Happy Saturday Everyone!
I watched a terrible WWF show last week, so I thought I’d redress the balance by watching a GOOD WWF show this week, in the form of Royal Rumble 1992. For those not familiar with the backstory, Undertaker and Hulk Hogan had a dodgy finish in a Title match that even saw WWF President Jack Tunney take a bump as part of the circus. Thus, the belt has been held up and the winner of the Royal Rumble will win be declared Champion.
Also on the undercard we’ve got Roddy Piper going for the Intercontinental Title against The Mountie, along with The Natural Disasters trying to win the Tag Team Titles from The Road Warriors. Ric Flair is very much the MVP of this show though. I’ve said it before that if the 1953 FA Cup Final is the “Matthews Final” then the 1992 Royal Rumble is the “Flair Rumble”.
If you’d like to view the card you can do so by clicking below;
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1772&page=2
The event is emanating from Albany, New York on the 19th of January 1992
Calling the action are Gorilla “Will You Stop” Monsoon and Bobby “That’s Not Fair To Flair” Heenan
We get the classic Royal Rumble intro from Vince McMahon where he roars the name of each competitor as they show up on the screen. Iconic.
Opening Match
The Orient Express (Kato and Tanaka) w/ Mr. Fuji Vs The New Foundation (Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart)
The Orient’s used to wrestle as Badd Company in the AWA and were a solid tandem, but they never really got past the opening match slot in the WWF. Neidhart had previously tagged with Bret Hart, but now Bret Hart is wrestling in the singles ranks so Neidhart has recruited Owen Hart to tag with him instead. This team wouldn’t last though as Neidhart would flame out and Owen would end the year tagging with Koko B. Ware.
Owen looks great in this one, with the crowd digging his technical and high-flying skills. Owen and Neidhart play off each other well actually, with Neidhart bringing the power and brawling to go along with Owen’s speed and proficiency. The crowd is really into the action to start as well, with them popping on most of the occasions that the babyfaces get the better of the Heels during the shine. The Orient’s are a solid Heel tandem and they bump well for the babyfaces until it’s time for the cut off.
The cut off occurs when Tanaka cheap shots Owen when he runs the ropes, leading to Fuji getting in a shot with his cane behind the referee’s back. Owen sells well in the heat of course because he’s Owen Hart, whilst the crowd stays with him as The Orient’s do solid Heel work. Gorilla and Bobby are of course entertaining on commentary, especially when Bobby tries to blag his way to the back to check on what number Ric Flair drew in the Rumble and Gorilla shuts him down.
I think the heat might possibly go on for a bit too long after a certain point, although it’s understandable why they go as long as they do as we only have a 5 match show tonight and we’ve got nearly 3 hours of total pay per view time to fill. Neidhart eventually gets the hot tag and runs wild, with the Heels bumping all over the place for him. Owen does a big dive out onto Kato and then comes back in for The Rocket Launcher on Tatanka for the three count and a big pop.
WINNERS: THE NEW FOUNDATION
RATING: ***
The match probably went on for a little bit too long, but it was still a good opener and the babyface team complimented one another well. The crowd was easy as well and was very patient with them throughout the heat segment. The finishing stretch was executed well also
Lord Alfred Hayes is backstage and recaps the situation between Bret Hart and The Mountie, and shows us footage of Roddy Piper saving Bret from a post-match Mountie attack.
Sean Mooney is with Jimmy Hart and new Intercontinental Champ The Mountie, who are happy that Mountie won the belt but are also unhappy that Roddy Piper is getting a Title shot because he doesn’t have enough wins to have earned it. Jacques Rougeau had so much fun playing this character.
Mean Gene Okerlund is with Roddy Piper for his retort, which essentially comes down to him implying that Mountie and Jimmy Hart are gay and mocking them for it, because that was actually a babyface thing to say back in 1992. Can’t say I miss that sort of stuff to be honest.
Match Two
WWF Intercontinental Title
Champ: The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart Vs Rowdy Roddy Piper
The WWF had been worried that Bret Hart might jump to WCW with the belt, so they had him drop it to Mountie on a House Show with the story that Bret was suffering from a 40 degree Celsius high fever but wrestled anyway because he was so gosh darn gutsy. They’d eventually get any issues squared with Bret and he would be back for WrestleMania VIII, but in the meantime Piper is getting the shot here.
Piper is way over with the crowd here and he bumps Mountie around to start, with Mountie of course doing an excellent job stooging in classic Heel fashion. Jimmy Hart provides a distraction and Piper then misses a dropkick, which leads to Mountie working some heat, as the crowd gets behind him. Piper sells it well, registering the pain but always defiantly trying to fight his way back into the contest. It’s good old fashioned babyfacing on Piper’s part.
Piper soon makes the comeback with back body drops and whatnot, including an Atomic Drop at one stage for good measure. Jimmy Hart tries to help his man but Piper is able to dodge a Mountie attack and the two Heels collide, leading to Piper locking in the Sleeper Hold for the win and a big pop from the fans.
WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: RODDY PIPER
RATING: **
This wasn’t an especially long match and felt more like a good TV match rather than a pay per view offering, but it was a great moment more than being a great match and that’s absolutely fine
Piper shocks Mountie with his own shock stick and then celebrates with his new belt as Howard Finkel does the iconic “and….NEW” announcement for the victory. This was great stuff.
Lord Alfred Hayes tries to get an interview with Hulk Hogan, who says he’ll have no friends later on tonight as it’s every man for himself. He of course references tea, because Alfred is interviewing him.
Mean Gene is backstage with The Bushwhackers and Jamison, who are excited to wrestle “The Beverly Sisters” coming up next. Ha ha, you see, it’s funny because The Beverly Brothers are men but The Bushwhackers are implying that they are actually women. Oh ho those Bushwhackers, what a pair of cards they are!
Match Three
The Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake) w/ The Genius Vs The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) w/ Jamison
I think the backstory here was that the Heels had been bullying Jamison, as his gimmick is that he’s a bit of a hapless putz. The Bushwhackers have come to his aid though and we’ve got a feud out of it. The Bushwhackers would also aid Howard Finkel during his feud with Downtown Bruno in 1994/95, so it was nice that they helped out non-wrestlers in peril now and then.
This match is the House Show Special, as they spend inordinate amounts of it stalling and playing to the crowd, which is reasonably entertaining if you’re actually in the arena and can play along with it but much less fun if you have to watch it at home. The Bushwhackers do their usual licking and biting routine whilst The Beverley’s do their best to bump around for them and make them look dangerous.
The Beverly’s had worked as The Destruction Crew in the AWA but for some reason the WWF decided to make them prissy spoilt brats during this run, which is a perfectly fine gimmick to have but I’m not entirely sure that it was a gimmick that suited these two specific wrestlers. This match feels like it goes on forever, with the wrestling being pretty grim whenever The Bushwhackers are on offence, although The Beverly’s do as good a job as they can to make this work.
It’s always amazing to me when I hear about how good The Bushwhackers were before they got to the WWF as I just can’t comprehend it watching them do this wacky comedy gimmick where their big spot is biting opponents on the bum. We get a looooooong Heel heat segment on Luke that the fans don’t really care about, as the match just grinds to a halt. This crowd was super-hot for the first two matches and now they’ve been snuffed out by this turgid outing.
Genius slaps Jamison at one stage, which is supposed to be this big awful Heel thing to do, and the crowd is pretty much apathetic. Jamison doesn’t really do much about it either other than complain, so there barely seemed any point to it other than a desperate attempt to try and get the crowd to care. Luke’s selling actually isn’t that bad during the heat and The Beverly’s aren’t terrible on offence or anything, but if this match was any colder it would have icycles hanging off it. Butch finally gets the hot tag, but he eats an illegal axe handle from Beau and that’s the three.
WINNERS: THE BEVERLY BROTHERS
RATING: DUD
Lousy heatless match that went on for too long
The Bushwhackers are poor sports following the loss and beat up the Heels, leading to Jamison getting a couple of limp kicks in on Genius which is the ultimate in anti-climaxes after all that build.
Mean Gene is backstage with The Road Warriors, who cut a promo to hype up their match with The Natural Disasters, saying they are The Champs and they aren’t going to duck anyone. That sure sounds like a babyface thing to say so I approve!
Semi-Main
WWF Tag Team Titles
Champs: The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) Vs The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) w/ Jimmy Hart
The Warriors had won the belts at SummerSlam 91, whilst The Disasters had been getting a solid push since forming in that year, so it only made sense for them to finally clash with one another as The Warriors are the most physically dominant team on the babyface side whilst The Disasters fill that role over on the Heel side.
The early exchanges here are good fun, with The Disasters being big and strong enough that The Warriors can’t knock them down easily, with Quake even no selling a Hawk dropkick at one stage. Quake even tries throwing a dropkick of his own but Hawk is able to dodge it. Considering how big everyone in this match is, it’s fought at a reasonably quick clip with some fun big man power stuff thrown in for good measure.
Hawk eventually gets cut off and is worked over in the Heel half of the ring, which he actually sells rather well. Typhoon cranks in a bear hug at one stage, which makes sense considering how big and burly he is, with the Heels mostly focusing on Hawk’s mid-section as the heat segment progresses. Typhoon wasn’t an especially good wrestler but I always thought Quake was a decent big man so he could carry things for the team whilst hiding Typhoon’s weaknesses.
The crowd mostly remains invested in this one, with Hawk finally managing to counter a Quake splash in the corner before getting the hot tag to Animal, who gets possibly one of the best running shoulder tackles I’ve ever seen on Quake at one stage. Seriously Animal was MOVING there at a pace you wouldn’t normally see from a guy that size. Sadly the finish is pretty lame, as both teams fight outside the ring and Typhoon makes it back in for the count out win, but that sets up rematches at least.
WINNERS BY COUNT OUT: THE NATURAL DISASTERS (ROAD WARRIORS RETAIN)
RATING: **3/4
Weak finish aside; this was a decent example of big lads wrestling
The Natural Disasters try and steal the tag belts following that but The Road Warriors fend them off and get the belts back, with rematches clearly in mind between the two tandems going forwards.
Sean Mooney is backstage with Jimmy Hart and The Natural Disasters following that, and they are unhappy that they won the match but they don’t have the belts. That sort of stuff just makes them look dumb to be honest, as belts don’t change hands on count outs and everyone knows that. Yeah, say you won and deserve a rematch, but don’t act like they should have awarded you the belts.
Mean Gene is backstage with new IC Champ Roddy Piper, who says he will now win the Royal Rumble and become the first man to win both belts in the same night. Technically Ultimate Warrior did that but I guess he already held one of them and it was Title for Title so it is a bit different.
Sean Mooneyis in the locker room with Shawn Michaels and The Barbarian. Barb just storms past Mooney, but Michaels sticks around so we can recap him going Heel by flinging Marty Jannetty through a window. I always liked Bobby Heenan immediately pivoting from “one without the other isn’t any good” to “Oh! I knew he was going to do that” the moment Michaels attacks him. Michaels says he saved Jannetty a beating tonight by injuring him and taking him out of the Rumble match. Michaels was still working out the kinks of his Heel character, but you could see it had potential.
Lord Alfred is backstage with Ric Flair, who says he drew the #3 but he’s going to make everyone a believer tonight and prove that he is The Man. This was a great promo from Flair, short and to the point by his standards.
We get our montage of Royal Rumble entrants doing promos. Just for fun I put the Miserlou over it and pretended I was watching a wacky episode of ECW Hardcore TV. It actually went with it surprisingly well.
Main Event
Royal Rumble for the WWF Title
Title Vacant
Entrant #1 – Davey Boy Smith
Entrant # 2- Ted Dibiase w/ The Sensational Sherri
These two do a fun opening section, with both of them working at a quick clip. Dibiase actually seems to be working with the brakes off here, which wasn’t always the case in the WWF, as he delivers a bunch of nice suplexes and really takes it to Smith. However, Dibiase makes the mistake of throwing Smith onto the apron and thinking he’s actually gone out, which allows Smith to come back in and throw him out.
Elimination #1 – Ted Dibiase via Davey Boy Smith (1)
Entrant #3 – Ric Flair w/ Mr. Perfect
Bobby is of course losing it at Flair having to get in this early whilst Gorilla is hilarious in tormenting Bobby about no one from #1-5 ever being there at the end. Flair and Smith do another nice fun segment, although Smith does do the very annoying spot of giving Flair a press slam but throwing him down into the ring instead of over the top to the floor.
Entrant #4 – Jerry Sags w/ Jimmy Hart
The only thing these early Rumble matches are missing is the music playing when someone enters. They’d start doing that from 1996 onwards I think. Flair and Sags team up on Smith as they are both Heels, but he manages to fight them both off with a double clothesline and send Sags out.
Elimination #2 – Jerry Sags via Davey Boy Smith (2)
Entrant # 5 – Haku
Smith’s hair is getting very frizzy here and he’s barely been in there yet! Flair once again forms an alliance with the Heel, although Haku decides to attack him, leading to Flair begging off from the big scary dude in a funny moment. Flair manages to go after Haku’s eyes once Haku has piledriven Smith though. This one is ebbing and flowing nicely thus far, with Smith using the time given to him by that to recover and knock Flair down before bundling Haku out.
Elimination #3 – Haku via Davey Boy Smith (3)
Entrant #6 – Shawn Michaels
Michaels draws some impressive boos, showing that the Heel turn was taking with the fans early doors. Flair and Michaels of course do a bit together, and it’s fun, as it is when Smith and Michaels do a bit as well. Michaels manages to hold on when Smith tries to throw him out and then clocks him with a Super Kick, although this was before Michaels was using it as a finisher so it’s not quite as devastating as it would end up becoming.
Entrant #7 – Tito Santana
Santana gets a healthy pop for his entrance, although they’d already started having him do the lame Matador gimmick by this point. There is some impressive talent in the ring right now, with multiple World, Tag and IC Titles amongst the field. The action continues to be fun as well, with everyone getting a chance to work with everyone else.
Entrant #8 – The Barbarian
There hasn’t been a sucky wrestler yet in this field, which is likely a big contributing factor as to why this Rumble match is so highly regarded. Barb goes for Smith upon entering, with Flair trying to help him dump Smith out. Smith tenaciously hangs on though. Michaels and Santana are having a fun mini-match of their own whilst this is going on, and they would end up wrestling at WrestleMania VIII in fact.
Entrant #9 – Kerry Von Erich
This Rumble really is star studded, and Von Erich gets a healthy pop even though he was very much on the downturn of his career by this stage. Flair and Von Erich renew acquaintances for old times’ sake, with Flair doing our first Flair Flop™ of the evening. Michaels takes some nice bumps for Von Erich as well, as that feels like it might have been a fun match if we ever got to see it.
Entrant #10 – The Repo Man
Well, we were due a duffer entrant to be honest. I mean, I thought Repo Man’s gimmick was fun, but he was far past his Demolition Smash peak as a performer by the time 1992 rolled around. Repo creeping around the ring and getting in cheap shots is entertaining at least. We could do with some eliminations now actually as the ring is starting to get a bit full.
Entrant #11 – Greg The Hammer Valentine
Flair and Valentine renew hostilities, by trading chops, as they had previous from their NWA days. Bobby is of course apoplectic about this because it’s NOT FAIR TO FLAIR! Not much happens besides that though as there’s not a lot of space in there.
Entrant #12 – Nikolai Volkoff
Volkoff was a face here I believe, although it sounds like it’s news to some of the crowd. Valentine slaps the Figure Four on Flair for a nice pop, whilst Repo Man bundles out Volkoff after a less than thrilling stint in the match for him. We didn’t even get him in there long enough for him to fight with Col. Mustafa!
Elimination #4 – Nikolai Volkoff via The Repo Man (1)
Entrant #13 – The Big Boss Man
Boss Man wakes the crowd up by running wild with punches on everyone, whilst they give Repo Man yet another elimination by having him dump out Valentine. Repo Man as the tank of the Rumble wasn’t something I was expecting that’s for sure!
Elimination #5 – Greg Valentine via The Repo Man (2)
However, I seem to have afflicted Repo Man with the reviewers curse, as Boss Man flings him out as a type that.
Elimination #6 – The Repo Man via The Big Boss Man (1)
Flair ends Smith’s run following that and quickly follows up by sending Von Erich out as well.
Elimination #7 – Davey Boy Smith via Ric Flair (1)
Elimination #8 – Kerry Von Erich via Ric Flair (2)
Entrant #14 – Hercules
As the clock counts down for Herc, Michaels and Santana eliminate one another, which surprisingly I don’t think got mentioned during their Mania match as it’s a logical way to build to it
Eliminations #9 and #10 – Shawn Michaels and Tito Santana eliminate each other
Herc was looking kind of haggard here from his 80’s peak, and he’d end up in WCW under a mask later in the year I believe. In a funny spot, Flair teams up with Barb but then turns on him, which ends about as well for him as you’d expect. Barb tries to throw Flair out following that, but Herc sneaks over and dumps him out instead, only for Boss Man to immediately throw him out for good measure.
Elimination #11 – The Barbarian via Hercules (1)
Elimination #12 – Hercules via The Big Boss Man (2)
That leaves Flair and Boss Man to do a bit together, which is really fun and the crowd loves watching Boss Man clobber Flair. However, Boss Man misses a charge and Flair knocks him out to clear the ring before Flair Flopping™ in a great moment.
Elimination #13 – The Big Boss Man via Ric Flair (3)
Entrant #15 – Rowdy Roddy Piper
The crowd is crazy for this, as these two had been feuding during the autumn and winter of 1991. Piper runs wild on Flair, with Flair taking some incredible bumps for him as the crowd loses their mind. Piper is at his maniacal best as he goes after Flair here, even busting out the Airplane Spin and Sleeper Hold at one stage.
Entrant #16 – Jake The Snake Roberts
Roberts was in his full Heel pomp by this stage, as he patiently waits and allows Piper to keep working over Flair, but of course he attacks Piper as soon as the window opens for it. I’m surprised Piper allowed himself to be fooled like that actually as he was usually protective over that sort of portrayal. I guess he just respected Piper? Roberts of course attacks Flair as well, causing Bobby to go from thanking him to hating on him in hilarious fashion.
Entrant #17 – Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Duggan is over like Rover here, and he of course bumps Flair around upon getting in there, because that’s apparently what we’re doing tonight. The fact the belt is on the line here really gives everything that extra feeling of importance and has made the crowd that much more invested.
Entrant #18 – IRS
Shockingly IRS isn’t sweating following his walk to the ring. Duggan actually grabs him by the tie at one stage and clobbers him, which pleases Gorilla on commentary.
Entrant #19 – Superfly Snuka
Snuka was wearing long tights and boots by this stage, which signifies that we’re in the section of his career where he really stopped giving a plop about his wrestling career. I think he was mostly doing jobs on TV at the time so he doesn’t really get much of a reaction once he gets in there, even though he’s wrestling in his former Tri-State stomping ground. I don’t think anyone actually buys that he might win it, and honestly IRS and Duggan would have even been better options at the time.
Entrant #20 – The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Case in point, Undertaker’s first act is to calmly knock Snuka over the top rope, ending his absolute nothing burger of a stint in the match.
Elimination #14 – Superfly Snuka via The Undertaker (1)
Taker goes after Flair following that, choking away on him in the corner, with Flair of course selling that fantastically. Taker and IRS go at it at one stage, which makes me wonder why they never tried them as a tag team as “Death and Taxes” as a name practically writes itself.
Entrant #21 – Macho Man Randy Savage
Savage was feuding with Roberts and Taker at the time, so he of course goes after both of them. Roberts bails until Savage is on the defensive of course, but then comes back in once Savage is down. Savage fights back though and sends Roberts to the floor. Savage stupidly then dives out over the top to keep attacking Roberts, which should really eliminate him, but they need him in the match later so they just ignore it. These days I think they’d call an audible and just say he was eliminated.
Elimination #15 – Jake The Snake via Randy Savage (1)
When I first watched this match I thought that was a very clever way of explaining why Savage didn’t win because he chose his hatred for Roberts over winning the belt, and it probably would have worked. They just say you have to be thrown out for it to count rather than throwing yourself out though, so Savage just gets back in and everyone just goes with it. Undertaker kind of no sells a Flair low blow following that, which is pretty funny.
Entrant #22 – The Berserker
Discount Bruiser Brody’s thing was that he would throw guys over the top rope and win via count out, so this would appear to be a match tailor-made for him to shine. Taker and Piper both choke Flair down at one stage, but Taker isn’t going to sanction such buffoonery and chokes Piper instead in another fun spot.
Entrant #23 – Wrestling Superstar Virgil
Winning that World Title will sure buy Virgil a lot of breadsticks from Olive Garden! I once saw Virgil at a convention and he lectured us on the appropriate way to apply a wristlock. I got to see dweebs dressed as Dalek’s and I also got a free wrestling seminar from a true legend of the sport, what a day that was!
Entrant #24 – Col. Mustafa w/ Gen. Adnan
Mustafa is Iron Sheik with a wacky military gimmick that didn’t get over. Mustafa of course goes straight after Duggan. The ring is filling up a bit here so we could probably do with some more eliminations. Gorilla starts referring to Flair as Martel here, possibly because he’s got the run sheet in front of him and knows who is entering next.
Entrant #25 – Rick The Model Martel
Martel was the current longevity record holder at the time for his 52 minute run in 1991, so he goes after Flair in order to maintain that record. Savage knocks out Mustafa somehow, although we didn’t get a good view of it.
Elimination #16 – Col. Mustafa via Randy Savage (2)
Entrant #26 – Hulk Hogan
Pretty plum draw for Hogan here, as he gets a big pop and goes straight after Taker and Flair because they were integral in his belt getting held up. Everyone gangs up on Hogan following that, but he fights them off and knocks Taker out with a clothesline before back body dropping out Discount Brody for good measure, all before he’s even able to rip his shirt off!
Eliminations #17 and #18 – The Undertaker and The Berserker via Hulk Hogan (2)
Virgil and Duggan end up eliminating one another, proving that it truly is everyone for themselves in this one as they are storyline friends.
Eliminations #19 and #20 – Virgil and Hacksaw Duggan eliminate each other
Entrant #27 – Skinner
Yeah I don’t foresee #27 picking up the win this time around, although Skinner making a new belt out of gator skin might have been a fun cornball angle. Bobby continues begging to the heavens above that Flair will pick up the win, and it continues to be very entertaining.
Entrant #28 – Sgt. Slaughter
It was unlikely that Slaughter would win this due to him being more of a mid-carder by this stage following his flat Title run in 1991, but they had been doing a redemption arc with him where he’d regained the love of his country, so it wasn’t completely out of the question that he win it here considering his late number. Martel tries to plot with Skinner to dump out Piper, but ends up dumping Skinner instead. You might wanted to have followed that plan through if I’m honest Rick.
Elimination #21 – Skinner via Rick Martel (1)
Piper and Hogan go at it for old times’ sake, although the crowd aren’t as into it as you’d think, possibly because they were both babyfaces at the time. Flair finally beats the record, which causes Bobby to request he just be awarded the Title anyway in yet another great line of commentary. Bobby is just killing it in this one.
