[Aerts]

Originally Posted by bigcal

Lol, well HBK is in that match so its automatically **** at least!

It really is weird to think how much my views on wrestling has changed over the last few years lol.

Edit:

Nice review Alcoholic! I love that DVD set so much. I'm glad that you rated the Diesel match so high, as I feel it is a very underrated big man match. I have the WM match against Kane the Mankind Buried Alive matches higher though.

ratings?

[bigcal]

Originally Posted by Alcoholic

ratings?

Link in my sig to the review . Saves me looking

[Aerts]

Originally Posted by bigcal

Link in my sig to the review . Saves me looking

I can totally see why you would rate the first Kane-Taker higher than their WM XX one, but as I saw it, wrestling-wise, the second was slightly better. I shall give both a second watch back-to-back though and determine whether I'm gonna change my ratings or not.

[Andy3000]

Great review Alcoholic. I really enjoyed that set and any DVD set with HBK/Taker in the cell is awesome by default .

You also have Diesel/Undertaker from Mania rated almost the same as me too (I've got it at ***1/4 after a recent watch).

[bigcal]

WWF Royal Rumble 1988

The first ever Royal Rumble PPV! This was back before the winner received a WM title shot, and even though they tried to make it a big deal early on, the first couple really weren't that important tbh.


Rick Rude Vs Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

A great match to start off what has now been a 21 year PPV tradition. I am a HUGE fan of both men, and always feel they were both underused in WWF, which was a huge shame as they were better wrestlers than half the main eventers...

Some great wrestling here from both men, and I love the pop Steamboat gets from just doing an Arm Drag .

Steamboat spent a lot of time working on the arm of Rude, and I was quite surprised at how long Steamboat was in charge, as the heel usually takes control for most of the match. I prefer it when both men are able to go back and forth though, makes it more interesting.

Its funny to watch old wrestling matches and see guys tapping like crazy when they are in a submission hold, but back then it didn't mean anything.

One part that didn't make sense was that the ref lifted the arm of Steamboat 3 times to see if he was out, and it dropped 3 times. I always thought that ended the match? Not in this case though, as the ref did it a forth time, and Steamboat was able to keep it from dropping, and made a small come back.

Plenty of near falls in this match, which always gets the crowd excited.

Match ends when Steamboat goes to the top rope, and Rude moves the ref in front of him. Rude then puts Steamboat in his submission hold, and the ref wakes up and calls for the bell. Rude thinks he has won by submission, but the ref has DQ'd him instead!

A great opener which was given a decent amount of time.

Rating: ***1/4


The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki) Vs The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin & Leilani Kai) - 2 out of 3 Falls WWF Women's Tag Team Title Match

Yes, you read correctly. This is a Women's Tag Team Titles match!

Some GOOD wrestling from both teams, with a cool spot (anyone remember cool spot? Off topic? Yeah ) that involved the Bomb Angels both in the ring locking on a figure four leg lock to their opponents at the same time. Not often you see that from Women wrestlers.

More good submission moves from the Angles, which I feel is something the current WWE Women's division lacks. Gail Kim needs to come back and show them how to lock in some decent submission holds .

First fall is won by The Glamour Girls, who pick up the win with an Allyoop (or Ally hoop?) type move (that move The Big Show started doing in 2001 for a short period of time).

A botched sunset flip pin is how the second fall ends, giving the Angels a win. The match is now 1-1.

Some pretty good action during the third fall, which ends with a double dropkick from the top rope, and we have NEW WWF Women's Tag Team Champions in the Jumping Bomb Angels!

I was very impressed with this match! Much better than the crap we get these days from most of the "divas". Plenty of action, and the double top rope drop kick was cool to see, as I don't see it that often, and I don't think I have ever seen a women's tag team do it.

Rating: ***


I would like to point out that this event has been going for an hour now, with only two matches. Between the opener and the tag match, we had the Weight lifting crap from Dino Bravo, that lasted WAY too long. Rude and Steamboat could have been given another 10 minutes dammit! All of this was followed by a lengthy contract signing between Hogan and Andre. More time wasted that could have been used for another match.


1988 Royal Rumble Match

The first ever RR match, and unlike the ones that happen today, only 20 wrestlers were part of this match, and the winner did not receive a title shot at WrestleMania.

