Royal Rumble 1989 Royal Rumble 1989 was the second annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) , and the first one to be held on pay - per - view . It took place on January 15 , 1989 at The Summit in Houston , Texas . The main event was the 1989 Royal Rumble match won by Big John Studd , who last eliminated Ted DiBiase to win the match . Featured matches on the undercard were Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) versus Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus ( Jacques and Raymond ) , Rockin ' Robin versus Judy Martin for the WWF Women ' s Championship and King Haku versus Harley Race . Event . Before the event aired live on pay - per - view ( PPV ) , Jim Powers defeated Barry Horowitz and Sam Houston defeated Steve Lombardi in dark matches . The first live match was a two out of three falls match between Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) and Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus ( Jacques and Raymond ) . The powerful Neidhart and Bravo started the match . Duggan tagged in and Bravo ran to tag in Raymond . Duggan caught Raymond and connected with a scoop slam and an Old Glory . Duggan tagged in Bret Hart , who pinned Raymond with an inside cradle for a near - fall . He got Raymond with a sunset flip pinfall and then he hit a diving crossbody for another near - fall . Jacques tagged in and got a near - fall with a sunset flip on Hart but Hart clotheslined Jacques and took him to the corner . Jacques ' partners did his help but Neidhart grinded Bravo and Raymond by a shoulder block . Raymond pulled the rope down causing Hart to fall on the floor . Bravo hit a side suplex in the ring but didn ' t cover and instead tagged in Raymond who hit Hart with a Bombe de Rougeau and pinned him to get the first fall . Rougeau brothers continued to beat Hart , who was caught in Jacques ' Boston crab . Hart managed to reach in his corner . Jacques tried to hit a bulldog on Hart but Hart countered it into an inverted atomic drop . Duggan tagged in and hit a scoop slam on Raymond , followed by a forearm smash by Neidhart . He hit Bravo with a shoulder block and Duggan slingshot ted Hart on Raymond and hit an elbow drop on Raymond and pinned him , getting the second fall . Bravo tagged in and hit Duggan with an atomic drop , sending Duggan in the corner who tagged Hart . Hart followed it up with a backbreaker on Bravo but Raymond shoved him from the ropes when Hart tried to hit an elbow drop . All the six men began brawling . The referee was distracted . Duggan took advantage and hit Bravo with his 2x4 . Hart pinned Bravo to get the third fall and the victory . Next was a posedown between WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude . The winner had to be decided by fan reaction . There were four categories : " Double Biceps " , " Best Abs " , " Most Muscular " and " Medley of Poses " . Warrior won in every posedown . Rude , however , attacked Warrior with his own metal workout bar . The second match was for the WWF Women ' s Championship between defending champion Rockin ' Robin and Judy Martin . Before the match began , former champion Sensational Sherri came out and joined the announcers and she challenged the winner of the match . Robin and Martin had a lot of near - falls during the match . However , in the end , Robin hit Martin with a diving crossbody and pinned her to win the match and retain the title . The third match was between King Haku and Harley Race . The winner of that match would win the " King of Wrestling " crown , held by Haku . Race began the match by hitting Haku with knee lift s and suplex es . Haku no - sold Race headbutts . Race hit Haku with a piledriver for a near - fall . Haku suplexed Race for a near - fall . He missed an elbow drop on Race and both men went to the floor . Haku backdrop ped a piledriver attempt by Race . Race hit a swinging neckbreaker for another near - fall . Haku made a comeback by hitting Race with chops but missed a flying splash . Race missed a diving headbutt . Both men got up and Race ran through the ropes but Haku hit him with a thrust kick to win the match . This match was edited off of the Coliseum Video release but included in the Royal Rumble Anthology DVD edition . The main event was the 1989 Royal Rumble match . The first Royal Rumble occurred in 1988 , but it consisted of 20 men . In actual , it was the second Royal Rumble but the first to have 30 men and the first to air on pay - per - view . WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) drew Nos . 1 and 2 in the match . The two tag team championship partners battled with each other until the # 3 entrant André the Giant came in . They battled André until Mr . Perfect entered at # 4 . André eliminated Smash while Perfect and Ax began working on him . Ron Garvin entered at # 5 and he also assisted Perfect and Ax in triple - teaming André , who was the largest person in the match . Greg Valentine entered at # 6 while André eliminated Garvin . Perfect , Ax and Valentine triple - teamed André until Jake Roberts entered at # 7 . This made Roberts the first man to participate in two Royal Rumble events . The other participants let André and Roberts worked on him alone . Andre choked Roberts and threw him over the top rope . Ron Bass entered at # 8 . Ax and Bass battled each other while Perfect and Valentine restarted double - teaming André . One half of The Rockers , Shawn Michaels entered at # 9 . Perfect hit a back body drop on Ax over the top rope , eliminating him . He tried to