Guest Aero Report post Posted October 1, 2002 Live from Albany, NY, it's the 1992 WWF Royal Rumble! Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan --- Here's some backup for the show here tonight. At Survivor Series 1991, the Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Championship, when Ric Flair "interfered" by sliding a chair in for Undertaker to Tombstone him on. Jack Tunney ordered a rematch to take place at a special PPV following the Survivor Series called "Tuesday in Texas". For the rematch, Tunney sat ringside to watch it more closely. In the end, Ric Flair once again tried to interfere, but he was hit down during a confrontation between Flair & Hogan. Later, Hogan was ready to finish Taker off, while Flair got Tunney to his feet. In the ring, Hogan threw ashes into Taker's eyes and rolled him up to get the WWF Title once again. Tunney was able to get to his feet just in time to see the incident, so he placed Hogan's title win under "suspicious circumstances". He said that the winner of the Royal Rumble would win the vacant WWF Title. Since Hogan & Undertaker were the last two champions that started all the controversy, Tunney ruled that each one would have a number from 20-30. With all that said, let's get started... --- Opening Match- Orient Express vs. New Foundation For those who don't know, the New Foundation is made up of Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart, as Bret Hart went singles wrestler back in 1991. Owen and Kato start with an armbar sequence. Owen flips over Kato and throws him to the ropes, but Kato hangs on. He charges, but Owen armdrags him into a ground armbar. Knee to the face and Owen continues working the arm. Test of strength, and Kato cheats and pins him for two. Owen makes a comeback in the test of strength while Kato holds one hand. Owen jumps onto the top rope, falls on it, and bounces back in for a flip to counter! Cool spot. Hurricanrana gets two. Knife-Edge chops and tag to Neidhart who follows Owen by going after Kato's arm. The Anvil whips him to the corner and slams him down to the mat. Tag to Tanaka. Grapple, but Tanaka can't slam him. Neidhart shoves him down several times and tags Owen. Neidhart gives him a spinebuster and Owen hits a top rope elbow for two. Headbutt, and Tanaka comes back with a face rake. Owen flips over him and hits a backdrop. Heel kick and tag to Neidhart. Owen whips him to the corner, and the New Foundation does a criss cross before Neidhart hits Tanaka in the corner. Kato comes in, but Neidhart hits a double clothesline. They get to their feet, and Owen tags and hits both with a crossbody from the top. Heel kick to Kato gets two. Vertical suplex gets two. Chinlock, but Kato breaks free and rolls outside. Headlock whip sequence, but Tanaka kicks Owen as he goes by. Owen goes after him while Neidhart tries to get in, but the ref stops him. Meanwhile, Mr. Fuji nails Owen with the cane! Orient Express double-team. Kato hits a mid-air elbow for two. Orient Express to a double top rope choke to Owen behind the referee's back. Tanaka tags in and pounds away in the corner. Irish whip face first to the turnbuckle sends Owen to the mat for two. Owen reverses an Irish whip but runs into a superkick for two. Tag to Kato, who snapmares into a chinlock. Owen breaks free and hits a crucifix for two. Tag to Tanaka and he hits a sidekick. He taunts Neidhart and goes into another chinlock. Owen comes back with a knock down, but Tanaka hits him with a reverse knife-edge off the ropes. Whip to the corner, but Owen counters a charge and hits a facebuster! Kato comes in, but the referee holds him back. Meanwhile, Owen finally tags Neidhart, but the referee doesn't see it, so Neidhart has to go back. While the ref sends Neidhart back, Mr. Fuji places his cane in between the turnbuckles, and the Orient Express send him shoulder-first into the cane, snapping it in the process! Kato covers, but Owen gets his foot on the ropes. Kato hits an armbar scoop slam and tags Tanaka. Falling headbutt, but Owen leapfrogs and hits a side belly-to-belly suplex for two! Kato gets the tag and hits Neidhart before Owen can make the tag. Orient Express hit a double-clothesline and double-team in their corner. Sidekick, and more double-teaming. Owen goes off the