Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF Royal Rumble 1990

-Welcome to 1990 as I decided to just continue after 1989 with my Retro Review series. We are still in the peak of my childhood years as a wrestling fan as I was about to turn 9 in May. As mentioned, I grew up on WWF and can remember vividly pretty much everything building towards WrestleMania III and after. As for the NWA it was 1989 when I really started to get into what they were offering and 1990 was the year when everything clicked as far as having vivid memories. This is going to be fun so join me as we start to roll through the first year of a new decade in pro-wrestling. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
-Orlando Arena, Orlando, FL
-Jan 21, 1990
-Attendance: 16,000
-PPV Buys: 260,000

The Bushwhackers vs. The Fabulous Rougeaus (w/ Jimmy Hart)

-It is still so weird hearing Tony’s voice on a WWF show. Early bell as the ref is still going over things and then both teams just milk the red hot crowd. After two minutes we finally get going as Raymond kicks Butch in the gut. Butch misses a clothesline and Raymond gets a sleeper, but gets run into the top buckle. Butch bites Raymond on the ass and bites the ref as well, which as Jesse noted, should be a DQ, but isn’t. The Rougeaus bail to the floor to regroup! Jacques with a beard also looks weird! YOUR BEARD IS WEIRD! Luke in with Jacques and more biting. Luke misses a clothesline on Jacques but catches Raymond with one. The crowd is just popping for everything and The Bushwhackers look like they are having a ball out there. Cool! Jacques yells at Butch and calls him a chicken. He offers a free shot to the back to Luke, which lets Raymond hit him from behind. Luke gets double teamed in the corner as the ref tries to get Butch back to his corner. Raymond with a superkick gets a two count. Hard whip to the corner as the crowd is roaring! Luke pitched to the floor and he goes back first into the apron. Butch chases Jimmy Hart for fun, but nothing of notes comes out of it right now. Luke goes back to biting as he bites Raymond’s calf. More cheating and double teaming from The Rougeaus. Quick tags from The Rougeaus as they keep Luke in their corner. They pick Luke up and drop him throat first on the top rope as the crowd is begging for Luke to make the tag. He goes back to biting again, but Jacques gets the tag and cuts off the tag to Butch. Jacques bites Luke which seems fair. Abdominal Stretch by Jacques before a tag to Raymond, who hooks a reverse chinlock. Slam from Raymond, but Jacques tries a splash and catches knees. Hot tag to Butch and the place goes crazy! He runs wild on both men with clothesline and knees. All four men in the ring and The Rougeaus gets run into each other. Jimmy Hart grabs a leg to stop The Battering Ram and gets pulled into the ring. The Rougeaus save him and then get a Boston Crab on Butch. Luke grabs a leg to trip up Jacques and then The Whackers hit a Battering Ram to send Raymond into Jacques and get the pin at 13:35.

Winner: The Bushwhackers via pin at 13:35
-Super hot crowd and it helped as they didn’t have to do much here. They followed the tag formula and it worked and the crowd got what they wanted with The Bushwhackers getting the win. **1/2

-Backstage where Gene Okerlund is with an annoyed Ted Dibiase as he has drawn #1 this year after drawing #30 last year. Nice little touch there!

