zkonedog In 1994, coming off one of the worst Royal Rumble's to that point in WWF history, the quality of the broadcast improved significantly and was actually fun to watch again for two main reasons:First, all the matches before the main Rumble event (Harts/Quebecs, Razor/IRS, Undertaker/Yokozuna) were quite interesting/exciting in their own right. They each advanced a storyline and featured some quality athletic feats, not just a bunch of fat guys rolling around that had been the standard for the past few years for the WWF.Also, many of the participants of those matches actually compete in the Rumble itself this year, solving the problem of having all the interesting characters wiped out before the big brawl even began. Plus, the frequency of the "jobbers" was a bit more few-and-far-between. The depth of big names might still have been lacking, but most of the characters at least had interesting personas that one could either root for or despise.Finally, the ending of the Rumble is one that ranks right up their in the history of the event. I won't give it away here, but suffice it to say that you will be shocked when the final bell rings.Overall, this was a nice edition to the pantheon of RR events, especially considering the failure of the '93 edition.

amanwhorocks 1. Tatanka Vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - Nice moonsault from BBB, rest was nothing special. 5/10 2. WWF Tag Team Championship: Champs (went first)-Quebeckers Vs. Bret & Owen Hart - Raven aka Johnny Polo at ringside :) Hart loses and Owen Turns on Bret. But the match was great, mostly because of Owen. 7/10 3. WWF Intercontinental Championship: I.R.S. Vs. Champ-Razor Ramon 6.5/10 4. WWF Heavyweight Championship: Champ-Yokozuna (went first) Vs. The Undertaker - No DQ, so 1 against 10 match and Taker lost, hmm not so much wrestling. 5/10 5. Royal Rumble: Scott Steiner, Samu, Rick Steiner, Owen Hart, Kwang, Bart Gunn, Diesel, Billy Gunn, Double J, Randy Savage, Virgil, Crush, Doink, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mable, Bob Backlund, Sparky Plugg, Shawn Michaels, Mo, Greg Valentine, Tatanka, The Great Kabuki, Lex Luger, Tenryu, Bastion Booger, Rick Martel, Bret Hart, Fatu, Marty Jannetty, Adam Bomb, Notes: Steiners aren't so much popular like in WCW, push for Diesel... 6/10

bh_tafe3 The 1994 Royal Rumble can be split into two parts: the first three matches which were dedicated to existing rivalries; and the last two matches which were all about Jim Cornette and Mr Fuji's attempts to keep the WWE Title on Yokozuna.The night started off with the only once defeated Tatanka defeating Bam Bam Bigelow in a slow, but fun opener. Tatank had originally been scheduled to face Ludvig Borga, the man who'd ended his two year winning streak, but Borga had suffered an injury and so Bigelow, who had feuded with Tatanka in 1993, got the spot instead.The big story going into the next match was the sibling rivalry going on between Bret and Owen Hart. Owen had been unhappy with Bret after a miscommunication between the two had led to Owen being the only Hart eliminated in their match against Shawn Michaels and the knights at Survivor Series. Owen requested a match to find out who was the better man, but Bret refused and instead formed a tag team with Owen. On this night they would face the Quebecers trying to win the tag team championship. Things didn't go as planned though with Bret suffering a knee injury in the match and then passing up an opportunity to tag Owen in before getting pinned. Owen then started beating on Bret's knee, blaming Bret for the loss and walking out on his brother, leaving him on the ground writhing in pain and apparently little prospect of competing in the Royal Rumble match later.The next match on the card saw Razor Ramon defeating Irwin R Shyster to retain the Intercontinental Championship in a decent match. IRS was a reliable worker in the early to mid 90s, but never enjoyed singles success in his career.This brings us to the big title match with Yokozuna putting the WWE Title on the line in a casket match against the Undertaker. The Undertaker had put Yokozuna on notice after sitting up following a banzai drop and then eliminating Yokozuna and himself from the match by count out. Yokozuna's manager Mr Fuji made sure that this would be the Undertaker's only title opportunity. Undertaker took total control of the match until a series of run ins from Fuji and Jim Cornette's cronies felled Undertaker. Eventually it took a 13 on 1 beat down to subdue the Undertaker long enough for Yokozuna to roll him into the casket and claim the victory. The Undertaker was then locked in the casket and wheeled out of the arena, only for him to appear on the titantron and threaten revenge before floating up into the rafters. At the time this was pretty cool stuff, but would come across as lame today.The Royal Rumble was a match of two halves. The First half was all about Shawn Michael's bodyguard Diesel, who dominated the match, clearing the ring several times before finally getting eliminated after knocking out seven people. The rest of the match was about Fuji and his hired guns trying to ensure that any serious threat to Yokozuna's title didn't win the Royal Rumble. With Bret Hart injured and by no means sure of competing, Lex Luger looked the most significant threat to Yokozuna. And when no one came out at No.25 it was thought that Hart had been too injured to compete. Another number came and so that was it. It was Luger vs Fuji's lackeys, who surely couldn't beat all of them on his own. No.27 came around and out of the archway came...Bret Hart!! The crowd went nuts. Hart on one leg, stood with Luger and they eliminated all of Fuji's men until it was only them left. One of these two men, who'd been so close to beating Yokozuna in the past, would be facing him at Wrestlemania. They went back and forth and suddenly both guys went over the top rope together and their feet landed simultaneously on the ground. It was a draw. The result being that Yokozuna would be facing both Hart and Luger, the two biggest threats to his WWE Championship, at Wrestlemania X.This was a really good night. Almost every match on the card had repercussions for Wrestlemania X. The storyline in the Rumble was unique and the matches were all fine. An entertaining event worth revisiting and it set up arguably the best WWE PPV ever: Wrestlemania X.

dawsonbot People usually say things like the 1992, 1995, or 1997 Rumbles are the best, but Royal Rumble 1994 always comes to mind as the best Royal Rumble ever. It serves at the starting point for one of the most bitter feuds in World Wrestling Federation history; Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. The incident with the Undertaker is cheesy and supernatural, but this is sports entertainment dammit! The events leading up to his "death" (10 superstars interfering in the match) is pretty cool which is revisted in 1998, and the most controversial finish of the Royal Rumble takes place here when Bret hart and Lex Luger and eliminated simultaneously thus having co-winners of the Rumble (which means double main event at WrestleMania X)!10/10