Best Royal Rumble of all time?

[iamthedoctor]

 

Best ever Royal Rumble Match has to be 1990.

I like the continuity angle from 89 where DiBiase had bought the #30 ticket last time but drew #1 this time, and then that feeds right through the match where he goes iron man, suggestions he paid off Savage -- the 3-way with him and Jake is one of the great Rumble moments in my view. And it pays off with the massive pop and the Warrior elimination, which then pays off itself with the Hogan showdown.

 

I like the sort of one-night angles they'd do on PPVs at that time.

 

 

The submission match doesnt get enough love like it should. Valentine/Garvin was a pretty decent match.

[Parties]

Watched the '88 show for the first time. Steamboat-Rude is surprisingly mediocre. Steamboat is asleep while working formulaic “athlete” spots, Rude looks like he's waiting for someone to tell him what to do, and the restholds go too long. Then comes a Dino Bravo benchpress segment as bad as anything on RAW in recent weeks.

 

Angels-Glamour Girls was on my top 50 WWE matches for Smarkschoice six years ago and might still be there now. Angels make me wish there was a tag team as fun as they were here. For the same reason WWE could use a Ronda Rousey, they could use Bomb Angels. And while Judy Martin's the one getting all the love of late from Naylor and whatnot, Leilani Kei impressed me here by biting hands and throwing a lot of Finlay-style knees and stomps, in addition to the batshit crazy look in her eye throughout: I forgot how scary she was in this and Mania I.

 

Whoever booked this show did a lot of controversial finishes, esp. since this on the verge of Hogan-Andre II. As if between them and Dusty, everyone had decided to start booking non-stop “controversy”. Hogan-Andre contract signing is cheesy and slow. Jack Tunney doing his bi-monthly appearance as chief authority figure is so badly bureaucratic that it works. Dibiase is great at getting over a promo that's threadbare on ideas.

 

Rumble match is methodical, well-timed, well-booked. Moves in waves of momentum with not many actual eliminations early on. Bret, Neidhart and Butch Reed looked good early. Not sure what this lead to for Duggan, or how he fit into the Savage/Hogan/Dibiase plans for '88. Vince's call of “Oh no, not this guy” at the arrival of Dangerous Danny Davis is a highlight. In ominous foreshadowing, Bret is dumped out the moment Warrior enters (albeit not by Warrior). Muraco and Warrior taking turns punching One Man Gang is awesome, as is JYD as the last entrant. As a Jan '88 show, the whole roster feels like a raid of Watts guys. For the first Rumble, it actually serves as a textbook example of what the Rumble formula would become: young technical guys at the front with one of them nearly going the distance, winner enters midway, giants and aging stars at the end.

 

Islanders-Stallions is a badass match too. Haku and Tama are so fast here. Haku takes this crazy bump where Powers charges at him and Haku hits this violent almost armdrag-suplex hybrid where it seems like he's dropping Powers on his head while simultaneously dropping a knee on said head. Also an amazing moment in the middle in which Vince comments on the length of Tama's toenails and Jesse repeatedly calls him a racist. Show ends with Craig DeGeorge's second interview on the show (Hogan + Dibiase/Andre). Probably far from the best Rumble, but for a TV special never intended for PPV, the whole show was really good.

[iamthedoctor]

I'm noticing a lack of affection for Rumbles this decade. Would it be fair to say that quality/intrigue/novelty/spectacle seems to have dropped off?

 

I know it has for me.

 

Yeah I know I havent enjoyed a current Rumble in a long time and the Rumble is the one match I go out of my way to watch in full each year, not so much the PPV but the actual match. I dunno when quality dropped for me but it deff dropped for sure doing the first ever 40 man Rumble and some guy wins it. Never saw the appeal in Del Rio to be honest considering his match at Mania went on first. I think id have preferred Kevin Nash to win that year than what we got.

 

Ortons Rumble was lackluster too.

