The 1991 Royal Rumble was the first of these P.P.Vs that I got to see back in the day of video. All these years later, I haven't stopped being entertained. A number of the most popular names were in the main event. Amongst them were Hulk Hogan, Legion of Doom, The Hart Foundation, The Undertaker (when Brother Love managed him), Greg Valentine, Tito Santana, Mr. Perfect and many other more. To the best of my knowledge, this is one of the longest Rumbles in history. It clocks in at 65 minutes but the time rushes by as 30 men (minus Macho King) battle it out in hoping to be the sole survivor. I always prefer it when the ring is a bit crowded because then it's more likely that more eliminations will take place. The icing on the cake was when Hogan won the Rumble. He was the first wrestler to win the event twice in a row.
The matches on the card are brilliant. There is a dark match between Koko B. Ware and The Mountie, which is good. For the latter wrestler, he made his P.P.V debut and would enjoy a career as a popular heel. The Big Boss Man took all members of the Heenan family during the first half of 1991. During this Royal Rumble, he wrestled The Barbarian in a thrilling match! The Barbarian I consider to be a rather stiff and limited worker, he was all brute strength. The Rockers and The Orient Express have a brilliant opening match which lasts for about 20 minutes. All four men show what exceptional athletes they are. In his last appearance, Dusty Rhodes and his real son Dustin Rhodes took on The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase and bodyguard Virgil. Their match was not bad but it was too brief and the ending came rather abruptly. Even so, it is great to see Ted DiBiase at work.
The main event has gone down as one of the most controversial in the history of the WWE. Goodness knows how much heat was generated as a result of the outcome. Sgt. Slaughter was the kind of heel that was hated by the fans that much, that his life was threatened for real. Consequently, Slaughter used to wear a bullet proof vest during his matches. The Ultimate Warrior's popularity had reached its peak when he was given the heavyweight title. He and Slaughter had had many house matches, with the latter wrestler winning most of them. The Rumble match had garnered a good deal of publicity and marketing and I reckon the results lived up to it. Macho King Randy Savage and Queen Sherri make an unwelcome appearance during the proceedings. Earlier in the P.P.V, the Macho King had made a challenge to wrestle the Warrior for the title. I will give you two guesses as to what the Warrior's answer was!
Roddy Piper did a very good job in commentating with Gorilla Monsoon, they complimented each other.
This Royal Rumble event is a solid example of how great the WWE was at this point.
Review of Royal Rumble
