Tag Archives: Kane

Pro Wrestling

World Championship Injuries: A History of Injures and a Vacant World Title

With the unfortunate news that Seth Rollins tore his ACL and MCL last night, we have a vacated WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It isn’t the first time that the World Champion was forced to vacate a championship due to injury, and it certainly won’t be the last. Let’s look back at some unfortunate times where the Champ went down. I’m only considering WWE and WCW World Champions for this list.

Shawn Michaels – February 13, 1997

hbkinjury

                Shawn Michaels was in his 2nd reign as WWF Champion after holding onto the title for most of 1996. Michaels had pinned Sid in his hometown of San Antonio at the Royal Rumble. There was tons of controversy surrounding Michaels’ at the time. According to HBK in his book, a doctor told him his knee was damaged beyond repair and he’d need to retire immediately. No one in the locker room, especially Bret Hart, believed Michaels and thought it was HBK’s way of getting out of doing a job, presumably to Bret. To tentative plan was for Bret to extract revenge on Shawn at Wrestlemania XIII for the previous Mania’s loss. When Michaels forfeited the title on Thursday RAW Thursday, the Fatal Four Way Match at the upcoming In Your House PPV turned into a title match. Bret would win that, but drop the title to Sid the next night. HBK would be back in the ring by June.

Bret Hart – January 16, 2000

bretinjury

                At Starrcade ’99 Goldberg had kicked Bret Hart in the head, leading to a severe concussion. Bret continued to wrestle for a couple of weeks thinking it wasn’t too bad and he’d be fine. When Bret got himself checked out, the chairman of the NHL injury committee told him his career was over. Bret’s last match (at the time) was on Nitro against Kevin Nash. The WCW World Title wouldn’t gain any stability for a while. Chris Benoit would win the vacant title from Sid in a tournament, but he’d give the title up one day later and jump to the WWF.

Batista – January 13, 2006

batistainjury1

                While he battled through injuries throughout the latter half of his title reign, Batista suffered a torn triceps that forced him to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship that he held since Wrestlemania XXI. This led to a battle royal on Smackdown, where Kurt Angle would begin his last World Title reign, which would in turn lead to the Rey Mysterio World Title run. Batista would be back in mid ’06, and feuded with Mark Henry and Mr. Kennedy.

Edge – July 20, 2007

edgeinjury1

                Earlier in 2007, then-World Champion The Undertaker had a partially torn pectoral which led to the decision to have Edge win Mr. Kennedy’s Money in the Bank contract and cash in. At the time, Vince McMahon did not want Batista to hold the title. During an Edge-Kane program, Kane injured Edge with a chokeslam, leading to a torn pectoral. The decision was made to put the World Title on The Great Khali as he won a 20 Man Battle Royal on Smackdown. Khali would eventually drop the title to Batista. Batista and Undertaker would continue their war when Taker came back, and then Edge would get in the mix again.

John Cena – October 2, 2007

cenainjury

                Cena was in month thirteen of his WWE Championship reign when he tore his pectoral muscle in a match with Mr. Kennedy on the October 1st edition of RAW. The seemingly superhuman Cena’s injury was a shock to many…but he once again became superhuman when he returned quickly at the 2008 Royal Rumble. Unfortunately for Randy Orton, this cut short a feud that finally had Orton reaching that elite level of success he’d failed to achieve since his first World Title reign in 2004. While he didn’t get the clean victory of Cena, he did get a lot of help at No Mercy. The new plan had Orton be handed the title, only for HHH to beat him for it. HHH returned the favor cleanly in a Last Man Standing Match and gave Orton that big win.

Batista – June 9, 2009

batistainjury2

                Just two days after Batista beat Randy Orton for the title he was forced to forfeit the title due to a torn pectoral muscle. Orton would regain the title in a Fatal Four Way Match on RAW against Big Show, John Cena and Triple H. This would lead to Orton and Cena’s biggest rivalry in late 2009. Batista would return later in 2009 and turn on Rey Mysterio, leading to perhaps the most entertaining version of Batista we’d ever get.