ropes and ducks a double-clothesline to nail both of them with a dropkick! Hot tag to Neidhart and he cleans house with axehandles and slams! Backdrop and clothesline on Tanaka. The Foundation criss cross and Owen hits a suicide dive through the ropes at Kato! Back inside, the Foundation hits the Rocket Launcher on Tanaka to finish, at 17:18! Great opener. ***1/4 --- Backstage, Alfred Hayes shows footage of the Mountie upsetting Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Title a few days earlier at a house show in Springfield, MA. After the match, Mountie continues the assault before Rowdy Roddy Piper can save. Mountie still nailed Piper with his title belt. All this set up a match between Mountie and Piper. Originally, it was supposed to be Bret, but he has a high fever, hence the reason he lost the title in the first place. --- Sean Mooney interviews The Mountie & Jimmy Hart. After Mountie basically runs through what he plans to do to Piper, he pretends to use his stun gun thing, complete with motions, too! --- Gene Okerlund interviews Roddy Piper, who responds to the Mountie's words. He says he's here to make history and win two titles tonight, and he can't do that without winning the Intercontinenal first. --- WWF Intercontinental Championship- The Mountie © vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper Piper jumps Mountie, throwing his skirt in his face. Mountie bails, but Piper catches him outside with an elbow. Mountie comes back and tosses him inside. Two leapfrogs, but Piper hits him down and rams him into the turnbuckles. Bulldog and Piper works the crowd. Elbow gets two. He starts working the knee, and Mountie pleas for no more. Shots to the head, but Mountie comes back, with an axehandle. Piper misses a dropkick, so Mountie elbows for two. He bashes Piper's head into the turnbuckle several times, and he hits a jumping elbow for two. Piper gets tossed outside, but he sunset flips Mountie back in for two. Mountie grabs his tights and tosses him through the ropes, but Piper immediately comes back and pummels him. Knee sends Mountie flying. Irish whip and a blow to the stomach. Atomic drop sends Mountie out. He runs back in and accidentally collides with Jimmy Hart on the apron! Piper locks in the sleeper, and three drops of the hand later, Roddy Piper is the new Intercontinental Champion, at 5:22! The Fink announcers Piper as the new champ to a huge pop! 3/4*, but it's still a great moment. One down, and one to go, as Gorilla & Heenan say. --- In a Coliseum Video Exclusive, Alfred Hayes find Hulk Hogan in what looks like the bathroom, yet the room is labeled "Hulk". Juh? Usual Hogan ramblings. --- Gene Okerlund interviews the Bushwhackers, who have Jameson with them, unfortunately, who looks forward to getting the Genius. --- Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers The Genius reads a poem to start. Sign in the crowd reads, "Bushwhackers are Cool". I guess signs were just alot less creative back then. So much stalling to start. After a boring sequence, the Bushwhackers clean house, and more stalling occurs. After more dull action, the Bushwhackers again clear the ring. The Beverlys keep running away from the Bushwhackers, but the Bushwhackers finally come outside. Inside, the Beverlys double-team Butch with an axehandle. This is so boring. Outside, The Genius slaps Jameson in the face. Jameson falls and gets up saying, "He hitted me! He hitted me! Is it bleeding?" Did I mention how incredibly boring this is? In the end, Blake comes off the top to hit Luke with an axehandle to get the win, at a long, long 14:56. DUD if I've ever seen one. Afterwards, the Bushwhackers clean house and hold Genius in place for Jameson. After a few minutes of winding up, Jameson teases a punch and instead kicks him in the shin, sending Genius running away. Bushwhackers & Jameson "celebrate", as we head to the back. --- Backstage, Gene Okerlund interviews the Tag Team Champions, the Legion of Doom, who are preparing to defend their titles against the Natural Disasters. --- WWF Tag Team Championship- Legion of Doom © vs. Natural Disasters Lot of tag team matches tonight, huh? Hawk and Typhoon start with a grapple, into a headlock. Hawk tries a shoulderblock but nothing happens. Forearm sends him