[Hawkeye12]

Count me in for 1990. For star power, past and future, you had Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Dusty, Jake, Andre, Piper, Martel, Hennig, Rude and then Bret, Shawn, and Tenta to be future main eventers. And I think the finish with Hogan, Rude, and Perfect is great with the accidental elimination of Rude and Hennig taking the huge tossout over the turnbuckle instead of just over the top rope. Plus, Garvin and Valentine was an incredible match, one of my favorites as a big Garvin fan.

[iamthedoctor]

Count me in for 1990. For star power, past and future, you had Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Dusty, Jake, Andre, Piper, Martel, Hennig, Rude and then Bret, Shawn, and Tenta to be future main eventers. And I think the finish with Hogan, Rude, and Perfect is great with the accidental elimination of Rude and Hennig taking the huge tossout over the turnbuckle instead of just over the top rope. Plus, Garvin and Valentine was an incredible match, one of my favorites as a big Garvin fan.

 

Current day WWE would have had them tease a break up before a showdown at Wrestlemania. Always wondered what would have happened had Rude and Perfect faced each other in the ring.

 

My fav part of the Rumble apart from the obvious was Piper and Savage tussling as Jake and Dibiase battled.

[mookeighana]

1. 2001: 3 (avg rating) / 4.75 (max rating) / 3.47 (time wgt rating).

2. 1995: 3.2 (avg rating) / 4.25 (max rating) / 3.43 (time wgt rating).

3. 2008: 2.8 (avg rating) / 4.25 (max rating) / 3.48 (time wgt rating).

4. 2013: 3 (avg rating) / 4 (max rating) / 3.32 (time wgt rating).

5. 2014: 2.85 (avg rating) / 4 (max rating) / 3.32 (time wgt rating).

6. 2007: 2.7 (avg rating) / 4 (max rating) / 3.45 (time wgt rating).

7. 2002: 2.63 (avg rating) / 4.25 (max rating) / 3.28 (time wgt rating).

8. 2003: 2.38 (avg rating) / 4.75 (max rating) / 2.96 (time wgt rating).

9. 2009: 2.7 (avg rating) / 3.75 (max rating) / 3.18 (time wgt rating).

10. 2000: 2.29 (avg rating) / 4.5 (max rating) / 3.05 (time wgt rating).

11. 1991: 2.75 (avg rating) / 4 (max rating) / 2.59 (time wgt rating).

12. 2011: 2.5 (avg rating) / 3.5 (max rating) / 3.26 (time wgt rating).

13. 1988: 2.75 (avg rating) / 3.5 (max rating) / 2.91 (time wgt rating).

14. 2010: 2.33 (avg rating) / 3.5 (max rating) / 3.09 (time wgt rating).

15. 2004: 1.75 (avg rating) / 3.75 (max rating) / 3.06 (time wgt rating).

16. 1998: 2.38 (avg rating) / 3.5 (max rating) / 2.57 (time wgt rating).

17. 1992: 1.95 (avg rating) / 3.75 (max rating) / 2.8 (time wgt rating).

18. 1993: 2.25 (avg rating) / 4 (max rating) / 1.32 (time wgt rating).

19. 2012: 2.25 (avg rating) / 3.25 (max rating) / 2.82 (time wgt rating).

20. 1999: 1.83 (avg rating) / 3.75 (max rating) / 1.93 (time wgt rating).

21. 2006: 1.38 (avg rating) / 3.5 (max rating) / 2.6 (time wgt rating).

22. 1994: 2 (avg rating) / 3.25 (max rating) / 2.25 (time wgt rating).

23. 1996: 2.25 (avg rating) / 2.75 (max rating) / 2.47 (time wgt rating).

24. 1997: 1.79 (avg rating) / 3 (max rating) / 2.22 (time wgt rating).

25. 2005: 1.6 (avg rating) / 3.25 (max rating) / 1.28 (time wgt rating).

26. 1989: 1.5 (avg rating) / 2.5 (max rating) / 2.14 (time wgt rating).

27. 1990: 0.8 (avg rating) / 3 (max rating) / 1.82 (time wgt rating).

[Moonsault Marvin]

What are you measuring here, Mookieghana?

