Excellent, Without a doubt!!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

For perhaps the first time in WWF history, the 1993 edition of the Royal Rumble managed to create individual matches in the event (in this case Michaels/Janetty and Hart/Ramon) that overshadowed the Rumble itself. Unfortunately, this was only because the Rumble was so weak in and of itself.Basically, besides a few guys (Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage, Undertaker) that were still likable (although most of those were even past their respective primes), the entire "main event" consisted of nothing but "jobbers" (wrestle-speak for placeholders in between stars) and big fat guys (always go over better than shrimps). It wasn't anything like years past, where every other guy would elicit a huge reaction (one way or another) from the crowd.Plus, although commentator Gorilla Monsoon is always excellent, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan again will make you want to watch the whole tape on "mute", which really takes away a lot of the fun (at least it would have in the Jesse "The Body" Ventura years).Overall, this is a very "skippable" event in your quest through the RR series. It serves its purpose to advance the story lines into Wrestlemania and even puts together a few good stand-alone matches, but the main event is utterly boring.

Well Hogan's gone, the Ultimate Warrior's gone, Flair's about to leave and Savage is drifting into the background. The times certainly were changing as the 1993 Royal Rumble rolled around, and this was reflected in the WWE Championship match later that night as Bret Hart made his second title defence taking on Razor Ramon who'd only been in the WWE a short length of time.The night kicked off with the Steiner Brothers defeating the Beverly Brothers in a very entertaining opener. Scott Steiner was one of the most agile workers in the world at this stage and the Beverley's were a good foil for anyone. Good back and forth action as the two teams attempted to show who were the better brothers on the roster.Next comes a heated match for the Intercontinental Championship between Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty. These two had been tag team partners in a pretty sweet tag team named the Rockers. But Shawn had memorably turned on Marty, throwing him through a barbershop window (shown on a montage here, but it actually occurred sometime in early 1992). Sensational Sherri stood at ringside unsure of her allegiances. In the end she does the right thing and comes into knock out Shawn, but he ducks and she cocks Janetty instead. Shawn wins a good match.Next up came the BIg Bossman taking on Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow was versatile for a big man and Bossman was pretty over back in 1993. They put on a nice match here.Brings us to the big WWE title match with Bret putting his title on the line against Razor Ramon. I don't know exactly what the story was here, but Razor had been one of Flair's cronies when Hart beat Flair for the title in late 1992. There were some good promos in the lead up and here they have a great match. It starts off even. The middle of the fight is Razor kicking Hart's backside all over the ring, only for Hart to rally and hit the sharpshooter for the win. Good match.The 1993 Royal Rumble was an interesting match with a lot of story lines going in. THe most important one here being that the winner would become the No.1 contender for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania IX. The fight started off with two huge stories as Flair, who would fight and lose to Mr Perfect a "Loser Leaves Town" match the following night on RAW came in at No.1 and then former WWE Champion (for five consecutive years!) Bob Backlund, making a comeback at 42, came in at No.2. Flair went early compared to last year, but Backlund went for nearly an hour and was the second last man eliminated.Another big story going in was the Undertaker's rivalry with scrawny manager Harvey Wippleman. Undertaker had defeated Harvey's biggest client Kamala in a coffin match at Survivor Series 1992 and Wippleman vowed revenge. The Undertaker came it at No.15 and cleared the ring, only for Wippleman to unearth his latest discovery: The massive Brazilian Giant Gonzales. Gonzales destroyed the Undertaker and left him looking weak and pathetic. Anyone making Taker look like that in 1993 was a rare thing indeed.Anyway, Yokozuna came in at 27, eliminated six people, including Bob Backlund and then went toe to toe with Randy Savage for five thrilling minutes before eliminating Savage as the Macho Man attempted a pin after hitting a flying elbow. And so the Giant Yokozuna was on the way to Wrestlemania!!! So it appeared that we'd be getting Hart/ Yokozuna for the WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania. Could the Canadian Hart beat not only Yokozuna, but the Japanese cronies of his manager Mr Fuji, or would it take a real American to get the job done? And could the Undertaker possibly triumph over WIppleman and his newest monster?

