[1998-01-12-WWF-Raw] Royal Rumble Drawing

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

Goldust has his third wadrobe change of the night. Shamrock comes down and gets into a brawl with Henry. Honky Tonk Man is in the Royal Rumble so the nostalgia acts for the Rumble have happened. JR makes a cousin joke about Honky. Austin's music fires up and he comes from behind and hits Phenas godwin with the drawing cage and stund Phineas. A big brawl erupts in the ring with all the competitors but the Nation and Savio attack Stone Cold on the stage area. This feels like the Rumble brawl ending angle that happens every year now but still feels somewhat fresh here.

[Kevin Ridge]

They are trying to do the actual Royal Rumble drawing in the ring with all of the wrestlers. Hate when they give what spots guys drew before the Rumble. Obviously with all these guys in the ring it quickly escalates into a big brawl. Nation and Vega ambush Austin at the ramp. Garea was doing the worst job trying to break things up in the ring. It was funny to see Kurrgan getting in Tony’s face and threatening him.

[Loss]

Of course a brawl takes place. I popped for the Honky Tonk Man showing up. Everyone wanted to attack Austin, but when his music started, he came through the crowd instead and attacked from behind. But he got cut off by the Nation and Savio Vega at the entrance. He brawls out of sight for a second, but is still getting beat up a few seconds later when they brawl back in front of the crowd. This was hot stuff that built the Rumble very well.

[PeteF3]

Our first brawl is triggered when Shamrock goes after Mark Henry, who turned on him and joined the NOD either this week or the week before. Austin is one of the last men to enter, but comes in through the back, whacks somebody with the tumbler, drops Phineas with a Stunner, and exits as everyone else ends up brawling with each other. But Austin gets laid out on the ramp...okay, why is Savio working with the Nation, exactly? The WWF still kicks WCW's ass when it comes to attention to detail but there are still some pretty big slip-ups going on around this time.

[TravJ1979]

Austin coming off like a bad ass fighting off the Nation and Savio, running into the lion's den and stunning Phineas and ducking back out. And for the icing on the cake his kicks a downed, prone Mark Henry in the ass on his way up the ramp. Austin is on fire during this era and it's exciting to relive. The only thing that would have been better is him giving a stunner to HTM.

 

RATING: Austin at the top of his game.

[Exposer]

I loved Shamrock immediately brawling with Henry & The Nation as he came into the ring. That's a really good detail that's missing in a lot of today's WWE. Honky Tonk Man is still around at this point which is ludicrous. Goldust is in his third outfit of the evening. He had one hell of a wardrobe during this period. Cactus comes out, then Austin to a huge pop. Austin comes from the other side of the ring though & stuns Phineas Godwinn to a mostrous pop. He dodges everyone else & taunts up the ramp. However, Rock, D-Lo, & Savio attack him from behind on the stage. I laughed when they played Austin's music again as a tease only for him to still be getting pummeled. This is a hot segment & a great go-home for the Rumble. Awesome RAW.