Royal Rumble (1991) Online

*SPOILERS*



I gave this one the first 10 I've given for any WWF show. All matches were just great. Keep in mind, the obligatory Koko B. Ware putting over debuting heel (in this case, the Mountie) match is not on the video. I'm sure it was nothing special, besides one of Koko's great dropkicks.

The Rockers-Orient Express opener was just great, lasting nearly 20 minutes. The action never lets up, and there are several very inventive spots. The end is quite original. Amazingly, this was the Rockers' first pay-per-view win ever, from their debut at the '88 Survivor Series.

The Warrior-Slaughter match was at its best at the outset, when the Warrior beat the stuffing out of him and tortured him with the Iraqi flag. Did you know that Slaughter had to wait until 3am to leave the arena?

I think I remember Virgil's turn the most. This feud would not have been as good had it not been for Piper's involvement.

The battle royal was the best ever. That includes Ric Flair's performance the year after. This one didn't depend on just one performance, because it had several, including two Iron Men, Greg Valentine and Rick Martel. Valentine had one elimination, while Martel collected several over the course of the match. Earthquake is an overlooked participant, and the British Bulldog got an immediate push, eliminating Haku, Martel, and I-C champ Mr. Perfect. He would spend the next 19 months in mediocrity. I guess the bookers forgot that Jim Duggan had won a Rumble before and made him mail it in.

Royal Rumbles always tended to lose steam about the 30- or 40-minute mark, but this one never let up on the action. There were still oodles of men in the ring when Tugboat, number 30, came in. That and a great undercard make this the best Rumble in history.

**spoilers ahead**

If you are a fan of endurance and longevity like I am, then you'll absolutely love this show, preferrably the royal rumble match. While all the regular matches on the card were exciting and entertaining (especially the opening Rockers/Orient Express bout), obviously, none could compare to the 30-man (actually 29-man), over-the-top-rope contest at the end of the show. It is fantastic. Non-stop action and excitement for well over an hour.

Some of the interesting spots in the rumble include the Undertaker (no tattoos), who debuts in his very 1st royal rumble match, and is led to the ring by Brother Love, Rick Martel faking eliminations left and right throughout the battle, and, oh yes, the incredible endurance shown by almost 2-dozen of the participants. I'm not giving away the names, but there were a total of twenty wrestlers involved in the match who ended up remaining inside the ring for ten minutes or more. It's just incredible how there were so many, my goodness. There were also ten wrestlers who lasted twenty minutes or more, and an amazing five guys that lasted for at least 30 or more. Now that's what I love, a true rumble match. In royal rumbles, there are usually two wrestlers that get remembered, the one who wins, and the one who lasts the longest. But in this case, in this show, you can forget about that. It's just brilliant.

Some other interesting and exciting spots in the show: The entire Rockers/Orient Express match, it certainly was a terrific opener with lots of high-flying crowd-pleasing action, Virgil's face turn from that "heel" the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, the Sensational Sherri/Ultimate Warrior segment....Hell, even the Big Boss Man/Barbarian match was interesting. I loved the entire show, and I will continue to watch it over and over and over again. It is certainly one of my favorites of all time in the Royal Rumble catalog, but nothing could or will ever top the 1992 edition. Thank you.

here it is....this was the first pay per view that I ever saw...its not the best card or anything..its not even the best Rumble ever...but there are certalny some historical stuff here.....it has a very good Rockers vs Orient Express match, fast paced and very well done....Boss Man vs Barbarian is a pretty good power match in its own right...the infamous Sgt. Slaughter world title win (he was supporting Iraq at the time and it was during the Gulf War..and I admit I was pullin for him back then...prolly the only sixth grader in american goin for the Iraqi sympatheizer) it had Virgils' classic face turn...where he hits Ted Dibiasie with his own Million Dollar Belt...it was great...and the Rumble itself...pretty entertaining brawl over all...and it had an Iron Man like performance from one of my all time favorites....Rick Martel who lasts damn near an hour...in the end that bald son of a b*tch Hulk Hogan won yet again...over all it was a decent card...and for me...its a true classic....I dont watch wrestling anymore....the early 90s was when I was truly a fan...it might be popular now....but I miss the old days..well, thats all I have to say right now....today made 10 years since I saw it the first time....i'll never forget this event thanks for reading

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?

Here are the matches...

