Royal Rumble (1994)

Infobox Wrestling event
name=Royal Rumble (1994)


promotion=World Wrestling Federation
date=January 22 1994
venue=Providence Civic Center
city=Providence, Rhode Island
attendance=14,500
lastevent=Survivor Series (1993)
nextevent=WrestleMania X
event=Royal Rumble
lastevent2=Royal Rumble (1993)
nextevent2=Royal Rumble (1995)

Royal Rumble (1994) was the seventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 22 1994 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which wrestlers enter the ring at regular intervals. Lex Luger and Bret Hart were named co-winners after they simultaneously eliminated each other.

The undercard featured a Casket match for the WWF Championship, in which Yokozuna successfully defended the title against The Undertaker. In addition, The Quebecers beat Bret and Owen Hart to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship and Razor Ramon successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship.

Background

The first televised match of the pay per view was supposed to be Ludvig Borga vs. Tatanka. The two were engaged in a feud that began prior to Survivor Series 1993. Tatanka was undefeated in the WWF since his debut in 1991.citeweb|title=Bio/Stats Page 2|work=Native Son Tatanka|url=http://www.nativetatanka.com/bio2.html|accessdate=2007-10-21] Borga ended this streak on the October 30 1993 edition of "WWF Superstars" (taped on September 28 1993), when he hit Tatanka with a steel chair while the referee was distracted. As a results of kayfabe injuries from this attack and the beating he suffered afterward at the hands of Borga and Yokozuna, Tatanka was forced to miss the main event match at Survivor Series. [citeweb|title=16 Years of the Survivor Series: Stats and Facts|work=Online World of Wrestling|url= http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/survivorseries-facts.html|accessdate=2007-10-22] Although Tatanka defeated Borga by disqualification on the December 20 1993 edition of "Monday Night RAW", [cite web|title=Wrestler Profiles: Ludvig Borga|work=Online World of Wrestling|url= http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/l/ludvig-borga.html|accessdate=2007-10-19] the bitterness between the two remained.

Borga suffered a legitimate ankle injury, however, and was replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow.citeweb|title=World Wrestling Entertainment Substitutions|work=Softwolves|url= http://www.softwolves.pp.se/wrestling/wwf/substitutions|accessdate=2007-10-19] Although the substitution took place shortly before the event, Bigelow and Tatanka also had a heated rivalry. In 1993, Bigelow cut Tatanka's dyed red hair as an insult to his Lumbee heritage. The two faced each other as part of a six-man match at SummerSlam 1993, but the feud continued even after Tatanka's team emerged victorious. [cite web|title=SummerSlam 1993|work=WWE|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam07/history/1993/results/|accessdate=2007-10-21]

Razor Ramon and Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S.) began feuding prior to SummerSlam 1993 because of an angle in which Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and I.R.S.) teased Ramon about losing to the 1-2-3 Kid, a newcomer to the WWF.citeweb|title=Wrestler Profiles: Ted DiBiase|work=Online World of Wrestling|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/ted-dibiase.html|accessdate=2007-10-22] The rivalry heated up when I.R.S. stole Ramon's gold chains while Shawn Michaels had Ramon distracted. [cite web|title=WWF Raw: December 06, 1993|work=The Other Arena|url=http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1993/raw120693|accessdate=2007-10-28] [cite web|title=WWF Raw: December 13, 1993|work=The Other Arena|url= http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1993/raw121393|accessdate=2007-10-23] Ramon and I.R.S. agreed to settle the feud at Royal Rumble 1994 with Ramon's Intercontinental Championship on the line.

