Royal Rumble

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.