Royal Rumble 1993

Royal Rumble 1993 was the sixth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 24, 1993 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event was a Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which two wrestlers started the match in the ring; every two minutes, another wrestler joined. In total, thirty wrestlers competed to eliminate their competitors by throwing them over the top rope of the wrestling ring onto the arena floor. Yokozuna won the match and was awarded a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania IX. Bret Hart also retained his WWF Championship against Razor Ramon, and Shawn Michaels successfully defended his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Marty Jannetty.

Reviews of the event have been mixed. Critics enjoyed the WWF Championship and WWF Intercontinental Championship matches. The Royal Rumble match, however, has been described as boring and too full of wrestlers with little chance of winning. The WWF debut of Giant Gonzalez, who appeared at the event to attack The Undertaker, has also been criticized as an unnecessary distraction.

Event
Five matches with pre-determined results were shown on the pay-per-view telecast. In addition, Doink the Clown defeated Jim Powers by submission in an untelevised dark match before the event. In the first match shown as part of the broadcast, the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) faced the Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake). Scott gained the early advantage over Beau, both both men quickly tagged in their partners. Rick performed a body slam on Blake and then tagged Scott back in, who threw Blake with a belly to belly suplex. The Beverlys regained the advantage and took turns attacking Scott's back. Blake performed a Boston crab hold to put more pressure on Scott's back and attempt to force him to submit. Scott escaped the hold and threw Blake to the mat by performing a Tiger driver. The Steiners capitalized on their advantage by keeping Blake in the ring and unable to tag his partner. Scott won the match for his team by pinning Blake after executing a Frankensteiner.

In the next match, Sensational Sherri stood at ringside as Shawn Michaels defended his Intercontinental Championship against Marty Jannetty. She did not reveal her allegiance to either man. Jannetty gained the early advantage, knocking Michaels out of the ring and diving onto him through the ropes. He then attacked Michaels by jumping off the top rope, but Michaels countering this move by hitting him on the way down. Michaels hit Jannetty's shoulder against the ring post and focused on wearing down the shoulder once both men had re-entered the ring. Michaels missed an attack from the top rope, which allowed Jannetty to punch him repeatedly. Michaels recovered and threw Jannetty out of the ring, but Jannetty then suplexed Michaels over the rope and onto the arena floor. Sherri turned on Michaels by slapping him in the face, and Jannetty threw Michaels back into the ring with a belly-to-back suplex. Jannetty performed a powerslam and a DDT on Michaels. Michaels attempted to punch Jannetty but knocked the referee unconscious instead. Sherri came into the ring and tried to hit Michaels with her shoe. Michaels moved out of the way, and Sherri hit Jannetty instead. When the referee recovered, Michaels performed a superkick on Jannetty and pinned him to retain the championship.

The third televised match featured the Big Boss Man facing Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow attacked Boss Man before the match and controlled the match's beginning by using power moves to wear Boss Man down. Boss Man performed two clotheslines on Bigelow to gain the advantage. Bigelow responded by throwing Boss Man with a belly to back suplex, and then threw him out of the ring. He wore Boss Man down with a bear hug. Boss Man briefly regained the advantage by suplexing Bigelow but eventually tried to run at Bigelow to crush him in the corner of the ring. As Boss Man approached, Bigelow kicked him in the face and followed this up by performing a diving headbutt from the top rope to win the match by pinfall.

The next match was for the WWF Championship, as Bret Hart defended the title against Razor Ramon. Ramon got the early advantage by punching Hart repeatedly but accidentally hit his knee against a turnbuckle while running at Hart. Hart applied a figure-four leglock to apply pressure to Ramon's knee. Ramon escaped the hold and threw Hart against a ring post; he capitalized on this advantage by attacking Hart's back. Ramon threw Hart with a fallaway slam and applied a bear hug. Hart escaped the hold by biting Ramon. He threw Ramon out of the ring and performed several of his signature moves, including a Russian legsweep and an elbow drop from the second rope. Hart applied the Sharpshooter, his signature hold, but Ramon grabbed the ropes, which forced the referee to instruct Hart to break the hold. Hart threw Ramon with a belly-to-back suplex, but Ramon responded by attempting to perform the Razor's Edge, his signature move. Hart reversed this into an unsuccessful pin attempt. With both men exhausted, Hart applied the Sharpshooter and won the match by forcing Ramon to submit.

