By Coach B

1992 Royal Rumble

30:00 - Roddy Piper is hauling ass down the aisle toward Flair, who sits alone in the ring. He’s exhausted, but still the only man standing at the halfway point.

This is the perfect spot to assess and recap the match so far.

• I read the comments that Rumbles now are largely judged by their surprises, and I agree with that. For me, it is also why this match has stood the test of time. Say what you will about some of the hot garbage WWF produced here, but they had TALENT. No, it’s not the modern standard of multi-star matches, but they looked, acted, and presented as professional wrestlers.

• Also, this Rumble endures because of the storyline throughout, with a frantic narrator constantly reminding us of the stakes. I wrote about Bobby Heenan at length in Part 1, but just to cover my bases here as well: this match isn’t remembered as highly as it is without Bobby Heenan on commentary. He is that fucking good for the entirety of the match.

This version of Ric Flair is as good as any I remember. I am also 43, and if you squint real hard, you can tell we are both humans. He’s not an offensive juggernaut, nor do I think he was supposed to be. I watched this thinking of the March Madness saying “survive and advance.” That is Ric Flair here. He’s battling and surviving.

16. Jake “The Snake” Roberts - This should be a Promo Hall of Fame Royal Rumble. Jake seems to be doing better these days and has his life back together, always nice to see.

17. Jim Duggan - “HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” That was his catchphrase and your mom just called.

18. Irwin R. Schyster - I don’t mind I.R.S., but I do mind the IRS. Important distinction.

19. Jimmy Snuka - Snuka was over big time and could promo his ass off, I think. Years later, I am still usually unclear what he was saying. He also probably murdered someone.

20. Undertaker - I enjoy his podcast, but it depends on the guest. As believable gimmicks go, Undertaker is on the Mount Rushmore. Definition of “aura” in professional wrestling. Unfortunately, he is the last of an era that treated wrestling seriously when it came to protecting the business.

• Now, no one cares. I’m supposed to buy into the Wyatt Sicks, but they’ll take a picture with me at Burger King after the match. Luckily, the Wyatt Sicks gimmick isn’t a sad attempt to capitalize on the tragic death of Windham Rotunda.

• I am not even against using a real death to further a storyline, assuming it is done with a sense of taste. When Percy Pringle died, Undertaker battled CM Punk and Paul Heyman for the powerful urn containing the ashes of the late Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle. From everything I have heard from anyone who knew him, Percy Pringle would have been delighted he was involved in an angle after his death. The Wyatt Sicks? It sucks, no one cares, and attempts to incorporate the late Bray Wyatt into storylines feel forced.

Okay, I needed to get that off my chest.

32:00 - Jake enters as Piper has Flair in a sleeper hold of questionable tightness and does what I always thought was a genius move: sit in the corner and leave them to fight it out. This is also a reminder of how smooth and realistic Jake was with everything he did.

Fun exchange here, as Roddy Piper clotheslines Jake the Snake to save Flair for the moment:

Bobby Heenan: “I never thought I would say this, but thank you, Roddy Piper. It’s not a skirt, it’s a kilt.”

Thirty seconds later, as Piper again attacks Flair:

Bobby Heenan: “You no-good creep! You skirt-wearing freak!”

38:00 - Flair and Piper have a brief exchange that looks like they were beating the shit out of each other, probably because they were.

Flair-o-Meter: 8.8/10 - He is beginning to ramp up as the stars start to pile into the ring. Gorilla Monsoon is so good at planting little seeds: “Flair won’t win, but he has shown us something…”

21. Randy Savage - I could gush for hours, especially about young ICW Randy Savage. Truly a fascinating guy the more I have learned. If you haven’t seen it, the new A&E documentary about him was enjoyable: Randy Savage Biography

22. Berzerker - I write these, have an idea, and return to it in another state of mind. All I wrote last time was, “What if the Berzerker had a merkin?” That is all I wrote, and I have decided to stick with it.

23. Virgil - MEAT SAUCE! Mike Jones!

24. Col. Mustafa - Iron Sheik, baby. He will humble you, and there’s a real possibility you won’t enjoy it. Ask B. Brian Blair.

25. Rick Martel - Super underrated. Still enjoying that he doesn’t want to go into the WWE Hall of Fame.

42:00 - Macho Man Randy Savage comes in, and I remembered this was during his angle with Jake “The Snake” Roberts. After Savage eliminated Jake, he hopped over the top rope, with ease and it looked cool, and eliminated himself, but then they let him back in? I guess you can leave over the top rope, but it only counts if someone else throws you.

It’s pro wrestling. Who fucking knows?

