| Royal Rumble | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuring various WWF wrestlers | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | January 15, 1989 | ||
| City | Houston, Texas | ||
| Venue | The Summit | ||
| Attendance | 19,000 | ||
| Tagline | No Partners...30 Opponents | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Royal Rumble chronology | |||
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The 1989Royal Rumble was the second annualRoyal Rumbleprofessional wrestlingevent produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). After theinaugural event aired as atelevision special, the 1989 event aired onpay-per-view (PPV), thus becoming one of the WWF's original four annual PPV events, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, which would become recognized as the "Big Four". It took place on January 15, 1989, atThe Summit inHouston, Texas. It centered on theRoyal Rumble match, a modifiedbattle royal in which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.
Six matches were contested at the event, including twodark matches. Themain event was the 1989 Royal Rumble match, which was won byBig John Studd, who last eliminatedTed DiBiase. Featured matches on theundercard wereJim Duggan andThe Hart Foundation (Bret Hart andJim Neidhart) defeatingDino Bravo andThe Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques andRaymond Rougeau) in a two-out-of-three falls match,Rockin' Robin defeatingJudy Martin to retain theWWF Women's Championship, andKing Haku defeatingHarley Race to retain hisKing of the Ring crown and cape.
In 1988, theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) debuted theRoyal Rumble match, although a non-televised version had been tested in 1987. The match was a modifiedbattle royal in which the participants entered at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The inaugural match featured 20 wrestlers, and theinaugural event was named after the match. A second event was scheduled to be held on January 15, 1989, atThe Summit inHouston, Texas, thus establishing theRoyal Rumble as an annual January event. The previous year's event had been shown as atelevision special on theUSA Network. The 1989 event was instead aired onpay-per-view (PPV), being the first Royal Rumble to be broadcast on PPV, in turn becoming one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, which would be dubbed the "Big Four".[1] It was also the first to feature 30 wrestlers in the titular match, which is now the traditional number of participants.[2][3]
The mainfeud heading into the Royal Rumble was between the 30 superstars from the entireWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) who were selected to participate in the first-ever 30 man Royal Rumble match.Big John Studd returned to WWF in late 1988, andturnedbabyface after not siding with formermanagerBobby Heenan, and began a feud with Heenan's clientAndré the Giant.[4] Both men signed to participate in the Royal Rumble match.Mr. Perfect, who joined WWF in the summer of 1988, waspushed as an undefeatedheel wrestler, entering his name into the match.[5]Bad News Brown waspushed as an arrogant powerfulheel who was an enemy of face andheel wrestlers. As a result, he also entered his name into the match.[6] Manytag team wrestlers also selected to participate in the match and selected their entry numbers.The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan andWWF ChampionRandy Savage) were involved in a feud with The Twin Towers (Akeem andThe Big Boss Man) since November 1988. AtSurvivor Series, Mega Powers became the survivors for their team in aSurvivor Series match against Twin Towers.[7] Since then, Mega Powers and Twin Towers had been at odds and both teams signed to participate in the Royal Rumble.
The second feud heading into the event featuredJim Duggan againstDino Bravo, andThe Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques andRaymond Rougeau). Since joining the WWF in early 1987, Duggan used anAmericanpatriotgimmick, coming to the ring with anAmerican flag, and feuding with non-American wrestlers in the WWF roster (such asNikolai Volkoff). In early 1989, Duggan began feuding with the French-Canadians, Bravo, and the Rougeau brothers, battling them with different partners. At alive event on January 6 inMontreal, Duggan teamed withHulk Hogan andRon Garvin to defeat Bravo and the Rougeaus.[8] He was scheduled to battle Bravo and Rougeaus in atwo out of three falls match at Royal Rumble, so he found partners inThe Hart Foundation (Bret Hart andJim Neidhart). Hart Foundation and Rougeau Brothers had been feuding with each other since 1987. Rougeaus unsuccessfully challenged Harts several times for theWWF Tag Team Championship in summer of 1987, but did not become champions.[9] They were in opposite teams against each other atSurvivor Series 1988, where Bret eliminated Rougeau in the first place.[10]
Before the event aired live onpay-per-view (PPV),Jim Powers defeatedBarry Horowitz, andSam Houston defeatedSteve Lombardi indark matches.[11]
