The Royal Rumble is one of the’ Big three PPVs’ in the WWE, the others being Wrestlemania and Summerslam. Hence it is no wonder that the Creative has been in full swing planning and promoting the event.
There is no clear favourite to win the iconic Rumble match yet, with superstars like Goldberg, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman and Chris Jericho having already thrown their hats into the mix.
Multiple storylines intersect at the Rumble and the road to Wrestlemania becomes clearer in its aftermath. With the last weeks of January being the traditional date for the Royal Rumble over the years, it is no surprise that today’s edition of ‘This day...’ includes two Rumble matches held on January 22.
One of them had a dual winner and the other one saw a controversial finish – Also on this day, the late Andrew Martin aka Test won the European Championship on an episode of Raw.
#1 Royal Rumble ‘94 has two winners – January 22, 1994
The Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island hosted the 1994 edition of the Royal Rumble and the PPV had a packed card including the likes of Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Diesel, The Undertaker and the WWE Champion Yokozuna.
The Rumble match would headline the event and a lot of feuds would intercross during the match – Shawn Michaels would eliminate his former Rockers teammate Marty Jannetty, Crush would eliminate former friend Randy Savage, Diesel would eliminate seven superstars only to be multi-teamed out of the ring with associate Shawn Michaels refusing to come to his aid.
The match would come down to Bret Hart – who had wrestled the same night in a losing effort for the tag team titles and had been attacked by his partner Owen Hart after the match – and Lex Luger. Hart and Luger would eliminate each other, with the duo landing on the floor at the same time.
Luger and Hart would be declared co-winners and each would receive separate title shots against Yokozuna at the ensuing Wrestlemania. Luger would fall short, but Hart would prevail, capturing the WWE Championship.
#2 Shawn Michaels creates Rumble history – January 22, 1995
Shawn Michaels would enter #1 at the 1995 Royal Rumble whereas Davey Boy Smith would draw #2. The duo would outlast a field featuring Bret and Owen Hart, Lex Luger and Bob Backlund and become the final two remaining in the match.
Smith would throw Michaels out of the ring, but only one of HBK’s feet would hit the floor. Michaels would re-enter the ring and eliminate a celebrating Smith to the outside from the ring apron. Michaels would go on to face his former friend Diesel at the ensuing Wrestlemania.
Diesel would win their title match, but champion and challenger would unite in order to fend off Psycho Sid and capture the tag team titles soon after.
#3 Test wins the WWE European Championship – January 22, 2001
Andrew Martin aka Test remains another case of a talent not used to the maximum potential by the WWE. Debuting in 1998, Test would gain great exposure by becoming part of the Corporation and the Union stables.
He would enter into a program as Stephanie McMahon’s on-screen boyfriend before the formation of the McMahon-Helmsley regime.
He would capture the Hardcore title twice and then form the stable T&A with Albert and Trish Stratus. Standing 6’6” and weighing 285 pounds, Test was the ideal big man for the WWE and he would soon go into a singles program after the split of T&A.
He would eliminate the European Champion William Regal from the 2001 Royal Rumble and would beat him for the title on the January 22 episode of Raw in a dominating performance.
Test’s profile would continue to grow over the years, with the big man scoring victories over main eventers like Triple H, The Rock, Kane, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho and Kevin Nash, before leaving the company in 2004.
He would return to the company in 2006 joining the ECW brand and challenging for the ECW Championship before leaving again the next year.
He would be found dead due to a drug overdose in his Tampa apartment in 2009 by the police who were alerted by a concerned neighbour. The forensic pathologist determined that Test had an Alzheimer’s like brain damage similar to what Chris Benoit had before his suicide. He was just 33 at the time of his death.
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