I was looking over Scott Keith's rant a few minutes ago and this was easily the worst Rumble ever. Not only was there weak 60 second periods but we got this delightful list of workers:

Shawn Michaels
British Bulldog
Eli Blu
Duke Droese
Jimmy Del Rey
Barbarian
Tom Pritchard
Doink
Kwang
Rick Martel
Owen Hart
Timothy Well
Bushwacker Luke
Jacob Blu
King Kong Bundy
Mo
Mabel
Bushwacker Butch
Lex Luger
Mantaur
Aldo Montoya
HOG
Billy Gunn
Bart Gunn
Bob Backlund
Steven Dunn
Dick Murdoch
Fatu
Crush
Adam Bomb

Wow. Five competent guys.

I'm not sure if I'd call Rick Martel competent at that point. He sucked for a long while before briefly reviving his inring work for WCW in 98.

Well Dunn wasn't horrible. Though I don't remember them doing much of anything in this Rumble.

Just wanted to add the fact that Dick Murdock is in this rumble......and about 20 years out of his prime.

I don't understand why no one pulled double duty on this show. Bam Bam Bigelow, 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly, Razor Ramon, Jeff Jarrett and Bret Hart would've done wonders for this Rumble.

I think at the time, besides tag guys....nobody did double duty in the rumble (Not 100% on this...but I'm pretty sure), that changed after this year I believe.

Piper did double duty a few years early when he won the I.C. Title. Bret Hart did double duty the year before getting the infamous kick in the leg from Owen before co-winning the Rumble. Actually a lot of guys did double duty in the 94 Rumble.

Hmmm..... that makes this Rumble even more odd now.

Martel (who SUCKED as the Model), Owen, and Backlund spent a combined 1:00 in the Rumble Match. They shouldn't even be called competant workers because they are basically an after thought.

God Damn... it's the Parade of Wrestlecrap! Well Dunn! Aldo! Mantaur! MOM! Blu Brothers! Adam Bomb! Duke Droese! Kwang! Doink! H.O.G.!

Ok. So Owen and Bulldog were the first two in, waded through 25 pieces of trash, tossed the only 3 other good workers early, and then ended up being the last two in. At least the two best guys were portrayed as such.

I haven't seen it in a long time but I seem to remember that the Bulldog disappeared for a large portion in the middle.

Man, Adam Bomb is another guy that WCW blew it with in 98.

You fucked up Doct0r... Owen was eliminated in 2 seconds, Shawn was in and won as the "ironman" (actually 37:00). The worst verbal BJ I've ever seen.

I've seen it recently, and Davey would rest in corners now and then, but never disappeared for a considerable amount of time.

Didn't Kevin Nash end his hot streak?

WCW didn't blow it with him... it was Big Shitty.

The undercard was pretty good that year though:

Bret Hart vs. Diesel
Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly
Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett

That's what makes it a good show...

- Bret Hart carrying Diesel like his mother was on the line.

- The Kid/Bob Holly bouncing around like ping pongs for Bigelow.

- Ramon/Jarrett wrestling so many house shows with the same situation had them ready enough.

Werd, replace Owen with Shawn. My apologies.

Although that's my wishful thinking.

Considering the roster for this Rumble, I actually think it was a GOOD call to do the :60 second intervals on this one if ya think about it...

By that logic, that's a great point. But to me it did feel to me like compromising the integrity of the match. Kinda like doing a WarGames with three teams of three.

What the fuck? DICK F'N MURDOCH is not competent? Tom Prichard isn't competent?

I agree it was slim, slim pickings in that Rumble, but come on. Murdoch is better than everyone else put together. Including your girly man Michaels. In a perfect world Murdoch would have splattered Michaels' brains all over the floor and taken his spot in a WrestleMania main event.

Come to think of it, I think I know how I would rebook WrestleMania XI now. :P

I thought you called HBK my girly man until I realized it was DaDoctors post... (sits back and sips Haterade)

I'm an old-school mark too, but Murdoch was basically useless by '95.

And Murdoch was basically dead in '96. :P

HBK is a universal girly man, it wasn't directed towards any one poster.

And veterans are never useless.

In terms of headlining WM, he was pretty much useless.

That was hyperbolic humor on my part, I never expected he'd actually headline any PPV's. But dropping Michaels on his head would have been awesome.

Mantaur, Mabel, and Bundy sitting on Michaels' head would've been more awesome.

That I can agree with, and I didn't take the WM comment too seriously.

I never really got Murdoch though. He's ultra-respected among all the old school guys, but I just really don't see it. I do like the Captain Redneck moniker, though.

Murdoch to me is the epitome of the old school wrestling mentality. Didn't look like much, looked like a big tough guy sitting at the end of the bar, but was just so talented in every aspect of working a match. Got the business and loved the business and gave to it and understood the fundamentals. A lot of people would agree Murdoch is one of the most talented wrestlers ever.

Adonis was like that too, they were a great tag team that fit together perfectly.

Although I've heard plenty of things claiming otherwise about Murdoch. Like he was great when his working boots were on, and that was a lot less than people remember. Although I'm an old school enthusiast myself, I'm a little on the Murdoch's overrated side myself.

Prichard is a stretch, and Murdoch was a walking corpse in 95. So yea, five competent guys.

Blasphemy!

Murdoch's corpse > Shawn Michaels.