Royal Rumble (1997)

Royal Rumble (1997) was the tenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 19, 1997, from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The attendance of 60,477 is the highest recorded in the Royal Rumble's history.

Royal Rumble (1997)
Promotional poster featuring Shawn Michaels
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 19, 1997
City	San Antonio, Texas
Venue	Alamodome
Attendance	60,477[1]
Tagline(s)	No More Mr. Nice Guy!
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous In Your House 12: It's Time Next → In Your House 13: Final Four
Royal Rumble chronology
← Previous 1996 Next → 1998

The main event was between Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[2] The main matches on the undercard were the Royal Rumble match, which Stone Cold Steve Austin won after last eliminating Bret Hart,[3] Vader versus The Undertaker,[4] and Hunter Hearst Helmsley versus Goldust for the WWF Intercontinental Championship.[5]

During this time WWF was working with the Mexico based Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) promotion, and had several wrestlers from that company participate in the Royal Rumble match, as well as in a number of undercard matches.

Production

Background

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view, produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, later dubbed the "Big Four".[6] It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers. Traditionally, the winner of the match earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 1997, the winner earned a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 13. 1997 was the tenth event in the Royal Rumble chronology.[7][8]

Storylines

The card consisted of six matches. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, with storylines produced on their weekly television show, Raw.[9][10]

The feud between Goldust and Hunter Hearst Helmsley centered around Goldust's manager, Marlena. During the free broadcast prior to In Your House 12, Helmsley attempted to seduce Marlena.[11] Goldust responded by attacking Helmsley during matches in the following weeks.[11][12] The feud escalated on the December 30, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw during a match between Goldust and Jerry Lawler. Helmsley came to the ring and tried to carry Marlena away.[11] Marc Mero, who had dropped the WWF Intercontinental Championship to Helmsley, blocked Helmsley's path, but the distraction was enough to cause Goldust to be counted out.[11]

On July 22, 1996, Faarooq Asad made his WWF debut by attacking Ahmed Johnson, the Intercontinental champion.[13] He claimed that he attacked Johnson because Johnson was not "from the streets", as Faarooq claimed to be.[14] Soon after the attack, Johnson was diagnosed with a legitimate kidney problem, so the WWF claimed that Faarooq's attack had hospitalized Johnson.[12][15] Johnson was unable to compete for several months and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship.[16] When Johnson returned to the WWF, he interfered in several matches involving Faarooq's stable, the Nation of Domination.[12] He attacked them with a two-by-four, which led to an angle in which Johnson was suspended for the attacks.[12] By December, Johnson's injury had recovered sufficiently to allow him to resume wrestling,[12] and a match was scheduled for the next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble.

Vader and The Undertaker did not have a substantial buildup to their match at Royal Rumble 1997. Vader had joined other heel wrestlers to attack The Undertaker on several occasions, but there was no major storyline behind their match.[11] The Undertaker had been involved in a feud with Paul Bearer that dated back to SummerSlam 1996, when Bearer had turned on The Undertaker.[17] On the January 5, 1997 episode of WWF Superstars, The Undertaker attacked Vader's manager, Jim Cornette,[11] leaving Vader without a manager at the Royal Rumble.[18]

The feud between Sid and Shawn Michaels dated back to 1995, when Michaels had hired Sid as a bodyguard. Sid interfered during the Michaels vs. Diesel main event at WrestleMania XI by distracting the referee, but the plan backfired when the referee was unable to count the pinfall after Michaels superkicked Diesel.[19] On the following night's episode of Monday Night Raw, Michaels told Sid that he would not be needed in the case of a Michaels vs. Diesel rematch.[20] Sid responded by turning on Michaels and powerbombing him three times.[20] This attack led to a feud between Sid and Diesel, but Sid and Michaels were reunited as partners in an elimination match at Survivor Series 1995. During the match, Michaels accidentally kicked Sid in the face, which led to Sid being eliminated.[21] Sid retaliated by powerbombing Michaels again.[21] Once again, the feud was not developed, as Sid left the WWF.[12][22] Sid returned to the WWF on the July 8, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw when Michaels introduced him as a partner in a six-man match at In Your House 9.[12] Sid helped Michaels several times in the coming months by saving him from attacks by other wrestlers.[12] At In Your House 11, Sid defeated Vader to win a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match against Michaels at Survivor Series 1996.[23] During the match at Survivor Series, Sid attacked Jose Lothario, Michaels' manager, with a television camera.[24] While Michaels was distracted, Sid hit him with the camera and powerbombed him to win the title.[24] A rematch was later booked for Royal Rumble 1997.

