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Introduction
The 1997 Royal Rumble was WWF beginning to find it’s footing as it begins to prepare for the Attitude Era which began later that year. A heavily papered show, over 60,000 people attended the Alamodome to see Shawn Michaels regain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Psycho Sid. The Royal Rumble took a back seat.
However, unlike previous years, the Royal Rumble was considered to be very strong – with one particular stand out performer. This was “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s breakthrough performance, winning the match from the number 5 position, eliminating a third of the field along the way: a feat not seen since the days of Hulk Hogan.
However, his victory wasn’t without controversy, as Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart during the match. His elimination – not seen by referees – allowed him to re-enter the match. This saw him being forced to put up his Wrestlemania main event entry in a “Final Four” match, which saw The Undertaker win the match, and win the title against Psycho Sid in the main event of Wrestlemania 13. Austin – instead – completed his face turn in an all time classic against Bret Hart.
The match, due to it’s location, saw a crossover with AAA Lucha Libre, with 4 competitors from that Mexican promotion enter the match. The most famous was the legendary Mil Mascaras, who was difficult to work with, and only left the match by eliminating himself.
19th January, 1997
San Antonio, Texas
Alamodome
60,477
- No More Mr. Nice Guy!
50:28
Notable Records
| Record | Individual |
|---|---|
| Winner | Steve Austin |
| Iron Men | Steve Austin (45:04) |
| Least time in Match | Jerry Lawler (00:05) |
| Most Eliminations | Steve Austin (10) |
| Potential Winners (wrestlers in the ring after last entrant) | 10 (Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Fake Diesel, Vader, The Undertaker, Mankind, Terry Funk, Rocky Maivia, Henry O. Godwinn, Flash Funk) |
| Number of debutants | 17 (Ahmed Johnson, Fake Razor Ramon, Phineas I. Godwinn, Pierroth, Sultan, Mil Mascaras, Goldust, Cybernetico, Marc Mero, Latin Lover, Faarooq, Jesse James, Fake Diesel, Terry Funk, The Rock, Mankind, Flash Funk) |
| Last Rumble Appearances | 13 (Crush, Fake Razor Ramon, Bart Gunn, Jake Roberts, Pierroth, Sultan, Mil Mascaras, Cybernetico, Latin Lover, Bret Hart, Fake Diesel, Terry Funk, Flash Funk) |
| Average Time in match | 07:34 |
| Number of individuals with at least one elimination | 43.33% |
Did You Know?
- This is the first time in a traditionally long Royal Rumble (30 entrants with more than 1 minute between entrants) whereby the winner, the Iron Man & most eliminations were the same person.
- Once again, like last year, this match didn’t main event – instead Shawn Michaels won the WWE Championship against Pyscho Sid.
- This was the highest attended Royal Rumble in history.
- This is the first year since 1989 where the Royal Rumble winner did not compete for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania.
Watch Royal Rumble 1997
You can watch Royal Rumble 1997 on YouTube for free. Watch it below.
Results
| Number of Entrant | Wrestler Name | Time of Entry | Time of Elimination | Time in Match | Finishing Position | Eliminations | Eliminated By | Other Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crush | 00:00 | 06:12 | 06:12 | 28 | 0 | Phineas I. Godwinn | |
| 2 | Ahmed Johnson | 00:00 | 02:57 | 02:57 | 29 | 2 | Self | Ahmed Johnson saw Faarooq on the ramp and eliminated himself to chase him. |
| 3 | Fake Razor Ramon | 01:58 | 02:15 | 00:17 | 30 | 0 | Ahmed Johnson | Rick Bogner’s buzzer was broken and didn’t have any music as well. |
| 4 | Phineas I. Godwinn | 03:34 | 06:27 | 02:53 | 27 | 1 | Steve Austin | Phineas’ buzzer was broken, but did have music. |
| 5 | Steve Austin | 05:24 | 50:28 | 45:04 | 1 | 10 | Winner |
|
| 6 | Bart Gunn | 06:45 | 07:11 | 00:26 | 26 | 0 | Steve Austin | The buzzer was fixed for Bart Gunn’s entrance. |
| 7 | Jake Roberts | 08:22 | 09:32 | 01:10 | 25 | 0 | Steve Austin | |
| 8 | British Bulldog | 09:45 | 17:49 | 08:04 | 23 | 1 | Owen Hart | |
| 9 | Pierroth | 11:10 | 21:42 | 10:32 | 21 | 1 | Mil Mascaras | |
| 10 | Sultan | 12:56 | 16:19 | 03:23 | 24 | 0 | British Bulldog | |
| 11 | Mil Mascaras | 14:22 | 21:51 | 07:29 | 20 | 2 | Self | After eliminating Pierroth, Mascaras dived on him from the top rope, eliminating himself |
| 12 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley | 15:39 | 22:23 | 06:44 | 19 | 0 | Goldust | |
| 13 | Owen Hart | 17:17 | 25:47 | 08:30 | 15 | 2 | Steve Austin | Hart’s elmination took place off screen, so difficult to get the exact time. |
| 14 | Goldust | 18:41 | 24:15 | 05:34 | 18 | 1 | Owen Hart | |
| 15 | Cybernetico | 20:09 | 21:34 | 01:25 | 22 | 0 | Mil Mascaras, Pierroth | |
| 16 | Marc Mero | 21:52 | 25:47 | 03:55 | 14 | 0 | Steve Austin | Hart’s elmination took place off screen, so difficult to get the exact time. |
| 17 | Latin Lover | 23:13 | 25:00 | 01:47 | 17 | 0 | Faarooq | |
| 18 | Faarooq | 24:40 | 25:22 | 00:42 | 16 | 1 | Ahmed Johnson | Ahmed returned to eliminate Faarooq. |
| 19 | Savio Vega | 26:08 | 26:55 | 00:47 | 13 | 0 | Steve Austin | |
| 20 | "Double J" Jesse James | 27:43 | 28:12 | 00:29 | 12 | 0 | Steve Austin | |
| 21 | Bret Hart | 29:26 | 50:27 | 21:01 | 2 | 2 | Steve Austin | |
| 22 | Jerry Lawler | 31:00 | 31:05 | 00:05 | 11 | 0 | Bret Hart | Jerry Lawler was doing commentary at the time and return to the commentary position after being eliminated. |
| 23 | Fake Diesel | 32:33 | 50:23 | 17:50 | 3 | 0 | Bret Hart | |
| 24 | Terry Funk | 33:56 | 49:15 | 15:19 | 7 | 0 | Mankind | |
| 25 | Rocky Maivia | 35:25 | 48:27 | 13:02 | 8 | 0 | Mankind | |
| 26 | Mankind | 37:08 | 49:30 | 12:22 | 6 | 2 | The Undertaker | |
| 27 | Flash Funk | 38:31 | 44:43 | 06:12 | 10 | 0 | Vader | |
| 28 | Vader | 40:13 | 50:18 | 10:05 | 5 | 1 | Steve Austin | |
| 29 | Henry O. Godwinn | 41:36 | 47:48 | 06:12 | 9 | 0 | The Undertaker | |
| 30 | The Undertaker | 43:32 | 50:18 | 06:46 | 4 | 2 | Steve Austin |
Graphs
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
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