Royal Rumble (1990 TV Special) User Reviews

Poor undercard, good Rumble

[wwfhistoryguy · 7/10 · 5 April 2004]

*SPOILERS AHEAD*



The undercard was just pointless. One feud that no one cared about was solved as a result of a boring match. Bossman vs. Duggan was ok and would have made a good feud in retrospect, but they both were better suited for the battle royal. Duggan wins a Rumble, then spends two of them in the undercard. There was no reason for the Bushwhackers-Rougeaus match. They had already fought in a PPV, with the same result. The Rockers were wasted in the battle royal, they should have fought the Rougeaus. It would have been a good match.

I gave it a 7, because the battle royal itself was very entertaining, with plenty of high points: DiBiase breaking the Iron Man record... Demolition avenging themselves from the year before on Andre... Jimmy Snuka's surprising performance... Earthquake's showstopping elimination... The Ultimate Warrior collecting six eliminations, making up for the previous 2 Rumbles (mailing it in at the first one, boring posedown in '89)... And, of course, The Warrior and Hogan squaring off for the first time.

Definitely worth a look. Just make sure the fast-forward button works during the first four matches.

Can you hear that thunder?

[bh_tafe3 · 7/10 · 15 February 2009]

"Hogan and Warrior are the only men in the ring." And that was the iconic image of this Royal Rumble. The two hottest stars in the company standing toe to toe and then going at each other for the next couple of minutes.

The 1990 Royal Rumble was a decent show, the Rumble match itself was good enough, but the long teased match between Garvin and Valentine was the only noteworthy match on the undercard.

The night kicked off with Butch and Luke The Bushwhackers defeating the Fabulous Rougeaus Jacques and Raymond. This seemed to be quite a long match. The crowd was into the Bushwackers, who capitalised on a Rougeau mistake to hit the battering ram and Butch to pin Jacques.

Next up we have the Million Dollar Man drawing his number. DiBiase had drawn a low number in the 1989 Royal Rumble but sold it to get the No.30, but there would be no buying up this year. He drew No.1 and that's where he would be coming out.

Next up sees Brutus Beefcake, barber shears in hand, taking on Mr Perfect's ally The Genius. If Beefcake wins he gets to shave the head of the Genius. Beefcake should have won the match but the ref was unconscious. Perfect came out and hit Beefcake with the Perfect-plex. The match ended in a double disqualification.

Next up comes the biggest match on the undercard with Ronnie Garvin defeating Greg Valentine in an entertaining submission match. This match came around because Garvin had gotten Valentine disqualified in his match with Hercules at Summerslam 1989. Garvin was wearing a shin protector, making him impervious to Valentine's main submission move the figure four leglock, poking his tongue out at Valentine as he applied it. They go back and forth, it's fun stuff, Garvin wins it with a Hammer Jammer. God stuff, nice end to a nice feud.

Brother Love comes out next to interview Macho King Randy Savage's first lady Queen Sherri and Dusty Rhodes' favourite female Sapphire. Sean Mooney talks to Hacksaw about his next match with the Big Bossman, which Duggan won by DQ after being knocked out with a night stick.

We get a few words from the Rumble contestants and then it's time for the big match. Ted DiBiase came in at No.1 and became the first man to go over half hour in a rumble match, eventually getting eliminated after 45 minutes. The Ultimate Warrior came in at 21 and leveled everyone, and was joined by Hogan coming in at 25. They clear the ring and are left to go at each other. Warrior gets eliminated and it all comes down to Hogan vs Rick Rude and Mr Perfect. Perfect eliminates Rude and it's left to him and Hogan. Hogan and Perfect had recently had a high profile match at Madison Square Garden for the WWE Champinship. Perfect had won by DQ on that occasion, but this would be the Hulkster's night. He had the most eliminations with 5 and threw Perfect over to win the 1990 Royal Rumble.

So what was next for the Hulkster? Who was left? Had that brief encounter with the Ultimnate Warrior been a prelude to something bigger, like a distant thunder, or was it just a coincidence that the world seemed to stop for that brief moment? We would have to wait till Wrestlemania to find out.

A Bit Flat, But Still Entertaining

[zkonedog · 7/10 · 12 March 2017]

For fans of old-school (early 1990s) WWF wrestling, this tape will really bring back some memories. Despite falling a bit flat in the main event portion (at least compared to the 1989 edition), it is still quite entertaining to watch and features Hulkamania at its apex.

One caveat: Go ahead and skip the preliminary matches and get on with the Rumble itself. They are quite boring and only serve to advance plots forward to Wrestlemania.

Hulkamania Rules!

[Big Movie Fan · 17 May 2002]

This was the third annual Royal Rumble and like the two events before it, it had plenty of entertainment.

The undercard matches were nothing memorable but the Rumble was exciting enough. Watching the Rumble was exciting because you had the big bad WWF superstars going at it with each other. This Rumble was just as exciting. Back in the 1980's and early 1990's the WWF had a lot of giants such as Andre the Giant and The Warlord. The WWF stars of that era had muscles like ancient warriors.

(SPOILER AHEAD) Hulk Hogan won this Rumble after going through the competition like a knife through butter. When he won this event the fans were so pleased.

Great event!

