A look back at the 1992 Royal Rumble

Roman Reigns will defend the WWE World Heavyweight championship Sunday in this year's Royal Rumble.

It will mark only the second time that a title was at stake in the match, which typically decides the No. 1 contender to the WWE title at WrestleMania.

The one other time the title was on the line in the 30-man match was way back in 1992, when WWE put the vacant title up for grabs.

In what is considered by many the greatest Royal Rumble match to date, Ric Flair was the last man standing to claim his first WWE championship.

I'll go through the match piece-by-piece and share my observations from watching it recently on the WWE Network.

First, though, here's some background on the match. The reason the WWE championship was at stake was that it was vacated by WWE.

After a pair of controversial title matches between Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker in November and December of 1991, on-screen WWE president Jack Tunney stripped Hogan of the title and ruled that the winner of the Royal Rumble match would be crowned the undisputed champion.

The site was the Knickerbocker Arena (now the Times Union Center) in Albany, N.Y.  The building was packed to witness history.

Entrant No. 1: British Bulldog

Bulldog had won a 20-man battle royal in Royal Albert Hall in London not long before this event, which presumably made him one of the favorites to win.

Entrant No. 2: Ted DiBiase

Elimination No. 1: Ted DiBiase

DiBiase barely lasted any time before being eliminated by Bulldog.

Entrant No. 3: Ric Flair

Color commentator Bobby Heenan was highly upset that Flair was No. 3 and even apologized to the fans for not being able to be objective. Gorilla Monsoon quickly reminded Heenan that he's never objective anyway.

To make matters worse, Monsoon mentioned that no one who had drawn numbers 1-5 ever won the Royal Rumble.

Bulldog got the upper hand on Flair, and Heenan repeatedly told Flair to slow down and take a walk. Heenan's coaching from the commentary table would occur in entertaining fashion throughout the match.

Entrant No. 4: Jerry Sags

Another heel in the match meant someone could keep Bulldog off Flair and give Flair a chance to go on the offensive.

Elimination No. 2: Jerry Sags

That didn't last long, though, as Bulldog fended off Flair and Sags before eliminating the latter. It was once again between Bulldog and Flair. This is the point where Heenan began screaming that the situation was not "fair to Flair." He would say this repeatedly, as well.

Entrant No. 5: Haku

Yet another heel to help Flair get the upper hand on Bulldog. Despite Heenan's insistence that Flair step away to catch his breath, Flair remained on the offensive. However, Flair and Haku's alliance was short-lived, as Haku began attacking Flair.

Eventually, Flair wised up and stepped out of the ring. However, he was not eliminated, because he went through the bottom ropes.

Elimination No. 3: Haku

Bulldog got his third elimination of the match right before…

Entrant No. 6: Shawn Michaels

Yet ANOTHER heel came out, but instead of working together, Flair and Michaels immediately fought each other. It was every man for himself at this point.

Heenan became extremely thirsty for some reason and pleaded with someone to get him something to drink. No word on if he ever quenched his thirst.

Entrant No. 7: Tito Santana

Finally, another babyface entered the fray to even the odds. Santana went right at Flair and almost eliminated him before Michaels made the save.

Entrant No. 8: The Barbarian

The scales tipped back in favor of the heels as the massive Barbarian entered the match. Heenan even remarked that the wrestlers don't get any smaller. Well, they didn't get much bigger than The Barbarian.

Entrant No. 9: Texas Tornado

Another massive man stepped into the ring, as Kerry Von Erich, or Texas Tornado in WWE, made his way out to even the odds once again between the babyfaces and the heels.

Tornado went right after Flair, as I guess he felt he still owed him more punishment from their NWA World title match in Texas Stadium back in 1984.

After a flurry of punches, Flair did his patented bump onto his face, which sent Heenan basically to tears.

Entrant No. 10: Repo Man

Repo Man sneaked down to ringside and took his time getting into the ring. He was waiting for just the right moment to get in and steal the show. Get it?

He eventually got in and went to work on Michaels, who at that point had survived a half-dozen elimination attempts.

Entrant No. 11: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

As Valentine got into the ring, Monsoon mentioned that he had lasted 44 minutes, 20 seconds in the 1991 Royal Rumble.

Valentine then dropped the hammer on Flair, causing him to face plant for the second time.

