Guest DeputyHawk Report post Posted May 28, 2003 There may have been a thread on this before (I vaguely remember seeing Rumble 90 in a title a while back, not sure), but I just re-watched this match last night and wow - just an unbelievably well booked and executed battle royal! Rumble 92 has the reputation of being the best Rumble ever, what with the title being on the line and Flair going for 60 minutes almost right from the start, but I honestly think the 90 version tops it without breaking a sweat. The whole thing is just absolutely flawless. DiBiase draws no.1, continuing the story from the previous year when he bought no.30 for himself. He then despatches two jobbers (Koko & Jannetty) to establish himself as The Man in there. His arch-nemesis Jake the Snake is next and the crowd goes apeshit - I have never seen Roberts so over as a face before! Randy Savage is no.5 & teams up on Jake, Roddy Piper is no.6 and saves Jake from the heels. The four superstars do a mini tag team match which the crowd is just going insane for. Next entrants go turn & turn about - Warlord (heel), Bret (face), Bad News (heel), Dusty (face). Savage eliminates Jake from the match (so the Million Dollar Man doesn't get the glory) then saves DiBiase from Piper - this just works so much better when the heels and faces instinctively look out for each other. Dusty races straight for Savage, whom he started feuding with about 30 minutes earlier on the Brother Love show & the common man eliminates the Macho King, again the fans are just lapping this stuff up. Andre the Giant is next, then Red Rooster (who lasts about as long as you'd expect). Piper dumps Bad News, Bad News pulls Piper out from the floor and they brawl to the back with the fans chanting bigtime for Roddy (hey presto - another instant feud!) Demolition Ax, Haku, and Demolition Smash follow and we get the big tag team showdown between former champs the Demos and new champs The Colossal Connection (Andre & Haku), while Dusty & Bret work over DiBiase in the corner - everyone has something meaningful to do at all times. Akeem is no.16, then Superfly, Dino Bravo, Earthquake and Neidhart. The spate of mid-card guys slows the tempo down, but the crowd remains abuzz as they know there are still some big name stars to come any minute. Earthquake gets rid of Dusty, then everyone left in the ring bands together to heave Quake out in the corner (all except his one friend Dino who desperately tries to claw him back in). Ultimate Warrior is no.21 and the place explodes. Martel & Tito follow, renewing their old Strike Force rivalry. First man in DiBiase is still going strong, piledriving Snuka mid-ring. Honky is no.24 as Warrior FINALLY clotheslines DiBiase out, which the crowd certainly apprecaites. World champion Hogan is no.25 and the place comes unglued as the participants start falling like flies (including blink-&-you-missed-him Shawn Michaels). Then we get that year's Big Moment as the promotion's two top faces Hogan & Warrior go toe-to-toe and the fans are literally at fever pitch at this point. Double-clothesline, Barbarian & Rude are the next out to lay a beating down on both of them. They gang up on Warrior while Hogan plows into the back of all three, 'accidentally' eliminating the Warrior while Jesse rants about betrayal to build tension towards WM6. Hercules in no.29, Mr Perfect no.30. Herc goes, Perfect & Rude double-team the Hulkster until heel miscommunication sees Rude go tumbling out. Hennig delivers the Perfectplex which Hogan no-sells, punch, clothesline, tosses him out, wins the match, the fans go home happy. There's bad feeling towards this match on behalf of some poeple cause Perfect was scheduled to win it until (if I remember correctly) he got screwed over amidst the politics of changing WM6 from Hogan-Zeus to Hogan-Warrior. However, I think it worked out far better the way it did cause having Hulk win the Rumble in its second year on PPV gave the event a huge prestige which it retains to this day, as well as putting the World champion over strong going into the Mania showdown against Warrior. Whoever laid out this match, top to bottom, was a Booking God. The whole thing is just perfect, no pun intended. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Old Brown Heineken Report post Posted May 28, 2003 The 1992 Royal Rumble owns all, I'd list it between rank 12 and 15 if I had to draw a best wrestling matches ever, the way the WWE built Ric Flair was superb! Plus, the rest of the card was crap and made the main event even better! Can't you realize that this was the only time the Royal Rumble winner would DIRECTLY got the gold! The Royal Rumble (winner gets vacant WWF title): This is course was set up after Hulk Hogan cheated to regain the title from Undertaker at "This Tuesday In Texas". Jack Tunney (big boos) officially opens the match. And away we go. British Bulldog is #1 and Ted Dibiase is #2. Dibiase kills Bulldog and tosses him, but he lands on the apron, climbs in, and clotheslines Dibiase out. Ric Flair is #3 and Bobby has a heart attack. Gorilla