At Survivor Series 1993, Owen Hart was eliminated from the “Hart Brothers vs. Shawn Michaels and His Knights” elimination match due to miscommunication within the Hart team. Bret Hart was walking along the ring apron when Owen ran into him, causing Owen to lose his focus and be pinned by Michaels.citeweb|last=Gutschmidt|first=Adam|title=WWF Survivor Series '93 Re-Revued|work=Online Onslaught|url=http://www.oowrestling.com/columns/ooldtyme/20040708.shtml|accessdate=2007-10-21] After the match, Owen interrupted his brothers’ victory celebration to verbally attack Bret. He demanded a match with Bret to settle the dispute. Bret refused, and the brothers reunited over the Christmas holidays.cite web|title=Most Rugged Roads to WrestleMania|work=WWE|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/listthis/ruggedroadstomania/roadstomania7| accessdate=2007-10-12] cite web|last=Gutschmidt|first=Adam|title=Royal Rumble 1994 Re-Revued|work= Online Onslaught|url=http://www.oowrestling.com/columns/ooldtyme/20040715.shtml|accessdate=2007-10-19] They decided to focus their energy on taking the tag team title from the Quebecers. Their plan was temporarily put on hold when Marty Jannetty and the 1-2-3 Kid won the belts, [cite web|title=Marty Jannetty and 1-2-3 Kid's first reign| work=WWE|url= http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/304454132111212|accessdate=2007-10-19] but the Quebecers won a rematch the following week, [cite web|title=The Quebecers' second reign|work=WWE|url= http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/30445413213112|accessdate=2007-10-19] guaranteeing that the Harts would get their title shot.

The rivalry between Yokozuna and The Undertaker began at Survivor Series 1993. Yokozuna, who was pushed as an unstoppable monster,cite web|last=Kearns|first=Colm|title=The History of the WWE Title, Part 3|work=Online World of Wrestling|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/columns/misc/colmkearns03.html|accessdate=2007-10-22] was unable to inflict any serious damage on The Undertaker when the two faced each other in an elimination match. Yokozuna slammed The Undertaker’s head into the steel steps leading up to the ring, but The Undertaker was unharmed.cite web| title=Survivor Series '93|work=The Other Arena|url=http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1993/wwf112493| accessdate=2007-10-22] Later, Yokozuna used his finishing move, the Banzai Drop, on The Undertaker. When he tried to repeat the move, however, The Undertaker became the first wrestler to sit up after the move, surprising Yokozuna and his managers. The Undertaker was granted a title shot, but Jim Cornette, Yokozuna’s American spokesperson, included a clause in the contract that The Undertaker would not get a rematch if he lost.cite web|title=Monday Night Raw: January 17, 1994|work=The Other Arena|url=http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1994/raw011794|accessdate=2007-10-22] Paul Bearer, The Undertaker’s manager, included a clause stating that the confrontation would take place in a Casket match. In the following weeks, it was revealed that Yokozuna had a fear of caskets. [cite web|title=Monday Night Raw: January 3, 1994|work=The Other Arena|url=http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1994/raw010394|accessdate=2007-11-13] The Undertaker used this knowledge to gain a psychological advantage going into the match. On one occasion, Paul Bearer brought the casket to the ring to intimidate Yokozuna. When Yokozuna approached the casket to face his fear, the Undertaker popped out to scare Yokozuna.

Lex Luger wanted to participate in the Royal Rumble match, as the winner was scheduled to get a title shot for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X. The contract he had signed for his title shot at SummerSlam 1993, however, stated that he would not receive a rematch if he failed to win the title. [cite web|title=Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji for the WWE Championship|work=WWE|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam07/history/1993/mainevent/|accessdate= 2007-10-23] A compromise was reached, allowing Luger to compete. Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, was allowed to bring in two wrestlers, Genichiro Tenryu and The Great Kabuki to hurt Luger's chances of winning.

Event

Notes

References

*cite news|title=2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts|work=Wrestling’s historical cards|publisher=Kappa Publishing|date=2007|pages=92

External links

* [http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/198811421/ Official 1994 Royal Rumble website]
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/royalrumble94.html onlineworldofwrestling.com - Royal Rumble 1994 results]
* [http://www.twnpnews.com/information/rumble.shtml twnpnews.com - Royal Rumble]
* [http://www.hoffco-inc.com/wwe/ppv/ppv/rr94.html hoffco-inc.com - Royal Rumble 1994 review]