Royal Rumble (1997 TV Special) User Reviews

The Stone Cold Show

[zkonedog · 7/10 · 12 March 2017]

Over the course of this match, a number of individual matches are showcased...

-HHH vs. Goldust -Vader vs. Undertaker -Shawn Michaels vs. Sycho Sid (the finale for the championship)

All those matches are pretty entertaining in their own right, and nothing to totally scoff at. However, there is absolutely no doubt that Royal Rumble '97 was completely dominated by the performance of Steve Austin.

It's very interesting to watch the WWE during this era (a titch before the Attitude Era) develop all these players that would become superstars in about a year or two's time, with Stone Cold most closely resembling his future trash-talking, finger-saluting, everyman persona. Very entertaining, and isn't that the point of professional wrestling?

Also interesting to note: Rocky Maivia (later rebranded "The Rock") makes an early-career appearance here, and Mankind is still gaining steam. All the stars are aligning, if not in perfect position quite yet.

One embarrassing downside of this time period: the shameful recasting and treatment of Diesel and Razor Ramon. That was poor class from Vince McMahon, plain and simple, and the fans knew it (constant boos raining down). For the life of me, I can't understand what the goal of that stunt was.

Overall, though, RR '97 is a solid event that is quite entertaining from top to bottom. It maybe isn't "all-time great quality", but you'll be watching more than wanting to fast-forward, that is for sure.

Nice Vader's victory and one of the greatest royal rumble matches

[amanwhorocks · 7/10 · 25 January 2014]

1. WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Goldust Vs. Champ-Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Champ retained, good! Nice pedigree btw. 7.5/10

2. Faarooq Vs. Ahmed Johnson - Average match within DQ ending. But Ahmed performed HUGE Pearl River Plunge onto the table. 6/10

3. Vader Vs. The Undertaker - This is the one, when Taker lost by Vader's Bomb. 7/10

4. Fuerza Guerrera/Heavy Metal/Jerry Estrada Vs. Perry Ahuayo/Canek/Hector Garza - Nobody knows what these 6 unknowns did on PPV. Diffident one, the greatest applause was, when the match finally ended. Vince-inspired by Bischoff's Mexican wrestlers. 6.5/10

5. Royal Rumble Match: I actually like that royal rumble match, with so many superstars in last few minutes. Stone cold's "fake" victory was the only one shadow. 9/10

One of the best ever

[bh_tafe3 · 8/10 · 6 July 2009]

Well, Bret Hart and Steve Austin continued their classic rivalry, The Undertaker had a not so classic match with Vader and Shawn Michaels tried to win back the WWE Championship in his billed home town in one of the best ever Royal Rumble PPVs.

The night started off with Goldust wrestling Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the Intercontinental Championship. The main story going in had been Helmsley's attempts to seduce Goldust's manager Marleena (Terri Runnels) in the build up. Helmsley retained his title here in one of the Goldust's better matches. Good start to the night really.

Next we saw the continuing rivalry between Ahmed JOhnson and the Nation of Domination. Tonight he would be facing Nation leader Faarooq, who was upset that the powerful Johnson had refused to join his group of bad guys. They have a slow big man match, which Johnson won by DQ after the entire Nation jumped him. He was able to power them off though and get the win.

Following some comments from men who would be participating in the Royal Rumble later in the night, Vader and the Undertaker had a disappointing match, won by Vader following a distraction from Paul Bearer. Taker was very unhappy, and he would only get angrier as the night went on.

After some more comments from Rumble participants it was time for the midgets to come in and it was the team of Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal and Jerry Estrada defeating Perro Aguayo, El Canek and Hector Garza.

This was followed by a classic Royal Rumble match. The story of the match was Steve Austin and Bret Hart. Austin came in at 5, and eliminated ten guys, but business really picked up when Hart came in. Hart and Austin brawled all over the ring. It looked as though Hart had had the last laugh, eliminating Austin, but the referees missed it as they were arguing with Vader. Hart eliminated the Undertaker and should have won the Rumble, but Austin threw him over and was declared the winner. Hart, furious at being screwed out of an opportunity to headline Wrestlemania for the second consecutive PPV went off on a tirade directed at Vince McMahon, JIm Ross and Jerry Lawler. On the subject of Lawler, he was briefly in the Rumble match and never had a finer PPV as a heel commentator. He was another reason why this Rumble was one of the very best ever.

This finally brings us to the main event, which saw Shawn Michaels defeat Sycho Sid to regain the WWE Championship. Michaels had lost the championship to Sid after Sid knocked him out with a TV camera, and turned the tables here, knocking out Sid with a TV camera shot of his own to get the win. This was another good main event outing for Sid, who, mainly thanks to being put against Hart and Michaels, had proved an effective short term champion.

Well, surely we'll hear more of this screwy ending to the Royal Rumble at the next PPV, and how would Shawn Michaels pull up after his gruelling match with Sid. As it turned out, both questions would have the same answer, with Michaels injured and a vacant title.

Terrific over the top rope action!