Before the final match, Bobby Heenan, a manager and commentator, unveiled his newest wrestler, "The Narcissist" Lex Luger. Heenan pointed out Luger's muscles and announced that Luger would carry on Heenan's rivalry with Mr. Perfect.

The main event of the broadcast, the Royal Rumble match, came next. For the first time, a stipulation was added that the winner of the match would receive a match for the WWF Championship at that year's WrestleMania (a provision that has remained since). The match began with two former WWF Champions, as Ric Flair and Bob Backlund entered the ring first. Every two minutes, one of the remaining twenty-eight contestants entered the match according to the number they drew prior to the event. Papa Shango was the third wrestler to enter but was thrown over the top rope and onto the arena floor by Ric Flair, causing Shango to be eliminated. Virgil entered sixth and immediately attacked Ted DiBiase because of their long-standing grudge. When Mr. Perfect entered in the number ten spot, he and Flair fought each other until Perfect eliminated Flair by performing a clothesline to knock Flair onto the floor. Virgil was eliminated by The Berzerker, while Perfect was thrown out of the ring by Jerry Lawler, Koko B. Ware, and Ted DiBiase.

The Undertaker was the fifteenth wrestler to enter; Harvey Wippleman soon appeared, accompanying a large man (who was later revealed to be Giant Gonzalez, billed at eight feet tall). Gonzalez attacked The Undertaker and threw him out of the ring; as a result, The Undertaker was eliminated from the match. Several referees tried to get Gonzalez to return to the locker room; he eventually left, and Paul Bearer, The Undertaker's manager, came to the ring. He helped The Undertaker revive, and The Undertaker returned to the locker room to find Gonzalez. Several minutes later, Typhoon entered the match, followed shortly by his tag team partner in The Natural Disasters, Earthquake. Earthquake immediately targeted Typhoon and eliminated him from the match. Earthquake tried to console his partner, who ignored him and left ringside. Later, Tito Santana and Rick Martel were in the ring at the same time; they fought each other immediately as a result of their five-year-old feud. Yokozuna, weighing over 500 pounds (227 kilograms), entered in the number twenty-seven spot; at one point, almost every wrestler worked together in an attempt to eliminate him, but they were unable to lift him.

Former WWF Champion Randy Savage was the last wrestler to enter the match. The wrestlers fought and several men were eliminated in quick succession, leaving Backlund, Martel, Yokozuna, and Savage. Backlund eliminated Martel but was then eliminated by Yokozuna. Backlund was in the ring for one hour, one minute, and ten seconds, which set a new record for time spent in a Royal Rumble match. Savage gained the advantage over Yokozuna; he knocked him down and performed a diving elbow drop from the top rope. He tried to pin Yokozuna, although pinfalls are not counted during a Royal Rumble. Yokozuna pushed Savage off of him so hard that Savage flew over the top rope and onto the arena floor. As a result, Yokozuna was named the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble match. During the match, he eliminated seven wrestlers, which broke the previous record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble match.

Results

 * Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
 * (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
 * Dark Match: Doink The Clown defeated Jim Powers (5:57)
 * The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) defeated The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake Beverly) (10:34)
 * Shawn Michaels (c) defeated Marty Jannetty to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship (14:20)
 * Bam Bam Bigelow defeated The Big Bossman (10:10)
 * Bret Hart (c) defeated Razor Ramon to retain the WWF Championship (17:52)
 * Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Randy Savage (1:06:35)

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
 * Giant Gonzalez was not an entrant in the Rumble.

Trivia

 * Before the Royal Rumble match, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan introduced "The Narcissist" Lex Luger.
 * This was the first Royal Rumble to feature the stipulation where the winner got a WWF Championship shot at WrestleMania.
 * Bob Backlund broke the record for longest lasting in a Royal Rumble, lasting 1:01:10. The record was previously held by Ric Flair who set the record the previous year.

DVD and video releases

 * Royal Rumble 1992 & 1993