reeling. He goes up top and nails a clothesline for two. Everyone comes in, but the referee takes back control. Earthquake coems in against Hawk, who hits a dropkick, but to no effect. Earthquake misses a dropkick and pays for it. Tag to Animal, and a staredown transpires. Slugfest which no one wins, and Earthquake kicks, and after a whip sequence, they take each other out with a double-clothesline. Animal tries to slam him, but Earthquake's weight takes over, as he falls on top for two. The Disasters send him to the corner. Earthquake whips Typhoon into him. When Tyhpoon tries it again, Animal counters and hits a clothesline. Tag to Hawk, who gets a shot coming off the top rope. Typhoon clotheslines to no effect. Crossbody by Hawk, but Typhoon catches him and gives him a backbreaker. Snapmare, and tag to Earthquake, who hits a big elbow for two. He slams Hawk in the corner, and tags Typhoon. He starts working Hawk's lower back. Bearhug, but Hawk escapes and goes to the second rope. He goes for an axehandle, but gets caught and slammed. Earthquake splashes him in the corner and hits a jumping stomp. He walks right over Hawk twice and taunts Animal. Another bearhug, as the crowd gets behind Hawk. Whip to the corner, but Earthquake misses the splash. Hawk hits a forearm from the second rope, and gets the hot tag to Animal! He hits a diving shoulderblock, and both Disasters come in. They go for a double back drop, but Animal flips over and hits both down with a double-clothesline! All four guys take the fight outside. The Disasters take LOD out, and Typhoon, the legal man, heads back in the ring just as the referee counts LOD out at 10. The Natural Disasters get the countout win, so LOD retain the belts, at 9:24. Hawk cleans house inside with a chair, and LOD celebrate keeping the belts. I give it * --- Sean Mooney catches Jimmy Hart on the way back from the match. Jimmy is pissed that they didn't win the belts. The Disasters come in and start banging the lockers. --- Gene Okerlund is backstage with the new Intercontinental Champion, Roddy Piper, who is very excited about the Rumble match and winning the WWF Title, for his second title of the night. --- Sean Mooney is in the locker room with Shawn Michaels, fresh off of the Barber Shop incident and still adjusting to his "Heartbreak Kid" persona. Shawn says he saved Marty Jannetty from a beating from 29 other guys. Of course, Jannetty isn't competing tonight. --- In another Coliseum Video Exclusive, Alfred Hayes talks to Ric Flair. Flair actually goes and reveals his number. For the sake of the few people who have never seen the Rumble, I won't mention it. --- Gene Okerlund shows Royal Rumble pre-recorded interviews from Randy Savage, Sid Justice, British Bulldog, Jake Roberts, Undertaker, & Hulk Hogan. --- 30-Man Royal Rumble Match Jack Tunney comes out before hand to address the fans. Of course, the crowd is still pissed at Tunney for stripping Hogan of the title, so they're booing Tunney like crazy. The British Bulldog is # 1, and Ted DiBiase is # 2. Slugfest to start. Bulldog whips him to the corner, but DiBiase counters and hits some knife-edge chops. Vertical suplex, followed by a gut wrench. Another suplex by DiBiase. He throws Bulldog over, but he holds on and clotheslines a surprised Ted DiBiase over and out! # 3 is Ric Flair, and Bobby Heenan almost has a heart attack. Meanwhile, Gorilla Monsoon rubs it in. Flair does some stylin and profilin before getting knocked down by Bulldog. Flair goes off the ropes, but Bulldog catches him and press slams him! Clothesline, and Flair cheapshots him. Bulldog ducks an elbow and hits a jumping lariat. Flair begs for mercy, and holds on as Bulldog throws him over. Nasty Boy Sags is # 4. Sags pummels the Bulldog and stomps away with Flair. He holds Bulldog so Flair can hit the chops. Double Irish whip, but Bulldog double clotheslines both. He nearly eliminates Sags, but Sags holds on and taunts the crowd from the apron. Bulldog still dropkicks him off to eliminate him, though. Gorilla points out that it's once again Bulldog & Flair, as Heenan is none too happy. Bulldog tries to toss him, but Flair counters with more chops. Bulldog slams him, as Haku is # 5. Haku goes after the Bulldog, to Heenan's delight and helps Flair, but suddenly, he