10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1993 Facts
WWE builds its new main event heel in one night.
With Ric Flair departing WWE in early 1993, the heel side of the roster was looking rather thin with regards to established players. Outside of Shawn Michaels, the dearth of proven villains was apparent. In his autobiography, Bret Hart cited Razor Ramon, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Yokozuna as fresh faces (fresh heels?) that he had hoped Vince McMahon could build to meaningful levels, as Hart needed hot commodities to work with.
The 1993 Royal Rumble saw all three of those men in prominent spots. Ramon lost a WWE Championship match against Hart, while Bigelow cleanly downed an outgoing Big Boss Man. As for Yokozuna, there were clearly mammoth plans for the mammoth wrestler.
Less than three months after making his on-camera debut, 26-year-old Rodney Anoa'i won the 1993 Royal Rumble match, where he was made to look like every bit the monster McMahon needed him to be. It was an aggressive and earnest attempt to make a relative newcomer (one that lacked a decorated championship pedigree elsewhere) into a main event player in one night.
The 1993 Royal Rumble came along at a time when the WWE roster had never been more in flux. So much had changed in less than one year. As time would show, those radical changes would only continue.
Here are ten facts about the 1993 Royal Rumble you may not have known.
10. It Was The Last PPV For Monsoon And Heenan As A Duo
From the time Gorilla Monsoon first shared the Prime Time Wrestling stage with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in 1986, the comedic chemistry between the pair was evident. Their well-executed give-and-take wouldn't be confined to just Prime Time, as the two would become broadcast partners on Wrestling Challenge later that year.
At WrestleMania 7 in 1991, Monsoon and Heenan called the first of seven pay-per-views together, a run that ended with the 1993 Royal Rumble. Monsoon stepped away from the booth shortly before WrestleMania 9 to make room for the incoming Jim Ross. Heenan himself would leave the company before the end of the year.
The Monsoon/Heenan tandem remains one of professional wrestling's greatest treasures. The fact that their partnership was so openly remembered by fans and wrestlers alike upon Heenan's passing in September 2017 speaks volumes of its widespread appeal.