The Rockers vs The Orient Express: This was probably the best match these two tag teams ever had and certainly the best match of the night. Almost perfect choreography featuring some nice touches (examples being the 'accidental' bumps Kato and Tanaka take when they collide into each other and the excellent Shawn Michaels spot where he drops into the belt the Express attempt to double-clothesline him with and makes them clash into each other). The match ends in excellent fashion when Jannetty rolls up Tanaka after failing a slingshot/chop combination tag team move. An inspired start. 9/10

The Bigbossman v Barbarian: This was building up to Wrestlemania 7 as Bossman systematically defeated The Heenan Family and Barbarian was his next and biggest challenge. The match was watchable but quite slow (probably because Bossman was ensnared in the bear-hug for too long and given too much time to do the clichéd heroic comeback). Not bad in itself but probably better watched in fast-forward. 5/10

Ultimate Warrior v Sgt Slaughter for the WWF world title: You can forget about wrestling in this one as it is fuelled by controversial events. Warrior gets first blood by assaulting Slaughter after breaking the Iraqi flag and ripping it up. I find it odd that Ultimate Warrior is used in this patriotic way as his character hails from Parts Unknown, presumably from another planet. Warrior then starts choking Slaughter with the flag, forcing it in his mouth. Slaughter bumps for Warrior until 'Machoking' Randy Savage's manager Sherri comes to the ring (Warrior refused Savage a title shot if he kept the title). Warrior chases Sherri down the aisle only to get ambushed by Savage on the way to the back, dropping a spotlight stand on him. The fans urge Warrior on as he makes a desperate crawl back towards the ring. Slaughter takes control and puts Warrior in the camel clutch. Warrior gets out of it and starts to make a comeback, gorilla pressing an invading Sherri onto a returning Savage outside the ring with a lot of force. Savage gets the last laugh by smashing his sceptre in Warrior's face allowing Slaughter to get the pin. The fans were hot for this all the way through and the antics by Savage had an intensity about them. This wasn't much of a wrestling match (scores 3) but great story-telling throughout, a genuinely surprising ending, a set up match for Wrestlemania and commentators Gorilla Monsoon and 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper sell the action like Slaughter committed murder (scores 8). 5/10

Koko B Ware vs The Mountie: For a squash match against Koko this was given far too much time and it looked like both men didn't really know what to do with the time they were given. Mountie stalls quite a bit and throws Ware to the outside twice. Ware does a lot of arm flapping but completes a half-decent dropkick from the top rope and a bodycross. However, Mountie bests him with what looks like The Bossman Slam. In the Colloseum Video version this match was removed. Luckily in this case you truly haven't missed anything. 3/10

Dusty and Dustin Rhodes v 'Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase and Virgil: Dusty Rhodes's feud with Dibiase started at Summerslam 1990. Pacing here was quite choppy to start as Dibiase was stalling the match, showing his dominance over Virgil and often scolding him if he messed up. During the match, Dustin got injured and Dusty got rolled up by Dibiase, distracted by concern for his son. This would spell the end of Dusty's often ridiculed run with the WWF and both father and son would later go to WCW. After the match, 'manservant' Virgil after 3 years of waiting on Dibiase hand on foot finally rebels and wallops Dibiase with The Million Dollar Belt becoming a face. The crowd went absolutely crazy! I'll give it 4/10 for the match and 8/10 for the aftermath so I'll make it 5/10).

Royal Rumble 1991: The theme of the night was endurance and a celebration of the mid-carder. Paul Roma from 'Power and Glory' and The Undertaker almost lasted 15 minutes. Hulk Hogan, Mr Perfect, 'Crush' and 'Smash' of Demoliton and Earthquake lasted over 15 minutes, Bret Hart of Hart Foundation, Shane Douglas and Texas Tornado lasted over 20 minutes (remember Tornado did this on one foot!). Tito Santana and Hercules lasted over 30 minutes but the old-timers were Greg Valentine who entered at number 3 lasting almost 45 minutes beating Ted Dibiase's record the year before and then Rick 'The Model' Martel (wrestler of the night without a doubt) at number 6 bettered Valentine again by lasting over 50 minutes. Some Rumble highlights include Greg Valentine starting his face turn by turning on Dino Bravo, Jake Roberts chasing Rick Martel around the ring, Legion of Doom eliminating an impressive Undertaker and the start of a character turn by Tugboat who almost eliminates Hulk Hogan. Bushwhacker 'Butch' lasts a laughable 4 seconds entering the ring from one end and leaving the other. Interestingly, these wrestlers looked like they were at war, desperately doing anything they could to survive and a sharp contrast to the almost feather-like quality wrestlers have today who seem to springboard over the top rope to get eliminated far too easily.

