What if Andre the Giant had won World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) 1991 Royal Rumble, as originally planned? Would his presence have given that year’s Rumble the big push that it seemed to sorely need?
The 1991 Rumble had a different feel from the 1990 edition. While 1990 had a rather ho-hum undercard but a very intriguing Rumble, the 1991 version was the exact opposite, with an uneventful Rumble but a stacked undercard highlighted by The Ultimate Warrior losing the WWE world title to Sgt. Slaughter (who was playing the role of an Iraqi sympathizer during Operation Desert Storm) in a major upset that left fans stunned.
But the Rumble itself, while not a bad match, simply lacked any real excitement, with the only encounter of real significance being Hulk Hogan and the “Earthquake” John Tenta wrapping up their nine-month feud by being the final two participants before Hogan threw Earthquake out for the win. But by this time, the Hogan-Earthquake feud had lost its luster, with Hogan defeating Earthquake at the previous two pay-per-views (a count-out win at Summerslam 1990 and Hogan’s team beating Earthquake’s team at the 1990 Survivor Series).
But in fairness to Hogan and Earthquake, the original plan wasn’t for these two to close out the Rumble. Instead, the plan was for Andre the Giant to win the event as sort of a final tribute to one of WWE’s living legends.
On Nov. 30, 1990, at a house show in Miami, the WWE announced that Andre would return to in-ring action as a participant in the 1991 Rumble, which was scheduled to be held in Miami two months later. The plan, according to WWE Executive Director Bruce Pritchard, was for Andre to come in at No. 30 in order to limit his in-ring involvement but also see him go head-to-head with several of the top stars at the time before winning the Rumble. Unfortunately, shortly after he was mentioned on television as one of the Rumble’s participants, Andre had to back out due to a leg injury.
So let’s play some revisionist history here and theorize what would’ve happened had Andre been healthy enough to compete in the Rumble.
First, let’s discuss whom might’ve been in the ring when Andre made his way down at No. 30. When the Rumble announced Tugboat as the 30th and final wrestler for the event, in the ring at the time were Hogan, Earthquake, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Henning, the “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith, the “Model” Rick Martel (who lasted in the Rumble for a then-record 53 minutes and 14 seconds), Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, Haku, Brian Knobbs of “The Nasty Boys” and Shane Douglas.
Since in this scenario Andre is coming in at No. 30 and not Tugboat, let’s assume that Tugboat was eliminated earlier in the event. Let’s also assume that—since Andre got a huge babyface reaction at his last TV appearance at Wrestlemania 6 on April 1, 1990—Andre would’ve gotten a huge babyface pop from the crowd here as well.
Got it? OK, here we go.
When Andre enters the ring (over the top rope, as he always does), he immediately gets attacked by Haku, which makes sense given that they were former tag team champions before their falling out at WM6 when Andre left the Heenan family. Haku delivers a few chops to the head of Andre and quickly goes for his patented Crescent Kick, but Andre catches Haku’s leg, nails Haku with a couple of punches, and then throws his former partner over the top rope.
Following that elimination, Andre quickly goes to a corner of the ring where Perfect and Douglas are battling one another. Andre grabs both their heads, knocks them together, and eliminates both wrestlers.
Meanwhile, Martel eliminates Neidhart, just like it originally happened, while the Bulldog throws Knobbs over the top rope, and Hogan and Earthquake continue to battle in another corner. Martel and the Bulldog then turn towards each other, with Martel getting the upper hand before getting eliminated by a Bulldog dropkick when he attempted to climb the top rope (again, just like it originally happened).
So now here’s your final four:
Hogan, Earthquake, Bulldog and Andre.
Bulldog, emboldened by his eliminations of Knobbs and Martel, quickly jumps on Andre with several forearms to the back. But Andre soon uses his massive size to grab Bulldog’s arms, deliver a headbutt, and throw him over the top rope like a rag doll.
Meanwhile, Hogan and Earthquake continue to battle in another quarter, with Earthquake starting to get the upper hand. But Andre walks over to the corner towards Earthquake, whose back is to Andre and thus doesn’t see the “Eighth Wonder of the World” coming. Andre grabs Earthquake by the head, delivers two headbutts, chokes Earthquake for a few seconds, and manages to get Earthquake over the top by himself.
And now you’re down to two:
Hogan…and Andre.
The two legends find themselves in the same ring for the first time since Summerslam 1988, with a pop from the crowd that clearly shows that the fans know they’re witnessing wrestling history once again.
Hogan and Andre stare each other done intensely, but not quite with the same intensity as from their match at WM3, mainly due to both wrestlers being babyfaces at this point. The stare down quickly stops when the two legends and former friends begin punching each other, going blow for blow until Hogan seemed to be getting the upper hand with three straight unanswered right hand shots. With Andre reeling, Hogan motions to the crowd that he’s going to slam the Giant, which he hadn’t done (at least on TV) since WM 4 back in 1988. Hogan moves in, goes for a slam, but in a scene reminiscent of their match at WM 3, Hogan is unable to get Andre up, and instead Andre falls right on top of him, seemingly injuring Hogan’s ribs.
The ending would come quickly, surprising fans a bit (but remember, Andre is not in the best shape here). Andre lifts Hogan to his feet, delivers two punches, a headbutt and then picks up Hogan with ease, walks to the ropes, and throws Hogan over the top.
Game. Set. Match. Andre.
Two things to discuss here:
First, would Andre’s presence have given the 1991 Rumble a jolt?
The answer: Yes.
Andre’s appearance, particularly given the fact that he came in at No. 30, did what it set out to do: Put the spotlight on a living legend, have him make an immediate impact, briefly rekindle an iconic feud by going head-to-head with Hogan, and giving fans a little swerve by making Andre the winner. While all of this would’ve been enough to rank the 1991 Rumble as one of the event’s best, it would have created a “Rumble moment” if you will. And that’s all you could’ve asked for.
And second, would Andre’s appearance and victory change any bookings for WM 7 later that March?
The answer: No.
Given his health, it’s very unlikely that Andre’s victory at the Rumble would’ve given him a big push heading into Wrestlemania. Andre’s Rumble win was meant to be a kind of swan song for the wrestling legend. While he may have made the occasional appearance later in the year, I don’t see any booking changes for WM 7 despite Andre’s win.
What do you think? Am I right? Wrong? Somewhere in the middle? What are your thoughts, wrestling fans?