"My life changed in one day"- The night Ric Flair had "the greatest moment" of his life

Exactly 30 years ago, Ric Flair won the 1992 Royal Rumble match and became the WWE Champion.

Weeks before the mega event, the belt had been vacated. Hulk Hogan and a young Undertaker engaged in a WWE title feud in late 1991, with both men trading title victories at Survivor Series and This Tuesday In Texas.

Hogan was then stripped of the WWE Championship and the belt was deemed vacant due to both matches ending in a controversial manner.

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Ric Flair's legendary performance in the 1992 Royal Rumble match

The 1992 Royal Rumble match was scheduled to determine the new WWE Champion. Ric Flair came out at #3 during the annual free-for-all determined to last until the very end and leave the ring with the WWE title on his shoulder. Flair ended up eliminating five men (The British Bulldog, Texas Tornado, Big Boss Man, Randy Savage, and Sid Justice) to win it all in the end.

The final moments of the Royal Rumble match saw Flair throw Sid Justice out of the ring with some help from Hulk Hogan. Flair lasted just over an hour in the match and delivered possibly the greatest in-ring performance of his career.

Immediately following the win, Flair was interviewed backstage and he uttered this iconic quote:

"I'm gonna tell you all, with a tear in my eye... this is the greatest moment of my life."

Flair had the following to say about his iconic WWE title win:

"What made it special was, number one - I didn't know I was going to win it. And number two I had just left Atlanta (WCW) with no self-confidence, I just couldn't figure out how Jim Herd couldn't see who I was, he didn't understand. I went from Atlanta to Albany, New York and my life changed in one day. Literally one day, that's the truth. One day I was just trying to figure out what I was going to do and the next day I was the champion." [H/T Sky Sports]

Ric Flair put the title on the line against Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII, and lost the belt that night. After his WWE exit, The Nature Boy later did well for himself in WCW as well. Shortly after WCW's demise in 2001, Flair made his way back to Vince McMahon's promotion

Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2012, he was inducted again, this time as a part of The Four Horsemen. Flair, a 16-time world champion, has done it all in pro-wrestling.