Royal Rumble (1995)

Infobox Wrestling event
name=Royal Rumble (1995)


promotion=World Wrestling Federation
date=January 22 1995
venue=USF Sun Dome
city=Tampa, Florida
attendance=10,000
lastevent=Survivor Series (1994)
nextevent=WrestleMania XI
event=Royal Rumble
lastevent2=Royal Rumble (1994)
nextevent2=Royal Rumble (1996)

Royal Rumble (1995) was the eighth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 22 1995 in the USF Sun Dome located in Tampa, Florida. The event featured five matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF. The reviews have been mostly positive, although the shortened time between entries in the Royal Rumble match has been criticized.

The main event was the Royal Rumble match, which Shawn Michaels won after entering the ring first and lasting over 38 minutes. The event also featured a match for the WWF Championship, as Diesel defended the title against Bret Hart. The match was stopped when several other wrestlers interfered and the referee lost control of the match. Two other title matches took place; Jeff Jarrett won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon, and the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly won the final match in a tournament to determine the new WWF Tag Team Champions.

Several storylines from Royal Rumble 1995 carried over to WrestleMania XI, the WWF's next pay-per-view. Bam Bam Bigelow attacked National Football League Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting in the crowd; this set up a match between the two at WrestleMania. Pamela Anderson was at ringside and was supposed to accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble match to his WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania. Although Shawn Michaels won the match, Anderson came to the ring at Wrestlemania with Diesel, however. The Undertaker's feud with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation also escalated, as DiBiase's men stole The Undertaker's urn. Jarrett and Ramon continued to feud for several months, and Bret Hart targeted Bob Backlund as a result of Backlund's interference in the WWF Championship match.

Background

The storyline behind the WWF Championship match began in 1994, when Bret Hart was feuding with his brother Owen. After Owen was unable to win the title, [cite web|title=SummerSlam 1994 Results|work=WWE|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/1994/results/|accessdate=2008-09-24] he instead helped Bob Backlund win the belt from Bret at Survivor Series 1994. [cite web|title=History of the WWE Championship: Bob Backlund's second reign|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454125|accessdate=2008-09-24|work=WWE] Three days after Survivor Series, Diesel faced Backlund and won the title belt. [cite web|title=History of the WWE Championship: Diesel's first reign|work=WWE|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454123|accessdate=2008-09-24] He agreed to grant a title shot to Bret Hart, who, like Diesel, was also a fan-favorite.

Also at Survivor Series 1994, Shawn Michaels and Diesel had an argument after Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. Although the pair held the WWF Tag Team Championship together, Diesel said that he did not want to team with Michaels any longer.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/304454132125|title=History of the World Tag Team Championship: Diesel and Shawn Michaels's first reign|work=WWE|accessdate=2008-09-23] The title was vacated, and the WWF held a tournament to determine the new champions. During the tournament, The Smoking Gunns were forced to withdraw when Bart Gunn was injured in a rodeo accident.cite journal|last=Gianfriddo|first=Lou|title=The Smoking Gunns' Dead Aim: New Tag Team Champions!|journal=World Wrestling Federation Magazine|volume=14|issue=4|pages=12|publisher=TitanSports, Inc.|date=April 1995] As a result, the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly took their place. The Gunns requested, however, that they get a title shot after the tournament when Bart had recovered. The 1-2-3 Kid and Holly advanced to the finals, as did Ted DiBiase's team of Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka. The match to determine the new champions was scheduled to take place at the Royal Rumble.

The Undertaker had been feuding with DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation since returning to the WWF from an injury in August 1994. During the match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994, Irwin R. Schyster, one of DiBiase's wrestlers, interfered in the match by attacking The Undertaker. [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/survivorseries/history/1994/mainevent/|title=Casket Match: Undertaker def. Yokozuna|work=WWE|accessdate=2008-09-23] The feud between The Undertaker and Schyster escalated when Schyster performed a series of vignettes in which he repossessed such items as tombstones and burial plots from people he claimed had not paid their taxes before dying.cite web|title=Ring Results: 1994|url=http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/94.htm|accessdate=2008-09-23|work=The History of WWE] [cite episode|title=Monday Night Raw|episodelink=WWE Raw|network=USA Network|city=Bushkill, Pennsylvania|airdate=1994-11-21] cite journal|last=Gianfriddo|first=Lou|title=Royal Rumble: The Winter Sizzler!|journal=World Wrestling Federation Magazine|volume=14|issue=2|pages=50-51|publisher=TitanSports, Inc.|date=February 1995] During the feud, Schyster was escorted to the ring for his matches by a group of hooded druids.

The feud between Jeff Jarrett and Razor Ramon began in late 1994 when Jarrett began challenging Ramon for Ramon's WWF Intercontinental Championship. They faced each other several times, but Jarrett was unable to win the belt. Jarrett, who portrayed an aspiring country music star, was accompanied to the ring by The Roadie, who often interfered in matches on Jarrett's behalf.cite web|title=Jeff Jarrett|work=SLAM! Sports|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/jarrett.html|accessdate=2008-09-24] [cite journal|last=Russo|first=Vince|title=Why the Cowboy Has the Edge over Razor|journal=World Wrestling Federation Magazine|volume=14|issue=2|pages=46-47|publisher=TitanSports, Inc.|date=February 1995]

Although no major feuds were featured in the Royal Rumble match, "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson was in attendance at ringside. It was announced that she would accompany the winner of the match during his WWE Championship title shot at WrestleMania XI.

Event

References

Further reading

* [http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/1988117/ Official 1995 Royal Rumble website]
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/royalrumble95.html Royal Rumble 1995 Results at Online World of Wrestling]
*cite news|title=2007 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Almanac & Book of Facts|work=Wrestling’s historical cards|publisher=Kappa Publishing|date=2007|pages=93