The first televised match was atwo out of three falls match betweenJim Duggan andThe Hart Foundation (Bret Hart andJim Neidhart) vs.Dino Bravo andThe Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau andRaymond Rougeau). The powerful Neidhart and Bravo started the match. Duggan tagged in and Bravo ran to tag in Raymond. Duggan caught Raymond and connected with ascoop slam and anOld Glory. Duggan tagged in Bret Hart, who pinned Raymond with aninside cradle for anear-fall. He got Raymond with asunset flip pinfall and then he hit adiving crossbody for another near-fall. Jacques tagged in and got a near-fall with a sunset flip on Hart, but Hartclotheslined Jacques and took him to the corner. Jacques' partners did try to help, but Neidhart ground Bravo and Raymond by ashoulder block. Raymond pulled the rope down causing Hart to fall on the floor. Bravo hit aside suplex in the ring but didn't cover and instead tagged in Raymond who hit Hart with aBombe de Rougeau and pinned him to get the first fall. Rougeau brothers continued to beat Hart, who was caught in Jacques'Boston crab. Hart managed to reach his corner. Jacques tried to hit abulldog on Hart, but Hart countered it into aninverted atomic drop. Duggan tagged in and hit a scoop slam on Raymond, followed by aforearm smash by Neidhart. He hit Bravo with a shoulder block and Dugganslingshotted Hart on Raymond and hit anelbow drop on Raymond and pinned him, getting the second fall. Bravo tagged in and hit Duggan with anatomic drop, sending Duggan into the corner who tagged Hart. Hart followed it up with abackbreaker on Bravo, but Raymond shoved him from the ropes when Hart tried to hit an elbow drop. All the six men began brawling. Thereferee was distracted. Duggan took advantage and hit Bravo with his2x4. Hart pinned Bravo to get the third fall and the victory.[12][13][14]
The second match was for theWWF Women's Championship between defending championRockin' Robin andJudy Martin. Before the match began, former championSensational Sherri was in the ring and challenged the winner to a future championship match, claiming neither was as much woman as she was, before joiningGorilla Monsoon andJesse "The Body" Ventura at the announcers' table. Robin and Martin had a lot ofnear-falls during the match. However, in the end, Robin hit Martin with adiving crossbody and pinned her to win the match and retain the title.
Next was aposedown betweenWWF Intercontinental Heavyweight ChampionUltimate Warrior andRick Rude. The winner had to be decided by fan reaction. There were four categories: "Double Biceps", "Best Abs", "Most Muscular", and "Medley of Poses". Warrior won in every posedown. Rude, however, attacked Warrior with his metal workout bar. This posedown was so successful, and so well-received by the audience that it led to the launch of theWorld Bodybuilding Federation the following year.
The third match was betweenKing Haku andHarley Race. The winner of that match would win the "King of Wrestling" crown, held by Haku. Race began the match by hitting Haku withknee lifts andsuplexes. Hakuno-sold Raceheadbutts. Race hit Haku with apiledriver for a near-fall. Haku suplexed Race for a near-fall. He missed anelbow drop on Race and both men went to the floor. Hakubackdropped a piledriver attempt by Race. Race hit aswinging neckbreaker for another near-fall. Haku made a comeback by hitting Race withchops, but missed aflying splash. Race missed adiving headbutt. Both men got up and Race ran through the ropes, but Haku hit him with athrust kick to win the match. This match was edited off the Coliseum Video release but included in the Royal Rumble Anthology DVD edition,[12][13][14] as well as the version on theWWE Network.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Gorilla Monsoon |
| Jesse Ventura | |
| Sensational Sherri (Women's Championship match) | |
| Interviewer | Gene Okerlund |
| Sean Mooney | |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| Official | Chief Jay Strongbow |
| Referee | Earl Hebner |
| Joey Marella |
Themain event was the1989 Royal Rumble match. The first Royal Rumble occurred in1988, but it consisted of 20 men. The 1989 Royal Rumble was the second Royal Rumble, but the first to have 30 men and the first to air onpay-per-view.Demolition (Ax andSmash) drew Nos. 1 and 2 in the match. The two partners battled with each other until the #3 entrantAndré the Giant came in. They battled André untilMr. Perfect entered at #4. André eliminated Smash, while Perfect and Ax began working on him.Ron Garvin entered at #5 and he also assisted Perfect and Ax in triple-teaming André, who was the largest person in the match.Greg Valentine entered at #6, while André eliminated Garvin. Perfect, Ax and Valentine triple-teamed André untilJake Roberts entered at #7. This made Roberts the first man to participate in two Royal Rumble events. The other participants left André and Roberts worked on him alone. Andrechoked Roberts and threw him over the top rope.Ron Bass entered at #8. Ax and Bass battled each other while Perfect and Valentine restarted double-teaming André; André eventually got the upper hand and, after beating back Perfect, began choking Valentine until he was unconscious. One half ofThe Rockers,Shawn Michaels entered at #9. Perfect hit aback body drop on Ax over the top rope, eliminating him. He tried to eliminate Michaels too, but Michaels used askin the cat to come back into the ring and almost tossed Perfect.Butch Miller, one half ofThe Bushwhackers, entered at #10. Jake Roberts came back and tossed his snake Damien inside the ring. André saw the snake, freaked out, and eliminated himself from the match. Roberts took his snake and went back.The Honky Tonk Man entered at #11. Honky and Valentine both tried to eliminate Michaels but failed. One-half ofStrike Force,Tito Santana entered at #12 and beat out Perfect before focusing on Valentine. Bass and Perfectdouble suplexed Michaels.Bad News Brown entered at #13. Santana and Butch eliminated Honky while Brown messed around with Michaels until Michaels' tag team partnerMarty Jannetty entered at #14. They both got together anddouble dropkicked Ron Bass over the top rope. Santana hit Valentine with aflying forearm smash.
