Royal Rumble Match 1990

[6.0] "Not a bad Rumble, the more I saw it, It got better, It started good, the entrances and reaction of the fans were good, and during the last part of the Rumble, with for example Warrior getting eliminated with help, and the finish with Hogan doing his comeback and eliminating Mr. Perfect, I understand he was the biggest start during this, but he was the WWF Champion, this was for Mr. Perfect, but Hogan maybe through his politics of backstage or something from Vince, we get this end, 6/10 [***1/2]"

[7.0] "Probably the first truly solid Royal Rumble. The crowd's energy elevated the match to another level and the in-ring action delivered too. The winner was predictable, but the execution of his victory was still handled well."

[4.0] "The first 15 minutes or so were pretty good, Hulk Hogan and Warrior interaction was cool, but that's all there is to it. The rest of the match feels like they were going through the motions and not much happened."

[7.0] "This was a very good match, though I wish it had held the exciting momentum of the first third all the way through. The start (about the first third) is fantastic and exciting, with some pretty good wrestlers. The middle third hit a lull for the most part. Luckily, it did pick up for the final third as the ring cleared out and some other big names appeared. Personally, the first third was the most exciting part for me. The fans really got into the match, though, which is great. I just wish the excitement carried through and was consistent. 7/10"

[5.0] "Unfortunately exists mostly as a means to its end. Just setting the table for Mania, though you could argue most Rumbles are just that. Nothing awful happens but as a retrospective piece it doesn't hold up as well as a lot of later Rumbles."

[4.0] "Not the worst Rumble, but pretty far from the best - long stretches where people are doing nothing waiting for the next person to come out, only for everybody to continue doing nothing. The best parts of the match are the eliminations - some of them really fly out of the ring, along with the some pretty impressive star power looking back."

[6.0] "Not a bad Rumble, the more I saw it, It got better, It started good, the entrances and reaction of the fans were good, and during the last part of the Rumble, with for example Warrior getting eliminated with help, and the finish with Hogan doing his comeback and eliminating Mr. Perfect, I understand he was the biggest start during this, but he was the WWF Champion, this was for Mr. Perfect, but Hogan maybe through his politics of backstage or something from Vince, we get this end, 6/10 [***1/2]"

[6.0] "I found the first half of this rumble quite dead and boring with the only good bits being the fans especially for someone like Jake "The Snake" Roberts however the second half I found really entertaining. This rumble finally introduced the concept of an iron man which was Ted DiBiase going from no.1 to no.24 around 45 minutes so that was cool to introduce. In terms of eliminations I thought the only good ones was the final 2 with Perfect pulling the rope down behind Rude's back and Hogan throwing Perfect over the corner post. I still believe I enjoyed 1989 more btu still decent rumble. I think if Mr. Perfect did win this then it would be higher but fuck Hogan."

[8.0] "This is a perfect example of using the Rumble match to progress your feuds and use the match to build up what you are planning for the future. High energy first half and ending, the middle drags a bit but it's an enjoyable watch."

[8.0] "Great Rumble, and a big improvement on previous editions, with lots of energy throughout, and of course the iconic moment where "The Ultimate Challenge" is born."

[6.0] "[3.0*] This Royal Rumble finally brought the excitement of a rumble. The audience jumped and screamed when their favorites entered, the crowd went crazy, there was a continuation of the story told in the previous Rumble between Andre The Giant and Demolition and there was also the record at the time of stay in the match with almost 45 minutes by Ted Dibiase."

[7.0] "without a doubt the best rumble match up to this point. But when the hell is the match actually for a meaning? Like when does it become a shot at mania for the title. At this point they just having the match just to have it honestly. The little spot with hogan and warrior was laughable lol. Good little short final two with hogan and perfect. Each rumble gets better and more with stars in the rumble. 3.75 stars"

[5.0] "I didn't like this very much at all. This was really slow for the most part and putting Mr. Perfect in late was a bad choice as he's literally one of the only guys on the roster who could have kept this match moving. Warrior got the crowd going when he cleared the ring but he was blown up already and then the Hogan confrontation was very disappointing. Then the crowd DIED when Warrior went out as it became apparent Hogan was obviously winning. WWF is starting to establish the tropes that would mould Rumble matches until this very day which is cool to see."

