Normally when we go Into the Vault, I try to compare events from the same month and year. We got in WCW Uncensored 1995 but WWE wasn’t running monthly PPVs at this time. As a matter of fact, the In Your House shows didn’t kick off until 1995. While WCW ran big shows every month, it bolstered things with Clash of the Champions as not to compete on PPV against WWE. The 1995 PPV wrestling season kicked off with WWE Royal Rumble 1995. Let’s dive in!
Trash Tier
Go on ahead and skip Undertaker vs. IRS. It was a TV match or something you’d put in the middle of the show to cool things down after several hot matches. You don’t run it second. Of course, I doubt WWE knew that this match would be drier than Popeye’s biscuits.
Someone in the 10,000 who attended the event loved this match but this just wasn’t an interesting bout. This should’ve been a throwaway bonus on the Coliseum Home Video version.
The Royal Rumble match itself was…meh. No, sub-meh. It was the HBK-British Bulldog show because outside of Owen and Lex, the entrants weren’t near the main event. These four were mainly facing the Superstars crew. It wasn’t a bad rumble at all it just needed more razzle-dazzle name-wise.
Actually, add the Royal Rumble match to “bonus features.” Normally, bonuses are supposed to be stuff you’d want to see. Well, the joke’s on you.
Mid Tier
With that out of the way, you didn’t have a lot of choices with the WWE Royal Rumble 1995. The only match that was in the middle and could go either way for the World Tag Title bout that saw 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly take on Bam Bam and Tatanka.
HBK and Diesel didn’t want to team up anymore and the belts became vacant. Le what? I didn’t even know the title could just become vacant because of that. Like, you’re the champions. During the Attitude Era, there were enemies who held the belts together. Did they want to have to rely on each other to retain the titles? No! So odd.
Anyway, a tournament was held but the Smoking Gunns had to back out. Bart was injured or something. The 1-2-3 Kid and Holly took their place and advanced. In watching the TV leading up to Royal Rumble 1995, the Gunns said they wanted a shot after the tournament. Get in line, big fella. All the way in the back.
The bout at the Rumble was actually pretty solid. Actually, this should’ve started the show, then take your chances with the Rumble and Taker-IRS before getting down to business.
Exotic Tier
Razor Ramon defending his Intercontinental title against Jeff Jarrett? Dope. This match was really enjoyable. It was the opener but honestly, it should’ve been the semi-main event.
I don’t care for how Bret Hart’s challenge for Diesel’s World Title ended but the match was really good. The best thing on the card, actually. Diesel put in the work on PPV when he was with WWE during this time and Bret was Bret. His B-matches are good at the minimum. These two put on quite the show following whatever that 30-man…thing was that came before it.
WWE Royal Rumble 1995 Verdict: 5/10
It wasn’t the worst Royal Rumble of all time but it was one that would’ve been forgettable except for three matches. Out of those three, only two were worth watching. Seriously, the Royal Rumble itself was “meh” incarnate but you’re not going to forget it because of how bland it was.
A lack of razzle-dazzle really hurt the match. You don’t expect star-studded Rumbles or the surprise entries we get today. You just expect it to be pretty good at least since it’s one match that runs longer than normal.
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