Customer Reviews

WWE Royal Rumble - The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1988 - The beginning of a traditon here as this was the first Rumble in WWF history as a special on USA network. This Rumble only featured 20 men which Hacksaw Jim Duggan became the first winner of the event. Ricky Steamboat fought Rick Rude, two sets of 2 out of 3 falls matches featuring a rare title defence of the Womens Tag Team Championship between the Jumping Bomb Angles & Glamour Girls along with Young Stallions vs. Islanders. Other highlights included the Hogan/Andre II contract signing & Dino Bravo setting a new bench press record.

1989 - This first Rumble on PPV which had the match go to it's normal format of 30 men instead of the previous 20. Big John Studd returned to the WWF in a big way by winning the Rumble which featured such highlights as Demolition members Ax & Smash drawing the first two numbers and confrontation between Hogan & Savage after Savage was eliminated by Hogan. There was also a 2 out of 3 falls match between Hart Foundation/Jim Duggan vs. Dino Bravo/Rougeau Brothers, a match for the title of "King Of Wrestling" between King Haku & Harley Race, a bodybuilding contest between Rick Rude & Ultimate Warrior, and the Womens Champion Rockin' Robin vs. Judy Martin. One funny thing to look out for was the story behind Ted Dibiase buying the #30 spot in the Rumble.

1990 - The first Rumble of the new decade started the tease of the dream match in WWF at that time between
Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior before Hogan would go on to win one of the best Rumbles in history. Undercard matches to look out for were Bushwackers vs. Rougeau Brothers, Brutus Beefcake vs. The Genius, a submission match between Ronnie Garvin & Greg Valentine, and Big Boss Man vs. Jim Duggan.

1991 - This was the beginning of using the Royal Rumble to kick off the "Road To WrestleMania" by starting to buildup not only their main event matches but their undercard matches as well for the biggest event of the year. Hulk Hogan won the Rumble this year while Sgt. Slaughter defeated Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Title with help from Randy Savage setting up the two WM main events. The Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase & Virgil match was just background to the long awaited Virgil turn against Dibiase setting up their match. Big Boss Man continued to battle the Heenan family members one by one as he took on Barbarian, Other matches include Rockers vs. Orient Express & Mountie vs. Koko B. Ware. One of the best overall Rumble cards in history.

1992 - For the first (and so far last) time in history, the winner of the Rumble became the World Champion. Ric Flair won this one & the WWF Title as this was one of the most entertaining Rumbles down to Bobby Heenan reacting to Flair's every move on commentary. Other highlights of this Rumble was Randy Savage getting his hands on Jake Roberts and the Hogan/Sid confrontation at the end,. The undercard featured Roddy Piper winning his first championship in WWF as he won the Intercontinental Title from The Mountie, New Foundation vs. Orient Express, Legion Of Doom vs. Natural Disasters, and Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwackers.

I was very excited to hear that WWE was releasing the Royal Rumble Anthology series in 4 separate volumes and not just as one big collection, just like they did with the all the Wrestlemainas. And this first volume, which includes the first 5 Royal Rumbles from 1988-1992, are arguably the best out of the whole Royal Rumble series. Of course, the main attraction here are the Royal Rumble matches themselves, but there are actually some really good other matches that take place as well.
And though the first Royal Rumble was decent, I have to say its the weakest one here. First off, their were only 20 participants in the original Rumble, not 30, and not featuring Hogan and Andre. I kinda felt that this first Rumble lacked star power,(the Ultimate Warrior is in this one, but gets eliminated way too easily!)And the winner of the rumble was somewhat disappointing to me. Not to mention, there are only 3 other matches that take place here, one being a woman's tag team championship match, which I fast-forwarded through about 2 minutes into the match!
The 1989 Royal Rumble was improved compared to the first, with the addition of 30 WWF superstars, rather than 20. It also included a much better array of wrestling talent with most of the best the sport had to offer like Andre, Hogan, Jake Roberts, Perfect, Macho Man, and Ted DiDiase. This Rumble is great, however,I was once again somewhat disappointed in the winner. Once again, only 3 other matches are included, one of them being a women's Championship Match, which, once again, I fast-forwarded through! Not to mention, the Super Posedown between Rude and Warrior was kinda stupid as well.
The 1990 Royal Rumble is easily my all-time favorite Rumble. Though I didn't like it when wrestlers come in and clear out the ring. The more people in the ring, the more entertaining it is to me. This is one reason some of the later Rumbles weren't as good. This rumble has all the greats in it: Hogan, Andre, Dibiase, Piper, Macho Man, Jake Roberts, Warrior, and the list goes on. The talent in this one is really what makes this one the best Rumble out of the entire series. And besides the first match between The Bushwhackers and the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, there are a couple of good matches here, included the surprisingly great Submission match between Greg Valentine and Ronnie Garvin.
The 1991 Rumble is pretty much on par with the previous Rumble, but just not quite as good. There is no Andre, Rick Rude, or Piper in it. And Dibiase is in a Royal Rumble tag team match, he's not in the Rumble itself. However, this marks the first appearance of the Undertaker in a Royal Rumble. And though the Rumble is good, I didn't care for the ending. It just felt too scripted, and just wasn't that impressive-looking. This rumble contains the notorious Sgt. Slaughter vs Ultimate Warrior match, in which the Warrior would lose the Championship belt. But my biggest complaint with this one is the commentary by Roddy Piper who's with Gorilla Monsoon. I usually like Piper as a commentator, he's just way over the top here, and the whole event itself somewhat suffer because of it.
The last Royal Rumble in this volume once again contains some of the all-time greats in the business, including for the first time, Ric Flair. And there are some good matches, like the Intercontinental Championship Match between The Mountie and Roddy Piper (who also appears in the Rumble), and the Tag Team Championship Match with Legion of Doom vs The Natural Disasters. Overall, this is a good Rumble match with a good ending. Though I gotta say I was pissed that Dibiase got eliminated so early!!
As far as packaging, there's nothing too impressive with this, but a word to the warning, if you wanna be surprised with not knowing who's coming out when, don't look too closely inside this set because it contains the a list of order of entry of each Rumble participant, as well as the superstar who stayed in the longest and who had the most eliminations!! Overall, if you like classic wresting, when it was actually worth watching, then this is a must have. Yeah, there are so crappy matches now and again and some stupid storylines, but this is wrestling, what can you expect? And like I said, this is a much better product that what Vince is putting out there now. This Royal Rumble Volume has all the all-time great wrestling characters in their prime. Again, this is a must have for real wrestling fans, and at this price, its a steal.

1988-The First Rumble ever was actually broadcast as a 2 and a half hour special on the USA Network and its only noteworthy cause its the first ever one as none of the matches are too special, but none are really horrible.

-"Ravishing" Rick Rude vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat: A few years later these two would have a great, great series of matches in WCW, but this contest certainly is a good display of great chemistry mixed with great wrestling. Steamboat worked on Rude's arm, even lifting him to the air and slamming him back down, then a couple of the classic Steamboat arm drags. Rude works on Ricky's back and neck with a reverse chin lock. Rude pulls the ref in front of Steamboat and after he recovers he DQ's Rude. 7/10.

-Next we have Dino Bravo trying to break a power lifting record, which is a pretty boring segment honestly.

-Two out of Three Falls Match for the Women's Tag Team Championship, The Glamour Girls (Champions) w/Jimmy Hart vs. The Jumping Bomb Angels: Here's a decent to good contest featuring some women who can actually wrestle though the Angels really do shine in this one. After an alley-oop the Glamour Girls take the first fall. One Angel hits a sunset flip a few minutes later and its one fall apiece. In the third fall both Angels hit a double dropkick off the top rope and make the cover to win the titles. 7/10.

-Now we have the contract signing for Hulk Hogan/Andre The Giant at the upcoming Saturday Night's Main Event, the history of this rivalry was shown through various well done video packages. The contract signing itself felt pretty big but it did go on a little long, it does expectedly end with Andre slamming Hulk's head on the table and throwing the table on him.

-The Royal Rumble Match: Bret Hart is #1 and Tito Santana is #2 and unlike future rumbles this one would only have 20 men. Its nothing too memorable, though Santana does have a decent showing as does Hart. The Ultimate Warrior does make an appearance though its nothing too noteworthy. Hacksaw Jim Duggan ends up taking this one to become the first winner in the Rumble's history.

-We have an interview with Hogan where he talks about how he's ready to take on and destroy Andre The Giant.

-Two out of Three Falls, The Islanders vs. The Young Stallions: This isn't a bad match, though Paul Roma was never much of a worker. Haku pulls down the rope and Roma hits the mat on the outside hard, the ref counts Roma out and the Islanders take the first fall. Then we have a promo from Andre about the upcoming match with Hogan and the match is resumed. The Islanders target Roma's knee and after a top rope splash on the knee, Haku locks on a single leg boston crab to take the match in two straight falls.

Since its the first its worth watching but not really more than one viewing is needed.

1989: Better than the previous Rumble, as the matches had a better flow to them and any time u have Gorilla Monsoon on commentary its elevates the matches and segments.

