9 Unofficial WWE Royal Rumbles

Royal Rumbles are like buses. You spend years waiting for one to come about, and then - between October 1987 and March of the following year - you get three in the space of just over six months.

The third (and second 'unofficial') of these took place in Hartford, Connecticut just a couple of weeks before WrestleMania IV. While it didn't make it to television, its events have been recorded for posterity by those in attendance.

Rick Rude, so we are led to believe, was the man who scored victory, out-lasting 19 other opponents as he warmed up for his meeting with Jake Roberts at the Show of Shows (which he drew - so much for momentum).

The other big headline is that the live attendance nearly doubled from the first one, owing - you would imagine - to the success of the actual Royal Rumble event that went down in the meantime. Nearly 4,000 watched Rude's not-so-historic win, and it's very possible we owe them each a debt of gratitude for turning out.