The first 2 guys in the first ever RR were Bret Hart (who we all know went on to co-win the 1994 rumble match), and Tito Santana. A nice start to the match, as both men are great wrestlers.

Butch Reed and Jim Neidhart are the next 2 entrants, and it turns into a 3 on 1 for Santana. He manages to hang on as the time counts down, and Jake Roberts comes out next to help, and eliminated Reed! Fans are going crazy for Jake!

This rumble match is very different from how they are these days, as the heels and faces don't really go after each other, but join up with each other instead. Because of this, it didn't really have the feel of "every man for themselves" that we have now.

While this is only the first match of its kind in WWF/E and it was from 1988, a lot of people might consider it to be pretty bad, but I am happy to say it isn't! Very enjoyable, and there really isn't any boring parts IMO. Being only 33 minutes could help though lol.

I was quite surprised that The Ultimate Warrior was eliminated not long after he entered, but then again he wasn't that big then.

The last three men were Jim Duggan, One Man Gang and Dino Bravo. Duggan gets double teamed by the heels for a short amount of time, before OMG (that's One Man Gang, not Oh My God ) eliminated Bravo by mistake.

Duggan eventually wins by using OMG's own momentum to eliminate him.

Surprisingly good for the first one ever, though it doesn't hold a candle to such rumble matches as 92, 01 and 02 etc.

Rating: ***


The Islanders (Haku and Tama) Vs The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers) - 2 out of 3 Falls Match

Another tag team match, and again its 2 out of 3 falls.

Hey, isn't that one of the Four Horsemen? LOL at Paul Roma being a Horsemen.

Nothing special for the first part of the match. Paul Roma gets counted out to give The Islanders the first fall. Made Roma look really weak, as he took about a minute to get back into the ring after simply being thrown out of the ring... To make it seem less of a crap finish they have Roma fake a knee injury. Still made the finish look bad IMO, as Roma didn't even try to make it look like he landed on his knee or anything.

Powers gets in control for most of the second fall, but is unable to get a pinfall or submission. Its not too long before The Islanders get the advantage once again, and begin to beat down Powers.

Powers manages to make a tag to Roma (despite the fact he has an "injured" knee), and it doesn't help The Yound Stallions at all. A half Boston Crab to Roma forces him to tap out, and The Islanders win the match and win 2 straight falls.

A boring and not so good match, and even worse for the main event of the first ever Royal Rumble event. The Women's 2 out of 3 Falls tag match was WAY better than this!

Rating: *1/4




Overall Show Rating: 6.5 out of 10

There are only 4 matches on the card, and 3 of them are *** or higher, making it a fairly solid event. Unfortunately the main event is terrible, and there is too much time wasted with the weight lifting crap and the Hogan/Andre contract signing. Good event to watch just for the fact its the first of the second greatest tradition in WWF/E (WrestleMania being number 1).

[The Clique87]

Great reviews guys. Love the Undertaker set. Only Rumbles I've seen or remember are 96 - now.

Excuse me for being a mark but HBK/Bret Ironman is *****.

RKO Destiny, The Flair/Steamboat series is without thinking five stars and some of the best wrestling I've seen in my life. I grew up in the 90's and just now seeing some 80's stuff that I absolutely love. But I can watch about anything as long as it entertains me from any era or style. Lately I've been getting into ECW and WWE 80's.

[Word]

Originally Posted by The Clique87

Great reviews guys. Love the Undertaker set. Only Rumbles I've seen or remember are 96 - now.

Excuse me for being a mark but HBK/Bret Ironman is *****.

RKO Destiny, The Flair/Steamboat series is without thinking five stars and some of the best wrestling I've seen in my life. I grew up in the 90's and just now seeing some 80's stuff that I absolutely love. But I can watch about anything as long as it entertains me from any era or style. Lately I've been getting into ECW and WWE 80's.

Ahem. 92 plz.

[The Clique87]

Oh yeah, I did see that one. It is on the Flair set after all ...

[Platt]

Might just have to order myself the Taker set.

[Aerts]

Originally Posted by Platt

Might just have to order myself the Taker set.

Must-watch.