With the 1988 Royal Rumble a success — the event drew an 8.2 rating, which was the highest for any wrestling event on cable at that point — and much greater Rumble successes to come, what is remembered about that “failure” of a Rumble that only took place in front of 1,900+? The answer is … not much.

To begin with, no one is even 100% certain which 12 wrestlers actually competed in the event. We know One Man Gang and Junkyard Dog were the final two, and we know who else was there that night — King Kong Bundy, Don Muraco, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Ax and Smash of Demolition, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, Hillbilly Jim, Nikolai Volkoff, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Davey Boy Smith, and Billy Jack Haynes — only because of their places on the rest of the card. It stands to reason, according to most, that if any of those 13 sat out the 12-man Rumble, it probably was Haynes, who had already worked twice on the undercard. But nobody can say for sure. And worse yet, several who were there don’t remember much of anything about the rest of the show either.

“I wish I could give you details about it,” One Man Gang told CBS in 2017, “but I really don’t remember it.”

“We’re talking about hundreds of matches [since then],” explained Orndorff (who died in 2021), noting that he couldn’t even say for sure if he took part in the Rumble.

Ax took things a step further, claiming that nobody had ever brought up the 1987 Royal Rumble to him previously. “I wish I could help you,” he said, “but it would all be speculation.”

Effectively, the 1987 Royal Rumble was erased from history, though its shortcomings led to the iconic annual event we have today.