10 Times WWE Got The Royal Rumble Winner Wrong
4. Big John Studd (1989)
If ever there was a time for Hulk Hogan to win the Royal Rumble, this was it.
1989 was WWE’s second televised Royal Rumble, and for the second year in a row, the company crowned an utterly pointless winner. The match saw WWE increase the number of participants from 20 to the now-standard 30, but it remains blighted by an entirely forgettable winner in Big John Studd.
Studd entered the match at number 27, and made short work of Akeem the African Dream. It was down to him and Ted DiBiase in the end, and with Big John crowned the winner, it looked like a big push was on the horizon. It wasn’t: this match took place before Rumble winners were guaranteed a title shot, and Studd received no reward for his efforts. WWE did precisely nothing with him in the aftermath, and his WrestleMania V contribution was restricted to a guest referee spot in Jake Roberts vs. Andre the Giant.
At least Hogan’s victory would have popped the crowd. Similarly, WWE Champion Randy Savage would have made a logical winner, particularly given how his ongoing story with Hogan dominated the match’s narrative, but no. WWE plucked a winner completely out of leftfield, and while the company love to push the idea that “anyone can win” the Royal Rumble, 1989 proves that this isn’t always a good thing.