Event

Other on-screen personnel

Role:	Name:
English commentators	Vince McMahon
	Jerry Lawler
	Jim Ross
Spanish commentators	Carlos Cabrera
	Arturo Rivera
	Hugo Savinovich
French commentators	Jacques Rougeau, Sr.
	Raymond Rougeau
Interviewer	Dok Hendrix
	Todd Pettengill
Ring announcer	Howard Finkel
Referees	Mike Chioda
	Jack Doan
	Jim Korderas
	Earl Hebner
	Pepe Casas

Hunter Hearst Helmsley retained the Intercontinental Championship

The event opened with the Intercontinental Championship match between Goldust and the champion, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Before the match began, Goldust attacked Helmsley up the aisle, but they then returned to the ring where they continued to brawl back and forth. Later into the match, Helmsley would attempt to hit Goldust with the Intercontinental Championship belt, however, Goldust countered and grabbed the belt and hit Helmsley with it, and as Goldust attempted to pin Helmsley, Mr. Hughes, who was at ringside as bodyguard for Helmsley, pulled Helmsley out of the ring. Hughes then continued his distraction on Goldust, which led to Helmsley delivering a Pedigree and pinning Goldust for the win, thus Helmsley retained the Intercontinental Championship.[2][25]

In the next match, Faarooq faced Ahmed Johnson. Johnson won the match by disqualification after members of the Nation of Domination, who were at ringside, interfered on Faarooq's behalf.[2][25]

The third match was the encounter of The Undertaker and Vader. Undertaker gained control early into the match, however, Vader gained control after Paul Bearer, who was at ringside in Vader's corner, hit Undertaker with an urn. The Undertaker did not retaliate, as Vader hit a Vaderbomb on him, which gained a successful pinfall for the win.[2][25]

The next match was a six-man tag team match featuring wrestlers from the AAA organization between the team of Héctor Garza, Perro Aguayo, and El Canek against the team of Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal, and Fuerza Guerrera. A slow-paced match between the two teams, as they exchange control of the match back and forth. Late into the match, the two teams brawled outside of the ring, as Aguayo hit Metal with a diving double foot stomp off the top rope, which gained a successful pinfall, thus Garza, Aguayo and Canek won the match.[2][25]

The Royal Rumble match began with Ahmed Johnson and Crush, where the rivalry with Johnson and Faarooq continued, as Johnson eliminated himself after Faarooq came down the aisle to chase him. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the fifth entrant, and during the match had two separate runs where he eliminated wrestlers one by one and having the ring to himself for long stretches. Numerous wrestlers from AAA were invited to be entrants in the match. The final five wrestlers were The Undertaker, Vader, Bret Hart, Diesel, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The first of those wrestlers to be tossed over the top rope was Austin, who was thrown out by Hart. However, the officials were occupied trying to separate Terry Funk and Mankind, who were brawling with each other outside the ring, and thus no one saw Austin's elimination. Meanwhile, Vader and Undertaker began brawling with each other as a continuation of their feud and Hart began fighting with Diesel as Austin reentered the ring. Austin dumped both Undertaker and Vader out of the ring, while Hart eliminated Diesel. As Hart was celebrating, thinking he had won, Austin came in from behind and tossed him over the top rope. Since Austin was still considered to be in the match and was the only man left in the ring, the officials declared him the winner.[2][25] With ten eliminations, Austin tied Hulk Hogan for the most eliminations in single Royal Rumble match. The record stood until 2001, when Kane eliminated eleven competitors.

The main event was a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid. Sid dominated most of the match and works over on Michaels's back early into the match, however Michaels retaliated by hitting a flying elbow drop on Sid. Michaels then attempts to deliver a Sweet Chin Music to Sid, however, he counters by tossing Michaels over the top rope onto ringside. As Sid threw Michaels back into the ring, Michaels accidentally hit referee Earl Hebner. Sid then delivered a Chokeslam and attempted to pin him, however, as the first referee was down, a second referee came out to count the pin, which got a two count. Sid then attacked the second referee, which allowed Michaels to hit Sid with a camera and delivered Sweet Chin Music, as the original referee slowly counted the successful pinfall, thus Michaels won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[2][25]

