January 24, 1988 - Hamilton, Ontario
Copps Coliseum
| The first Royal Rumble was a special that aired on the USA Network. It is listed here for simplicity. |
| Match #1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat | def. | "Ravishing" Rick Rude | via DQ (17:39) |
| Notes: Ricky Steamboat jumped off the top rope at Rude, who pulled the referee in the way. | |||
| NEAR ENTRYWAY: In this segment, Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin) attempted to benchpress a world-record 715 pounds. Jesse "The Body" Ventura was the spotter, and "Mean" Gene Okerlund was on commentary. Ventura gave Bravo a little assist on the press. | |||
| Match #2 - WWF Women's Tag Team Championship - 2-out-of-3 Falls Match | |||
| "The Jumping Bomb Angels" (Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno) Challengers |
def. | "The Glamour Girls" (Leilani Kai & Judy Martin) Champions w/Jimmy Hart |
via Pinfall (15:40) |
| Notes: -TITLE CHANGE- Martin pinned red at 6:10 for the first fall, red pinned Kai at 8:19 to win the second fall, and pink pinned Martin for the third fall at 15:40. I'm calling the Bomb Angels by color because I can't tell them apart. | |||
| IN RING: In this segment, Andre the Giant (w/Ted DiBiase and Virgil) and Hulk Hogan signed a contract for a World Heavyweight Championship rematch. Jack Tunney and Okerlund were also present. | |||
| Match #3 - Royal Rumble Match | |||
| "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan | def. | (See Below) | (33:25) |
| Notes: Duggan was the first Royal Rumble winner. Nikolai Volkoff jumped the gun a little bit and had to wait at ringside until his turn. One Man Gang was dominant, but accidentally hit Bravo out of the ring. He still was in control, but Duggan ducked under Gang's charge, and Gang went flailing over the top. | |||
| Match #4 - 2-out-of-3 Falls Match | |||
| "The Islanders" (Haku & Tama) |
def. | "The Young Stallions" | via Submission (14:59) |
| Notes: Roma was counted out at 7:52. Haku got the submission on Roma at 14:59. In between falls, Greg DeGeorge interviewed Andre the Giant, Ted DiBiase, and Virgil. | |||
| # | Time In | Name | Exit | Time Out | Eliminated By | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0:00 | Bret Hart w/Jimmy Hart | 8 | 25:44 | Don Muraco | 25:44 |
| 2 | 0:00 | Tito Santana | 2 | 10:43 | Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart | 10:43 |
| 3 | 1:57 | Butch Reed | 1 | 5:25 | Jake Roberts | 3:28 |
| 4 | 3:35 | Jim Neidhart | 6 | 22:53 | Hillbilly Jim | 19:13 |
| 5 | 5:13 | Jake Roberts | 10 | 27:12 | One Man Gang | 21:59 |
| 6 | 6:43 | Harley Race | 4 | 16:55 | Don Muraco | 10:12 |
| 7 | 8:11 | Jim Brunzell | 5 | 20:23 | Nikolai Volkoff | 12:12 |
| 8 | 9:39 | Sam Houston | 7 | 24:23 | Ron Bass | 14:44 |
| 9 | 11:10 | Danny Davis | 13 | 29:10 | Jim Duggan | 18:00 |
| 10 | 12:39 | Boris Zhukov | 3 | 15:20 | Roberts, Brunzell | 2:41 |
| 11 | 14:39 | Don Muraco | 17 | 31:11 | One Man Gang | 16:32 |
| 12 | 16:38 | Nikolai Volkoff | 11 | 28:21 | Jim Duggan | 11:43 |
| 13 | 18:05 | Jim Duggan | WINNER | |||
| 14 | 19:35 | Ron Bass | 16 | 30:00 | Don Muraco | 10:25 |
| 15 | 21:02 | B. Brian Blair | 9 | 26:59 | One Man Gang | 5:57 |
| 16 | 22:32 | Hillbilly Jim | 12 | 28:34 | One Man Gang | 6:02 |
| 17 | 24:01 | Dino Bravo w/Frenchy Martin | 18 | 32:22 | One Man Gang | 8:21 |
| 18 | 25:27 | Ultimate Warrior | 14 | 29:25 | One Man Gang, Dino Bravo | 3:58 |
| 19 | 26:17 | One Man Gang | 19 | 33:23 | Jim Duggan | 7:06 |
| 20 | 27:30 | Junkyard Dog | 15 | 29:48 | Ron Bass | 2:18 |