kicks Flair and goes after him. Flair bails for a second. Haku hits a piledriver on Bulldog, and Flair rakes the face of Haku before hitting a knee drop. Haku works both Flair and Bulldog. Haku gets thrown over by Bulldog, and # 6 is Shawn Michaels. Shawn pummels away and backdrops Flair. Superkick on Flair. Bulldog catches Shawn for a press slam. Superkick on Bulldog. Flair tries to throw Shawn, but to no avail. Heenan's getting nervous, asking for a drink. Bulldgo crotches Shawn on the ropes and bounces him up and down. # 7 is "El Matador" Tito Santana who nearly dumps Flair, until Shawn saves. Heenan is pleaing for Flair to just stay down on the mat and rest. Backdrop by Flair on Tito. Bulldog clutches Flair by the throat, but Flair goes low to save himself. Tito saves Bulldog from elimination and hits a flying forearm on Flair. # 8 is the Barbarian. Shawn & Flair double-team Tito. Barbarian & Flair work the Bulldog, as Shawn & Tito go at it in the corner. # 9 is "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, who immediately goes after Flair. After the beating, Flair stumbles to the center of the ring and collapses. Bulldog slingshots Shawn in the corner. Tito starts choking Flair on the mat. # 10 is Repo Man, who sneaks all the way down the aisle and around the ring before slowly sliding in. Tito hits a cross body on Barbarian, before getting hit down by Repo Man. Barbarian & Flair work Von Erich. # 11 is Greg Valentine, who goes after Repo Man and Flair. Flair and Valentine get into a chop-fest, as Shawn hangs onto the top rope with his feet. # 12 is Nikolai Volkoff, who fights with Repo Man and Barbarian. Valentine locks Flair in his own hold, the figure four, and Repo Man dumps Volkoff. Odd for obvious reasons. # 13 is the Big Boss Man who goes to work on everyone. Repo Man now eliminates Greg Valentine. Alright, this is getting weird. Shawn narrowly escapes elimination, while the Boss Man dumps Repo. It's back to normal now. Flair manages to backdrop both the Bulldog and Von Erich out in succession. Meanwhile, Shawn & Tito both eliminate each other, as # 14 is Hercules, who goes after old, weakened Ric Flair of course. Flair and Barbarian high-five, but Flair backstabs him. Barbarian still powerslams him and tries to eliminate him, but Hercules comes from behind and tosses him out. Then, Boss Man clotheslines Hercules out, leaving him and Flair. Boss Man hits a jumping clothesline, but misses a shoulderblock and goes out, leaving Flair all alone! Flair collapses, as # 15 is the new Intercontinental champion, Rowdy Roddy Piper! The crowd loves it, as Flair, who has seemingly gotten his rest, now has to deal with Piper. Piper works the crowd and backdrops him. Flair bails, and Piper follows, hitting the Nature Boy down. Back inside, Piper goes for the 10-punches in the corner, but Flair counters into an atomic drop, which has no affect. Piper hits an airplane spin, and goes into the sleeper! Flair fades away as Piper brings him to the mat. # 16 is the evil Jake Roberts. Jake assures Piper, who still has Flair in the sleeper, that he won't do any harm and that he'll just sit and relax in the corner. Piper eventually turns his back, and Jake breaks the sleeper! Jake pummels Piper, as Flair gets to his feet. Jake turns on Flair and short-arm clotheslines him. DDT attempt, but Piper saves with a clothesline. Heenan starts to thank Piper, saying, "It's a kilt! Not a skirt!" Flair locks the figure-four in on Jake, but Piper stomps both him and Jake. Heenan quickly takes back his comment from before and accuses Piper of wearing a skirt. That, folks, is one of the reasons why Heenan's commentary is so great in this match. Jake holds Piper, and Flair pounds away. Jake tries to toss Piper, as Jim Duggan comes out as # 17. Duggan goes right for Flair, whipping him to the turnbuckle, as Piper almost eliminates Jake. Duggan goes after Jake, but Piper saves. They switch up again, and Jake gives Duggan an atomic drop. Meanwhile, Piper and Flair exchange knife-edge chops. # 18 is IRS, who fights with both Flair and Duggan. Jake & Flair try to eliminate Piper, and IRS soon joins. Piper escapes and IRS stomps away. Piper & IRS try to toss Flair, but to no avail. Jimmy Snuka is # 19 and saves Flair from elimination. Snuka