This Day in Wrestling History (January 19)

24 years ago today, WWF presented Royal Rumble from the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida. About 16,000 were in attendance, with 440,000 homes watching on PPV. It's noted partially for two things: (1) Operation Desert Storm began just days before the PPV, so there were prerecorded comments wishing United States troops to come home soon, and (2) this is the last WWF PPV to air on a Saturday night.

• In a dark match, Jerry Sags defeated Sam Houston.
• The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) defeated The Orient Express (Kato & Tanaka).
• The Big Bossman defeated The Barbarian.
• Sgt. Slaughter defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Championship.
• The Mountie defeated Koko B. Ware.
• Ted DiBiase & Virgil defeated Dustin Rhodes & Dusty Rhodes.
• Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Earthquake.

1991 Royal Rumble Results

Draw	Entrant	Order	Eliminated by	Time	Eliminations
1	Bret Hart	4	Undertaker	20:33	0
2	Dino Bravo	1	Valentine	03:06	0
3	Greg Valentine	14	Hogan	44:03	1
4	Paul Roma	3	Roberts	14:05	0
5	The Texas Tornado	7	Undertaker	24:17	0
6	Rick Martel	25	Smith	52:17	4
7	Saba Simba	2	Martel	02:27	0
8	Bushwhacker Butch	5	Undertaker	10:07	0
9	Jake Roberts	6	Martel	12:58	1
10	Hercules	17	Knobs	37:36	0
11	Tito Santana	15	Earthquake	30:23	0
12	The Undertaker	9	Hawk & Animal	14:16	3
13	Jimmy Snuka	8	Hawk	08:06	0
14	Davey Boy Smith	26	Earthquake & Knobs	36:43	3
15	Smash	13	Hogan	18:22	0
16	Hawk	10	Martel	06:37	2
17	Shane Douglas	20	Knobs	26:23	0
18	Randy Savage	-	No-showed the match	00:00	0
19	Animal	11	Earthquake	06:39	1
20	Crush	18	Hogan	18:34	0
21	Jim Duggan	12	Perfect	04:44	0
22	Earthquake	28	Hogan	24:42	4
23	Mr. Perfect	22	Smith	16:14	1
24	Hulk Hogan	-	Winner	19:55	7
25	Haku	24	Smith	13:24	0
26	Jim Neidhart	23	Martel	11:11	0
27	Bushwhacker Luke	16	Earthquake	00:04	0
28	Brian Knobbs	27	Hogan	10:07	3
29	The Warlord	19	Hogan	01:35	0
30	Tugboat	21	Hogan	02:32	0

Notes:

• Hulk Hogan became the first man to win multiple Royal Rumble matches.
• Randy Savage (kayfabe) left the arena prior to the Royal Rumble match out of fear that The Ultimate Warrior would come after him since he cost Warrior the WWF Championship.
• Rick Martel set the longetivity record in this Rumble, lasting over 52 minutes. The record would be broken just one year later.

23 years ago today, WWF presented Royal Rumble from the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York. About 17,000 were in attendance, with 260,000 homes watching on PPV. That's 180,000 less than 1991's event. The show's hook was the Royal Rumble match to crown an undisputed WWF Champion following two controversial bouts between Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker forced the title to be vacated.

• In a dark match, Chris Walker defeated The Brooklyn Brawler by disqualification.
• The New Foundation (Jim Neidhart & Owen Hart) defeated The Orient Express (Kato & Tanaka).
• Roddy Piper defeated The Mountie by submission to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
• The Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly & Blake Beverly) defeated The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke).
• The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) defeated The Legion Of Doom (Animal & Hawk) by countout in a WWF Tag Team Championship match.
• Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble, last eliminating Sid Justice to win the WWF Championship.

