Royal Rumble (1991)

Royal Rumble 1991 was the fourth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event from the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 19, 1991 from the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida.

[edit] Results

Dark match: Jerry Sags defeated Sam Houston (5:25)
- Sags pinned Houston.
The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated The Orient Express (Pat Tanaka and Kato w/Mr. Fuji) (19:15)
- Jannetty pinned Tanaka with a roll-up.
The Big Boss Man defeated The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) (14:15)
- Big Boss Man pinned Barbarian after he rolled through a high crossbody.
Sgt. Slaughter (w/General Adnan) defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Championship (12:47)
- Slaughter pinned Warrior after Randy Savage hit Warrior with his sceptre.
The Mountie defeated Koko B. Ware (9:12)
- The Mountie pinned Koko B. Ware.
Ted DiBiase and Virgil defeated Dusty Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes (9:57)
- DiBiase pinned Dusty with a roll-up.
- After the match, DiBiase told Virgil to wrap the Million Dollar Belt around his waist. Virgil turned on DiBiase and hit him with the Million Dollar Belt.
Hulk Hogan won the 1991 Royal Rumble (1:05:17)
- The final two participants were Hulk Hogan and Earthquake. Hogan gave Earthquake a bodyslam and a clothesline to eliminate Earthquake and achieve his second Royal Rumble win.

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

Promotional poster of Royal Rumble 1991

Even though the stipualtion of the winner receiving a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania wasn't instituted until 1993, Hulk Hogan, the rumble winner faced the WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII.
During an interview with "Mean" Gene Okerlund, Sensational Sherri called out The Ultimate Warrior. Once he came, Sherri tried to seduce him into giving Randy Savage a shot at the WWF Championship after beating Sgt. Slaughter. Warrior refused.
The 1991 Royal Rumble was the first to have a WWF Championship match on the card, featuring The Ultimate Warrior defending the title against Sgt. Slaughter.
The promotional poster of the 1991 Royal Rumble served as the inspiration for the promotional poster of the 2001 Royal Rumble which featured the top WWE Superstars in a similar format. As it turns out, the newer poster would be released 10 years after the 1991 Royal Rumble. It is also worth noting the 1992 Royal Rumble has a poster that is strikingly similar in appearance but has a slightly different style.
WWF Magazine announced André the Giant, Buddy Rose, and The Honky Tonk Man as participants in the Royal Rumble. Rose and The Honky Tonk Man were no longer in the WWF by the time of the Rumble. Andre was most likely scratched due to health issues. They were replaced in the match by Tito Santana, Shane Douglas and Greg Valentine.
Rick Martel broke the longevity record, lasting 52 minutes.