-Two out of Three Falls Match, Dino Bravo & The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & The Hart Foundation: The crowd was hot throughout the match and all of these guys worked very well. Nice triple team battering ram by Duggan's team, a bit later the Rougeau's hit a doomsday device type move and cover Bret to win the first fall. The Rougeau's and Dino do team up on Bret to start the second fall but he won't quit. Hacksaw nails an elbow on Ramone to even the match at one fall apiece. After a couple of minutes Hacksaw nails Dino with the 2x4 and Bret covers him to win the third fall and the match. 8/10.

-There's some pre-recorded segments where the superstars pick their numbers, a decent segment here.

-The Super Pose Down, Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude: Its a segment not a match and its funny mainly cause of Warrior's antics and this would lead to their match at Wrestlemania V a couple of months later. Since its the people's choice, Warrior of course gets the win, but Rude nails him with a steel bar and chokes him out with it and leaves the ring. Nice post segment where Warrior takes out a few officials and runs to the back to get his revenge.

-Women's Championship Match, Rockin' Robin (Champion) vs. Judy Martin: Right before Sensational Sherri makes a challenge to the winner and then the match begins, which isn't a bad one, there's some good moves by both women, though the crowd didn't seem to care. Robin hits a splash from the second rope for the win to retain her title. 5/10.

-More superstar promos hyping them being in and winning the Rumble.

-King Haku vs. Harley Race: Haku gets dumped out of his throne by Race before the match and this is basically a brawl in and out of the ring. Its not a bad match, Race does help elevate the younger Haku and it was kinda sad to see the former NWA champ at this stage of his career, though he did get some good moves in. Haku ducks a clothesline and hits a reverse thrust kick and makes the cover to win. 6/10.

-Even more superstars talking about how they will win the Rumble including Hulk Hogan.

-The Royal Rumble Match: Ax is #1 and Smash is #2, which is a good way to start it out. When Andre The Giant came in at #3, he stayed in the ring for a good while and eliminated a few men including Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Soon after Roberts comes back to the ring with his snake and Andre is so terrified he goes over the top rope eliminating himself. There is the expected face off between the Mega Powers, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage which leads to Hogan's exit from the match. The winner was #27 Big John Studd, which to me was pretty lame as Studd was never really a huge draw or any kind of fan favorite during his WWE career, in my opinion at least. I mean just a couple months later he was reduced to being a special guest referee in a match at Wrestlemania, so his victory was kinda forgotten it seemed. Not a bad rumble though.

-1990: People were excited to see this Rumble and with the face off between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior it didn't disappoint as the main event.

-The Faboulous Rougeau Brothers vs, The Bushwackers: We have the usual antics of the Bushwackers while the Rougeaus keep it wrestling based and they cut off the ring. After the Bushwackers hit the battering ram Butch makes the cover on Jacques for the win. 6/10.

-We hear from Ted DiBiase who was #30 last year and is #1 this year.

-The Genius vs. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake: Ok this match has two gimmicks that were honest to god pretty horrible even for this era. Its not really a good match as no one believed the Genius was anything other than a goof cause of his poetry he did before his matches. After the ref gets knocked out of the ring, Brutus slaps on the sleeper hold and then goes to cutting some of the Genius' hair. Mr. Perfect comes in and hits the perfect-plex and the ref comes to and calls for the DQ on both men. 4/10.

-The Heenan famliy is backstage talking about which one of them will win the Rumble, fun little interview.

-Submission Match, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin: Given how both of these men are stiff workers there are some hard shots in this match, but when each man keeps going for pinfalls instead of submissions it brings the match down a bit. Both men go after the other's legs throughout the match with some leg locks and Garvin locks on a sharpshooter and Hammer gives up. 6/10.

-Mr. Perfect is interviewed and he talks about how he's tired of Brutus Beefcake's constant hair cuts on the superstars he puts to sleep.

-Brother Love interviews both Sensational Sherri and Sapphire, which would lead to their involvement in the mixed tag match at Wrestlemania VI.

-Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. The Big Bossman: This was a straight up brawl in the ring, Duggan was his usual goofy self though he did use some good moves on the Bossman, who showed some suprising agility for a big man. Bossman uses the nightstick on Duggan but the ref sees it and calls for the DQ. 5/10. Nice post match where Duggan uses his 2x4 on Bossman and his manager Slick to get a measure of revenge.

-More promos from various wrestlers involved in the Rumble including Earthquake, Demolition, Dusty Rhodes and others.

