The Vin Man's Viewpoint

Souled Out. Fall Brawl. Spring Stampede. And a half-dozen In Your House events.

Between the WWF, ECW, and WCW, there are 28 pay-per-view events per year. There used to be a time when PPV's were rare, special occasions. Now they're like payday; you look forward to each one, but you know it won't be much different than the one you got last week. Most PPV's are simply commercial-free versions of the Monday night shows.

A few PPV's remain special. ECW has wisely limited themselves to four PPV's a year. By keeping the supply low, they keep the demand for their product high. WWF and WCW put out so many PPV's that they become repetitive. Only a few events, like WrestleMania or Starrcade, have enough history to remain special. The Royal Rumble is one of those events.

The highlight of the Royal Rumble event is, of course, the Rumble itself. What makes the Rumble so exciting? The chaos of the battle royal setting. The anticipation of the next wrestler to enter. The alliances that form and implode during every-man-for-himself warfare. The mini-competitions within the Rumble; the fight to see who can stay in the longest, and who will make it into the final four.

We all know my track record for predictions is … mediocre, to say the best. So I'm not going to bother with that. Instead, I'll just let you know what I'd like to see happen.

While the Royal Rumble is an event unto itself, it is also a part of WrestleMania. With that in mind, I believe that Kane will interfere in the Shawn Michaels-Undertaker match at the Rumble, costing his brother the title. The Kane-Undertaker war has been brewing for so long that it doesn't need the WWF title to be exciting. It makes more sense for Shawn to head to WrestleMania as champion.

Who, then, should win the Rumble and face Michaels? My first reaction: Ken Shamrock. Shamrock has taken to wrestling far better than I ever anticipated. He and Michaels already headlined one PPV (IYH: Degeneration X) and a rematch would certainly be special. But the WWF recently announced the signing of Dan Severn, Shamrock's former rival in the Ultimate Fighting contests. Unlike Shamrock, Severn has been wrestling professionally for several years. Putting them together at WrestleMania would be intriguing, whether in a shootfight or a wrestling match. But that's not really what I want. Former heavyweight boxing champion (and convicted rapist) "Iron" Mike Tyson is going to be at WrestleMania. I'd love to see Shamrock and Tyson square off in a shootfight. That's purely a pipe dream. The WWF could never afford Tyson's performance fee, and even if they could, Tyson would never fight Shamrock. He'd have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Many people would like to see Stone Cold Steve Austin win the Rumble. I don't feel that way. Remember, folks, it wasn't that long ago that Austin suffered a very severe neck injury. He's still very vulnerable to further injury. As WWF champion, he'd have to wrestle much more often, and would literally put his neck on the line every night. I'd rather see him continue his present role as instigator/pain-in-the-ass.

Winning the Royal Rumble would go a long way to revitalizing the career of Vader. When the mastodon made his WWF debut in the Rumble two years ago, he was considered the most intimidating man on the planet. Now, we see him as a miscast hero, trying to beat Goldust back into normalcy. (Yeah, like Vader's a normal guy himself.) A Rumble win coupled with a clean pinfall over Goldust would catapult him back to the top of the heap in the WWF. But I think it's too soon. I still remember getting squashed by Sid, and I'm sure others do to. The way I see it is this: after culminating his feud with Goldust, Vader enters a feud with Kane, who by that time will be done warring with the Undertaker. Depending on how he fares in that feud, perhaps then he would look like a contender.

What about Owen Hart? The WWF must be very careful in how they handle Owen, because he will always be compared to his brother Bret. If Owen were to immediately win the WWF belt, it would appear that the WWF is still trying to live off Bret Hart's name. I think the Survivor Series fiasco is still too recent to push Owen Hart into the limelight. I would put him into a feud with the "lower half" of Degeneration X, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. After feuding with Helmsley, he could get a title shot at Summerslam.

There are several other dark horses entered in the Rumble. Kurgan appears to be getting a push as a monster heel. Mark Henry, newest member of the Nation of Domination, would earn instant credibility with a win. Mick Foley once had an incredible match with Shawn Michaels under the guise of Mankind; imagine what he could do as Cactus Jack.

But I hope none of them win. As great as it would be to see any of those men take on Michaels, I would be disappointed to see any of them pull it off. As great as those matches would be, I can think of one better.

The WWF-ECW relationship is not quite dead. Flash Funk recently appeared at an ECW show under his old name, 2 Cold Scorpio. Rob Van Dam is still leading "Team WWF" in ECW matches. And the Royal Rumble still has one slot open for a surprise guest…

The man I'd like to see win the Royal Rumble is Sabu. I'd like to see him walk through the curtains at the Rumble and stun the crowd. I'd like to see him crawl, scratch, and bite his way into the final four. I'd like to see triple-jump moonsaults, hurricanranas, springboard legdrops, and chairshots so stiff they make the announcers bleed. I'd like to see hem spend the months leading up to WrestleMania feuding with Cactus Jack on WWF TV. And most of all, I'd like to see Sabu and Shawn Michaels square off at WrestleMania, for the title. Make it a ladder match, throw up a cage, whatever. Let's get the two best athletes in wrestling in the same match. Is that too much to ask?

© January 17, 1998

The Vin Man's Viewpoint is an opinion piece on pro wrestling written every week (or so). Vincent Verhei, the writer, is a journalism pre-major at Western Washington University, and has been an avid fan of the sport for over 10 years.

Subscribe to the Vin Man's Viewpoint!

Quick, boy, back to the Temple of Vin!

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page