7 Things You Should Know About WWE Royal Rumble 1989
Hogan eliminated Savage? That's trouble.
The 1989 Royal Rumble was a historic show because it was the first time the Rumble was a pay-per-view show. The previous year's Rumble was a three hour event on USA Network that was done as a counter to an NWA PPV on the same night. After the success of that show in 1988, WWE decided to make it an annual PPV event. With the launch of the Rumble as an annual January PPV event, it meant that WWE would have four standard PPVs every year with the Rumble starting the year off, then WrestleMania in late March or early April, SummerSlam in August and Survivor Series in November. They became known as the "big four" events in the WWE year until King of the Ring started in 1993 and monthly PPVs began in 1995. The WWE Champion going into the show was Randy Savage, who held the title for nearly ten months at this point. Most Royal Rumble PPVs don't have the WWE Champion in the actual match, but since this was only the second Rumble they were still trying to figure it out. Plus, Savage's involvement was critical, which we'll get to later. The 1989 Royal Rumble took place in Houston, Texas on January 15, 1989. Here are the results from that show. 1. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan & The Hart Foundation d. The Rougeau Brothers & Dino Bravo 2. Women's Title: Rockin' Robin d. Judy Martin Super Posedown Between The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude 3. Haku d. Harley Race 4. Big John Studd won the Royal Rumble Here are seven things you should know about the 1989 Royal Rumble.