Edge – April 12, 2011

edgeinjury2

                While the actual moment his injury occurred is unclear, Edge was forced to retire due to a neck injury. While he does grab his neck on the April 9th edition of Smackdown after he takes out Brodius Clay, Edge has stated that it was probably years of wear and tear on the neck and that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Christian would take Edge’s place in a Ladder Match at Backlash against Alberto Del Rio and win his first World Title…only to drop it to Randy Orton two days later (that went over real well with the IWC).

Daniel Bryan – June 9, 2014

bryaninjury

                Looking back, it’s still incredible just how over Daniel Bryan was in the beginning of 2014. While the fans forced WWE management’s hand (in the ring AND backstage) and Bryan got his Wrestlemania moment, it seemed that management (storyline wise AND backstage) wasn’t completely behind him as champion. At Extreme Rules Bryan’s first World Title defense was against a way past his prime Kane. Didn’t matter, Bryan was so good he tore the house down. Bryan would suffer a neck injury shortly afterwards that still plagues him to this day (it forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship this year). What a shame. John Cena would win the title in a special Money in the Bank Ladder Match…and then Brock Lesnar destroyed him for it afterwards.

Seth Rollins – November 15, 2015

rollinsinjury

                This leads us to Rollins, who had a hell of a year as World Champion since Wrestlemania. He injured his knee in a match against Kane in Ireland, leading to a tournament at Survivor Series 2015. He was scheduled to face Roman Reigns for the title at that event.

 

 

 

 

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF King of the Ring ’98

Kotr98

WWF King of the Ring ‘98
June 28, 1998
Pittsburgh, PA
Reviewed on June 7, 2014

We are in the Attitude Era! The WWF had just taken over the Monday Night ratings War…but it was still a dogfight. The WWF was pushing new guys, and that fresh edge was helping over the same old on Nitro. Only The Undertaker was held over from the top of the card. Stone Cold, Kane, The Rock, Triple H, Ken Shamrock and Mick Foley were all guys getting their chance at the top or near the top.

The thing about the Attitude Era is that it was riveting television. Anything could happen at any time on any given Monday. As long as the card was headlined by Stone Cold in some way, it didn’t really matter what the rest looked like (as this card will show). Honestly, how many people can even name a match that wasn’t one of the three big matches on this show? (Some even forget about Shamrock vs. Rock).

Let’s watch some classic WWF Attitude!

The Card

There’s an awesome opening video hyping up the Austin vs. Kane and Taker vs. Mankind matches.

The Headbangers and TAKA Michinoku vs. Ka ent ai

I was always surprise that the Headbangers somehow got lost in the shuffle in the Attitude Era…since they seemed tailor made for it.

This was part of the long running Taka and random vs. Ka ent ai. Most notably teaming with Taka later was Bradshaw.

Ka ent ai is Togo, Funaki and Teioh. I think it’s interesting that of the six men in this match, it was Funaki who had the longest WWF/E career.

While I think Taka is a good wrestler, all of his pre-1999 WWF matches followed the SAME exact formula.

Togo and Funaki with a great facebuster-bulldog sequence.

Taka and the Headbangers win when Taka pins Funaki in 6:44. Michinoku Driver for the win. Short fun opener here. Good thing to get the crowd going.

Sable time!

She introduces Vince! This was part of the Vince re-hired Sable angle after Marc Mero beat her. Pat Patterson slaps Sable’s ass, which JR of course makes a subtle gay joke. It’s also pretty funny now that I know Patterson’s orientation.

Vince runs down Austin on the mic of course. Time waster here.

King of the Ring Semi-Final
Ken Shamrock vs. Jeff Jarrett

This easily could have been an early NWA-TNA World Title feud.

I’m a Jeff Jarrett fan, but the mid 90s Double J persona was waaaaaay dated here. He’d change gimmicks by Summerslam.

“Ain’t I Great?” Not really at this point Jeff.

Ken Shamrock advances via submission in 5:29. Shamrock hits his bad ass frankensteiner, then the Ankle Lock wins it. No surprise. Match was what it was: Jarrett putting Shamrock over.

King of the Ring Semi-Final
Dan Severn vs. The Rock

It was smart to have Shamrock winning 1st, as at least it’s somewhat believable Severn can win here.

Severn’s WWF legacy would be causing D’Lo Brown to wear a chest protector.

Severn doesn’t throw punches. Pretty much the opposite of the Attitude Era style.

