Royal Rumble (1994) - Event

Event

In a dark match before the broadcast, the Brooklyn Brawler defeated Jim Powers. The Brawler used a swinging neckbreaker to get the victory. As the pay per view broadcast began, Vince McMahon announced that Ted DiBiase would be his commentary partner for the evening.

The first televised match was between Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow tried to attack Tatanka before the bell, but Tatanka moved. The two fought back and forth, and Bigelow gained momentum after Tatanka missed a crossbody from the top turnbuckle. Bigelow used his weight to keep the advantage, sitting on Tatanka and later using a bear hug to wear him down. After the two hit each other with simultaneous crossbodies, Tatanka began a war dance. Bigelow kicked Tatanka in the back of the head to regain the advantage but missed a moonsault attempt from the top rope, allowing Tatanka to perform a crossbody from the corner and get the victory.

This match was followed by the Tag Team Championship match. The match started slowly, but both teams soon began brawling in the ring. The Harts focused on Pierre, but Jacques was eventually able to tag in to rescue him. After Pierre regained the advantage, Owen tagged in and took control of the match. He applied the Sharpshooter to Jacques, but Pierre broke the hold. Bret tagged in but fell out of the ring and kayfabe hurt his knee when the Quebecers' manager pulled on the ropes. The Quebecers focused on Bret's knee until Bret regained the advantage and attempted to apply the Sharpshooter. He was not able to stand, however, so the referee stopped the match and awarded the victory to the Quebecers. After the match, Owen yelled at Bret for not tagging out of the match. He then turned on Bret by kicking his injured leg and leaving him lying in the ring.

Next came the match between Irwin R. Schyster and Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship, for which Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon took over the commentary roles. The match began with a brawl between the two, and Ramon got the early advantage. Schyster eventually threw Ramon over the top rope and attacked him on the floor. I.R.S. kept control of the match for quite a while, applying a reverse chinlock while using the ring ropes for additional leverage. After Ramon escaped the hold, he was able to perform a fallaway slam on Schyster. He then used an Irish Whip to throw Schyster into the corner, but the match turned around with a ref bump when referee Joey Marella was in the way and was kayfabe knocked unconscious. Shawn Michaels ran to the ring with his fake Intercontinental belt and hit Ramon with it, and Schyster helped revive Marella to count the pinfall. I.R.S. appeared to win the title, but referee Earl Hebner cam to the ring and explained the situation to Marella. When Michaels' belt was discovered in the ring, the match was restarted. Ramon simply grabbed Schyster, who was standing on the second turnbuckle celebrating, and performed the Razor's Edge for the victory.

Howard Finkel then announced that the Casket Match would be next. He explained that there would be not countouts or disqualifications, and that the first wrestler to get his opponent in the casket and close the lid would win the match. Yokozuna had great difficulty inflicting any serious damage on The Undertaker, but it was soon revealed that Mr. Fuji had arranged for several wrestlers to get involved on Yokozuna's behalf. Crush, The Great Kabuki, Genichiro Tenryu and Bam Bam Bigelow interfered, but The Undertaker was able to fight back until Mr. Fuji stole The Undertaker's urn from Paul Bearer. Yokozuna opened the urn, and smoke poured out. Meanwhile, Adam Bomb, Jeff Jarrett, The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) and Diesel then came to the ring to help Yokozuna. Eventually, Yokozuna and his allies were able to shut The Undertaker in the casket to end the match. They locked the casket and pushed it down the aisle until smoke started coming out of the casket. The Undertaker appeared on the video screen at the end of the aisle, vowing to return. The casket was shown exploding on the screen, although the casket in the arena did not explode. After the explosion was shown, a person resembling The Undertaker was seen rising up to the ceiling of the Civic Center. This role is rumored to have been played by Marty Jannetty.

Before the Royal Rumble match began, commentator Vince McMahon announced that WWF President Jack Tunney had shortened the interval between entrances from the traditional two minutes to 90 seconds due to time constraints. Kamala was supposed to compete in the match, but he was replaced by Virgil. Ludvig Borga could not compete due to his ankle injury and was replaced by Kwang, a newcomer to the WWF. In addition, the 1-2-3 Kid was replaced by Thurman “Sparky” Plugg (later renamed Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly), who was also making his debut. Bastion Booger was scheduled to be the twenty-fifth participant, but he did not appear for unknown reasons; Vince McMahon stated that he did not appear because he did not "feel good".

As the Royal Rumble match began, it was revealed that Scott Steiner was the first participant and his former rival Samu had drawn the number two position. Early in the match, Diesel tied a WWF record by throwing out seven consecutive wrestlers. He was ultimately eliminated by a group of wrestlers. Shawn Michaels was involved in this elimination, although the inconclusive camera angle led to speculation as to whether he was helping eliminate Diesel or trying to save him. Although Diesel wrestled as a heel at the time, his performance earned him applause from the crowd.

Several ongoing feuds came into play during the match. Crush and his former friend, Randy Savage fought each other until Crush eliminated Savage. Bam Bam Bigelow and Doink the Clown also faced each other during the match. Doink had annoyed Bigelow with a series of pranks in late 1993, and the feud was supposed to be settled at Survivor Series 1993, but the team of “Doinks” that Bigelow fought was just The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission dressed up as clowns. When they met in the Royal Rumble, Bigelow quickly eliminated Doink. The Royal Rumble match also saw an old feud rekindled. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, former tag team partners as The Rockers, traded a series of punches when Jannetty entered the match and Michaels ultimately eliminated Jannetty from the match.

The match ended when Lex Luger and Bret Hart simultaneously eliminated each other. Two referees argued about who had landed first while several inconclusive camera angles were broadcast. Eventually, WWF President Jack Tunney came to the ring and had Finkel announce that both men would be considered winners. The situation regarding the title shot at WrestleMania X, which was to be given to the winner, remained unresolved until the following week on Monday Night Raw.