It's....... SUNDAY! And not just any Sunday, it's Father's Day. So for anyone out there reading this column who has children of their own, Happy Father's Day to you, as you deserve a day of dedication for being good parents.

I had some great feedback on the "Week in Review" column, which basically means it will be a regular PDC feature from now on for Saturdays. I felt pretty comfortable writing it, too, which was much better than forcing myself to spend a few hours on a history column. A lot of recent fans or already knowledgeable fans liked the Week in Review column better, as well. So it shall remain. Send in suggestions to make it better, if possible.

If only there was a Pay Per View to hype this week. It would make today's column *that* much easier to write. After watching Royal Rumble 1992, I do have an idea. It won't be a history column, but it will be more of a comparison.

On to the PDC.

How stacked is the WWF talent these days?

Many wrestling fans or critics have suggested that the current WWF roster is the most stacked roster, ever, excluding any of the WCW talent they've signed thus far. While I'll agree that it's a great roster, I've always thought that the early 1992 roster was very excellent. WCW was going down the toilet back in '92, with lame booking and two key WCW stars jumping over to the WWF (Sid and Ric Flair) after various problems in WCW. Let's just take a quick look at the WWF roster, or at least the ones participating in Royal Rumble 1992, in categories:

The EliteRoddy Piper
Ted Dibiase
Ric Flair
Kerry Von Erich
Undertaker
Macho Man Randy Savage
Sid Justice

The Future
Bret Hart
Owen Hart
British Bulldog
Shawn Michaels

Seasoned Veterans
Tito Santana
Greg "the Hammer" Valentine
Jake Roberts
I.R.S. (Mike Rotunda)
"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
Col. Mustafa (Iron Sheik)
Rick "the Model" Martel
Sgt. Slaughter

Other
Oriental Express
Mountie
Beverly Brothers
Bushwackers
Legion of Doom
Natural Disasters
Jerry Sags
Haku
Barbarian
Repo Man
Nikolai Volkoff
Big Bossman
Hercules
Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Berzerker
Virgil
Skinner
Warlord

That's about everyone who participated in Royal Rumble 1992. The "elite" scene featured many wrestlers in their peak. The Undertaker was still youthful back then and without any ridiculous powers just yet. Sid was peaking, bigtime. Kerry Von Erich was wrestling good in the WWF, just before the drugs destroyed him. Macho Man came back like a ball of fire for his Jake the Snake feud. Dibiase was stuck defending the Million Dollar belt, but still a hated guy from the crowd's standpoint. Piper made one great last run in the WWF, then he put over Bret Hart, and then it was over. Hogan was going down from his 1989 peak, but still a great draw. Same with Ric Flair. But Sid was the man back then, as he had the look, the power, and just the raw energy that gave the WWF a reason to pick him up in the first place. The main event scene was probably a bit better than today's standards, which I'll cover in a bit. After Wrestlemania and then Summerslam, the WWF lost a lot of these guys to injuries, retirements, or internal problems. Note that the WWF gained the Ultimate Warrior after this, as well, at Wrestlemania that year. He didn't stick around long, either.

The veterans are decent, for they represented the midcard of the WWF thereafter. They either wrestled tag or had something with an Elite wrestler, like Jake Roberts, who was really relying on the bottle and the straw during this time. The "other" section was filled with tag wrestlers or just total gimmicked guys. It was the beginning of the end for the WWF in that department, especially on creations like the Skinner, who got no pop when he came out at Royal Rumble 1992.

But take a look at the "future" section. This is a big argument to why the 1992 roster couldn't carry the WWF on success longer than expected. The WWF had NO real set developmental territories to send wrestlers, nor did they have a pile of potential talent lying around, like the WWF today has. The WWF just had HBK, Bret Hart (although he was older than the rest), Owen Hart, and the Bulldog. Note that these wrestlers were around from 1994 - 1997, and only Owen, although on a limited tag role, could get a piece of the WWF's big success after 1998. Let's take a good look at today's roster, just like I did with the 1992 one.

The Elite
Kane
Kurt Angle
The Rock
Steve Austin
Undertaker
Triple H

The Future
Albert
Big Show
Bradshaw
Bubba Ray Dudley
Chris Benoit
Chris Jericho
Christian
Edge
Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Eddie Guerrero
X-Pac
Justin Credible
Bob Holly
Essa Rios
Jerry Lynn
K-Kwik
Perry Saturn
Rhyno
Spike Dudley
Scotty 2 Hotty
Tajiri
Tazz
Test
Val Venis
William Regal

Seasoned Veterans
Bossman
Dean Malenko
Faarooq
Haku
Raven
Rikishi

Other
Al Snow
Billy Gunn
Right To Censor
D'Von Dudley
Crash Holly
Steve Blackman
Kaientai

Wow, what a roster. I'm pretty much convinced that the current WWF roster is much more stacked than the 1992 roster, especially when you take a look at the "Future" section. Note that the future ones means the guys who have yet to get the World Title or to be regularly featured in the main event. Just take a look at all of that great young talent that the WWF currently has right now. Even worse, note that they have less regular or gimmicked wrestlers than back then, and better seasoned veterans to use, I'd argue.

In terms of the main eventers or Elite, I'd go with the 1992 roster instead. There, you'd have a much younger and better Undertaker, a peaking Sid, a younger Ric Flair, along with other great wrestlers. The main eventers or Elite now, with the exception of Kurt Angle, who is the best that the WWF has to offer these days, are exhausted and have become stale compared to the 1992 guys back then, with the exception of Hulk Hogan, who was going downhill by then. Hogan only had one more year of WWF action to go, back then.

But I'm still amazed at how much young talent the WWF has currently stockpiled just in their federation alone! Just think if they have to use WCW talent on their shows instead of having a totally separate show in itself. Wow. Then, why not consider the vast amount of talent stockpiled down at Ohio Valley Wrestling. Now that's very scary, and because of that, the WWF will always have a great roster putting on great performances, every year, for a long time now. They did NOT have that in 1992, and when Hogan "retired", Flair went back to WCW, Sid was released, Macho became an announcer, and Undertaker turned face to wrestle the biggest slugs money could buy. They had nothing to turn to, until they pushed Bret Hart to the title.

The WWF has a long list of choices to push to the top, and that's very scary. So I'm convinced, now, totally that the 2001 roster is much more elite than the 1992 one. Just typing out the rosters helped me realize that, and I'll be quiet when comparing 2001 to 1992. I will note that both rosters put on 2 of the best Wrestlemanias, ever, which goes to show you that both rosters are truly excellent.

Mr. Tito's MARIO TENNIS Page: Serving up Codes, Cheats, Hidden Characters and Courts, and a lot more information about this Great Nintendo 64 game!!!!

NEWS ORGY: Click Here to join the Orgy!

CLICK HERE to listen to the latest show, which covers the latest news and views in wrestling. Legendary Hardly Race will be on the show for June 20th, which you don't want to miss! Be sure to check regularly for any announcements concerning possible guests on the show. Also, listen to the archives, which features interviews with Bobby "the Brain Heenan", Daffney, Spike Dudley, Dr. Death, Dusty Rhodes, Lenny Lane, Kid Kash, and more!

Backyard BBQ: The Best in Backyard Wrestling!

KOLTERSHOCK!!!!

@That's all for this fun filled column. I'll be back to hype RAW is WAR tomorrow, which is as the schedule says. So until then, just chill till the next episode!

Phat Pharm: Wrestling Columns!

Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.

Mr. Tito © 2001 Exclusive to LordsofPain.net