The 1992 Royal Rumble is the most entertaining and star-studded in company history. The year 1992 was an interesting time in the WWF. The majority of the territories had dried up thanks to the WWF’s global domination, and a lot of the old territories’ big stars were crowding up the WWF’s roster. Meanwhile the company was building up new talent to fill in the blanks and prepare for the eventual loss of these established stars.
So while looking at Rumble ’92 in that very moment it was easy to see who were the main event stars, who were the mid-level guys and who was on bottom, regardless of where their careers had taken them in the past. But to look at that roster now with twenty years of history it is crazy to see what an utterly amazing group of talent those 30 men ended up being.
Overall we are looking at ten World Champions (WWF, WCW, NWA, AWA), eight WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions, seven NWA/WCW/WWE United States Champions, 16 WWF/WWE/World Tag Champions and a host over other Championship title holders spanning WWF/E, NWA, WCW, AWA, Mid-South and anywhere else in between. If these thirty guys were put together on one roster when they were all in their primes, the money would not stop pouring in.
So let’s take a look at the roster from the 1992 Royal Rumble…by the numbers.
World Champions
When the smoke cleared, this match featured ten legit World Heavyweight Champions. Eight of them were previous Champions coming into the match, and two more became Champion not too long after.
Hulk Hogan – He was the WWF’s go-to-guy up until this point, although was slowly being phased out after four World Championships.
Ric Flair – He was to the NWA/WCW what Hulk Hogan was to the WWF, and this what his coming out party for a new group of fans.
“Macho Man” Randy Savage – He had been a big star in the WWF for six years at this point and would be a top guy for another year or so before being phased down the card. Like his friend/rival Hogan, he would renew his star stature in WCW years later.
Sid – Sid was an upper-card monster in WCW before this and pretty much took the same role in the WWF here. He would keep this upper-card role for virtually his entire career and would go on to win both WWF and WCW World Championships many years later.
The Undertaker – He had only been in WWF for a year at this point, but had already picked up the WWF Title once. To pick up the World belt that early into his tenure was unheard of at that time, especially for someone with such a gimmick like his. His star would only continue to rise over the next seventeen years. Remarkably he is still in the WWE Championship hunt to this day.
Col. Mustafa – The former Iron Sheik was the WWF Champion that transitioned Hulk Hogan into the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Era. But by this point he was well past his prime and was close to retirement from full-time active retirement. The Colonel gimmick, which did acknowledge his past as the Sheik, was clearly a step down from his previous runs.
Sgt. Slaughter – Slaughter, like his old rival/friend/rival Mustafa, was also at the end of his career and was used as mid-card enhancement at this point.
Kerry Von Erich – The former regional star from Texas was a former NWA Champion pretty much as a favor from the NWA, and his reign was barely a month long. By the time he arrived in WWF he was also ending his career and was pretty much mid-card fodder as well.
Rick Martel – Martel’s AWA World Championship is often forgotten about when talking about World Champions, as he had a lengthy reign in the mid-‘80s. By the time he came to the WWF he was used as a pretty boy tag team specialist and then a pretty boy heel antagonist. His past accomplishments were never touched upon and he never even sniffed the WWF main event scene.
Shawn Michaels – Still a young pretty boy from Texas at this point, he had just broken out of his role as pretty boy tag team heartthrob. He was just embarking on his role as a young cocky heel, and would finally gain World Championship gold four years later and ended up becoming one of the top five North American talents of all time.
Regional Stars/WWF Main Event Mainstays
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper – A true main eventer in every sense of the word, he was a huge star everywhere he went. He was the guy in the NWA, WWF, WCW and everywhere in between. In the era of Hogan and Flair, Piper was always just one step behind the top guy.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts – In a time when World Championship reigns weren’t given out like candy, Roberts always played second fiddle to guys like Hogan, Savage or Ultimate Warrior. And his career winded on his drug and alcohol habits prevented him from becoming Champion anywhere else. He did gain his greatest championship success while working for Bill Watts in Mid-South Wrestling.
Ted DiBiase – His career is much like Roberts in that he always was right behind someone else on the pecking order, only it was injuries rather than drugs that curtailed his World Title hopes. He also was quite successful in the Mid-South territory.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan – Like Roberts and DiBiase, he cut his teeth in Mid-South and was more than ready for the bright lights of the WWF by the time he arrived. He was a seasoned mid-card guy who was constantly over and could fill in at the top of the cards as needed. Even today he can still pop a crowd.
Greg “The Hammer” Valentine – He is the definition of a mid-card technician. Everywhere he wrestled he picked up mid-card and tag team gold and could be counted upon to put on to put on solid wrestling in the middle of the card. He just lacked the charisma to be a top-level guy.
Tito Santana – He was the good guy equivalent of Valentine, which probably explained why they did such good business together and put on so many great matches with each other and with others.
“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka – Could’ve been the top guy if Hogan didn’t get there first. In his prime he was always a great number two babyface and a great top heel that was over enough on either side of the locker room where he didn’t need a World Championship. He did do quite successful in the old NWA as far as mid-card and tag championship reigns went.
Nikolai Volkoff – Like his fellow patriots like Sheik and Slaughter, Volkoff was on his way out of the business as a full-time hand, but don’t forget his days as a main event level Russian heel through the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, back when that was the in thing to be.
Davey Boy Smith – Smith, like Shawn Michaels, was the young tag team guy who was embarking on his first big-time face run. Perhaps it was only his issues with drugs and his untimely death that kept him from winning a World Championship at some point in his career.
Haku – The most legit tough guy on the roster was used to fill any hole on the card. He gained solid success as an upper mid-card heel and as a tag specialist, and like Hogan, Savage, Duggan and others, he found a career resurgence in WCW after his time in the WWF was up as “The Monster” Meng. He was never a main event guy, but could easily be pushed into a World Title threat if the situation was needed.
The Big Boss Man – A man who got his feet wet in the old NWA and Mid-South, he too was a seasoned pro by this time in his WWF tenure. He was also over like crazy and putting on the best matches of his career. This right here is probably Ray Traylor at his peak. He like many others in this match, found career resurgence in WCW, which then led another mid-card run in the WWF before his untimely demise.
Hercules – Hercules was a WWF mainstay for years that worked as mid-level monster heel and surprising found a niche as a power babyface as well. He was at the tail end of his career by this point and was really his last swan song, barring his forgettable run as “Super Invader” later in the year at WCW.
Regional Stars/Tag Specialists
“Irwin R. Schyster” – IRS, more famously known as Mike Rotunda, played many characters through his various runs in the NWA, WWF, WCW and the territories. While he gained a lot of success and earned a lot of money during his four year run as “IRS,” his accomplishments as Mike Rotunda (or other variations of that name) can’t be discounted. His success as an active wrestler has now led him to backstage agent job at WWE.
“Skinner” – Steve “Skinner” Keirn was a big tag team star as one of the Fantastics in his previous life and was a Florida wrestling mainstay. Barring a brief run in WCW in 1994, this was Keirn’s swan song. And even though the gimmick was terrible (like IRS) he probably made more money in those two years as Skinner than he did anywhere else.
“Repo Man” – Barry Darsow, the former Kruscher Kruschev and Demolition Smash, had already been a big star in both the NWA and the WWF by this point, especially as a tag team specialist. He was nowhere as over or as near to the top of the card here as he was when he played either Krusher or Smash, but the company knew he still had value as a mid-card performer despite being saddled with a silly gimmick. After this run was over in late ’93, WCW also realized his value as he finished out his career there working as enhancement under his real name and a variety of other gimmicks.
The Barbarian – The Barbarian, a guy who played The Barbarian everywhere he went for nearly his entire career, was solid addition to any roster’s mid-card. He worked well as a mid-card enforcer and was also successful with many different tag team partners, most notably Haku and The Warlord. He had a great look for a bad guy and was underrated in the wrestling department. His closest flirt to the main event was a WCW World Championship match against Ron Simmons at WCW Halloween Havoc ’92.
The Berzerker – John Nord got his big start in the AWA as Nord The Barbarian and “Yukon” John Nord before becoming The Berzerker in the WWF. He, much like the other Barbarian, was decent big man who looked impressive in the mid-card playing a wild man. Like so many others here he wound down his career in WCW.
“Nasty Boy” Jerry Sags – Somebody had to round out the thirty man roster. He did have great success one half of the Nasty Boys with Brian Knobbs, picking up World Tag Championships in both the WWF and WCW.
The Rest
Virgil – Never has a guy made such a career by staying in the background. He spent years as Ted DiBiase’s backup in the WWF before embarking on a failed singles babyface career. And like half the guys on this list, he found himself in WCW after this WWF run was over, still playing backup to other more famous people.
The Warlord – A personal favorite of mine, Warlord was a hulking mid-card monster powerhouse who always found himself with two or three other monsters ahead of him on the pecking order. He gained his most success in the Powers of Pain tag team with The Barbarian.
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