The Genius vs. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake

-I assume this is just an off shoot of Genius getting a count-out win over Hogan and now Beefcake is getting his best friend’s sloppy seconds. That sounded dirtier that I wanted it to be. Genius prances and offers a handshake. Jesse brings up Genius getting the count-out win over Hogan and in the record book it was always read, Genius win over Hogan. Tony is offended that The Genius offers to shake with his left hand as I guess nobody does that. Someone should offer their left hand in AEW and see what happens. Lots of stalling and playing to the crowd to start which is fine as this crowd is into everything tonight. Lockup nearly 3 minutes into this match. Genius goes to the eyes and fires off right hands. I didn’t know Genius was Savage’s brother back in 1990, but man, can you see the resemblance clearly. Barber gets an atomic drop out of the corner, so Genius bails. Jesse compares it to Joe Montana stepping out of bounds. Since he mentioned my Niners, they were about to massacre Denver in the Super Bowl, 55-10 the following week. Still, the biggest blow-out in Super Bowl history. Back in the ring Barber stomps the hands and crotches Genius on the top rope. Hey, Jesse just mentioned the Niners are in the Super Bowl the following week. Genius bails to the floor again. Back in and he lands a head-butt, but sets too early on a backdrop and gets kicked in the chest. Genius back with a dropkick for a two count as Brutus kicks out with ease. Genius back with a forearm to the back of the neck. He lays in the boots and goes back to the eyes. Roll-up gets two! Genius with a slam and heads up, but gets punched in the gut on the way down. Beefcake with a slam. He calls for The Sleeper, but Genius reverses. The ref gets bumped and ends up on the floor. Weird to have that in this match, but whatever. Jesse gives all the kids advice as it’s not how you play the game, but if you win or lose. Brutus with The Sleeper and he is out, but we have no ref. Brutus heads out for the scissors as Tony throws Jesse’s logic back in his face. Brutus cuts the hair of The Genius before Mr. Perfect is in for the save. Yes, we still have a match going on! Finally a bell is called for at 11:05.

Winner: None: Double DQ at 11:05
-Crappy ending to what was an okay match that the crowd was eating up. I guess Genius needed protected after getting his win over Hulk Hogan. *1/2

-Perfect hits Brutus in the ribs with a chair and then another shot. This was building to a match between the two at WrestleMania.

-Sean Mooney is backstage with The Heenan Family and they are on the same page until Mooney stirs up some crap about who is winning The Royal Rumble. Jerk!

Submission Match: Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin

-These two have been feuding for months and included Garvin being a referee at one point. Both men have a brace on their shin to counter the figure-four or add pressure when they apply the move. Garvin grabs Valentine on the floor and sends him into the ring. Garvin goes for a pin to just get over the idea that you can’t win that way. We get some boxing as Hammer covers up in the corner, and then ditches the boxing deal to deliver a kick. They start trading chops and they are laying it in heavy. Valentine loses this exchange, flops on his face and bails to the floor. Back in we get more boxing and Garvin wins that and then shoots in for a leg, but Valentine catches him with a jab. Elbow hits, but a second one misses. Heavy kick from Valentine puts Garvin on his ass. Now Valentine goes for a cover as Jesse puts over that wrestlers are so used to going for a pin. They start trading punches to the gut and Garvin wins the exchange again. He hits a head-butt and it knocks both men on their ass. Nice! Garvin up first and he goes for a piledriver, but Valentine backdrops his way out and then block a sunset flip. Valentine sits down, but no count and Garvin finishes the sunset flip, but again, no count. Valentine rocks Garvin in the corner with chops that would make Steamboat and Flair proud. They collide in the middle of the ring and both men are down again. Valentine tries for the figure-four, but gets kicked off and Garvin goes for a roll-up. Okay, now they are just starting to look stupid with the constant pin attempts. Valentine with the figure-four with the brace backwards, but no effect as Garvin’s brace is protecting. Valentine decides to go back to the chops and gets a back-breaker submission and Jesse marks out as that was his finisher. Valentine then goes to a choke and the ref just lets them go as it is legal here. Garvin with a heavy forearm to break and the crowd is flinching and groaning with each shot. Garvin goes to a modified death-lock and the brace of Valentine is not helping with this move. Valentine gets to the ropes and the ref does force a break. They head to the floor and how about some more chops? Valentine with a backdrop on the floor. Back in the ring Garvin misses a charge and ends up in the Tree of Woe. The ref frees Garvin and Valentine goes back to pounding away on his chest. They collide in the middle of the ring again. Jimmy Hart removes the brace from Garvin’s shin and now he is screwed as Valentine hooks a Figure-Four. I dig the story they are telling! The crowd is rocking along with them as they are into this one. Garvin is able to turn the hold and reverse the pressure. Valentine uses the ropes to turn the hold back over, but is forced to break. Valentine tries to go back to the move, but Garvin gets a small package and again, no count. I guess it stopped the Figure-Four though. Valentine heads up top, but Garvin hobbles on one leg and brings Valentine down with a slam. Garvin removes Valentine’s brace and now we are even. Garvin ducks a clothesline and lands a shot that gets Valentine locked in the ropes. Jimmy Hart tries to free him and gets thrown into the ring. Garvin decks Valentine with his shin brace and then hooks what is basically a Sharpshooter/Scorpion Deathlock, but Tony calls it a reverse figure-four. Valentine gives up at 16:53.

