Recap of the Royal Rumble 1991
For the second year in a row Hogan outclassed 29 other superstars to win the Royal Rumble and set up the main event for Wrestlemania 7 with the American turncoat villain, Sgt. Slaughter. Hogan didn't need to win the 1990 Royal Rumble, Mr. Perfect should have gotten the nod there to launch a well-deserved main event run. Here however, Hogan was the only logical choice to win considering the circumstances of the Gulf War and his status as an All-American hero. And win he did by eliminating all the big men that were available (read Smash, Crush, The Warlord, Brian Knobbs and Earthquake).
Other stars who shined included:
 |
| British Bulldog eliminates Mr. Perfect with a brilliant dropkick <Courtesy: WWE> |
- The Undertaker (still managed by Brother Love) who eliminated the likes of Bret Hart and "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich
- "The Model" Rick Martel who entered at no. 6 and made it to the final five thereby setting a new Royal Rumble endurance record of more than 50 minutes
- British Bulldog who ended up in the final four and along the way tossed out big names such as Haku, Mr. Perfect and Rick Martel
- Earthquake who served as the ideal monster heel that Hogan needed to vanquish at the end in order to send the fans home happy
After watching the entire match, I had three questions about the trajectories of some of the stars who competed in this Rumble.
Three questions from Royal Rumble 1991
1. Bret Hart entered at no. 1 in the Rumble and had a fairly short stay before being dumped out of the ring by the Undertaker. The booking more or less proves that the higher-ups were still not considering him for a singles push. So, the question I have is at what point in 1991 did Vince McMahon and team think that it would be beneficial to book Bret Hart as a singles star? It would be interesting to find out the exact moment that convinced them of the potential that Bret had
 |
| Bret Hart calibrating his strategy while Greg Valentine tackles Paul Roma <Courtesy: WWE> |
2. "The Model" Rick Martel was undoubtedly the MVP of this Rumble. He not only lasted the longest but was also a genuine threat to all comers. Certainly, such a performance would have merited a push into the main event and also perhaps a run with at least the intercontinental title. But, that didn't happen. In fact after his match with Jake the Snake Roberts at Wrestlemania VII, Martel was permanently slotted in the mid-card for the rest of his WWF career. I therefore want to understand what prompted the management to not book Martel as a more credible threat for the main event stars? Had Martel's momentum continued, he could have upended Bret Hart for the intercontinental title and had an exceptional match with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper at Royal Rumble 1992 instead of the Mountie
 |
| Bret Hart and "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich work on the "The Model" Rick Martel <Courtesy: WWE> |
3. The cracks in Hogan and Tugboat's friendship appeared in the match itself where both went at each other. Tugboat hurled Hogan over the ropes only for Hogan to come back and flip the big man over the top rope. Instead of Nasty Boy Knobbs could Tugboat and Earthquake have been there at the end to stretch Hogan's odds? Their blatant double teaming would not only have sown the seeds for the formation of Natural Disasters post this pay-per-view but also established them as a legitimate threat to any of the top tier talent
 |
| Tugboat and Hulkster battle it out <Courtesy: WWE> |
So, there you go my friends. Those were my questions from the 1991 Royal Rumble. What were your thoughts? Where did your fantasy booking thoughts for Royal Rumble 1991 take you? Leave a comment!
Your sports entertainment fan.
Comments
Post a Comment