Royal Rumble 1992 Royal Rumble 1992 was the fifth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It took place on January 19 , 1992 at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany , New York . The main event was the 1992 Royal Rumble match where for the first and only time , the WWF Championship was on the line . The match was won by Ric Flair , who last eliminated Sid Justice to win the match and the WWF Championship . Featured matches on the undercard were The Natural Disasters ( Earthquake and Typhoon ) versus The Legion of Doom ( Hawk and Animal ) for the WWF Tag Team Championship , The Beverly Brothers ( Blake and Beau ) versus The Bushwhackers ( Luke and Butch ) and Roddy Piper versus The Mountie for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . Background . Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre - existing scripted feuds , plots , and storylines that were played out on " Superstars " , " Wrestling Challenge " and " Prime Time Wrestling " — the World Wrestling Federation ' s ( WWF ) television programs . Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension , and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches . The pay - per - view featured the annual Royal Rumble match , which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception . It features 30 wrestlers , and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring , after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor . Prior to the event , it was announced the winner of the Royal Rumble would win the vacant WWF Title , which had been stripped from Hulk Hogan after two controversial title switches between Hulk and the Undertaker , first at the 1991 Survivor Series and later at the Tuesday in Texas pay - per - view event . Hogan and Undertaker were among the 30 entrants in the event . The Royal Rumble match helped begin Justice ' s slow - building turn into a villain . Justice - who was returning from a recent injury - entered at No . 29 and was among the final four wrestlers , along with Hogan , Randy Savage and Flair . Justice eliminated Savage and then Hogan , leaving himself and Flair in the ring . During the initial live pay - per - view broadcast , Justice ' s elimination of Hogan was loudly cheered by the audience in attendance even though , as per storyline plans , Sid " sneaked up from behind " to throw Hogan out . As such , the original reaction was edited out of future television replays as well as the Coliseum home video release of the event , with play - by - play announcer Gorilla Monsoon adding new comments condemning Sid for his actions ( Monsoon had originally said Justice ' s elimination of Hogan was fair ) . Hogan , who was still at ringside after being eliminated , grabbed Sid ' s arm and distracted him long enough for Flair to eliminate him to win the match and become the new WWF Champion . After the match , Sid and Hogan got into an argument in the ring and had to be separated by security . Aftermath . The confrontation between Hogan and Justice was played out over a series of future WWF television programs . On the " Superstars " program aired January 25 , 1992 , WWF President Jack Tunney held a press conference , where he announced that Hogan would face Flair for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VIII . Justice , who was also in attendance and began standing up as if Tunney were about to proclaim him the top contender , was outraged and termed the announcement " the most bogus act Jack Tunney has ever pulled off . " Sid later apologized and Hogan accepted , but on the February 8 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " , Justice abandoned Hogan during a tag - team match against Flair and The Undertaker , completing his heel turn and leading to a match at WrestleMania VIII . Flair , meanwhile , began feuding with Savage over the WWF Championship . According to the storyline , Flair claimed that he had a previous relationship with Savage ' s wife , Miss Elizabeth , going as far as presenting pictures of Elizabeth in which Flair had himself superimposed . This culminated in a title match at WrestleMania VIII ; Savage won the match and his second WWF Championship .