10 Reasons The 1990 Royal Rumble Is The Best Of All Time

by John Bills

1. Hogan And Warrior Come Face To Face

It was the moment that sparked a million love affairs with professional wrestling. This was the first WWF event that I personally remember watching, so my bias is clear, but is there a more iconic Royal Rumble moment than Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior standing off in the middle of the ring?

Less than a minute passed between Rick Martel being eliminated and the double clothesline of the two icons, but this was a true ‘time stands still’ moment in professional wrestling history. The crowd took a second to react, as if shocked by what they were about to see. The two biggest stars in the company faced off, proving the ‘every man for himself’ mantra of the Rumble and provided a real ‘I was there’ moment for everyone in attendance.

Whenever a Rumble breaks down to two stars facing off in the middle of the ring, this is the moment WWE is trying to replicate. When John Cena and Roman Reigns come nose to nose in Philadelphia on January 28, Vince McMahon will close his eyes and see Hogan and the Warrior. The crowd will react with ambivalence, the manic screams of the 1990 crowd long lost. This was a once in a lifetime moment, the likes of which are few and far between in all forms of entertainment.

The 1990 Royal Rumble stands up to this very day. It went just shy of one whole hour, and not a moment of that was worth skipping. It had the right beginning, the right middle, and the right end. It had the perfect soundtrack, an exquisite balance of action and story, and a plethora of stars for fans to feast on.

It is the best Royal Rumble of all time.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.