Entrant No. 12: Nikolai Volkoff

Valentine locked Flair in the figure four. The crowd jumped for joy, but Heenan was beside himself. It didn't matter in any event, as there are no submissions in the Royal Rumble.

Elimination No. 4: Volkoff

Just like that, Volkoff was dumped unceremoniously out of the ring.

Entrant No. 13: Big Boss Man

Boss Man ran right down and began to punch random people in the face. He looked like a pinball machine.

Elimination No. 5: Valentine

Out of nowhere, Repo Man dumped out Valentine.

Elimination No. 6: Repo Man

Repo Man didn't have too long to celebrate as Boss Man tossed him out soon after. Repo Man promptly sneaked away to the back.

Heenan then said he had to go to ringside, as Flair was getting pummeled in a corner. Monsoon immediately shut that down.

Elimination No. 7: Bulldog

But a glimmer of hope arrived for Flair as he eliminated Bulldog, who lasted more than 20 minutes.

Elimination No. 8: Texas Tornado

Flair followed that up by quickly eliminating Tornado. He was on a roll.

Elimination No. 9: Michaels

Elimination No. 10: Santana

Michaels and Santana somehow eliminated each other, and that would serve as the prelude to their match at WrestleMania 8.

Entrant No. 14: Hercules

Seconds after Santana and Michaels hit the floor, the hulking Hercules made his way to the ring. Soon after, Flair made the mistake of going after Barbarian. He paid for this in the form of a press slam.

Barbarian then went to eliminate him, but Hercules came up from behind and …

Elimination No. 11: Barbarian

… dumped out Barbarian, saving Flair in the process. Heenan almost had a heart attack during this sequence.

Elimination No. 12: Hercules

But don't blink because Boss Man eliminated Hercules, leaving the ring to just him and Flair.

Boss Man dominated Flair, but got a little overzealous, as Flair ducked out of the way of a shoulder tackle, sending Boss Man over the top rope and onto the floor.

Elimination No. 13: Boss Man

The ring was left solely to Flair. Heenan thought this meant the match was over.

After yet another face plant, we get …

Entrant No. 15: Roddy Piper

Piper sprinted to the ring while Heenan was distraught thinking about what Piper was going to do to Flair.

Piper ran right after Flair as the crowd went nuts. Eventually, Flair got out of Dodge, but Piper was hot on his tail. Heenan was in hysterics.

Entrant No. 16: Jake "The Snake" Roberts

But alas, help was on the way as fellow heel Roberts entered the ring. Only problem for Flair was that Roberts just sat in the corner and watched Piper apply a sleeper. You can never trust those pesky snakes.

Eventually, Roberts got involved once Piper turned his back on him, and attacked.

Probably the most entertaining part of the match came as Roberts set Flair up for a DDT, but Piper broke it up. Heenan then reluctantly thanked Piper for helping Flair by saying that his kilt is not a skirt, but it is indeed a kilt.

Flair locked in the figure four on Roberts, but Piper broke that up, too. This was met with disdain from Heenan, as he called Piper a creep and reverted to calling a kilt a skirt.

Entrant No. 17: Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Duggan dropped the plank and went right after Flair. Meanwhile, Heenan was sweating heavily and losing his voice.

Entrant No. 18: Irwin R. Schyster

I.R.S. casually walked into the ring, as Flair took another face plant.

Entrant No. 19: "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka

While Snuka entered the match, Heenan acknowledged being delirious. He didn't even know what he was saying anymore.

Entrant No. 20: The Undertaker

Elimination No. 14: Snuka

As soon as The Undertaker ominously walked into the ring, he knocked Snuka out of it.

Flair stupidly walked right up to The Undertaker and quickly got choked out. Heenan was ready to throw in the towel.

Entrant No. 21: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Savage ran faster than Florence Griffith Joyner to the ring because he had a score to settle with Roberts. As Savage got into the ring, however, Roberts was nowhere to be found. He had shrewdly ducked out of the ring.

The Undertaker hit Savage from behind to divert his attention. Then, Roberts walked around the ring before getting back in.

Eventually, the two went at it before Savage eliminated Roberts.

Elimination No. 15: Roberts

But Savage didn't even care about winning the title. He jumped over the top rope so he could continue to dismantle Roberts.

However, it was then clarified that since Savage wasn't thrown over the top rope, he was still in the match. Apparently, you couldn't eliminate yourself. The Undertaker got in between Savage and Roberts and tossed Savage back into the ring.

Flair eventually walked over to The Undertaker and delivered a blatant low blow. The Undertaker didn't sell it at all, but Heenan said, "He just tried to lift The Undertaker." Monsoon had none of it.

Entrant No. 22: Berzerker

Berzerker yelled "Huss!" as he entered the match. It was noted that his specialty was throwing people over the top rope.

Entrant No. 23: Virgil

While Flair was hanging upside down thanks to The Undertaker, Monsoon announced that Flair  had been in the match more than 47 minutes.

Entrant No. 24: Col. Mustafa

Entrant No. 25: Rick "The Model" Martel

Martel had lasted 52:34 in 1991, a record. It's safe to say he didn't last that long in 1992.

However, Flair was approaching Martel's record, as Monsoon announced that he was in the ring for 50 minutes.

Elimination No. 16: Mustafa

Mustafa didn't come close to Martel's record.

Entrant No. 26: Hulk Hogan

The fans in Albany were going crazy when Hogan came out. The luster was still there for the former champion.

However, Hogan presented problems for Heenan, as he had won the Royal Rumble each of the last two years. Heenan was so scared that he began to repent his sins and beg for forgiveness, as long as Flair won the title.

Elimination No. 17: Undertaker

Things weren't looking good for Flair and Heenan, as Hogan eliminated The Undertaker.

Elimination No. 18: Berzerker

Not long after that, Hogan dumped Berzerker as well. The fans were going berserk at the sight of all this. Hogan tore his shirt off, and the Rumble was about to get lit.

Elimination No. 19: Virgil

Elimination No. 20: Duggan

Duggan somehow fell out of the ring after tossing out Virgil out. The fans didn't care, because Hogan was in the ring.

Entrant No. 27: Skinner

Heenan was sweating so much that he was almost dehydrated. He badly needed something to drink. He demanded that it have a kick to it.

Entrant No. 28: Sgt. Slaughter

It's a good thing Col. Mustafa had already been eliminated because he would have felt America's collective fist when Slaughter hit the ring.

Elimination No. 21: Skinner

Man, I thought Skinner had a real chance.

However, Monsoon announced that Flair has shattered the record for longest time in a single Royal Rumble by being in the ring for more than 55 minutes.

Entrant No. 29: Sid Justice

The crowd got pretty excited to see Justice.

Entrant No. 30: The Warlord

Another man who never missed a workout entered at the coveted No. 30 spot.

It was now down to nine men in the ring. Well, it was only seven at this point as Hogan and Flair were fighting outside of it. Neither had been officially eliminated, though.

Elimination No. 22: Sgt. Slaughter

We went down to eight as Justice launched Slaughter into a turnbuckle and over the top rope.

Monsoon then announced that Flair had been in the ring for more than an hour.

Elimination No. 23: Irwin R. Schyster

Piper eliminated I.R.S. by using his tie to yank him out. It could have easily been his suspenders.

Elimination No. 24: Warlord

All of that muscle The Warlord was carrying didn't make a bit of difference as Hogan and Justice teamed up to throw him out.

It was now down to six: Hogan, Flair, Justice, Piper, Savage and Martel. All but two (Piper and Martel) had held the WWE championship at some point.

Elimination No. 25: Martel

Elimination No. 26: Piper

Well, it just so happened those were the next two guys eliminated from the match. Justice dumped them out at the same time.

Elimination No. 27: Savage

Savage was tossed by a combination of Justice and Flair.

Elimination No. 28: Hogan

The unthinkable occurred. Justice turned on his friend for the title. What a turn of events!

Elimination No. 29: Justice

Hogan turned into a sore loser and held Justice's hand as Flair eliminated him to win the match and become the undisputed WWE champion. What a heel move by Hogan.

On the flip side, Heenan couldn't be happier, as Flair fulfilled his promise of winning the WWE championship. Heenan threw down his headset and ran to celebrate with his main man.

Justice and Hogan went nose-to-nose in the ring, foreshadowing their uneventful WrestleMania match.

Forget all that, though. We had Flair in the locker room getting presented the WWE title. He then cut a tremendous promo that included the line "I'm going to tell you all with a tear in my eye: This is the greatest moment in my life!"

Flair then screamed "I love it!" no less than 10 times before announcer Gene Okerlund wrapped things up.