Royal Rumble (1988)

Development

Pat Patterson constructed the idea of the Royal Rumble match. The rules were that each Superstar had to choose a number between 1 and 20. The # 1 and # 2 entrants would begin the match while the other participants would join the match every two minutes thereafter. Participants had to eliminate their opponents by tossing them over the top rope with both feet then touching the floor. The winner would be the last wrestler remaining after all others had been eliminated. It was similar to a battle royal. It was originally a television special shown on USA Network.

Less known is that the first experimental Royal Rumble match happened on October 4, 1987 in St. Louis, Missouri. One Man Gang won the match, last eliminating Junkyard Dog. Possibly because the event was a financial failure (drawing only 1,976) or because noting that this event happened would complicate the WWE's version of history for the audience, this event is not acknowledged to have taken place. Hacksaw Jim Duggan won the royal rumble event in 1988, last eliminating One Man Gang.

Background

The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki) feuded with The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) over the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. Kai and Martin were awarded the titles in August 1985 in Egypt. On television it was noted they had defeated Velvet McIntyre and Desiree Peterson. This claim was fictitious, however, as the match never occurred. Kai and Martin feuded with many tag teams and held onto the titles for over two and a half years. In November 1987, they began calling themselves "The Glamour Girls". At Survivor Series 1987, The Glamour Girls were part of WWF Women's Champion Sensational Sherri's team in a Survivor Series Match against Fabulous Moolah's team. The Jumping Bomb Angels, part of Moolah's team pinned the champions to become the survivors for the match. After pinning the champions, The Jumping Bomb Angels signed a contract for the Royal Rumble challenging The Glamour Girls for the titles.

Event

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 made a world record attempt to bench press 715 pounds. He was successful, but with help from spotter Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

The second match was a women's tag team two out of three falls match for the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship, as the champions The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai) defended the titles against The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki). The challengers secured victory in the third and decisive fall after executing a double dropkick on Martin.

André the Giant and Hulk Hogan signed a contract for a WrestleMania III rematch that took place on the February 5, 1988 edition of The Main Event. 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 Bret Hart of The Hart Foundation and one half of WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force, Tito Santana. Hart hit Santana in the corner. Santana fired back but Hart hit him an inverted atomic drop, followed by a middle rope axe handle elbow drop. Butch Reed entered at #3 while Santana hit a flying forearm smash on Hart. Reed began nailing Santana until Santana dropkicked both Hart and Reed. However, the two men got the better of Santana. Reed tried to hit Santana who sidestepped, and Hart was accidentally nailed until Hart's tag team partner Jim Neidhart entered at #4. He helped Reed and his tag team partner Hart in eliminating Santana. Santana held on to ropes until Jake Roberts entered at #5, making the save for Santana. He tossed Reed out of the ring and eliminated him which would be the first elimination of first-ever Royal Rumble match and the first elimination in the history of the Royal Rumble ever. He began pounding on Hart Foundation. Santana and Roberts tried to hit a Double DDT on Hart, but Neidhart attacked both men, saving his partner. Hart hit a jumping piledriver on Santana while Harley Race entered at #6. Neidhart and Race tried to eliminate Roberts while Santana nearly tossed Hart. Jim Brunzell entered at #7 and almost eliminated Hart before Neidhart attacked Brunzell, saving Hart again. Sam Houston entered at #8 and went after Hart Foundation. They tossed Santana out of the ring to even the score 3-3.

Danny Davis entered at #9 and began attacking Houston. Race attacked Roberts through the ropes. Roberts tried to hit a DDT on Davis but Davis blocked it. Boris Zhukov entered at #10. Zhukov's The Bolsheviks tag team partner Nikolai Volkoff and Don Muraco were quarrelling over who was #11. The referees informed them that Muraco was #11 and Volkoff was #12. Zhukov was eliminated by Roberts and Brunzell. Brunzell dropkicked Hart but it had no great effect on Hart. Volkoff entered at #12 as Muraco clotheslined Race. Jim Duggan entered at #13 and received a nice reaction by the Canadian fans. All the wrestlers continued to beat each other until Ron Bass entered at #14. Volkoff prevented from Brunzell eliminating Davis. Brunzell pounded on Volkoff but was thrown out by Volkoff. B. Brian Blair entered at #15. Hillbilly Jim entered at #16 and eliminated Neidhart. Dino Bravo entered at #17. Bass had Houston on his shoulders and he threw Houston over the top rope, thus eliminating Houston in the process. The Ultimate Warrior entered at #18 as Muraco eliminated Bret Hart. Though, Hart did not win the match, he set the first Royal Rumble longevity record for being eliminated at 25:42. The One Man Gang entered at #19 and he eliminated Blair and then Roberts. The final participant entering at #20 was the Junkyard Dog. Duggan tossed Volkoff out of the ring while on the other side of the ring, the One Man Gang eliminated Hillbilly Jim and later The Ultimate Warrior. Bass surprisingly attacked the Junkyard Dog and eliminated him from behind while Muraco surprisingly clotheslined Bass over the top rope as the final four left - Muraco, Duggan, Bravo and OMG. the One Man Gang nailed Duggan with a 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 Duggan, he was eliminated by Duggan as Duggan won the first-ever Royal Rumble.

A two out of three falls match between The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers) would close 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.

Aftermath

Hulk Hogan and André the Giant battled in their WrestleMania III rematch for the WWF Championship on February 5, 1988 edition of The Main Event, where André controversially defeated Hogan for the WWF title. 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. An undisputed champion would be crowned in a 14-man tournament at WrestleMania IV, where Randy Savage defeated DiBiase in the final match to become the new titleholder.

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

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every two minutes.