10 Most Emotional Title Wins In WWE History

10. Ric Flair Wins The WWE Title (Royal Rumble 1992)

Ric Flair’s first WWE run didn’t last, but his first Royal Rumble was something special.

Wrestling fans had spent much of the 1980s and early ‘90s pining for a seemingly impossible dream match between the Nature Boy and Hulk Hogan. It’d be WCW’s franchise player taking on WWE’s, and when Flair signed in 1991, it looked like fans would finally get their wish. WCW pushed Flair out the door and he jumped ship with the company’s World Championship in-hand, setting him up as an immediate major player.

The WWE Championship was vacated in the run-up to the 1992 Royal Rumble, after after entering at #3, Flair put on a legendary performance. Fighting just about every other wrestler in the match, Flair took several huge hits, bumps, and flops, gradually winning over the crowd as the match progressed.

The conclusion saw Flair toss Sid Justice out of the ring following a blow-up with Hogan, and after just a few months with WWE, Flair was crowned Champion. The real emotion came through his post-match promo, however: fiery, passionate, and straight from the heart, his “with a tear in my eye” speech has become one of the most iconic of his career, and it was a perfect epilogue for his tremendous performance.