Royal Rumble (1990)

World Wrestling Federation pay per view event

The 1990 Royal Rumble was the third annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay per view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 21, 1990, at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida. It centered on the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. Six matches were contested at the event, including one dark match. The main event was the 1990 Royal Rumble match, which was won by WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, who last eliminated Mr. Perfect. The undercard matches saw Jim Duggan defeat Big Boss Man by disqualification, Ronnie Garvin defeat Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in a Submission match, and The Bushwhackers (Bushwhacker Butch and Bushwhacker Luke) defeat The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau).

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay per view (PPV), produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay per views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four". It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The previous year's event established the tradition of the match generally featuring 30 wrestlers. The 1990 event was the third event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 21, 1990, at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida.

The Bushwhackers (Bushwhacker Butch and Bushwhacker Luke) made their WWF debut in Madison Square Garden on December 30, 1988, defeating The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov). They got involved in a feud with The Bolsheviks, which was to be settled at WrestleMania V. Bolsheviks missed the event, however, so they were replaced by The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau), whom Bushwhackers beat. Bushwhackers and Rougeaus continued to feud with each other for the rest of the year, culminating in a tag team match at Royal Rumble 1990. Greg Valentine and Ronnie Garvin had been feuding since a match on December 30, 1988, in Madison Square Garden (MSG) which Valentine won by grabbing the tights for leverage. On the April 22, 1989 episode of Superstars, Garvin defeated Valentine in a match. On the following edition of Superstars, they both faced each other in a retirement match where the loser could not wrestle anymore in WWF. Valentine won the match, sending Garvin into retirement. but he was suspended after disqualifying Valentine in a match against Jimmy Snuka, and later a ring announcer at SummerSlam 1989, a position he used to berate and belittle his erstwhile rival. Valentine was so irate that he demanded for Garvin to be re instated as a professional wrestler and his request was accepted. Other wrestlers in World Wrestling Federation – including WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and the other champions – were prepared to participate in the 1990 Royal Rumble match. Many tag team wrestlers, mid card wrestlers and main event wrestlers were allotted their entry numbers to participate in this match. Prior to the match, it was mentioned that WWF President Jack Tunney had allotted "extra security" to the drawing process. Ted Dibiase, who had cheated to obtain a late number in the previous year's event, eventually revealed to Gene Okerlund that he had drawn #1. By contrast, Mr. Perfect revealed that he had obtained the "perfect draw" #30.