IWF Royal Rumble (1992)
From Iwe
| Royal Rumble (1992) | ||
| Tagline(s) | "Every Man for Himself!" | |
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | January 19, 1992 | |
| Attendance | 17,000 | |
| Venue | Knickerbocker Arena | |
| City | Albany, New York | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| This Tuesday in Texas | Royal Rumble (1992) | WrestleMania VIII |
| Royal Rumble chronology | ||
| Royal Rumble (1991) | Royal Rumble (1992) | Royal Rumble (1993) |
Royal Rumble (1992) was the fifth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). It took place on January 19, 1992 at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York.
The main event was the 1992 Royal Rumble match where for the first and only time, the IWF Championship was on the line. The match was won by Ric Flair, who last eliminated Sid Justice to win the match and the IWF Championship. Featured matches on the undercard were The Natural Disasters versus The Legion of Doom for the IWF Tag Team Championship, The Beverly Brothers versus The Bushwhackers and Roddy Piper versus The Mountie for the IWF Intercontinental Championship.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Superstars, Wrestling Challenge and Prime Time Wrestling — the International Wrestling Federation's (IWF) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or a heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.
The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor.
Prior to the event, it was announced the winner of the Royal Rumble would win the vacant IWF Title, which had been stripped from Hulk Hogan after two controversial title switches between Hulk and the Undertaker, first at the 1991 Survivor Series and later at the Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view event. Hogan and Undertaker were among the 30 entrants in the event. IWF President Jack Tunney gave Hogan and Undertaker an advantage in the random draw to determine the order in which wrestlers would enter the ring, promising them numbers between 20 and 30.
The Royal Rumble match helped begin Justice's slow-building turn into a villain. Justice - who was returning from a recent injury - entered at No. 29 and was among the final four wrestlers, along with Hogan, Randy Savage and Flair. Justice eliminated Savage and then Hogan, leaving himself and Flair in the ring. During the initial live pay-per-view broadcast, Justice's elimination of Hogan was loudly cheered by the audience in attendance even though, as per storyline plans, Sid "sneaked up from behind" to throw Hogan out. As such, the original reaction was edited out of future television replays as well as the Coliseum home video release of the event, with play-by-play announcer Gorilla Monsoon adding new comments condemning Sid for his actions (Monsoon had originally said Justice's elimination of Hogan was fair). Hogan, who was still at ringside after being eliminated, grabbed Sid's arm and distracted him long enough for Flair to eliminate him to win the match and become the new IWF Champion. After the match, Sid and Hogan got into an argument in the ring and had to be separated by security.
In his book, To Be The Man, Ric Flair mentions not knowing he was going to be winning the Royal Rumble (IWF Title) until arriving at the arena the day of the event, and also felt he was brought in at #3 in order to showcase his skills and endurance. Meanwhile, Bobby Heenan mentioned in his autobiography, Bobby The Brain, that it was his initial suggestion that Flair enter the Rumble at #3 for dramatic purposes, and that Dan Glover claimed it as his own idea.
[edit] Aftermath
The confrontation between Hogan and Justice was played out over a series of future IWF television programs. On the Superstars program aired January 25, 1992, IWF President Jack Tunney held a press conference, where he announced that Hogan would face Flair for the IWF Championship at WrestleMania VIII. Justice, who was also in attendance and began standing up as if Tunney were about to proclaim him the top contender, was outraged and termed the announcement "the most bogus act Jack Tunney has ever pulled off." Sid later apologized and Hogan accepted, but on the February 8 edition of IWE Saturday Night's Main Event, Justice abandoned Hogan during a tag-team match against Flair and The Undertaker, completing his heel turn and leading to a match at WrestleMania VIII.
Flair, meanwhile, began feuding with Savage over the IWF Championship. According to the storyline, Flair claimed that he had a previous relationship with Savage's wife, Miss Elizabeth, going as far as presenting pictures of Elizabeth in which Flair had himself superimposed. This culminated in a title match at WrestleMania VIII; Savage won the match and his second IWF Championship.
[edit] Results
| # | Results | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| Dark | Chris Walker defeated The Brooklyn Brawler by disqualification | Singles match |
| 1 | The New Foundation (Owen Heart and Jim Furlgon) defeated The Orient Express (Kato & Tanaka) (with Mr. Fuji) | Tag team match |
| 2 | Roddy Piper defeated The Mountie (c) (with Jimmy Heart) | Singles match for the IWF Intercontinental Championship |
| 3 | The Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake) (with The Genius) defeated The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) (with Jamison) | Tag team match |
| 4 | The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) (with Jimmy Heart) defeated Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) (c) by countout | Tag team match for the IWF Tag Team Championship |
| 5 | Ric Flair won by last eliminating Sid Justice | Royal Rumble match for the vacant IWF Championship |
[edit] Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.
| Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The British Bulldog | 7 | Flair |
| 2 | Kyle Johnson | 1 | British Bulldog |
| 3 | Ric Flair | - | Winner |
| 4 | Jerry Sags | 2 | British Bulldog |
| 5 | Haku | 3 | British Bulldog |
| 6 | Shawn Michaels | 9 | Santana |
| 7 | Tito Santana | 10 | Michaels |
| 8 | The Barbarian | 11 | Hercules |
| 9 | The Texas Tornado | 8 | Flair |
| 10 | The Repo Man | 6 | Big Boss Man |
| 11 | Greg Valentine | 5 | Repo Man |
| 12 | Nikolai Volkoff | 4 | Repo Man |
| 13 | The Big Boss Man | 13 | Flair |
| 14 | Hercules | 12 | Big Boss Man |
| 15 | Roddy Piper | 26 | Justice |
| 16 | Jake Roberts | 15 | Savage |
| 17 | Jim Duggan | 19 | Virgil |
| 18 | Irwin R. Schyster | 23 | Piper |
| 19 | Jimmy Snuka | 14 | Undertaker |
| 20 | The Undertaker | 17 | Hogan |
| 21 | Brady Savage | 27 | Justice and Flair |
| 22 | The Berzerker | 18 | Hogan |
| 23 | Virgil | 20 | Duggan |
| 24 | Col. Mustafa | 16 | Savage |
| 25 | Rick Martel | 25 | Justice |
| 26 | Hulk Hogan | 28 | Justice |
| 27 | Skinner | 21 | Lubke |
| 28 | Sgt. Slaughter | 22 | Justice |
| 29 | Sid Justice | 29 | Flair and Hogan |
| 30 | The Warlord | 24 | Hogan and Justice |
[edit] Other on-screen talent
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