Royal Rumble (1997)

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble
	Promotional poster featuringShawn Michaels
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 19, 1997
City	San Antonio, Texas
Venue	Alamodome
Attendance	60,477
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 Rumblechronology
←Previous; 1996	Next→; 1998

The 1997Royal Rumblewas the 10th annualRoyal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view(PPV)eventproduced by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 19, 1997, from theAlamodomeinSan Antonio, Texas.As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble matchwinner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania.For the 1997 event, the winner received a match for theWWF ChampionshipatWrestleMania 13. Themain eventsawShawn MichaelsdefeatSycho Sidto win the WWF Championship. The main match on theundercardwas the 1997 Royal Rumble match, whichStone Cold Steve Austinwon after last eliminatingBret Hart.Additionally,VaderdefeatedThe Undertaker,andHunter Hearst HelmsleydefeatedGoldustto retain theWWF Intercontinental Championship.

The attendance of 60,477 is the highest recorded live crowd in the Royal Rumble's history with the2017 editionof the event held at the same venue being the second largest. In addition to hometown hero Shawn Michaels going for the WWF championship, the WWF was working with theMexicobasedLucha 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[edit]

Background[edit]

TheRoyal Rumbleis an annualgimmick pay-per-view(PPV) produced every January by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam,andSurvivor Series,which were dubbed the "Big Four",^[2]and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along withKing of the Ring.^[3]It is named after theRoyal Rumble match,a modifiedbattle royalin which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns aworld championshipmatch at that year's WrestleMania. For 1997, the winner earned a match for theWWF ChampionshipatWrestleMania 13.The 1997 event was the 10th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 19, 1997, from theAlamodomeinSan Antonio, Texas.^[4]^[5]

Storylines[edit]

The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayedheroes,villains,orless distinguishable charactersin scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television show,Raw.^[6]^[7]

The feud betweenGoldustandHunter Hearst Helmsleycentered around Goldust'smanager,Marlena.During the free broadcast prior toIn Your House 12,Helmsley attempted toseduceMarlena.^[8]Goldust responded by attacking Helmsley during matches in the following weeks.^[8]^[9]The feud escalated on the December 30, 1996, episode ofRawduring a match between Goldust andJerry Lawler.Helmsley came to the ring and tried to carry Marlena away.^[8]Marc Mero,who haddroppedtheWWF Intercontinental Championshipto Helmsley, blocked Helmsley's path, but the distraction was enough to cause Goldust to becounted out.^[8]

On July 22, 1996,Faarooq Asadmade his WWF debut by attackingAhmed Johnson,theIntercontinental champion.^[10]He claimed that he attacked Johnson because Johnson was not "from the streets", as Faarooq claimed to be.^[11]Soon after the attack, Johnson was diagnosed with alegitimatekidney problem, so the WWF claimed that Faarooq's attack had hospitalized Johnson.^[9]^[12]Johnson was unable to compete for several months and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship.^[13]When Johnson returned to the WWF, he interfered in several matches involving Faarooq'sstable,theNation of Domination.^[9]He attacked them with atwo-by-four,which led to an angle in which Johnson was suspended for the attacks.^[9]By December, Johnson's injury had recovered sufficiently to allow him to resume wrestling,^[9]and a match was scheduled for the next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble.

VaderandThe Undertakerdid 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.^[8]The Undertaker had been involved in a feud withPaul Bearerthat dated back toSummerSlam 1996,when Bearer had turned on The Undertaker.^[14]On the January 5, 1997 episode ofWWF Superstars,The Undertaker attacked Vader's manager,Jim Cornette,^[8]leaving Vader without a manager at the Royal Rumble.^[15]

ThefeudbetweenSidandShawn Michaelsdated back to 1995, when Michaels had hired Sid as abodyguard.Sid interfered during the Michaels vs.Dieselmain event atWrestleMania XIby distracting thereferee,but the plan backfired when the referee was unable to count thepinfallafter MichaelssuperkickedDiesel.^[16]On the following night's episode ofMonday Night Raw,Michaels told Sid that he would not be needed in the case of a Michaels vs. Diesel rematch.^[17]Sid responded byturningon Michaels andpowerbombinghim three times.^[17]This attack led to a feud between Sid and Diesel, but Sid and Michaels were reunited as partners in anelimination matchatSurvivor Series 1995.During the match, Michaels accidentally kicked Sid in the face, which led to Sid being eliminated.^[18]Sid retaliated by powerbombing Michaels again.^[18]Once again, the feud was not developed, as Sid left the WWF.^[9]^[19]Sid returned to the WWF on the July 8, 1996 episode ofMonday Night Rawwhen Michaels introduced him as a partner in a six-man match atIn Your House 9.^[9]Sid helped Michaels several times in the coming months by saving him from attacks by other wrestlers.^[9]AtIn Your House 11,Sid defeatedVaderto win aWWF Championshipmatch against Michaels atSurvivor Series 1996.^[20]During the match at Survivor Series, Sid attackedJose Lothario,Michaels'manager,with atelevision camera.^[21]While Michaels was distracted, Sid hit him with the camera and powerbombed him to win the title.^[21]A rematch was later booked for Royal Rumble 1997.

