WWF Royal Rumble 1992

In 1992, the WWF made some changes to the Royal Rumble. While they hadn’t added the ‘Winner gets a WrestleMania Title Shot’ stipulation yet, for the first time the Rumble came with a prize. After the controversial finishes at Survivor Series and This Tuesday in Texas, kayfabe President Jack Tunney decided to vacate the WWF Title, and declared that the winner of the battle royal would walk away the new champion. It was a great way to add intrigue, as previous Rumble winners were just Rumble winners – and while the match format was popular and generally exciting – adding a prize made it all the more so.

From Albany, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan – doing one of the most legendary commentary broadcasts of all time.


Opening Match: The Orient Express v The New Foundation: Kato and Owen Hart start, and trade armbars, as Bobby Heenan already starts rambling about how great life will be when Ric Flair wins the WWF Title later. Owen with a rana, and he tags Jim Neidhart - who keeps after the arm. They get into a power showdown - with Neidhart launching him across the ring – but unfortunately for him, he launches him right into a tag to Tanaka. Another power showdown - again dominated by Neidhart - and he tags back to Owen for a double-team spinebuster/2^nd rope flying elbow combo. Owen with a backbreaker for two, and a well executed backdrop. Enzuigiri, and a flying bodypress for two. Tag to Kato, and he quickly eats spinkick for two. Suplex gets two, and Owen goes to the chinlock. Kato bails to the floor to regroup, but gets caught with a side-headlock back inside. Tanaka throws a cheap shot to stop the effort, and Express manager Mr. Fuji whacks Hart with his cane to properly turn the tide. Express cut the ring in half, and a Kato superkick gets two. Jumping backelbow for two, and Owen takes Bret's chest-first cross corner bump for two. Tanaka with his own superkick for two, and Kato hooks a chinlock in his home corner. Criss cross sees Owen bust out a desperation crucifix (a lot of people do that in desperation), and a bulldog - but the Express whip him into Fuji's cane to simmer him down. They work the shoulder, but Owen dodges a double-clothesline, and takes both guys out with a well placed dropkick. Tag to Neidhart, and he's a house of arson. Four way brawl breaks out - with Owen taking Kato out with a tope - and the Foundation finish Tanaka with a Rocket Launcher (assisted flying splash) at 17:18. Tremendous match, filled with well timed near falls, and an excellent display of how to properly cut the ring in half - as Owen fought for his life to get to Neidhart, only to walk into double-teams and cheap shots like it was court ordered. Not quite as good as the Express' opener from '91 against The Rockers (that match had a lot more innovative stuff, and a truly brilliant finish), but still great. *** ¼

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: The Mountie v Roddy Piper: Bret Hart dropped the title to the Mountie two days before at a house show, with the story being that Bret had a '104 degree fever' going in, but 'fought anyway, against doctors orders.' The truth was he was about to jump to WCW, and Vince McMahon wanted to get the title off of him yesterday, to avoid him showing up at the Clash of the Champions the next week with it, as revenge for Ric Flair jumping to the WWF with the WCW belt the year before. That same issue would come up again – quite more famously, of course – when Bret actually did sign with WCW some six years later, and I think this incident was still rattling around inside Vince’s head, as having the WWF Champion throw the title in the trash is damaging enough normally – but in late 1997 may have been a coffin nail for the WWF. Montreal occurred for many, many reasons – but I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that this didn’t do Bret any favors. Mountie gives Piper a hard time about his 'skirt' on the way in, so Piper jumps him with the kilt, and goes ballistic. Mountie tries to bail to the floor, but Piper happily follows to kick his ass out there. Inside, Piper with a fistdrop, and a bulldog follows. Mountie manager Jimmy Hart gets involved to allow a cheap shot, and Mountie unloads with a jumping backelbow for two. He dumps Piper to the floor to take his countout victory, but Roddy flies back in with a sunset flip, and starts biting the champ. Backdrop, and an atomic drop, so Jimmy Hart gets involved again, but this time Piper knocks their heads together, and hooks the Sleeper for the title at 5:22. Not a great match, but a great moment - as this was Piper's first (and really only, unless you count that trivial tag title 'run' in 2006) title win in the WWF. It meant a lot not only to the fans, but to Piper himself, who has expressed real-life disappointment in never holding the WWF Title. ½*

