Royal Ramble: 1989

On this day, exactly three decades ago, the 1989 Royal Rumble took place on Pay-Per-View. And so, consider this a bonus of sorts as we touch on this event that shaped the Rumble into what we knew it as for a couple decades before it went to shit.



Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (with Frenchy Martin and Jimmy Hart). It wasn't the greatest match in the world, but I had some fun with this one. And seeing Dino Bravo get his ass kicked always makes my day.

WWF Women's Champion Rockin' Robin defeated Judy Martin to retain the title and earn herself a spot on Wrestlemania V singing America The Beautiful... okay, I added that last part in. The match was nothing special; I've sat through worse.

There's a posedown between Rick Rude and the Ultimate Warrior. I skip it.

King Haku defeated Harley Race to become King Of The Ring and drive Race out of the WWF. Race was on his last legs as an active wrestler and if this was his last hurrah, then it's a hell of a way to go out on. Gotta admit; seeing Haku without the wild hair he had in his later days in WCW is odd. Hell, any old Haku match with short hair is odd. But him and Race going at it was pure joy. Thank you, guys.

And so we have the Royal Rumble; the traditional 30-man format that starts with two wrestlers and a new one enters every ninety seconds or so. The match is won by Big John Studd. This was a pretty fun match; the battle between Demolition at the start was a curious mess and things picked up as time went on. By the end, the match seemed to have lost its energy, but for a while, it was pretty enjoyable fare.

As a show, this wasn't half bad. A good Rumble match, a couple fun matches, and a skippable Posedown. I ain't complaining. This was fun.