Sunday, January 24th, 1993
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
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Somehow this is the third show in a row that I have watched from ARCO Arena. Cutting straight to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan is such a relief.
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers
I didn't rent this show until about 1995 and this was the first time I had ever watched a Steiner match. I did randomly get a Rick Steiner action figure as a gift, but never knew who he was. Scott starts the match off getting the best of Beau, with Beau complaining of Scotty cheating each time. Beau gets a little bit of offense in until Scott hits a suplex. After a huddle, Blake is in and in comes Rick. Blake gets a cheap shot in while the referee is trying to get out of the way. Rick then catches Blake in midair and slams him down. Scott gets a belly-to-belly suplex in, but then the Beverly Brothers get in an illegal double team to slow them down. Beau and Blake cut the ring in half and work on Scott's back. Scott hits a double underhook suplex and both men are down. Hot tag to Rick and he hits a huge back body drop. He then folds up Blake like an acordian with a German suplex. Scott is back in and ends up on Blake's shoulders. He ducks under the Doomsday Device attempt and rolls him up for a 2 count. Scott gets back up and hits a Frankensteiner for the win. This was the first time I had ever seen that move by anyone about 25 years ago. I remember rewinding that over and over, as it absolutely blew me away. Looking back all these years later, he certainly drilled him there. Good little match to open the show.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Intercontinental Championship Match
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
Sensational Sherri comes out alone before both competitors. Marty's outfit here is something else. There's no way that looked cool even in 1993. Sherri shows no interest in Michaels as he looks down on her before the bell rings. We get a hot start with Marty getting the better of Michaels, including a knee lift to the outside. Marty brings him back in and then clotheslines him over the ropes. Marty keeps the attack coming until Michaels counters his leap from the top rope. Michaels then rams Marty's shoulder into the ring post. Probably 75% of the match has taken place outside of the ring. Michaels continues to work on the shoulder. Michaels goes up to the second rope, but Marty gets his leg up. Marty hits Michaels with an elbow and then Marty avoids a charge and Michaels' shoulder hits the ring post. Marty hits a series of right hands, but Michaels is able to dump him out of the ring to buy himself some time. Michaels foes for a suplex back in the ring, but Marty suplexes him to the floor. I can't remember that happening too many times prior to this. Sherri then smacks Michaels on the outside to the delight of the crowd. Marty gets a close call out of it. He throws him into the corner and Michaels goes up and over the top rope. Back in the ring, Marty goes up top, but Michaels avoids him. Marty lands on his feet though and is able to hit a DDT for a nearfall. Michaels misses the superkick and Marty hits him with one and gets another close call. Marty hits a slingshot and again only gets a 2 count. The ref accidentally gets hit with an elbow from Michaels. Marty calls in Sherri and she takes her shoe off. Michaels is able to duck it and she hits Marty. Michaels confronts her and Sherri is crying. Michaels hits the superkick and that's all. That was kind of a weird ending, but the last five minutes or so were really great. Mean Gene is trying to get a word with Sherri but she is hysterical. Michaels runs to the back while Gene tries to calm her down. Marty comes out of nowhere and he attacks Shawn.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
Bam Bam attacks before the bell and goes to work on Boss Man's back. Boss Man makes his comeback and hits him with a lot of weak looking right hands. They do a long spot where Boss Man stays outside the ring for a long time. This match is like watching paint dry. After that boring spot, he goes for a modified bear hug. Boss Man is able to break it, but Bam Bam hangs him out to dry on the top rope. The bear hug continues seemingly forever. Boss Man kind of hits a suplex, but Bigelow immediately hits him with a headbutt. Boss Man hits a back body drop and takes control. Bam Bam gets his boot up and then hits Boss Man with a clothesline. Bam Bam goes up top and hits the headbutt for the victory. I have no idea what they were going for there, but man did it stink. That was just a really bad match.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
