1995 Royal Rumble

HBK's first big push


Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie) defeated Razor Ramon to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship (18:03)
Jarrett pinned Ramon with a small package.
Jarrett originally won by count-out, but Ramon agreed to have the match re-started.
***
Good match.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) defeated Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase) (12:20)
Undertaker pinned IRS after a chokeslam.
After the match, King Kong Bundy came out and beat down Undertaker while IRS ran off with Paul Bearer's urn.
*
12 minutes of this? Please...

WWF Champion Diesel fought Bret Hart to a draw (27:18)
The match was declared a draw after continued interference from Owen Hart and Bob Backlund who came out to attack Bret while Shawn Michaels and Jeff Jarrett came out to attack Diesel.
****
I don't like this match as much as others but it's still really good.

Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid defeated Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Ted DiBiase) to win the vacant WWF Tag Team Championship (15:45)
1-2-3 Kid pinned Bigelow after Tatanka accidentally made Bigelow fall off the top ropes.
This was the finals of a tournament for the vacant Tag Team Championship.
After the match, Bigelow saw Lawrence Taylor sitting at ringside laughing at him. Bigelow (kayfabe) shoved him to the floor.
**3/4
Decent match that was a little too long. Come to think of it...a lot of matches were too long tonight. I assume that's because the Rumble Match was so short. Anyhoo, this match was only on there to put over LT vs Bam Bam. The Kid and Holly lost the belts days later I believe.

Shawn Michaels won the 1995 Royal Rumble (39:39)
The final two participants were Shawn Michaels and The British Bulldog, who were also the first two participants in the match as well. Bulldog threw Michaels over the top rope and thought he had won the match. However, referees noted that only one of Michaels' feet touched the floor making him still legally in the match. Michaels then re-entered the ring and eliminated the Bulldog (who was celebrating on the second rope, facing the crowd) to win the Royal Rumble.
Bret Hart jumped both Owen Hart and Bob Backlund during their entrances, leading to their quick eliminations afterwards.

Entrant
Number Eliminated
Time

1
Shawn Michaels
WINNER
38:39

2
The British Bulldog
29
by Shawn Michaels
38:39

3
Eli Blu
9
by Seone (simultaneously with Seone)
10:09

4
Duke Droese
3
by Shawn Michaels
8:18

5
Jimmy Del Ray
1
by The British Bulldog
1:30

6
Seone
10
by Eli Blu (simultaneously with Eli Blu)
7:09

7
Tom Prichard
6
by Shawn Michaels
5:36

8
Doink the Clown
7
by Kwang
5:00

9
Kwang
8
by Seone
4:04

10
Rick Martel
5
by Seone
2:35

11
Owen Hart
2
by The British Bulldog
1:07

12
Timothy Well
4
by The British Bulldog
0:31

13
Luke Williams
11
by Shawn Michaels
0:23

14
Jacob Blu
12
by Shawn Michaels
0:22

15
King Kong Bundy
14
by Mabel
3:17

16
Mo
13
by King Kong Bundy
0:09

17
Mabel
16
by Lex Luger
2:16

18
Butch Miller
15
by Shawn Michaels
0:31

19
Lex Luger
27
by Shawn Michaels and Crush
18:58

20
The Mantaur
18
by Lex Luger
9:40

21
Aldo Montoya
23
by Shawn Michaels
13:24

22
Henry Godwinn
26
by Lex Luger
14:44

23
Billy Gunn
20
by Crush and Dick Murdoch
7:27

24
Bart Gunn
19
by Crush and Dick Murdoch
6:26

25
Bob Backlund
17
by Lex Luger
1:26

26
Steven Dunn
21
by Aldo Montoya
4:38

27
Dick Murdoch
25
by himself
8:19

28
Adam Bomb
22
by Crush
5:37

29
Fatu
24
by Crush
5:41

30
Crush
28
by The British Bulldog
9:03

**1/4
This was a strange Royal Rumble. It could have been for the IC title with this cast of jobbers. The only people of the 30 you could see winning were Shawn, Bulldog (stretching it) and Owen (stretching it even more).

~ Nothing special about the show really. Diesel vs. Hart was good. The rest was...there...