One-half ofThe Mega Powers,Randy Savage entered at #15 and went after Brown. Valentine hit Savage with aHammer Drop and tried to eliminate him, but Savage stayed in. Santana aided Savage in beating Valentine until one-half ofThe Brain Busters,Arn Anderson entered at #16. Savage backdropped Valentine over the top rope. Anderson and Savageclotheslined Michaels over the top rope, eliminating him. Jannetty pounded on Anderson. Anderson's tag team partnerTully Blanchard entered at #17. Jannetty and Blanchard beat each other. Perfect and Savage nicely exchanged each other's moves. Anderson aided Blanchard in hitting Jannetty with aspinning spinebuster. Blanchard dumped Jannetty over the top rope, but Jannetty grabbed the second rope to stay in the match, only to be eliminated by Blanchard anyway. Savage's tag team partnerHulk Hogan entered at #18 and dumped out Perfect. However, Perfect broke the longevity record, lasting 27:58. Anderson dumped Santana. Brown and Hogan had near-eliminations with each other. Butch's tag team partnerLuke Williams entered at #19. Hogan and Brown eliminated Butch, leaving six men in the ring. Hogan and Savage were double-teamed by the other four men: Brown, Anderson, Blanchard, and Luke.Koko B. Ware entered at #20 anddropkicked all four of them. Anderson climbed over the top rope, but Hoganscoop slammed him. Koko hunted Hogan but was dumped out over the ring, getting eliminated. Hoganpunched The Brainbusters away and then eliminated Luke. The Brainbusters went for adouble clothesline on Hogan, but he ducked and instead clotheslined them over the top rope.The Warlord, one-half ofThe Powers of Pain, entered at #21, but as soon as he entered the ring, he was eliminated by Hogan. Warlord set the record for the shortest time in the ring by spending only 2 seconds in the ring, a record that stood 20 years untilSantino Marella was eliminated in 1 second at the2009 Royal Rumble. Brown and Savage battled each other. Hogan dumped both men out. Savage berated Hogan, beginning the breakup of Mega Powers. The two tried to battle each other untilMiss Elizabeth told them to calm down. The duo embraced before Savage left.
