• On This Day In Pro Wrestling History (January 24, 1988) – WWF Royal Rumble 1988
On this day in Pro Wrestling history on January 24, 1988, the World Wrestling Federation aired the first ever ‘Royal Rumble’ LIVE on the USA Network from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The very first (televised) Royal Rumble event was also the only Rumble that wasn’t a PPV, but aired on free television instead.
The Royal Rumble match itself had only 20 Wrestlers in it, as opposed to 30 Wrestlers like it had from the next year onwards (except in 2011 when it was 40 men).
The event also included Dino Bravo breaking a World Bench Press record (kayfabe wise, as Jesse Venture did help him a bit at the end) and the Hogan/André II contract signing.
This event was held on the same night as NWA Bunkhouse Stampede 1988, which was on PPV though.
Below are the results:
– Ricky Steamboat def. Rick Rude via DQ
– Two-out-of-three falls – WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship
The Jumping Bomb Angels def. The Glamour Girls (c)
– Jim Duggan won the 20-man Royal Rumble match
– Two-out-of-three falls
The Islanders def. The Young Stallions
• Reason Behind Huge WrestleMania 34 Angle Not Taking Place At Raw 25
As we noted before, The Undertaker is set to face the 16 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena at WrestleMania 34 and the build-up for that match was set to begin at Raw 25.
However, The Undertaker just ended up doing a promo, while Cena ended up working an angle with Elias.
As we noted before, Cena was scheduled to work a “filler” feud with Samoa Joe between now and WrestleMania 34 (as The Undertaker wouldn’t be around every week and they certainly won’t do angles for their WrestleMania 34 match every week from now till Mania). This feud would’ve been similar to what Roman Reigns & Braun Strowman did last year before WrestleMania 33.
However, with Samoa Joe getting injured, Elias will be taking Joe’s spot in that filler feud with Cena. This feud will also be played out during the Men’s Royal Rumble 2018 match and that’s the reason why Cena ended up doing an angle with Elias on Raw 25 (as WWE officials thought that was the only time to do angle between the two before the Royal Rumble PPV).
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the feud between Cena & The Undertaker is expected to kick off in the next few weeks.
