10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1989 Facts
7. The Rumble Match Only Had Four Holdovers From One Year Earlier
The 1988 match is perhaps best known for its mere 20-man field, while all future incarnations were slotted for 30 or more. It was noted in the previous list that the 1988 match was filled with wrestlers that would either be gone or rendered irrelevant by the time the 1989 show rolled around, and the proof is evident in the '89 main event.
Of those 20 men in the 1988 match, only four of them wrestled in the 1989 version: Jake Roberts, Tito Santana, One Man Gang (as Akeem), and Ron Bass. That meant there were 26 men in the 1989 edition taking part in their first televised Royal Rumble match.
Other entrants from the 1988 edition were scattered in the 1989 undercard. Previous winner Jim Duggan teamed with two other '88 entrants in the Hart Foundation, as just a few examples.