Aftermath

Shawn Michaels later vacated the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on the Thursday Raw Thursday special, where he gave his now-infamous "lost my smile" promo, citing knee problems as his reason to abdicate the title.[26] Due to this and the controversial situation over the Royal Rumble ending, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Vader were pitted against each other at In Your House 13: Final Four in a Four Corners match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship,[27] which saw Hart win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Title.[27] The next night on Raw, Austin interfered in a WWF World Heavyweight Title match between Hart and Sid, causing Hart to lose the title after only one day.[28] On the March 17 edition of Raw, Hart and Sid faced off in a Steel Cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Sid won after interference by both Stone Cold and Undertaker.[11][29] At WrestleMania 13, Undertaker defeated Sid for the WWF World Heavyweight Title, while Hart and Austin battled each other in a Submission match with Ken Shamrock as the special referee.[30]

Results

No.	Results[2][4][5][31]	Stipulations	Times[32]
1^D	Perro Aguayo Jr. and Venum defeated Maniaco and Mosco de la Merced	Tag team match	10:00
2^D	Blue Demon Jr., Octagón and Tinieblas Jr. defeated Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal and Histeria	Six-man tag team match	14:00
3^F	Mascarita Sagrada Jr. and La Parkita defeated Mini Mankind and Mini Vader	Tag team match	4:29
4	Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c) (with Mr. Hughes) defeated Goldust (with Marlena)	Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship	16:50
5	Ahmed Johnson defeated Faarooq (with Clarence Mason, Crush, D'Lo Brown, J.C. Ice and Wolfie D) by disqualification	Singles match	8:48
6	Vader (with Paul Bearer) defeated The Undertaker	Singles match	13:19
7	Canek, Héctor Garza and Perro Aguayo defeated Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal and Jerry Estrada	Six-man tag team match	10:56
8	Stone Cold Steve Austin won last eliminating Bret Hart[3]	30-man Royal Rumble match for a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 13	50:29
9	Shawn Michaels (with José Lothario) defeated Sycho Sid (c)	Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship	13:49
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match D – indicates the match was a dark match F – indicates the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on Free for All

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds. Early in the Rumble match, Vince McMahon said on commentary that they had problems with the clock.

Green ██ indicates a Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) superstar, who was in a partnership with the WWF at the time.

Draw	Entrant	Order	Eliminated by	Time	Eliminations
1	Crush	3	Phineas Godwinn	06:17	0
2	Ahmed Johnson	2	Himself	03:02	2
3	Razor Ramon	1	Ahmed Johnson	00:17	0
4	Phineas I. Godwinn	4	Stone Cold Steve Austin	02:52	1
5	Stone Cold Steve Austin	-	Winner	45:07	10
6	Bart Gunn	5	Stone Cold Steve Austin	00:26	0
7	Jake Roberts	6		01:10	0
8	The British Bulldog	8	Owen Hart	08:04	1
9	Pierroth	10	Mil Máscaras	10:32	1
10	The Sultan	7	The British Bulldog	03:23	0
11	Mil Máscaras	11	Himself	07:28	2
12	Hunter Hearst Helmsley	12	Goldust	06:42	0
13	Owen Hart	17	Stone Cold Steve Austin	08:29	2
14	Goldust	13	Owen Hart	05:33	1
15	Cibernético	9	Mil Máscaras and Pierroth	01:25	0
16	Marc Mero	16	Stone Cold Steve Austin	03:53	0
17	Latin Lover	14	Faarooq	01:47	0
18	Faarooq	15	Ahmed Johnson	00:41	1
19	Savio Vega	18	Stone Cold Steve Austin	00:46	0
20	Jesse James	19		00:29	0
21	Bret Hart	29		21:12	2
22	Jerry Lawler	20	Bret Hart	00:04	0
23	Diesel	28		17:49	0
24	Terry Funk	24	Mankind	15:18	0
25	Rocky Maivia	23		13:01	0
26	Mankind	25	The Undertaker	12:20	2
27	Flash Funk	21	Vader	06:12	0
28	Vader	26	Stone Cold Steve Austin	10:06	1
29	Henry O. Godwinn	22	The Undertaker	06:11	0
30	The Undertaker	27	Stone Cold Steve Austin	06:46	2

^ Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart, but snuck back in the ring while officials were distracted by a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind on the other side of the ring.

^ Faarooq was eliminated when Ahmed Johnson (who had eliminated himself from the Rumble earlier on) came back into the ring with a 2×4 and went after Faarooq, causing him to go over the top rope.

References

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External links

• Official website