulders to the ribs in the corner, then tosses him across the ring…
• Entry #21 is Aldo Montoya…
• Entry #22 is Henry O. Godwinn…
• Entry #23 is Billy Gunn…
• Entry #24 is Bart Gunn…
• Entry #25 is Bob Backlund. Backlund takes his time getting to the ring, climbs up to the apron and gets ripped back down by Bret Hart from behind. The Hitman pummels him with vicious right hands, a group of referees having to try and pull him off as the timer counts down…
• Entry #26 is Steven Dunn. Bret is finally pried off of Backlund and sent to the back, Bob staggers to his feet and rolls into the ring, Luger delivers a clothesline from behind and sends him away. Bob Backlund has been eliminated. Backlund loses his mind, charges The Hitman in the aisle and they brawl all the way to the back as the buzzer sounds…
• Entry #27 is Dick Murdoch…
• Entry #28 is Adam Bomb…
• Entry #29 is Fatu. Lex delivers a series of right hands to Mantaur near the ropes, gets him staggering, leans him over the top and finally dumps him to the floor. Mantaur has been eliminated…
• Entry #30 is Crush. The Smoking Gunns are battling each other near the ropes, Crush slides into the ring, grabs them both from behind and they spill over the top. Billy Gunn & Bart Gunn have been eliminated. Dunn & Montoya exchange fists on the other side, Aldo gets the better of it, back body drops him over and he hits outside. Steven Dunn has been eliminated. Adam Bomb gets Crush reeling near the ropes, charges in and gets elevated up and over, putting a finish to his chances. Adam Bomb has been eliminated. Crush looks to toss Fatu to the outside, Fatu hangs onto the apron, the big Hawaiian doesn’t realize it, gets cracked with a superkick, Michaels throwing Aldo over the top in the process. Aldo Montoya has been eliminated. The big Hawaiian turns Fatu inside-out with a clothesline, grabs him by the hair and deposits him to the outside. Fatu has been eliminated. Murdoch connects with a dropkick to Godwinn, powers him up onto his shoulders for an airplane spin, Shawn gets drilled by Henry’s legs, Murdoch getting disoriented and spilling out to the floor. Dick Murdoch has been eliminated. Henry hangs onto the apron and rolls back inside, all 5 guys remaining take a breather, reload and the brawl continues. Luger runs Godwinn over with a clothesline, Henry goes to the abdomen with headbutts on the way up to his feet, rushes him near the ropes, Lex ducking down and dropping the top rope to send him over. Henry O. Godwinn has been eliminated. Lex gets double teamed by Shawn & Crush, Davey Boy tries to help out and gets knocked back to the mat, Luger fighting his way out of trouble. He corners Crush and goes to the 2nd rope to reign down punches, HBK hits him from behind, Lex spilling over the top to the floor. Lex Luger has been eliminated. Shawn calls for a deal with Crush and they team-up on The Bulldog, send him to the ropes for a double clothesline, HBK tries to turn on the big Hawaiian, but Crush absorbs the shot and presses him over his head. Shawn rakes the eyes to slip out of it, Davey Boy hammers Crush with a clothesline from behind, knocking him to the outside. Crush has been eliminated. We’re back to where we started with Bulldog & Michaels, they exchange shots, Shawn gets the better of it, whips him to the ropes for a back body drop, but Davey Boy counters with a kick. He shoots HBK into the corner, sends him to the ropes for a military press, drops Michaels groin-first on the top rope, hits the ropes for momentum and clotheslines him over the top. The Bulldog thinks he’s won as Shawn hangs on with one arm, Davey Boy climbs to the 2nd rope to celebrate as his music plays, Michaels pulling himself back in and knocks him to the floor.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

• After The Bell: Howard Finkel announces only one of Michaels’ feet hit the floor, making him the winner, replays confirming it. Pamela Anderson steps into the ring and poses behind HBK, fireworks going off overhead to close the show.
• EA’s Take: Obviously, one of the weakest Rumbles in history in terms of the participants. There were a lot of lulls in the action and points when the ring just filled up only for guys to be eliminated in large groupings. I think the fact that the entries came so quickly was a positive this year though, it really helped to keep the excitement going, even if there were barely any exciting individuals coming out. The ending of the match was well done and has become one of the most memorable moments in Rumble history however, a point in time often referenced when the event comes up every January. Michaels was really the only choice in a match loaded with tag team wrestlers and clearly this whole thing was building towards a Shawn/Diesel match. So really nothing overly surprising.

EA’s Finisher: Lack of creativity, shoddy gimmicks and a weak roster highlight this event with the most glaring weakness being the participants in the Rumble. More strange match placement on the card for the WWF Title and another blatant refusal to work guys twice leave me wondering how anyone could question why business was down for the WWF at the time. Your Royal Rumble is packed with uninteresting Superstars, yet you leave Razor Ramon, Jeff Jarrett, 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly, Bam Bam, Tatanka, Undertaker and IRS all out because they had earlier matches. Mindblowing. If you want to see a historical moment (Michaels’ win) or a great title match that ends screwy (Bret/Diesel) then this is for you, but this is another classic case of solid in-ring action with nothing really standing out.

Top Three To Watch
1 – Bret Hart vs. Diesel
2 – Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon
3 – 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka

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