Winner: Ronnie Garvin via submission at 16:53
-This was an interesting match with some cool psychology. It also helped that they were both willing to beat the stuffing out of each other. I did think it got a little silly with them constantly going for pins in a submission match but I guess that was the story they wanted to tell. ***1/4

-Mean Gene is backstage with Mr. Perfect and he rants against Beefcake. He also tells us he drew #30 (naturally) and this Rumble will be absolutely perfect.

-Brother Love segment as he brings out Sensational Queen Sherri as she is the definition of a classy lady. They bring out Sapphire to run her down and Jesse makes sure to get in some fat jokes. Love and Sherri make fun of Sapphire and the people in the crowd. Sapphire has had enough and slaps Sherri in the face. Here comes Macho King and Dusty is right behind. Savage decks him and drops the double ax from the top to the floor. Sapphire jumps on his back and officials come out to separate everyone. Brother Love starts running his mouth again and you know where this is going. The crowd is going crazy waiting for Dusty to beat the piss out of Love. Sure enough Dusty beats on Brother Love and the crowd goes crazy. Sapphire and Dusty dance as Jesse corpses on commentary. Too funny!

The Big Boss Man (w/ Slick) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

-JIVE SOUL BRO! I used to play that song for my son when he was 3 years old and he loved singing it. The crowd really loves Duggan. This crowd is just great tonight! Lockup to start and they immediately start trading bomb. Boss Man gets the early advantage, but Hacksaw reverses a whip and delivers a clothesline. A second one sends Boss Man to the floor. He pulls Duggan out and they start throwing more bombs! Duggan ends up getting run into the post, but he side steps Boss Man who goes crashing into the steps. Cool! Duggan goes right after the now damaged shoulder and puts Boss Man shoulder first into the corner. Boss Man reverses a whip and gets a splash in the corner. Boss Man with an enziguiri which stuns both Jesse and Tony. Crazy to see that in 1990 from a dude as big as The Boss Man. He chokes on the ropes and drops his patented leg to the back. Duggan starts his comeback, but sets too early on a backdrop and Boss Man slugs him down to snuff off that rally. Double Thrust to the throat as Boss Man tells us he is going to break his damn neck. Slick chokes from the apron for good measure. Slick: “Let that be a lesson to you, crooked eyes.” That made me laugh! Boss Man goes to a neck crank, but Duggan punches his way out. Boss Man cuts him off once again as he delivers a knee. Boss Man goes back to the neck crank and then drops a knee to the ribs for a two count. Boss Man with a bear-hug as Duggan tries to clap the ears to escape, but Boss Man maintains the hold. Duggan with a head-butt, but Boss Man falls on top for a pin. Duggan had his foot on the ropes however. Duggan mounts up another comeback and this time he wins a slug-fest. He hits a clothesline that sends Boss Man to the floor. Boss Man back with a head-butt, but misses an elbow. Duggan with the mounted punches in the corner, but misses a charge in the corner. Boss Man off the top, but now Duggan rolls out of the way. The double count is on and Duggan gets to his feet first. They collide in the middle of ring, so it’s another race. Boss Man accidentally hits Slick, but gets his hands on his nightstick and decks Duggan for the DQ at 10:24.

