1989 Royal Rumble
The Summit, Houston, Texas
Men’s Royal Rumble 1989
Winner
Big John Studd
entered at number 27
- Match time
- 1:04:53
- Entrants
- 30
- Most eliminations
- 10 Hulk Hogan
- Longest time in match
- 27:58 Mr. Perfect
- 1 Ax
- 2 Smash
- 3 André the Giant
- 4 Mr. Perfect
- 5 Ronnie Garvin
- 6 Greg Valentine
- 7 Jake Roberts
- 8 Ron Bass
- 9 Shawn Michaels
- 10 Bushwhacker Butch
- 11 The Honky Tonk Man
- 12 Tito Santana
- 13 Bad News Brown
- 14 Marty Jannetty
- 15 Randy Savage
- 16 Arn Anderson
- 17 Tully Blanchard
- 18 Hulk Hogan
- 19 Bushwhacker Luke
- 20 Koko B. Ware
- 21 The Warlord
- 22 Big Boss Man
- 23 Akeem
- 24 Brutus Beefcake
- 25 The Red Rooster
- 26 The Barbarian
- 27 Big John Studd
- 28 Hercules
- 29 Rick Martel
- 30 Ted DiBiase
The last five draws are 26 to 30 in this match, and are marked in the chart above. They enter against a field that is already thinning, which is the long-standing argument that a late number is an advantage.
Bar positions are derived, not recorded. No source publishes entry and elimination timestamps; they are solved from entry order, the published times in match and the recorded elimination order. The ring-population curve below reads the same solved times. The times in the table below are as published.
What it led to
Threads that start in this match and pay off later. Editorial rather than computed — each one cites where it comes from.
Hogan eliminates Savage, and the Mega Powers explode
Hogan threw out his own tag team partner. The friendship came apart over the following weeks: on The Main Event II, Hogan left Savage alone in the ring with The Twin Towers to carry an unconscious Miss Elizabeth backstage, and Savage slapped him, took the belt and walked out.
WrestleMania V 77 days later
Hulk Hogan beat Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, ending a 371-day reign
Source: Wikipedia, retrieved 7 August 2026
Entry and elimination times are derived, not recorded: no source publishes them. They are solved from entry order, published times in match and the recorded elimination order, around a nominal 126-second interval. Times in match are as published.
Sources: wikipedia (primary), darrenswinloss