rubs it in. Bulldog goes right after Flair, destroying him with power moves until Flair starts a trend by lowblowing him. Nasty Boy Sags is #4. Flair and Sags double-team Bulldog. Bulldog knocks Sags out in short order and then goes back to Flair. Haku is #5. He beats on Bulldog and Flair until getting dumped by Bulldog. Shawn Michaels is #6. He ad Flair immediately begin their selling contest by trading chops. Shawn goes over the top and back under the ropes a couple of times. Tito is #7 and of course he goes after Flair right away, like everyone else. Gorilla: "Some people just hate Flair less than others". Ballshot #2 on Bulldog. Big "OOooooooh" from the males in the crowd for that one. Barbarian is #8. Gorilla (in ominous voice): "Barbarian doesn't like Flair". Another near-elimination for Shawn. Kerry Von Erich is #9, and one guess who he goes after. Flair Flop. Shawn does his own. Repo Man is #10. Nothing notable happens. Greg Valentine is #11 and he and Flair start trading chops. Another Flair flop. Nikolai Volkoff (subbing for Janetty) is #12. Flair and Valentine are trading some NASTY chops. Repo Man dumps Volkoff. Big Bossman is #13 and can just guess who his target is. Repo Man dumps Valentine. Bossman dumps Repo Man. Flair dumps Bulldog, then Von Erich. Santana and Michaels eliminate each other. Whew. Hercules is #14 and he goes right after Flair. Flair is saved by Barbarian, and then turns on him. Oops. Barbarian kills him, but Herc dumps Barbarian and Bossman dumps Barbarian. We're down to Flair and Bossman. Bossman wallops Flair, but misses a cross-body and flies out. Flair celebrates with a Flair flop. Piper is #15 and the crowd erupts. Piper cleans Flair's clock from one side of the ring to other. He even works in the eye poke off an atomic drop. Airplane spin and sleeper on Flair. Jake Roberts is #16 and he just sits back and lets Piper continue. Then he turns on him. Evil Jake was so cool. Flair and Jake take turns turning on each other until Duggan comes in at #17. Flair is the punching bag as usual. IRS is #18. Snuka is #19. Not much going on. Heenan is having a nervous breakdown at this point. Snuka goes after Flair, of course. Undertaker is #20. Snuka is gone. UT chokes out Flair, who is saved by Duggan. UT no-sells all. Randy Savage is #21, but Jake Roberts is hiding outside the ring. Roberts comes in and Savage goes medieval on him, knocking him out with a high knee. Savage follows him out over the top, but the ruling is that Savage wasn't thrown out. UT no-sells a ballshot from Flair. Berzerker is #22. Piper and UT do a double-choke on Flair, but UT doesn't appreciate Piper's sense of humor. Virgil is #23. Piper is beating on protege Virgil. Col. Mustafa is #24, but no one cares. And why is Mustafa such a popular name in wrestling? Colonel, Saied, Kama...too many to count. Rick Martel is #25. Savage eliminates Mustafa. Hulk Hogan is #26 to a big pop. He gets attacked by the Undertaker right away. Heenan starts bargaining with God to let Flair win. UT gets clotheslined out by Hulk. Berzerker gets backdropped out, allowing Hulk time to rip off the shirt. Duggan and Virgil eliminate each other. Skinner is #27, impressing no one. Sgt. Slaughter is #28, but the heat is gone at this point. Skinner gets dumped. Kind of a mish-mash of stuff going on. Sid is #29, and he hammers a variety of people. Warlord is #30, so our suspects our: Flair, Hogan, Warlord, IRS, Sid, Savage, Slaughter, Martel and Piper. Slaughter takes a dive over the top and out. 8 guys left and watching you'd have no idea who would win. Piper goes to the apron and pulls IRS out by his tie. 7 guys left. Hogan and Sid double-team Warlord out. 6 guys left. Martel and Piper fight on the ropes and Sid dumps them both. The Final four: Hulk, Savage, Sid and Flair. Sid dumps Savage as Flair and Hogan fight in the corer. Hogan gets Flair almost out...and Sid takes advantage and dumps Hulk! Hulk whines from the outside and won't let go of Sid, so Flair comes from behind and dumps Sid to win the Royal Rumble and his first WWF title. Sid and Hulk get into a shoving contest in the ring, meanwhile, and the crowd is firmly behind Sid on this one. ***** Best Rumble ever. And the first serious backlash against Hogan from the fans. - Backstage, Flair delivers his acceptance speech. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 28, 2003 Patterson writes the Rumbles... Yes this was the #2 rumble...It just didn't have Flair in it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest WhenDanSaysJump Report post Posted May 28, 2003 Hasn't Pat Patterson scripted most of the Rumble matches? The only one I can think of that DOESN'T have the Patterson Epic Booking fingerprint on it is the Russo-riffic 99 Rumble... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tony149 Report post Posted May 28, 2003 IIRC, Patterson has scripted all the Rumbles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 28, 2003 This year it was Patterson with Shane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cawthon777 0 Report post Posted May 28, 2003 92 is probably my all time favorite - almost simply for Flair's look as Piper comes to the ring - but 90 pulls a close second. What amazes me more than anything is the amount of talent in the ring - all the names that were already legendary along with many more that would become so in the coming years. In 1990, you had Hogan, Savage, Andre, Dibiase, Jake the Snake, Warrior, Dusty, and Piper but there was also Bret, Shawn, Perfect, and Rude. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nWoScorpion Report post Posted May 28, 2003 92 wins it because of Monsoon & Heenans PBP hand down! Heenan having a heart attack every 3-4 minutes is great. I laugh my ass off now that was Shawn was eliminated in 13 SECONDS in the 1990 Rumble. So sad he entered when Warrior/Hogan were clearing it out. lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DeputyHawk Report post Posted May 28, 2003 92 is probably my all time favorite - almost simply for Flair's look as Piper comes to the ring - but 90 pulls a close second. What amazes me more than anything is the amount of talent in the ring - all the names that were already legendary along with many more that would become so in the coming years. In 1990, you had Hogan, Savage, Andre, Dibiase, Jake the Snake, Warrior, Dusty, and Piper but there was also Bret, Shawn, Perfect, and Rude. That's what just swings 90 over 92 for me - the star power in there. 92 has less legends and more mid-carders, even though the prize was greater at the end of the day. Flair's 60-minute performance and the PBP are indeed awesome, but from start to finish 90 just had more for me overall. There was barely a minute passed when something meaningful wasn't happening in the ring, whereas 92 had occasional flat spots with people just trying to push each other over the ropes for lack of anything better to do. Still, individually two of the best WWF matches of the 1990's, no question. Incidentally, although 92's Roddy moment was the real classic, he does almost the exact same arms-outstretched run-in to almost the exact same arena-shaking reaction two years previous to save Jake from the DiBiase/Savage double-team. I miss Piper. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 29, 2003 and RVD did the same deal this year with Jericho... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest geniusMoment Report post Posted May 29, 2003 No choken you put a picture in your sig. You have crossed over to the other side and now must die for your sins. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rendclaw 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2003 I liked the Rumble (I cannot remember the year to save my life) when Martel lasted for 45 mins to set the record that Flair broke.. ::laughs at the mention of the Bulldog getting lowblowed by Flair numerous times:: That was always a trend, since Taker did it to him in the aforementioned Rumble.. Gorilla and Piper didn;t make a bad team, thought Gorilla and Heenan were always gold in calling a match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cawthon777 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2003 I liked the Rumble (I cannot remember the year to save my life) when Martel lasted for 45 mins to set the record that Flair broke. That would be 91. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2003 For me 1992 is the best followed by 90, 91 and 94. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Hollywood Fashion Plate Report post Posted May 29, 2003 Anybody have those mid-90s Rumbles as video files somewhere? I'm trying to collect them all and burn them to CD, but all I have are 89 and 98-03. SOMEBODY's got to have the others, or at least 92! For being called one of the best matches EVER, nobody seems to be in any hurry to post it on any wrestling media boards.....oh well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Stunt Granny Report post Posted May 30, 2003 I'm quite fond of the 2001 Royal Rumble, it had everything. Surprises, dramatic ending, really only had a few minutes of dullness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 30, 2003 2001 is #3 all time...Oh what the hell here is my list... 1-1992. The Benchmark. The Greatest Hour of Flair's Career. 2-1990. Booking-Wise it was the most superb they ever pulled off. 3- 2001. Loaded with all the elements. You had the surprises of Haku and HTM. The Iron Man of Kane...Drew Carey. Rock/Austin showdown. 4- 1994. While it certaintly lacked star power...It was loaded with good storylines (Bret/Luger injuries, HBK, Diesel Power, Owen's Tantrum. The teased Absence of Bret. Memorable Finish. 5. 2000. Wasn't the greatest RUMBLE but was shock ful of starpower and had great little things that made it special (Kaienti/MSP run ins...Road Dogg cradling the ropes for the entire match...Xpac's Austin envasion...Rikishi first big Moment... 6- 1991. Under-rated. Gets a Bad rep for some reason. You had the brilliance of Martel's Iron Man run...Undertaker's Presence. Good Action. Jake's Hunt for Martel....Perfect's Great attitude... 