[iamthedoctor]

Ratings arent always correct on whats decent and isnt.

[ButchReedMark]

EDIT: Ignore

[mookeighana]

What are you measuring here, Mookieghana?

It was my wrestlenomics approach taking WON ratings for Rumble (and looking at it per match, best match and time-weighted match). It's a tongue-in-cheek thing (since I know it's hardly definitive) but I figured I'd offer a "definitive ranking" 1-27.

[Parties]

1989: Not the best, but lots of good backstage number-drawing segments. Duggan/Hart Foundation vs. Bravo/Rougeaus is a fun 2/3 falls. Bret's FIP and Duggan had become a cartoon after winning the Rumble a year earlier, but Rougeaus were good heels.

 

Rockin' Robin-Judy Martin: saved by Sherri Martel on commentary. Martin's second outing on back-to-back Rumbles, with Gorilla calling her “lethargic” on commentary. Robin was worse. Whole match was as bad as current Diva stuff. This also has the Rude-Warrior posedown/beatdown segment that I saw a hundred times as a kid, but it's aged badly.

 

Then King Haku comes out on a throne being hoisted by four jobbers and all is right in the world. Haku-Harley Race is effective in its clubbering if not that thrilling. Race has the huge scar on his stomach from the Hogan table dive injury that makes him look that much scarier, and Haku's flying and kicks make him seem like the biggest badass in the company for the second year in a row.

 

Rumble match isn't as good as the 20-man version from the prior year. Less action, fewer interesting team ups. It was sad to see how broken Andre was by this point, and it clarified something I always found extra intense watching him as a kid at this age: he always had a really pained look on his face, which made him seem more monstrous. Hennig's bumping was great. One does get the sense that as good as the roster was, it was an aging one of territory guys making their last stop before retirement. Hennig and Michaels were the only guys who seemed new on the scene. Plus Tully and Arn in their only Rumble. Hogan so obliterates everyone that I was delighted when Luke Williams hobbles over, grins, and starts punching him in the gut. Tully, who Hogan's just catapulted throat first onto the ropes, drops a double axe handle and commences gut punching too. Boss Man is great as the brick wall Hogan runs into after dumping Savage. Amazing how heelish Hulk was here as top face: always the sore loser, and his act is stale by this point even with the Mega-Powers stuff. Studd is too weird a winner, but the first time anyone winning it actually led to a title was '92, so these first four are all just pride and prestige. But Studd looks bad here: why did he win? From directorial/editing perspective this looked better than their current TV.

[C.S.]

Best Rumble: 1992, and it's not even close IMO. Never has more been at stake in a Royal Rumble match, with the WWE Title on the line, and it has arguably the most starpower of any Rumble in history.

 

Best Undercard: I'm fond of 1992 for this as well, because just about every Rumble has at least one weak undercard match - but I'm sure I was happy as a kid just seeing the Bushwhackers lose, regardless of match quality - but 1993 and 1995 were probably a hair better. Others that I thought were good in my hazy memory fall apart - like 2003, for example, because only Angle vs. Benoit was really anything special there (and who even knows if that still holds up, Benoit discomfort notwithstanding) and that had utter dogshit like Trips vs. Poppa Pump.

[iamthedoctor]

What was the reason Studd won the Rumble?

 

He seems a odd character to have win the whole thing because he hadent been in the top slot in years and I gather he had only recently returned. Loved him smacking Virgil about at the end.

 

As for Trips/Steiner if they had that concerns at Steiner being out of shape they could have shortened the match and done a wrestling style more familiar with Scotty.

[Sidebottom]

Studd won because he was making a return and they wanted to run with him as the resident giant and give him a push.

[Log]

I watched 89 last night. Man, Andre works his ass off the entire time he's in there. He's constantly being attacked or going after someone. I was shocked how he mauled Roberts. Jake slides in the ring, and Andre's on him. He beats on him for a while and then casually tosses Jake. I expected more standing around from Andre, but he was extremely active.

[iamthedoctor]

Andre owned Jake in that match was suprised with ease.

