Royal Rumble (1988)

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Royal Rumble
World Wrestling Federation
DateJanuary 24, 1988
CityHamilton, Ontario, Canada
VenueCopps Coliseum
Attendance18,000[1]
Royal Rumble chronology
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1989

The 1988 Royal Rumble was the inaugural

World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 24, 1988, at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event aired as a television special on the USA Network on the same night as Jim Crockett Promotions' Bunkhouse Stampede pay-per-view (PPV) and was centered on the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. It would be the only Royal Rumble event to broadcast as a television special, as beginning with the 1989 event, it began airing on pay-per-view. After the launch of the WWE Network
in 2014, this inaugural Royal Rumble was included with the rest of the Royal Rumble events in the PPV section.

Four matches were contested at the event. The event was highlighted by the first-ever televised Royal Rumble match, which was won by

disqualification
.

Production

Background

The inaugural Royal Rumble was held at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The idea for the

Pat Patterson.[2] The rules were that each wrestler had to draw a number between 1 and 20, ostensibly at random. The #1 and #2 entrants would begin the match while the other participants would join the match every two minutes thereafter.[3] Like a standard battle royal, participants had to eliminate their opponents by tossing them over the top rope with both feet touching the floor. The winner would be the last wrestler remaining after all others had been eliminated.[3]

The first experimental Royal Rumble match happened at a

WWF World Heavyweight Championship match against Hulk Hogan at the next St. Louis event scheduled for November 17, 1987; however, the ring announcer spoiled the Rumble result by announcing beforehand that One Man Gang would be Hogan's challenger at that following event.[4]

The WWF then had a television special scheduled to air on the USA Network on January 24, 1988, emanating from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Saturday Night Live's executive producer Dick Ebersol, who worked with McMahon on the Saturday Night's Main Event shows, was in charge of producing the special. Ebersol was unsatisfied with the event's planned card, and McMahon suggested Patterson to tell Ebersol about his Royal Rumble concept, which Ebersol thought was the "greatest thing for television". Patterson said that Ebersol saw the potential of the match, and Ebersol came up with the idea to add a countdown clock on the TV to build anticipation for the next entrant. Ebersol's endorsement was enough to convince McMahon to have the match as the centerpiece of the special, and the special was in turn titled after the match. The number of participants for the match was also increased to 20, but with no prize attached to the match.[4][5]

Storylines

The event comprised four matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

less 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 shows, Superstars, Wrestling Challenge, and Prime Time Wrestling.[6][7]

Fabulous Moolah's team. The Jumping Bomb Angels, part of Moolah's team pinned the champions to become the survivors for the match.[10] After pinning the champions, The Jumping Bomb Angels signed a contract for the Royal Rumble challenging The Glamour Girls for the titles.[11]

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentator Vince McMahon
Jesse Ventura
Interviewer Gene Okerlund
Craig DeGeorge
Ring Announcer Howard Finkel
President Jack Tunney
Referees Dave Hebner
Earl Hebner
Jim Korderas
Joey Marella

The first match was between Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat. At the conclusion of the match, Steamboat attempted a diving crossbody but Rude pulled referee Dave Hebner in front of him to avoid any contact unto himself. Rude placed Steamboat in a Canadian backbreaker rack but Hebner signaled for the bell. Rude reacted as if Hebner was awarding him the match via a submission, but in fact, Hebner instead awarded the bout to Steamboat via a disqualification.

Dino Bravo attempted to set a world record to bench press 715 pounds. He was successful, but with help from spotter Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

The second match was a

The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki). The challengers won the title after executing a double dropkick
on Martin in the third and deciding fall.

Bret Hart, the #1 entrant of the Royal Rumble match and the first wrestler ever to enter a Royal Rumble match.

The Main Event I. Tied into this was that Ted DiBiase had previously purchased André's contract from Bobby Heenan and promised André, should he defeat Hogan for the WWF Championship
and then "deliver it" to him, that he would reward André with a large sum of money. During the in-ring promo, after he signed the contract, at DiBiase's prompting to "give your stamp of approval", André grabbed Hogan, slammed his head into the table and then tipped the table on top of him before the heels left the ring.

Next was the match the event was based on – the Royal Rumble match. The first two wrestlers ever to enter a Royal Rumble match were

Sam Houston
entered at #8 and went after Hart Foundation. Tito Santana was then eliminated from the match.

