WWE: Ranking Ric Flair's 16 World Title Runs - From Worst To Best

6. WWE World Championship (1st WWE, 8th Overall) January 19, 1992 - April 5, 1992

Ric Flair has said that his first contract with WWE was his favorite period of his career outside of his time with the Four Horsemen in the 80s. This was undoubtedly the highlight of his time in WWE. After getting involved in a series of matches for the WWE Championship between The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan that saw the two trade the belt at the 1991 Survivor Series and This Tuesday In Texas six days later, the WWE Championship was vacated by President Jack Tunney who announced that the new champion would be determined by the upcoming 1992 Royal Rumble. The match was filled with heavy favorites including Sid Justice, Randy Savage, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan, whom all had advantageous entry numbers of 20 or later in the 30-man match. The Nature Boy was the number three entry in the match and would have his work cut out for him as he would have to last at least 54 minutes in the match before all the participants entered the match as entries were every two minutes for this edition of the Rumble. Flair went the distance, last taking advantage of a distracted Sid to claim the championship, becoming the first man to last one hour in the match, clocking in at 60:02. Flair was the second person in history and the first in 30 years since Buddy Rogers to have held both the NWA World Championship and the WWE Championship. The 1992 Royal Rumble is held by many as one of the greatest, if not the greatest Royal Rumble in the match and pay-per-view's 27-year history a claim that is largely attested to Flair's performance in the match, dramatically avoid elimination several times and exhibited endurance unseen before in the Rumble match while taking very few chances to rest or stay out of the fray, keeping fans on the edge of their seat the entire time. Flair, still a relative newcomer to WWE was able to cement his status as a top name in the company with his performance in this match. Of course, the true highlight was this being the dawn of the enmity shared between Ric Flair and Randy Savage, which began when Flair began claiming that he had a relationship with Savage's manager/love interest Miss Elizabeth prior to her being with Savage and showed the photographs (which were eventually found to be altered) to prove it, Flair further alleged he had some photos of The First Lady Of Wrestling wearing "nothing but the staples." Photographs Flair promised to show the world after defeating Randy Savage at WrestleMania 8. In some of the greatest interviews and vignettes the two ever produced, the tension between the two was palpable by the time they met that evening in Indianapolis. In one of the few WWE Championship matches that didn't close a WreslteMania, Savage defeated Flair in one of the greatest championship matches in 'Mania history. This reign was important in Flair's career as it showcased all of Flair's strengths to an audience previously unfamiliar with him, as he had only previously wrestled for Verne Gagne's AWA and NWA and its affiliated promotions leading up to his time with WWE. Flair's ability to get inside an opponent's head, fantastic microphone skills and admirable in-ring talents were all in full display during this time. One of the great moments during a legendary career.