7 Things You Should Know About WWE Royal Rumble 1989

7. The Three Non-Rumble Matches Were Below Average

The Rumble PPV was still a new concept, so WWE was likely trying to figure out the best format for the rest of the card. Unlike the 1988 show, they got it right by putting the Rumble match on last in 1989. What was disappointing was the undercard was very boring. For the opening match, the 1988 Rumble winner "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan teamed with the Hart Foundation defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus and Dino Bravo in a two out of three falls match. It was a 15 minute match that Duggan, Hart & Neidhart won after the ref was distracted and Duggan used his 2x4 to hit Bravo, leading to Bret Hart pinning Bravo. It was weird to see babyfaces cheating to win, but it fit the story. Rockin' Robin beat Judy Martin to retain the Women's Title. It was a six minute match that was just average at best. One year later, WWE got rid of the Women's Title. They brought the title back in late 1993. Haku beat Harley Race in a match that solidified Haku as the "king" of WWE. Race was 46 years old at the time and really wasn't capable of having good matches anymore. It was forgettable, but it served its purpose by having Haku get the clean win. There are some other Rumble PPVs with poor midcards too. That's because WWE usually just wants to focus on the Rumble match a lot of the time and that ends up hurting the rest of the show.