‘WWE Vintage Collection TV Report #87 – January 31st, 2010

Shown on Sky Sports in the U.K.

By Stephen Lyon.

This week: The Royal Rumble retrospective concludes, with the 1996 Royal Rumble match, won by Shawn Michaels. One match show again this week.

The Show:

Show opened with a short video hyping up the 1996 Royal Rumble match.

1) Shawn Michaels won the 30-man Royal Rumble match to receive a WWF title shot at Wrestlemania 12. This match was from the 'WWF Royal Rumble 1996' pay-per-view event, held in Fresno, California on January 21st, 1996. Announcers for this match were Vince McMahon & Mr Perfect. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, in full Greenwich, Connecticut 'Blueblood' gimmick, came to the ring as entrant #1. Clips were shown from Helmsley's match with Duke 'the Dumpster' Droese on the live Free-For-All Rumble show, where the pair had a match to determine the #1 and #30 spots in the Rumble match. Helmsley was disqualified for using knux, thus Droese got the #30 spot and Helmsley had to start the match at #1. Henry Godwinn came out as #2, and Helmsley and Godwinn renewed their rivalry from the previous year. Mr Bob Backlund was #3, and he saved Helmsley from near elimination. Jerry Lawler (sporting a tremendous mullet hairstyle) came out at #4 and immediately grabbed Godwinn's slop bucket. The heels held Godwinn and Lawler teased emptying the bucket on the hog farmer. Godwinn made his own save and retrieved the bucket and the heels scarpered to the outside. Godwinn tried to throw the contents of the slop bucket on to Helmsley, Backlund and Lawler at ringside, but missed most of them as they dodged it. Bob 'Spark Plugg' Holly was #5, coming out to cheesy racing car entrance music.

After a commercial break, King Mabel (#6), Jake Roberts (#7) and Dory Funk Jr (#8) were all in the ring, and Jerry Lawler was shown hiding under the ring, scared to death of Roberts' snake. Yokozuna came out at #9 and immediately eliminated Backlund, then squared off with King Mabel in the corner. Godwinn and Helmsley continued to work together. King Mabel squashed Yokozuna in the corner, with Godwinn behind Yokozuna, so he took the brunt of the impact. 1-2-3 Kid came out at #10, but was chased to the ring by an irate Razor Ramon, who was furious over Kid costing him the Intercontinental title against Goldust in a match earlier on the show. Ramon was eventually escorted from the ringside area by various officials. Kid worked with Funk Jr in the corner. After another commercial break, Takao Omori (#11) was already in the ring, and Savio Vega (#12) made his entrance. Vega immediately targeted King Mabel, nailing him with a spinning leg kick off the ropes. Yokozuna then eliminated King Mabel, clotheslining him to the outside. Takao Omori tried to eliminate Jake Roberts with a clothesline, but Roberts held on to the ropes after he went over, and Omori carried him over and he was eliminated instead. Next came a big moment in the match, as Vader made his WWF debut, coming out at #13, accompanied by Jim Cornette. Vader came in and dominated everybody with punches, eliminating Dory Funk Jr and Jake Roberts. Doug Gilbert came out at #14, with Mr Perfect noting on commentary that he teamed with Doug's brother, the late Eddie Gilbert, earlier in his career in the WWF (circa 1982/1983, before the 'Mr Perfect' gimmick), and that the Gilbert family were a great wrestling family. Doug Gilbert did a great job here, bumping like crazy for Vader as the 'Mastadon' squashed both him and 1-2-3 Kid. 

After a commercial break, both Swat Team members 1 & 2 (The Head Hunters from Puerto Rico, #15 & #16 respectively) had been and gone in quick succession. Owen Hart came out as #17. Yokozuna and Vader (both managed by Cornette) worked together at first, with Yoko holding Vega whilst Vader pummelled him. Shawn Michaels came out at #18, making his return from 'injury', having been out of action since the November 20th, 1996 Raw, where he'd dramatically storyline-collapsed at the end of a match with Owen Hart. They had teased his career ending, and now this was his big return. Michaels went after Kid and Helmsley at first, then targeted Owen. Meanwhile, Vader and Yokozuna turned on each other squared off, with Vader's mask coming off as the two threw blows at each other. The two battled near the ropes, leading to Michaels eliminating both at the same time, to a big crowd reaction. Seconds later, Michaels press-slammed Kid over the top rope to ringside to eliminate him. Hakushi came out #19, with Vader and Yokozuna brawling at ringside. Vader climbed back in the ring and immediately attacked Michaels, throwing him around like a rag doll. Vader went nuts, clearing everyone from the ring. Eventually, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon and a bunch of road agents and referees persuaded him to leave the ring, as Vader screamed, "Who's the man?!" This was a hell of a debut for Vader.

