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).

WWE Monday Night Raw Episode 2 (18/01/1993)

While the general ‘feel’ and pace of the debut episode of Monday Night Raw was certainly a welcome change to that which had come before, it is fair to say that WWE encountered a number of teething problems with it also. There was a lack of quality running throughout- both in terms of significant happenings and from an in-ring perspective. 3 squashes, a 2^nd rate Intercontinental Title defence and a new feud between one of the company’s biggest heel managers and its most recent addition (and easily most irritating member) to the commentary team was not the most auspicious way to launch a new wrestling TV program- even in 1993. It was imperative therefore, that the 2^nd instalment of this new concept, retained the parts of the show that were good and built upon it by improving on some of the areas where there was cause for concern. While it is fair to say that the episode that aired on 18^th January 1993 was still not a great show (or one that suggested WWE was on course to usher in a brave new era), some of the problems had been addressed which makes this an improvement on the previous week.

WWE Royal Rumble 1989

Back in the late 1980s, WWE was engaging in an aggressive war on Jim Crockett Promotions, having already put a number of the regional territories out of business in the preceding years. JCP was the one promotion still standing and had done quite a lot of expansion itself in an attempt to keep up with WWE. In November 1987, as part of that expansion, JCP ran Starrcade, their main show of the year, as a pay-per-view, hoping that the revenue generated by the event would help them survive the continued onslaught from McMahon’s company. In a bid to undercut JCP, McMahon dreamed up Survivor Series, scheduled it on the same day as Starrcade and told pay-per-view providers that they could only run one of the two events. As a proven pay-per-view buy getter, the majority of the providers dropped Starrcade and aired Survivor Series instead. Crockett attempted to once again take advantage of the growing pay-per-view market just a couple of months later, presenting The Bunkhouse Stampede event, again WWE decided to eat into the show’s potential buy rate by airing a free television special on the USA Network entitled The Royal Rumble on the same night. With wrestling fans being forced to chose between a free wrestling event on a widely available cable channel and a pay event, Bunkhouse Stampede was another commercial failure for Jim Crockett Promotions.