WWE Royal Rumble 1997 (1997)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The acting in this movie is really good.

1st Match: HHH vs Goldust, WWF Intercontinental Championship. So for some reason the refs are super lenient on these first few matches. These might as well be No DQ matches, but they're not, it's pretty distracting. The match is a decent brawl, and it was interesting to see Goldust as a face for once. A little slow for an opener, but Hunter winning did a good job of making Goldust more of a face. Rating: 3/52nd Match: Ahmed Johnson vs Faarooq. So the Nation of Domination is now here, basically the wrestling equivalent of the Black Panther Party. Another super lenient match that serves as a good brawl, but it actually ends in a DQ, so what's the point? I guess it sets up their fight at WrestleMania well, which is an actually No DQ match, also Johnson puts a member of the NoD through the announce table, so that's cool. Watchable, but only because it's so short. Rating: 2.5/53rd Match: Vader vs The Undertaker. Another decent match, but it never really hits a stride. It's just two big guys slugging it out, that's it. Taker does his best, but Vader is really limited here. I know Vader was on his way out by this point, but at least try and act like you care, man. Taker elevates this thing, even his loss to Vader isn't that big of a deal. Rating: 2.5/54th Match: Canek, Héctor Garza and Perro Aguayo vs Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal and Jerry Estrada. No idea who any of these guys are, and no one in the crowd cares. You can actually see people leaving to go to the bathroom during this. This is an obvious attempt to copy what WCW was doing a lot better at the time, only it's executed terribly. No charisma from anyone here, and it drags on forever. Super boring, next! Rating: 1.5/55th Match: Royal Rumble match. Highlight time! This mainly serves to finally establish Austin as a main event talent. He would still take some time to get there, but his moments alone in the ring calling for people to come down and try to throw him over is great. He lasts a long time, even if most of his opponents are jobbers/luchadors who don't have a prayer of winning. I liked his brief rematch with Roberts too. Other highlights include Lawler getting eliminated within 3 seconds, Owen eliminating Davey Boy "on accident", and Bret getting screwed over for the first time this year. Give it 10 months, then you'll be really angry Bret. I also thought Austin winning by the refs not seeing his elimination was a great booking decision. Bret thinks he wins, only to get eliminated, further setting up their match of the year at WrestleMania. If only we knew the power house that was in store there. The ending to this is kind of tainted though, because Austin wouldn't go on to the main event of WrestleMaina, but details to follow there. This is still an entertaining rumble, if mostly for Austin alone. Rating: 4/56th Match: Shawn Michaels vs Sid Vicious, WWF Championship. Of course Michaels gets top billing, it's his hometown. As disappointing as it is that the rumble doesn't close the show, what's more disappointing is this match. It's just a paint by numbers, with Michaels winning in his hometown. Even though Sid was building momentum as a heel, they gave Michaels the win on a silver platter. There's no real highlight here, other than Michaels no selling a powerbomb. And on top of that, Michaels would forfeit the belt a couple nights later, which would then go back to Sid before WrestleMania, so this whole match is pointless. Michaels winning in his hometown is cool, but it's gotta mean something, and this doesn't. Rating: 2/5Final Rating: 5 out of 10. A mediocre show that only really exists to set up WrestleMania matches. Other than the rumble, you can skip this.

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.

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)

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.