The Rockin' Robin-Judy Martin match for the WWF Women's Championship match was the last women's match for a championship title conducted at a major WWF pay-per-view event for nearly five years. Haku backdropped a piledriver attempt by Race. WWF Wrestling Challenge Taping #138 Apr 5th 1989: Big John Studd: def. The duo embraced before Savage left. He would still wrestle occasionally, but it was always on his own terms. Hogan did not help Savage and turned his attention to an unconscious Elizabeth. Duggan tagged in and hit a scoop slam on Raymond, followed by a forearm smash by Neidhart. The attendance for Studd as the main event didn’t draw very well and fans watching his matches started chanting ‘boring.’ At Wrestlemania V, instead of having a match…Studd was booked as the special guest referee in the Andre versus Jake the Snake Roberts match. Hogan tried to talk sense into Savage but was unsuccessful as the Macho Man turned heel on his now former partner by attacking both him and Brutus Beefcake, who tried to intervene on Hogan's behalf. He missed an elbow drop on Race and both men went to the floor. André eliminated Smash while Perfect and Ax began working on him. Bad News Brown entered at #13. Rooster and Beefcake double-teamed the big Akeem until the Warlord's tag team partner The Barbarian entered at #26 and broke up Rooster and Beefcake's double-teaming on Akeem. The rivalry between John Studd and Andre was a legitimate one. While the ultimate plan was to rekindle the Studd/Andre feud…Vince McMahon realized that both competitors were not the same as they were just a couple of years prior. Since joining the WWF in early 1987, Duggan used an American patriot gimmick, coming to the ring with an American flag and feuding with non-American wrestlers in the WWF roster (such as Nikolai Volkoff). In early 1989, Duggan began feuding with the French-Canadians Bravo and the Rougeau brothers battling them with different partners. Studd was a guest on the Brother Love Show where Studd was greeted by his long time manager Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan. It appeared as if Studd was going to accept the offer, but instead threw Dibiase out of the ring and became the 1989 Royal Rumble winner. Several folks have attested to the fact that he pushed the roids and HGH heavily to try and be bigger than Andre. He tried to eliminate Michaels too but Michaels used a skin the cat to come back into the ring and almost tossed Perfect. ^Jake 'The Snake' Roberts had already been eliminated when he returned from back stage with his sack, removed Damien, Jake Robert's pet Boa Constrictor, from the sack and flung Damien (who was not an official entrant, obviously) into the ring, then slid into the ring and used Damien to chase Andre until the Giant quickly exited over the top rope to escape Jake and his snake. Valentine hit Savage with a Hammer Drop and tried to eliminate him but Savage stayed in. DiBiase bought the slot from manager Slick to get a better spot. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. When Hogan returned to the ring, Savage slapped him in the face, took the championship belt and left Hogan alone in the ring with the Twin Towers. The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble was between the 30 superstars from the entire World Wrestling Federation (WWF) who had selected to participate in the first-ever 30 man Royal Rumble match. Learn how your comment data is processed. Studd had apparently became obsessed with proving he was legitimately the one, true giant in wrestling. Hulk Hogan set a new record for most eliminations overall with ten, the. Duggan tagged in Bret Hart, who pinned Raymond with an inside cradle for a near-fall. The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage) were involved in a feud with The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man) since November 1988. The 1989 Royal Rumble was the second Royal Rumble but the first to have 30 men and the first to air on pay-per-view. As a result, he also entered his name into the match. Natural color and a trim might have suited him better. [5] It was also the first to feature 30 wrestlers in the titular match, which is now the traditional number of participants. Sadly, however, John Minton passed away on March 20, 1995, due to complications from liver cancer and Hodgkin's disease. Robin left the company in June 1989 and – with little to no interest in women's wrestling at the time – the title was deactivated in February 1990. He also dabbled in Hollywood, appearing in episodes of "The A-Team" and "Hunter," as well as in movies such as "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man." Haku suplexed Race for a near-fall. Race missed a diving headbutt. Brown and Savage battled each other. Robin and Martin had a lot of near-falls during the match. Over the next couple of months, Rude would regularly appear at ringside midway through Warrior's matches with World champion Savage, luring the Warrior outside and causing him to be counted out (then afterwards embracing Savage to emphasise the latter's heel turn.) Studd took advantage and dumped Akeem. This time, however, the Frenchman was under the tutelage of the hated Heenan, so the fans rallied to Studd's side. Butch's tag team partner Luke Williams entered at #19. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. [13] He was scheduled to battle Bravo and Rougeaus in a two out of three falls match at Royal Rumble, so he found partners in The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart). Now while he might have grown taller than the Giant, no one will ever be BIGGER than him, no way. Hart pinned Bravo to get the third fall and the victory.[3][2][4]. WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, "Big John Studd (spot No. At WrestleMania V, Rude won the Intercontinental title, using outside interference from manager Bobby Heenan to pin Warrior. Minton was trained by legendary fellow Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski, and made his first appearance in WWE in 1976 as Kowalski's partner. The main event was the 1989 Royal Rumble match won by Big John Studd, who last eliminated Ted DiBiase to win the match. Duggan tagged in and Bravo ran to tag in Raymond. [1] On the February 3 The Main Event II, Hogan and Savage faced The Twin Towers (Akeem and Big Boss Man) in a tag team match, filled with controversy. Savage's tag team partner Hulk Hogan entered at #18 and dumped out Perfect. Despite being officially eliminated, Hogan remained at ring side and fought with Boss Man outside. Hart managed to reach in his corner. It was the first Royal Rumble to be broadcast on pay-per-view, becoming one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, later dubbed the "Big Four". In his career, Studd was a World Tag Team Champion, WrestleMania participant and Royal Rumble winner; his induction into the Hall of Fame, however, affirmed that Studd was one of sports-entertainment's true giants. Hulk Hogan accidentally eliminated Randy Savage from the match. Hogan tried to get rid of Boss Man, until Boss Man's tag team partner Akeem entered at #23. 27 and last eliminated Ted DiBiase to win the match. In many ways I feel sorry for Studd, He was not made to be a babyface. During Studd’s retirement, Heenan aligned with Studd’s greatest foe Andre the Giant who had turned heel.