WWF Royal Rumble 1988

So, the WWE Network finally hit the UK, and so I decided it would make sense to make my next review something from the huge databases of shows available to me. I then decided that, hey, tonight is Royal Rumble night....why not review the first ever edition? This was broadcast on TV, rather than PPV, and there are a few interminable filler sections like "Dino Bravo lifting weights for 20 minutes" which drag, but this blog is solely about the matches, and thankfully there were a few good ones on offer here.

Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat

I like the way the match starts with Steamboat skinning the cat to avoid getting thrown over the top rope, and instead throws Rude out, acting as a preview for the forthcoming Rumble. They work a test-of-strength spot, and I love Ventura’s commentary, pointing out Rude has the strength advantage, but Steamboat escaped due to his speed and ability. Steamboat controls by working the arm of Rude, which affects Rude’s ability to use it to pose later in the match. Brilliant. Rude isn’t quite the finished package at this point, with a few blows looking a bit milky. Rude manages to slam Steamboat on the floor outside the ring, and inside holds a camel clutch to continue his focus on the back. Slightly blown moment as they do the “three arm drop” spot, only for Steamboat not to keep his arm up on three, needing a fourth raise from the ref. Steamboat gets a few close nearfalls off a succession of roll-ups, but a crossbody is prevented as Rude pulls the ref in front of the flying Steamboat. Rude hitches an over-the-shoulder backbreaker and thinks he’s won as the ref calls for the bell, but it’s actually a DQ win for Steamboat. Decent enough opener.

The Glamour Girls vs the Jumping Bomb Angels

This is 2/3 falls for the WWF Women’s tag titles. Vince helpfully doesn’t know the names of either Bomb Angel until after the first ad break, so refers to them as Red Angel and Pink Angel throughout. The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) are bigger and stronger than the Angels, but the Angels are able to control the early going due to their speed advantage, at one point downing both Glamour Girls with stereo figure-fours. They continue to work over Kai, leading to an amusing tug of war spot, as Martin tries to pull her partner back to their corner. Martin is pretty deadly when she does get in the ring, and she throws Yamazaki over her shoulders from a powerbomb position for the first fall.

Second fall sees Kai continuing the domination of Yamazaki, but misses a splash to allow the hot tag to Tateno. Martin tries the same move that won them the first fall, but Tateno is fresher and reverses to a sunset flip for the equalising fall.
The final fall sees the Girls dishing out some pretty nasty looking blows to consolidate their power advantage. Kai hits a pretty swanky looking butterfly suplex, but this gets outdone when Tateno tags herself into the match, as she hits a bridging butterfly suplex on Martin for two. The Bomb Angels are smart, and don’t let Martin get anywhere near a tag, before finishing her off with a stereo missile dropkick for the victory. This was really fun, with some of the Angels offence way ahead of it’s time for this audience. The Glamour Girls looks great here too, really tough in offence and I think their contribution to this match often gets unfairly overlooked.

Royal Rumble

So, here is the first Rumble, albeit one with only 20 men, and for historical purposes, the first two entrants (already in the ring) are Bret Hart as entrant #1 and Tito Santana for entrant #2. A couple more first sees Santana being the first man to be double-teamed as Butch Reed helps the Hitman wear him down, and Reed goes on to be the first man eliminated when Jake Roberts sends him over the top . It’s fun to see how even guys like Sam Houston and Jim Brunzell get big reactions from the crowd as they enter. I love the disgust in Vince’s voice as Danny Davis enters the match. Ventura does his best throughout the match to put over Bret Hart’s endurance, which Vince barely acknowledges. There’s an odd moment as Nikolai Volkoff jumps the gun, running down the ring right on the heels of Don Muraco, and has to be held in place by the referees until another two minutes go by. It soon becomes notable how they’ve stacked the running order for the Rumble – the early entrants are all guys with high stamina, like Bret, Santana, Houston and the Killer Bees. As we continue, the second half sees bigger guys like Volkoff, Dino Bravo, One Man Gang and the Junkyard Dog come in. Bret, in fact, last until the 18^th entrant (the Ultimate Warrior) is walking to the ring. It’s odd to see the Warrior at this stage, where he’s just another guy rather than THE guy. Despite the crowd chanting for the DDT all night long, Roberts gets thrown out without getting to hit it, though Duggan uses the 3 point stance to send Davis out. The final four sees Bravo, Gang, Muraco and Duggan in the ring. The heels gang up on Muraco, with Bravo holding the Rock in place for Gang to clothesline out. This leaves them 2-on-1 on Duggan. They try the same trick (having established it works, possibly the only time in Rumble history that a heel HASN’T hit his partner with that move), but predictably Gang accidently sends Bravo out instead. Gang charges Duggan, who drops down with the top rope to send Gang out and pick up the win. Not as finely polished as future Rumbles, but still pretty fun.

The Islanders vs the Young Stallions

A curious choice of main event. The Stallions and the Islanders were two of the final three teams in the big Survivor Series tag the past November (along with the Killer Bees), so there is some history three. This is 2/3 falls. The Stallions out-wrestle the Islanders early on, and by avoiding a double-cross from a Tama fake handshake, outsmart them too. A weird botched-looking hiptoss by Haku gives the Islanders control on Jim Powers. The heat section on Powers is pretty brief, before Roma tags in. This is pretty much a storm in a teacup, as Haku pulls the top rope down, sending Roma to the floor, injuring his leg for a countout first fall to the Islanders.

The second fall comes after a break and an interview with Andre, as Vince tells us that trainers have been looking at the leg of Roma. Roma has to start the next fall, being the loser of the previous fall, and Tama goes right for the obvious weakspot. Roma is in such trouble, he willingly causes more pain to his leg just so he can get to make the tag to Powers, by lifting his knees on a Haku splash. Powers has a brief offensive flurry, but it can’t last forever and soon the Islanders are in control. The booking is interesting, as they need to promote the Islanders (who are feuding with the British Bulldogs at this point), but clearly was to protect the Survivor Series-winning Stallions too. Hence the leg injury to make the Stallions look plucky and courageous in the face of great odds. Powers gets a few hope spots too, with a nearfall from a small package being close. Powers eventually gets to make the lukewarm tag to Roma after a weird botched dropkick from Haku (that actually kinda connected), but Roma manages only a few blows before Haku sweeps his leg out. A top rope splash onto the leg sets up a single-leg crab on Roma that gives him no choice but to submit. Pretty decent bout.