Rumble Rambings: 1993

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm hoping (but not committing) to watch several Royal Rumbles leading up to the 2016 event and just posting random thoughts of the match.  I'm not doing these in any order.  Today I'm starting with 1993.  I decided to watch it because I hadn't seen it since it first aired 23 years ago.  This was also the first time the stipulation included a championship match at Wrestlemania for the winner.

I miss these two...
Courtesy: WWE

• I miss Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon as a team.  It's nice watching a show and the entire time the commentary team is focused on the action at hand.  No Network shills.  No "Royal Rumble is trending on Twitter!" comments.  The back and forth between these two was always magical.  Heenan's quick wit has never been matched, ever.  And Monsoon's responses were always great.  "Will you stop?!?"

Flair, Backlund and DiBiase
Courtesy: WWE

• Ric Flair was days away from leaving WWF and started the Rumble as number one.  The second entrant was another former champion: Bob Backlund.  Keep in mind Flair is about six months older than Backlund, but Heenan and Monsoon focused on Backlund's age and his comeback.  They weren't the only two to do that during Backlund's return.  I just found it funny how Backlund was a hero for being so "old" and returning, while Flair had just finished a run as champ.

Carlos Colon
Courtesy: WWE

• Speaking of age, when Carlos Colon hit the ring, Gorilla referred to the Caribbean champion as a "youngster."  He was older than Backlund and Flair and had been wrestling nearly 30 years by the time the '93 Rumble rolled around.  This was his first appearance on WWF TV I believe, so maybe he was a youngster to the company???

Introducing Giant Gonzalez
Courtesy: WWE

• I hate when a guy gets eliminated by someone who has already been tossed from the match.  In this particular event it was Mr. Perfect.  He got taken out by Jerry "The King" Lawler who had been dumped to the floor moments earlier.  But the biggest miscarriage of justice (a Gorilliaism) was when the Giant Gonzalez appeared out of no where and took out the Undertaker.  Gonzalez wasn't even in the match and was making his debut that night.  How does that work?  

• Typhoon and Earthquake collectively were known as the Natural Disasters.  The two had a run as tag team champions.  But for some reason when Earthquake entered the match he immediately went after his partner and eliminated him.  I'm certain nothing ever developed from this.  Just a weird moment in the Rumble I guess.

The final two
Courtesy: WWE

• How did "Macho Man" Randy Savage go from the second to the last man in the ring to working on the announce team at Wrestlemania IX?  Considering Savage's pedigree I still don't know what happened there (keep in mind he wrestled a year later at Wrestlemania X).  And while I'm on it, why was the 1989 winner, Big John Studd merely a guest referee at Wrestlemania V?
  

It's fun looking back on these now "classic" Rumble matches.  Until next time...