WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Invasion 1992 (1992)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Invasion 1992 (1992)

Coliseum Video compilation, hosted by Sean Mooney, with a Star Trek theme. The cover of the tape features Ric Flair, and promises a profile on him.


Hulk Hogan v Typhoon: From a TV taping, December 1991 - right between Survivor Series and This Tuesday in Texas. Typhoon powers him into the corner during the initial lockup - and Hogan actually bitches to the referee about the totally clean power move from his opponent. Typhoon gets annoyed, and charges, but Hogan dodges, and unloads a ten-punch, followed by a cross corner clothesline. Series of clotheslines, but Typhoon manager Jimmy Hart trips Hogan up, and Typhoon tosses him around. Bearhug gets the kids in the front row going wild with a 'Hogan' chant, until a random security dude decides the best thing to do is settle them down. What, is he a hall monitor on the side, or something? Fuck, no wonder everyone got so jaded by the mid-90s. Typhoon with an avalanche, but Hogan's in full HULK UP!! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! Legdrop! 5:50!... as those poor kids in the front row look terrified to properly cheer. Just going through the motions here. DUD

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Bret Hart v Ric Flair: From a TV taping, November 1991. Flair was still doing the 'real worlds champion' gimmick at this point, though he's actually wearing a replica of the NWA Title here. Bret takes him into a side-headlock off of the initial lockup, so Flair tries to counter, but ends up on the mat in the hold. Flair tries to escape, or roll it into a pinfall - but Hart holds firm, so Ric powers into the ropes to force a break. Repeat, but this time Hart gives him a good shove after the break, and takes him down with a drop-toehold to try for the Sharpshooter - but Flair dives into the ropes. They fight over an overhead wristlock (I keep typing ‘wristlick,’ and one day I’m not going to catch it, and ya’ll are gonna be, like, ‘haha, idiot wrote ‘wristlick’’), with Flair taking control - but Hart bridges up, so Flair tugs the hair. Bret tries a kip up, but Flair grabs another handful, and blows him low to really take the pep out of his step. Into the corner for a series of chops, but Hart fires back with clotheslines, and a ten-punch count - but Flair interrupts at six with an inverted atomic drop. Shindrop gets two, and Bret takes the chest first bump into the corner for a few rope-assisted two counts. Slugfest goes Bret's way, but he gets caught in a sleeper out of a criss cross. Hart dives into the corner to break, so Flair grounds him with a kneebreaker,  and goes right for the Figure Four - with a little help from the ropes, of course. Hart won't give, so Flair starts slapping him in the face - but it's not Luger or Sting, so unfortunately, he doesn't flex at him - instead just reversing the hold. Flair quickly gets to the ropes, and tries to up the ante by suplexing Bret from the apron to the floor, but Hart reverses with a suplex back into the ring, and drops the straps!! Another slugfest ends with Hart battering him in the corner, and Flair flipping to the floor. Bret follows with a shot to the rail, and inside, he mounts Flair for a series of rights. Backbreaker, and Hart hooks the Sharpshooter - but Flair's consultant Mr. Perfect (talk about ‘time and place,’ Flair’s arrival into the WWF was so perfectly timed with Hennig’s injury/retirement they couldn’t have planned it better) drags him into the ropes to break. Hart tries another backbreaker to set up the Sharpshooter again, but again Perfect gets involved - this time allowing Flair to dump Hart to the floor. Suplex back in, but Hart counters into a rollup for two. Flair tries to slow him down with a side-headlock on the mat, but Hart bridges into a backslide for two. Uppercut sends Flair flying to the floor, so Hart follows to brawl, but Perfect interferes, and Flair beats the count in for a countout victory at 19:18. These two have gone on to have some heat over the years, but at the time (from both men’s account) they were very eager to work with each other, and it showed. The ending, while lame, was expected (they weren't going to job Flair, but they also weren't looking to make him Intercontinental Champion), but a really solid, well worked, well paced match otherwise. *** ¼