The Beverly Brothers v The Bushwhackers: Great. Probably two of my least favorite teams in all of wrestling. The Bushwhackers stall forever, playing to the crowd, until the Beverly's finally get sick of it, and jump Luke. Beau Beverly starts with him all official-like, but gets his butt bitten. The 'Whackers double-team to clean house, but get outsmarted (no!) and the Beverly's work Luke over. The Beverly's finally miss something, allowing the tag to Butch - and he's an outhouse of fire, but gets caught in another Beverly's double-team, and a flying axehandle finishes for the heels at 14:56. Just horrible. Slow, poorly worked match - pretty much the polar opposite of the opener. Usually you see something, like, 'well, at least it was short' added after a description like that, but for some reason I can only assume involved large, large quantities of drugs, this was booked to go fifteen minutes. You wouldn't guess from the above description that this was a fifteen minute match, but OH YEAH, it was. It was just so bad, that I literally had nothing notable to recap. -**

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Legion of Doom v The Natural Disasters: Hawk and Typhoon start, with Hawk trying to match him in a power showdown. He does well, but can't knock the big guy over - so he heads up top, and topples him with a flying clothesline. Tag to Earthquake, and his gut absorbs Hawk's dropkick efforts. 'Quake busts out one of his own, but misses, and Animal tags in. Staredown breaks down into a slugfest stalemate, and they work a double knockout off of a clothesline. Animal tries a slam, but gets toppled for two, and squashed with an avalanche. Tag to Typhoon, but a blind charge misses, and Hawk comes in with a flying axehandle. Bodypress, but Typhoon catches him in mid-air, and hits a backbreaker. The Disasters cut the ring in half - drastically slowing the match down with a bearhugs – until 'Quake misses a blind charge, and Hawk takes him down with a 2^nd rope elbowsmash. Tag to Animal, and he's a house of arson. Four-way brawl breaks out, quickly spilling to the floor, and Earthquake wrecks them both while Typhoon beats the count back in. 9:42. LOD would drop the titles to Money Inc at a house show a few weeks later, and the Disasters would turn face to feud with them instead. Decent power oriented tag match that suffered from a dull heat segment, and a bad ending - never getting properly blownoff - as the LOD's uncertain future with the WWF led to the aforementioned title switch, and by the time they were back, and Disasters were faces. ¾*

