Is there really any debate that this is the best Royal Rumble? The then-WWF World Championship was up for grabs after being vacated towards the end of 1991, and everyone who was anyone was involved hoping to pick up the strap. The field read's like a who's who of my generation's wrestling childhood, both in terms of stars and ridiculous jobbers. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, The Undertaker, Sid Justice, British Bulldog, Roddy Piper, Big Boss Man, The Bezerker and many more take part, with everyone coming to win. A whole host of stories are told throughout the 62-minute match, but never at the expense of what brought everyone to the dance; the WWF Championship. Ric Flair entered at number three and puts on arguably the best Royal Rumble match performance of all-time. People have won it from entering earlier, yes, but Flairs work throughout the match as a targeted man was beautiful, as was his well timed cowardice and opportunism. Whilst never being the biggest Flair fan myself, it is difficult to disagree with those who say he is the Best of All Time (caps required). This was the perfect cowardly yet credible heel performance. The final four are Flair, Hogan, Justice and Savage, despite Savage eliminating himself earlier in the match. The finish came with Hogan pulling Justice over the top to set up their match at WrestleMania, and Flair walks out the champion. The Nature Boy had ascended to the top of the WWF, after having been the top dog for the competition for years. One extra thing to note here is the absolute brilliance of Bobby Heenan throughout this match. Many (myself included) would put him as the finest announcer of all-time, and boy did he show why here. You just cant fake that emotion and love for professional wrestling, whilst sticking to character the whole time. It was every bit as fantastic as the match itself, and just when you think we're done and it's hometime Flair, Heenan and Mr. Perfect proceeded to give the finest post-match celebratory promo in wrestling. 2016 will be the first time since 1992 that the biggest title in wrestling will be on the line. It is also the first one since 1999 that is so narrowly focused on a single story. Those two Rumbles represent the very best and the very worst in the history of the event. Which way will it go? How would you rank the Royal Rumbles? Share your order below in the comments thread.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