Jim Duggan, who won the Royal Rumble match.

big splash in the corner and then the One Man Gang and Bravo began double-teaming on Muraco. Muraco managed to control both men until Frenchy Martin came out and distracted Muraco. Bravo and the One Man Gang was able to eliminate him. They went to do the same on Duggan. The One Man Gang attacked him but Duggan ducked and the One Man Gang accidentally eliminated Bravo. After a brawl with One Man Gang, Duggan eliminated him to become the first-ever Royal Rumble winner.[5][12][13][14]

A

The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers) closed the broadcast. The first fall concluded when Roma was tossed over the top rope by Tama – the ropes were low bridged by Haku – resulting in Roma injuring his knee. Roma was unable to return to the ring and got counted-out, giving the first fall to The Islanders. Powers worked much of the second fall, with Roma ailing on the ring apron, but eventually gave way to Roma after a taking a lengthy beating. Roma reluctantly tagged himself in but became an immediate victim to a Tama splash onto his injured knee. Haku then forced Roma to submit with a half crab to win the match in two straight falls.[5][12][14]

Aftermath

controversially defeated Hogan for the WWF title.[15][16] André sold the title to Ted DiBiase in exchange for a large sum of money but figurehead WWF President Jack Tunney vacated the title, making André the shortest reigning WWF Champion (at the time) with a reign of 45 seconds.[17] An undisputed champion was crowned in a 14-man tournament at WrestleMania IV, where Randy Savage defeated DiBiase in the final match to become the new titleholder.[18][19][20]

This Royal Rumble set a record for the highest viewed wrestling program on cable TV at the time with an 8.2 rating.[21][22]

Beginning with the

Kharma in 2012, and Nia Jax in 2019), a women's version was introduced at the 2018 event, and the event now features a men's and women's match. Beginning with the pay-per-view broadcast in 1989, the Royal Rumble became one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four".[25][3][26] From 1993 to 2002, these four were referred to as the "Big Five" along with King of the Ring, but that event was discontinued after its 2002 event.[27] In August 2021, Money in the Bank became recognized as one of the "Big Five".[28]

Results

No.Results
Two out of three falls match
14:00
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every two minutes.

Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time[1] Eliminations
1 Bret Hart 8 Don Muraco 25:42 1
2 Tito Santana 2 Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart 10:41 0
3 Butch Reed 1 Jake Roberts 03:18 0
4 Jim Neidhart 6 Hillbilly Jim 19:06 1
5 Jake Roberts 10 One Man Gang 21:52 2
6 Harley Race 4 Don Muraco 10:03 0
7 Jim Brunzell 5 Nikolai Volkoff 12:06 1
8 Sam Houston 7 Ron Bass 14:39 0
9 Danny Davis 13 Jim Duggan 17:51 0
10 Boris Zhukov 3 Jake Roberts & Jim Brunzell 02:33 0
11 Don Muraco 17 Dino Bravo & One Man Gang 16:10 3
12 Nikolai Volkoff 11 Jim Duggan 11:40 1
13 Jim Duggan - Winner 14:43 3
14 Ron Bass 16 Don Muraco 10:14 2
15 B. Brian Blair 9 One Man Gang 05:50 0
16 Hillbilly Jim 12 05:55 1
17 Dino Bravo 18 08:12 2
18 The Ultimate Warrior 14 Dino Bravo 03:51 0
19 One Man Gang 19 Jim Duggan 06:50 5
20 Junkyard Dog 15 Ron Bass 02:30 0

References

  1. ^ a b c "Royal Rumble 1988". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
  2. ^ "Pat Patterson's Bio". WWE. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Archived from the original on July 14, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  4. ^
    CBSSports
    . Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "Royal Rumble 1988 review". Complete WWE. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  6. Discovery Communications. Archived
    from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. ^ "WWF Women's Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  9. ^ "Glamour Girls Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  10. ^ "Survivor Series 1987 official results". WWE. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  11. ^ "WWF Show Results 1988". Angelfire. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c "Royal Rumble 1988 official results". WWE. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  13. ^ a b ""Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (spot No. 13) wins the 20-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  14. ^ a b c "Royal Rumble 1988". The Powerdriver Review. February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on July 14, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  15. ^ "André the Giant's first WWE Championship reign". WWE. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  16. ^ "The Main Event results – February 5, 1988". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  17. ^ "WWE World Heavyweight Championship". Complete WWE. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  18. ^ "Randy Savage's first WWE Championship reign". WWE. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  19. ^ "WrestleMania IV official results". WWE. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  20. ^ "Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase WWF Championship Tournament Finals". WWE. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  21. ^ "1988". TheHistoryofWWE.com.
  22. Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original
    on January 31, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  23. ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  24. ^ Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011). "The New WWE" (Press release). Connecticut: WWE. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  25. ^ Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
  26. ^ Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  27. ISBN 9781439193211
    . At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
  28. ^ News 3 Staff (August 22, 2021). "Las Vegas to host WWE's Money in the Bank in 2022". KSNV. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

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