Ric Flair v Shawn Michaels: From the same TV taping as Hogan/Typhoon, December 1991. At this point, Flair is carrying one of the tag titles (which the WWF video distorts to make you think it's still the NWA Title), in one of the stupider ideas they came up with. I mean, sure, they couldn't use the actual belt anymore for legal reasons, but was having him run around with one of the tag titles the best solution? Did they want us to think he was trying to goad the Legion of Doom into a match by stealing their belts? Big criss cross ends with Michaels hitting a shoulderblock, and taking Flair to the mat with a side-headlock. Flair easily forces into the ropes to break, so Shawn hiptosses him, and goes right back to the hold. Flair railroads into the corner with chops this time, but misses a blind charge, and Michaels hits a gorgeous flying sunset flip for two. Flair tries the chops again, but Shawn reverses into the corner, and goes with a ten-punch count. Flair tries the inverted atomic drop counter, but Shawn shoves him off, and suplexes him - so Flair rakes the eyes. Slugfest goes Shawn's way, and a backdrop has Flair cowering. Flair Flip to the floor for Shawn to suplex again, but a cheap shot puts Michaels on his back. Side suplex, but Shawn flips out for a dropkick - so Mr. Perfect trips him up, allowing Flair a shindrop and more chops. Flair goes upstairs, but gets slammed off (shocking), and Shawn blasts him with a superkick. Flying fistdrop for two, and a Cactus Clothesline puts them on the outside. Shawn with a plancha, but Perfect pulls Flair out of the way, and Michaels goes crashing into the rail - allowing them to rest, without having to do a dull resthold. Marty Jannetty runs out to protest Perfect's interference, and pulls the limp Michaels back into the ring - where Flair easily pins him at 10:11. The Rockers would tape the famous Barber Shop breakup segment the very next day - kicking off Shawn's massive singles push. Shawn was a longtime admirer of Flair's, and you can see him having the time of his life trading chops and flops with the legend. Michaels would go on to become as big of a legend, and the two would become great friends in the WWE days. Match was a lot of fun - in some ways similar to the Hart match that preceded it, but entirely original - with Michaels' high flying, bump oriented spots meshing well with Flair's routine. *** ¼

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Legion of Doom v The Beverly Brothers: From the same TV taping as the previous match, December 1991. The poor crowd must have been so confused as to the state of the Tag Titles. Animal starts with Blake Beverly, but Blake pulls a Michael Hayes, and stops to fix his hair/strut/hug his partner. Animal's seen enough of that to last a lifetime, and responds by shoving Blake to the floor - hard. Blake tries to offer a handshake, but gets thrown across the ring, so he rakes the eyes, and powerslams Animal. Criss cross allows Animal to respond in kind, and Blake ends up on the floor for more hugging. Beau Beverly faces off with Hawk, and gets dropkicked to the floor, and hit with a neckbreaker on the way back in. Press slam, but a blind charge misses - sending Hawk flying to the floor. The Beverly's get right to cutting the ring in half, but a double knockout allows Hawk to tag. Animal's a house of arson, and Blake takes the Doomsday Device during the obligatory four-way brawl at 8:58. The Beverly's were in full Freebird-mode here, but thankfully this was a WWF taping, and time constraints kept the stalling was fairly limited. ½*

Ted DiBiase v Tito Santana: From a TV taping, January 1992. This is part of a 'Manager Cam' feature - linking DiBiase manager Sherri up to the commentary track, so we can hear what she's saying at ringside. Thank God Woman wasn't part of the WWF at this point - I can't even imagine how hard my speakers would blow out. Santana is hot for him, but DiBiase keeps in the ropes to cool him off - 'til Tito gets frustrated, and starts throwing closed fists. Atomic drop puts Ted on the floor for Sherri to motivate ('get him Teddy Bear, come on!'), but Tito rams them together to finally shut Sherri up for a minute. She responds by tripping him up during a criss cross, allowing DiBiase to turn the tide - though with strictly kick-punch stuff. Tito starts firing back his own closed fists ('oh my God, Teddy Bear!'), and the diving forearm gets two, when Sherri puts DiBiase's foot on the ropes. The distraction is enough to get them brawling on the floor, and we have a double countout at 8:06. Match was really dull and lazy, and listening to Sherri screech didn't help. Plus, DiBiase can't even get a clean win over El Matador-era Tito Santana? No wonder people constantly thought he was jumping to WCW. DUD

I usually skip these segments, but we get a bit with the Nasty Boys invading a video store, notable because the patron they harass looks like a shorter Jimmy Page, and because the entire store is stocked with nothing but WWF videos - AKA how I pictured heaven as a kid.

