Having grown up in the 80's and 90's, I enjoy old school wrestling. That is why some of the earlier Royal Rumbles are my favorites. In 1989, the Royal Rumble was now on PPV and it was the first time it felt like a real Rumble. It was treated as a big deal, as some fantastic storytelling came from this event. Almost all the big names were in this one. Also, there were several other matches besides the Rumble match.
What I also liked is something that I feel should return, backstage interviews or promos by the wrestlers about the Rumble match. This particular event featured that aspect. We were shown short 20-second promos by most of the competitors, such as Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Honky Tonk Man, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. There was a backstage interview featuring the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and later during the event, he was seen speaking with Slick, who was the manager for Akeem and the Big Bossman, the Twin Towers. You knew something fishy was going on, especially since earlier, DiBiase was clearly not happy about his number. Later on, Mean Gene Okerland caught up with Slick about his interaction with DiBiase but the Dr. of Style denied Okerland's accusation. This year started off the 30-man tradition. After the first two men entered, every two minutes another competitor would enter.
Hart Foundation & Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers and Dino Bravo
As much star power as there was in the Rumble match itself, there were several other matches and events featuring other wrestlers not in the Rumble. One such match was this contest. The Hart Foundation had been feuding with the Rougeaus since the Summer of 1988 when the Foundation's former manager Jimmy Hart turned to the Rougeaus. I also liked the six-man tag team match aspect, as putting Dino Bravo with the Rougeaus was smart, given their French-Canadian ties. Duggan and Bravo was an on-and-off program that lasted the better part of two years. This match was also two out of three falls. It was tied at 1-1 when the referee was distracted. During the confusion, Duggan used his trusty 2x4 and nailed Bravo, setting his team up for victory.
Women's Championship - Rockin' Robin vs. Judy Martin
This was the last time the Women's Title was defended at a major PPV until Alundra Blayze's run in 1993. Before the match began, former Champion Sensational Sherri was in the ring and challenged the winner to a future Title match before she sat in on commentary. Sherri would go on to do some of her best work as a character later on being a manager for the next four years. Rockin' Robin was 25 at the time. She was young and light on her feet, whereas Martin was the veteran. Martin was going for redemption from her loss of the Women's Tag Team Titles the previous year. Robin was also the half-sister of Jake Roberts, but not something I knew at nine years old. In the end, Rockin' Robin won the match with an impressive diving crossbody.
Super Posedown - Ultimate Warrior vs. Ravishing Rick Rude
This was not an actual match, but the start of a nearly two-year feud between the two. Rude challenged Warrior to a posedown and it was to be hosted by Jesse "The Body" Ventura. The concept was each man doing various poses for the crowd with the crowd picking the winner. Rude was sure that he had the better body, which is why he made the challenge. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan was hilarious as he helped Rude with baby oil. Because it was clear that the crowd was choosing the Warrior regardless, Heenan squirted the oil in the Warrior's eyes, leading Rude to nail him with his metal workout bar and attack the Intercontinental Champion. This led to a series of events and matches featuring the two, where they traded the Intercontinental Title and even fought for the WWF Title.
Haku vs. Harley Race
This match was odd in that it featured two heels against each other, they were both managed by Bobby Heenan, and they both referred to themselves as the King of the WWF. This was to decide the King once and for all. Again, Heenan was hysterical as you could see he was trying to be in the corner of both men throughout the match. In the end, he was going to stick with whoever won and kick the other one to the curb. Race was aging and past his prime at this point and Haku was just months into his singles push. Haku won the match and was the official King until losing the crown to Hacksaw Jim Duggan during the year. Race went back to the NWA to finish his career and became a manager.
Royal Rumble Match
This was probably my second favorite Rumble match of all time. This match had everything you needed. #1 and #2 respectively were both members of Demolition, Ax and Smash. No one thought they would ever see this, especially as they were the Tag Team Champions at the time and bad blood could possibly split up the team. Demoltion were known for their brutality and when the bell rang, they had no qualms about beating the crap out of each other. Power for power, these men tore each other apart and the fans were loving it. This only lasted until the third person arrived and that man was Andre the Giant. From then on, Demolition worked as a team. Poor Andre was in for a beating. As big as he was, even Andre couldn't handle both members of Demolition.