-The Royal Rumble Match: "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase is #1, Koko B. Ware is #2 and this was a Rumble that is remembered for a couple of reasons. One is how DiBiase lasted over 40 minutes which was an amazing feat in itself and two was the showdown between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior which had the fans on their feet. This one actually helped build a few of the matches on the Wrestlemania VI card, Hogan/Warrior, Rhodes/Savage, Piper/Brown among others. Hogan ends up eliminating #30 Mr. Perfect to win the Rumble. Its a good one for sure.

1991

-The Orient Express vs. The Rockers: Great opening match as both teams worked very well together. The Rockers hit some nice double team moves including dueling suicide dives to the outside. The Express does isolate Michaels and works him over for a few minutes before the tag to Jannetty who after a few minutes hits a sunset flip and makes the cover for the win. 8/10.

-Sean Mooney interviews "Macho King" Randy Savage who basically says he's next in line for a title shot. We then go to the arena where Queen Sherri asks the Ultimate Warrior to grant Savage a title shot, in typical Warrior fashion he turns her down, which enrages Savage who comes down after Warrior walked away.

-The Barbarian vs. The Big Bossman: This was during the time when Bossman was going after the Heenan family for comments the Brain had said about Bossman's mom. Its a decent big man vs. big man match as both do display some agility and there are some hard hitting moves by both. Barbarian hits a splash off the top rope but Bossman rolls through and covers him for the 3 count. 6/10.

-Sergant Slaughter is backstage with the General and he talks about how he will defeat the Ultimate Warrior and unleash a new reign of terror on the WWE. Also an interview with Warrior where he says he will turn back Slaughter's challenge.

-WWE Championship Match, The Ultimate Warrior (Champion) vs. Sergant Slaughter: Quite a good match here as the Gulf War was going on during this time so WWE capitalized on it by turning Slaughter heel and siding him with Iraq. As for the match, it started in typical Warrior fashion as he took it too both the General and Slaughter early on. Sherri does come down, Warrior chases her and Savage blind sides him. Back in the ring Slaughter takes it to Warrior but can't keep him down. Later Savage cracks his sceptre over Warriors head, Slaughter makes the cover and wins the title much to the announcer's and the crowd's shock. 8/10.

-Koko B. Ware vs. The Mountie: Pretty much filler here, Koko gets in some good moves and almost has the Mountie beat but Mountie hits a swinging slam and picks up the win. 4/10.

-Randy Savage and Sherri are in the back being interviewed about what he did to the Warrior during the title match. They run off when Warrior starts pounding on the locker room door.

-Slaughter is interviewed saying he told everyone he would win the title and he did it.

-Some superstars talk about how they will win this Rumble, including Jake Roberts, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Kerry Von Erich, The Road Warriors and others.

-Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase & Virgil: What this was about is could Dustin hang in the ring with a veteran and the growing tension between Virgil and DiBiase. Its not a bad tag team match, though Dusty was near the end of his career, Dustin did hold his own and there was the expected miscue between Virgil and DiBiase that led to Ted beating up his bodyguard. Dusty gets rolled up and DiBiase makes the cover to win. 6/10. The aftermath is great where Virgil was basically forced to give the Million Dollar Belt to his boss, but he ended up nailing DiBiase with the belt, knocking him out and Virgil left the ring to a massive ovation.

-Hulk Hogan is interviewed and says he will win the Rumble against all odds and he will go on to face Slaughter for the title.

-The Royal Rumble Match: Bret Hart is #1 and Dino Bravo is #2, this isn't a bad rumble match Bret has a good showing but the real star was Rick Martel as he lasted 52 minutes and almost won the thing. Hogan had his usual good showing as everyone knew he would win, there was the face/off between Hogan & Earthquake as Hogan got his revenge on the man who put him out of action for months in the previous year. They actually have a decent match of their own as they are the final two and Hogan ends up throwing the big man over the top rope to win the Rumble. A good one here.

1992

-The Orient Express vs. The New Foundation: A good opener here though the Express/Rockers match from the previous year was much better to me. We got plenty of good double teaming from all the guys involved and The Foundation uses the Midnight Express' rocket launcher to make the cover and win this hard fought match. 6/10.

-Lord Alfred Hayes Recaps how Bret Hard lost the Intercontinental Championship to the Mountie two days prior to this match.

-The Mountie is interviewed and basically says regardless of how he won the title he will keep it for a long time and beat Roddy Piper.

-Intercontinental Championship Match, The Mountie (Champion) vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper: Bobby Heenan pointed out early on that Piper had never held a title in the WWE, so that combined with how The Mountie won the title two days prior you just knew Piper was gonna win. It was quite one sided, Mountie didn't get in a lot of moves and Piper slapped on the sleeperhold and Mountie passes out which gives Piper the win and the title. 6/10.

-Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Hulk Hogan who says in no certain words he will win the rumble and become the Undisputed Champion.

-The Beverly Brothers w/The Genius vs. The Bushwackers w/Jamison: Purely comedic garbage filler here, there's nothing really of note but it is at least over quick with The Beverly's winning and Jamison getting in some shots on the Genius. 3/10. Side note Bobby Heenan's commentary was gold during this.

-World Tag Team Championship Match, The Legion of Doom (Champions) vs. The Natural Disasters: Power for power here as the LOD are the smaller of two teams which was rare in their matches. Its not a bad match, good double teaming by both teams, but the countout finish does bring it down a bit, where the Disasters win but LOD retains the titles. 6/10.

-The Natural Disasters are interviewed as say they should be the champions.

-Shawn Michaels talks about how he is going solo and will win the Rumble.

-Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Ric Flair who says he will prove he's the real world's champion.

-We also get some promos from other Rumble entrants who all want to win and become the champion.

-The Royal Rumble Match: The British Bulldog is #1 and "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase is #2 and this has been called one of if not the greatest Rumble in history and with good reason as its very start studded. Bulldog, Piper (who wrestled earlier) and Shawn Michaels had good showings, but the real star of this rumble is Ric Flair who entered #3 and survived 60 minutes and tossed out the Immortal Hulk Hogan to win the Undisputed Championship. Great, great rumble here. Side note: Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon's commentary made this match even better. Also I do like how the aftermath was included with Hogan and Sid Justice facing off with the fans booing Hogan when he did his trademark poses.

This is a good set to get mainly for nostalgic purposes, the '90-'92 Rumbles are worth watching straight through even with a couple of underwhelming under card matches.

I loved it so much. Seeing The first Royal Rumble was Great because there was more than 20 years after the first one. If you haven't seen any of the The Royal Rumble Anthologys or any Royal Rumbles, you will love it so much. Peace!

I'm so glad WWE has finally released the Royal Rumble series on DVD. Well, let's get to them.

I'm only reviewing what I have seen.

Royal Rumble 1988

Ricky Steamboat Vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (RIP) - While I enjoyed this bout, both men definitely had better matches.

Leilani Kai/Judy Martin Vs. The Jumping Bomb Angels

The Royal Rumble Match - This one was only 20 men for this edition with Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Tito Santana starting the match. It was ultimately won by "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.

The Young Stallions Vs. The Islanders

This event also featured 2 non wrestling segments:

Dino Bravo's bench press and the contract signing between Hulk & Andre.

While not one of my favorites, I found the contract signing memorable. It's recommended as it's part of rich history.

Royal Rumble 1989

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan & The Hart Foundation Vs. The Rogeuos Brothers & Dino Bravo (2 out of 3 Falls) - Good opener. All men worked hard.

"Ravishing" Rick Rude/The Ultimate Warrior engaged in a "Super" posedown- I don't know who was right to win this & I personally never cared for pose downs.

Rockin' Robin Vs. Judy Martin (WWE Women's Title Match)

Harley Race Vs. Haku (Battle For The Crown)

This was the first time the Royal Rumble match had 30 men & it was that way till 2011. Some notable moments: the then WWE Tag Team Champions Demolition facing each other as numbers 1 and 2, the end of The Megapowers (Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage) & the beginning of their eventual explosion leading to their WM5 showdown!

Royal Rumble 1990

The Rougeous Brothers Vs. The Bushwackers

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake Vs. Lanny "The Genius" Poffo

Ron Garvin Vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan Vs. The Big Bossman (RIP)

A great Royal Rumble match that was action packed. Names such as Ted DiBiase, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, a noticeably young Shawn Michaels, Rick Martel, Tito Santana, The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant (who I could tell was not the same man he was as his health problems caught or were catching up to him), and Randy Savage (The Macho King era) Everyone was waiting for the Warrior/Hogan confrontation & it was just a little preview of their memorable WM6 match. I wished their Rumble confrontation was longer & it should've been just those 2 alone in the ring for a while.

Royal Rumble 1991

The Rockers VS. The Orient Express - A great tag team match IMO.

The Big Bossman Vs. The Barbarian

The Ultimate Warrior Vs. Sgt. Slaughter(WWE Title Match - Warrior lost thanks to a memorable attack by Randy Savage, wo was irate that Warrior said no to Sherri earlier in the night.

Dusty & Dustin Rhodes Vs. Ted Dibiase/Virgil - The aftermath is more memorable than the match itself. It was something that was teased for a while & everyone finally got what they waited for.

The Undertaker made his debut in this year's Rumble match. But while he was an imposing and dominating force, he was not the man he was till he was paired with Paul Bearer. Honestly, that was the real highlight for me, other than Jake Roberts getting Rick Martel.

Also, something that was missing from the 1994 Rumble DVD, the pre-match comments were included & they were good.

Royal Rumble 1992

The Orient Express Vs. The New Foundation - Great match. But I enjoyed the Rockers/Orient Express from the previous year a bit more. What would've been nice if they were added to make it a 3 way.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Vs. The Mountie (WWE I-C Title Match) - I think this was the first time Roddy won a singles Title & the I.C. Title was the only singles Title or only Title ever that he held I believe.

The Beverly Brothers Vs. The Bushwackers

The Legion Of Doom Vs. The Natural Disasters (WWE World Tag Team Title Match) - While I love both teams, I couldn't get into this for some reason. LOD really carried their opponents.

Just like the 1991 dvd, the 1992 dvd also featured what was IMO, a much more better & memorable pre-match comments from Macho Man ("OH YEAH! The Royal Rumble. The single greatest wrestling event & match EVER in the history of the World Wrestling Federation. Competition, yeah, against the greatest wrestlers in the world. And only ONE MAN can win the prestigious World Wrestling Federation Championship belt. I've won it before. I;ve been there before. I'VE BEEN TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN! And I'm goin back. I;m goin back this afternoon. Two things I wanna accomplish this afternoon, yeah. NUMBER ONE, sometime I wanna get my hands on the Snake Man & the other thing is, yeah, I WANNA ONCE AGAIN BE THE WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPION! OH YEAH! DIG IT!") , Sid ("You are lookin at the next World Wrestling Federation Champion. You are looking at Sid Justice."), Repo Man (Cause remember, what;s mine is mine and what's yours in mine too.") (Repo Man was known as Demolition Smash the years before 1992), Jake Roberts (They say you can't always get you want. But I've always been able to get what I need.") Bulldog, Flair ("For me, there is no back door!"), Taker ("And standing atop this mass carnage will be The Undertaker crowned once more World Wrestling Federation heavyweight Champion."), and Hogan.

The 1992 Royal Rumble was one of my most favorites! IMO, Taker had a better showing here. He should've won since he was really screwed out of his first Title reign & never got a rightful one on one match, something Hogan DID have just 6 days later. Taker should've went after Tunney for that! The least they could've done is have Hogan enter BEFORE Taker and/or have Taker eliminate him. You have to see Macho Man's sprint to the ring & Flair's emotional interview after the match! Another WM match was set up here at the end. This was special since it's the only time the WWF Title was on the line. Since Taker, Hogan & Flair were the main parts of the Title picture, they should have been the last 3.

Recommend this for the 1991 & most especially 1992 Royal Rumble matches i nothing else. Multiple viewings for
1990: Hulk/Warrior confrontation
1991: Rockers vs Orient Express, Randy's attack on the Warrior, Hulk/Savage confrontation
1992: ENTIRE Royal Rumble Match (including the pre-match comments & Flair's post-match comment)

This set is awesome! I relived my youth with this set! This is what you call history! The old school wrestlers doing their best work! This is when wrestling was debated as being real or fake. unlike today when we know it is scripted and choregraphed. The Royal Rumble is still the best PPV of the year along side Wrestlemania!

As a child, I was a little "Hulkamaniac" through and through, watching all the videos, buying all the accessories, and cheering on the Hulkster at every opportunity. Basically, from 1990-1996, I was a die-hard WWF fan in every sense of the word.

Of course, as children, our perception of professional wrestling differs so much from what it is now. For example, as a kid I was completely enthralled by every dramatic plot turn, character twist, and roundhouse right. Now, I look back at the whole show as a sort of comedy...you know it's fake, but it's just too much fun to not get sucked in again!

Thus, this set was a welcome little stroll down memory lane for me, as it allowed me (at least for a time) to be that bright-eyed little kid again who would scream his lungs out for Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. This DVD collection contains the first five (1988-1992) of the "Royal Rumble" events that are put on annually on the wrestling calendar. To me, it is the best event of the bunch, as the humor and uniqueness of the Rumble itself (in areas ranging from the actual wrestling, to the character angles, to the announcing booth) makes it imminently watchable even when the preliminaries are (at times) excruciatingly boring.

It is also interesting to see how the Royal Rumble event changed over time (even in these formative years) from strictly a vehicle building up to Wrestlemania to an event that can more than hold its own on the event schedule. Unlike other events (Wrestlemania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series, etc.) that might be hit-or-miss due to down times in Vince McMahon's business (e.g. the downslide of Hogan's dominance), the Rumble is always at least interesting due to the free-for-all main event.

