WWE’s 25 Greatest Pay-Per-Views of All Time
By Tim Sherry
credit: wwe.com
25. Royal Rumble – 1992
The 1992 Royal Rumble card was certainly far from the best ever. Outside of a solid tag match between The New Foundation and The Orient Express and a surprising Intercontinental title win from “Rowdy” Roddy Piper over The Mountie, the under-card was good, but not spectacular. But what this PPV will always be remembered for is the pure genius that was “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair on this night in Albany, New York.
In what is considered one of the top 5 Royal Rumble matches of all-time, Flair, over the course of 60 minutes, outlasted 29 other opponents, eliminated 5 of them, and won the match and the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship. It was a scintillating performance from Flair who at that point in time had only been with the company for about 4 months. He entered 3rd and fought through 6 men who either had already been world champion or would eventually go on to do so. “The Dirtiest Player In The Game” used every devious tactic he ever knew and in one night reminded the wrestling world that he was one of the best who had ever stepped inside the squared circle.
On a night that most people assumed would be Hulk Hogan’s due to the fact that he’d won the previous two rumbles and appeared to be on a collision course over the title with Psycho Sid, the WWF completely flipped the script and ushered in the Flair era. It was a refreshing way to shake up the company and in doing so introduced “The Nature Boy” as another major star now in the WWF. And although Flair’s first run with the company was short-lived, he still managed to delight the fans with this performance during this historic night.