Hulk Hogan was the obvious choice to win the contest after dedicating it to the armed forces in the Persian Gulf and I'm happy with a bit of predictability now and then. Hogan eliminated 6 people before finally hoofing Earthquake over from behind to win making his second Royal Rumble win in succession.

It makes you wonder how much better this rumble would have been if 'Machoking' Randy Savage showed up at number 18! Royal Rumble 1991 is often overlooked but it does have some real history to it, a wonderful opener, a crazy WWF title match and a feel-good Rumble.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

The 1991 Royal Rumble was a decent card. As always the main event stole the show (as a main event should do). The undercard was good as well.

The high-flying Rockers fought the lightning quick Orient Express in a brilliant tag team match. Old enemies The Barbarian and Big Boss Man had one of their most brutal matches in which both men must have broken at least one bone. Dusty and Dustin Rhodes fought The Million Dollar Man and Virgil in a decent match.

The Ultimate Warrior defended his WWF Title against Sgt. Slaughter, a character who was supposed to be an Iraqi supporter. Most fans hated seeing Slaughter win considering the Gulf War was going on at the time.

The Rumble was fantastic. The fearsome Undertaker who had made his debut two months earlier came in and started eliminating stars until he was eliminated by The Legion of Doom. The underrated Rick Martel lasted a long time in the match and took a few blows. And who can forget Hulk Hogan? Hogan won the Rumble after last eliminating his arch-enemy Earthquake. Hogan was as patriotic as they come and considering the Gulf War was going on at the time the fans genuinely loved seeing Hogan win.

Quite good indeed!

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.

The 1991 Royal Rumble was partly remembered for the rather controversial heavyweight title match between The Ultimate Warrior and Sgt. Slaughter. The latter wrestler was receiving a lot of heat, on account of being a sympathiser for Saddam Hussain. Equally, the ending of the title match was a bit controversial. The Ultimate Warrior was worthy of being given the title and should have held it again. I love the matches with The Rockers vs. The Orient Express and The Big Boss Man vs. The Barbarian. Both matches are exciting and have genuine name value. Ah the good old days of the WWE! The tag team match with Ted DiBiase and Virgil vs. Dusty and Dustin Rhodes was OK if a bit limited. Watch carefully and you will see a few security guards rush off in the direction of someone who threw a drinks carton that landed on DiBiase's back! The Rumble event is one of the best I've ever seen and it's also one of the longest. Clocking in at 65 minutes, the action has to be good in order to be that long. Luckily, it is brilliant. There are some wrestlers who never made another PPV appearance, like Saba Simba (what happened to him?) and Shane Douglas. The Rumble event marks the first appearance for the likes of The Undertaker, Legion of Doom and Tugboat. This is how American wrestling should be: plenty of great characters, good workers and fun that the whole family can enjoy!

Live from Miami, FL

Attendance: 16,000

The Rockers Vs The Orient Express

The Rockers win. This was a fantastic opener. It was innovative, creative, and downright exciting. These two have always had good chemistry with each other. This was revenge for The Rockers after losing to The Orient Express at Wrestlemania 6.

**** out of 5

Randy Savage says Sensational Sherri is gonna bait The Ultimate Warrior into giving Savage a title shot. Sherri begs The Warrior to come out and accept her challenge. She says Sgt. Slaughter has agreed to give Macho a title shot. He thinks Warrior is yellow from the top of his head, all the way down to his toes. Sherri asks Warrior if he'll give Savage a title shot if Warrior retains the title tonight. Sherri tries seducing The Warrior by touching his chest, teasing about kissing him. Warrior spits at Sherri and yells NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO at her. Savage runs out to try to get The Warrior, but he's gone.

Big Bossman Vs The Barbarian

Bossman wins by reversing the momentum from a cross body. This was shockingly a good match. They both worked extremely hard and there were several exciting near falls. I'm not kidding. This is a solid match, considering how big both men are. Give it a chance.

**3/4 out of 5

Sgt. Slaughter says puke this, puke that, Ultimate Puke this, blah, blah, blah. Basically, he's gonna win the WWF title from Ultimate Warrior tonight. The Warrior cuts one of his nonsensical, yet entertaining promos.