Hercules v Big Bossman: From a TV taping, October 1991. Herc tries a side-headlock, but Bossman shrugs him off, and schoolboys him for two. Pair of bodyslams, so Herc rakes the eyes coming into the corner - but can't manage a slam. Yep, you know you're getting jobbed out when your gimmick is 'Hercules' and you can't even slam a midcarder. Bossman with a headbutt, but he misses a blind charge, and Herc hits an inverted atomic drop for two. Clothesline gets two, and a short-clothesline for two. Hercules works him over, but gets caught with a big boot and a splash. Bossman Slam finishes at 7:34. Herc was strictly enhancement talent at this point (his resentment getting more visible by the day), and would be out of the promotion all together by the time this tape was released. This could have at least been entertaining if they did the Manager Cam thing with Slick, but, no - there's not even that. DUD

Million Dollar Title Match: Virgil v Ted DiBiase: From a TV taping, September 1991. Randy Savage (in 'retirement') is the special referee. DiBiase tries to jump him, but Virgil sidesteps, and unloads a series of clotheslines to put Ted on the outside. Savage gives him a fair count, which DiBiase uses to regroup - and tries a backdrop coming in, only to get sunset flipped. Virgil with a pair of slams to put Ted on the floor again, but this time he goes after him rather than let him regroup. Inside, a blind charge misses, and DiBiase returns the favor by dumping him - only he adds a shot into the steps for good measure. Back in, DiBiase with a gutwrench suplex for two, and of course he has to argue the count with referee Savage. Suplex and a fistdrop for two, and a backdrop sends Virgil flying clear across the ring for two. He gets into Savage's face again, but this time outright decks him for the perceived slow count. With Savage out, DiBiase hooks the Million Dollar Dream, but his master plan dies on the vine when there's no one to check for the submission. Luckily, Savage recovers... only to nail DiBiase with a flying axehandle, and give Virgil the victory at 7:11. Match made Virgil look weak, but he was dead in the water after the DiBiase feud anyway. Ted would go on to win the 'title' back a couple of months later, before abandoning it when he won his first WWF Title (the tag titles) in February. ¼*

The Undertaker and Jake Roberts v Randy Savage and Jim Duggan: From a TV taping, December 1991, we go from ‘retired Savage’ to ‘reinstated Savage.’ Macho goes right for Roberts, of course, chasing him to the floor before the match even gets under way. 'Taker officially starts with Duggan, but Savage still manages to run over and knock Jake off of the apron as they get started. 'Taker responds by choking the hell out of Duggan in the corner, but Hacksaw comes back with a clothesline to put the big man on the floor. 'Taker turns the tide with more choking, and shoves Duggan into the corner for Jake to abuse. Jake officially tags in to try and cut the ring in half, but Duggan dives for Savage, and he unloads on Roberts. Flying axehandle sends Jake scrambling for a tag, and 'Taker properly chokes him down - but misses an elbowdrop, and Randy tags back to Duggan. He gets quickly overwhelmed in the heel corner, and Jake with a short-clothesline to set up the DDT - but Savage runs in with a clothesline to break it up. That draws 'Taker in, so Savage grabs a chair, and cleans house - getting himself disqualified in the process at 7:09. Not a great match (hell, not even a good match) - but Savage/Roberts was such an intense feud between two masters of intense feuds, that they kept it relatively interesting. DUD

BUExperience:  They really dived right into having Ric Flair on the roster, with not just one, but two dream matches - back-to-back. A must-have for your Coliseum Collection.