[BimmerDude · 7 January 2001]

One of the best Royal Rumbles since 1994! Bret The Hitman Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin continue their unbelievable feud into the Rumble. This is what led to the WWF's revival - two solid workers in Hart and Austin tearing the house down with some intense rivalry. A must see for WWF fans.

The Royal Stumble

[paudieconnolly · 5/10 · 20 July 2021]

After a long period of losing talent. Now WWF seemed to have a good amount of talent. This royal rumble and main event and what would follow in the coming weeks. Showed the company was not sure what direction they were going and who's going to carry them forward.

Bland Show With Not Much To Remember

[morantjavonte · 4/10 · 9 October 2022]

Royal Rumble 1997 Thoughts

Royal Rumble 1997 was the 10th annual Royal Rumble PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place January 19, 1997 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. This is also the highest attended Royal Rumble event in the promotion's history as it recorded a record high of 60,477. I also like to point out this was a rare timing of the WWF working with a promotion (mostly due to a thin roster). WWF aligned with Lucha Libre World Wide for some royal rumble participants.

Aside from the Royal Rumble, a major advertisement was hometown hero Shawn Michaels going after the WWF Championship againt Sycho Sid. HBK lost the belt around November but was able to get a rematch for this belt weeks heading up. I like to add this was the start of some booking changes made unnecessarily heading up to WrestleMania 13 which many believed caused the event to fail to sell out. One more fact, Vader was suppose to face HBK at this PPV but HBK refused to work with him. Classic Shawn.

The Good - Some of the action in the royal rumble was quite fun but most notably the best performance was Stone Cold. I must say it was so awkward hearing his music without a pop but of course this wasn't Austin at his peak yet. The ending towards his victory was unique.

The Meh - The main event was a bit of a disappointment. It was obviously random due to Vince wanting Shawn to walk out as the hometown hero. Being a not-so-good match involving Shawn Michaels is rare but it mostly was on Sid who was not a good performer. The opening was also alright but overall not a good start to the show.

The Bad - Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq was painfully bad and it's unfortunate Faarooq couldn't make a bad in-ring performer like Johnson look good. Many poor set up spots in the match. Vader vs. Undertaker was also surprisingly a lackluster match which is not what you may expect from these two who are great super heavyweights.

Overrall - Not an enjoyable show at all. Might also add the crowd was a major disappointment and seemed to be less interested in this entire show all the way down to the end. It's sad too considering the look and feel it was suppose to have from a large stadium.

Score - 4 out of 10: Boring

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 2/5

2. Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq - 0/5

3. The Undertaker vs. Vader - 1.5/5

4. Canek, Héctor Garza & Perry Aguayo vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal & Jerry Estrada - 1/5

5. 30-Man Royal Rumble - 2.5/5

6. Sycho Sid vs. Shawn Michaels: WWF Championship - 2/5

Best Match - 30-Man Royal Rumble

Worst Match - Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq

Most Memorable Moment - Austin's cheating victory.

Top 5 Performers

1. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Great Performance

2. Bret Hart - Great Performance

3. Rocky Maivia - Great Performance

4. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Was improving

5. Goldust - Good Performance.

The Royal Rumble at it's finest

[pmayerle · 15 July 2001]

The Royal Rumble '97 was great. There were a couple of lame matches (e.g. The six man tag match, Farooq vs. Ahmed Johnson)but other than that, it was pretty enjoyable. The Undetaker vs. Vader was okay and Shawn Michaels vs. Sid was great. The best part, though, was the royal rumble match itself. It was great seeing newer stars like Rocky Maivia and veterans like Jake Roberts and Terry Funk in the same match. This royal rumble match had a lot of Mexican wrestling stars. And of course, Austin wins! Also, you should time how long Jerry Lawler is in the rumble (I think it's like 10 seconds)

Wrestling revolution

[hebevan · 5 August 2002]

A great event, as the Rumble usually is, but this one changed the rules a little. After rising stars Kevin Nash a.k.a 'Diesel' and Scott Hall a.k.a. 'Razor Ramon' were 'stolen' from the WWF by WCW, a void was left in the line up for the Royal rumble match up. A fake Razor Ramon made his way to the ring to a chorus of boo's and was promptly throw over the top rope. Soon after Glen Jacobs (now wrestling as Kane) came to the ring to Diesels music,and dressed as Kevin Nash's character. Despite the crowds obvious disapproval for the 'fake diesel', Jacobs wrestled on and help make the match a success, finishing in the final four. For wrestling buff's the '97 Royal Rumble is an opportunity to see Kane without his mask on, and some great wresting too.

Very Exciting Action

[Big Movie Fan · 5 June 2002]

The 1997 Royal Rumble was like all other Royal Rumble events-brilliant and exciting mainly because of the 30 man Rumble which is everyone's favourite part of the show.

The undercard matches were brilliant-Vader batted the Undertaker in a great match and I was pleasantly surprised by the Goldust/Triple H match and the scrap between Ahmed Johnson and Farooq.

The 30 man Rumble itself was exciting with plenty of action; the only thing that spoiled it was the controversial ending.

Shawn Michaels and Sid had a great match for the WWF Title; Shawn was wrestling in his hometown of Texas and he put on a great show with Sid.

Fantastic stuff!