Royal Rumble (1992)

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble
	Promotional poster featuring various WWF wrestlers
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 19, 1992
City	Albany, New York
Venue	Knickerbocker Arena
Attendance	17,000
Tagline(s)	Every Man for Himself!
Pay-per-view chronology
←Previous; This Tuesday in Texas	Next→; WrestleMania VIII
Royal Rumblechronology
←Previous; 1991	Next→; 1993

The 1992Royal Rumblewas the fifth annualRoyal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view(PPV)eventproduced by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 19, 1992, at theKnickerbocker ArenainAlbany, New York.It centered on theRoyal Rumble match,a modifiedbattle royalin which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.

Six matches were contested at the event, including onedark match.Themain eventwas the 1992 Royal Rumble match. This Royal Rumble match was notable as for the first time, the winner would win theWWF Championship,which had been vacated in December 1991.Ric Flairwould start at number 3,Sid Justicewould enter at number 29 whileThe UndertakerandHulk Hoganwould enter at numbers 20 and 26 respectively. In other featured matches on theundercard,The Natural Disasters(EarthquakeandTyphoon) had aWWF Tag Team Championship matchagainst current championsThe Legion of Doom(HawkandAnimal),The Beverly Brothers(Blake BeverlyandBeau Beverly) took on in a tag team matchThe Bushwhackers(Bushwhacker LukeandBushwhacker Butch), andRoddy Pipertook on currentWWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion The Mountiewith the title on the line.

Production

Background

The event was held at theKnickerbocker ArenainAlbany, New York.

TheRoyal Rumbleis an annualgimmick pay-per-view(PPV) produced every January by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam,andSurvivor Series,which were dubbed the "Big Four".^[1]It is named after theRoyal Rumble match,a modifiedbattle royalin which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 1992 event was the fifth event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 19, 1992, at theKnickerbocker ArenainAlbany, New York.^[2]^[3]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. Prior to 1992, there was no prize for winning the match. However, as theWWF World Heavyweight Championshiphad been vacated, the vacant title became the prize of the 1992 Royal Rumble match. It was the first of only two times in which the promotion's world championship was the prize of the Royal Rumble match—the second occurred at the2016 event.^[2]^[3]

Storylines

Prior to the event, it was announced the winner of the Royal Rumble would win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship, which had been stripped from Hulk Hogan after two controversial title switches between Hogan and the Undertaker, first atthe 1991 Survivor Seriesand later atthe Tuesday in Texas pay-per-viewevent. Hogan andThe Undertakerwere among the 30 entrants in the event. WWF presidentJack Tunneygave Hogan and Undertaker an advantage in the random draw to determine the order in which wrestlers would enter the ring, promising them numbers between 20 and 30.^[4]

Event

**Other on-screen personnel:**
Role:	Name:
Commentator	Gorilla Monsoon
Commentator	Bobby Heenan
Interviewers	Gene Okerlund
	Sean Mooney
	Lord Alfred Hayes
Ring announcer	Howard Finkel
Referee	John Bonello
	Danny Davis
	Earl Hebner
	Joey Marella

The event comprised five matches, including the Royal Rumble match. The Royal Rumble match helped begin Justice's slow-building turn into avillain.Justice – who was returning from a recent injury – entered at No. 29 and was among the final four wrestlers, along with Hogan,Randy Savage,although he jumped outside the ring to hitJake the Snake Robertsand Flair. Justice eliminated Savage and then Hogan, leaving himself and Flair in the ring. During the initial live pay-per-view broadcast, Justice's elimination of Hogan was loudly cheered by the audience in attendance even though, as per storyline plans, Sid "sneaked up from behind" to throw Hogan out. As such, the original reaction was edited out of future television replays of the event, with play-by-play announcerGorilla Monsoonadding new comments condemning Sid for his actions (Monsoon had originally said Justice's elimination of Hogan was fair). Hogan, who was still at ringside after being eliminated, grabbed Sid's arm and distracted him long enough for Flair to eliminate him to win the match and become the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, Sid and Hogan got into an argument in the ring and had to be separated by security.

In his book,To Be The Man,Ric Flair mentions not knowing he was going to be winning the Royal Rumble (WWF Title) until arriving at the arena the day of the event, and also felt he was brought in at number three in order to showcase his skills and endurance to the WWF audience, who may not have watched his work inJim Crockett PromotionsandWorld Championship Wrestling.Bobby Heenanmentioned in his autobiography,Bobby The Brain,that it was his initial suggestion that Flair enter the Rumble at number one for dramatic purposes, and thatVince McMahonchanged it to number three and claimed it as his own idea.

Reception

The Rumble match is often considered the greatest Rumble in history.^[5]^[6]^[7]In particular, the commentary by Heenan was particularly praised, with some calling it "one of the greatest color commentary performances in pay-per-view history".^[8]

Aftermath

The confrontation between Hogan and Justice was played out over a series of future WWF television programs. On theSuperstarsprogram aired January 25, 1992, WWF PresidentJack Tunneyheld a press conference, where he announced that Hogan would face Flair for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship atWrestleMania VIII.Justice, who was also in attendance and began standing up as if Tunney were about to proclaim him the top contender, was outraged and termed the announcement "the most bogus act Jack Tunney has ever pulled off." Sid later apologized and Hogan accepted, but on the February 8Saturday Night's Main Event XXX,Justice abandoned Hogan during a tag-team match against Flair andThe Undertaker,completing his heel turn and leading to a match at WrestleMania VIII.

Flair, meanwhile, began feuding with Savage over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. According to the storyline, Flair claimed that he had a previous relationship with Savage's wife,Miss Elizabeth,going as far as presenting pictures of Elizabeth in which Flair had himself superimposed. This culminated in a title match atWrestleMania VIII;Savage won the match and his second (and final) WWF World Heavyweight Championship.^[9]^[10]^[11]

This was the first Royal Rumble in which stakes were involved for the winner—the stipulation in which the winner would face the WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania first took place at thefollowing year's event.It would be24 yearsbefore the Royal Rumble was again for theWWE World Heavyweight Championship.^[12]

Results

No.

Results

Stipulations

Times^[13]

1^D

Chris WalkerdefeatedThe Brooklyn Brawlerbydisqualification

Singles match

—

2

The New Foundation(Jim NeidhartandOwen Hart) defeatedThe Orient Express(KatoandPat Tanaka) (withMr. Fuji)

Tag team match