1991 Royal Rumble Thoughts

The Rockers vs. Orient Express

   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.

Big Bossman vs. The Barbarian

   There was a lot of continuity back in those days.  One of the longest running stories was that of the Big Bossman and his problem with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.  Since the Bossman turned babyface, Heenan did nothing but talk about the Bossman's mother on commentary.  It started with Ravishing Rick Rude but he left the company in 1990.  The story continued and now Heenan sent in the Barbarian to take care of the man from Cobb County, GA.  The Bossman prevailed and soon set his sights on another Heenan client Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect.

WWF Title - Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter

 During this time period, the United States was in the middle of the Gulf War against Iraq. Sgt. Slaughter became an Iraqi sympathizer at the time. He enlisted the services of General Adnan, who bore a strong resemblance to Saddam Hussein. Before this match began, on the behalf of "Macho King" Randy Savage, Sensational Sherri asked the Warrior for a Title match, which Warrior denied. Savage made an appearance during the Warrior's Title defense against Slaughter.  While the referee was distracted, Savage clocked Warrior in the head with his scepter. Slaughter capitalized and became the WWF Champion.  When the Warrior came to, he angrily ran to the back, surely to find Savage.  

The Mountie vs. Koko B. Ware

   Jacques Rougeau returned to the World Wrestling Federation a year after the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers lost at the previous Royal Rumble.  This time around, Jacques was known as the Mountie, as he was portraying a member of the Canadian Royal Mounted Police.  This was pretty much a squash, as he made quick work of the Birdman.  Along with manager Jimmy Hart, the Mountie started to make a name for himself, often using a cattle prod towards his opponents after matches. His underhanded tactics were shocking, indeed!

"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase/Virgil vs. "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes/Dustin Rhodes

   This match accomplished two things.  Dusty had been feuding with DiBiase since August of 1990 when the Million Dollar Man bought the services of Dusty's friend Sapphire.  It got really personal after that and soon enough, DiBiase started bringing Dusty's son into it.  Dustin was just a few years into his wrestling career and this was his first and only time wrestling for the WWF as himself, before he returned four years later as Goldust.  At the same time, DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil had been putting up with DiBiase for years.  After the match, Virgil finally had enough, and attacked the Million Dollar Man, effectively turning babyface.  The fans went crazy!  Although the feud was red hot, it was ruined due to the fact that no one knew just how terrible Virgil actually was in all aspects of wrestling.

Royal Rumble Match

   Once again, Bret Hart drew number one.  Bret was the perfect person to start because he had the stamina to go a long time in the Rumble.  This Rumble had some big stars including the Undertaker, Earthquake, both members of the Legion of Doom, and the returning Davey Boy Smith, using the British Bulldog moniker.  When Jake "The Snake" Roberts entered the ring, he went right after "The Model" Rick Martel, due to Martel temporarily blinding Roberts several months earlier.  The number 18 entrant was supposed to be Randy Savage but he never appeared.  It was assumed that the Ultimate Warrior must have caught up to him after his loss of the WWF Championship.  The moment of the match came when Bushwhacker Luke walked to the ring, like only a Bushwhacker could, only to be dumped out immediately by Earthquake, and simply continued his Bushwhacker march to the back as if nothing happened.

   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!

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!
https://tagmeadate.com/