Entrant #29 – Sid Justice
Sid had been a big time babyface since entering the company and it sounds like he’s the crowd favourite here, which just makes me despair for humanity to be honest. The crowd pops when Sid gets hold of Flair at one stage, but he’s not able to put The Nature Boy out.
Entrant #30 – The Warlord w/ Downtown Bruno
Warlord would soon be on his way out due to his physique not really being something you’d want when you’re going through a steroid trial. He doesn’t get much of a reaction to be honest, which suggests that the fans aren’t buying him as a potential winner despite his size, which is probably a good barometer as to why they never really tried Warlord as a Main Event singles guy even though he wasn’t terrible in the ring and certainly looked the part. Sid flings Slaughter out of the ring, thus ending that potential fairy-tale ending.
Elimination #22 – Sgt. Slaughter via Sid Justice (1)
Flair and Hogan fight on the floor at one stage, with Hogan getting the better of things, as Flair has been in there for over an hour now. Piper ends up pulling IRS out via his tie in order to pay that gag off and it gets a good pop as well. People just like seeing the taxman get battered at the end of the day, I know I bloody do!
Elimination #23 – IRS via Roddy Piper (1)
Hogan and Sid them team up to dump out The Warlord, which again gets a pretty anaemic pop for the most part. Even in the early 90’s before the rise of the internet I think the fans just saw him at a certain level and didn’t see him getting chucked out as a big deal, even with two Main Event guys having to team up in order to make it happen.
Elimination #24 – The Warlord via Sid Justice (2) and Hulk Hogan (3)
Martel has done well to make the final six, and as I type that, Sid dumps Martel and Piper out as they fight on the ropes to end their collective nights.
Eliminations #25 and #26 – Roddy Piper and Rick Martel via Sid Justice (4)
So our Final Four are Flair, Sid, Hogan and Savage, which would end up being the four guys that would contest the two WrestleMania VIII Main Events. Fancy that eh? Sid and Savage fight on the ropes but Flair attacks and that leads to Savage taking a spill for an elimination. I think officially they count Sid as having that elimination as well seeing as he was fighting with Savage at the time as well, although it feels like kind of a cheap one to accredit him with.
Elimination #27 – Randy Savage via Ric Flair (4) and Sid Justice (5)
So we’re down to Flair, Sid and Hogan, which leads to Sid throwing out Hogan whilst he tries to get rid of Flair. This draws a big pop from the crowd but it’s presented as a Heel move. It’s everyone for themselves Hogan and you turned your back on Sid knowing he was still in there. That one is on you buddy.
Elimination #28 – Hulk Hogan via Sid Justice (6)
Hogan takes this with his customary good grace and holds on to Sid so that Flair can throw Sid out, which if I was watching back in 1992 I’d consider to be a Heel turn on Hogan’s part, but amazingly Hogan was the one we were supposed to sympathise with. All so that Hogan didn’t have to do a clean job to Hogan in a freaking battle royal.
WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: RIC FLAIR
MOST ELIMINATIONS: SID JUSTICE (6)
RATING: *****
This is probably the best Rumble match ever, with Flair entering a great performance and the field having a solid mix of both star power and talented wrestlers. There were at least 6 realistic winners in there, if not more, which gave the match the feeling of having real stakes, and it set Mania VIII up really well. an all-time classic and one of the best examples of this kind of match that there has ever been
Hogan and Sid argue following that, with the crowd seemingly siding with Sid, which any logical person would do, and I say that as someone who hates Sid.
Mean Gene is with Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan. Jack Tunney presents Flair with his belt and Flair cuts an all-time great celebratory promo. The show focused on the new Champ at the end at least.
In Conclusion
The under card is hardly amazing, but it only has one stinker and most of the matches are either solid or featured memorable moments such as Piper winning the IC Title. The Main Event was fantastic, and a five match show with a five star Main Event is an easy thumbs up to be honest.
Recommended Show!
