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Introduction
The second ever Royal Rumble took place in Houston, Texas, and was treated a lot more like a major deal. With a lot of the biggest names of the WWE competing at the event, rather than in segments, this event was a pay per view and set up a lot of angles for Wrestlemania V. The Royal Rumble match was stacked, with the undercard quite lacking.
In the match itself, it was implied that Ted Dibiase bought the number 30 entrant from Slick, allowing Big Boss Man & Akeem to have favourable numbers. The match also had former world champions (Andre the Giant & Hulk Hogan), the current world champion (“Macho Man” Randy Savage) and current tag team champions (Ax & Smash – who drew 1 & 2).
The winner was a returning Big John Studd, who was in the midst of a face turn.
15th January, 1989
Houston, Texas
The Summit
19,000
- No Partners...30 Opponents
1:05:07
Notable Records
| Record | Individual |
|---|---|
| Winner | Big John Studd |
| Iron Men | Mr. Perfect (27:56) |
| Least time in Match | The Warlord (00:03) |
| Most Eliminations | Hulk Hogan (10) |
| Potential Winners (wrestlers in the ring after last entrant) | 8 (Big John Studd, Ted DiBiase, Akeem, Rick Martel, Barbarian, Brutus Beefcake, Hercules, Red Rooster) |
| Number of debutants | 27 (Ax, Smash, Andre the Giant, Mr. Perfect, Ronnie Garvin, Greg Valentine, Shawn Michaels, Bushwhacker Butch, Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Marty Jannetty, Randy Savage, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Hulk Hogan, Bushwhacker Luke, Koko B. Ware, The Warlord, Big Boss Man, Akeem, Brutus Beefcake, Red Rooster, Barbarian, Big John Studd, Hercules, Rick Martel, Ted DiBiase) |
| Last Rumble Appearances | 6 (Ronnie Garvin, Ron Bass, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Brutus Beefcake, Big John Studd) |
| Average Time in match | 10:40 |
| Number of individuals with at least one elimination | 56.67% |
Did You Know?
- This Royal Rumble has the highest number of debutants ever, with 27. Even more than the previous year, where all entrants were debutants. Only Jake Roberts, Tito Santana & Ron Bass returned from last year.
- This Royal Rumble had helped introduce rumble lore, allowing people to eliminate themselves (Andre the Giant) and an already eliminated competitor eliminate another wrestler (Hulk Hogan to The Big Boss Man).
- This Royal Rumble had the first time the recognised WWF Champion (Randy Savage) competed in the match.
- Big John Studd – the winner of the Royal Rumble – didn’t have a match at Wrestlemania. He refereed the match between Andre the Giant & Jake Roberts at Wrestlemania 5.
- A lot of the Royal Rumble branding was introduced in this match, with the logo that would last until 1996.
Results
| Number of Entrant | Wrestler Name | Time of Entry | Time of Elimination | Time in Match | Finishing Position | Eliminations | Eliminated By | Other Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ax | 00:00 | 14:39 | 14:39 | 27 | 0 | Mr. Perfect | Ax was the first entrant to have music playing him to the ring. All of 1988 entrants had no music. Presumably it was to show tag team partners could fight each other (Smash – the number 2 entrant – had the same music as well). |
| 2 | Smash | 00:00 | 04:58 | 04:58 | 30 | 0 | Andre the Giant | |
| 3 | Andre the Giant | 02:45 | 16:42 | 13:57 | 26 | 3 | Self |
|
| 4 | Mr. Perfect | 04:41 | 32:37 | 27:56 | 20 | 1 | Hulk Hogan | Mr. Perfect was the first entry to have a “buzzer” to notify they were coming to the ring. Andre the Giant didn’t have a buzzer. |
| 5 | Ronnie Garvin | 06:25 | 09:03 | 02:38 | 29 | 0 | Andre the Giant | |
| 6 | Greg Valentine | 08:30 | 28:23 | 19:53 | 23 | 0 | Randy Savage | |
| 7 | Jake Roberts | 10:21 | 12:30 | 02:09 | 28 | 0 | Andre the Giant | Jake “The Snake” Roberts with this entry becomes the first person to enter two different Royal Rumbles. |
| 8 | Ron Bass | 12:23 | 25:00 | 12:37 | 24 | 0 | Marty Jannetty, Shawn Michaels | |
| 9 | Shawn Michaels | 14:22 | 28:53 | 14:31 | 22 | 1 | Arn Anderson, Randy Savage | |
| 10 | Bushwhacker Butch | 16:28 | 34:43 | 18:15 | 18 | 1 | Bad News Brown, Hulk Hogan | |
| 11 | Honky Tonk Man | 18:32 | 22:45 | 04:13 | 25 | 0 | Bushwhacker Butch, Tito Santana | |
| 12 | Tito Santana | 20:21 | 33:07 | 12:46 | 19 | 1 | Arn Anderson, Randy Savage | Santana’s elimination occurred off camera, so time and eliminators are from Wikipedia. |
| 13 | Bad News Brown | 22:24 | 38:48 | 16:24 | 12 | 1 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 14 | Marty Jannetty | 24:22 | 32:14 | 07:52 | 21 | 1 | Tully Blanchard | |
| 15 | Randy Savage | 26:21 | 38:48 | 12:27 | 11 | 3 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 16 | Arn Anderson | 28:26 | 38:26 | 10:00 | 14 | 2 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 17 | Tully Blanchard | 30:24 | 38:26 | 08:02 | 15 | 1 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 18 | Hulk Hogan | 32:24 | 43:57 | 11:33 | 10 | 10 | Akeem, Big Boss Man | Hulk Hogan set the record for the most eliminations & most cumulative eliminations with this entry. |
| 19 | Bushwhacker Luke | 34:27 | 37:45 | 03:18 | 16 | 0 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 20 | Koko B. Ware | 36:26 | 37:32 | 01:06 | 17 | 0 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 21 | The Warlord | 38:40 | 38:43 | 00:03 | 13 | 0 | Hulk Hogan | |
| 22 | Big Boss Man | 40:40 | 44:59 | 04:19 | 9 | 1 | Hulk Hogan | Hulk Hogan elminated Boss man from the outside, despite being eliminated himself. |
| 23 | Akeem | 42:33 | 1:03:04 | 20:31 | 3 | 2 | Big John Studd | |
| 24 | Brutus Beefcake | 44:31 | 59:41 | 15:10 | 6 | 0 | Barbarian, Ted DiBiase | Beefcake attacked Akeem before entering the match. As both competitors were legal entrants in the match, his time is taken from then. |
| 25 | Red Rooster | 46:28 | 57:45 | 11:17 | 8 | 0 | Ted DiBiase | |
| 26 | Barbarian | 48:37 | 1:00:53 | 12:16 | 5 | 2 | Rick Martel | |
| 27 | Big John Studd | 50:51 | 1:05:07 | 14:16 | 1 | 2 | Winner | |
| 28 | Hercules | 52:28 | 59:41 | 07:13 | 7 | 0 | Barbarian, Ted DiBiase | |
| 29 | Rick Martel | 54:29 | 1:01:35 | 07:06 | 4 | 1 | Akeem | |
| 30 | Ted DiBiase | 56:46 | 1:05:06 | 08:20 | 2 | 3 | Big John Studd |
Graphs
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
Entrant Waterfall
Elimination Pie Chart
Time by Number
Eliminations by Number
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