The 5 most memorable Royal Rumble matches

#2 Ultimate Warrior vs Sgt. Slaughter

This was the first ever time that the WWF Title was defended at the Royal Rumble and still remains the most memorable WWF/WWE Title match to date.

The United States were at war with Iraq and the WWF controversially introduced an Iraqi sympathiser character, in the form of former US hero and patriot, Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter was booked to face Warrior for the title.

Most casual fans believed that they would get the blow-off and feel good moment of Ultimate Warrior defeating the evil Slaughter, before going on to face Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 7, in a rematch from their epic WrestleMania 6 encounter.

However, WWE had other plans. They were going all the way with this controversial gimmick and put the belt on Sgt. Slaughter. Randy Savage interfered in the match, setting up a Savage vs Warrior feud, while Slaughter went on to face the “Real American” Hulk Hogan, at WrestleMania VII.

It is still truly shocking to this day that the WWF even did this storyline, let alone them making Slaughter their WWF Champion, a highly controversial decision at the time.