The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988.

During the build-up to their match, Slaughter and his manager, General Adnan, cut several anti-American promos to build heat for the event; at one point, Slaughter unwrapped a present and revealed a pair of boots purportedly sent to him by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Tensions that had been building between the two in the previous weeks exploded when – after the match – Virgil struck DiBiase in the head with his Million Dollar Championship to turn into a face.

DiBiase had verbally abused Virgil throughout the match, and at one point, attacked him and threw him from the ring after he was being dominated by the Rhodes team.

[5] After the match, DiBiase demanded Virgil bring the Million Dollar Championship into the ring and strap it around his waist.

Slaughter then hit the unconscious Warrior with an elbow drop and pinned him to win the match and championship.

The pay-per-view broadcast also included pre-taped comments from fans outside the arena, wishing the United States troops a quick and safe return from the Middle East and an announcement that Hogan would tour military bases across the country to support the troops.

[8] Following his WWF World Heavyweight Championship loss, Warrior focused on revenge against Savage, with their first encounter being a steel cage match on January 21 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which Savage won (with help from Sensational Sherri); Warrior was enraged and – despite being restrained by several referees, and other wrestlers – attacked Sherri after the match by slamming her in the ring.

Meanwhile, Warrior was unsuccessful in regaining the title, losing a series of steel cage matches to Slaughter, usually due to interference from Sensational Sherri.

At WrestleMania VII, Hogan defeated Slaughter to become WWF World Heavyweight Champion for the third time.

(Before WrestleMania VII, Hogan defeated Earthquake in a series of "stretcher matches" to finish their feud.)

Dusty and Dustin Rhodes left the WWF after their match, both returning to WCW, Dusty retired from active wrestling and became a booker and commentator, and Dustin returned to wrestling as "The Natural" and began feuding with Larry Zbyszko and later Terry Taylor.