The Rock advances via pin in 4:25. D’Lo with the Lo-Down…new chest protector and all! Rock gets the pin. Match sucked. Severn was about 15 years too late as a top bad guy. He might have been a real life bad ass, but he was an awful sports entertainer. Rock cuts a solid promo and was well on his way to being a top guy.

If Al Snow wins, he gets a meeting with Vince McMahon
Al Snow and Head vs. Too Much

Head is a mannequin head, in case anyone doesn’t know.

Al Snow had just returned with the Head gimmick after developing it in ECW.

If you were to tell me Too Much would be WWF World Tag Team Champions as a kid watching in 1998, and that they’d win the titles two years later, I’d laugh my ass off.

There is a story here. Al Snow was trying to get a job, and somehow that led to stealing Jerry Lawler’s crown. Apparently Lawler can get Snow a meeting with Vince.

Snow: “Boys, get ready, you’re about to get a little head like you’ve never gotten it before”. WWE Attitude folks!

Lawler is revealed as ref!

Al Snow alternates beating up Scott Taylor and talking to Head. Good stuff.

Of course Lawler blatantly cheats.

Al Snow with a ridiculous long running clothesline on the outside…then Scott Taylor “hits” a springboard chop? Ugly.

JR can’t even take the match seriously.

Tag to the Head! JR even justifies Lawler not counting a Snow pinfall because Head was legal.

Too Much wins when Brian Christopher pins Head in 8:26. Oh man. Snow hits the Snowplow on Taylor, but Christopher attaches a bottle of Head and Shoulders to Head and pins it for the win. Ok the match was awful as you’d expect, but let me say something about this. This match is a great example of why WWF ’98 worked and WCW 2000 didn’t. This match furthered Al Snow’s character. As silly as this all was, storywise this actually made sense. Now, that’s not saying this should have been on PPV, because this is a RAW match if I ever saw one, but there is something positive to gain from it.

Owen Hart vs. X-Pac

Rematch of the ’94 KOTR here.

Sad storyline decent for Owen here. We went from shoving HBK through a table, to jobbing to HHH a lot, to fighting X-Pac. Clearly Owen wasn’t getting the main event push.

What a 12 months before this for Owen. He was feuding with Austin at one point.

I didn’t watch a lot of Syxx in WCW, but this I believe is the debut of the mat wrestling X-Pac. This was because of his broken neck he suffered at the end of his WCW run.

Owen’s gimmick was that of a guy who was done being taken advantaged of and was done being a nice guy. This just didn’t work for Owen. He was a lot better as the whiny heel.

Terrible Bronco Buster there. I wonder if Own purposely didn’t want X-Pac’s nuts in his face.

Owen with a terrible fall off the top, clearly messed that up.

X-Pac pins Owen Hart in 8:30. Mark Henry comes out and splashes X-Pac…to which Vader (talk about someone who’s really fallen from 12 months prior) attacks him. Owen locks X-Pac in the sharpshooter, but Chyna takes him out with a DDT (and busts Owen’s nose, wonder if that was a botch). X-Pac wins it there. Okay match, surprising small screw-ups near the end with the Bronco Buster and Owen’s top rope fall.

Paul Bearer comes out. He cuts an awesome promo about how proud he will be of his son Kane when he wins the World Title, and how Kane always wanted to be The Undertaker when he was young.

WWF World Tag Team Champions
The New Age Outlaws © vs. The New Midnight Express

Dirty little secret: the WWF Tag Team division absolutely blew in the early Attitude Era. Outside of the Outlaws, the division as made up of the Express, the underused Headbangers, the Godwinns/Southern Justice, the DOA and a washed-up LOD. That’s why the following makes up the list of non Outlaw champs: Kane and Mankind, Taker and Kane and Bossman and Shamrock. The division wouldn’t really pick up to mid-99, then of course in 2000.

One interesting storyline here: The Smokin’ Gunns are on opposite sides.

This was Bob Holly’s first repackaging. Could have been worse I guess.

Pretty awesome landing on the feet from Bart on a Billy hip toss.

Road Dogg is your Outlaw in peril.

Cornette gets involved with the NWA Tag Title, but Billy survives a pin attempt.

Cornette famously ranted about this. Cornette threatened to hit Billy with the title belt again, but Billy cornered him. Chyna was on the wrong side of the ring and was supposed to low blow Cornette…and she takes forever doing it, leaving Billy Gunn standing there.