Winner: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan via DQ at 10:24
-Went way too long as they were having a fine 6 minute match. The ending sucked too. *

-Duggan hits Boss Man and Slick with the 2×4 after the match and we get a loud USA chant.

-WrestleMania VI: April 1: Toronto, Sky Dome! I hope there is no match that made 8-year-old me cry on the way home from my friend’s house.

-Parade of interviews to hype The Royal Rumble! Hogan gets the final word and I sometimes how huge he was vs the WCW Hogan that was slimmed down and I assume off the gas.

30 Man Royal Rumble

-Fink goes over the rules for the crowd and us at home. In a great touch, Ted Dibiase is #1 this year after getting #30 last year. Brilliant! Fink even mentions Dibiase’s bad luck when announcing him to really rub it in. Koko B Ware is the second entrant. Dibiase starts quick as he knows he is screwed coming in first. Chops in the corner from Dibiase and then he sends Koko to the corner. Koko no sells having his head bounced off the buckle and starts unloading with right hands. Head-butt from Koko, but he charges and gets backdropped out at 1:38. The clock is running about 3 seconds slow as Marty Jannetty enters at 3. Dibiase gets in the first blow, but Marty with a dropkick and then some right hands. He runs into a boot in the corner to slow things down. Clothesline from Dibiase and we get a patented 360 sell from Jannetty. Dibiase gets caught coming off the top and Jannetty is back with right hands. He lands a back elbow, but Ted goes to the eyes. Jannetty misses a crossbody and takes a crazy bump to the floor to eliminate him at 3:45. Jake “The Snake” Roberts is #4 as the crowd starts going nuts. They actually end up fighting on the floor as Dibiase gets a slam out there. He hooks The Million Dollar Dream, but Jake runs him into the steel post. They get in the ring and the crowd is loving every second of this. Backdrop to Dibiase! Short-arm clothesline and this crowd really, really wants to see a DDT. Dibiase backdrops out to escape, but misses an elbow drop. Dibiase drives a shoulder into the ribs, but gets caught with a knee. “Macho King” Randy Savage is #5 and he goes right after Jake. Just wait a few years for the real blood feud between them. Savage off the middle rope with a knee as Dibiase regroups in the corner. Savage and Dibiase work together and I doubt that will last long before someone turns on the other. Savage with a double axe off the top and then goes to a choke. Jake gets tied up in the ropes, but Roddy Piper is #6 to make the save. That’s a fantastic foursome in there right now. Piper with a double clothesline and then he frees Roberts. The crowd is just popping for everything and I don’t blame them as this is fantastic. The four men pair off and try to eliminate each other. Piper and Savage take turns nearly eliminating each other as the crowd freaks out. The Warlord is #7 as Jesse notes it will take some doing to get him out of the ring. Well, about that, oh wait, I guess that’s not this Rumble. Piper has no problems trading punches with Warlord. Jake is getting worked over by Savage and Dibiase and is nearly out, but gets himself back in the ring. Macho with another double ax and then some choking in the corner as Sherri yells for them to break Jake’s neck. Piper is just hitting anything that moves at this point. Bret Hart is #8 as the star power just keeps on coming. Warlord eats a boot from Bret in the corner. Piper and Bret double team Warlord and try to dump him, but he goes to the eyes. Piper goes to the eyes on Dibiase as he is nearing 14 minutes in the match. Bad News Brown is #9 as Jesse and Tony note this is his kind of match as he doesn’t like anyone. Short-arm clothesline to Jake, but Savage saves and dumps Jake at 14:45. Dibiase takes a weird bump off a Piper right hand and nearly gets bumped, but Savage saves Dibiase. Tony questions if Savage was paid off by Dibiase to keep him in the match. Dusty Rhodes is #10 and man is that a pop! More star power and I am impressed with the way this crowd is still going full throttle. Dusty goes right for Savage and dumps him at 16:28 off a crazy ass bump from a backdrop. If you are going to get dumped, might as well do it in style. Dusty with the mounted punches in the corner and Andre The Giant is #11. Well, this is going to suck for everyone else in the match. Warlord is gone at 18:36. Heenan and Fuji get into a fight on the floor which is AWESOME! Seeing Andre SQUASH Dusty and Piper in the corner is just so cool! Wrestling Royalty! Andre chokes Piper, but Dusty comes over to save. Red Rooster is #12 and even he gets a pop from this crowd. Piper teases going out, but survives and sends Bad News out at 20:21. Bad News then goes back in and eliminates Piper at 20:25. We will see them against each other at WrestleMania as they beat the piss out of each other up the aisle and to the back. Good stuff! Loud Roddy chant from the crowd. Virgil saves Dibiase from being tossed by Dusty. Rooster is getting his shit kicked in by Andre and gets tossed at 22:00. Brownsville, PA native Ax is in at #13. #FayetteCountyFootball. He