How WWE Royal Rumble 1992 Gave Ric Flair His Confidence Back
One match reinvigorated a legend after WCW's bullsh*t...
"I so wanted to say to WCW, 'stick it up your ass'. I’m with the big boys, and look where I am in their eyes as opposed to where you had me positioned."
Ric Flair wasn't holding back during an interview with BT Sport about his iconic 1992 Royal Rumble win. The legend recalls feeling "destroyed" by his final few months in WCW before making the leap over to the WWF in late-1991, and he remembers hardly being the most confident when he entered the Rumble.
What happened next made him feel like his old self again.
Flair viewed the Rumble as a chance to regain self-confidence that had been shattered by Jim Herd and other WCW executives. They'd disregarded him as an aging relic who needed complete change, but Ric knew Vince McMahon (who didn't offer guarantees over title runs when the 'Nature Boy' signed) would get the best out of him.
Even so, Flair didn't know just how magic he'd feel after working an hour in the Rumble and winning the WWF Title. That "...with tears in my eyes" promo he cut post-match was the old Ric Flair bursting back through.