[9.0] "Despite the obvious winner, this is probably the first rumble match to have this depth of talent top to bottom and to really adequately establish fun rivalry and storytelling spots, with less focus on people just riding the ropes and "trying to eliminate eachother" continually like a boring battle royale. The Ted DiBiase entry number reversal storyline was an especially nice touch, as was the WWF letting him have an outstanding showing even despite that disadvantage. Moreover, I feel like the comparative weakness of the rest of the card really gives an already fun rumble match an additional boost by finally delivering something truly worth watching for the PPV. Rumble matches are some of the best in the WWF/WWE by their very nature, so I don't feel remotely bad about giving this a great rating compared to the average."

[7.0] "This was probably the first good rumble. Hogan and Warrior facing off was definitely the best part of the whole match. There was some good structure in here as well and some people getting some nice showcase."

[8.0] "This is the first great Royal Rumble. Its clear that they were beginning to get the formula and structure of it all down for these matches. DiBiases performance here really introduced the concept of a true Iron Man performance. The past two years, the Iron Man hadnt even lasted a half hour, but DiBiase lasted well over that at around 45 minutes. Also, unlike the previous two years iron men, he had three eliminations. Admittedly, he did get two in the first three minutes while the other was a joint effort with four others, but still, thats better than just a single elimination. Anyway, this is quite an easy watch especially when compared to the last two. This match can be broken up into three acts. Act 1 - Star power super show. Theres so much star power in the first 10 entrants: DiBiase, Koko, Jannetty, Roberts, Savage, Piper, Warlord (he was an alright worker), Bret, Bad News Brown (goddamn that enziguri), and Dusty. All but three of those guys are in the Hall of Fame and rightfully so. Also, André was just outside of the top 10 at #11. This portion here has the best action of the whole match. Savage is such a good worker. Brets one of the greatest ever. DiBiase is such a good heel while also being a great worker. Roberts has the crowd in the palm of his hand. Piper is also one of the greats. Id say this portion ends when Piper gets pulled out. The Star power at this point has gone way down with André, Bret, and DiBiase being the only real stars. Demolition and Dusty are in there too, but they arent exactly doing much outside of beating on André with Dusty being pretty much passed his prime at this point. Regardless, this is arguably the best part of the match. The crowd being as good as they are definitely gives a strong case for it. Anyways, onto the next act. Act 2 - whole lotta nothing. This section is pretty boring. Definitely not as boring as 1989 got, but still itll probably make you yawn and think of getting on your phone. The lack of Star power here also kind of hurts this section, but you can dismiss that knowing why theyre filling the ring up. Everyone ganging up on Earthquake is quite fun. I believe that up to this point, his elimination was the first where everyone in the ring successfully teamed up to dump the big guy out. Just a fun bit of trivia. This section comes to a close with Warriors entrance. Act 3 - the crowd goes batshit. This is an amazing third of the match. Warrior comes out and immediately dumps Dino to a huge pop. It slows down a little bit for the next couple eliminations, but Warrior gets rid of DiBiase to perhaps the biggest pop of the whole match. Then Hogan comes out to another one of the biggest pops of the match and thus begins the clearing of the ring. Everyone gets eliminated fairly quickly (Michaels goes out in 12 seconds). The face-off between Hogan and Warrior doesnt get as big a reaction as I remember, but its still a decent reaction. The criss-cross spot is stupid. The rest of the match is still really good, but it definitely slows down. The last batch of eliminations are decently spaced out, so it doesnt feel rushed like the first match. The eliminations themselves arent anything all that special, but I do like the eliminations of Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect. Great finish to an all time Rumble match. Now for the MVP. This one is fairly obvious to me. DiBiase was the Iron Man of this match, lasting 45 minutes and getting three eliminations. The only other candidates are Warrior and Hogan. Both guys got 6 eliminations, and Hogan won the thing. However, they lasted only about 10 minutes each. Highly recommend. Im feeling a solid 8 on this one folks. Final rating: ****"

[6.0] "Like many Rumble matches, it suffers the problem of starting really hot, dragging down a lot in the middle, and picking up the pace once again in the last 5-10 minutes. Though, I'd say this match is a testament of how stacked the WWF roster was at the time. I also can say it gets really, really boring around the middle with all the silly midcard gimmicks coming in to get their stuff in and get thrown out. The match peaks when Hogan and Warrior face each other, the crowd erupts at the sight of the 2. All in all, I think a 6 is fair. ***1/4."

[7.0] "This was the first modern feeling Rumble match. They're still missing some elements, like the winner getting a title shot at 'Mania, but wouldn't feel out of place today."