New Age Outalws retain when Gunn pinned Holly in 9:34. A double stun gun gets the pin (what an awful finish). Not a bad match, but I mean, there’s a huge difference in statue for the Outlaws and the New Express, even at this stage. Match was solid.

King of the Ring Finals
The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

HHH, last year’s winner, comes out for commentary.

There is a story here. Shamrock had chased Rock’s IC title for the first half of the year, but kept coming up short.

Rock-HHH get into a shoving match on the outside, as they were feuding. Good touch there.

The commentary is pretty distracting with HHH making dick jokes every 20 seconds.

Shamrock clearly leaps into a powerslam, but impressive enough I guess…

Nice reversal of the Floatover DDT into a Northern Lights suplex from Shamrock!

Ken Shamrock becomes King of the Ring via submission in 14:09. Rock argues with the ref and gets rolled into the Ankle Lock for the win. Very good match, probably the best of the Rock’s career at that point. Of course, hindsight being 20/20…I’m sure Vince wishes Rock won this tournament now. By the way, HHH’s commentary was horrible and annoying. I get that was the character, but it was just unnecessary.

Hell in a Cell
The Undertaker vs. Mankind

Story here: Where do I begin? Probably the first real Attitude feud that really began in 1996. Undertaker vs. Mankind was an amazing feud and that only added to the intrigue here. For recent storyline, Mankind cost Taker a title shot against Austin.

On the real life advice of Terry Funk, the match begins on top of the cage.

Mankind’s climb to the top of the cage does have some comedic value. Foley himself mentions how he wasn’t even sure if he’d make it to the top, and he lost feeling in his hand to get up there.

You can see Taker limp down to the ring when he goes down the rampway…he had a broken foot here (and still climbs the cell better than Foley).

Taker’s gimmick was getting a lot darker at this point. He had also shown some signs of the 2000 American Bad Ass as well.

Three minutes in…and Taker throws Foley off the cell through the table! It’s still one of the damnest spots I’d ever seen, especially since it was so sudden. There was absolutely no build-up. One second Foley was punching Taker. The next he’s flying off the cell.

Kayfabe is broken everywhere by Funk and Vince.

The crowd reaction is pretty nuts too. He literally hear people screaming in horror as Foley flies off.

Undertaker looks pretty damn bad ass standing on top of the cell.

Foley gets up and comes back…also one of the damnest things ever in wrestling.

30 seconds later Taker chokeslams Foley and the ceiling caves in…and Foley slams hard, and I mean hard on the canvas. I still cringe when I see that. Somehow the match continues. Taker chokeslams Funk, buying Foley time.

The match somehow continues. Foley causes Taker to crotch the top rope when Taker tries Old School, which in reality was Taker trying to buy Foley more time.

Ha, Taker clearly blades on camera after missing a dive and crashing headfirst into the cage.

Piledriver on a chair by Foley! Somehow Mankind might win this thing!

Thumbtack time! Unfortunately Foley’s the one who goes back first into them after a Mandible Claw attempt.

Undertaker pins Mankind in 17:00. Foley gets sent into the tacks again with a chokeslam! Tombstone wins it for Undertaker. Ok, there are two trains of thoughts with this match generally: it’s one of the greatest matches in WWE history, or it’s the most overrated match in WWE history. I’m in one of the greatest ever camp (2nd best HIAC match behind the original). This is because the brutality of the match matched the rivalry. If Undertaker had done this to HHH or something, I’d be like wtf? But Mankind and Undertaker had already done everything to one another over the past two years. Even though it wasn’t completely intentional, it made sense that something like this had to happen. This match is also one of the most influential matches in WWE history. Every huge table bump in the future really started here. And Of course, this was the major league thumbtack debut. This match also helped solidify Mankind as a main event player (although, Mr. Socko was needed to finish that process). It also was the match that made Undertaker’s heel turn a lot more effective, as a real mean streak was established. Lastly, anytime fans talk about a match for years and years after it takes place, then the match didn’t suck. Not all matches have to be artistically perfect. Amazing match. Probably in my top 10 all time.

