The Royal Rumble match in 1992 isn't only the first (and only) rumble match for the WWF/WWE Championship, it's also the first Royal Rumble for anything significant at all. Hulk Hogan won the Rumble in 1991, but only got his Wrestlemania match after the fact. It wasn't until the 1993 match that the stipulation was added that the winner get a WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania. So, for the first time, this Royal Rumble match felt important. It's also probably the strongest rumble ever in terms of competitors. The roster in WWF is so good in 1992 that they're able to start the rumble strong (British Bulldog and Ted DiBiase) and continue to escalate. Ric Flair is out third. Before long, Shawn Michaels is sixth. Tito Santana seventh. Wait for this run of entrants: out fifteenth was Roddy Piper, then Jake Roberts, then Hacksaw Jim Duggan, then I.R.S, then Jimmy Snuka, then the Undertaker, then Randy Savage, then The Bezerker! Oh, that's one too far isn't it? Ach, blew it. Anyway, the roster is so strong that each entrant provokes a huge reaction despite not having their own entrance music, which wasn't introduced until the 1996 match. Despite a few hiccups (looking at you Savage, eliminating yourself for no reason like an idiot) it's definitely a contender for the best rumble match ever. Ric Flair's victory in the end almost feels like a face overcoming the odds, with Heenan foreshadowing twenty four years in the future by screaming "YES!" over and over like a lunatic. Except that it was pretty much Hulk Hogan that Hogan'ed his way into the end of the match and eliminated Sid himself. But don't take this title match victory away from Ric, that wouldn't be fair...
Michael Palmer is a contributor at whatculture.com and thelineofbestfit.com, and he probably likes WWE slightly more than most people would call "healthy".