Side note: I always liked the Berzerker gimmick, but then I realized it’s a slapdick Bruiser Brody ripoff, and I don’t care.

Bobby Heenan update:

“Where is Ric? Oh no!”

“Take it easy! Go underneath the bottom rope and under the ring!”

“Weasel your way out, do anything!”

Flair-o-Meter: 9.4/10 - Now Flair is finding that second wind, or more likely, all of the Smirnoff from the previous 13 years had finally been sweated out of his body. Either way, it starts becoming clear that Flair is merely hanging around until the end. He has a few near-elimination spots that aren’t “high risk” by today’s standards, but impressive to see.

26. Hulk Hogan - For the sake of this column, I am pretending nothing has happened to Hulk Hogan since 1992 and that I am 11 years old.

27. Skinner - It’s somehow more stupid than I remember. Skinner had go-away heat with me.

28. Sgt. Slaughter - This is later in Sarge’s career, but as the kids say, Sergeant Slaughter understood the assignment.

29. Sid Justice - MY GOD, IT’S ALMOST SOFTBALL SEASON! I was always amused that Sid would no-show events because he didn’t want to miss his slow-pitch softball games. I kind of respect it.

30. Warlord - This Rumble has the market cornered on curly-headed meatheads from the era. Warlord, Barbarian, and Hercules are all different people, but in the right light/haircut, you could interchange these dudes and I would not notice in this state of mind.

52:20 - Throughout this match, Hulk Hogan loomed in the background. With each passing entrant, Hogan’s odds increase. Finally, we see him at #26 to a HUGE crowd pop. Despite knowing how it ended, I still had a moment where I thought, “Did Hogan win?” Knowing what is coming doesn’t mean it isn’t still surprising all these years later.

• Nothing about 1992 Ric Flair fit that version of WWF, but 10 years later? That is a much different story. With that said, I remember thinking as a kid, “Oh, Hogan is winning this.”

“Just let Flair win it. I will be a different person. I promise you!”

• Sid Justice comes in with a huge response from the crowd. In that era, for guys who looked like Sid, they were always going to have plenty of work. The same goes for Warlord. You look great, who gives a shit if you can wrestle?

• Sgt Slaughter takes a turnbuckle chest-first and his momentum carries him outside the ring. I know it is a common spot, but for a man of Sarge’s size, it was impressive to see.

60:01 - We get a few small spots with Hogan and Flair throughout here, but nothing with any heat. I have heard Bruce Prichard’s explanation as to why Hogan vs. Flair never happened. He was there, I wasn’t, but I still don’t get it. Flair could have a match with anyone at this point in his career. I find it hard to believe Flair and Hogan would have been the total shits.

• We get down to Flair, Justice, and Hogan, and then it gets kind of goofy. Hulk Hogan is still a massive babyface at this point. After he is eliminated by his friend, Sid Justice, in a match where every man is for himself, Hogan grabs the hand of Justice and begins trying to pull him out of the ring.

What kind of sadsack, sore-ass loser bullshit is this?

• “YES! YES! YES! I TOLD YOU MYSELF! YES! YES!”

Bobby Heenan is on cloud fucking nine and ends one of the great performances on commentary you will ever hear.

Ric Flair wins the WWF Championship and does not get his moment in the ring. Attention is diverted back to Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice going at each other because Hulk Hogan is complaining like a little bitch. 

• I am glad I saw this again and remembered how little sense it made.

After all is done in the ring, Flair gives an excellent post-match promo: Flair Post Rumble Promo.

Flair-o-Meter: 10/10 - It wasn’t perfect overall, but it was perfect for the story being told. It settled the questions many wrestling fans wondered: Can Ric Flair hang in the WWF? Does he belong?

Without question.

How they had him win also furthered his credibility with wrestling fans. No, it wasn’t Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, or Nick Bockwinkel. This was something different altogether. It was Ric Flair versus the wrestling establishment, and Flair won.

Overall: 10/10

This is an excellent Royal Rumble. I watched the 2025 edition a few weeks back, and while I enjoyed it, I can’t really compare it to the 1992 version. They look the same in the basic sense that there’s a ring and wrestlers, but the style and pacing are completely different. That isn’t to say the modern version is bad. If you grew up a fan of WWF in this era, this Royal Rumble is the perfect trip down memory lane.

It is rightfully and universally understood, by me and other right-thinking individuals, that this is one of Ric Flair’s masterpieces. For me, that story is only half correct. Bobby Heenan sure as shit didn’t need the 1992 Royal Rumble to cement his place in history, but was this the night he became absolutely, un-fucking-deniable? 

No doubt.