One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every WWE Royal Rumble

1992 - No, This Wasn’t The Most Star-Studded Rumble Ever

The 1992 Royal Rumble is remembered in shorthand for two reasons.

Firstly, it is considered one of if not the very best Rumble matches ever, acclaimed in the extreme for Ric Flair’s iron man stint and Bobby Heenan’s breathless, panicked tour de force of a commentary performance. Secondly, it is known as the most “star-studded” field in the history of the match.

Only one of these things is arguably true.

The field looks star-studded, but only through the faulty lens of nostalgia. On paper, yes, the field is an amazing list of names - but consider the status of many of those stars in 1992, which was a rotten year for business. Ted DiBiase was one of the most entertaining big heel stars ever in the 1980s; by January ‘92, he had peaked as a featured singles act. Roddy Piper, Randy Savage and Jake Roberts had all done or were very close to doing career-best work, artistically, but their star power was on the wane. Greg Valentine was done with the company less than a week later, to underscore the extent to which he had outlived his usefulness. Conversely, Shawn Michaels was only just getting over, and wouldn’t become the Showstopper until 1994. The Undertaker while magnetic was closer to being a failed main event experiment than a top star. It’s a better poster than a roster, a collage of names that were past their prime or nowhere close to it yet.

If the ‘92 Rumble was as star-studded as we all remember it, how do you explain its performance?

The show drew 260,000 buys - the worst-performing PPV in company history, if you don’t take the experimental This Tuesday In Texas into account.

While this isn’t a secret - the information has been known to the public for decades - it might as well be, since it clashes so spectacularly with the prevailing consensus narrative.