Main Event: WWF Title Royal Rumble Match: Two minute intervals this year. Davey Boy Smith and Ted DiBiase draw numbers one and two, and DiBiase unloads on him, hitting a series of suplexes. He fails to toss the Bulldog, though, and gets clotheslined out in less than two minutes - fueling rumors that he was WCW-bound. Ric Flair draws #3 – coming out in full robed glory - and nearly gives poor Bobby Heenan an aneurism, as Monsoon rubs in that no one who has drawn such a low number has ever made it to the end before. Though, really, this was only the 'fourth' Rumble - so it's still a little early for 'ever' declarations. Davey dominates him with power, even shrugging off the eye poke, but #4 entry Jerry Sags gives Flair a hand. And a foot. And body lice. Davey blocks a double-team, and dropkicks Sags out - allowing him to continue his private war with Flair. Haku gets #5, and also gives Flair a much needed assist. Once they have Davey down, however, he quickly turns on Flair, who bails to the floor rather than faceoff. Hey, strategy. Haku responds by piledriving Davey, but falls right into Flair's trap - as that allows him to jump him. Shawn Michaels (fresh out of the Barber Shop) draws #6 - right as Davey dumps Haku. He goes right for Flair, and backdrops him. Superkick (before it became the superkick, and was still strictly a transitional move), but Davey breaks it up to toss Shawn. Michaels hangs on and nails him (in a spot they would amplify and repeat for the climax of the '95 Rumble), as #7 draw Tito Santana hits the ring. He gets into it with Shawn, as Flair blows Davey low, and tries to toss him. The Barbarian draws #8, and he goes for Davey - which is a solid choice, considering he was laying limp on the mat while the other three were slugging it out. The Texas Tornado gets #9, and Flair actually has the balls to challenge him. That earns him a Flair Flop within seconds. #10 is the Repo Man, as Tito nails Barbarian with his diving forearm. Greg Valentine draws #11, and he almost immediately starts trading chops with Flair. Nikolai Volkoff gets #12 - and gets dumped by Repo almost immediately - as Valentine hooks Flair in a figure four.  The Big Bossman draws lucky #13, and is a house of arson - unloading on everyone - quickly dumping Repo. Davey gets into it with Flair again, but gets backdropped out for his troubles - a nice bit of booking columniation, as they had been battling essentially since the bell. Hercules gets #14 - looking like Jake Roberts' body double - and goes for Flair. Barbarian saves him, and they form an alliance (sealed with a high five!), but Flair quickly turns on him. That gets him press slammed, but ironically, Hercules makes the save, and dumps Barbarian. Flair then sneaks up to dump him, and it's down to Flair and Bossman. Bossman unloads, but misses a blind charge, and Flair rules the ring - which he celebrates by flopping to the mat in exhaustion. He doesn't get much of a break, though, as Roddy Piper hits the ring at #15, and goes berserk. They spill to the outside for more Piper abuse, and back in, Piper unloads a ten-punch. Flair tries an inverted atomic drop to slow him down, but gets poked in the eyes, and locked in the Sleeper. Jake Roberts draws #16, and upon seeing Piper killing Flair with his Sleeper, decides to calmly sit in the corner and wait it out... until he jumps Piper anyway. Great strategy there, letting Piper properly kill Flair before getting involved. Speaking of the Nature Boy, he offers Jake an alliance to get rid of Piper, but the Snake hits him with a short-arm clothesline out of their handshake. All three trade chops as Jim Duggan comes in at #17, and he wants Flair - as Heenan's voice is going horse in campaigning for Ric. #18 is IRS, and he helps Flair with Duggan... by ramming him into the turnbuckles. Talk about 'tough love.' Jimmy Snuka draws #19, as IRS and Flair mend fences over mutual Piper-hate. #20 is The Undertaker (after the WWF Title controversy, Jack Tunney promised the two involved ('Taker and Hulk Hogan) numbers between twenty and thirty), as Piper nearly kills Flair with chops. 'Taker gets rid of Snuka to aggrandize his entrance, and then proceeds to mercilessly choking the life out of Flair. Flair tries chops, but quickly learns that the dead don't sell chops. Randy Savage draws #21, and predictably goes right for Jake Roberts. 