*SPOILERS*The Royal Rumble seems to follow an inverse proportion: the better the Rumble, the worse the undercard. The exception is 1991, which had a great undercard and the best battle royal yet. Nowadays, the undercard is always fantastic, while the battle royal is just short of pathetic.In 1993, the undercard was fine, while the battle royal started off well and just ended horribly. The Steiners had about as good a match as was possible with the Beverly Brothers. The Big Bossman and Bam Bam Bigelow, the two best superheavyweight performers ever, did quite well.The two title matches were outstanding. Few remember that Razor Ramon was actually favored to beat Bret Hart. This match showed us that Bret was not a fluke champion and solidified him as one of the better champions. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty put on a great match. Remember, later that year they would wrestle in 1993's Match of the Year. The aftermath of this match is a treat, as Sensational Sherri gets really emotional and Gene Okerlund uses language that is still WWE taboo.The battle royal was mixed. Curt Hennig was impressive, eliminating three legends (Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler and Skinner). The Undertaker also accounted for himself well. Bob Backlund performed none of the heroics of Ric Flair from the year before and probably should not have broken iron man record. Backlund's record will never be broken. Once Yokozuna showed up, it was downhill. The match had a really boring ending, and they probably could have done better. Still, it was a good surprise having him win. So see it if you can.

*possible spoilers*This was a very good and solid pay-per-view event. I really like it. Around this time (1993) we're starting to move out of the golden years of the Royal Rumble (Hogan's departure from the WWF being one of the key factors, obviously), but that doesn't mean it's not exciting anymore. It definitely is.The opener of the night is the Steiners (in their pay-per-view debut) vs. the Beverly Brothers, it's a decent match, lots of agility and great techniques by both teams, and the crowd really got into it.There's also the Big Boss Man against the "Beast from the East," Bam Bam Bigelow, in a battle of the big boys. Bossman gets some good offense in throughout the match, but Bam Bam prevails in the end with a flying headbutt off the top. Not a really good match, but it was ok.One of the best regular matches on the night, Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty, his former tag-team partner, really got things going. Some spectacular and high flying moves make this really something to watch. Jannetty controls the first few minutes, then Michaels manages to bang up Marty's shoulder a bit, but could not pin him. Jannetty at one point comes tantalizingly close to pinning Michaels, but in the end, it is Shawn who stands victorious. Great match.There's also a segment in which we get our first look at "the Narcissist" Lex Luger in the WWF, who is unveiled by Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. Heenan is so excited and anxious to show him off to everyone, silly stuff.Then the main event, Razor Ramon against Bret "Hitman" Hart. Another great match, for the Intercontinental Championship. Typical good guy/bad guy match. Bret gets control fairly early (after the taunts and toothpick flinging), then Razor really owns him from the middle on up towards the end, where Bret clamps on his infamous Sharpshooter finishing move and makes Ramon submit. Second best match of the night.Now the rumble match. Winner gets a title shot at Wrestlemania IX. Guess who has the #1 spot this year? Yep, Wooooo! Ric Flair. Everyone knows what happened in '92 but this year, Flair was expected to jump to WCW, and on Monday Night Raw, the day after the rumble, he and Mr. Perfect squared off in a "loser leaves the wwf" match. He lost. Flair didn't last as long in this one as he did in '92, but he was in for a good 18 minutes, when Mr. Perfect eliminated him. The man who drew #2, Bob Backlund, started with Flair, and hung on in the match for an incredible 61 minutes. He was the 28th overall man eliminated (by the 27th entrant, Yokozuna).About halfway into the match, Giant Gonzalez strolls down to ringside, and steps over the ropes and confronts the Undertaker, who had just cleared the entire ring. This guy was billed 8 feet tall but was actually 7'8". He chops the Dead Man over the top rope, and continues to beat on him outside the ring. This set up their match at Wrestlemania IX, which was a dud. The rumble match slows down dramatically here. The first half was excellent.When Yokozuna entered the match, he simply dominated. No one wanted anything with him, except for Earthquake. They collided, but Yoko tossed him out. And it was clear who was the winner was going to be. At one point, everyone in the ring all ganged up on Yoko, trying to eliminate him, but he fought them all off. Near the end it was Yokozuna, Bob Backlund, who was still there, Rick Martel, and Randy Savage. Backlund knocked Martel over the ropes, the crowd is going insane for him now, he already has the longevity record. But he made a mistake and charged at Yokozuna and was thrown out right at 61 minutes. WOW. So it's down to the sumo wrestler and Savage, they fight for a long time, Savage gets the crowd riled up, I mean REALLY riled up. But Yokozuna got the last laugh, as he tossed Savage out from lying on his back, AFTER being hit by a Flying Elbow Drop. This was the 2nd longest rumble ever at 66+ minutes, and it was excellent from the start, but it died down the 2nd half.