Royal Rumble
Promotional poster featuringShawn Michaels
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 19, 1997
City	San Antonio, Texas
Venue	Alamodome
Attendance	60,477[1]
Buy rate	196,000[2]
Tagline	No More Mr. Nice Guy!
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous In Your House 12: It's Time Next → In Your House 13: Final Four
Royal Rumble chronology
← Previous 1996 Next → 1998

The 1997Royal Rumble was the 10th annualRoyal Rumbleprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 19, 1997, from theAlamodome inSan Antonio, Texas. As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania. For the 1997 event, the winner received a match for theWWF Championship atWrestleMania 13.Themain event sawShawn Michaels defeatSycho Sid to win the WWF Championship. The main match on theundercard was the 1997 Royal Rumble match, whichStone Cold Steve Austin won after last eliminatingBret Hart. Additionally,Vader defeatedThe Undertaker, andHunter Hearst Helmsley defeatedGoldust to retain theWWF Intercontinental Championship.

The attendance of 60,477 was the highest recorded live crowd in the Royal Rumble's history until the2025 edition of the event. In addition to hometown hero Shawn Michaels going for the WWF championship, the WWF was working with theMexico basedLucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) promotion, and had several wrestlers from that company participate in the Royal Rumble match, as well as in a number of undercard matches.

TheRoyal Rumble is an annualgimmickpay-per-view (PPV) produced every January by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four",^[3] and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along withKing of the Ring.^[4] It is named after theRoyal Rumble match, a modifiedbattle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns aworld championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 1997, the winner earned a match for theWWF Championship atWrestleMania 13. The 1997 event was the 10th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 19, 1997, from theAlamodome inSan Antonio, Texas.^[5][6]

The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayedheroes,villains, orless distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television show,Raw.^[7][8]

The feud betweenGoldust andHunter Hearst Helmsley centered around Goldust'smanager,Marlena. During the free broadcast prior toIn Your House 12, Helmsley attempted toseduce Marlena.^[9] Goldust responded by attacking Helmsley during matches in the following weeks.^[9][10] The feud escalated on the December 30, 1996, episode ofRaw during a match between Goldust andJerry Lawler. Helmsley came to the ring and tried to carry Marlena away.^[9]Marc Mero, who haddropped theWWF Intercontinental Championship to Helmsley, blocked Helmsley's path, but the distraction was enough to cause Goldust to becounted out.^[9]

On July 22, 1996,Faarooq Asad made his WWF debut by attackingAhmed Johnson, theIntercontinental champion.^[11] He claimed that he attacked Johnson because Johnson was not "from the streets", as Faarooq claimed to be.^[12] Soon after the attack, Johnson was diagnosed with alegitimate kidney problem, so the WWF claimed that Faarooq's attack had hospitalized Johnson.^[10][13] Johnson was unable to compete for several months and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship.^[14] When Johnson returned to the WWF, he interfered in several matches involving Faarooq'sstable, theNation of Domination.^[10] He attacked them with atwo-by-four, which led to an angle in which Johnson was suspended for the attacks.^[10] By December, Johnson's injury had recovered sufficiently to allow him to resume wrestling,^[10] and a match was scheduled for the next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble.

Vader andThe Undertaker did not have a substantial buildup to their match at Royal Rumble 1997. Vader had joined other heel wrestlers to attack The Undertaker on several occasions, but there was no major storyline behind their match.^[9] The Undertaker had been involved in a feud withPaul Bearer that dated back toSummerSlam 1996, when Bearer had turned on The Undertaker.^[15] On the January 5, 1997 episode ofWWF Superstars, The Undertaker attacked Vader's manager,Jim Cornette,^[9] leaving Vader without a manager at the Royal Rumble.^[16]

