10 Reasons WWE Royal Rumble 1992 Is Still The Best

10. The Vacant WWF Championship Was Awarded To The Winner

The first few versions of the Royal Rumble match were nothing more than an exhibition with no real impact on any storylines going forward. The match would eventually boil down to the last two participants, one would thrown the other out and usually Hulk Hogan stood tall at the end as 'Real American' blared out through the arena. So far so usual.

Due to matches between Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker proving inconclusive at the end of 1991 the WWF Title had been declared vacant. On screen authority figure Jack Tunney had ruled that the winner of the Royal Rumble would be crowned champion on the night. It wasn't to be a case of going on to main event WrestleMania but rather being handed the gold right there and then. 

This meant that every single wrestler in the thirty strong field had a chance of bagging the big one and this level of unpredictability adds volumes to the Rumble match itself. WWE would try something similar when Roman Reigns defended his title against 29 challengers at the 2016 Royal Rumble but here it was an entirely blank slate. There was the distinct possibility that The Warlord or Barbarian could walk out with the belt. Unlikely though that sounds it was still quite possible in kayfabe.