Does anyone know why John Studd was booked to win Rumble '89

[joediego]

Something I've always wondered about, and looked up the stats for today.

John Studd had last wrestled on PPV at Wrestlemania 2.  He hadn't appeared at the two 1987 PPVs (WM3 and Series '87); nor the 'Big 4' in 1988.  Out of nowhere he's suddenly in the Rumble, the first on PPV and the first with 30 men AND HE WINS THE WHOLE THING. 

He never wrestled another match on PPV, and in fact wrestled only 8 times more on TV.

It just seems so random.

[mizerable]

Hindsight really, but I believe they wanted to really push him as a babyface and this was supposed to lead to other things, maybe another run against Andre, but it never came to fruition since he walked out on Vince.

[Capt Lunatic]

Given how Andre was being scaled back at this point, I think Vince just wanted to have another known giant going strong. He brought in Studd because...who else?

Studd quit like six months later over shit pay so it derailed the whole thing.

[SmashTV]

I think it was a combination of the reasons listed above, but to also try and highlight the 'randomness' of the Royal Rumble. While you'd maybe expect a top tier face to win, a recently returned Big John Studd showed that anyone could win the event - at least in kayfabe!

[Hit Girl]

Macho Man should have won it.

[Milkman Norm]

Yes. He had recently come back to New York after basically sitting out a year. A big main event push was planned for him with the win as the launching pad. The idea was to recreate the success he and Andre had in 1985 with the face/heel reversed. Unfortunately Andre was way more broken down by then and the matches sucked. The program was killed shortly after.

[MC Blowfish]

The Royal Rumble wasn't the big deal then as it is today. The idea was to pit him against Andre, but Andre was really broken down by then.

[CeilingFan]

Dec 16, 2016 11:57:11 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Macho Man should have won it.

I love how Savage said he should've been King of the Royal Rumble!

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

I miss feeling that anyone could win the Rumble. Now there can be 30 or 40 guys in there, but you know there's 3, maybe 4 who actually have a chance of winning.

[The 1Watcher Experience]

Anyone could win the Royal Rumble back then. It was just a special kind of battle royal at that point. Sending wrestlers in throughout the match so they could have more room to work and fans could follow the action better. Andre was booked to win so many battle royals over the years because he was credible enough to win them and it was a great way to use him as a feature attraction. They probably figured they'd do the same here for Big John Studd.

[lildude8218]

Studd was actually supposed to come back in a lot sooner but I can't remember reading why he didn't. First time was a rumored return around Wrestlemania 3 as a babyface. The other was an actual start date of January 1988 at a TV taping.

[BlackoutCreature]

I would assume to build up some credibility before he started feuding with Andre again.

[horsemen4ever]

I am pretty sure Studd was suppose to turn face before he departed the first time in 86 / 87, they were teasing friction between him and Bundy.

[BlackoutCreature]

Dec 16, 2016 19:35:04 GMT -5 horsemen4ever said:

I am pretty sure Studd was suppose to turn face before he departed the first time in 86 / 87, they were teasing friction between him and Bundy.

I always thought after Studd left, they should've turned Bundy face instead. Do Bundy-Kamala at WM3, then afterwards do a face Bundy vs. heel Andre program to buy some time before the WWF is ready to do Hogan-Andre 2.

[Paco]

It was his big comeback win after a 2-year sabbatical/retirement (late-'86 till late-'88).

He came back babyface, won the Rumble and it was gonna be him vs. Andre after Mania V but Studd was gone again in the summer.

[tms]

I loved seeing Studd win. He always looked more of a face than a heel. I thought it was a great Thank you moment and the fact it wasn't Warrior or Hogan was a great.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Initially, Vince had big plans for a Big John Studd comeback. They wanted to do another program with Andre the Giant.

[Squirrel Master]

Dec 16, 2016 22:07:49 GMT -5 tms said:

I loved seeing Studd win. He always looked more of a face than a heel. I thought it was a great Thank you moment and the fact it wasn't Warrior or Hogan was a great.

Big John Studd was friggin' great. I could see the frustration in his eyes whenever he would try to take Andre off his feet. He was pretty good at cutting promos; I always bought into whatever he was up to.
Too bad Studd didn't go forward as a face, I would have enjoyed him in singles action against the usual mugs.

[Toilet Paper Roll]

Big John Studd is one of the worst wrestlers ever. A clubbing forearm, body slam and bearing moveset even when he was younger.

With Andre all but immobile by 89" and Studd even older the matches would have been atrocious and would have served almost no purpose.