The WWE did a great job with building this PPV, the main story going in was the former super patriot Sgt Slaughter had turned his back on America aligning himself with Iraqis General Adnan and Col Mustafa and would be taking on WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior for the WWE Championship. Slaughter was a hated man at this point in history. The Warrior himself though had earned the ire of the Macho King Randy Savage, who believed that Warrior was denying him, unfairly, of a title shot.
The night began with a fast paced and exciting tag match between The Rockers: Shawn Micheals and Marty Janetty and the Oriet Express. This was one of the standout matches from a great era for tag team wrestling, won by the Rockers with Janetty pinning Tanaka.
Next up the Macho King Randy Savage talks to Sean Mooney. He is upset that he has not been given a title shot by the Ultimate Warrior.
Big Boss Man was involved in a a rivalry with the Family Heenan and tonight faced the Barbarian and picked up an easy victory.
Next up the Ultimate Warrior does a confusing interview and is begged by Queen Sherri to give the Macho King a Title shot if he defeats Sgt Slaughhter in the next match. Warrior refuses. It's a decision he'd regret after the match started as Savage broke his King sceptre on Warrior's head, knocking him out and allowing Slaughter to pick up the pin and win the WWE Championship. Savage and Sherri made a bee-line for the arena exit to escape the Warrior's wrath. The crowd was stunned.
Their moods didn't improve as the Mountie destroyed Koko B Ware in a charmless match to follow that up and Slaughter, flanked by Adnan and Mustafa, then told Mean Gene how much he hates America in a backstage interview.
Some fans then wished the soldiers in Iraq good luck and god-speed before Ted DiBiase told us all that Virgil was his slave and would do anything for money. And by the way, he was going to beat Dusty Rhodes and his son Dustin later tonight.
And he wasn't telling any lies, even after dismissing Virgil he was able to single handedly win the tag match, getting Dustin in the Million Dollar Dream. He then called Virgil back to the ring to put the Million Dollar belt around his waist. But Virgil refused, knocking DiBiase out with a belt shot. The crowd, bummed out by all the evil triumphing good, went ballistic as Virgil, emancipated walked triumphantly to the back. That was probably the greatest moment in ROyal Rumble history so far.
So now comes the Main Event, the Royal Rumble and it was "The Real American" Hulk Hogan who emerged victorious, eliminating seven people, including Earthquake to win the match for a second straight year. Greg Valentine earned some props for going more than 45 minutes, but Rick Martel did even better, lasting just 8 minutes shy of an hour.
And so the big questions now were just what was going to happen when the Ultimate Warrior got his hands on Savage? And who was going to restore American pride to the WWE after their Championship had been won by an Iraqi sympathiser?
The night began with a fast paced and exciting tag match between The Rockers: Shawn Micheals and Marty Janetty and the Oriet Express. This was one of the standout matches from a great era for tag team wrestling, won by the Rockers with Janetty pinning Tanaka.
Next up the Macho King Randy Savage talks to Sean Mooney. He is upset that he has not been given a title shot by the Ultimate Warrior.
Big Boss Man was involved in a a rivalry with the Family Heenan and tonight faced the Barbarian and picked up an easy victory.
Next up the Ultimate Warrior does a confusing interview and is begged by Queen Sherri to give the Macho King a Title shot if he defeats Sgt Slaughhter in the next match. Warrior refuses. It's a decision he'd regret after the match started as Savage broke his King sceptre on Warrior's head, knocking him out and allowing Slaughter to pick up the pin and win the WWE Championship. Savage and Sherri made a bee-line for the arena exit to escape the Warrior's wrath. The crowd was stunned.
Their moods didn't improve as the Mountie destroyed Koko B Ware in a charmless match to follow that up and Slaughter, flanked by Adnan and Mustafa, then told Mean Gene how much he hates America in a backstage interview.
Some fans then wished the soldiers in Iraq good luck and god-speed before Ted DiBiase told us all that Virgil was his slave and would do anything for money. And by the way, he was going to beat Dusty Rhodes and his son Dustin later tonight.
And he wasn't telling any lies, even after dismissing Virgil he was able to single handedly win the tag match, getting Dustin in the Million Dollar Dream. He then called Virgil back to the ring to put the Million Dollar belt around his waist. But Virgil refused, knocking DiBiase out with a belt shot. The crowd, bummed out by all the evil triumphing good, went ballistic as Virgil, emancipated walked triumphantly to the back. That was probably the greatest moment in ROyal Rumble history so far.
So now comes the Main Event, the Royal Rumble and it was "The Real American" Hulk Hogan who emerged victorious, eliminating seven people, including Earthquake to win the match for a second straight year. Greg Valentine earned some props for going more than 45 minutes, but Rick Martel did even better, lasting just 8 minutes shy of an hour.
And so the big questions now were just what was going to happen when the Ultimate Warrior got his hands on Savage? And who was going to restore American pride to the WWE after their Championship had been won by an Iraqi sympathiser?