WWE Royal Rumble 1993

When you look at the WWE at the beginning of 1993 you are seeing a promotion in the midst of an enormous period of change. The most obvious example of this was the debut of Monday Night Raw (a review for which you can read here) a new prime time television show on USA Network that was conceived to be grittier and more dramatic than what had come before which required not only a change to the overall presentation and booking of the show, but also came with a relatively hefty logistical price, as (at least at first) WWE committed to providing a live broadcast once a fortnight (something they had never done before). While they were getting to grips with this new format and schedule, the company were also attempting to overhaul their main event picture as a number of their top stars had either left, or were about to leave, the company. Toward the end of 1992, Ultimate Warrior and Davey Boy Smith had been released for being found to be in receipt of shipments of Human Growth Hormone then, Ric Flair decided that after 18 months in the company, he was ready to return to WCW, so the wheels were set in motion to write ‘The Nature Boy’ out of WWE’s storyline (which would culminate the following night where he would face Mr Perfect in a loser-leaves-WWE match).