WWE Royal Rumble Winner’s Circle: Ric Flair (1992)
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With the 2011 Royal Rumble approaching, we found it appropriate to pay homage to those who managed to go over in the 30 man over the top rope classic without their feet hitting the floor.
Ric Flair, by definition, is the greatest in ring performer of all time. Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, and a handful of others present a legitimate case worthy of changing one’s mind on the matter, but the fact that Flair enjoyed the greatest professional wrestling career in history is, for lack of a better word, crippling to their cases.
Despite Ric Flair signing with the WWF in 1991, in what was supposed to be a colossal acquisition with Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan now under the same roof, it quickly became evident that Flair’s unquestionable legacy irked a Vince McMahon in all his ego-maniacal glory.
It wouldn’t be fair or accurate to say that McMahon, a notorious control freak who sickens at the mere notion of a star who he did not have a hand in creating, dropped the ball on a Hogan/Flair feud that should have made the box offices orgasm multiple times over. McMahon didn’t dare touch that ball, as it seemed he (and his ego) had a hard time putting Flair in such a prominent spotlight opposite his own mega star constructed under the WWF umbrella.
In any event, Flair’s first stint with the WWF, while devoid of a potentially classic and financially relevant feud with Hogan, was laced with accolades and career championship fodder.
Flair was at the right place at the right time, from both a storyline standpoint and in real life, when he left WCW due to a contract dispute in 1991. Just a few months after signing with the WWF, Flair entered the 1992 Royal Rumble in Albany New York and went on to win what was undoubtedly the most important Royal Rumble in WWF history to that point if not ever.
This was the first and only Royal Rumble contested for the WWF Championship after years of the event carrying no discernible meaning, and although Hulk Hogan managed to shamelessly (and kind of heelishly) obtrude on Flair’s spotlight during the final elimination of the ’92 Royal Rumble, Flair was the star of the show on that night at the Knickerbocker Arena.
The rather unassuming stage of Albany, New York didn’t seem to fit what had transpired at ’92′s Royal Rumble match. It was as if the timeless victory for a wrestling legend had materialized in the wrong New York arena as Flair’s performance was befitting of the fanfare and spectacle only Madison Square Garden can deliver.
Flair’s heroics, of entering the Royal rumble at no. 3, lasting for about an hour, and going on to win the WWF Championship, were unseen in the Royal Rumble’s brief history. Once a glorified backyard brawl to be inevitably won by a big hoss or Hulk Hogan, Flair’s performance in 1992 not only helped solidify his own legacy as one of the true legends in sports entertainment, but it went a long way in establishing the legacy of the Royal Rumble itself as a coveted platform where stars are both made and vindicated.
Flair’s hour long tour de force saw him work with a litany of young talent throughout the Royal Rumble match, including lifelong admirer Shawn Michaels who would go on to deliver a memorable Royal Rumble performance of his own just three years later.
Ric Flair has often described his brief time in the WWF as one of the greatest periods in his career. Despite the aforementioned lack of a substantive feud with Hulk Hogan, it’s hard to argue against that assertion. Ric Flair’s success in the WWF, as a star who came from the rival NWA, is a testament to his transcendence as a professional wrestling performer. The unprecedented spectacle (which in hindsight was sadly nothing more than a spectacle as Flair would announced his return to wrestling less than a year later) that took place following his in ring, um, retirement from wrestling over a decade and a half later was yet another example of just that.
The fact that Ric Flair had the greatest wrestling career of all time is unarguable. Flair’s Royal Rumble win in 1992, while important to the event itself, was nothing more than a shiny notch on Flair’s own belt that was far from necessary in the ascendancy of Ric Flair as an unadulterated G.O.A.T.
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Tags: 1992, Hulk Hogan, Knickerbocker Arena, New York, NWA, Ric Flair, Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon, WCW, Wrestling, WWF
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[...] materialized during the mid to late nineties. During this period, not only was the Royal Rumble contested for the WWF Championship, but the dawning of the no. one contendership era coincided with the forging of the legendary [...]