WWF Champion

Ultimate Warrior (C) Vs Sgt. Slaughter

Slaughter wins the title after Savage breaks a glass scepter over The Warrior's face. The crowd is ANGRY! with loud bullsh*** chants. Not a very good match, but it had a great story to it, thanks to the emotion behind it and Savage's interference's. Slaughter was awful at this point, but he was a heat magnet. He was merely a transitional champion, but I understand why they gave the title to Slaughter.

*1/2 out of 5

Koko B. Ware Vs The Mountie

The Mountie wins, using The Big Bossman's move, ironically enough. This felt like it went on forever. It was nothing but boring filler to calm the crowd down, the crowd sensed it too, since they barely reacted.

*1/4 out of 5

We get a bunch of interviews to kill some time. They are all very entertaining.

Ted Dibiase & Virgil Vs Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes

Dibiase and Virgil win after Dibiase pins Dusty with a roll-up. Virgil turns face after the match by drilling Dibiase with the Million Dollar Belt. This was a below average match with one of the best face turns you will see. The crowd went nuts for Virgil. Shows you how amazing of a heel Dibiase was. Amazing stuff.

*3/4 out of 5

Hulk Hogan wins the Royal Rumble by Eliminating Earthquake to win it. This was a solid rumble for the most part. Bret Hart drew number 1 and went a solid 20 minutes or so. Greg Valentine was number 2 and went for over 40 minutes. He also turned face by going after Jimmy Hart. Tony Atlas returned as Saba Simba (A ridiculously bad gimmick) The Legion of Doom eliminated a dominant Undertaker. One of the Bushwhackers almost set a record for being the quickest eliminated. Rick Martel and Jake Roberts had some fun interaction. Martel broke Dibiase's record by lasting almost 60 minutes. Hogan got the biggest pop by far coming out. Even Tugboat got booed by going after Hogan. Hogan winning was the right choice, considering the Sgt. Slaughter debacle. It was good feel good moment. Overall, I enjoyed it, despite the dead weight at times.

This is a very good PPV. Aside from a couple of crappy matches, it was awesome. The Rockers and The Orient Express stole the show, Bossman and The Barbarian surprised everyone, Virgil's face turn is legendary, and the WWF was turned upside down with Slaughter winning the title. Of course, everyone goes home happy with Hogan winning. Highly recommended.

8/10

After a Rumble event the previous year that, truth be told, may have been a bit disappointing, this 1991 edition comes back with a bang!

As usual, the preliminaries fall a bit flat (this time "headlined" by perhaps the worst Heavyweight Title match in WWF history), but the main event is as hilarious and entertaining as usual. All the stars are given their time to shine, and there is a lot of overall energy to the event.

About the only negative I can say about this tape is the absence of Jesse "The Body" Ventura from the announcing booth. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper fills in as best as can be expected, but Ventura's sardonic wit is missed.

Thus, if you are looking for a great walk down memory lane, this event will do it for you!

1. Orient Express Vs. The Rockers 7/10

2. The Barbarian Vs. Big Stiff Man - What should I expect from these two? Barbarian is far better and that's is to say. BBM bites and later wins, terrible. 3/10

3. WWF World Heavyweight Championship: Sgt. Slaughter Vs. The Champ-Ultimate Idiot - Love this booking, Slaughter wins over that dumb ass Warrior! 6.5/10

4. The Mountie Vs. Koko B. Ware 5/10

5. Ted Dibiase/Virgil Vs. Rhodes Family - Dusty, please no more dance or taunting. I'm so excited of your hot body and charisma... AND Teddy thank you for your victory over half-Tone Dusty... Virgil turns on Dibiase and Piper nearly has a heart Attack... 6.5/10

6. Royal Rumble: Jake Roberts,EarthQuake,Greg Valentine, Texas Tornado, Legion of Doom (Formerly known as Road Warriors) The Undertaker, Hacksaw Jim DUggan, Rick Martel, British Bulldog, IC CHamp-Curt Henning, Tugboat, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Dino Bravo, Paul Roma, The BushFuc*ers, Hercules, Tito Santana,Jimmy Snuka, The Demolition, Shane Douglas, Haku, Jim Neidhart, Brian Knobs, Warlord, - Unbeatable Hulk wins again??!! Blah, that's impossible 5/10

Get the Piper outta commentary's table.