'Taker tries to step in, but you can't really slow down an angry Randy Savage, and he quickly dumps Jake with a high knee. He jumps over the top to continue the beating - happily eliminating himself in the name of vengeance - but the referees force him back in. Hey, you can lead a horse to water. Meanwhile, Piper continues to go ballistic on Ric Flair, as Jim Duggan makes the mistake of trying to have it out with the Undertaker. The Berzerker draws #22, and also stupidly goes for the Undertaker. Yeah, great strategy. Dude's already no-sold Flair chops and a ball shot, I'm sure your forearm smashes are gonna do it. Flair tries to suplex Savage out, but gets reversed, and 'Taker latches on another choke. Roddy Piper joins that party, but 'Taker doesn't appreciate assists from guys in kilts, and decides to choke them both as a lesson. Virgil draws #23, and walks into a 'Taker choke as well. That was basically fifty percent of his offense at this point, but it works within the context of the Rumble much better than the dull standard matches he was putting on around this period. Colonel Mustafa gets #24 - still hanging on to the Iraqi sympathizer gimmick (though, if he were properly Daniel Day-Lewis’ing it, he should have hung on about another ten years) - but he gets quickly dumped by Savage. For America. #25 is Rick Martel - strictly JTTS at this point – but still intriguing because he set the longevity record the year before, at over fifty minutes. He and IRS gang up on Flair, as 'Taker moves on to choking Savage. Two-time Rumble winner Hulk Hogan draws #26, and damned if the crowd isn't into him. He goes right for 'Taker and Flair, of course, but everyone gangs up on him for being awesome. Hulkster fights them all off - tossing Undertaker and Barbarian for getting 'specially mouthy - and then goes right for Flair. Skinner gets #27, but not even the markiest mark is gonna buy that. Martel gets rid of him in short order, as Flair teases an elimination via Hogan. #28 is Sgt. Slaughter, and makes the obligatory attempt on Flair’s life – as Heenan starts bargaining with God. Sid gets #29, and spreads the love around. The Warlord rounds the field out at #30, as Heenan gloats that he predicted his entry. On the floor, Hogan suplexes Flair, as Sid whips Slaughter into the corner like a billiard ball, eliminating him. IRS tries to dump Piper, but Roddy grabs his tie to reverse it, as Hogan and Sid team up to dump Warlord. What a great field, as you've got main eventers Hogan, Flair, Savage, Sid, and Piper - as well as longevity record holder Martel. Sid gets rid of both Piper and Martel in one shot, leaving us down to one of the best final fours in Rumble history. Hogan/Flair and Sid/Savage pair off, and Macho is the first to go, just missing the HULK UP!! Flair Flip (sold brilliantly by Flair, as he doesn't go all the way over, but holds on - even at the cost of crashing down on his neck), and Hogan hammers him, so Sid sneaks up from behind to dump the Hulkster. The crowd (who didn't pop nearly as much for Sid as they did Hogan during their arrivals) cheers that loudly, setting off a Hogan tantrum - as he tries to pull pal Sid out from the floor. Flair gladly assists, and wins the Royal Rumble at 62:02, along with the WWF Title, and setting the longevity record at 59:26. Afterwards Sid appropriately gets pissed at Hogan for being a complete and total jackass, but for the first time in his history of douchey behavior towards his pals (Savage, Andre, Orndorff, Tugboat), the crowd isn't firmly behind the Hulkster in this spat. Hey, I loved Hulk Hogan as a kid (still do), but the guy could be a real dick. That’s all well and good against his enemies, but it certainly became harder and harder over time to defend his actions towards his friends, and not sound like a fool yourself. Flair doesn't give a shit about their drama, however, heading right backstage to collect the title belt, and declare the WWF Title the 'only one that matters.' Flair is known for being a blowhard, but by 1992 the WWF Title was certainly considered the most prestigious - which is a big reason his Rumble was so intriguing, and really felt like the first one that truly mattered. Super fun Rumble that I watched dozens of times on VHS as a kid, filled with star power, well timed entries and exits, masterful commentary, and extra intrigue not only over who would win the title, but because Flair - who had been promoting himself as the 'real worlds champion,' and promising victory - entered at such a disadvantageous number. Now that’s storytelling. *** ¾

BUExperience: One of the most well remembered Rumbles, and for good reason. The main event is a fuckton of fun, legitimizing Flair himself to many WWF fans as well as the WWF Title to many Southern fans - much as Hogan would do for the WCW Title in 1994. While the undercard is certainly lacking, it does have the epic Piper title win to make up for it. Really, the good outweighs the bad here – as the Rumble takes up over a third of the show – and along with the opener, and Piper’s title win, that’s more than enough to forget the horrible Bushwhackers match. ***