Royal Rumble Rewind 1993: Year of Yoko

Event: Royal Rumble 1993
Date: January 24, 1992
Location: Arco Arena in Sacramento, California
Time: 1:06:35
Winner: Yokozuna
Last Eliminated: Randy Savage
Iron Man: Bob Backlund
Quickest Out: Terry Taylor
Most Eliminations: Yokozuna

For as great as the 1992 Rumble match was, this one was every bit as dull, though it was historic for a number of reasons.

• This was the year the tradition began that the winner of the match would receive a title shot at WrestleMania.
  
• It marked the last pay-per-view (PPV) appearance -- in his first run with the company anyway -- from Ric Flair, who drew number one and was eliminated by Mr. Perfect, the man who would defeat him in a "Loser Leaves Town" match on Monday Night Raw the very next evening.
• It was also the final PPV appearance from Repo Man. Long live Repo Man.
• Bob Backlund set a new high mark for time spent in the Rumble at 1:01:10 from the number two spot, the first time a wrestler had gone longer than an hour in the match.
  
• Giant Gonzalez made his debut wearing that ridiculous full body suit. He would destroy Undertaker and eliminate him from the match after "The Deadman" had cleaned house.
  
• Before the Rumble match, Lex Luger's "The Narcissist" character was introduced.
  

By the time Undertaker was gone, whomever the next big man was to enter became the favorite. First it was Typhoon, then it was Earthquake. An impressive spot in the match was Yokozuna entering and eliminating Earthquake with a belly to belly suplex over the top rope.

The last elimination was quite possibly the worst in the history of the match, though that's up for debate. It came down to Yokozuna and Randy Savage as the final two. "Macho Man" hit his flying elbow drop and immediately after went for a pin. As Gorilla Monsoon was making mention that pinfalls don't count in a match like this, Yokozuna kicked out so hard Savage went flying over the top rope and Yoko won the match.

Lame.