Ranking every WWE Royal Rumble PPV in history

3. WWE Royal Rumble 1992

Match card & results

• The New Foundation def. The Orient Express
• WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Rowdy Roddy Piper def. The Mountie (c)
• The Beverly Brothers def. The Bushwhackers
• WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Natural Disasters def. The Legion of Doom (c) by countout
• Ric Flair wins 30-Man Royal Rumble Match for the vacant WWE Championship

In my eyes, the 1992 Royal Rumble match is still the best in history. It was the first time that the WWE Championship was on the line in the match, something that wouldn’t happen again for 24 years, and the final four is just sick in terms of star power. But even beyond that, the undercard has some great matches and moments as well.

The night began with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and Owen Hart taking on The Orient Express, who once again put on a great match. This was another textbook example of what tag team wrestling is supposed to be and really set the tone for the night. The next match provided one of the great moments in the event’s history as Rowdy Roddy Piper won his first championship in WWE when he beat The Mountie for the Intercontinental Championship. The match is pretty average but seeing Piper win a title and the look on his face when he does it is priceless. Great moment.

The Beverly Brothers and The Bushwhackers isn’t that great but at least The Natural Disasters and The Legion of Doom were better. However, the real focus here and the reason why this event is in the spot it’s in is the Royal Rumble itself. The WWE Championship had been vacated due to some screwy finishes in matches involving Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker and was on the line on this night and we got a wonderful match out of it.

Hogan was the favorite here, especially after winning the two previous Rumble matches (and because he’s Hulk Hogan in ’80s and ’90s WWE) but it was Ric Flair that stole the show with what I still believe is the best performance in Royal Rumble history. Other guys have come in earlier or lasted longer but there’s a lot of sitting around and resting. I’m not saying that Flair didn’t do that at all but his hour in the ring beats Mysterio or Benoit or anyone else close to that mark.

The final four of the Rumble were Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sid Justice. Justice never got even close to the level of the other three but that’s still one hell of a group. Watching Hogan and Flair get after one another was just so exciting at that time but it was actually Sid who made a big name for himself here as he eliminated Savage AND Hogan. Infuriated, Hogan would end up costing Sid the match by grabbing him from the outside, which allowed Flair to pick up the win and the WWE Championship. Bobby Heenan was going insane, which only added to the awesomeness of the moment, even if Hogan did steal Flair’s spotlight a bit in the ring. But Flair cut an awesome promo backstage and it capped off a big night in The Nature Boy’s career.