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Austin101's Royal Rumble 1988 Review
Live and NOT ON PPV from Hamilton, Ontario Canada. Luckily they don't go to commercial between matches, just after segments or falls.
Jesse Ventura as always has great chemistry with McMahon (as he does with Monsoon.) He makes each match enjoyable with his charisma, witty one liners and his knowledge of the actual match taking place.
There's something about the 1980's where the in ring stuff comes off just great. It wasn't about puppies back then it was about what you did in the ring. Especially the late 1980's and this night was no exception as there were plenty of great matches.
Once again like I say for all my reviews my ratings are my own and they are usually strict. (However on this PPV I'm rating fairly high because that's how I see it)
1) Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat
What a great opening contest. The match ran over 15 minutes and I wasn't bored once. Rude was fairly new so he wasn't very over but Steamboat was and the two worked very well together. This is my 2nd viewing of the match and it was a pleasure to watch again, a very underrated bout. Rick Rude is dq'd at 16:40.
*** 3/4
Segment 1
Dino Bravo attempts to break the "world bench press record of over 700 pounds"
Ventura helps him do it.
Yawn.
After 15 minutes it got boring, even later in the show Vince McMahon said it was "Boring." You got to wonder if that was just his face character or his actual feelings. (I say both.)
2) The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki) vs The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai) (w/Jimmy Hart) in a Two out of three falls match for the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship
The Women in this match were not used for eye candy and performed better then about 95% of today's male talent. Funny how McMahon doesen't even know the Bomb Angel's names and Jesse calls him on it. So what does Vinny Mac do? He calls them "Red Angel" and "Pink Angel" because of there colors. Jesse says "That's original" God I love Jesse.
Anyways the Glamour Girls get the first fall quickly, the Angels get it back quickly.
The two teams use a perfect blend of technical skill and ahtletic moves back and forth and the Jumping Bomb Angels win the match 2-1. (With commercial breaks inbetween.) Tateno pinned Martin after a Double Missile Dropkick at 15:21.
*** 1/4
Segment 2
Contract signing between Andre and Hogan, Andre flips the table on Hogan and leaves.
Pretty cool because this was just before Wrestlemania 4 and both these guys were the two biggest names in wrestling at the time (and still are today) but the segment went on pretty long. Virgil and Dibiase were there with Andre and were great on the mic.
3) The 1988 "20 Man" Royal Rumble Match
Hart and Santana start in the ring with no entrances by either man shown on TV.
The ring fills up and the actual rumble isn't very exciting as a lot of guys just pound away on one another and Jesse and Vince talk strategy (since it's the first one and all)
Duggan wins by eliminating the One Man Gang by pulling the top rope down as he stumbles over.
Forgettable but decent as it was short and it was the first one.
** 3/4
Hogan cuts a promo
Let me tell ya somethin broooother, to beat me you have to beat ALL OF THESE HULKAMANIACS BROOOOTHERRRRR yada yada, bla bla....same old, same old.
4) Main Event- The Islanders (Haku and Tama) VS The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers) in a Two out of three falls match
Strange that this was the main event. A decent two out of three falls tag match and the Islanders won two falls in a row. I'm glad because usually two out of three falls ALWAYS goes to the third fall as it did earlier in the night.
Roma was counted out at 7:00
Haku forced Roma to submit with a Single Leg Boston Crab at 14:00.
So seven minutes for each fall.
** 1/2
The End.
Final PPV Rating- 7.5/10
This event missed a few things. A WWF Title match and the Rumble should have been the main event. Plus some of the segments were to long and boring. However the in ring stuff was fantastic and that alone makes it a fun show that deserves over a 7/10 rating.
Up Next from Austin101 as requested:------ Backlash 2004
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