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The 1989 Royal Rumble was Mr. Perfect's first PPV event as a solo
competitior. After his success at Survivor Series just two months
previous, Mr. Perfect's confidence was understandably high, which made
him a dangerous competitior in
the 30-man Royal Rumble.
Circumstances dictated, though, that Mr. Perfect would have to face a
monumental task, almost as tough as they come. At the random draw
which determined at which number Mr. Perfect had to enter the Rumble,
he
discovered that he would have to be the fourth competitor to enter the
battle. This would ensure that Mr. Perfect would go toe-to-toe
with some of the toughest wrestlers in the WWE at the time including
both halves of the devastating tag-team partnership that make up
Demolition: Ax and Smash, the "Eighth Wonder of the World" Andre The
Giant, Shawn Michaels as well as his Rockers' teammate Marty Janetty,
Tito Santana, Honky Tonk Man, "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.
By the time the perfect one casually entered the arena as the fourth
competitor, Ax and Smash of Demolition and Andre The Giant were already
in the ring. Showing his intent, Mr. Perfect immediately went
after both Demolition's Smash and
Andre The Giant. On a number of occasions, Mr. Perfect, along
with
a couple of other competitors, tried to lift all seven foot five inches
and 520 pounds of the "Eighth Wonder of the World" to eliminate him but
it was all in vain. Eventually,
though, Andre The Giant was frightened into eliminating himself from
the Royal Rumble when an already-eliminated Jake "The Snake"
Roberts returned from the locker room with his python, Damien, sliding
the snake into the squared-circle.
Mr. Perfect's endeavour eventually paid off when he eliminated
Demolition's Ax - the first man to enter the Rumble - by lifting him
over his shoulder. Buoyed by this success, the perfect one hunted
down
a new victim and came close to eliminating one-half of
the Rockers, Shawn Michaels, but the man who was later to be known
as HBK managed to cling on to the top rope and haul himself back into
the ring.
When the Honky Tonk Man entered the fray, it did not take long for the
perfect one to go on the attack. On more than one occasion, the
future-Intercontinental Champion nearly threw the former-IC champion
over the top rope. The Honky Tonk Man used to walk around
claiming to be the greatest Intercontinental Champion but, perhaps, he
didn't
realise he was being ambushed by a wrestler who would be claiming that
very same mantle not too far down the road. Another former-IC
Champion, "Macho Man" Randy Savage raced into the ring but Mr. Perfect
was not afraid of taking on one of the biggest superstars in wrestling
of
all-time. Perfect had "Macho
Man" cornered a couple of times and the current WWE champion found
himself
in serious danger of being eliminated.
However, Mr. Perfect's Royal Rumble was to come to an end, after nearly
half an hour of battle, when Hulk Hogan rushed into the arena to lend a
helpling hand to his Mega Powers ally, "Macho Man". The Hulkster
pounced on Mr. Perfect and disposed of him over the top rope, ending
his
first solo-PPV experience. It was not to be the last time these
two superstars were to
go head-to-head.
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PPV HISTORY - WWE
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1989 ROYAL RUMBLE GALLERY
(click on image for enlarged version)
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