Royal Rumble 1988 was the inaugural Royal Rumble event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 24, 1988 in Hamilton, Ontario. Unlike the subsequent Royal Rumble events, this event was not shown on pay-per-view and was instead a television special.
Results[]
- Ricky Steamboat defeated Rick Rude by disqualification.
- The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itzuki Yamazaki) defeated The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai) (with Jimmy Hart) in a two-out-of-three falls tag match to win the WWF Women's Tag Team Championships.
- The Islanders (Haku and Tama) defeated The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers) in a two-out-of-three falls tag team match.
Royal Rumble Match[]
- Jim Duggan won the 1988 20-man Royal Rumble match by last eliminating One Man Gang.
Entrants and Eliminations:[]
| Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by | Time | Eliminations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bret Hart | 8 | Don Muraco | 25:42 | 1 |
| 2 | Tito Santana | 2 | Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart | 10:41 | 0 |
| 3 | Butch Reed | 1 | Jake Roberts | 03:18 | 0 |
| 4 | Jim Neidhart | 6 | Hillbilly Jim | 19:06 | 1 |
| 5 | Jake Roberts | 10 | One Man Gang | 21:52 | 2 |
| 6 | Harley Race | 4 | Don Muraco | 10:03 | 0 |
| 7 | Jim Brunzell | 5 | Nikolai Volkoff | 12:06 | 1 |
| 8 | Sam Houston | 7 | Ron Bass | 14:39 | 0 |
| 9 | Danny Davis | 13 | Jim Duggan | 17:51 | 0 |
| 10 | Boris Zhukov | 3 | Jake Roberts and Jim Brunzell | 02:33 | 0 |
| 11 | Don Muraco | 17 | Dino Bravo and One Man Gang | 16:10 | 3 |
| 12 | Nikolai Volkoff | 11 | Jim Duggan | 11:40 | 1 |
| 13 | Jim Duggan | - | Winner | 14:44 | 3 |
| 14 | Ron Bass | 16 | Don Muraco | 10:14 | 2 |
| 15 | B. Brian Blair | 9 | One Man Gang | 05:50 | 0 |
| 16 | Hillbilly Jim | 12 | 05:55 | 1 | |
| 17 | Dino Bravo | 18 | 08:12 | 2 | |
| 18 | The Ultimate Warrior | 14 | Dino Bravo and One Man Gang | 03:51 | 0 |
| 19 | One Man Gang | 19 | Jim Duggan | 06:50 | 6 |
| 20 | Junkyard Dog | 15 | Ron Bass | 02:30 |