A couple of weekends ago, the WWE held its annual Royal Rumble event. For many years, this was one of my favorite events to see. I’ve been to it live three times, including 2014-2015. The first time I went, though, was in 1992.
Though the way things have been done recently have made my interest start to falter, I still like to watch some old things and an occasional independent show (though I will be attending fewer of those with the closing of 2CW). Recently, on the way to and from work one day, I was listening to Ric Flair’s podcast and he was talking about the 1992 Royal Rumble.
Flair and his co-host Conrad Thompson were watching the Rumble and talking about it as it happened – well, watching via the WWE Network. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put the Rumble on and watch along as I was driving, but just listening to the names and such made me realize how awesome that event was.
Four of us went to that event in 1992, held on a cold January night in Albany at the Knickerbocker Arena – or “The Knick.” Of course it’s no longer called that, but back then it was the spot. The place was jam packed and we had some really good seats. The four included me, my brother Pat, and two friends Pete and Jason.
Being there was pretty cool. I had been to wrestling events before, but never a pay-per-view. It was definitely a lot of fun.
Looking back, though, what a list of people who were involved.
Heck – just look at the undercard. Whether singles matches or tag team matches, such names as Owen Hart, Roddy Piper, Jacques Rougeau (as The Mountie), and the Legion of Doom (Road Warriors) were all involved.
As for the Rumble match? Wow. First, it was for the then-WWF (now WWE) championship.
Look at this who’s who of professional wrestling in that match (not all participants, but some of the biggest names):
- The British Bulldog
- Ted DiBiase
- Ric Flair
- Shawn Michaels
- Tito Santana
- The Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich)
- Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
- Roddy Piper
- Jake “The Snake” Roberts
- “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
- Irwin R. Schyster (Mike Rotunda, father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas)
- “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka
- The Undertaker
- “Macho Man” Randy Savage
- Rick Martel
- Hulk Hogan
- Sgt. Slaughter
That’s quite a list of people.
The ending, of course, came as Hulk Hogan was eliminated by Sid Justice. Hogan then grabbed Sid’s arm long enough so Flair could come from behind and eliminate Justice to become the new WWF champion.
It’s kind of cool to look back at this card, though, and know I was there. Unfortunately, back then, there wasn’t any digital photography and I didn’t carry along a film camera, so I have no images from there. Either way, it’s neat to realize how many names were involved in this event and to try and remember everything that happened.
I remember the crowd going bonkers when Roddy Piper won the intercontinental title. It was really loud when people counted down from 10 on each entrant. I remember the place being packed and having a good time all around.
I’ll have to play it back on the WWE Network one of these days just to see if I can remember what it was like to be there that night. It was definitely different back then than how it is now.
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