Thefeud betweenSid andShawn Michaels dated back to 1995, when Michaels had hired Sid as abodyguard. Sid interfered during the Michaels vs.Diesel main event atWrestleMania XI by distracting thereferee, but the plan backfired when the referee was unable to count thepinfall after Michaelssuperkicked Diesel.^[17] On the following night's episode ofMonday Night Raw, Michaels told Sid that he would not be needed in the case of a Michaels vs. Diesel rematch.^[18] Sid responded byturning on Michaels andpowerbombing him three times.^[18] This attack led to a feud between Sid and Diesel, but Sid and Michaels were reunited as partners in anelimination match atSurvivor Series 1995. During the match, Michaels accidentally kicked Sid in the face, which led to Sid being eliminated.^[19] Sid retaliated by powerbombing Michaels again.^[19] Once again, the feud was not developed, as Sid left the WWF.^[10][20] Sid returned to the WWF on the July 8, 1996 episode ofMonday Night Raw when Michaels introduced him as a partner in a six-man match atIn Your House 9.^[10] Sid helped Michaels several times in the coming months by saving him from attacks by other wrestlers.^[10] AtIn Your House 11, Sid defeatedVader to win aWWF Championship match against Michaels atSurvivor Series 1996.^[21] During the match at Survivor Series, Sid attackedJose Lothario, Michaels'manager, with atelevision camera.^[22] While Michaels was distracted, Sid hit him with the camera and powerbombed him to win the title.^[22] A rematch was later booked for Royal Rumble 1997.

A secondFree for All Match withOwen Hart and The British Bulldog defending theWWF Tag Team Championship's againstPierroth andCibernético andFurnas and Lafon was planned, but the match didn't happen. Nevertheless,Pierroth andCibernético were moved into the Royal Rumble Match

The event opened with theIntercontinental Championship match betweenGoldust and the champion,Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Before the match began, Goldust attacked Helmsley up the aisle, but they then returned to the ring where they continued to brawl back and forth. Later into the match, Helmsley would attempt to hit Goldust with the Intercontinental Championship belt, however, Goldust countered and grabbed the belt and hit Helmsley with it, and as Goldust attempted to pin Helmsley,Mr. Hughes, who was at ringside as abodyguard for Helmsley, pulled Helmsley out of the ring. Hughes then continued his distraction on Goldust, which led to Helmsley delivering aPedigree and pinning Goldust for the win, thus Helmsley retained the Intercontinental Championship.^[23][24]

In the next match,Faarooq facedAhmed Johnson. Johnson won the match bydisqualification after members of theNation of Domination, who were at ringside, interfered on Faarooq's behalf.^[23][24]

The third match was the encounter ofThe Undertaker andVader. Undertaker gained control early into the match; however, Vader gained control afterPaul Bearer, who was at ringside in Vader's corner, hit Undertaker with anurn. The Undertaker did not retaliate, as Vader hit aVaderbomb on him, which gained a successful pinfall for the win.^[23][24]

The next match was asix-man tag team match featuring wrestlers from the AAA organization between the team ofHéctor Garza,Perro Aguayo, andEl Canek against the team ofJerry Estrada,Heavy Metal, andFuerza Guerrera. A slow-paced match ensured between the two teams, as they exchanged control of the match back and forth. Late into the match, the two teams brawled outside of the ring, as Aguayo hit Metal with adiving double foot stomp off the top rope, which gained a successful pinfall, thus Garza, Aguayo and Canek won the match.^[23][24]

TheRoyal Rumble match began with Ahmed Johnson andCrush, where the rivalry with Johnson and Faarooq continued, as Johnson eliminated himself after Faarooq came down the aisle to chase him.Stone Cold Steve Austin was the fifth entrant and recorded three quick eliminations, taking outPhineas I. Godwinn,Bart Gunn, andJake Roberts.

Numerous wrestlers from AAA were invited to be entrants in the match.Mil Mascaras eliminatedCibernetico andPierroth and then eliminated himself by diving onto them at ringside; years laterBruce Prichard stated that this spot had been devised because WWE creative anticipated that Mascaras would refuse to allow himself to be eliminated by anyone else; the Mexican star had long been notorious for refusing to allow other wrestlers to defeat him.^[25]

Austin continued in the match and recorded four more eliminations, the last of which wasThe Real Double J near the 25-minute mark. The next wrestler to enter the match was his rivalBret Hart, and the two began exchanging blows. Neither man could eliminate the other, so the match continued. The last man to enter the match wasThe Undertaker, at number thirty.