We get a hot start with Bret Hart going right after Razor. Razor retaliates but misses with a knee into the corner and Bret starts working on his leg. It's really a shame that this was pretty much it from these two. I think this match was the beginning of something really great. In a 12 pay-per-view schedule, you'd have to think that they would have had an extended feud at some point. Razor throws Bret and he slides right under the turnbuckle and into the ring post in a cool spot. Razor goes to work on Bret's ribs. Razor gets a nearfall after throwing Bret into the turnbuckle chest first. Razor slaps on the abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. I don't have the answer, but somehow wrestling organizations need to find a way to re-condition their fans to react to matches like they are this one. I say this as someone who just raved about TakeOver: Portland, but we as fans need to react to normal moves. Not every match needs 15 high spots all the time. There is room for that, but there is room for a match like this too. Bret legit looks to be taking the beating of his life and is fighting for everything here. Bret just does such a beautiful job of selling every single move here. Razor gets 2 and a half arm drops on a bear hug. Bret fights back and lifts Razor up and over the top rope. Bret then hits a dive to the floor and then slams Razor into the steps. Bret starts throwing a flurry of right hands, as Razor does his best to fight him off. Bret starts hitting some of his staples and gets a couple of 2 counts. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Razor is able to scramble for the ropes. Bret pulls him back in, but as he's trying to turn him over Earl Hebner gets tripped up by it. This allows Razor to go back to work on the ribs. Bret hits a back suplex and then goes off the second rope, but Razor gets his foot up. Bret is able to pull off a backslide and gets a 2 count. Razor gets right back up and goes back to the ribs. Bret pulls out a beautiful pin attempt out while Razor is holding his wrists. Hebner is out of position and Razor kicks out. Bret doesn't let go and is able to hook his legs and puts him in the Sharpshooter and turns him over. Razor gives up a little quicker than I would expect, but the crowd loves it. That was a beautifully put together match and one that is really underappreciated. I'm probably going overboard here, but I just got completely sucked in here.
Match Rating: ****
Bobby Heenan is then shown running down to the floor to introduce Narcissist. He is standing in front of a three mirrors while Bobby hypes him up. Heenan is trying, but this is just awkward. Luger then tells us that he will be the most dominant force in WWF history. He challenges Mr. Perfect.
As the curtains go down on Luger, they introduce Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. They introduce us to WrestleMania IX on Sunday, April 4th at Caesars Palace. The winner of the Royal Rumble tonight will challenge for the WWF Championship, which is the first time they used that as a stipulation.
Royal Rumble Match
#1 is none other than last year's winner, Ric Flair. #2 is Bob Backlund who comes out to no reaction. They continue to make a big deal out of Backlund's age, even though Flair is only 4 months younger. Up next is Papa Shango who has lost all steam at this point. He goes after Backlund but then Flair comes from behind and eliminates him. The fact that Backlund and Flair are both wearing red tights was an odd choice considering how long they would be in there together. Ted DiBiase is #4 and he teams with Flair on Backlund. That's about 120 years of age between these three men. #5 is Brian Knobbs and he hits a double clothesline on DiBiase and Flair. #6 brings out Virgil. Naturally he and DiBiase go after each other. DiBiase is able to pull Knobbs over the top rope and eliminate him. #7 is Jerry Lawler. He and Flair start going after each other, which seems kind of odd. Lawler then saves Virgil from Flair, which never makes sense. It should be noted that they are not playing the entrance music of the participants, which is always such a bad idea. Max Moon is up next at 8. He gets eliminated pretty quickly and then Tenryu comes in at 9. This match desperately needs a babyface that the crowd cares about to come in here. Virgil is on the apron and for some reason Flair pulls him in by the ropes back in. Here comes Mr. Perfect at 10 and the crowd finally is into it. He goes right after Flair. Flair gets a thumb to the eye and then goes up top. Perfect is there and hits a body press. At 11, it's Skinner, who is somehow still on the roster. Then out of nowhere, Perfect eliminates Flair and he is irate. Out comes Koko B. Ware