One half of The Twin Towers, theBig Boss Man entered at #22. Hogan scoop slammed Big Boss Man but Boss Man hit him with acorner avalanche and apiledriver. Hogan tried to get rid of Boss Man until Boss Man's tag team partnerAkeem entered at #23. The duo double-teamed Hogan and eliminated him. Hogan's friendBrutus Beefcake entered at #24 and took on the Twin Towers. Despite being officially eliminated, Hogan remained at the ringside area and fought with Boss Man outside. After intervention from match officials, the Boss Man re-entered the ring and Twin Towers double-teamed Beefcake until Hogan pulled the rope down, sending the Boss Man over the top rope and eliminating him from the match. The duo continued to battle each other to the locker room. With this last elimination, Hogan broke the elimination record in a single Royal Rumble match with ten. Akeem tried to eliminate Beefcake untilThe Red Rooster entered at #25. Rooster and Beefcake double-teamed the big Akeem until the Warlord's tag team partnerThe Barbarian entered at #26 and broke up Rooster and Beefcake's double-teaming on Akeem. He battled with Beefcake while Rooster received a747 Splash by Akeem.Big John Studd entered at #27 and went after Akeem.Hercules entered at #28, followed by an already eliminated Tito Santana's tag team partnerRick Martel, who entered at #29. Everyone was punching each other before the final entrant,Ted DiBiase entered at #30. DiBiase bought the slot from manager Slick to get a better spot.[15] He eliminated Rooster and then went after his rival Hercules, whom DiBiase had bought as a slave. Beefcake saved DiBiase and battled Hercules. DiBiase sneaked out behind and eliminated both men from the ring, leaving it to the final five participants – Akeem, Barbarian, Studd, Martel, and DiBiase. Barbarian manhandled Martel, but Martel was able to avoid a clothesline by Barbarian. He dropkicked Barbarian over the top rope, leaving it to Akeem, Studd, Martel, and DiBiase. Martel hit adiving crossbody on Akeem, but the big man caught him and threw him over the top rope. Akeem, Studd, and DiBiase were the final three participants. DiBiase and Akeem spent some time in double-teaming Studd before they quarreled with each other. Studd took advantage and dumped Akeem. Studd and DiBiase remained the final two participants. Studd slammed DiBiase and followed it up with abutterfly suplex. After a clothesline, Studd threw DiBiase over the top rope to eliminate him and win the 1989 Royal Rumble. This made Studd the first man to win a 30-man Royal Rumble (the previous match had 20 entrants).[12][16][13][14]
The Royal Rumble became an important part of the breakup ofThe Mega Powers.Hulk Hogan accidentally eliminatedRandy Savage from the match.[16] On the February 3The Main Event II, Hogan and Savage faced The Twin Towers (Akeem andBig Boss Man) in atag team match, filled with controversy. During the climax of the match, Akeem threw Savage through the ropes onto the floor with Savage's body hitting Elizabeth in the process. Hogan did not help Savage and turned his attention to an unconscious Elizabeth. Savage questioned what was happening, but Hogan did not reply. Hogan picked Liz up and took her backstage. Hogan left Savage alone in the ring to handle the Twin Towers. When Hogan returned to the ring, Savage slapped him in the face, took the championship belt, and left Hogan alone in the ring with the Twin Towers. Hogan still managed to pick up the win, however, but afterward got into a heated argument with Savage backstage. Savage declared that Hogan was jealous of him, that he lusted after Elizabeth, and that he would defeat Hogan if it came to it for the belt. Hogan tried to talk sense into Savage, but was unsuccessful as the Macho Manturnedheel on his now former partner by attacking both him andBrutus Beefcake, who tried to intervene on Hogan's behalf.[17] Hogan and Savage then beganfeuding with each other, which culminated in a match atWrestleMania V dubbed "The Mega Powers Explode", where Savage, who had won theWWF World Heavyweight Championship over a year earlier atWrestleMania IV with Hogan in his corner, would defend against his former friend. Hogan defeated Savage to win the title; ending Savage's reign of371 days.[18][19]
Jake Roberts andAndré the Giant continued their feud during the rest of the winter of 1989, with the returningBig John Studd becoming involved in their WrestleMania V match as the guest referee.
TheUltimate Warrior vowed revenge againstRick Rude for his attack after the posedown, to which Rude replied that he wanted a match for theIntercontinental Championship, held by Warrior. Over the next couple of months, Rude would regularly appear at ringside midway through Warrior's matches with World champion Savage, luring the Warrior outside and causing him to be counted out (then afterward embracing Savage to emphasize the latter's heel turn.) At WrestleMania V, Rude won the Intercontinental title, using outside interference from manager Bobby Heenan to pin Warrior. Rude thus became the first champion in the Heenan Family.
TheRockin' Robin-Judy Martin match for theWWF Women's Championship was the last women's match for a championship title conducted at a major WWF pay-per-view event for nearly five years. Robin left the company in June 1989 and – with little to no interest in women's wrestling at the time – the title was deactivated in February 1990. The title remained vacant until 1993, whenAlundra Blayze won a tournament to become the new champion.
The Royal Rumble marked the WWF PPV debut of The Bushwhackers, who arrived in WWF in December 1988 after leaving WCW whilst in the finals of their United States Tag Team title tournament. The Bushwhackers would go on to feud with the Brain Busters throughout the early part of 1989 on the house show circuit. Another PPV debut was former NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin, who also arrived in December 1988 from a run in the AWA. After the Rumble, he and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine would feud where they exchanged televised pinfall victories onWWF Superstars of Wrestling, with Valentine winning a "retirement match" onSuperstars.
