Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View From Worst To Best

5. 1990

Royal Rumble
WWE Network

The Good: The Royal Rumble match that made your writer a wrestling fan almost certainly did the same for an entire generation of supporters. Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior were heroes dressed in red and yellow but Vince McMahon could only see green when the two went nose-to-nose. The match itself was bursting with blockbuster matches and megastars as the company hadn't quite yet come down from the 1980s boom.

The Bad: Brutus Beefcake's clash with The Genius was actually over-delivering before it got cut short thanks to a Mr Perfect run-in. As was Hacksaw Jim Duggan's clash with The Big Boss Man. WWE pay-per-view midcards rarely delivered back then so the lack of faith was understandable, though in this case actually rather unjust.

The Ugly: Almost nothing, though Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown's battle would lead to a gross misread at WrestleMania. More tragic than ugly, the death toll in the Rumble match is staggering - it's alarming to see how many are no longer here less than three decades on from such an iconic clash.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett