This is the culmination of the 1980s. Everything was building to this moment. The moment when Flair would have to run through 28 of his greatest challengers, greatest dream match opponents and the stars of the 90s. Flair didn't shy from the moment. He was in the thick of the match from jump and was looking to insert himself throughout. Him vs Kerry and him vs Valentine put huge smiles on my face. I thought Shawn did well. Piper vs Flair was the best section just great Piper work. Savage vs Jake & Taker was good. The Bossman & Slaughter eliminations are iconic. The finish is controversial but memorable. Best post-match interview ever! All this said it won't make my list. I just love conventional matches so much that I don't want to rob one from a spot. I will have plenty Flair matches anyways.
Royal Rumble 1992
Royal Rumbles are great in the moment. You dont know who is going to come out next and who is going to get eliminated when. The unpredictability makes for a very fun live viewing experience and having been to the 2015 Royal Rumble (I got to boo The Rock in Philly!) I would say it is just as cool as going to WrestleMania. All the positives make it so Royal Rumbles arent all that exciting to re-watch. Except for the consensus best Royal Rumble of all time and that is of course Royal Rumble 1992.
Royal Rumble 1992 is a culmination of the 1980s. It is Ric Flair, the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, running the gauntlet against his fiercest rivals, his WWF dream match opponents and the stars of the 90s. In a lot of the long Rumble appearances, you will see guys disappear or take extended breaks, but not Flair. There are many times where he was looking for a fight. Bulldog and Barbarian are doing their thing well let go over and chop the shit out of Tito Santana while he is fighting with Michaels. He could have taken it easy but he didnt he sought the fight. He was incredible in this match as everyone always says. Out of the first ten entrants, the two cool moments for me where seeing Flair against Michaels (future) and Kerry Von Erich (the past). Do you think Michaels or Flair thought that 16 years later Michaels would retire him at Wrestlemania? There was no "Sorry, I love you" before the Superkick in this match, but there should have been "I'm sorry" because that superkick sucked!
Flair vs Kerry was such a nice moment. Kerry would commit suicide the next year and it was so nice to see Flair vs Kerry one last time. To me Flair vs Kerry dominated the first half of the 1980s and produced more great matches than any US feud. You could tell Flair was excited to hook it up with Kerry and it was great to see him hit one last Discus punch on Flair. Great sell by Michaels on the Discus Punch. Lets see what else.
Davey Boy vs DiBiase was a good opening, I wished DiBiase was later in the draw but I can see wanting to start with two name guys. I feel like Vince was ready to push Davey Boy as he gets an extended run and makes the first three eliminations: DiBiase, Saggs and Haku. Flair vs Davey Boy instantly have a good dynamic. Davey Boy loves to Press Slam and Flair loves to eat it. It was match made in heaven! I really should watch Flair vs Santana from late 91 as that is a dream match for me. Santana is such a great fired up babyface I would have loved to have seen Flair vs Santana in like 1984. I am a Barbarian mark, but he doesnt do much. Repo Man is such a weird gimmick. It has been fun seeing these ten guys come out so far. Here comes The Hammer...YES! YES! YES! Couple Carolina Crockett Boys about to hook it up!
The Hammer vs The Nature Boy! It was fun while it lasted. Just some great flesh on flesh, man on man action. You could tell both especially Valentine were having a great time hooking it back up. Valentine's figure-4 popped me and the Albany crowd! Surprisingly of all people the fucking Repo Man eliminates two people Nikolai Volkoff and Greg Valentine. As a big Hammer mark sad to see him go. Bossman was a jolt of energy in the malaise. Bossman looked great and felt like a huge star. There was untapped potential in Bossman. Flair backdrops Davey Boy & Kerry out in short order. Shawn and Tito tackle each other over as they would fight at Mania VIII. I loved Flair high-fiving Barbie only to chop him and then eat the Press Slam. Bossman gets rid of Barbarian. At some point Hercules is in there but I forget when or how. Bossman does the finger wag to Flair. This feel epic. Bossman ends up hurling himself over the ropes and almost decapitates himself on the way put. Short of the finish that is the moment that has always stuck with me from this Rumble.
Flair is by himself as we are half way through. He does a Flair Flop and it is his old running buddy and archrival, Roddy Piper! Piper was Flair's first feud in the WWF in late 1991 and this is a barnburner. This has been the best two minutes of the Rumble. Piper is on fire. The Three Stooges fingerpoke to the eyes out of the blocked inverted atomic drop popped everyone. Airplane spin! Sleeper! Here comes Jake. Jake says have at it. Then he joins the fray. Great triple threat actually break out. Flair almost takes the DDT. Here comes Duggan and Watts' Mid-South is being well-represented. When Flair was tearing through Mid-South in 1985 I would have loved a full-length Flair vs Duggan match. IRS is #18 man Rotundo was never really pushed, maybe in Florida. I dont think he ever got a shot at Flair. For being a NWA guy thats pretty impressive actually. Snuka! I dont know too much about Snuka's time in Mid-Atlantic, but I feel like Snuka vs Flair would have been a fun pairing. No Snuka vs Piper though. Undertaker is out at #20. How crazy is this? Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in the same match as all these stars from the 80s and they would be still be main eventing a fucking Stadium show in 2018. Nuts. Undertaker looks so different. He looks shorter but scary. He throws Snuka out in no time. Then goes after Flair. I thought there was an alliance there from the Tuesday in Texas show. Maybe Taker is pissed that he didnt end up with the Title. Taker has Flair goozled. Flair continues to look for action as when Taker goes away he attacks him again. Take has Duggan & Flair double goozled as the MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE RACES TO THE RING LOOKING FOR YOU KNOW WHO...
Savage wants Jake! But Jake had slithered out and his ally the Undertaker attacks Macho Man. Eventually Savage gets his hands on The Snake and goes bezerk. Savage throws him out and follows him out, but Taker forcibly removes him and throws him back in. I cant believe how much of a ripoff Berzeker is of Brusier Brody. Why is Virgil in candy-striper tights? I never got that. Iron Sheik playing an Iraqi Colonel is so pro wrestling and apparently he is not a former WWF champion in this gimmick. There is so much star power and then theres Virgil and Berzerker. Flair is still the most active person in the ring, which is pretty insane. Savage has gone into sell mode and is pretty subdued the rest of the match. Flair lowblowing Undertaker and Taker no selling was pretty damn good. Ricky Martel! I am a huge Martel fan and yet another World Champion! Martel was actually pretty heavily pushed as The Model and he would start getting shunted down the card after Summerslam '92. At some point, Duggan eliminated Sheiky Baby, U-S-A!
Here comes THE HULKSTER! No staredown with Flair just the 'ol double noggin knocker. Big elimination as Hogan takes out Taker and then back drops Berzerker out and then eliminates his own t-shirt!
We actually get a lot of Hogan vs Flair for the remainder of the match. They always had good chemistry and while they never had an out and out classic they always had at least good match. I cant think of a stinker that I have seen (never saw that First Blood Match from 1999). They even do a suplex spot on the outside. I think they wanted to and liked working with each other. Very weird, Duggan and Virgil eliminate each other. Odd for two babyfaces with no storyline to do that. They could have been good fodder for Sid. Skinner! Holy shit! I forgot the "Fabulous One" Steve Keirn was in the WWF. Man, I got to watch more Steve Keirn one of the best kicks to the midsection and some really good shit with Mr. Saito and Tatsumi Fujinami. I think there are some hidden gems from Keirn. Martel dumps Keirn. Everytime, I watch this match even back in 2003 the first time I saw it, I was rooting for Rick Martel! I am always left disappointed.
It is Sarge, Sid & Warlord to round out the field. I love big, bad Sid walks in takes on midcard fodder, IRS and cant even dump him! Lol! He looks like a chump. Sarge takes his NUTTY CORNER BUMP out courtesy of Sid. That and the Bossman elimination are the two best.
Piper eliminates IRS via the tie and Sid & Hogan eliminate Warlord together. Warlord looked like fucking trash in there. We are down to the final six: Hogan, Flair, Savage, Sid, Piper & Martel. Savage has been hiding and Sid looks lost. The other four have been very active especially Flair and Hogan. Sid dumps Piper & Martel. It is the big four that would go onto headline Wrestlemania. Flair high knees Sid which knocks out Savage. Then we get the famous finish where Hogan cant get Flair out so Sid just dumps his ass. Hogan throws a temper tantrum and holds Sid's hand and Flair throws Sid out. Hogan and Sid staredown and then Hogan chases Flair out. Bad booking because it makes Hogan look like a sore loser. I think Sid turning heel in the match by working with Taker or Flair and two people eliminating Hogan would have been better.
Incredibly fun way to spend an hour and a helluva performance from Flair! ****1/2
