10 Worst WWE Booking Decisions Of The '90s (Year-By-Year)

10. 1990: Hulk Hogan Wins The Royal Rumble

As Bret Hart told, when the Ultimate Warrior won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VI, Hulk Hogan told 'the Hitman' privately that Warrior was destined to fail, and that Vince McMahon would come back to the 'Hulkster' in good time. Sure enough, that proved to be the case, as Warrior wasn’t a great draw as champion, and thus, Vince soon put the tile back on Hogan. However, if the story about the 1990 Royal Rumble is to be believed, Hogan probably made Warrior’s lack of championship success a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Before the Royal Rumble was a one-way ticket to a title match at WrestleMania, it was just a match for bragging rights, but it was still an effective way of boosting a star's profile. According to James Dixon and Justin Henry’s Titan Screwed (coincidentally, available here), Mr. Perfect was originally scheduled to win the Royal Rumble match, thus making him a credible title challenger down the line. However, Hogan apparently nixed the plan, and changed the finish so that he would win the match. Warrior’s run as champion failed because he was lacking viable opponents to draw with, and it’s likely Perfect could have been a perfect main event heel for him if he had won the Rumble. Instead, that was sacrificed so Hogan could grandstand, hot-dog, and seemingly sabotage his rival’s career.