The Royal Rumble; an experience that every wrestler wants. They want to show the world that they're worthy of headlining WrestleMania (more on that later). It's every man for himself. No friends, only enemies. And in the year 1988, we are treated to the Royal Rumble event, but not on Pay Per View, but on USA network (kinda odd, but whatever). Was this a smart move for Vince McMahon to make an event like this on Cable TV instead of Pay TV? The answer to this question is...kind of. One plus to this concept is that we, the viewers, get an event like this free (you know what I mean). One negative is that it does feel odd for an event like this not to be on Pay Per View (after all, if Survivor Series and WrestleMania III were on Pay TV, why wasn't this)? Were there any highlights? The answer is yes. The opening match between Rick Rude and Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat was very solid. Both performers did very well, but the ending was rather flat and uninteresting. Another highlight was a women's tag team match for the women's tag team titles (the TNA Knockouts Tag Title's got nothing on this). Like mentioned before, women's wrestling was rare, and giving them time to perform was a sight to be seen, and a 2 out of 3 falls match? Well, semi common, but the match was fun to watch. With all the good, let's take a look at the bad. The first bad part was the bench-pressing record attempt by Dino Bravo. It was completely pointless, unfitting, and ate up a lot of time (despite that Dino Bravo's gimmick did him more good than harm). Another bad part was the contract signing for the WrestleMania III rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, but this segment was the lesser of two evils. With Ted DiBiase being in the WWF for a few months, both Andre and Ted played their gimmicks very well, but the segment went on for too long, and the ending was really predictable. Not a bad segment, but maybe making it shorter would've been better. What about the Royal Rumble match itself? Was it any fun to watch? To my surprise, it was interesting. 20 (back then, now it's 30 men (with the exception of the 2011 Royal Rumble, which had 40)) of the top WWF superstars in a massive free for all to determine the winner (won't spoil the winner, unless you wiki the event). A better concept than the survivor series match, and far more entertaining. Overall, on a scale of 1 to 5, this event gets a 3.5 out of 5. Make sure to check out the next review: WrestleMania IV.
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AuthorI am a videographer, producer and director. I have a YouTube and Twitch channel. I also have a graduate with a degree in Graphic Design from UWEC. Archives
November 2023
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