So, if you remember the countless hours you spent as a child watching those old "wrestling videos", this collection will provide you hours of entertainment! Some of the events are better than others, but all will bring back a flood of memories for you to enjoy.

1988: This was a poor outing for the Royal Rumble. Everything was just not that great. The first match between Ricky Steamboat and Rick Rude may have been the best match on the card. It wasn't like their WCW matches but it was still a good match nonetheless. The Dino Bravo weightlifting competition was just a complete waste of time. Here was Dino trying to break some kind of benchpress record and it was like 15-20 minutes of complete boredom. The women's title match between the Glamour Girls and the Jumping Bomb Angels was a pretty good match and a throwback to the days of old with a 2 out of 3 fall stipulation. Then came the Andre/Hulk Hogan contract signing and again was a waste of time. This could have been saved for Superstars or some other show. The Royal Rumble was next and was pretty good. It only had 20 men, not the standard 30 of today's standards, and they entered the ring every 1 minute not every minute and a half or 2 minutes by today's standard. Jim Duggan won and that was about it. The main event was brutal to watch. Here you have the Islanders against the Young Stallions (Jobbers). It also was 2 out of 3 falls but was just a nothing match. All in all this was a god awful event that I would have to give one star!

1989: This event was an ok Rumble, definatly better than the previous one from 1988. The opener was a 2 out of 3 fall match between Dino Bravo and the Rougeau Brothers against Jim Duggan and the Hart Foundation. This match was really good and maybe the best match on the card. The next match was kind of a waste of time between the Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude. It was a posedown match. They just posed for a few minutes and then Rude attacked the Warrior. Unlike the Dino Bravo weightlifting challenge from 1988, this did have a point and set up for a great showdown at Wrestlemania 5. Up next was women's title match between Judy Martin and Rockin Robin. This match was not that great and again kind of a waste of time. The next match was King Haku against Harley Race. I thought this match was going to be great but instead was another waste of time. Last was the Rumble match. Here they added the 30 men and the 2 minute entrances. I liked this Rumble from start to finish. It started with Ax against Smash and they did go at it. Andre the Giant was 3rd. We even saw Hogan and Savage get in each other's faces setting up a showdown at Wrestlemania 5. The only problem with this Rumble is the winner was John Studd. I think this was a poor choice to have win the Rumble. He had never really done anything in the WWE and now they give him this win. Poor decision to me. All in all this was an ok Rumble that I would give two stars!

1990: Again this was an ok event. The match selection just wasn't that great and the execution of those matches was downright awful. The opener was the Rougeaus against the Bushwackers. This was a awful match as any match with Luke and Butch in it turned out to be. I have to tip my hat to the Rougeaus for trying to make a great match but it just didn't happen. Up next was the Genius against Brutus Beefcake. This match was ok but not great. Next was the submission match with Ron Garvin and Greg Valentine. This match was so stupid to watch it made me sick. It is a submission match and here these 2 are trying to pin each other! What in the world is up with that? It just made these 2 look like complete morons. Next was Big Bossman against Jim Duggan. Again another dud in the mix. Last was the Rumble match and this was the best match on the card with Hulk Hogan winning the whole thing. Definatly the moment that everyone will remember is the showdown between Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior that set up their epic encounter at Wrestlemania 6. All in all this Rumble was ok and I would have to give it two stars!

1991: This was a really good Rumble from start to finish. The opener was again maybe the best match on the card as the Rockers took on the Orient Express. This was great tag team wrestling at its best and I was always a fan of the Express version of Tanaka and Kato. This match delivered. Next is the Big Bossman against Barbarian. I liked this match for one reason: Barbarian. I have always been a huge mark for this guy and I don't know why. This was a good match. Next was a suprise match between Sgt Slaughter and the Ultimate Warrior for the world title. This was a standard Warrior match but the suprise was Warrior losing the title to Slaughter thanks to interference by Randy Savage setting up their epic match at Wrestlemania 7. Next was a dud match between Mountie and Koko B. Ware. This was a ok match and just did not deliver. Up next was Ted DiBiase and Virgil against Dusty and Dustin Rhodes. I thought this match would be good by was not that great. There was just no chemistry there with these 4 guys. The best was the ending when Virgil turned on his boss setting up their match at Wrestlemania 7. Lastly was the Rumble which Hulk Hogan won once again. This was another good Rumble match. One of the things to really watch here was Greg Valentine and Rick Martel racing to set the Rumble record. Valentine lasted for over 40 minutes and Martel, a very underrated wrestler, lasted for a full 52 minutes. That is well worth seeing. All in all this was the first real good Rumble that the WWE put on and I would have to give this one 4 stars!

