WWF kicks off the new year with a few debuts and the Royal Rumble takes place.
WWF World Championship Scene: (currently held by: Randy Savage)
At the Royal Rumble on January 14th, Savage was eliminated from the
Rumble match by Hulk Hogan. Hogan had also tossed out Bad News Brown to
go along with Savage. However, being eliminated by Hogan didn’t sit well
with Savage at all. He had a brief argument with Hogan but was led to
the backstage are by Miss Elizabeth. However, before the end of the
show, Savage claimed that cooler heads had prevailed and that he and
Hogan were on the same page.
Throughout the month, Savage continued to have matches with Bad News
Brown on the house show market. Savage would be victorious each time
they fought. Savage easily won his feud with Brown.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Scene: (currently held by: the Ultimate Warrior)
At the Royal Rumble on January 14th, Warrior won a pose down competition
against Rick Rude. Rude didn’t take the lost well and ended up
attacking Warrior and choking him with a steel bar. Once he recovered
from the beating, Warrior attacked several officials before running to
the backstage area looking for Rude.
On the house show market, Warrior primarily competed against King Haku and came out victorious each time.
WWF World Tag Team Championship Scene: (currently held by: Demolition)
During the January 24th taping of WWF Superstars, it was announced that
Demolition would defend the tag team titles against the Powers of Pain
at WrestleMania V. They would continue to have several matches on the
house show market with Demolition retaining the titles each time.
Other Happenings:
– At the January 3rd taping of WWF Superstars, Brother Love brought out
snakes to show the world that Andre the Giant wasn’t actually afraid of
them. However, Bobby Heenan and Andre wouldn’t allow Love to open the
bag thus showing the world that Andre is indeed afraid of snakes. It
would be announced during the January 24th Superstars taping that Andre
would square off against Roberts at WrestleMania V. Roberts began to play
mind games with Andre during the same taping by saying over the PA
during Andre’s match that he and his snake Damien were watching Andre.
– Ted DiBiase began to mention that he was having a Million Dollar
Championship created. Several vignettes aired that saw DiBiase telling a
jeweler what he wanted the championship to look like. He also continued
his feud with Hercules on the house show market.
– During the January 3rd taping of WWF Superstars, Dino Bravo came
down to ringside during Jim Duggan’s match waving the Quebec flag. This
would lead to several flag matches on the house show market with Duggan
being victorious.
– The Bushwhackers made their WWF debut on WWF Superstars.
– Rick Martel made his return from an injury suffered back in June of 1988.
– Brooklyn Brawler made his debut.
– Continuing with the trend of debuts, the Rougeau Brothers debuted their new theme song “All American Boys”.
– During the January 4th taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge, WWF
Women’s Champion Rockin’ Robin brawled with Sherri Martel. Martel would
make it clear that she wanted a title shot against Robin.
– Ron Bass began a short feud with Brutus Beefcake which started at
the January 23rd MSG house show where Bass attempted to steal Beefcake’s
scissors. This caused Beefcake to lose to Mr. Perfect by count-out.
During the same show, Beefcake got some revenge by screwing Bass out of a
match against Tito Santana.
– The Brainbusters and the Rockers continued to have matches on the
house show market with each team picking up victorious over the course
of the month.
Royal Rumble 1989:
– Jim Duggan and the Hart Foundation defeated Dino Bravo and the Rougeau Brothers in a best two out of three falls bout.
– WWF Women’s Champion Rockin’ Robin defeated Judy Martin to retain the title.
– King Haku defeated Harley Race
– Big John Studd won a 30 man Royal Rumble.
Buy-rate:
Royal Rumble 1989: 1.5
Bob’s Reaction:
An enjoyable month worth of angle advancements from the WWF. Though, I hate the Bushwhackers. They were so much better as the Sheepherders in the NWA. Their comedy gimmick in the WWF got old really quick for me.
Ted DiBiase introducing his own personal championship is a great idea. It goes along well with the fact he has enough money to create it for himself.
The card for WrestleMania V, title match wise looks to be pretty good. Savage/Hogan, Warrior/Rude and Demolition/Powers of Pain.
I thought it was interesting that Big John Studd won the Royal Rumble. If the stipulation of winning a championship match at Mania had been introduced we would have gotten Savage/Studd instead. Personally, I didn’t think it was a great choice, but oh well.
What are your thoughts on the WWF in January of 1989?
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