With a tear in my eye, I'm glad that Ric Flair is doing well.
Seriously, the guy is the greatest pro wrestler of all time. He survived a plane crash, being struck by lightning and WCW in the late '90s, so you knew he could overcome some serious health issues.
Among all the greatest Flair highlights, perhaps the one that stands the test of time is outlasting 28 men in the 1992 Royal Rumble match.
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There were lots of things that were odd about Flair's '90s WWF run: Showing up after being let go by WCW, parading around the WWF with the Big Gold Belt and proclaiming himself to be the "Real World Champion" and eventually ending up in a feud with Randy Savage, claiming he had nude photos of Miss Elizabeth.
Things got pretty weird for Flair, which is saying something, really.
Through it all, he got his moment in the '92 Rumble, winning the vacant WWF Championship. Flair came close to elimination a few times, even facing near elimination by The Barbarian. (Remember that guy?)
The Rumble match had some of the greatest talent to ever grace a wrestling ring: Flair, Shawn Michaels, the British Bulldog, Hulk Hogan, the Undertaker, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage to name just a few. Flair outlasted them all.
Flair eliminated Sid Justice — with the help of Hulk Hogan — to win the WWF Championship.
There was something particularly special about the '92 Rumble match, aside from Flair reaching the pinnacle of his storied, illustrious career.
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Some highlights:
— Roddy Piper running out like a man on fire to continue his feud with Flair. What any wrestling fan would dream of now: Two great wrestlers, two great speakers going at it. Seems unheard of on the main WWE product today.
— Bobby Heenan's commentary throughout the match was absolute gold (as per usual). Praising Piper for saving Flair from a Jake Roberts DDT, then damning Piper for breaking a Figure 4 leglock on Roberts. ("It's not a kilt, it's a skirt!") Also, yelling like a madman when Flair eliminated Big Boss Man, claiming he won, when he wasn't even halfway through the match.
— THE REPO MAN!
— Of course, the legendary "With a tear in my eye" promo. As Sporting News' Scott Keith puts, "showing the kind of real emotion for winning a fake title that few other people in the business really understand how to deliver." Hard to disagree.
As always, don't ever let anyone tell you wrestling is fake.
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