WWF World Championship: First Blood. If Kane Does Not Win the Title He Will Set Himself On Fire
Stone Cold Steve Austin© vs. Kane

I wish the whole Kane setting himself on fire deal wasn’t a part of this…as it made it clear Kane was winning (then again…after the Cell match it wouldn’t shock me to see Kane light himself on fire).

Austin had a bad staph infection here, if you are wondering about the white elbow brace.

The cage actually comes down when Kane is dominating, and raises when Austin is winning. Not sure why that was done.

I don’t know if it’s because of Austin’s injury, but this brawl really isn’t that good.

Ref bump in a First Blood match? Sure why not.

Mankind comes down to the ring with a chair. I hate this for the record.

Stunner on Foley!

Stunner on Kane!

Here comes the Undertaker!

Kane wins the WWF Title by blood draw in 15:58. Taker aims for Mankind…but nails Austin with the chair on accident? Maybe? Austin blades on camera, and is busted wide open! Taker revives the ref (good way to do shades of grey here). Austin cleans house, but the ref finally sees the blood and awards the title to the KOed Kane. I do hate this finish, but I get why it happened this way. Match was not good though. It seemed like Austin was in slow motion here, and with his injuries he probably was. I also hate Mankind coming out here. Kinda demeans the Cell match a little…real as it was. As for Kane…well, he’d have a long title reign. 24 hours is more than most can say.

Really tough show to grade. It’s known today for one match and one match only. To be fair, that match owns. Too bad the main event was all over the place. Shamrock-Rock was pretty forgotten (because in hindsight, the wrong man won) and the rest of the card, while by no means bad (except for that Too Much-Snow thing), I wouldn’t call it good. Or memorable. The New Midnight Express? Headbangers teaming with Taka?

But when your PPV has one of the most talked about matches in wrestling history, the other stuff doesn’t really matter THAT much, right?
Final Grade: B+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews the 2001 WWF Royal Rumble

Royal_Rumble_2001

WWF Royal Rumble 2001
January 21, 2001
New Orleans, LA

It’s over.

WCW didn’t really believe it to be so, but at this point it really was. The WWF vs. WCW war hadn’t really mattered to the WWF in over a year. WCW then proceeded to put on one of the worst years, if not the worst year, that a major wrestling promotion had ever put together. While WCW would have some strong moments in 2001 before its demise, it was way too little and way too late.

Meanwhile, the WWF was riding high. New stars such as Kurt Angle had really hit their stride. The WWF was also pushing the hell out of former WCW stars Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, and even taking chances with guys like Rikishi. The WWF had all of that talent while also having their mainstays be at the very top. Stone Cold, HHH, Undertaker, Kane and The Rock were still at the top of their games. While that wouldn’t actually remain viable forever (not enough top spots), at this point the WWF was simply rolling.

Then again, there was some small concerns. Ratings in December were low comparing to past years, and that’s with the ultra-hot Austin comeback. Shouldn’t be a problem on the Road to Wrestlemania though…right?

The Card

WWF World Tag Team Championship: Edge and Christian © vs. The Dudley Boyz

From 2000 on, it’s just safe to assume the Hardyz, E and C and Dudleyz were feuding with one another. The con-chair-to was an awesome move. Shame we won’t ever see it again, although it’s for the best.

I always thought the chemistry between the three teams was awesome…especially since the Dudleyz adapted to the WWF style practically instantly.

This whole match revolves around the Dudleyz having concussions. My how times have changed.

Edge and Christian miss the con-chair-to and D-Von hot tags Bubba! The crowd is very into all of this.

“D-VON! GET THE TABLES!”

The Dudley Boyz win when D-Von Dudley pins Edge in 9:59. Edge and Christian go for the Dudleyz’ WASSUP! Headbutt, but it’s reversed. Edge eats the 3D, and the Dudleyz win the title! Crowd pops huge for a very good opening match. Chemistry was just perfect with these teams.

Drew Carey is here! I think he’s promoting a PPV or something. He talks to HHH and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and promotes his PPV.

Crash Holly then threatens The APA about the Rumble. Good for a laugh.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Chris Benoit © vs. Chris Jericho

Their entire promo video is just them beating the hell out of one another throughout 2000. Sounds good to me.

Benoit and Jericho just go at it right away. No time to waste here.

One of the most cringeworthy moments I’ve ever seen: Benoit goes for a tope…and Jericho whacks him right in the head with a chair. Worse when you think about what ultimately happened with Benoit. What a sick spot.