7-1989-It had great starpower for the most part but after the Hogan-Savage segment...The match died but it had the good storyline of Dibiase. 8- 2003. Maybe it's still too soon but the first 28 minutes were GOLDEN and the rest really just lagged on. Jericho's BRILLIANCE was the saving grace. the thing that hurts it most was that Lesnar was #29 and should've drawn a lower number like #23 or something... 9- 1997- While it was dead full of Low-carders and No-Names...It still boiled down to a GREAT performence by Austin and Hart. Austin mannerisms were IMPECABLE. 10- 1998. While it lacked starpower (Austin was IT)...It was better then it had any right to be. It also really elevated Rocky with his 54 minute run. 11- 2002. it was very anti-Climatic and Maven's SHOCKER was the one and only memorable moment... 12- 1996. It was just flat the whole way though save for the HBK/Owen/Bulldog sections. 13- 1995. The rumble wasn't really bad...Considering it wasn't very powerful with star power (Luger, Hart, Shawn and Bulldog were about it)...The Minute interverls killed it...even though Shawn and Davey easily could've gone 60 minutes or at least 45 minutes with 90 second interverls. 14- 1993. It was just atrocious to watch...No Drama. No Name player except for a Soon to be departing Flair...UT...Savage...Henning and Yoko. However, the writing was clearly Yoko's to win. However...They really should've Saved it for a Henning/Martel/Savage/Yoko final four and it would've just been great...Since Lawler/Perfect never went anywhere. 15- 1999. The worst abomination of ANY royal Rumble. EASY. Booking wise...it sucked worse then 1993...wrestling wise it was on par with 1996 on suck level... I know I didn't mention the 88 one but I really don't have a rating on it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Decadent Slacker Report post Posted May 30, 2003 I like most of the Rumbles, save '99 & possibly '95 (haven't seen it in a LONG time). '92, '93, '94 & '90 are my favorites. I don't really rate them like pther matches, because it's kind of impossible to compare say RR '98 to a Austin/Rock match. I rate Rumbles against each other. That said, I LOVe '92 because: 1) Flair invovled, much less winning the thing 2) the start & continuation of various major angles (Sid/Hogan & the exceeding kickass Jake/Savage, for instance) & 3) because the commentary was the BEST of Gorilla & Heenens pairing, save maybe WM8. '94 was great. made me a Diesel mark until Taker killed him at WM12. the ending sucked in retrospect, but it was cool for the time, imo. '93 just was fun for me, because...well i dunno. No Hogan helped, i guess. just a preference for me personally. '90 was great because it made everyone look good in some respect, save Rooster or Michaels. DiBiase was a tenacious heel, Hogan was a superhero, Warrior was his worthy rival for the same cause, & Savage was just the fucking man as always. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Cucaracha 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2003 1)1992- Has to be the best Rumble ever, no doubt. It was all good, from the wrestlers in it, Heenan's pro-Flair commentary, the Savage-Roberts storyline, the Sid-Hogan storyline, the Piper-Flair storyline, the fact there were more than 4 guys who had a realistic chance of winning it...it just worked. 2)1990- Good stuff all round. If Perfect won the match, it may have been regarded nearly as high as 1992, although as a young kid at the time the whole Hgan celebration afterwards was as memorable as the Warrior-Hogan battle. 3)1994- I didn't like it at first, because I watched it right after the Taker/Yoko stuff, and was still in shock and disbelief. Again, booked well, the Bret storyline throughout the night, the Lex storyline with the Japanese guys... 4)1991- The whole show is underrated, what with the Slaughter title win and the Rockers/Express match. Martel's run was good, but Perfect should have won again which harmed it. 5)2001- Shocks and all...and HTM singing. Doesn't get much better than that. They booked it so it could have been one of 6 winning it, although most knew it would be Austin they mad an effort. The bit where Scotty walks out, and the BOD are in the ring is one of my favourite Rumble moments 6)2000- Decent Rumble and it had the star power. 7)1989- It had storylines with the DiBiase number change, Demolition as 1 and 2, Hogan/Savage...but towards the end it went downwards a bit, and I have no clue why BJS won it. 8)2003- The star power and roster split made it. Seeing Mysterio and Edge, Edge and Christian, The Hardyz and other clashes made it memorable. An enjoyable Rumble, if a little predictable. 9)1997- Run of the mill Rumble except the Hart/Austin incident which has been used in about 50% of all battle royals since. 10)2002- HHH/Austin made it for me. And Perfect's return, Angle's performance, the MavenKick and the double chokeslam attempt by Hurricane on HHH and Austin were good too. But RVD and Booker were under used. 11)1996- Meh. The in ring action was nothing special, but it wasn't too bad I guess. 