Event[edit]

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

The event opened with theIntercontinental Championshipmatch betweenGoldustand 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 abodyguardfor Helmsley, pulled Helmsley out of the ring. Hughes then continued his distraction on Goldust, which led to Helmsley delivering aPedigreeand pinning Goldust for the win, thus Helmsley retained the Intercontinental Championship.^[22]^[23]

In the next match,FaarooqfacedAhmed Johnson.Johnson won the match bydisqualificationafter members of theNation of Domination,who were at ringside, interfered on Faarooq's behalf.^[22]^[23]

The third match was the encounter ofThe UndertakerandVader.Undertaker gained control early into the match; however, Vader gained control afterPaul Bearer,who was at ringside in Vader's corner, hit Undertaker with anurn.The Undertaker did not retaliate, as Vader hit aVaderbombon him, which gained a successful pinfall for the win.^[22]^[23]

The next match was asix-man tag team matchfeaturing wrestlers from the AAA organization between the team ofHéctor Garza,Perro Aguayo,andEl Canekagainst the team ofJerry Estrada,Heavy Metal,andFuerza Guerrera.A slow-paced match ensured between the two teams, as they exchanged control of the match back and forth. Late into the match, the two teams brawled outside of the ring, as Aguayo hit Metal with adiving double foot stompoff the top rope, which gained a successful pinfall, thus Garza, Aguayo and Canek won the match.^[22]^[23]

TheRoyal Rumble matchbegan with Ahmed Johnson andCrush,where the rivalry with Johnson and Faarooq continued, as Johnson eliminated himself after Faarooq came down the aisle to chase him.Stone Cold Steve Austinwas the fifth entrant. There were clock issues from numbers 3 to 5 but were fixed for No. 6,Bart Gunn.Stone Cold Steve Austinduring 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.Mil MascaraseliminatedCiberneticoandPierrothand then eliminated himself by diving onto them at ringside; years laterBruce Prichardstated that this spot had been devised because WWE creative anticipated that Mascaras would refuse to allow himself to be eliminated by anyone else; the Mexican star had long been notorious for refusing to allow other wrestlers to defeat him.^[24]No. 24 wasTerry Funkwho jumped ahead a little bit before the buzzer went off. The final five wrestlers wereThe Undertaker,Vader,Bret Hart,Diesel,andStone 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 separateTerry FunkandMankind,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.^[22]^[23]With ten eliminations, Austin tiedHulk Hoganfor the most eliminations in singleRoyal Rumble match.The record stood until2001,whenKaneeliminated eleven competitors.

The main event was aWWF Championshipmatch betweenShawn MichaelsandSycho Sid.Sid dominated most of the match and worked over on Michaels's back early into the match, however Michaels retaliated by hitting a flying elbow drop on Sid. Michaels then attempted to deliverSweet Chin Musicto Sid, however, he countered by tossing Michaels over the top rope onto ringside. As Sid threw Michaels back into the ring, Michaels accidentally hitreferee Earl Hebner.Sid then delivered aChokeslamand 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 Championship.^[22]^[23]

Aftermath[edit]

Shawn Michaelslater vacated theWWF Championshipon theThursday Raw Thursdayspecial, where he gave his now-infamous "lost my smile" promo, citing knee problems as his reason to abdicate the title.^[25]Due to this and the controversial situation over the Royal Rumble ending,Stone Cold Steve Austin,Bret Hart,The Undertaker,andVaderwere pitted against each other atIn Your House 13: Final Fourin aFour Corners matchfor the vacant WWF Championship,^[26]which saw Hart win the title.^[26]The next night onRaw,Austin interfered in a WWF Title match between Hart andSid,causing Hart to lose the title after only one day.^[27]On the March 17 edition ofRaw,Hart and Sid faced off in a Steel Cage match for the WWF Title. Sid won after interference by both Stone Cold and Undertaker.^[8]^[28]AtWrestleMania 13,Undertaker defeated Sid for the WWF Title, while Hart and Austin battled each other in a Submission match withKen Shamrockas the special referee.^[29]

Results[edit]

No.

Results^[22]^[31]^[32]^[33]

Stipulations

Times^[34]

1^D

Perro Aguayo Jr.andVenumdefeatedManiacoandMosco de la Merced

Tag team match