eliminate Michaels too but Michaels used a skin the cat to come back into the ring and almost tossed Perfect . Butch Miller , one half of The Bushwhackers entered at # 10 . Jake Roberts came back and tossed his snake Damien inside the ring . André saw the snake , freaked out and eliminated himself from the match . Roberts took his snake and went back . The Honky Tonk Man entered at # 11 . Honky and Valentine both tried to eliminate Michaels but failed . One half of Strike Force , Tito Santana entered at # 12 and beat out Perfect before focusing on Valentine . Bass and Perfect double suplex ed Michaels . Bad News Brown entered at # 13 . Santana and Butch eliminated Honky while Brown messed around with Michaels until Michaels ' tag team partner Marty Jannetty entered at # 14 . They both got together and double dropkicked Ron Bass over the top rope . Santana hit Valentine with a flying forearm smash . One half of The Mega Powers , WWF Champion Randy Savage entered at # 15 and went after Brown . Valentine hit Savage with a Hammer Drop and tried to eliminate him but Savage stayed in . Santana aided Savage in beating Valentine until one half of Brain Busters , Arn Anderson entered at # 16 . Savage backdropped Valentine over the top rope . Anderson and Savage clotheslined Michaels over the top rope , eliminating him . Jannetty pounded on Anderson . Anderson ' s tag team partner Tully Blanchard entered at # 17 . Jannetty and Blanchard beat each other . Perfect and Savage nicely exchanged each other ' s moves . Anderson aided Blanchard in hitting Jannetty with a spinning spinebuster . Savage ' s tag team partner Hulk Hogan entered at # 18 and dumped out Perfect . However , Perfect broke the longevity record , lasting 27 : 58 . Anderson dumped Santana . Brown and Hogan had near - eliminations with each other . Butch ' s tag team partner Luke Williams entered at # 19 . Brown eliminated Butch , leaving six men in the ring . Hogan and Savage were double - teamed by other four men Brown , Anderson , Blanchard and Luke . Koko B . Ware entered at # 20 and dropkick ed all four of them . Anderson climbed over the top rope but Hogan scoop slam med him . Koko hunted Hogan but was dumped out over the ring , getting eliminated . Hogan punched Brainbusters away and then eliminated Luke . Brainbusters went for a double clothesline on Hogan but he ducked and instead clotheslined them over the top rope . The Warlord , one half of Powers of Pain entered at # 21 , but as soon as he entered the ring , he was eliminated by Hogan . Warlord set the record of the shortest time in the ring with spending only 2 seconds in the ring . Brown and Savage battled each other . Hogan dumped both men out . Savage flipped Hogan , beginning the breakup of Mega Powers . The two tried to battle each other until Miss Elizabeth told them to calm down . The duo embraced before Savage left . One half of The Twin Towers , The Big Boss Man entered at # 22 . Hogan scoop slammed Big Boss Man but Boss Man hit him a corner avalanche and a piledriver . Hogan tried to get rid of Boss Man , until Boss Man ' s tag team partner Akeem entered at # 23 . The duo double - teamed Hogan and eliminated him . Hogan ' s friend Brutus Beefcake entered at # 24 and took on the Twin Towers . Despite being officially eliminated , Hogan remained at ring side and fought with Boss Man outside . After intervention from match officials , the Boss Man re - entered the ring and Twin Towers double - teamed Beefcake until Hogan pulled the rope down , sending the Boss Man over the top rope and eliminating him from the match . The duo continued to battle each other all the way to the locker room . With this last elimination , Hogan broke the elimination record in a single Royal Rumble match with nine . Akeem tried to eliminate Beefcake until the Red Rooster entered at # 25 . Rooster and Beefcake double - teamed the big Akeem until the Warlord ' s tag team partner the Barbarian entered at # 26 and broke up Rooster and Beefcake ' s double - teaming on Akeem . He battled with Beefcake while Rooster received a 747 Splash by Akeem . Big John Studd entered at # 27 and went after Akeem . Hercules entered at # 28 followed by already eliminated Tito Santana ' s tag team partner Rick Martel , who entered at # 29 . Everyone was punching each other before the final entrant , Ted DiBiase entered at # 30 . DiBiase bought the slot from manager Slick to get a better spot . He eliminated Rooster and then went after his rival Hercules , whom DiBiase had bought as a slave . Beefcake saved DiBiase and battled Hercules . DiBiase sneaked out behind and eliminated both men from the ring , leaving it to the final five participants - Akeem , Barbarian , Studd , Martel and DiBiase . Barbarian manhandled Martel but Martel was able to avoid a clothesline by Barbarian . He dropkicked Barbarian over the top rope , leaving it to Akeem , Studd , Martel and DiBiase . Martel hit a diving crossbody on Akeem but the big man caught him and throw him over the top rope . Akeem , Studd and DiBiase were the final three participants . DiBiase and Akeem spent some time in double - teaming Studd before they quarreled with each other . Studd took advantage and dumped Akeem . Studd and DiBiase remained the final two participants . Studd slammed DiBiase and followed it up with a butterfly suplex . After a clothesline , Studd threw DiBiase over the top rope to eliminate him and win the 1989 Royal Rumble . This made Studd , the first man to win the first Royal Rumble of 30 men ( the previous was of 20 men ) .