10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1988 Facts
1. The Show Set A Cable Ratings Record For Wrestling
It wouldn't be until the Attitude Era was in full swing that WWE was able to rival this number. The lure of a Hulk/Andre confrontation, and the curiosity of the Rumble match, intrigued enough wrestling fans to make the cable experiment one worth transitioning to pay-per-view.
The 1988 Royal Rumble did an 8.2 TV rating, meaning more than eight percent of American households were tuned into something often written off as a niche product. Considering how many fewer homes in the late-eighties were wired for cable television, that number is all the more impressive.
What's more impressive? Twelve nights later, the Hulk/Andre championship bout on NBC did a 15.2 rating, and an estimated 33 million viewers. Both are records for any wrestling show on either terrestrial or cable television. The hard sell at the Rumble most likely played a role.