Royal Rumble

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.

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.

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.

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 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!