 

If Studd wasent winning who would have been the best choice to win the match?

[TRMD]

Not looking at whole cards, but....

 

On Austin's podcast a few weeks ago, a caller phoned in and mentioned how he thought the 97' Rumble was pretty underrated in that it was such a pitch-perfect way to push the Austin character (and that Austin's work in the match is exceptional). I was pretty convinced by the guy - thinking back, Austin was the shit in this match. I could be mistaken, but at one point he did push-ups and looked at his wrist like a watch was there? Also, again, could be wrong, but I remember when Bret comes, Austin gives a look of astonishment first, but then, starts making the "bring it" gesture with his hands.

 

All of the reasons why you think he was the shit in the '97 Rumble are the reasons why I think he's the GOAT. He's like this in pretty much every match. He's just unnaturally awesome.

 

With that said, 2001 Rumble would be my pick.

[Parties]

1990: After Vince runs down the card over V/O, the first voice you hear? Tony Schiavone. 1990: a weird year in wrestling. Crowd looks huge in the Orlando Arena, and the Bushwhackers are really over in the opening comedy Rougeaus tag. Genius-Beefcake has awesome Lanny poetry, but even at his peak fame here through this '88-'90 stuff, Beefcake was horrible and deserves continued attention in that All-Time Worst Worker thread. Lanny works like himself and no one else: unique if nothing else, and I like his bumping and selling. In a Heenan Family promo, Rude's roided up and looking completely different from two years ago.

 

Valentine-Garvin's awesome and really one of the company's best matches from this era. Not as good as their MSG match but they chop the hell out of each other and take crazy bumps. Rare that you actually see the Submission Match with two stips from guys who know a variety of submissions. Best thing on the show by far and Jimmy Hart is great here too.

 

Coolest thing about watching these back to back is you see the same checkpoint a year later for workers whose stocks were going up or down. Hennig a year later is gassed to the gills but has gone from new guy to established main eventer with Hogan. I have seen the eye of the firestorm that will engulf this earth, and it's a 1990 Jimmy Snuka promo. But let's hear it for Akeem the African Dream doing the same “Jive Soul Bro” dance move with his right arm exactly as he did it in his Rumble promo a year earlier. Bossman-Duggan dragged at times: disappointing given the pairing, but Duggan bumped well.

 

In the Rumble, Dibiase dominates early but right at the pummeling arrival of Jake the Snake I was listening to Kendrick Lamar, which made it seem more righteous for sure. Dibiase is an enormous play-it-to-the-cheap-seats performer when he bumps for Jake, and Savage is awesome here: '89-'90 is his rendezvous between peak agility and wily vet wisdom. The Savage/Jake/Dibiase stuff with Sherri on the outside is excellent. At Piper's arrival, it's amazing how over he was. Huge reaction: hot crowd all night. Dusty, Barbarian, and Bad News aren't bad either: Dusty in particular working like a guy who knows this is his last dance, and there's an amazing Savage bump to the floor. Fuji and Heenan getting into was really great too, I always like it more when managers are out there. Andre vs. Bill Eadie in 1990 is a battle of the two oldest dudes on Earth: two mastodons colliding. Danny Davis is back to being an actual ref on the outside sending dudes back to the back, which feels like a comfortable end to least one of the thirty-nine different Robert Altman trajectories being told in these last three Rumbles. Unbelievably stacked roster: Haku vs. Dusty is a great matchup, with Dusty bumping surprisingly well in 1990. I would have watched Haku-Bret or Haku-Dusty as seen here for a full year in 1990.

 

Hogan once again looked bad in his onslaught on eliminations: sends Haku over the ropes with the worst Big Boot ever, while Michaels gets dumped on arrival by Warrior to set up the Warrior-Hogan showdown with Hogan double-crossing Warrior. The parallels to Cena are apparent here. A bit anticlimactic as it comes down to Hercules, Rude, Barbarian, Perfect and Hogan, with the crowd knowing who's going over, though you can see Hennig and Rude being established as the new heels for the 90s.