This is just hard hitting stuff back and forth, not a lot of flying. It’s an old school ladder match and it’s awesome.

Ridiculous ladder teeter-totter spot that got Benoit in the face. Jeez.

Walls of Jericho on top of the ladder!

Benoit misses a top of the ladder diving headbutt. Sick.

Chris Jericho wins the title in 18:48. Jericho nails Benoit with a chair, then shoves him off the ladder and over the top. It’s enough time for Jericho to grab the IC Title. Great great match. One of the best ladder matches of all time. It’s forgotten because of the Benoit deal. Hard hitting, great spots and a great crowd. 2/2 so far tonight!

Drew Carey hits on Trish Stratus…but here comes Vince! Vince isn’t happy…so he has Drew enter the Royal Rumble! When Trish says it would impress her…Drew goes for it!

WWF Women’s Championship: Ivory© vs. Chyna

Storyline here: The Right to Censor injured Chyna’s neck…and Chyna wants revenge.

It may have been fun to see Chyna destroy Ivory at the time, but in retrospect this killed the Women’s title until Trish revived it at the end of the year.

Ivory retains the title via pin in 3:32. Chyna goes for her cartwheel elbow, but goes down and holds her neck. Ivory pins her. Chyna is stretchered out. Really a glorified angle. Chyna would crush Ivory two months later anyway.

Drew Carey meets Kane. Kane should be afraid.

WWF Championship: Kurt Angle© vs. Triple H

Weird match here. HHH and Angle had feuded in 2000 in the love triangle storyline, but we got past that randomly in the last couple of months…and HHH had turned heel on Stone Cold. Suddenly HHH is the #1 contender causing Angle to think he’s against the McMahon family…but he’s still a heel and enlists Trish to help him, which infuriates Stephanie (well that and Vince’s flirtations with Vince). Still, both are heels, and the match actually feels like a backdrop of the Steph-Trish feud sadly.

As a result, except for some early “Angle Sucks” chants, the crowd really isn’t into it.

HHH works on the knee, even using a chair against Angle’s knee against the post. This makes Angle the face of the match then?

HHH with a strange Indian Deathlock. He had been using the Indian Deathlock in late 2000, notably against Benoit at No Mercy 2000.

Trish breaks up a Figure Four, leading to a Steph-Trish catfight…and the crowd goes nuts.

Razor’s Edge! Angle kicks out.

Moonsault from Angle! HHH survives though.

The crowd is on HHH’s side now.

Ref gets taken out…twice! HHH has it won…

Kurt Angle retains by pin in 24:16. Stone Cold comes out and beats the hell out of HHH…and hits him with a Stunner. Angle gets the pin. While this is a very good match, the Trish-Steph angle was distracting, and we didn’t even get remotely a good finish. I mean, I know Angle is a chicken-shit heel, but he really struggled to beat anyone during this reign…this match included.

The Royal Rumble

#1 is Jeff Hardy. #2 is Bull Buchanan.

#3 is Matt Hardy, pretty much ending the Bull Buchanan run.

The Hardyz oddly don’t wait for the next guy and go at it after dumping Bull.

#4 is Faarooq, who fends for himself pretty well for a minute before getting eliminated.

#5 is Drew Carey! Carey watches on the outside…and the Hardyz eliminate each other at the same time! Drew wins!

#6 is Kane. Kane slowly walks around the ring and Drew begs him not to hurt him. Drew hilariously offers money, but Kane says no. Kane is about to chokeslam drew, but #7, Raven saves him with a kendo stick shot. Drew eliminates himself.

It’s a Hardcore Rumble!

Al Snow runs in early and attacks Raven he confirms himself to be #8 shortly.

Raven takes a bowling ball to the nuts. Ouch.

#9 is Saturn. Interestingly, Saturn’s titantron has the same style that would be used for Chris Jericho’s Save.Us campaign later.

#10 is Steve Blackman as the Hardcore Division keeps coming out.

#11 is Grandmaster Sexay. It would be his last appearance until 2004.

Kane literally has a “fuck this moment”. Trash can shot knocks out Grandmaster. Blackman is next. Then Al Snow. Raven goes afterwards….then Saturn as well. Kane has cleaned house!

