Higher Stakes, But Inferior Character Angles
In reviewing the four previous Royal Rumble installments before this one, one of my chief complaints on every single one of them was the event was used more as a vehicle for Wrestlemania than as a stand-alone event. Well, this changed with Royal Rumble 1992, where the WWF World Championship Belt was at stake for the winner of the big Rumble.
Unfortunately, what with the decreased popularity of Hulk Hogan (one can only be on top for so long) and the utter failure of the Ultimate Warrior character to carry that torch, there really were no interesting plot angles to keep things fun and interesting. The WWF still didn't quite know what to do with Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the Hulk-Sid Justice feud was never all it was hyped to be, and Ric Flair as a major participant in the WWF cannon...you have to be kidding me. It just goes to show how desperate the company was at that time to procure top-tier athletes and entertainers.
Thus, although the stakes for this Royal Rumble were higher than they had ever been before, the entire event fizzled due to lack of interesting characters or impressive athletes. The preliminary matches are almost unwatchable, the Rumble features genuine excitement only for about every fifth or sixth participant, and even the broadcast booth isn't as strong as it once was, this time populated by Gorilla Monsoon (always very good) and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (a terrible "negative man" compared to Jesse Ventura).
Unless you are a huge WWF fan and are watching all the events in order, this is one you could easily skip, as it will leave you unsatisfied and feel like a huge waste of time.
Unfortunately, what with the decreased popularity of Hulk Hogan (one can only be on top for so long) and the utter failure of the Ultimate Warrior character to carry that torch, there really were no interesting plot angles to keep things fun and interesting. The WWF still didn't quite know what to do with Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the Hulk-Sid Justice feud was never all it was hyped to be, and Ric Flair as a major participant in the WWF cannon...you have to be kidding me. It just goes to show how desperate the company was at that time to procure top-tier athletes and entertainers.
Thus, although the stakes for this Royal Rumble were higher than they had ever been before, the entire event fizzled due to lack of interesting characters or impressive athletes. The preliminary matches are almost unwatchable, the Rumble features genuine excitement only for about every fifth or sixth participant, and even the broadcast booth isn't as strong as it once was, this time populated by Gorilla Monsoon (always very good) and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (a terrible "negative man" compared to Jesse Ventura).
Unless you are a huge WWF fan and are watching all the events in order, this is one you could easily skip, as it will leave you unsatisfied and feel like a huge waste of time.
- zkonedog
- Mar 11, 2017