[goodhelmet]

I was there live at the 2007 Rumble and I think anyone who has been to a Royal Rumble live will agree that even when a Rumble has slow points, once that counter starts ticking down, it is easy to get excited or deflated depending on who comes out next. As a live viewing experience, it is extremely easy to sit through live despite going an hour plus. The 2007 Rumble had the really hot ending to make it one of the most memorable Rumbles I can think of. Cena-Umaga and Hardys-MNM were both insanely great. I don't think it can be beat as an overall show.

[tigerpride]

I've been to two (Going to my third next week) and it is so much fun. Seeing a Rumble live should be on every fan's bucket list. It can be hard to follow though

[Johnny Sorrow]

Me and Wolfman went to the Rumble in Philly that Benoit won. That was a fucking fun Rumble match. And Will's right, each countdown live just gets you stoked.

[Wade Garrett]

Royal Rumble match itself I would say it's between 1992, 2004, 2007, and 2008. I'll give the nod to 1992 with the WWF Title on the line.

 

As for overall I don't mind 1993 with Steiners-Beverlys, Michaels-Jannetty, Hall-Hart, and Yoko winning. I attended live though. Then again I was live in 1998 and didn't find the overall card very good. But Austin was my favorite Rumble win along with Flair in 92 and Lesnar in 03.

[iamthedoctor]

 

Not looking at whole cards, but....

 

On Austin's podcast a few weeks ago, a caller phoned in and mentioned how he thought the 97' Rumble was pretty underrated in that it was such a pitch-perfect way to push the Austin character (and that Austin's work in the match is exceptional). I was pretty convinced by the guy - thinking back, Austin was the shit in this match. I could be mistaken, but at one point he did push-ups and looked at his wrist like a watch was there? Also, again, could be wrong, but I remember when Bret comes, Austin gives a look of astonishment first, but then, starts making the "bring it" gesture with his hands.

 

All of the reasons why you think he was the shit in the '97 Rumble are the reasons why I think he's the GOAT. He's like this in pretty much every match. He's just unnaturally awesome.

 

With that said, 2001 Rumble would be my pick.

 

 

I wouldnt go that far. Austin isnt anywhere near my top 3 that includes Hogan & Flair.

 

Worst Rumble for the early 1990s Id say 1993. While it opened the show with a cracking tag team match I was less than impressed with Jannetty not winning the belt and while Bigelow/Bossman was something they should have stuck on Raw alough it did redeem itself with Bret/Razor the show all round sucked once they decided Yokozuna was winning the thing. Surely out of all the guys who they had in the rumble you mean to tell me out of everyone who wrestled there Yokozuna was the pick?

 

Randy Savage was a better choice and while they tried to push the big undefeated sumo guy who I thought was a horrible champion.

[JaymeFuture]

I absolutely love this topic, so much that I thought it would make for an really fun podcast on the Best & Worst Royal Rumble PPVs in history, so for those who are interested in such a discussion, you can hear our show at the following link - a really fun look at classics like 1992, 2000 and 2001, ones that may have fallen short like 1993, 1995 and 2006, and a whole host of others that people made a strong case for, one way or the other.

 

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/8wiksa/SCGRadio27-TheBestandWorstRoyalRumblePPVs.mp3

[Sidebottom]

I watched 89 last night. Man, Andre works his ass off the entire time he's in there. He's constantly being attacked or going after someone. I was shocked how he mauled Roberts. Jake slides in the ring, and Andre's on him. He beats on him for a while and then casually tosses Jake. I expected more standing around from Andre, but he was extremely active.

 

Andre was cutting promos on TV for an appearance in the 1991 Rumble but he didn't appear due to his health. Such a shame he didn't make it to that match, if for nothing else, I think there would have been a strong chance of Andre / Undertaker locking up. It's an image I've spoken about in the past, but for histories sake I would have LOVED to have seen committed to film even just once. Hell, the day a photo of them in the same room rocks up (I have to believe somebody has one somewhere) that is getting blown up and mounted on my living room wall.