Austin, who had been in the match for nearly forty-five minutes by this point, was joined by Hart, Undertaker,Vader, andDiesel as the last five men in the match. While the men in the ring were fighting to determine a winner, a brawl had broken out on the floor betweenMankind andTerry Funk. RefereeJim Korderas, who was standing at ringside to watch for eliminations, was unable to break the fight up andMike Chioda, who was also assigned to the match, left his position to assist his fellow referee. Hart then tossed Austin over the top rope near where Chioda had been stationed. However, since he and Korderas were otherwise occupied, Austin realized that nobody had seen Hart eliminate him; he returned to the ring and pushed Vader and Undertaker over the top, then threw Hart out as he finished eliminating Diesel; Austin was declared the winner of the match.^[23][24] With ten eliminations, Austin tiedHulk Hogan for the most eliminations in singleRoyal Rumble match. The record stood until2001, whenKane eliminated eleven competitors.

The main event was aWWF Championship match betweenShawn Michaels andSycho Sid. Sid dominated most of the match and worked over on Michaels's back early into the match, however Michaels retaliated by hitting a flying elbow drop on Sid. Michaels then attempted to deliverSweet Chin Music to Sid, however, he countered by tossing Michaels over the top rope onto ringside. As Sid threw Michaels back into the ring, Michaels accidentally hitrefereeEarl Hebner. Sid then delivered aChokeslam and attempted to pin him, however, as the first referee was down, a second referee came out to count the pin, which got a two count. Sid then attacked the second referee, which allowed Michaels to hit Sid with a camera and delivered Sweet Chin Music, as the original referee slowly counted the successful pinfall, thus Michaels won the WWF Championship.^[23][24]

On the episode ofMonday Night Raw that followed the pay-per-view, an angry Hart demanded that he be declared the winner of the Royal Rumble due to Austin's methods in winning the match, threatening to quit the company altogether if he was not. Although WWF CommissionerGorilla Monsoon did not reverse the decision, he also refused to grant Austin the championship opportunity at WrestleMania due to his actions and announced a match atthe next In Your House event where Austinand the three men (Undertaker, Vader, Hart) he eliminated after returning to the match would compete in aFour Corners match with the winner receiving the championship opportunity at WrestleMania.^[26]

However, three days before the event on a special Thursday edition ofRaw, Michaels declared that he would be vacating the WWF Championship he was scheduled to defend that night against Sid due to a severe knee injury and that he had "lost his smile" and needed to find it again.^[27] Furthermore, the Four Corners match at In Your House would now be contested for the vacant championship and the winner would face Sid the next night onRaw. Hart won the WWF Championship at the pay-per-view, but interference from Austin resulted in him losing the title to Sid onRaw.^[28] On the March 17 edition ofRaw, Hart and Sid faced off in a Steel Cage match for the WWF Title. Sid won after interference by both Stone Cold and Undertaker.^[9][29] AtWrestleMania 13, Undertaker defeated Sid for the WWF Title, while Hart and Austin battled each other in a Submission match withKen Shamrock as the special referee.^[30]

A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds. Early in the Rumble match, Vince McMahon stated on commentary that they had problems with the clock.

  – Indicates a wrestler fromLucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA), who was in a partnership with the WWF at the time.

  –Winner

^ Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart, but snuck back in the ring whileofficials were distracted by a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind on the other side of the ring.

^ Faarooq was eliminated when Ahmed Johnson (who had eliminated himself from the Rumble earlier on) came back into the ring with a2×4 and went after Faarooq, causing him to go over the top rope.

In this match,Stone Cold Steve Austin tied the record for the most eliminations in a single royal rumble with 10. The previous record holder wasHulk Hogan, who eliminated 10 participants from theRoyal Rumble 1989

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