1992: Another very good Rumble from start to finish, with the finish being lined with gold. The opening match was Orient Express against the New Foundation. This was another really good opening match and was almost the best match on the card once again. Up next was Mountie defending the Intercontinental title against Roddy Piper. This was a real short title match (not even 6 minutes) and ended with Piper winning his one and only WWE title. Next was a yawn match with Beverly Brothers and the Bushwackers. Nothing to talk about her just boredom. The next one was the Natural Diseasters against the LOD. I thought this match was an ok, not great but ok. Lastly, was the Rumble match with the winner receiving the world title. This was a great Rumble, maybe the best of all time. A who's who was in this match including: Ted DiBiase, Davy Boy Smith, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kerry Von Erich, Roddy Piper, Undertaker, Randy Savage, Sgt Slaughter, Hulk Hogan and even Sid. This was a great Rumble with Flair winning it all and the title by entering number 3 and lasting for a little over 60 minutes. All in all this was a good Rumble and I would give this one 4 stars!

This collection of DVDS is great because it has the first set of Royal Rumble events, that came aout in the late 80's and early 90's, it has great matches, but the best part as the box says it's the ROYAL RUMBLE, especially the ones from 1989, 1990, and 1991.
If you were a Hulkamaniac in that period you are going to love this set.

Enjoy.

The Royal Rumble has always been my favorite PPV that the WWE (WWF) puts on. It's always been such a unique match and the PPVs generally have a solid under-card as well. What makes these early Royal Rumbles even better is the fact that with so many entries, you get to see pretty much every wrestler on the roster. So no matter who liked 20 years go in the WWF(E), chances are good he'll show-up some place on here.

1988 - The first Rumble, and (shockingly) this is a really good show. The infamous angle when Dino Bravo "set" the world bench-press record is here along with a Rick Rude/Ricky Steamboat less-than-classic (but still good), and a 2 out 3 fall women's tag title match. The Andre "The Giant"/Hulk Hogan contract signing comes off as something that you would see on Raw (not shocking since this Rumble was actually on USA, not PPV). The Rumble only features 20 wrestlers, but was very solid especially when you consider this had never been done before. The show ends with The Islanders taking on The Young Stallions in another 2 out 3 falls match. In sort of an awkward moment after the first fall, when they cut away from the match and have an interview with The Giant as The Islanders just stand in the ring in the background waiting for the match to continue.

1989 - The Rumble's first PPV appearance. The card starts out with a 6 man tag 2 out of 3 falls match (for those keeping track at home - this is the 4th regular match to appear on a Royal Rumble dating back to last year and 3 of the 4 have been tag team 2 out of 3 falls matches). This one features Hacksaw and The Hart Foundation taking on Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. Then we get the ultra-amazing "Super Pose Down" between Rude and the Ultimate Warrior (sure the Pose Down was insanely corny, but this type of thing totally summed up the WWE back then). A women's title match and a weird heal vs. heal showdown between Harley Race and Haku over the "king" title conclude the under card. The Rumble itself was great - the WWE clearly had a much better idea on how to pull this off and it showed. By the way, on all of these Rumbles we get the original interviews with the wrestlers - it's almost worth the price right there to see those.

1990 - Another solid Rumble. The best match on the under-card was a surprisingly decent "submission" match between Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. There's also a Brother Love segment, Brutus "The Barber' Beefcake takes on The Genius, and Hacksaw/Big Boss Man match. The Royal Rumble itself was again good. The most notable moment is when Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior squared off briefly (setting the stage for Wrestlemania 6). Also, a very young (and very skinny) Tony Schiavone is the play-by-play man.

1991 - This is probably my favorite Royal Rumble on this set. Lots of exciting things happening - The Mountie debuts (I guess that's exciting), Virgil leaves DiBiase, Warrior loses the title to Sgt. Slaughter, and a great Rockers/Orient Express match. The wrestlers have the Rumble match down to a science at this point. The only drawback is Jesse "The Body" is no longer the color commentator and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan hasn't taken over yet, so we are stuck with Piper (who's ok, but not nearly as good as the other two).

1992 - This is one of the more famous Rumble matches due to the fact that the winner is named the WWE Champion. The Rumble match is exciting, but the other matches are just brutal. We have three tag matches (none of which are classics) and a short Intercontinental Title match pitting The Mountie (who, apparently, had just won the title two days before) against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

Overall this set is a great buy - the price is cheap, and you get hours of memories and entertainment.