10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1994
9. The New Generation Takes Shape In The Royal Rumble
Months before the New Generation became the branding method of choice for a WWE undergoing historic changes in just about every department, the Royal Rumble match revealed a sign of things to come.
Not only did it feature Bret Hart as the overwhelming favourite of a live crowd forced to pick between 'The Hitman' and co-winner (and transparent Hulk Hogan like-for-like replacement) Lex Luger, but it also featured over half of the entrants competing in their first ever Rumble match. And digging into the data finds that for most, it was their first opportunity too.
Kwang, The Smoking Gunns, Diesel, Jeff Jarrett, Men On A Mission, Thurman "Sparky Plugg", Lex Luger and Adam Bomb had all been in the company for a year or less, it wasn't much longer for The Steiner Brothers, The Headshrinkers, Doink and Bam Bigelow. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were in the battle royal as singles wrestlers for the first time, and former WWE Champion Bob Backlund - a record-setter one year earlier - made it just 41 seconds before being eliminated by breakout star 'Big Daddy Cool'.
And as many potential new talents took their bow, one longstanding star prepared to take a break. But...