This Day in Wrestling History (Jan. 28): Dead Men Do Win Royal Rumbles

25 years ago today, WWF taped the final edition of The Main Event (WWE Network link), the Friday night version of the long-running Saturday night series of the same name, from the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia.

The show did a respectable 6.7 rating, but it was a far cry from its debut episode three years earlier, which did a 15.2 rating. Of note, when the show aired February 1, it was announced that Hulk Hogan would face Sgt. Slaughter at Wrestlemania VII for the WWF Championship. Also of note, during the same taping, William Moody (aka Paul Bearer) would make his WWF debut.

• Hulk Hogan & Tugboat defeated Dino Bravo & Earthquake.
• Jim Duggan defeated Sgt. Slaughter by disqualification in a WWF Championship match.
• The Legion Of Doom (Animal & Hawk) defeated The Orient Express (Kato & Tanaka).

14 years ago today on RAW from Richmond, Virginia, Vince McMahon revealed that should Ric Flair refuse to sell his half of the WWF to him, he would bring in the New World Order at the next PPV, No Way Out. This would be the first mention of the infamous WCW faction on WWF programming since the sale of the former's company to the latter. Surely enough, a few weeks later, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash all returned to the WWF at No Way Out.

9 years ago today, WWE presented Royal Rumble (WWE Network link) from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. 13,500 were in attendance, with 491,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 550,000 for the 2006 edition.

• In a dark match, JTG defeated Lance Cade.
• The Hardys (Jeff & Matt Hardy) defeated MNM (Joey Mercury & Johnny Nitro).
• Bobby Lashley defeated Test to retain the ECW Championship.
• Batista defeated Mr. Kennedy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
• John Cena defeated Umaga in a last man standing match to retain the WWE Championship.
• The Undertaker last eliminated Shawn Michaels to win the Royal Rumble match and a championship match of his choosing at Wrestlemania 23.

2007 Royal Rumble Results

Notes:

• The eight-man effort to eliminate Viscera is the most for a single elimination in Royal Rumble history, breaking the old record of seven men needed to eliminate Mabel. Yes, that means Nelson Frazier, Jr., the man behind both Mabel and Viscera, has held the record since 1994.
• Glenn Jacobs, aka Kane, made his eleventh Royal Rumble appearance, including nine in a row. Both would be new Royal Rumble records. Kane recently entered his nineteenth Royal Rumble; the next closest in career Rumble appearances is Shawn Michaels with twelve.
• Undertaker became the first man to win the Royal Rumble from the #30 slot. It was done again the next year by John Cena. It wouldn't be until earlier this week when #30 won again, this time by Triple H.