at 12 and Bobby delivers a classic "Did someone call a cab?". Skinner is eliminated by a Perfect dropkick. Of the first 12 competitors, 9 of them do not end up having matches on the main WrestleMania card. Lucky 13 is Samu and the sit and stall period has begun. Berzerker comes in at 14 and tries to interject some life to this match, but it almost looks as if he is sleepwalking. Mr. Perfect eliminates Lawler and then DiBiase comes from behind and dumps over Perfect. Perfect lands on the apron, but then Lawler tries to pull him off along with DiBiase and Koko. After a long struggle, they finally get him. Undertaker is in at 15 to add some much needed star power. Berzerker hits Backlund with one of the weakest looking chair shots you will ever see. Undertaker dumps out Sabu. All of a sudden everyone is doing things at the same time. Taker dumps out Tenryu. Koko stops trying to eliminate Berzerker to pull up his pants and then goes back at it. Here comes the Red Rooster, I mean Terry Taylor, at 16. Koko goes to eliminate Taylor, but DiBiase comes in and eliminates both. DiBiase eats a chokeslam from Undertaker and then he eliminates him. Randomly out of nowhere comes Giant Gonzalez in his infamous outfit. Taker eliminates Berzerker and he is now in the ring with just Gonzalez. After a long stare down, Gonzalez eliminates Taker even though he isn't in the match. Damien Demento was 17 and he is just watching from the outside. Gonzalez throws him back in the ring and continues his attack. This is terrible. IRS is 18 and he too just stands back. Tatanka is number 19 and comes out to a decent pop. Paul Bearer uses the urn to get Undertaker up and he walks away in pain. We're back to guys just standing around pretending to try and eliminate people. Out comes Jerry Sags at 20. It should be noted that Bob Backlund is still in the match. Here comes another WrestleMania main eventer with Typhoon. Heenan accidentally calls him Tugboat and then purposely calls him Buffoon. Fatu is next and I can't help but wonder if anything is ever going to happen in this match. Out comes Earthquake at 23 and he and Typhoon start fighting. Typhoon charges at Quake, but he ducks and Typhoon is gone. Out comes Carlos Colon who Monsoon calls a youngster at the age of 44. Now we get Tito Santana at number 25. Backlund eliminates Fatu with a clothesline. Rick Martel is in and we finally get a Strike Force moment as Tito slams Martel's head into the turnbuckle. Earthquake eliminates IRS. Tito almost is able to get Backlund out, but he hangs on to the ropes. Finally Yokozuna is here to be a difference maker. He and Tatanka go at it, but Yoko easily tosses him out of the ring. Yoko goes to Colon next and he's gone too. Now we get the Earthquake moment. Owen Hart enters, but he gets no attention since Yoko and Quake are doing their thing. Yoko eliminates Earthquake. Repo Man is now in there. Of the 7 men in the ring, only Backlund and Yokozuna have televised matches at WrestleMania. The other 6 men all try to eliminate Yokozuna,. but he is able to fight them off. We are finally to #30 and it's Randy Savage. Yokozuna dumps out Tito. Owen sends out Saggs with a dropkick. Backlund sends out Martel to a decent reaction. Backlund starts throwing dropkicks at Yoko. He charges at him and Yoko tosses him over. We are down to the final two with Savage and Yokozuna. Savage makes a comeback and has Yoko reeling. Savage goes up top and hits a double ax handle. He hits another one and has Yokozuna down to one knee. Yokozuna retaliates with a superkick and follows it up with a belly-to-belly suplex. Savage avoids a splash in the corner and Yoko is down. Savage hits an elbow drop off the top rope and for some reason goes for a pin. Yoko pushes him up and over the top rope and that is all. To put it kindly, that was like watching paint dry for the most part. Not having guys like Michaels, Razor, Bam Bam and Boss Man in that match really hurt it. We were stuck with jobbers like Demento, Virgil, Repo Man and Skinner instead. Yokozuna was absolutely the right choice, but we all knew that and there was no reason this had to go as long as it did. Really disappointing match.
Match Rating: *
Well, the undercard is really solid, especially for the time. However, with the Rumble match taking up nearly half of the show, it's hard to really recommend the show. The roster was really becoming a problem here in 1993 and we were getting stuck with terrible ideas like Giant Gonzalez. Bret Hart put on an absolute clinic in his match with Razor and Shawn finally got to have his big pay-per-view match with Marty. This was not the strongest start to 1993 for the company.
Overall Rating: 58%
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