12)1999- I liked it, but I was an Attitude mark. The Austin-McMahon story meant it had a reason(hell even Golga at number 3 had a point when he went after Austin), and I don't think anyone expected McMahon's win. That's a part of why people hate it IMO. Not a classic sure, but not the worst. 13)1993- Flair got chucked out way to early by Perfect, and Backlund's run was forgettable. Not enough star talent either. 14)1998- I just hated this one. I mean the whole thing just bored me until Austin came in, and even then it was nothing special by any means. And WAY too predictable too. You just knew Austin was winning. 15)1995- So rushed, no star power, and save for Michaels and Bulldog at the end it was totally forgettable. Bit of a letdown after Bret-Diesel as well. Never seen the 88 Rumble, so wouldn't know...but it was just a test run, like the 'Survivor Series matches' on 88 house shows, and the years of KOTR before it went to PPV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted May 30, 2003 92 wins in my opinion, hands down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nWoScorpion Report post Posted May 30, 2003 My Personal favorites are 1992, 1990, and 2001 Above Average: 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000 Average: 1998, 2002, 2003 Below Average: 1993, 1996, 1988 (look at who was in it, plus it was the first, and it wasn't too good) Least Liked: 1995 (stupid idea) and 1999 Havn't Seen: 1989 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2003 What is this "star power" everyone mentions about RR2000? I mean who DIDN'T know that Rock was winning with a very small chance of Show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nWoScorpion Report post Posted May 31, 2003 Only rumbles Ive seen that weren't predictable were 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1997. Everything else was basically known who was winning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MillenniumMan831 Report post Posted May 31, 2003 Only rumbles Ive seen that weren't predictable were 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1997. Everything else was basically known who was winning. I understand you haven't seen it, but 1989 has to have the most unpredictable winner of all time. You had Hogan, Savage, Boss Man, Akeem, Andre, DiBiase, Mr. Perfect, Bad News Brown, and a few other fairly conceivable winners. The fact that Big John Studd wasn't even on the cover of the CV which had eight participants on it goes to show that BJS shouldn't of had a chance in hell, but he still won it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nWoScorpion Report post Posted May 31, 2003 If I had to picka winner in 1989 i would have been WAY off, so I guess your right about 89 being unpredictable (especially since it started with #1 & 2 being a tag team, hehe) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2003 1992 had Flair, Hogan, Sid, Taker, Piper, Savage, maybe, Roberts. 6 or 7 possiblities. 1997 had Austin, Bret, Vader or Taker, 4 possiblities. 1994 had Luger, Bret. 2 possiblities. Although everyone was sure it'd be Luger so Bret was a surprise. 1990 had Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Piper, Perfect, Rude, maybe, Andre. 6 or 7 possiblities. 1991 had Hogan, Perfect, Quake. 3 possiblities and no real suprise. 1989 had everyone except Studd and he won. 2001 had Rock, Austin, Taker, Kane. 4 possiblities with Rock & Austin way above the others. 1995 had HBK, Luger, Owen, Bulldog. Again 4 possibilities. All the rest had little doubt as to the winner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted June 1, 2003 2003-Wasn't IRONCLAD. People were buying Booker, Jericho, HBK all as contenders... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted June 1, 2003 2003-Wasn't IRONCLAD. People were buying Booker, Jericho, HBK all as contenders... Especially since if they won, they faced HHH and not Angle. I love the 2003 Rumble, because it was stocked with talented wrestlers. I despise '99. Not just for the booking, but for the way they used Kane, Undertaker, Austin et al. to clear the ring. Once is ok, but the match stopped in its tracks 3 or 4 times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bravesfan Report post Posted June 1, 2003 Boy, did 89 suck after the Mega Powers were eliminated. The crowd simply DEFLATED after Hogan's elimination, which is why I thought either Savage or Hogan should've won it all (or at least a antagonist heel like Dibiase, where they tease dissention between MP, after Hogan eliminates Savage). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest saturnmark4life Report post Posted June 1, 2003 The thing I love about the 2003 rumble is how it was completely carried byt the undercarders, who made the most of the short time they were in there. Proof positive that guys like Dreamer can get over on their own merits and are being wasted. The finish really, really drags it down though. 92 is beautiful, I'll have to watch 90 again before I can cast my opinion, though I remember enjoying it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
