Inspired by two threads -- the one about your favorite Rumble and the Raw thread where a poster's daughter points out the old comment about "Why does #1 in the Rumble get all the hoopla? #2 is in there at the same time!"
That comment reminded me of waaaay back when Ax and Smash of Demolition were #1 and #2 and the way they just kinda shrugged and went at it. Awesome moment.
So, what's your favorite Rumble moment? From the match itself, not the PPV.
That one is easy for me. 1997 Royal Rumble. Steve Austin is alone in the ring with The Roadie and eliminates him so quickly that he's got a good 40 seconds to just taunt the crowd and sit on the turnbuckle. Cue Bret Hart's music.
Similar thing with Orton in 2004. He's all alone, a mystery man has just knocked out Test at number twenty...and Mick Foley's music hits. Confirmation that yes, we were going to get Foley back in the ring, and a huge crowd reaction back when he actually still meant something as a respected performer.
First ones are not so much a single moment. - Road Dogg's antics the one year, where he managed to survive for an awful long time by clinging to the bottom rope for 75% of his stay.
- The year that pretty much everyone did the Shawn 'wave your feet just above the floor then skin the cat" move.
Others: Prior to the Rumble, Austin promised to whoop ass, so when his music started, everyone turned to the entrance to kick his ass. He appeared from behind and stunnered/eliminated a bunch of guys right away.
2010 - CM Punk in his SES days, when he eliminated everyone who came to the ring and then preached.
2007 - Shawn & Taker actually having a semi-match at the end, instead of the usual "quickly dump the last two guys" scenario. It planted the seeds for their WM matches.
John Cena's surprise entrance in 2008. HHH was #29 and I rolled my eyes, figuring he'd win. Cena came out as #30 and I was shocked and started cheering. (A few seconds later I rolled my eyes as I realized Cena would win)
The Morrison and Kofi efforts to keep their feet off the floor. Morrison leapt onto the railing and jumped back on the apron in 2011. Kofi did a walking handstand in 2012.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Flair coming in at #3 in the 92 Rumble. He has the look of pure determination while Heenan is having a heart attack in the booth. Still gives me chills to this day.
There are so many ways that could have gone wrong or he could have slipped, but he pulled it off. I remember thinking, "Wow! Did he just do what I thought he did?"
Originally posted by QuezzyThat one is easy for me. 1997 Royal Rumble. Steve Austin is alone in the ring with The Roadie and eliminates him so quickly that he's got a good 40 seconds to just taunt the crowd and sit on the turnbuckle. Cue Bret Hart's music.
I believe you are thinking of Jake Roberts, not Bret Hart.
EDIT: Actually, maybe I'm confused. I looked and it looks like there were two of those spots in that match, one with each of those guys. But of course the one you mentioned was more memorable (except to me, apparently).
The Greatest Rumble Moment comes from the Greatest Rumble: 1992 - Skinner, The Alligator Man, Destroys Hulkamania.
At the end of the Rumble, as Flair makes his final run at history, Rick Martel comes in at #25 and a big deal is made that Martel is the standing record-holder for longest time in the Rumble and surely he can go all out having now drawn such a late spot. Stacking the deck against Flair further is #26, The Immortal Hulk Hogan, who immediately comes in like a house afire, attacking Flair & Undertaker, then IRS & Undertaker (back-to-back double noggin knockers!) before quickly eliminating Undertaker and Berzerker.
Finally, Hogan turns his full attention to a beaten, drained Flair when the countdown starts again. Who draws Lucky #27, the winningest spot in Rumble history? Skinner, The Alligator Man (as Gorilla repeatedly calls him). Skinner hits the ring, takes it to Roddy Piper to the point that Hogan has to save Piper. Huge mistake by Hogan, since Skinner turns his attention to to the Hulkster then spends almost an entire minute single-handedly kicking Hulk Hogan's ass from one side of the ring to the other - even pausing to grab Hogan's shirt and choke the life out of him with it - before Flair finally gets free and comes over to pull Hogan away from The Alligator Man's clutches.
Runner-up: the Flair/Piper/Jake Roberts section of the '92 Rumble, after Flair has essentially "won" the first half of the match before Piper comes out and basically wrestles as Hogan. Piper is great here, Jake is even better, Flair is maybe somehow better than both and Heenan beats them all.
The first Rumble, Santana vs Hart start out the Reed and then Neidhart. It showed me how different it was going to be. Number two is next year when Ax and Smarh are the first two. I loved Heenan's commentary during the '92 Rumble. I think they these are the best examples of how this match is special and personally my favorite PPV.
Mine is also from the 92 one. But hasn't been mentioned yet. Its when Randy Savage enter crazed(coked out) and goes after Jake Roberts. Eleminates Jake and then jumps over the top rope. Usually that's conter-productive in the Rumble. Undertaker rolls out to go after Savage who is still attacking Roberts. Take throws Savage ba k in just for Savage to roll right back out as Taker grabs at him in vain. Taker goes out a second time to get Savage. The whole time the announcers are trying to cover for Savage eliminating himself.
All the previous moments mentioned, I still remember in 1993 when Flair and Backlund started it. It was great fun to see two great champions from competing companies were in the ring at the same time.
Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
1993. Savage lays into Yoko, gets him off his feet (counterproductive but Savage is crazy), drops the big elbow and... covers Yoko? Savage gets tossed and Yoko has the exasperated WTF was THAT, thank god he's crazy and not smart look on his face.
The first two things I thought of came from the same Rumble (2002), which is funny because it wasn't even one of the top matches they ever did.
a) During a run of full throttle destruction by "Booger Red", the Hardy Boys keep coming back to get their asses kicked over, and over, and over despite the fact they've already been eliminated. In the distraction - Maven, the Undertaker's current sacrificial lamb, dropkicks him over and out.
b) Mr. Perfect going on an unbelievable run, right down to the Final 3 and making you believe he could actually win the event. The fans were solidly on his side, to the point he didn't even take heat for eliminating Steve Austin for god sakes. And of course, in the midge of nearly seeing his day end and on the ropes, he still manages a gum swat. Absolutely a classic just a year before his passing.
Originally posted by cfgb a) During a run of full throttle destruction by "Booger Red", the Hardy Boys keep coming back to get their asses kicked over, and over, and over despite the fact they've already been eliminated. In the distraction - Maven, the Undertaker's current sacrificial lamb, dropkicks him over and out.
That's the first thing my husband always brings up when discussing Royal Rumbles. Really well played shocker, Taker seething in fury - and then the music hits for Scotty Too Hotty. I don't think he even made it to the ring.
What really stinks is that Finlay has been great in his role on TV this past year. I love watching his segments and his matches, while not spectacular, are entertaining.