goes right after Andre, which seems suspect. Dibiase just passed the 23 minute mark! Andre gets tied up in the ropes which was a favorite spot he liked to do. Ax and Dusty do some CLUBBERING and unhook Andre, which is stupid. Sure enough he decks both men. Haku is #14 to give Andre some help. Dibiase and Bret are having their own match during all this chaos and it’s pretty sweet. Andre sits down on Ax and stomps away. Dusty starts dancing and jiving as Haku is throwing bombs at him. Haku with a chop to Bret and then one for Ax. Superkick to Ax! Smash is #15 and he partners with Ax (duh) to beat down Andre. They then turn their attention to Haku with a double elbow. The Tag Teams torment each other as Dibiase gets beat up by Dusty and Bret. Bret wants payback for Mania 2 and goes after Andre. Things are starting to lose a little steam and Akeem is next at #16. He goes right for Andre. Demolition with a double clothesline to Haku and then one to Andre which sends him to the floor at 28:40. He doesn’t take that well and punches Ax in the face. Somewhere off camera Bret Hart gets eliminated according to Jesse. Poor Bret! Jimmy Snuka is #17 as Dibiase has made it to 30 minutes. Akeem gets tossed by Snuka at 30:35. Short night for him! Kind of wild seeing him and Dusty in the ring together knowing the idea behind Akeem being The African Dream. Demolition go after Haku and Snuka. Dino Bravo is #18 and he gets into a brawl with Haku. Good luck with that! Ax and Smash hammer Dibiase into a pile of goo. Ted is putting in the work tonight! Earthquake is #19 and he is about to wreck some people! He goes right after Dusty and sends him out at 34:19. Demolition take the fight to him, and that backfires as Ax gets tossed at 34:50. Haku and Earthquake have a go and I believe both men were into Sumo at one point in their lives. Jim Neidhart is next at 20 and he goes after Earthquake. Jesse: “I think I would stay away from Earthquake.” Three men go after Quake, but they get everyone else to help and Quake is tossed at 36:43. They made sure to protect him with that elimination as it took six men to toss him. Smash and Anvil with a double atomic drop to Dibiase as we have six men in the ring. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR is #21 and Bravo is gone at 38:12. The Bloodline double team Warrior, but he shakes that off and goes after Smash. Poor Dibiase is still getting wrecked, but he is surviving as he nears 40 minutes. The Model Rick Martel is in at 22 to many boos from the crowd. He slugs it out with Smash and wins the battle surprisingly. Warrior saves him brother in paint from getting tossed. Haku dumps Smash to the apron and hits a superkick to eliminate him at 40:55. Martel nearly goes out, but hangs onto the ropes. Tito Santana is 23 and he better for right for Martel and thankfully, he does. Haku gets dropped by a double clothesline from Warrior and Tito. Virgil continues to help Dibiase and Jesse points out that Dibiase does pay the man. Honky Tonk Man is 24 and Warrior is waiting for him. Nice! Neidhart gets tossed at 44:28! Dibiase is finally gone from a Warrior clothesline at 44:53. Great run for Ted! Tito and Martel continue to do battle which makes my heart so happy! HULK HOGAN IS #25 and this place is exploding! Snuka gone at 46:08! Haku gone at 46:30! Hogan just dumped The Bloodline by himself! Warrior dumps Santana at 47:08 as Martel is able to roll in from the apron. We are down to four at the moment and you can sense the crowd knows what could happen here. That has to wait as Shawn Michaels is next at #26. Hogan tosses HTM at 48:08. Shawn is gone by The Warrior at 48:15 and Martel is tossed at 48:21. WARRIOR AND HOGAN ARE LEFT ALONE IN THE RING. The entire arena is standing as they go nose to nose! They collide and neither man budges. CRISS CROSS! Drop down by Hogan and we get a double clothesline that should have made the Universe collapse in on itself. This moment is 34 years old and it still has by blood pumping like crazy. I love pro-wrestling! Barbarian is in at 27 and he picks the bones by dropping elbows on each man. Big Boot to Hogan which is kind of funny! Warrior eats a chop! Rick Rude jumps the gun and is 28 as he isn’t waiting to get his hands on Warrior. Rude with a standing dropkick to Warrior as the crowd FREAKS OUT as Hogan is nearly eliminated by Barbarian. Warrior makes the save which has Jesse pissed! Warrior is getting double teamed and Hogan tries to save, but Warrior gets dumped at 52:35. Now, you may think Hogan eliminated Warrior, but I think he was trying to save and the blow to Rude and Barbarian was so heavy, Warrior just fell. Yep! Just ignore the ranting from Ventura about Hogan being eliminating Warrior. Hercules is in at 29 as we are nearing the end and the crowd seems a little burned out after the Warrior/Hogan GREATNESS. Rude and Hercules pair off in one corner while Hogan hits a clothesline on Barbarian. Hogan scratches the back on Rude as Jesse goes on another rant. Mr. Perfect is #30 as all men have entered the match now. Perfect stomps Hogan down in the corner. Hercules sends Barbarian out at 55:42.

