Rewriting 1993's Big 4 PPVs, Part 1 of 4: The Royal Rumble

[LODemolition]

Actual Results:

1. The Steiner Brothers def. The Beverly Brothers

2. Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) def. Marty Jannetty

3. Bam Bam Bigelow def. Big Boss Man

4. WWE Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) def. Razor Ramon by submission

5. Royal Rumble Match: Yokozuna wins by last eliminating "Macho Man" Randy Savage


On paper, this looks like a very good Royal Rumble in hindsight. However, we once again have a case of guys being thrust into the spotlight a bit too soon for my taste. This was only the 2nd ppv for Yokozuna and Razor Ramon, yet we had Razor contending for the WWE Championship and Yokozuna winning the Rumble match. The ending was a bit too far-fetched (even for pro wrestling) with Savage dropping the elbow, then going for the pin in a match where pinfalls don't count of course, then to be thrown clear over the top rope from the canvas when Yokozuna kicked out. Wow. Flair drew #1 and should have gone the distance once again imo, although in my rewrites he is still WWE Champion, so he wouldn't have been in the Rumble match to begin with. Here are the changes I would have made to the first ppv of 1993, which include a couple more matches than in reality because I would not have had the end of the Rumble match itself drag out as long as it did with Yokozuna and Savage.

Rewriting the 1993 Royal Rumble​

1. Intercontinental Championship: Tatanka def. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (c) *by countout*

I'm taking their WrestleMania IX match and moving it up here, because Tatanka deserved a title match at some point...just not at Mania imo. Jannetty and Michaels was just fine, but that has already happened twice in my 1992 rewrites (WM8 and Survivor Series), so the fans would have been burned out on that feud by this time. Michaels takes a walk down the aisle to get himself counted out, but retains the IC Title.


2. Yokozuna def. Big Boss Man

I have no problems with the Bigelow vs Boss Man match, however with Yokozuna being so new, I'd have preferred to see him dominate in his own match and send the Boss Man packing (this was his last ppv before leaving for WCW). Meanwhile, I'd have Bigelow have a strong showing in the Rumble match, taking Yokozuna's place - because if you don't have Yokozuna winning the Rumble, you don't put him in it at all. A bonsai drop on the Boss Man has him taken out on a stretcher.


3. Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. (c) def. High Energy

Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware made a fine duo and would've made a respectable challenger for the tag team titles at this event, minus the MC Hammer pants of course. Money Inc retains rather easily to go into WrestleMania IX with the gold.


4. Papa Shango def. The Undertaker

Yes, Papa Shango wins and without help. I might be in the minority, but I loved the Papa Shango character. It was a great gimmick and these 2 forces of the darkside should have been put in a big feud somewhere between 1992-93. This of course means that Taker is not in the Rumble match as I'm not a big fan of wrestlers pulling double duty at the RR, and also the Giant Gonzalez does not debut just yet.


5. The Steiner Brothers def. The Nasty Boys

Take their same match against the Beverly Brothers, only with a better opponent. Knobbs and Sags are still heels in my rewrites, as they should be. The Steiners solidify themselves as the #1 contenders to Money Inc's tag team titles.


Steel Cage Match: Ric Flair and Razor Ramon def. "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect

Ric Flair walks into the Rumble still WWE Champion after defending successfully against Mr. Perfect at Survivor Series. This time, there's nowhere to run or hide as these 4 battle it out in a 15-foot high steel cage. I would usually have the WWE Championship defended at the Rumble ppv, but this main event was too good to pass up. This of course means no Macho Man or Mr. Perfect in the Rumble match, but I feel it holds up well with the competitors I have entered in their places. Flair and Razor win by escaping the cage so that Savage and Hennig don't have to take the pin. With Flair still being WWE Champion, we of course don't have the loser leaves town match the following night on Raw with Curt Hennig. I feel with Flair leaving on good terms the way he did, his exit could've easily been saved for Mania and I've always wondered why it wasn't. Now we all wait to see who will challenge Flair for the gold at WMIX in Las Vegas.


Royal Rumble Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart wins by last eliminating "The Narcissist" Lex Luger

Bret Hart truly outlasts 29 other men here, none having yet been eliminated when he entered at #8. Not only would Luger have been in my Rumble match and debuted here, he would have been the first man to throw his hat into the ring in the weeks leading up. Bam Bam Bigelow, as I mentioned above, puts on a great show as well in Yokozuna's place and is the 28th man eliminated. Other participants (who were not in the actual Rumble) include: Crush, Marty Jannetty, Brutus Beefcake, Doink, Kamala and The Mountie. The Natural Disasters would split as a result of this match when Typhoon took exception to being eliminated by Earthquake, and would turn heel on him the following night on Raw. Bob Backlund still has a great run from #2 to the final 5 and gains a cult-like following. Caesar and Cleopatra come out to congratulate Bret on winning the Rumble, then we see Ric Flair walk out from behind the curtain to get a good look at his WrestleMania IX opponent.


Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment and/or post your changes to this card.

Next up...WrestleMania IX

 

[HBKperfect23]

This was one of the better Rumble undercards. I'd keep everything as is. This is the best card they were able to put on with the roster they had.

Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty was great even though it happened nearly a year too late.

Razor was the most logical choice for Bret after his involvement with Flair and Perfect.

BamBam/Bossman and Steiners/Beverlies were decent fillers.

Yoko gets the Hogan match at my mania and savage is in the title match so I'm good with them being the final 2.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The Steiner Brothers needed a strong first ppv and the Beverleys were fairly decent, so I'll keep that the same

The Intercontinental title match stays exactly the same; the key difference is in the build up, as I had Michaels and Jannetty be on opposite teams at Survivor Series but Michaels did a runner before Jannett could get his hands on him. This adds to the anticipation of this match. I never understood why this match was cited as getting Jannetty sacked, as I thought then and still think now that it's a bloody good match.

Next up would be a tag team title match between the champions, Money Inc, and the Nasty Boys. To my knowledge these two never actually faced off, despite various references on commentary during the Rumble match that the Nastys were no.1 contenders. So I'd have that match here and take the four of them out of the Rumble.

Instead of the unveiling of the Narcissist, I would replace those few minutes with a short dominant squash match, Yokozuna destroying Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

I'm happy to keep Bret Hart v Razor Ramon as the WWF title match for what I have as the Hitman's first ppv defence. There really weren't many options that weren't being used elsewhere.

Finally we have the Royal Rumble match. Much of the booking, I would keep the same, though I would replace Money Inc and the Nastys with Bam Bam Bigelow, the Big Boss Man, a returning Brutus Beefcake and a debuting Lex Luger. And instead of Yokozuna I would include Kamala. I also wouldn't have the stupid Giant Gonzalez introduction as I wouldn't have him in WWF, he was useless. Undertaker lasts a lot longer in the match, until close to the end, but is eliminated in a joint effort by Bigelow and Luger. The Flair/Perfect spot remains the same, though again I would have it maybe 20 minutes later (give the impression that flair could possibly last an hour again) and the final two would be Luger (given a strong debut) and Randy Savage. The Macho Man wins for his final big push, and being the runner up in the Rumble does Luger no harm at all on his debut.

 

[LODemolition]

Instead of the unveiling of the Narcissist, I would replace those few minutes with a short dominant squash match, Yokozuna destroying Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Sorry, but this has to stay. That's why Luger draws #1 for my Rumble match, just for this segment alone. It was one of the funniest things in wrestling history, with Bobby Heenan more or less drooling all over Luger as he poses in front of the mirrors. Not to mention Heenan mispronounced "Narcissist" at least 3 or 4 times. Holy shit it was hilarious.