Former WWF Superstar, Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese, has spoken out about the influence of Pat Patterson on the Royal Rumble Match.
The main driving force behind the 30-Man over-the-top-rope affray, the inaugural WWF Intercontinental Champion created the bout after taking part in and booking several similar outings at the Cow Palace for San Francisco promoter, Roy Shire. Taking what he knew from those experiences, Patterson built on the creation and rules to conjure what we know and love as the Royal Rumble today.
Now, WWF’s one-time garbage man Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese has spoken to Fightful for their in-depth ‘Inside the Royal Rumble’ feature about how Pat Patterson helped the talent set-up the over hour long bout and how entrants and eliminations were worked out:
“Pat Patterson set those up. He sits everyone down, usually it’s in the catering area. He’ll have a big white dry erase board. He’ll give everybody the order that you’re going out to the ring. Then he will tell you, ‘Then you go out of the ring after you see this wrestler go out.’ He tells you who is going to throw you out of the ring. That’s basically how it works. It’s like, what number you go into the ring, and then, basically, what number you go out. Because you watch to see and you go out after a certain person. You make sure the right person throws you out of the ring. That’s how it works. The rest of it is just a big ol’ mish-mosh in the ring and people goofing off and making each other laugh, basically, is what it is and ribbing each other.”
Duke Droese partook in two Royal Rumble Matches during his career, entering fourth in 1995 where he lasted a little over eight minutes before being sent to the locker room by Shawn Michaels. One year later in 1996, Droese won the right to enter last when he defeated career rival, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, in the event’s Free-For All. One minute and then seconds later, he was pitched from the ring by Diesel and Kama.
Credit for the interview: Fightful