We now enter the 90s here on these reviews, which is by far the most uneven decade in the existence of the WWF/E. Vince's company ran the gambit during these 10 years, from the end of Hulkamania to nearly going out of business thanks to WCW and the NWO to the hottest couple of years in the history of wrestling during the Attitude Era. But for right now, we focus on the build to one of the biggest matches in WrestleMania history, which begins here at the Royal Rumble.
- Tony Schivone is back on commentary for his second and final WWF pay-per-view appearance, and I thought he was definitely improved from his last time in the booth at SummerSlam. I do need to shout-out the insanely hot crowd in Orlando for this show, who were absolutely ravenous for everything the WWF had to offer and made this one of my favorite pay-per-views to watch thus far.
- We open the show with the Bushwhackers taking on the Fabulous Rougeaus in a WrestleMania 5 rematch, though that fact is never mentioned by Tony and Jesse. It's a very similar match to their last one, but at least has the benefit of a crowd that was really into it. Luke and Butch are super over on this night, getting massive pops for their gimmicky offense, especially when they start biting everyone. The Bushwhackers get the win in the Rougeaus' final pay-per-view match as a team, with Raymond retiring later in the year.
- In another fairly comedic encounter, Brutus Beefcake and The Genius fight to a double disqualification. No real interesting wrestling to be found here, but both guys are really good at working the crowd and I thought Genius brought some interesting flair to proceedings. I've never seen Lanny Poffo wrestle before, and while he's nothing compared to his brother, he at least has a good sense of how his character should act to draw the maximum heat possible. The ref gets knocked out, leading Mr. Perfect, who is beginning a short-lived alliance with The Genius, to run in and hit Beefcake with the Perfectplex.
- It's the WWF's first ever submission match, at least on pay-per-view, between "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. I can guarantee the neither of these men have ever competed in a submission match, because they seemed unable to grasp the fact that pinfalls don't count. These numbskulls spent most of the match attempting to get a 3 count, and it just became impossible to take them seriously. That being said, the action wasn't too bad, as I said at Survivor Series, I really enjoy seeing two men try their best to chop the other's skin off. Garvin using the shin pad to survive Valentine's figure four and then taunting Greg is a clip I've seen plenty of times on OSW, and it was hilarious. Garvin gets the submission with the Hammer Jammer to end an entertaining, hard hitting and very stupid match.
- In a pay-per-view edition of The Brother Love Show, Queen Sensational Sherri confronts Sapphire, the woman who was shown in the crowd cheering on Dusty Rhodes at Survivor Series. Nothing much to say about this confrontation, Sapphire isn't allowed to say anything and Sherri mostly just has fat jokes, though she does at least sound more confident on the mic than she did last year. Sapphire slaps Sherri, "Macho King" Randy Savage and Dusty himself run in, leading to Brother Love taking a bodyslam. This is all setting up for an intergender match at WrestleMania 6, so at least it had a purpose.
- Jim Duggan takes on The Big Boss Man in a match that I'll admit to mostly skipping out on. These two don't have much chemistry in the ring together and I just can't bring myself to care about Duggan at this point, who cut a woeful backstage promo earlier in the night. Boss Man is disqualified for hitting Duggan with his nightstick, and the world keeps on turning.
- Main event time, as it's the second 30 man Royal Rumble. This match was definitely superior to the '89 version, and was generally extremely well paced, with some build to 'Mania 6 thrown in for extra spice. The opening half is really good, with one big name after another entering. Ted DiBiase starts out, then after a couple minutes, you get Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart and Dusty Rhodes, as the crowd just stays at fever pitch for almost half an hour. We get plenty of storyline intrigue with Roberts and DiBiase tying up again, Bad News Brown and Roddy Piper eliminating each other and then brawling plus Rhodes tossing out Savage. The match does begin to slow down here, as the rivalry between Demoltion and the Colossal Connection(Haku and Andre) takes over. We get a classic Rumble spot when Earthquake enters, and everyone in the ring teams up to eliminate the biggest threat. Then out comes The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan, and they have a legendary staredown after clearing the ring as Orlando is about to explode from excitement. It comes down to Hogan and Mr. Perfect, who entered at #30, and of course, "The Hulkster" tosses Perfect out to win his first Rumble. While I would've loved a Perfect win, Hogan winning does at least add a ton of legitimacy to the match and he was going to get one eventually. This may not be the greatest Royal Rumble ever or anything, especially during the middle 15-20 minutes, but the opening and ending to the match are executed perfectly and it really feels like you're watching a true classic. Thumbs up.
6/10
You know, for how weak this card was on paper, this show blew my expectations out of the water. The undercard was admittedly pretty terrible, with even the best match, Valentine-Garvin, being hampered by the apparently confusing stipulation. But the Rumble was just so good, packed full of big names and future stars, continuing storylines and starting new ones and complete with one of the most legendary Rumble moments ever. The crowd in Orlando absolutely loved this show and by this point, you should realize that I always will rate an event higher if it has a hot crowd. While Royal Rumble 1990 might not be the best version of the format ever, it's well worth checking out if you haven't already.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: WrestleMania 6, featuring "The Ultimate Challenge", as Hulk Hogan defends the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior. See you soon.
- Henry
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