Steve Lombardi would be repackaged as "The Brooklyn Brawler" on an episode ofPrime Time Wrestling later in January 1989, where he attackedThe Red Rooster on the set of PTW at the urging of Bobby Heenan, which also "injured" host Gorilla Moonson and started a feud between the two.
| No. | Results[12][13][14] | Stipulations | Times[20] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Jim Powers defeatedBarry Horowitz[11] | Singles match | — | ||||
| 2D | Sam Houston defeatedSteve Lombardi[11] | Singles match | — | ||||
| 3 | Jim Duggan andThe Hart Foundation (Bret Hart andJim Neidhart) defeatedDino Bravo andThe Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques andRaymond) (withFrenchy Martin andJimmy Hart) | Two-out-of-three falls match | 15:42 | ||||
| 4 | Rockin' Robin (c) defeatedJudy Martin | Singles match for theWWF Women's Championship | 6:24 | ||||
| 5 | King Haku (withBobby Heenan) defeatedHarley Race | Singles match | 9:01 | ||||
| 6 | Big John Studd won by last eliminatingTed DiBiase[16] | 30-manRoyal Rumble match | 1:04:53 | ||||
| |||||||
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
| Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by | Time[21] | Eliminations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ax | 4 | Mr. Perfect | 14:37 | 0 |
| 2 | Smash | 1 | André the Giant | 04:55 | 0 |
| 3 | André the Giant | 5 | Himself^ | 14:55 | 3 |
| 4 | Mr. Perfect | 11 | Hulk Hogan | 27:58 | 1 |
| 5 | Ronnie Garvin | 2 | André the Giant | 02:39 | 0 |
| 6 | Greg Valentine | 8 | Randy Savage | 19:52 | 0 |
| 7 | Jake Roberts | 3 | André the Giant | 02:08 | 0 |
| 8 | Ron Bass | 7 | Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty | 12:36 | 0 |
| 9 | Shawn Michaels | 9 | Arn Anderson and Randy Savage | 14:30 | 1 |
| 10 | Bushwhacker Butch | 13 | Hulk Hogan and Bad News Brown | 18:13 | 1 |
| 11 | The Honky Tonk Man | 6 | Bushwhacker Butch and Tito Santana | 04:12 | 0 |
| 12 | Tito Santana | 12 | Arn Anderson and Randy Savage | 12:47 | 1 |
| 13 | Bad News Brown | 19 | Hulk Hogan | 16:24 | 1 |
| 14 | Marty Jannetty | 10 | Tully Blanchard | 07:52 | 1 |
| 15 | Randy Savage | 20 | Hulk Hogan | 12:26 | 3 |
| 16 | Arn Anderson | 16 | 10:00 | 2 | |
| 17 | Tully Blanchard | 17 | 08:02 | 1 | |
| 18 | Hulk Hogan | 21 | Akeem and Big Boss Man | 11:31 | 10 |
| 19 | Bushwhacker Luke | 15 | Hulk Hogan | 03:08 | 0 |
| 20 | Koko B. Ware | 14 | 01:08 | 0 | |
| 21 | The Warlord | 18 | 00:02 | 0 | |
| 22 | Big Boss Man | 22 | 04:18 | 1 | |
| 23 | Akeem | 28 | Big John Studd | 18:36 | 2 |
| 24 | Brutus Beefcake | 24 | Ted DiBiase and The Barbarian | 13:56 | 0 |
| 25 | The Red Rooster | 23 | Ted DiBiase | 11:17 | 0 |
| 26 | The Barbarian | 26 | Rick Martel | 11:15 | 2 |
| 27 | Big John Studd | - | Winner | 12:21 | 2 |
| 28 | Hercules | 25 | Ted DiBiase and The Barbarian | 06:11 | 0 |
| 29 | Rick Martel | 27 | Akeem | 05:29 | 1 |
| 30 | Ted DiBiase | 29 | Big John Studd | 06:27 | 3 |
^Jake Roberts had already been eliminated when he returned from the locker room with his bag. He then removed his pet, aboa constrictor called "Damien", from the bag and then slid into the ring to chase André The Giant away, who quickly eliminated himself over the top rope to escape Jake and his pet snake.