The Forgotten First Royal Rumble WWE Wants You to Forget

Everyone knows the Royal Rumble started in 1988... except it didn't. Months before the famous pay-per-view, WWE secretly tested the Royal Rumble match at a house show in St. Louis. There were no cameras, no countdown clock, no fanfare, and according to Pat Patterson, Vince McMahon thought the entire concept was a terrible idea. The experiment was a mess. The finish was accidentally spoiled before the match even started, the crowd turned on it, and the winner of the very first Royal Rumble is someone most fans don't even realise holds that distinction. In this episode of Shaz Beef Bizarre, we look at the forgotten prototype of one of wrestling's greatest match concepts, why Vince wanted nothing to do with it, and how a TV executive ended up saving the Royal Rumble from being abandoned forever.