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As you know, it's January. And January means not only the NFL Playoffs, but this month also means the "Road to Wrestlemania" officially kicks off, with the WWE starting to lay down the framework for what will eventually become their annual Wrestlemania card. And that "Road to Wrestlemania" always begins at the same place. The 2nd greatest PPV on the WWE schedule every year, and the best gimmick match ever conceived, THE ROYAL RUMBLE!!!!! On January 31st, the WWE will be presenting the 34th annual Royal Rumble PPV, available on the WWE Network. I will be doing a preview thread of that PPV next week, but before that, I wanted to talk about my personal all-time favorite Rumble match, the 1992 version. Now, the rest of the 1992 Royal Rumble PPV was utter shit. If you have the WWE Network, and want to watch this Rumble, just find the Royal Rumble match itself, you can completely skip everything else. But this edition of the Royal Rumble match is generally considered to be the best Rumble match of all time. However, before we can dive in to this match, some background. Now, if you go back to one of my earlier posts (11/11/20), you know that a year after his debut at the 1990 Survivor Series PPV, the Undertaker beat Hulk Hogan at the 1991 Survivor Series PPV for the WWF Title to earn his first world championship. However, it was very controversial, due to the actions of the recently WWF acquired Nature Boy, Ric Flair. A rematch was scheduled for the minor PPV "This Tuesday in Texas" in early December of 1991, which saw Hulk Hogan regain the title in a match that had another very controversial ending...thanks again to the Nature Boy... As a result, WWF President Jack Tunney (storyline only, obviously) declared the WWF title to be vacant. It was later revealed that the vacated WWF title would be awarded to the winner of the Royal Rumble, rather than the winner getting a shot at the title for Wrestlemania. So, the stakes for winning the match were massive. This one match had Ric Flair, the Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage all in their prime, the soon-to-become "Mr. Wrestlemania" Shawn Michaels, and included 16 total future WWE Hall of Famers (including Taker, who isn't in yet, but will probably get his own wing soon). The match started out with the British Bulldog and Ted DiBiase coming in as the #1 and #2 entrants. DiBiase would be eliminated very shortly, only 1:18 into the match, but, who gives a shit? There is only one thing you really have to know about this match...At the #3 spot, came this guy, accompanied by yet another WWE Hall of Famer, Mr Perfect himself, Curt Hennig: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And if you have EVER heard of the 1992 edition of the Royal Rumble before, you already know that he is the story of this event. At age 42, the Nature Boy not only lasted for a full hour, but when all was said and done, it wasn't the Undertaker holding up the gold, it wasn't the Macho Man, Sgt. Slaughter or the Heartbreak Kid, it wasn't even the Immortal one himself, the face of the WWF, Hulk Hogan...The new WWF World Heavyweight Champion was in fact, the dirtiest player in the game, the NATURE BOY! Ric Flair has described his brief time in the WWF between 1991-1993 as the most fun he had ever had in the wrestling ring, even though the teased Wrestlemania match between him and Hulk Hogan never materialized (What a waste). After winning two WWF titles in 1992, in 1993, Flair would return to WCW, and stay there until it closed down...But for a year and a half, Ric Flair called the WWF home, and this match was the crowning achievement of not only his stint in the WWF, but perhaps his entire career...I mean, all you have to do is watch his promo backstage, immediately after: Just a few months earlier, WCW head Jim Herd had cast Ric Flair aside because of his age, despite him being their current Champion (Recall Flair appearing on WWF TV with the Big Gold Belt for his debut)...and here, just a few months later, you had the same 42 year old Ric Flair who was cast aside by WCW, win the WWF Championship over some of the WWF's biggest all-time greatest superstars, by putting on one of the greatest performances in his life... Ric Flair thought he was washed up. Didn't know if wrestling had passed him by when he signed with the WWF. He knew, with names like Hogan, Savage and the Undertaker, that in the WWF, there was no guarantee that he would be anything but a mid-carder. He couldn't expect the casual WWF fans to know his history, his legacy in the business, his NWA World titles didn't mean anything up north...all he had to do was ask Dusty Rhodes, who went from being one of the NWA's greatest, to dancing around in polka-dots in the WWF just a year before Flair arrived... But Vince knew damn well who Ric Flair was. Vince knew his history, Vince knew his legacy. Not only did Vince McMahon respect Ric Flair, but he found a way to elevate Ric Flair. With this one match, this one booking decision, Vince McMahon probably extended Ric Flair's full time active wrestling career by a good decade by instilling in the Nature Boy a renewed sense of purpose, renewed confidence in his own abilities. For that, the 1992 Royal Rumble will always hold a special place in my heart. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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February 2021
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