[5.0] "This was the best royal rumble at the time, and it wasnt that bad but still not good, Hulk Hogan winning made it mainstream probably and i think Hulk Hogan is a good wrestler so that is something good about this. I only watched this because i want to watch all the royal rumbles, till 1997 this is the 3rd best rumble in my opinion"

[7.0] "A pretty good Royal Rumble with a fair amount of star power. The match was well structured and very effective at setting up several of the key matches for WrestleMania. DiBiase had a memorable performance as perhaps the first noteworthy 'Iron Man' (now a Rumble tradition). The highlight of the match for me was honestly Warrior's bizarre reaction to his elimination, which got a good laugh out of me for how strange it was. Not one of the best Rumble matches in my view, but definitely an enjoyable one."

[7.0] "This rumble is so much fun to watch. This feels like they have figured out the formula on how to book a rumble and have put it to good use. A nice blend of the stars of the time with the first half being loaded with some the greatest talents of all time (Savage, Bret, Dusty, Roberts, Piper just to name a few). The Hogan/Warrior spot was the highlight of the match and left me wanting to see their match at Mania VI, so did their job. They are also lots of seeds planted for the rest of Mania VI in this match (DiBiase/Roberts, Piper/Brown, Demolition/Heenan Family). The first really good rumble and sets the blueprint for all rumbles to come."

[7.0] "A nice good Rumble were you can see the company starting to get the hang of how to book one. The opening stretch up until around Savage's elimination is great. Dibiase having two mini matches agains high flyiers to start up at a good pace, Jake's great pop coming in and the two v 2 square off once Savage and Piper are in already made the match feel big. The match starts slowing down afterwards with some moments were intensity picks up. Warrior coming in the Hogan face off and the ending with Perfect being the clear better parts of the second half. Still the duller parts never become outright borring so while there was room for improvement this was the best out of the three rumbles up until that point easily."

[5.0] "From the very beginning, this Royal Rumble has been held to the most standard and unremarkable molds. The wrestlers just waited for each other to come out, torturing themselves with ordinary punches. It turned into a visceral and predictable spectacle. Even the teaser for the Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior match was a bit boring. Average match."

[6.0] "This is the Royal Rumble that set a whole lot of trends for future Rumbles that are still used today. A lot of formulas and spots that get used yearly started here. This Rumble was certainly a very, very good one, but there are definitely others that surpass it. One of my biggest complaints is, while the match is FILLED with star power, they burned the vast majority of them very early. The crowd is going absolutely crazy at the start of this match as it seems like every other number a big name is coming out. But after between 10-15 guys come in...the stars stop, and their reaction absolutely dulls. They heat back up for Warrior and Hogan, but they were at a fever pitch early in the match, and never really hit that same pitch later. Also, the fact that Hogan won did nothing. Honestly, it would have made much more sense to have Warrior win this instead. He was the rising star, and it would have been a hotter story going in to Wrestlemania to kind of say "Well, Warrior beat Hogan in a battle royal, but can he do it with the gold on the line on the biggest stage? " Instead, we get a stock Hogan ending that doesn't elevate anyone, and is as predictable as it gets. Still, this Rumble sets a lot up, and told a very good story, with plenty of good action too. It's a very good Royal Rumble. Probably top 10 for me, but just shy of being great in my opinion."

[6.0] "This is the first Rumble match I can genuinely say I actually liked. They gave a solid effort this year to make the match feel important; this was a pretty star studded affair. Apparently Mr. Perfect was originally supposed to win this match, which probably would've made me enjoy this more; instead, this is the first of two Rumbles in a row Hogan ends up winning. Speaking of Perfect, he does have a great showing here, and at least he's the runner up. Ted Dibiase also had a great performance; after buying number 30 last year, he enters as number 1 this year and has a bit of an iron man performance. This match famously sets up the Mania 6 match between Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan as the two champions come face to face in this matchup."

[6.0] "First Royal Rumble that they took seriously and really put the whole star power into it. They used it really nicely to create or progress some feuds and there wasn't that much time wasting as in the previous two editions. The standoff between Hogan and Warrior was incredible."

[6.0] "Ah damn, the famous Rumble that Perfect was supposed to win because of conflicts between Warrior and Hogan, but one of them said "It doesn't work for me, brother". Guess which one was"

[5.0] "Apart from having an unusually high level of star power, this was an absolute bog standard Royal Rumble match. It established some of the later Rumble cliches, like the #1 ironman, the two dudes who haven't touched having a throwdown in front of a hot crowd, stable teammates teaming up and helping each other, etc."

