10 Quietly Brilliant WWE PPVs
3. WWF Royal Rumble 1995
1995 is often perceived as the worst year in WWF history.
The roster was so thin on talent that the company was forced to push the jobberfied Barry Horowitz in a proto-James Ellsworth role. The genuine talent it did have on its books was bizarrely marginalised. How Bam Bam Bigelow wasn't that year's King Of The Ring, I've no idea. Shawn Michaels must have really had it in for him. Nonsensical occupational gimmicks were abound. It remains unclear to this day if Duke Droese's garbage man job was a side gig, or if he had fulfilled his dream of WWF stardom. If that was the case, why did he still dress like that? Was he staying true to his roots?
Not having access to much in the way of WWE Network data, it's still probably safe to assume that the 1995 library is a waste of expensive bandwidth - but, in the background, much was done to evolve the cartoonish, one-note Golden Era's in-ring style.
The best event of the year was the first: the Royal Rumble. The opener - Jeff Jarrett's Intercontinental Title win at Razor Ramon's expense - was worthy (if overlong). Diesel and Bret Harts' WWF Title match was incredible, a sublime testament to Bret Hart's ability to carry limited and ponderous opponents to exciting and lengthy matches. The WWF Tag Team Title match, meanwhile, was better than it had any right to be.
The Rumble itself was short but sweet. It was almost merciful - the field was powered by such low wattage (Steven Dunn?) that it did well not to outstay its welcome.