Royal Rumble 2014

Table Match:
Hayabusa defeated Rob Van Dam by putting him through a table in 0:18:25.
Rating: *** 3/4
(Hayabusa won the WWF Intercontinental Title.)
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Two-out-of-three-Falls Match:
Jushin Liger and Kensuke Sasaki drew Toshiaki Kawada and Masahiro Chono:
         x Sasaki beat Kawada via a Northern Lights bomb in 0:23:20
         x Kawada beat Liger via a tiger suplex in 0:40:06
         x time limit expired (Liger and Chono) in 0:45:00
Rating: ****
(Toshiaki Kawada and Masahiro Chono retained the WWF World Tag Team Titles.)
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Dan Severn made Rocky Maivia submit to the Cross Armbar Submission in 0:10:49.
Rating: **** 1/4
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Triangle Match:
Chris Benoit defeated The Undertaker and Ken Shamrock:
         x Shamrock beat Undertaker via the Ankle Lock Submission in 0:11:19
         x Chris Benoit beat Shamrock via a triangle choke in 0:23:41
Rating: *****
(Chris Benoit retained the WWF World Title.)
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No-Countout-No-DQ-20-Man Royal Rumble:
Steve Austin won a 20-man Royal Rumble:
         x S. Austin and Buh Buh Ray started out.
         x Brian Christopher entered at 0:02:00
         x Hollywood Hogan entered at 0:04:00
         x Shawn Michaels entered at 0:06:00
         x Ric Flair entered at 0:08:00
         x Sabu entered at 0:10:00
         x Buh Buh Ray threw out Sabu in 0:10:58
         x Cactus Jack entered at 0:12:00
         x Big Dick Dudley entered at 0:14:00
         x Diesel entered at 0:16:00
         x Dean Malenko entered at 0:18:00
         x Rick Steiner entered at 0:20:00
         x Big Dick Dudley threw out Buh Buh Ray after a chop in 0:21:46
         x Vader entered at 0:22:00
         x Diamond Dallas Page entered at 0:24:00
         x Michaels threw out B. Christopher after a piledriver in 0:24:01
         x Bret Hart entered at 0:26:00
         x Flair threw out B. Hart after a headlock takedown in 0:26:18
         x D. Malenko threw out Hogan in 0:26:23
         x Dave Finlay entered at 0:28:00
         x D-Von Dudley entered at 0:30:00
         x Vader threw out Diesel after an armbar submission in 0:30:35
         x Brian Pillman entered at 0:32:00
         x Arn Anderson entered at 0:34:00
         x Steve Williams entered at 0:36:00
         x D-Von Dudley threw out Michaels after an enzuigiri in 0:37:58
         x Vader threw out D-Von Dudley in 0:40:25
         x S. Austin threw out Anderson in 0:43:14
         x Flair threw out Pillman after a reverse neckbreaker in 0:51:54
         x Big Dick Dudley threw out Page in 0:58:16
         x Big Dick Dudley threw out Cactus Jack after the Total Penetration in
0:58:31
         x Big Dick Dudley threw out R. Steiner after a bodyslam in 0:59:00
         x S. Austin threw out Vader in 0:59:13
         x Big Dick Dudley threw out Finlay after a forearm smash in 1:02:23
         x D. Malenko threw out Big Dick Dudley in 1:02:50
         x Flair threw out S. Williams in 1:04:16
         x S. Austin threw out D. Malenko after a lariat in 1:04:57
         x S. Austin threw out Flair after an elbowsmash in 1:05:54
Rating: ** 3/4


Card rating: *** 3/4


Match observations: 

History has been made ! Rob Van Dam is no longer the WWF Intercontinental
Champion and he essentially beat himself. You read that correctly. Everything
was going perfectly for Van Dam when he got overconfident and tried to put
Hayabusa through a table with a highrisk move - the frog splash. Hayabusa, being
the experienced worker he is, saw it coming and rolled out of the way. Van Dam
crashed straight through the table and your new IC Champion is... HAYABUSA !

While the race was close, Toshiaki Kawada and Masahiro Chono managed to retain
the WWF World Tag Team Titles... by default. Neither team deserved to lose but
the fact of the matter is that Kawada was awfully close to being put away by
Lyger when the bell sounded.

Rocky Maivia suffered his first WWF loss tonight, and it was a loss he needed
to have... for his own good. When the Royal Rumble took place, Maivia's four-win
undefeated streak made him the number-one contender for the WWF World Title. 
If history has proven one thing then it's that too quick a rise to the top will
be more of a detriment than a help. So in a sense, Severn cut Maivia down to 
size and while he did that, he secretly helped Maivia become a star.

As a result of this match, Dan Severn will challenge WWF Champion Chris Benoit
in a match you can only win by submission at the next "In Your House", "Submit 
Or Surrender".

Severn's tag team partner, Ken Shamrock, once again proved he hasn't yet made
the full transition from the octagon to the pro wrestling ring. Once again he
got caught on his shoulders while trying to make his opponent submit. Chris
Benoit essentially pinned Shamrock while Shamrock tried to make him submit.

While Chris Benoit should look past Dan Severn in no way, shape or form, there's
a bigger threat on the horizon... Steve Austin by winning the Royal Rumble won
the right to challenge the WWF World Champion at WrestleMania. You didn't really
think that Austin would lay down and die, did you ? He wants the title. He wants
Benoit. He will get him... at WrestleMania.