hits a reverse elbow on Flair, and Duggan takes over in the corner. Flair pokes Snuka in the eyes and once again goes at it with Piper. Undertaker is # 20, and he quickly clotheslines Snuka out. He starts choking Flair in the corner, as Heenan starts to lose confidence in Flair. Duggan goes after Taker but gets kicked in the nuts during the choking! Jake has a hold on Piper, so Piper pokes the eyes. Flair & Piper go after the Taker, but they both get clutched by the necks in chokeholds. # 21 is Randy Savage, who immedately looks for Jake Roberts, but Taker catches him first with a chokehold. Jake gets to him first and gets some shots in before Duggan saves. Savage gets to Jake and hits a double axehandle before high-kneeing him out! Savage, idiotically, dives over the top after him, but apparently the referees say he's not eliminated. The rules seem to change each year, with loopholes appearing and disappearing. Taker goes under the ropes and throws Savage back in. Savage quickly breaks free from Taker and slides back out to go after Jake! Once again, Taker brings him back and rakes the face. Piper saves, but Taker takes back control. Flair stomps away at Savage in the corner and goes after Taker. # 22 is The Berzerker, who yells something like, "Huff! Huff! down to the ring. Was he tired already? Anyway, Berzerker goes after everyone, and Flair & IRS double-team Savage. Taker chokes Piper in the bottom corner. Flair is on the apron, and he tries to suplex Savage out, but it's countered and Flair gets suplexed inside. Berzerker takes Savage by the neck with both hands and drops him to the mat. Virgil is # 23. Fun (& odd) fact: On the Coliseum Video box for the event, Virgil's picture is on one side, with Piper's on the opposite side. Now, Piper I can understand, but Virgil? Maybe Vince wanted the buyer to think that Virgil would be a threat in the match, afterall, he always tried to make the public think that when he's commentating. Virgil goes for IRS, but Berzerker saves. Taker goes after him, and Flair tries to toss Duggan. Savage & Piper double-team Berzerker. Flair starts raking Taker's eyes, but gets thrown to the corner for more choking. Flair teases elimination, as Heenan is freaking out. # 24 is Col. Mustafa, and starts choking Piper on the ropes. Hey, Royal Rumble 1992, live from the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, NY! That's what the sudden graphic says at least. Piper hits the 10-corner-punches on Flair, but Taker saves. Savage tries to toss Flair, as Rick Martel comes out as # 25. He immediately goes after Virgil, but Flair saves. IRS & Martel try and toss Flair, but to no avail. Taker chokes Savage on the matm as Virgil & Piper go after Berzerker. Duggan stops to work the crowd, starting a "USA" chant. Huh? Taker has Savage in a double-choke lift. # 26 is Hulk Hogan, and Heenan hates it, as he goes after Flair. Hogan bashes Taker & IRS's heads into each other, but Berzerker saves. Hogan pounds away and then clotheslines the Undertaker out! Berzerker charges, but Hogan also backdrops him out before ripping off the shirt! It looks like Mustafa went out, because he's nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Virgil & Duggan eliminate each other in a struggle. IRS grabs the discarded Hogan shirt and chokes Piper with it. # 27 is Skinner. Now, IRS is actually wearing the Hogan shirt around his neck. Piper and Skinner exchange blows, as Flair is hanging onto the bottom rope. Skinner rakes Hogan's eyes, and Flair & Martel try to toss Piper. Piper catches Martel with his feet and breaks loose. Piper makes a comeback against Flair by biting his nosem and Hogan follows up against Flair with a clothesline. # 28 is Sgt. Slaughter. Skinner is trying to toss Piper, so Martel sneaks over and throws Skinner out and to the floor. Piper and Hogan start brawling, as Slaughter does his best to try and eliminate Flair. By this time, Flair has broken a record of lasting the longest in the Rumble, previously held by Martel last year. Of course, the all-time record holder will be Bob Backlund who sets it in 1993. Flair and Hogan go at it in the corner, as Sid Justice comes out as # 29 to a pop. Sid immediately goes to work on IRS and then hads to Martel. Flair & IRS double-team Hogan. Martel hits