It was 30 years ago this month

 It was the winter of 1992. The World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) awarded Albany its first PPV, the 1992 Royal Rumble. The championship was vacant at the time, and the first PPV in the Knickerbocker Arena (now MVP Arena) drew a sold-out crowd, most, if not all, of whom were watching the weekly shows on WXXA.

I was there that night. On the undercard, future Hall of Famer Roddy Piper finally captured a title with the promotion, dethroning The Mountie (Jacques Rougeau) to become the Intercontinental champion. Piper went for a rare daily double by entering the Rumble itself. The 518 was represented by Glens Falls native "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Syracuse graduate Mike Rotunda, now going by the sobriquet Irwin R. Schyster (IRS), entered the event.

Try to count the future Hall of Famers (including Piper) in this match.

Courtesy of WWE's YouTube channel:

The crowd reaction when former champion Hulk Hogan, who was looking not only to regain the title, but to 3-peat as Rumble winner, having won the event the last two years, was eliminated by Sid Justice, was far more deafening live than in the video above. WWE would edit the footage to paint the picture they wanted, with Justice turning into a villain just weeks later.

The last memory I have of that night, as I boarded the bus to return home, was of a disabled man complaining that Ric Flair, the eventual winner, "cheated", clearly not understanding the concept of the Rumble match. There would be no 3-peat for Hogan in the Rumble. Flair obliterated the longevity record set by Rick Martel in a previous Rumble.

There haven't been that many PPV's at the arena since then, but you just never know.