-Our Final Four: Hogan, Perfect, Rude and Hercules! Well, now three as Hercules is tossed by Rude at 56:14. The crowd immediately starts a Hogan chant as he is out-numbered here. Rude with a heavy forearm, but Hogan ducks and Perfect goes flying through the middle ropes. Perfect tries to get in and accidentally eliminates Rude at 57:10 as he pulls down the top rope. Sure, that was an accident, but Jesse won’t believe Hogan accidentally eliminated Warrior. Perfect hits a Perfect-plex, but Hogan Hulks Up! He catapults Perfect into the ring post as Tony notes the post saved Perfect. That has Jesse losing his mind. Perfect gets tossed over the opposite post to give Hogan the win at 58:46.

Winner: Hulk Hogan at 58:46
-Lots of great stuff in this one with Dibiase getting the marathon run. Star Power all over the place. Programs for Mania being set-up and teased. Demolition and Colossal Connection continuing their issues. Martel and Tito continuing to fight on sight! Then we had the HOGAN/WARRIOR confrontation that everyone in Hutchinson Elementary School was talking about the next day. I know there are rumors Perfect was supposed to win, but I think Hogan winning made more sense. Hogan always won and him winning here only made it even more shocking and a big deal when he would lose (SPOILERS) to Warrior at Mania. Just a great and fun Rumble that bogged down just a little in the middle, but the crowd was way into and it’s still one of the better Rumbles you will see. ****1/2

-Hogan poses and I just feel like a kid again. Real American just BANGS!

-Thanks for reading!

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This show was a lot of fun thanks to the amazing crowd. It also helps that this was one of the better and more memorable Rumbles of all time thanks to the star power. Oh, and that Hogan/Warrior moment that nearly caused the sun to explode in on itself. The rest of the crowd wasn't great, but the submission match was good, and the rest was redeemed by the crowd popping for everything. Good start to 1990 for the WWF!