1992 Royal Rumble Results

Draw	Entrant	Order	Eliminated by	Time	Eliminations
1	The British Bulldog	7	Flair	23:33	3
2	Ted DiBiase	1	British Bulldog	01:18	0
3	Ric Flair	-	Winner	1:00:02	5
4	Jerry Sags	2	British Bulldog	01:06	0
5	Haku	3	British Bulldog	01:51	0
6	Shawn Michaels	10	Santana	15:46	1
7	Tito Santana	9	Michaels	13:55	1
8	The Barbarian	11	Hercules	12:55	0
9	The Texas Tornado	8	Flair	09:20	0
10	Repo Man	6	Big Boss Man	06:23	2
11	Greg Valentine	5	Repo Man	04:12	0
12	Nikolai Volkoff	4	Repo Man	01:03	0
13	Big Boss Man	13	Flair	03:38	2
14	Hercules	12	Big Boss Man	00:56	1
15	Roddy Piper	26	Justice	34:06	1
16	Jake Roberts	15	Savage	10:55	0
17	Jim Duggan	19	Virgil	20:45	1
18	Irwin R. Schyster	23	Piper	27:01	0
19	Jimmy Snuka	14	Undertaker	02:27	0
20	The Undertaker	17	Hogan	13:51	1
21	Randy Savage	27	Justice and Flair	22:26	2
22	The Berzerker	18	Hogan	09:00	0
23	Virgil	20	Duggan	07:29	1
24	Col. Mustafa	16	Savage	02:36	0
25	Rick Martel	25	Justice	12:39	1
26	Hulk Hogan	28	Justice	11:29	4
27	Skinner	21	Martel	02:13	0
28	Sgt. Slaughter	22	Justice	04:37	0
29	Sid Justice	29	Hogan and Flair	05:55	6
30	The Warlord	24	Hogan and Justice	01:43	0

Notes:

• This was the first (and to this day, only) Royal Rumble match where the WWF Championship was at stake. The bout served as a template for future Rumbles: the winner starting in 1993 would be rewarded with a world title match at Wrestlemania, usually in the main event.
• Ric Flair once again broke the longetivity record, lasting a full hour. That record would be broken again the next year.
• Undertaker and Hulk Hogan were guaranteed numbers 20-30 based on being the two most recent WWF Champions and their controversial bouts recently.
• While Gorilla Monsoon pointed out that Sid's elimination of Hulk Hogan was fair (and the crowd cheered) in the original airing, subsequent airings and video releases of the moment Hogan's been eliminated has had the audio edited.

18 years ago today, WWF presented Royal Rumble from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. 60,525 were in attendance (a record that still stands for the event), with 244,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down slightly from 260,000 for the 1996 edition. The show featured wrestlers from Mexico's AAA promotion.

• In a Free For All match, Perro Aguayo, Jr. & Venum defeated Maniaco & Mosco de la Merced.
• In a Free For All match, Mascarita Sagrada and La Parkita defeated Mini Mankind and Mini Vader.
• In a Free For All match, Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr., and Tinieblas Jr. defeated Heavy Metal, Abismo Negro, and Histeria.
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Goldust to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
• Ahmed Johnson defeated Faarooq by disqualification.
• Vader defeated The Undertaker.
• El Canek, Hector Garza & Perro Aguayo defeated Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal & Jerry Estrada.
• Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Bret Hart.
• Shawn Michaels defeated Sycho Sid to win the WWF Championship.

1997 Royal Rumble Results

Draw	Entrant	Order	Eliminated by	Time	Eliminations
1	Crush	3	Phineas I. Godwinn	06:17	0
2	Ahmed Johnson	2	Himself	03:02	1
3	Razor Ramon	1	Johnson	00:17	0
4	Phineas I. Godwinn	4	Austin	02:52	1
5	Steve Austin	-	Winner	45:07	10
6	Bart Gunn	5	Austin	00:26	0
7	Jake Roberts	6	Austin	01:10	0
8	The British Bulldog	8	Owen Hart	08:04	1
9	Pierroth	10	Mascaras	10:32	1
10	The Sultan	7	British Bulldog	03:23	0
11	Mil Máscaras	11	Himself	07:28	2
12	Hunter Hearst Helmsley	12	Goldust	06:42	0
13	Owen Hart	17	Austin	08:29	2
14	Goldust	13	Owen Hart	05:33	1
15	Cibernético	9	Mascaras and Pierroth	01:25	0
16	Marc Mero	16	Austin	03:53	0
17	Latin Lover	14	Faarooq	01:47	0
18	Faarooq	15	Johnson	00:41	1
19	Savio Vega	18	Austin	00:29	0
20	Jesse James	19	Austin	00:46	0
21	Bret Hart	29	Austin	21:42	2
22	Jerry Lawler	20	Bret Hart	00:04	0
23	Diesel	28	Bret Hart	17:49	0
24	Terry Funk	24	Mankind	15:18	0
25	Rocky Maivia	23	Mankind	13:01	0
26	Mankind	25	Undertaker	12:20	2
27	Flash Funk	21	Vader	06:12	0
28	Vader	26	Austin	10:06	1
29	Henry O. Godwinn	22	Undertaker	06:11	0
30	The Undertaker	27	Austin	06:46	2

Notes:

• Steve Austin became just the second man to eliminate 10 superstars in a single Royal Rumble match. However, three of his eliminations should not have counted. Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart, but no one saw him get eliminated as the referees were tending to a Terry Funk-Mankind brawl on the outside. Austin used this to sneak back in and get three of the final four eliminations to win the match.
• Three weeks later, Shawn Michaels vacated the WWF Championship, citing a career-ending knee injury (that he didn't really have). The vacated title was contested involving four of the final five men in the match: Austin and the three men he illegally eliminated (Hart, Undertaker, and Vader) at In Your House: Final Four won by Hart (who would lose the WWF title to Sycho Sid the next night). This bizarre combination of events made Austin the first man to not receive his guaranteed WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania since the bonus was introduced in 1993.

