Carlos Colon in the 1993 Royal Rumble

[rocked]

I liked the 97 Rumble with all the Mexican stars on it. Pretty sure a lot of the main roster were taping elsewhere which explains why this was done.

[walsh7637]

Jan 1, 2012 7:25:20 GMT -5 rocked said:

I liked the 97 Rumble with all the Mexican stars on it. Pretty sure a lot of the main roster were taping elsewhere which explains why this was done.

Taping elsewhere? On the weekend of a PPV? Nah.

If you look at the roster, it was hideously weak at that time. I tried coming up with a Rumble roster of just WWF guys at that time, and it was a real stretch coming up with a full 30 man match.

When Aldo Montoya is one of the prime guys not in that match, you know you have a problem.

[Cam]

Yeah, 1997 Rumble had a bunch of AAA guys because the roster was seriously lacking some depth and they had a working agreement with AAA at that time.

[jason1980s]

In the WWF Magazine that had the preview for the 1997 Royal Rumble it had a few names not in the actual match. It may have had suggested AAA guys would be there also but I can't remember 100%. It had a picture of Executioner and some guys not pictured but listed were Billy Gunn, Bradshaw, Stalker. Billy had been injured, Executioner was gone and Bradshaw and Windham may have been transitioning so were kept off TV.
Aldo, Lief Cassidy, Furnas and Lafon and Salvatore Sincere are 5 that could have been in place of Funk, Latin Lover, Pierroth, Cibernetico and Mil Mascaras. No one would have reacted much to them (I forgot to note early no reaction for Tenryu or Colon in 1993) but at least they're regular roster guys and would be nice to give Sal, Lief and Aldo another pay day for all the losing. Furnas and Lafon were being built around this time, I think they had a match on the In Your House February PPV for tag team titles.

[Rumble McSkirmish]

I liked in the 1994 Rumble when they brought in outside talent Tenryu (again) and Kabuki they gave them a story line reason for being there.

IE Hired guns working for Mr. Fuji to keep Lex Luger from winning the Rumble match, they were also part of the mob that helped Yokozuna beat the Undertaker.

[BlackoutCreature]

The story I always heard for the 97 Rumble was that the luchadors were added to try to get more local Texans who might be familiar with lucha libre interested in the show. From what I remember they were having trouble selling tickets and the show was heavily papered.

[MolotovMocktail]

Jan 1, 2012 11:54:35 GMT -5 Rumble McSkirmish said:

I liked in the 1994 Rumble when they brought in outside talent Tenryu (again) and Kabuki they gave them a story line reason for being there.

IE Hired guns working for Mr. Fuji to keep Lex Luger from winning the Rumble match, they were also part of the mob that helped Yokozuna beat the Undertaker.

In the case of Tenryu, he was a face last we saw him (Mania 7-93 rumble doesn't really count since it was every man for himself), going against Mr. Fuji, as well as Crush, who was one half of Demolition.

[Jimmy]

I'm almost 100% in agreement that I prefer WWE uses the guys on their roster and not outside guys, as I feel it's a small gesture to show the undercard guys that their hard work matters. The ONLY hesitation I have toward is when I look at the 1995 Royal Rumble

Eli Blu
Jacob Blue
Duke Droese
Jimmy Del Rey
Sionne
Fatu
Tom Prichard
Kwang
Timothy Well
Steven Dunn
Butch
Luke
Mantaur
Aldo Montoya

Hell, Rick Martel (despite having barely appeared since early 1994) and Dick Murdoch (despite being 50 and not in shape) were great choices to put in the Rumble compared to these guys. And I'm being fairly generous by not including Mabel, Henry Godwinn, Billy and Bart Gunn, and Adam Bomb on this list, if only because they at least meant something.

[jason1980s]

Jan 1, 2012 17:51:11 GMT -5 Jimmy said:

I'm almost 100% in agreement that I prefer WWE uses the guys on their roster and not outside guys, as I feel it's a small gesture to show the undercard guys that their hard work matters. The ONLY hesitation I have toward is when I look at the 1995 Royal Rumble

Eli Blu
Jacob Blue
Duke Droese
Jimmy Del Rey
Sionne
Fatu
Tom Prichard
Kwang
Timothy Well
Steven Dunn
Butch
Luke
Mantaur
Aldo Montoya

Hell, Rick Martel (despite having barely appeared since early 1994) and Dick Murdoch (despite being 50 and not in shape) were great choices to put in the Rumble compared to these guys. And I'm being fairly generous by not including Mabel, Henry Godwinn, Billy and Bart Gunn, and Adam Bomb on this list, if only because they at least meant something.

RR 1995 was pretty horendous all around with the bad finish in the Bret/Diesel match and the number of low card guys in the Rumble that lasted about half the time other Rumbles did. I would add Crush to the list since he hadn't been around since Summerslam Spectacular losing to Lex Luger. I think Fuji dumped him (no storyline though) even before then.

Martel is like the Nikolai Volkoff (1992 replacement) of 1995 in that he hadn't been there in a while but was probably a reliable guy to replace a non-reliable guy (Jannetty in 1992 who was fired and Anvil in 1995 who left or was fired).

Murdoch is confusing in that I wonder why he was chosen to be a participant. Did they have a list of old school guys they would have liked to have seen and or was Murdoch the only choice and why?

For the Murdoch spot I would have liked to have seen Nikolai Volkoff although he was a member of the Million Dollar Team who didn't get PPVs at least it seemed like he was regular roster. He even got a card in the 1995 Action Pack set.

1993 Rumble had such a different atmosphere than 1992 and Heenan and Gorilla as good as they were separate or together just didn't seem to be able to do the magic of 1992. A number of guys (lower card guys) that they probably put over last year as at least having a chance like Repo Man or Virgil or Skinner or Berzerker couldn't be put over this year. They were too far down the card. 1994 and 1995 were like 1992 and 1993 in that 1994 was very interesting, had the great Owen heel turn and Bret comeback and interesting Undertaker twist and double win and yet 1995 was way down hill compared.

[walsh7637]

Martel is like the Nikolai Volkoff (1992 replacement) of 1995 in that he hadn't been there in a while but was probably a reliable guy to replace a non-reliable guy (Jannetty in 1992 who was fired and Anvil in 1995 who left or was fired).

Yeah, Martel was an interesting selection. He had last wrestled for the WWF in the late spring of 94 (not long after the WM10 10-man tag redo on Raw, and a job to Luger). No appearances then until he randomly showed up in the '95 Rumble; not much of a pop at all, either, since I don't think anyone was really expecting him to show up.

I have to say I enjoy random Rumble spots like that. Virgil in '94 (more delightful since DiBiase was on commentary) sticks out, and even active mid-low carder surprises, like Elijah Burke in '08.....

Murdoch is confusing in that I wonder why he was chosen to be a participant. Did they have a list of old school guys they would have liked to have seen and or was Murdoch the only choice and why?

There may've been an old school kick for Rumble spots. Dory Funk Jr was in the '96 Rumble, and Terry (who according to commentary had been invited for a '96 spot but didn't accept) returned in '97 (though that would lead to a full year spot on the roster). You could even extend that to '98, with HTM (though he'd been part of the roster since autumn '97)

[skulldouggory]

I remember the rumour that Sabu was going to be in the 97 rumble but they nixed it due to heat he had with the wwf locker room.