Throughout the match, we saw other larger than life performers such as Mr. Perfect, Tito Santana, the Bushwhackers, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and a returning Big John Studd, who was now a fan favorite after deciding not to go back to the Heenan Family. When Jake Roberts entered the match, he went straight for Andre due to their feud at the time. Andre eliminated Jake but that wasn't the last we saw of him. Moments later, Jake got the last laugh, as he brought his snake Damien into the ring. Andre, who was petrified of snakes, voluntarily eliminated himself and moved faster than he ever had to get away from the snake.
The Rumble continued on, as we got to see others like Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Bad News Brown, Arn Anderson, and Tulley Blanchard. Business picked up when Hulk Hogan arrived at #18. He immediately went to town on everyone and the others were in trouble when Hogan got together with Mega Powers partner the Macho Man. The Warlord made history when he came to the ring, and was eliminated by a Hulk Hogan clothesline in 2 seconds, and held the record of fastest elimination for 20 years, until that was broken by Santino Marella.
While Savage and Brown were going at it, Hogan eliminated both men. Despite this match being every man for himself, Savage was irate at Hogan and it took Miss Elizabeth to make sure they wouldn't come to blows. They made up but this was the beginning of the Mega Powers break up, which came to a head months later at WrestleMania. Things got even worse for Hogan when the Big Bossman and Akeem entered at #22 and #23. Conspicuous by his absence was the Million Dollar Man, and now everyone knew what was going on. Hogan faced a double team from the Twin Towers until Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake arrived to even the odds. Meanwhile, the rest of the competitors came in such as Ronnie Garvin, Ron Bass, the Rockers, Koko B. Ware, Red Rooster, Rick Martel, the Barbarian and Hercules.
The writing was on the wall as the buzzer rang for #30 and it was of course Ted DiBiase. The Million Dollar Man was right in saying every man has his price, because it was clear as day that he purchased the best number in the Rumble. The last three men left were Akeem, Big John Studd, and Ted DiBiase. Akeem and DiBiase teamed up briefly to try and eliminate Studd. Studd eliminated Akeem and set his sights on the Million Dollar Man, himself. Studd sent fans home happy as he eliminated DiBiase to win the 1989 Royal Rumble. DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil then entered the ring to attack Studd, only to get manhandled and tossed out of the ring like a rag doll. This was the last hurrah for Studd, as he retired shortly thereafter and refereed the Andre/Jake match at WrestleMania. Although some feel a big name like Hogan, Andre, or DiBiase should have won, this was the early years, as the WrestleMania Title shot stipulation was still a few years away. It also helped set up some great WrestleMania matches. At the end of the day, it was nice to see Studd have one last moment of glory.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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This was a great way to start off the show! The Rockers were what Gorilla Monsoon described as Tag Team specialists. Together, they were simply incredible. It's really a shame they never won the WWF Tag Team Championships together. A year later, they would be broken up and Shawn Michaels went on to a glorious career. This match was better than their previous encounter at WrestleMania VI. This time around, the Orient Express were Pat Tanaka and Kato. Under the mask of Kato was Paul Diamond. Together, he and Tanaka were known as Bad Company in the AWA and had several wars with the Rockers. The Rockers got the win here in a great match.
Things got tense when good friends Hulk Hogan and Tugboat went at it. It foreshadowed a heel turn for the big man, which happened by the Summer. Rick Martel lasted 50 minutes in this match and was the new record holder for staying the longest in a Rumble match. It came down to Hogan and Earthquake, which was the red hot feud of 1990. It was a great end to the feud as Hogan took Earthquake out of the ring with a clothesline and won his second Royal Rumble. Once he started waving the American flag in victory, everyone knew he would soon set his sights on Sgt. Slaughter. Man, that was a lot of alliteration! Overall, I enjoyed the Rumble match, but not as much as the previous two years. This Rumble included mainstays like Tito Santana, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, as well as great new WWF talent like the Texas Tornado. This show was mainly used to set up several matches for WrestleMania, which generally tends to happen at the Royal Rumble. After all, that's what great story telling is about!
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