Sid with an axehandle from the second rope. Flair manages to snapmare Hogan, but he then has to deal with Sid, who grabs him by the hair much to the delight of the crowd. Sid hits him down with a lariat, but Flair cheapshots him. Finally, # 30 is The Warlord, in the role of the heel threat with the best draw. Flair and Hogan go through the ropes and fight outside. Flair goes for a suplex, but Hogan reverses into a suplex of his own! Martel hits Piper with an axehandle like before. Sid tosses Slaughter into the corner, forcing him over the top to elimination. Back inside, Hogan big boots Flair, as Savage goes after Warlord. IRS pushes Piper over the top rope, but he lands on the apron. Piper then pulls IRS by his tie over the ropes and to the floor. Sid chokes Martel, as Hogan and Flair still go at it. Sid & Hogan eliminate Warlord together, as Martel chokes Savage in the corner. Piper & Martel try to get each out near the ropes, so Sid takes advantage and pushes both of them out. So much for two titles tonight Hot Rod. We're down to the Final Four: Hogan, Sid, Savage, & Flair! They pair off, with Hogan & Flair and Sid & Savage. Sid nearly has Savage out, but Flair runs over and knees Sid to the back for the extra leverage to send Savage packing. Three more guys left. Flair heads right back to Hogan with Flair chops, but it has no effect. Hogan whips him to the corner for a Flair Flip, and he tries to toss him. Sid, who's been watching the whole thing approaches the two from behind and simply tosses the Hulkster, surprisingly, somewhat to the delight of part of the crowd! Flair's still down, and Hogan starts screaming at Sid, and according to Gorilla Monsoon, saying, "You stole my belt!" Hogan's looking for fan support with his taunts, but it seems no one wants to. While they argue, Flair starts to get to his feet. Suddenly, Hogan, ever the role-model as # 1 babyface, start tugging and pulling on Sid's arm! Flair comes from behind and along with Hogan's help, tosses Sid over and out, winning the Royal Rumble and WWF Title, at 62: 02! Hogan decides to get in the ring and now scare Flair away. What a sore-loser, Hogan is. Mr. Perfect runs out to congratulate Flair, as Bobby Heenan now leaves the broadcast booth to join them. Inside the ring, Sid and Hogan get into a heated confrontation, forcing many officials to come and break it up. The fans are clearly behind Sid on this one, as they should be. Hogan cheated to help Flair win, not that I'm mad about the winner, but still. As for the match, this is without a doubt the greatest Royal Rumble match you'll ever see! No other year comes close to topping this one, baby! Here you have a great storyline going in, a great line-up of wrestlers as so many different guys could have won it, and a great story told in the hour with the excitement never ending, not to mention Bobby Heenan's heelish commentary. Overall, both on the Rumble Scale and normal scale, *****, without a doubt. --- Backstage, Gene Okerlund speaks to the new WWF Champion, Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect, Bobby Heenan, and Jack Tunney, who presents Flair with the title. Flair delivers a great victory speech, and they all engage in a big "Whooo!" before saying, "We told you so!" --- --- --- --- --- --- The first half of the show isn't too memorable or significant. Most of it, minus Piper's title win, is very forgettable. But the second half's Royal Rumble Match saves the show like nothing else. Without a doubt, it's the best Rumble match, no matter what anyone tells you. If they tell you otherwise, then they have most likely never seen this show. As I explained in the match, the Rumble match features a great storyline, a great line-up of wrestlers, a great in-ring story, and some great commentary from Bobby Heenan! Best... Rumble... Ever. As if you don't know? Highly Recommended, if only for the Rumble Match Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nWoScorpion Report post Posted October 3, 2002 Wanna write for my site? Check out WrestlingTrash.com I enjoy your reviews for the most part and i'm looknig for good writers like you. If your interested email [email protected] or [email protected] with the sites name in the headline. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites