WWF Prime Time Wrestling (06.12.1992)
Squash matches, this should be easy. Hosts are Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, Hillbilly Jim, Sgt. Slaughter and a debuting Jerry 'The King' Lawler.
Bob Backlund vs. Repo Man
Pretty boring although both guys are capable enough mat wrestlers. Repo wasn't far from his image change at this point and subsequent dissapearance, Backlund was just as bland as you could get, particularly for someone who was getting somewhat of an undercard push. They do some stuff, then Backlund wins with a backbridge. 3/4*
- Slick is now a reverend.
Virgil vs. Mike Kramer
The drop-in promo has Virgil putting over WWF Champion Bret Hart after Virgil's recent loss to him. To this day, I've no idea how he earnt that shot. Virgil wins.
- Promo video hypes Bret Hart.
- Ric Flair promo.
- Vince McMahon calls Bret Hart the "king of the WWF" to which Jerry Lawler takes exception. So we've got Vince to blame for that particular feud.
- Mr. Perfect sends us some thoughts direct from Minneapolis. Lawler calls him Curt Hennig by accident.
Kamala vs. Buck Zumhoff
The Harvey Wippleman/Howard Finkle feud rumbles on pre-match. Wippleman and Kim Chee bully Kamala throughout the match and Kamala tries to pin Zuhmoff with Zuhmoff on his front rather than his back. He gets it right after a few rolls. Lawler and Heenan think he needs to learn some discipline.
Marty Jannetty vs. Louie Spicolli
Yep, that's the late Rad Radford on squash match duty two years before he moved to Mexico and meant anything in the world of wrestling. What they do here isn't bad but it's just a one-sided squash so Louie doesn't really get to showcase anything or look competetive and the Rocker Dropper and top-rope fist drop finish for Jannetty.
Bret Hart vs. Rick Martel
From Sheffied, England the previous April, this is just a mid-match clip to shill a cut-price Coliseum tape. It's not a bad match so track it down if you can.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Dale Wolfe
More recycled Superstars stuff, it's Duggan and you know the drill. A clown shows up at ringside mid-match and does a trick.
- WrestleMania IX promo includes a shot of Hogan vs. Andre from WrestleMania III.
The Headshrinkers (Samu & Fatu) vs. Kevin Kruger & George Anderson
Take a guess.
- Razor Ramon in Miami rebutts Mr. Perfect.
High Energy (Owen Hart & Koko B. Ware) & Max Moon vs. The Beverly Brothers (Blake Beverly & Beau Beverly) & The Genius
Really fun match (at least on this show anyway) with six guys, each of whom is solid at worst or in the case of Owen, has the ability to make medicore guys look great. It's fairly standard stuff and everyone gets a go around with the babyfaces never looking to be in too much trouble. Fun stuff with The Genius as he keeps it simple (like a retired ex-wrestler turned manager should) and sticks to punches and scarpering out the ring the second he gets touched. Koko eventually takes the heat segment and Owen is the lucky recipient of the hot tag and he invariably cleans house with the Beverlys. That's not it though as Genius eventually finds himself back in the ring, and with both Beverlys on the outside, Owen brings in Max Moon to finish things off. **3/4
Jim Powers vs. Skinner
Well this is a tough call because neither guy means anything at this point and they each get some of the WWF's usual giveaways - Skinner gets a video wall, Powers comes out second to canned heat and they both get music. It's anyone's guess. Powers is on ICOPRO by the way. Wonder if he got the shits? Skinner even busts out some old Fabulous Ones dancing struts here which look *really* out of place and given his gimmick, completely over the top. It's a kind of interesting match in that you've got two guys who never stunk in the ring and were capable of good things but the Skinner gimmick did nothing for the career of Steve Keirn and was pretty much at the end of it's run here and Powers never really meant anything, even when The Young Stallions got their push in 1988 so it's kinda hard to care about what's going in the ring. The live crowd agrees as you've got a couple of characters with nothing going for them and nothing particularly interesting to latch onto. I mean, why hate Skinner? Why is he a bad guy just because he spends time hanging around in swamps? I think it's worth noting too that this match is from the October Saturday Night's Main Event taping (Savage & Warrior vs. Money Inc., Bulldog vs. Michaels, Bret vs. Shango) so they were probably pretty burnt out too and really, all you're left with is a couple of faceless guys doing some competent spots to no reaction for about four minutes. They do a reversal sequence then Skinner hits the alligator neckbreaker (reverse DDT) and that's that. *1/4
- Nailz addresses The Undertaker.
- Razor Ramon and Mr. Perfect trade insults back and forth.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. El Matador
Two solid workers with really not enough time to put together the match they could have done, and it seemed like Tito was on drugs in the early stages. By that I mean just a couple of marginally sloppy moments from the 99.9% of the time ultra-reliable Santana, I don't think I've ever seen him do something that wasn't entirely on the mark before. Still, when not entirely getting a headlock on straight is the biggest fuck up you've ever made, I'd say that's a pretty damn good record. The match itself is your usual skilled big-guy worker vs. smaller, skilled technician but like a lot of the squashes here, the result isn't really in doubt since Bigelow had just arrived in time for a monster push and a lot of the 1992 gimmicks (Matador, Berzerker, Skinner etc.) were being pashed out. The fact that Bigelow won was a good sign for him though given that Tito was the benchmark for your position on the card at the time. A win over him usually meant you were going to the upper mid-card, a loss and you were on a fast train to noweheresville. If you were wondering what happened when a guy went to a draw with Santana, well, Terrific Terry Taylor went to a 15-minute time-limit with him and subsequently retired. Headlocks, punches, sit-down splash from Bigelow, Tito makes the firey comeback but Bigelow's strength enables him to avoid something on the ropes and he finishes with a splash. Solid. **
Shawn Michaels vs. John Paul
No, not Triple H. And no, not the Pope either. Michaels picks up the victory and Vince McMahon suggests that he'd like to see a Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty match down the line.
- Sean Mooney is in the WWF Event Center with a promo from Tatanka. Tatanka asks for a title shot against either Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels or WWF Champion Bret Hart. You know, for a guy who went undefeated all year, that's a pretty fair request to make.
Crush vs. Brian Costello
Leg drop, head vice, Crush wins.
- Next week on Prime Time Wrestling, we'll find out the main event of the 1993 Royal Rumble, we'll hear direct on-location interviews from Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, and Jerry Lawler will be back.
- Finally, out comes Jameson with a salver covered in dog food because he heard that King would be here. Lawler and Heenan walk off, Jameson eats the dog food. Hur fucking hur.
Bob Backlund vs. Repo Man
Pretty boring although both guys are capable enough mat wrestlers. Repo wasn't far from his image change at this point and subsequent dissapearance, Backlund was just as bland as you could get, particularly for someone who was getting somewhat of an undercard push. They do some stuff, then Backlund wins with a backbridge. 3/4*
- Slick is now a reverend.
Virgil vs. Mike Kramer
The drop-in promo has Virgil putting over WWF Champion Bret Hart after Virgil's recent loss to him. To this day, I've no idea how he earnt that shot. Virgil wins.
- Promo video hypes Bret Hart.
- Ric Flair promo.
- Vince McMahon calls Bret Hart the "king of the WWF" to which Jerry Lawler takes exception. So we've got Vince to blame for that particular feud.
- Mr. Perfect sends us some thoughts direct from Minneapolis. Lawler calls him Curt Hennig by accident.
Kamala vs. Buck Zumhoff
The Harvey Wippleman/Howard Finkle feud rumbles on pre-match. Wippleman and Kim Chee bully Kamala throughout the match and Kamala tries to pin Zuhmoff with Zuhmoff on his front rather than his back. He gets it right after a few rolls. Lawler and Heenan think he needs to learn some discipline.
Marty Jannetty vs. Louie Spicolli
Yep, that's the late Rad Radford on squash match duty two years before he moved to Mexico and meant anything in the world of wrestling. What they do here isn't bad but it's just a one-sided squash so Louie doesn't really get to showcase anything or look competetive and the Rocker Dropper and top-rope fist drop finish for Jannetty.
Bret Hart vs. Rick Martel
From Sheffied, England the previous April, this is just a mid-match clip to shill a cut-price Coliseum tape. It's not a bad match so track it down if you can.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Dale Wolfe
More recycled Superstars stuff, it's Duggan and you know the drill. A clown shows up at ringside mid-match and does a trick.
- WrestleMania IX promo includes a shot of Hogan vs. Andre from WrestleMania III.
The Headshrinkers (Samu & Fatu) vs. Kevin Kruger & George Anderson
Take a guess.
- Razor Ramon in Miami rebutts Mr. Perfect.
High Energy (Owen Hart & Koko B. Ware) & Max Moon vs. The Beverly Brothers (Blake Beverly & Beau Beverly) & The Genius
Really fun match (at least on this show anyway) with six guys, each of whom is solid at worst or in the case of Owen, has the ability to make medicore guys look great. It's fairly standard stuff and everyone gets a go around with the babyfaces never looking to be in too much trouble. Fun stuff with The Genius as he keeps it simple (like a retired ex-wrestler turned manager should) and sticks to punches and scarpering out the ring the second he gets touched. Koko eventually takes the heat segment and Owen is the lucky recipient of the hot tag and he invariably cleans house with the Beverlys. That's not it though as Genius eventually finds himself back in the ring, and with both Beverlys on the outside, Owen brings in Max Moon to finish things off. **3/4
Jim Powers vs. Skinner
Well this is a tough call because neither guy means anything at this point and they each get some of the WWF's usual giveaways - Skinner gets a video wall, Powers comes out second to canned heat and they both get music. It's anyone's guess. Powers is on ICOPRO by the way. Wonder if he got the shits? Skinner even busts out some old Fabulous Ones dancing struts here which look *really* out of place and given his gimmick, completely over the top. It's a kind of interesting match in that you've got two guys who never stunk in the ring and were capable of good things but the Skinner gimmick did nothing for the career of Steve Keirn and was pretty much at the end of it's run here and Powers never really meant anything, even when The Young Stallions got their push in 1988 so it's kinda hard to care about what's going in the ring. The live crowd agrees as you've got a couple of characters with nothing going for them and nothing particularly interesting to latch onto. I mean, why hate Skinner? Why is he a bad guy just because he spends time hanging around in swamps? I think it's worth noting too that this match is from the October Saturday Night's Main Event taping (Savage & Warrior vs. Money Inc., Bulldog vs. Michaels, Bret vs. Shango) so they were probably pretty burnt out too and really, all you're left with is a couple of faceless guys doing some competent spots to no reaction for about four minutes. They do a reversal sequence then Skinner hits the alligator neckbreaker (reverse DDT) and that's that. *1/4
- Nailz addresses The Undertaker.
- Razor Ramon and Mr. Perfect trade insults back and forth.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. El Matador
Two solid workers with really not enough time to put together the match they could have done, and it seemed like Tito was on drugs in the early stages. By that I mean just a couple of marginally sloppy moments from the 99.9% of the time ultra-reliable Santana, I don't think I've ever seen him do something that wasn't entirely on the mark before. Still, when not entirely getting a headlock on straight is the biggest fuck up you've ever made, I'd say that's a pretty damn good record. The match itself is your usual skilled big-guy worker vs. smaller, skilled technician but like a lot of the squashes here, the result isn't really in doubt since Bigelow had just arrived in time for a monster push and a lot of the 1992 gimmicks (Matador, Berzerker, Skinner etc.) were being pashed out. The fact that Bigelow won was a good sign for him though given that Tito was the benchmark for your position on the card at the time. A win over him usually meant you were going to the upper mid-card, a loss and you were on a fast train to noweheresville. If you were wondering what happened when a guy went to a draw with Santana, well, Terrific Terry Taylor went to a 15-minute time-limit with him and subsequently retired. Headlocks, punches, sit-down splash from Bigelow, Tito makes the firey comeback but Bigelow's strength enables him to avoid something on the ropes and he finishes with a splash. Solid. **
Shawn Michaels vs. John Paul
No, not Triple H. And no, not the Pope either. Michaels picks up the victory and Vince McMahon suggests that he'd like to see a Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty match down the line.
- Sean Mooney is in the WWF Event Center with a promo from Tatanka. Tatanka asks for a title shot against either Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels or WWF Champion Bret Hart. You know, for a guy who went undefeated all year, that's a pretty fair request to make.
Crush vs. Brian Costello
Leg drop, head vice, Crush wins.
- Next week on Prime Time Wrestling, we'll find out the main event of the 1993 Royal Rumble, we'll hear direct on-location interviews from Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, and Jerry Lawler will be back.
- Finally, out comes Jameson with a salver covered in dog food because he heard that King would be here. Lawler and Heenan walk off, Jameson eats the dog food. Hur fucking hur.
posted by LJM at 3:18 PM
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