#12 is The Honky Tonk Man! He wants to sing his song. He does so, before Kane whacks him with a guitar and throws him out.

#13 is The Rock. Business has picked up!

#14 is The Goodfather! Goodfather never recovered from his RTC heel turn sadly.

And Rock takes out the Goodfather. That was fast.

#15 is Tazz, and he lasts less time than the Goodfather does. Kane knocks him out in about 5 seconds.

#16 is Bradshaw. He actually kicks some ass and takes Rock out with a clothesline.

#17 is Albert.

#18 is Hardcore Holly. Five guys in there now.

GETTING ROWDY! #19 is K-Kwik. Amazing that Killings never really got higher than this spot other than his heel run in 2011.

#20 is a Right to Censored Val Venis. It seems like we are just waiting for someone to clean house here.

#21 is William Regal. Test follows at #22, and dumps Regal.

Business picks up now as The Big Show returns and is #23. Show was last seen in July after being sent to OVW to lose weight (which he didn’t do, for the record). He chokeslams everyone in sight and gets rid of K-Kwik and Test. The Rock counters the chokeslam and out goes Show.

Big Show drags Rock under the ropes as #24, Crash Holly gets in. Big Show chokeslams The Rock through the Announcer’s table before leaving.

Undertaker is #25, and he and Kane clean out the ring…and DON’T attack one another (see Hardyz, it works!). Scotty 2 Hotty comes out in total fear, and is promptly chokeslammed and eliminated.

#27 is Stone Cold Steve Austin, leading to one of my all time favorite Rumble moments. Taker and Kane in the ring where Stone Cold comes down with no fear. HHH ruins the moment though by attacking Austin. Austin doesn’t make it to the ring. Rock gets back in and fight Taker and Kane.

#28 is Billy Gunn. Gunn gets some good offense in, probably the last good offense he’d get in until 2013.

#29 is Haku. Haku is the current WCW Hardcore Champion! You knew it was a death knell for WCW when the WWF didn’t even acknowledge that they stole Haku.

#30 is Rikishi. Rikishi sees Austin trying to get back to the ring and tries to take advantage, but Austin springs into action and attacks! Anyway, Rikishi, Gunn, Austin, Rock, Kane, Haku and Undertaker are the final seven.

Austin dumps Haku.

You can see there is a little Austin fatigue at this point. It’s not that Austin couldn’t be a top draw, but his out of nowhere attack of Rikishi would have gotten a huge reaction before. Now, it’s just something Austin did.

Rikishi superkicks Undertaker out!

Rikishi goes for a Banzaii Drop, but Rock knocks him over the top rope. Really bad showing from Rikishi here kayfabe wise. All that hype for #30 and he ended up lasting 5 minutes?

Austin, Gunn, Kane, Rock is the final four. One of these is not like the other.

Gunn hits Austin with the Fameasser…then Austin throws Gunn out just like that. Down to three.

Austin and Rock have locked eyes. These two went at one another at Armageddon the month prior as well.

Austin and Rock going at each other here was a huge deal. It was funny when WWE tried to replicate it with Orton and Cena in 2011.

Austin and Rock keep going at it and Austin even gets a Stunner. Austin tries to dump Rock, but Rock counters and tries to dump Austin. Kane comes from behind and tries to dump both, but only succeeds in dumping Rock (the record setting 11th elimination).

Stone Cold wins the Royal Rumble at 61:55, last eliminating Kane. Austin and Kane go at it, and Kane grabs a chair. Austin gets the chair though and whacks Kane a few times, before clotheslining him over the top for the win. Very good Royal Rumble. Had some slow moments…but clearly had its moments as well.

A really good PPV here. Only one match was lacking, and it only lasted three minutes. Everything else ranged from awesome (the IC Ladder Match) to very good (the WWF Title match). Historically this was Austin’s last great babyface moment of the Attitude Era, and Kane got a historical accolade that took 13 years to beat. Kane did kinda get wasted though after this.

Royal Rumble really had some good stuff. Comedy with Carey, Honky Tonk and Scotty 2 Hotty. Kane’s reign of terror. The hardcore part of the Rumble. The Austin-Rock staredown. The Big Show comeback (it got a good pop and he was a main guy always before this).

The entire show did provide good build-up for Wrestlemania as well. Can’t go wrong there.

Final Grade: A