17 years ago today, former world heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson made his WWF debut, getting into a confrontation with Royal Rumble winner Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince McMahon was set to announce Tyson's role in Wrestlemania XIV when Austin interrupted the proceedings. The confrontation got physical, and would make mainstream news that night and the next day. This was Tyson's biggest public appearance since he was practically banned from boxing after biting Evander Holyfield during a match the previous summer. Tyson's involvement with the WWF would begin a resurgence for the WWF that would ultimately vault them ahead of WCW in the Monday Night Wars by the spring. You can check out the full episode courtesy of WWE Network here.

12 years ago today, WWE presented Royal Rumble from the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. 15,338 were in attendance, with 585,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 670,000 homes for the 2002 edition. This was the first Royal Rumble event following the brand extension the previous March (and the name change to WWE a few weeks later).

• In a Sunday Night Heat preshow match, Spike Dudley defeated Steven Richards.
• Brock Lesnar defeated The Big Show to qualify for the Royal Rumble.
• The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley) defeated Lance Storm & William Regal (c) to win the World Tag Team Championship .
• Torrie Wilson defeated Dawn Marie.
• Scott Steiner defeated Triple H by disqualification for the World Heavyweight Championship.
• Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit to retain the WWE Championship.
• Brock Lesnar won the Royal Rumble, last eliminating the Undertaker.

2003 Royal Rumble Results

Draw	Entrant	Brand	Order	Eliminated by	Time	Eliminations
1	Shawn Michaels	Raw	1	Jericho	02:29	0
2	Chris Jericho	Raw	14	Test	38:54	6
3	Christopher Nowinski	Raw	2	Mysterio	04:37	0
4	Rey Mysterio	SD!	3	Jericho	05:55	1
5	Edge	SD!	10	Jericho	11:03	3
6	Christian	Raw	9	Jericho	09:03	1
7	Chavo Guerrero	SD!	8	Edge	07:10	0
8	Tajiri	SD!	6	Jericho	05:41	0
9	Bill DeMott	SD!	4	Edge	02:13	0
10	Tommy Dreamer	Raw	5	Jericho & Christian	00:48	0
11	B²	SD!	7	Edge	00:24	0
12	Rob Van Dam	Raw	26	Kane	32:56	2
13	Matt Hardy	SD!	21	Lesnar	27:13	0
14	Eddie Guerrero	SD!	13	Booker	16:29	0
15	Jeff Hardy	Raw	11	Van Dam	07:26	0
16	Rosey	Raw	12	Kane	10:16	0
17	Test	Raw	17	Batista	18:45	1
18	John Cena	SD!	22	Undertaker	09:38	0
19	Charlie Haas	SD!	19	Lesnar	17:17	2
20	Rikishi	SD!	18	Batista	14:10	0
21	Jamal	Raw	23	Undertaker	16:07	0
22	Kane	Raw	28	Undertaker	20:24	3
23	Shelton Benjamin	SD!	20	Lesnar	10:55	2
24	Booker T	Raw	16	Haas & Benjamin	06:20	1
25	A-Train	SD!	25	Kane & Van Dam	11:33	0
26	Maven	Raw	24	Undertaker	08:19	0
27	Goldust	Raw	15	Haas & Benjamin	00:47	0
28	Batista	Raw	27	Undertaker	09:55	2
29	Brock Lesnar	SD!	-	Winner	08:59	4
30	The Undertaker	SD!	29	Lesnar	06:45	5

Notes:

• The 30 entrants were divided evenly RAW and Smackdown, with the winner receiving a shot at their brand's champion at Wrestlemania (i.e. if a RAW superstar won, he would face the World Heavyweight Champion; if a Smackdown superstar won, he would face the WWE Champion).

8 years ago today, former ECW champion, WCW tag team champion and Wrestlemania main eventer Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow was found dead in his home in Hudson, Florida. He was 45. The cause of death, determined a few weeks later through an autopsy, revealed he was suffering from arterisclerotic cardiovascular disease and had high levels of cocaine and anti-anxiety medication in his system.

4 years ago today, Wrestlicious announced they have received television clearances in the United States and Canada and are go for launch in the fall. The female-based wrestling series would last just one season.