Royal Rumble Count-Up – 1992: This Is Flair Country
Royal Rumble 1992
Date: January 19, 1992
Location: Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York
Attendance: 17,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan
We start with the usual listing of most of the people in the Rumble, all of whom are #1 contenders I suppose.
Orient Express vs. New Foundation
We get a clip from the house show where Mountie won the IC Title from Bret. Post match he kept beating on Bret but Roddy Piper came out for the save.
Jimmy and Mountie brag about winning the title. Mountie is ready for Piper tonight.
Piper is ready for Mountie and tells Mountie to just try to take his manhood.
Intercontinental Title: Roddy Piper vs. The Mountie
Piper slowly removes his kilt and Mountie cracks jokes. When the champ turns his head, Piper shoves the kilt in his face and takes over quickly. We head to the floor with Mountie quickly reeling. Back in the ring and Mountie chokes a bit before getting punched in the face. A very delayed bulldog puts Mountie down and Piper easily wins a slugout. He misses a dropkick though and Mountie puts on a half nelson. A jumping back elbow gets two for Mountie as does a sunset flip for Piper. Piper atomic drops him to the apron but Mountie skins the cat. He also collides with Jimmy Hart and the sleeper gives Piper the title.
Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers
This is more about the managers (Genius and Jamison respectively) more than the teams. Jamison chews on his tie as the Whackers do their arm thing to the audience. The Whackers lick each other and Jamison pulls out a roll for a snack. One of the Beverlies slaps Butch in the head so the Beverlies get chased to the floor. We FINALLY get started with Blake vs. Luke with the blonde (the Beverlies) in control.
Jamison kicks Genius in the shin post match in another moment that gets no reaction.
Tag Titles: Legion of Doom vs. Natural Disasters
The Disasters and Hart yell in the back a lot.
Roddy Piper is all fired up about winning the title and dedicates the win to his son Colt. He wants the world title now.
We get a clip from the Barber Shop incident where Shawn turned heel, igniting his singles push in the greatest team split ever.
Time for the interviews from people in the Rumble: Savage, Sid, Repo Man, Bulldog, Roberts, Flair (with Perfect talking with him too. You know, because Flair needs someone to talk for him), Undertaker (Bearer talks for him a bit too) and Hogan.
Royal Rumble
The Boss Man is #13 and he punches everyone in sight. Valentine is out and Shawn starts his goofy selling. Boss Man throws out Repo Man, giving us a current grouping of Von Erich, Michaels, Boss Man, Haku, Santana, Smith and Flair. Flair backdrops Smith out and does the same to Von Erich in just a few seconds. Hercules is #14 as Santana and Shawn eliminate each other.
Savage dumps Mustafa and gets chokes by Taker for his efforts. Hogan is #26 (does he EVER get a bad number?) and he goes right for Taker and Flair. Heenan starts bargaining with God as Martel is sent through the ropes to the floor. Hogan clotheslines Taker out and dumps Berzerker as well. Duggan and Virgil put each other out as the ring clears up a lot. Skinner is #27, giving us Skinner, Hogan, Flair, Piper, Savage, Martel and IRS.
Hogan puts Flair on the apron as Heenan wants another drink. A clothesline puts Flair down again and Sgt. Slaughter is #28. Someone dumps Skinner as Flair officially gets the Rumble record. Sure why not. Sid Justice is #29 and he goes for IRS. Flair pounds on Hogan before shifting over to Sid. Flair pulls Sid to the mat but Sid nips up and clotheslines him down. Warlord is #30, giving us a final grouping of Martel, Piper, Hogan, Flair, Savage, Sid, Slaughter, IRS and Warlord.
Sid and Hogan have a shoving match post match, setting up their match at Wrestlemania.
Ratings Comparison
New Foundation vs. Orient Express
Original: C+
Redo: B-
Roddy Piper vs. Mountie
Original: B
Redo: D
Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers
Original: F-
Redo: T (For The Worst Match In Rumble History)
Natural Disasters vs. Legion of Doom
Original: D
Redo: D
Royal Rumble
Original: A+
Redo: A
Overall Rating
Original: B
Redo: B
Other than Piper, this is almost the same set of ratings.
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/11/royal-rumble-count-up-1992/
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at: