The 1988 Royal Rumble was the inaugural Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 24, 1988, at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event aired as a television special on the USA Network on the same night as Jim Crockett Promotions' Bunkhouse Stampede pay-per-view (PPV) and was centered on the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. It would be the only Royal Rumble event to broadcast as a television special, as beginning with the 1989 event, it began airing on pay-per-view. After the launch of the WWE Network in 2014, this inaugural Royal Rumble was included with the rest of the Royal Rumble events in the PPV section.

FirstOntario Centre is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000.