[7.0] "I think this was on par with the 1989 Rumble. This one was red hot in the early stages with the crowd going nuts when Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart and Randy Savage were all in there. Things died off in the middle, but it picked back up again and eventually led to the first Hulk/Warrior confrontation. The crowd went insane for this very brief encounter, and you could just envision the dollar signs appearing in Vince's eyes at that point. After Warrior was out, however, the finish became academic. Of special note is Ted DiBiase's then-record setting run as the #1 entrant. ***1/2"

[8.0] "What a great rumble. Star-studded, great commentary, several crazy bumps to the outside, fantastic audience, just everything. This is the one where they got it figured out. It's exciting throughout and not very sloppy for a rumble. The only big mistake is the Rick Rude entrance. Great stuff from so many all time great wrestlers. There are many moments where all 7 guys in the ring are hall of famers, and 4 of them are serious rushmore guys. Tony and Jesse end up being a great team; Tony such a breath of fresh air compared to what wrestling commentary sounded like at the time. This has a lot going for it vs the 92 rumble- its more consistent, there's better bumps, the work's tighter, and the talent in the ring is just much higher. The first 10 minutes or so are worth watching on their own. This is worth a watch if you like classic wwf or battle royals."

[10.0] "This is the most underrated Royal Rumble match of all-time. The crowd was so hot for Piper, Roberts, & Hart in the beginning. You also had the first confrontation between Warrior and Hogan. I love this Rumble more than most and will always pull it up on the network when I'm in a Royal Rumble mood."

[10.0] "To this day I hold this one as a top 10 Rumble. The pacing & booking throughout are top notch. Everyone involved seems to understand their place in the match & then plays their part well."

[8.0] "Best Royal Rumble up until this point. I know it's only the third but THIS is where it felt like they really got the formula down and this Rumble was STACKED! Running story of the night: Dibiase bought #30 last year and this year Jack Tunney made sure he couldn't pull any BS. Imagine that, carrying a story line over from a year ago! Dibiase controls early and chucks Koko and Jannetty but then Jake Roberts comes in at #4 WITH entrance music and gets a huge pop. Savage in next and they mug Jake until Piper shows up and we get a great tag segment and comedy moment as Jake and Piper go back to back and then do a double take about fighting each other or not. Savage takes one of the craziest eliminations off Dusty and their feud started earlier in the night. Next big spot: Andre chucks Warlord and Fuji gives him crap for it so Bobby Heenan pulls Fuji down off the apron and we got the managers feuding at ringside now. Earthquake shows up and eliminates Ax and Rhodes quick but the group wises up and they get rid of Earthquake as Dino Bravo half asses trying to save him. Dibiase goes over 40 minutes which was an insane showing at the time and he didn't do that laying around on the apron for 15 minutes crap either! Warrior gets the honor of eliminating Dibiase. Hogan shows up and cleanse house. Warrior and Hulkster eventually chuck everybody out with Shawn Michaels only lasting 12 seconds! What a jobber! Then we get the classic moment where Hogan and Warrior face off. First time these two were in the ring together I believe. Rude jumps the gun and either it was intentionally written that way or somebody in the back noticed that the show is running long? Match loses momentum towards the end when Warrior gets eliminated and it comes down to Hogan and Perfect with the Hulkster going on to win it. Very good Rumble with all the current feuds getting their due but it kinda lost momentum after Warrior left."

[8.0] "Here's just a few number of WrestleMania matches that the company sold during this Rumble match: Colossal Connection vs. Demolition, Roddy Piper vs. Bad News Brown, Dusty vs. Savage and of course Hogan vs. Warrior. Did it have its dead spots? Of course it did, I feel that's inevitable in any Rumble match with so many participants out there and one hour of action. However, it was great and featured an incredible showing by the legendary 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase, who once again proved how great he was."

[8.0] "Great rumble and far better than the 88 and 89 versions. The middle did slow down a fair bit but that's pretty commonplace in rumbles, the first 10-15mins more than made up for this though with a bunch of stars and good action. I'm not a Hogan or Warrior guy but their showdown was electric too. Mr. Perfect got a little shine at the end as well, great stuff. ****"

[8.0] "This was, in my opinion, the first great Rumble ever. You can feel that they are starting to get their groove together for this type of match now, as evidence from the better booking and structuring. Hot action from start to finish, with the right guys getting the right amount of shine. I feel like Warrior winning would've been a better idea but it's just a minor nitpick from me. [****1/4]"

[6.0] "Better than his predecessors, but still an average Rumble. The crowd was hot for everyone and there was a better roster than previous years. This match planted the seeds for Warrior-Hogan at Mania. (***)"

[10.0] "The first really fantastic Rumble, for my money, it's absolutely loaded from top to bottom with stars and for the first time the winner is actually someone deserving, sure Hogan wins a lot in this era but you can't deny how incredibly over he is. Awesome early iteration of the Rumble."