Good Event but not absolutely Perfect

[paudieconnolly · 7/10 · 26 December 2020]

Royal rumble 1990 some very average early match's in this years Rumble. I don't mind that because It's always a shame when the biggest stars are not in the Rumble. This year really was a superstar filled roster 30 greats with a beautiful build that electrified the room towards Wrestlemania 6 without the fans even knowing what Wrestlemania 6 would be yet. I would loved to have seen how Jesse Ventura with Gorilla Monsoon would have called that magic moment Good year but Not a great year . Skip build watch the Rumble is the best way to see this.

A Good Show. Very Entertaining Rumble

[morantjavonte · 7/10 · 28 June 2022]

Royal Rumble 1990 Thoughts

Royal Rumble 1990 was the 3rd Annual Royal Rumble PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place at the Orlando Arena in Orlando Florida on January 21, 1990. Attendence was at 16,000 with buyrate of 260,000. Not much interesting key notes of this event aside from the traditional Royal Rumble being held for the 3rd time and a few teases of what was to come at the upcoming WrestleMania VI that was set less than 3 months after this event.

The Good - Well the Royal Rumble delivered like it should have and it was by far the match of the night as expected. It was really fun and it lacked any period of boredom. Every second of it was interesting with the crowd being on fire almost every entrant. Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior had an awesome exciting staredown of what was to be teased as a future match-up that we all know today happened at the grandest stage of them all. In the Rumble Ted DiBiase also was an incredible worker lasting over 40 minutes in that ring and looked gold. Aside from the rumble the opening match between Bushwackers and Rougeau was good. Ronnie Garvin vs. Greg Valentine was also much better than I thought it would be. They both sold each others moves well.

The Meh - Well no one really likes segments on PPVs but the tease of Savage/Dusty feud that was headed at WrestleMania with their respective managers to join in was pretty entertaining. But of course could have been saved for TV. And while Hogan winning didn't mess up anything, I feel the original winner of Mr. Perfect getting the victory would have been better. Hogan was already WWF Champion.

The Bad - The Genius vs. Brutus Beefcake was bad and it had a very stupid ending. It also didn't quite make sense for it to be a draw by DQ. Jim Duggan vs. Big Boss Man was also a crap and incredibly boring.

Overall - A fun show. The 30-Man Rumble pretty much saved a lot of this show after two negatives. It was fun and at the end was an outstanding match. The show itself while not an all time great, it delivered.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. The Bushwackers vs. The Rougeau Brothers - 3/5

2. The Genius vs. Brutus Beefcake - 1/5

3. Ronnie Garvin vs. Greg Valentine (Submission Match) - 3.5/5

4. Big Boss Man vs. Jim Duggan - 1/5

5. 30-Man Royal Rumble - 4/5

Best Match - 30-Man Royal Rumble

Worst Match - Big Boss Man vs. Jim Duggan

Most Memorable Moment - Hogan & Warrior colliding

Top 5 Performers

1. Ted DiBiase - Outstanding Performance

2. Hulk Hogan - Great Performance

3. Ronnie Garvin - Good Performance

4. Greg Valentine - Good Performance

5. Ultimate Warrior - Good Performance. Deserved a shot of main eventing after this.

Vintage American wrestling!

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 9/10 · 25 July 2017]

The Royal Rumble from 1990, is a classic event and only slightly disappointing in that 2 of the matches that took place before the Main Event failed to live up to my expectations. Hulk Hogan was being rivalled by the rise in popularity of The Ultimate Warrior in 1990 and their rivalry was highlighted during the Rumble event. I enjoyed the Main Event, it had a few twists and turns along the way. Other story angles were highlighted, such as Dusty Rhodes and the Macho King, Demolition and The Colossal Connection, Tito Santana and The Model Rick Martel. Personally, I was thrilled at who won the Rumble. It was good in seeing all those different wrestling personalities give their opinions on winning the Royal Rumble. The 2 matches I didn't like, are the tag team and singles match between Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and The Genius. Beefcake was always a limited and stiff worker and his opponent was similar, although he at least was athletic. The ending completely ruined their match. The tag team match was far too long and it took about 5 minutes to really get going. The grudge match between Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Big Boss Man was a real slug-it-out street brawl. The best match on the card by far, was the submission match where Rugged Ronnie Garvin took on Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. It is 17 minutes of wrestling joy and it built to a frenzied conclusion. I like it that bits of footage shows the different participants in the Royal Rumble, it adds to the occasion.

Another set up for Hulk...

[amanwhorocks · 5/10 · 21 June 2013]

I really like Royal Rumble Matches, but I must tell you once again: so many superstars irritates me in these times with their stupid gimmicks...

1. The Rougeau Brothers Vs. 2 Biggest idiots in pro-wrestling - Shame from the very start... And they won? Sry I can't give more. 2/10

2. Brutus "The Dement" Beefcake Vs. The Genius - Noooooooooooooooo Beefcake! This guy shouldn't wrestling. I laughed hard, when Hennig had took him with a chair:) 3/10

3. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Vs. Ron Garvin 5/10

4. Jim Duggan Vs. Big Stiff Man - Really don't like both of them. But BSM is more awful 3.5/10

5. Royal Rumble - Hulk, Macho, Honky Tonk, Hart foundation, Dusty Rhodes, Tito Santana, Dino Bravo, Akheem, Ultimate Warrior, Demolition, Rockers, Ted Dibiase, Koko B. Ware, Jake Roberts,Piper, Powers of Pain, Bad News Brown, André the Giant, Red Cock, Haku, Superboring Snuka, Earthquake, RIck Martel, Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, Hercules,.. BUt... ANother set for incredible Hulk :-/ again and again. Mr. Perfect should win ;) 6/10