After another commercial break, everyone was back in the ring, as well as Tatanka (#20). Owen Hart eliminated Hakushi. Aldo Montoya (#21) came out, with Perfect commenting on Montoya's yellow mask, "He looks like he's got his jock on the wrong part of his body!" Michaels went outside the ring and found Jerry Lawler under it, dragging him out by the feet. Lawler had been hiding under the ring for at least 30 minutes! Michaels brought him back into the ring, only to immediately punch him, causing the King to bump to the outside and be eliminated. Diesel came out at #22, punching Helmsley and immediately eliminating Tatanka. The announcers portrayed Diesel and Michaels as the best of friends, but the pair began punching each other, putting over the 'every man for themselves' nature of the Rumble. Kama came out at #23 before another short break.

'The Ringmaster' Steve Austin (with short buzzcut hairstyle, #24) and Barry Horowitz (#25) were both in the ring, as Diesel threw out Helmsley (who'd lasted a respectable 48 minutes). Fatu (the 'It's time to make a change', reformed street hoodie version) came out at #26, as Diesel tried to throw out Austin. Perfect said, "If Horowitz wins this match, I quit!" Isaac Yankem DDS came out at #27. Yankem's entrance music consisted of the sound of a dentists' drill. Owen Hart used an enziguiri kick on Michaels, but Michaels was able to recover to throw out Owen. Shortly after this, Austin nailed Michaels with a great clothesline.

After the final commercial break, Marty Jannetty (#28) was already in the ring, and Davey Boy Smith (#29) entered, almost immediately eliminating Jannetty. Michaels was bumping like crazy for everyone, holding on to the ropes and the ringpost every time they teased his elimination. Yankem threw out Fatu, as the announcers noticed that the Ringmaster was no longer in the ring. As a sign of how things were very different at that point, Perfect said, "What happened to the Ringmaster?", and Vince replied, "Don't know, he must have been eliminated. We missed it!" That's how little they thought of newcomer Steve Austin at that time. Given the magnitude of star he would become, this was hilarious, in hindsight. Duke 'the Dumpster' Droese came out at #30, with Michaels eliminating Yankem, and Kama throwing out Droese. This left a final four of Michaels, Diesel, Davey Boy and Kama. Michaels eliminated Smith, and Kama threw out Michaels, only for Michaels to hold on to the ropes and come back in. An oblivious Kama was then thrown out by Diesel, who was almost immediately superkicked by Michaels, eliminating Diesel, and winning the match for Michaels. The crowd popped huge, as the announcers put over what a feat it was for Michaels to win the Rumble two years in a row.  

Okerlund closed the show with a weird comment. "Until next time... when I may be doing a cooking show... I'm Gene Okerlund."

Closing thoughts: Fun show, but not a particularly good Rumble match. Not enough personal rivalries featured or real star power, compared to other years. It was fun in the sense that you saw all these old gimmicks and entrance music that were 'of their time', many of which were cheesy or lame, and many of them featured stars outside of their other roles that they became more famous for later in their careers.

Match Results:

1) Shawn Michaels won the 30-man Royal Rumble match to receive a WWF title shot at Wrestlemania 12 ('WWF Royal Rumble 1996' pay-per-view - Fresno, California: 21/01/96).

Please note: I DO NOT sell DVDs or tapes of any of these shows. Sorry!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s report. For other reports like this one, be sure to check it out my website archive at http://www.classicwrestlingreports.com .

It’s no longer updated, but this website carries all of my previous WWE Classics tv reports that have been featured on the old WrestlingObserver.com website.

As always your questions, comments and thoughts are always welcomed, and you can contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Until next week, have a good week.

Stephen Lyon,
St Helens, England, U.K.