WWE wasted it’s best Royal Rumble twist ever by ‘killing off’ top star with controversial stunt
Don’t remember the Royal Rumble with the epic ending, the ultimate betrayal and the ghost? There’s a story and a half. The 2025 instalment of the ‘Rumble’ is just weeks away, with Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis staging the next edition of the high-profile WWE event. Royal Rumb;le’s 1994 edition told plenty of stories, some more bizarre than othersWWE Even in 1994, the potential riches awaiting the winner of the Rumble match were evident – the chance to headline the landmark WrestleMania 10 at Madison Square Garden and face the WWE Champion of the day. As Rumbles go, the ’94 edition was packed. There was an Intercontinental title battle that saw Scott ‘Razor Ramon’ Hall defeat IRS but not before interference from Shawn Michaels, while there was the ultimate betrayal when Owen Hart finally snapped and turned on brother, Bret, at the climax of their tag team title challenge of the Quebeckers. Owen, the youngest Hart sibling, let out his aggression on his brother, thus beginning one of the most iconic feuds in WWE history – Bret v Owen – that hit a peak months later at Mania with one of the best matches of all time opening the show. The 94 Royal Rumble also had the most unique ending to any Rumble match in history, and one that was hugely unique to WWE’s very formulaic programming at the time. Undecided on who to push as the company’s top star – Hart or Lex Luger – WWE boss Vince McMahon decided to effectively go with both, having them tie as Rumble winners, and both taking a shot at the championship at WrestleMania. To do that took a piece of exquisite timing, Hart crediting Luger’s longer reach in helping them tumble over the top rope together and land with their feet on the floor at exactly the same time. Being out by so much as a few inches would’ve ruined months’ worth of plans, but the pair absolutely nailed it. Though WWE have attempted similarly blurred moments in future Rumble history, none have quite matched that ending to the 1994 match – so why is that not the main thing this superb show is remembered for? The answer lies with The Undertaker and the fact that The Deadman became, well, a dead man, after being flattened by the mammoth Yokozuna during their WWE title casket match. Beaten so badly by Yoko and nine other rogue wrestlers, poor Taker was, lifeless, stuffed into the casket and wheeled away, before appearing on the arena video screen – apparently from with the casket – vowing that he’d ‘not rest in peace.’ An ‘explosion’ followed, before The Undertaker’s body ascended from behind the screen and up into the rafters in a plume of smoke, as if to somehow resemble his ascension to a greater good. Vince McMahon’s ‘vision’ for writing off The Undertaker from WWE screens was dramatic to say the leastWWE The Undertaker took a comprehensive beating in the WWE title matchWWE Fans watched on as Undertaker faded away and things got really weirdWWE/Netflix A ‘local worker’ was rigged and hoisted to the ceiling as ‘The Undertaker’ vanished…WWE/Netflix Even by WWE standards, the idea of disposing of a performer live on television and effectively send him to heaven, was controversial, so McMahon, on commentary, simply hammed up how incredible the scene was. Many years later, company producer Prichard spilled the beans on the whole saga, claiming it was all McMahon’s ‘vision’. The ‘in casket’ shots had been filmed in a studio before the event, and that a performer local to the event’s Rhode Island location had been roped in to have the distinct honour of being hoisted up to the roof via cables. “It was a natural progression of things,” Prichard explained of the plot, which served to effectively write Undertaker out of WWE storylines while he took time off. “That wasn’t decided right then. We needed to figure out a way to get him off TV for a while, so: ‘You do a casket match, and he goes away,’ [but] then we realised The Undertaker wouldn’t just go away. “The best I can recall, it was a lot of back and forth of ‘what would happen if you buried The Undertaker?’ “We kind of settled on that. Vince had this vision of what he saw…” Whether it put chills down the spine of those who saw it decades ago is difficult to tell, but it’s safe to say the scene took away from the iconic Royal Rumble ending that had the unfortunate job of following it.
Don’t remember the Royal Rumble with the epic ending, the ultimate betrayal and the ghost? There’s a story and a half.
The 2025 instalment of the ‘Rumble’ is just weeks away, with Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis staging the next edition of the high-profile WWE event.
Even in 1994, the potential riches awaiting the winner of the Rumble match were evident – the chance to headline the landmark WrestleMania 10 at Madison Square Garden and face the WWE Champion of the day.
As Rumbles go, the ’94 edition was packed. There was an Intercontinental title battle that saw Scott ‘Razor Ramon’ Hall defeat IRS but not before interference from Shawn Michaels, while there was the ultimate betrayal when Owen Hart finally snapped and turned on brother, Bret, at the climax of their tag team title challenge of the Quebeckers.
Owen, the youngest Hart sibling, let out his aggression on his brother, thus beginning one of the most iconic feuds in WWE history – Bret v Owen – that hit a peak months later at Mania with one of the best matches of all time opening the show.
The 94 Royal Rumble also had the most unique ending to any Rumble match in history, and one that was hugely unique to WWE’s very formulaic programming at the time.
Undecided on who to push as the company’s top star – Hart or Lex Luger – WWE boss Vince McMahon decided to effectively go with both, having them tie as Rumble winners, and both taking a shot at the championship at WrestleMania.
To do that took a piece of exquisite timing, Hart crediting Luger’s longer reach in helping them tumble over the top rope together and land with their feet on the floor at exactly the same time. Being out by so much as a few inches would’ve ruined months’ worth of plans, but the pair absolutely nailed it.
Though WWE have attempted similarly blurred moments in future Rumble history, none have quite matched that ending to the 1994 match – so why is that not the main thing this superb show is remembered for?
The answer lies with The Undertaker and the fact that The Deadman became, well, a dead man, after being flattened by the mammoth Yokozuna during their WWE title casket match.
Beaten so badly by Yoko and nine other rogue wrestlers, poor Taker was, lifeless, stuffed into the casket and wheeled away, before appearing on the arena video screen – apparently from with the casket – vowing that he’d ‘not rest in peace.’
An ‘explosion’ followed, before The Undertaker’s body ascended from behind the screen and up into the rafters in a plume of smoke, as if to somehow resemble his ascension to a greater good.
Even by WWE standards, the idea of disposing of a performer live on television and effectively send him to heaven, was controversial, so McMahon, on commentary, simply hammed up how incredible the scene was.
Many years later, company producer Prichard spilled the beans on the whole saga, claiming it was all McMahon’s ‘vision’.
The ‘in casket’ shots had been filmed in a studio before the event, and that a performer local to the event’s Rhode Island location had been roped in to have the distinct honour of being hoisted up to the roof via cables.
“It was a natural progression of things,” Prichard explained of the plot, which served to effectively write Undertaker out of WWE storylines while he took time off.
“That wasn’t decided right then. We needed to figure out a way to get him off TV for a while, so: ‘You do a casket match, and he goes away,’ [but] then we realised The Undertaker wouldn’t just go away.
“The best I can recall, it was a lot of back and forth of ‘what would happen if you buried The Undertaker?’
“We kind of settled on that. Vince had this vision of what he saw…”
Whether it put chills down the spine of those who saw it decades ago is difficult to tell, but it’s safe to say the scene took away from the iconic Royal Rumble ending that had the unfortunate job of following it.
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