WWF Royal Rumble - January 1988

WWF Royal Rumble - January 24th 1988 - Hamilton, Ontario

Matches
Ricky Steamboat defeated Rick Rude (5/10)
Jumping Bomb Angels defeated The Glamour Girls (6/10)
Jim Duggan defeated 19 other men to win the WWF Royal Rumble 1988 (8/10)
The Islanders defeated The Young Stallions {2 out of 3 falls match} 6/10)

Moments - Positives
The first Royal Rumble was a mixed bag to say the least. The main positive of the whole event was the Royal Rumble match up itself, the first of its kind, where 20 men battled to win the Royal Rumble (though at this time it did not carry a title shot at Wrestlemania). The Rumble included the debut of the Ultimate Warrior on PPV, Bret Hart shining through and Hacksaw Jim Duggan winning the Rumble. The other great moment of the PPV was the contract signing between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan for a rematch of the WWF Title.

Moments - Negatives
Apart from the rumble match itself the card was below average. The main event was a relatively solid tag team match between the Islanders and Young Stallions but you would be gutted if you paid good money for the match. The Andre The Giant/Hogan showdown was great but you somehow think the match itself should have taken place at the PPV rather than the contract signing.

Overall Summary
Clearly the Rumble match made the PPV event which I guess should be the case given the name of the event. The Andre the Giant / Hogan showdown was great but should have been the match of the PPV. The rest of the card is forgettable and drags down the overall event quality in my opinion. Also worth noting this was the first PPV event dominated by Ted DiBiase (Million Dollar Man).

SCORE = 5.0