It’s been a while since we ended the “Into the Vault” 1996. Let’s step into 1997 with WWE Royal Rumble 1997. This time, we’re streamlining “Into the Vault” by splitting the show up into “The Best” and “The Rest”.
WWE Royal Rumble 1997: The Best
Going down the card, Triple H defending his Intercontinental Championship against Goldust is definitely the best singles bout of the night. It worked as a great opener to the show and is one of those matches that really adds value to whatever title is at stake.
Adding to this is that this time WWE usually featured lengthy builds to their feuds—especially when there is a title involved. This feud was one of the best handled with Goldust turning face following almost two years as one of the company’s more unique and era-appropriate heels.
I always liked these two together since they just gelled well in lengthier bouts. Beyond this match, the Royal Rumble match was worth watching mainly for the continued rise of Stone Cold and the start of Bret Hart’s final run in the company.
It also feeds into In Your House 13: Final Four because of the way the match ended. You could say this was Undertaker and Vader’s “run it back” performance as you’ll see in “The Rest”.
The Rest
When we get into “the rest” it can be anything mediocre or worse—and there’s quite a bit of that on this PPV. Faarooq vs. Ahmed Johnson was kind of blah and actually went two or three minutes longer than necessary.
Vader vs. Taker was on the slow side—which was weird considering it’s their two and it’s a big four PPV. You’d expect an energetic hoss fight or at least something on the stiff side. We got neither here.
Worth checking out is the AAA offer trios match featuring Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal, and Jerry Estrada against Canek, Hector Garza, and Perro Aguayo.
The match wasn’t topping what WCW’s cruiserweight division was putting on at the moment but it was entertaining and was placed extremely well on the card for the San Antonio crowd.
Most of the matches weren’t bad at all but if you skipped them, you wouldn’t be missing much quality-wise. Storyline-wise, HBK vs. Sid is worth watching if you love a hometown boy winning in front of their folks.
My thing with HBK vs. Sycho Sid is that either the pace should’ve been picked up early or some of the matches should’ve been cut. There was a really good story told here but Sid’s offense could’ve been more domineering to really make Michaels’ comebacks pop bigger.
In the end, it was the crowd and HBK that made this match a little more than mediocre while not being good. Sid was the right threat for HBK in his hometown/home state this match just needed more excitement in a tighter package.
Into the Vault Verdict: Bronze Medal Show (2.5/5)
Right in the middle of the 1-to-5 scale but just shy of that solid three silver medal, WWE Royal Rumble 1997 wasn’t dreadful although half of the matches were poorly paced, the trios match had an unfavorable crowd, the best non-Royal Rumble match started the show, and the main event wasn’t as strong as it should’ve been.
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