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20 YEARS AS A FAN - LOOKING BACK AT WHERE IT ALL BEGAN , THE 1992 ROYAL RUMBLE

Twenty years ago I was seven years old. My older brother Billy had gotten the family (who were in the house at the time) around the TV for the Royal Rumble. This included a disinterested sister, and our parents, who had a passing interest in wrestling, probably through my brother’s interest in it. Then there was me. The rules of the Rumble sounded exciting, so I told my brother to tell me when it started, and I instead chose to play with my Action Force figures (that’s G.I. Joe for those in the US).

As I watch the show now, I can see why I wasn’t interested… The New Foundation of Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart (in what equates to genie attire), facing the Orient Express of Pat Tanaka and Kato. A decent match, though the build up to the hot tag was way too lengthy. Roddy Piper beating the Mountie for the Intercontinental title was a short, one-sided affair. Looking back on this match, some of it rings a bell from that day 20 years ago, mostly my brother explaining who Bret Hart was and why it was a surprise that The Mountie was Intercontinental champion. This was then followed by the quite awful match of The Bushwhackers (with Jamison) vs. The Beverly Brothers (with The Genius), and although I remember finding Jamison mildly funny as I occasionally peered over to the TV, it wasn’t good. Then the Legion of Doom lost to the Natural Disasters via count out. Not good either, though it is funny that after the next match I wouldn’t be able to get enough of these characters I dismissed so quickly…

So my brother says it’s time, and I take my place with everyone, sitting on the floor with a gin as I see these people tell me they’re taking the WWF title with them. An arrogant Shawn Michaels, fresh from putting Jannetty through the Barber Shop window, Piper was back and energetic about winning two titles at once, Savage, Roberts, the British Bulldog (hooray, he’s from our country!), Ric Flair and, of course, “our cousin Hulk”, as my Dad used to say. As the rules were being ran down, Billy told everyone to make picks. He, my Dad and my sister picked Hulk Hogan, I picked The British Bulldog, and my mum… she picked Ric Flair. Everyone laughed, but my mum said that “her man Ric” will win.

And so the Rumble started. I was immediately captivated, my pick of the British Bulldog came out first, which was bad, but hey, Mum’s pick came out third! So I wasn’t alone! More and more colourful characters came out, and ring filled, emptied, and then filled again. This was the most exciting thing I’d ever seen! My pick was out, so I joined the Hogan bandwagon, repeating Gorilla Monsoon’s declaration that “no one who’s dawn numbers 1-5 has been there at the end” to my mum. But hey, what do you know? It gets down to the final three. Sid Vicious, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair. Everyone was still confident that Hogan was going to win, so imagine out surprise when Sid started pulling Hulk out of the ring, causing Flair to run over the toss Hogan out, winning the match. My mum was right! “Her man Ric” had won it!

What a fun, party like atmosphere that hour was. It’s no wonder that after everyone had gone out, I rewound the tape and watched it again. Within a week I’d watched all the back PPVs my brother had. I was hooked, and I’ve never stopped, not during any era of the WWF/WWE, despite some years having little to no redeeming qualities.

That’s why every year, it’s not WrestleMania that I look forward to the most, oh no, it’s the Rumble. Hearing the fans counting down from 10 and then seeing another participant arrive in the ring is still the most exciting hour of TV, for me. I feel like a kid again, full of excitement and anticipation. Twenty years hasn’t changed that, nor will another twenty.

So see you in 2042 for “40 Years as a fan: This is how it began, the 1992 Royal Rumble”.