WWF Coliseum Video Collection: WrestleFest ’92 (1992)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: WrestleFest ’92 (1992)

Coliseum Video compilation – hosted by Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan, on a tennis court. The cover of the tape features Randy Savage, and promises a profile on Bret Hart – plus a feature on how to plan a successful party! Considering this is early 90s WWF, expect coke. Lots and lots of coke.


Shawn Michaels v Virgil: From a house show, March 1992. Shawn had just turned heel and gotten herpes Sherri, and Virgil was selling a beating from Sid with a goofy facemask. Aaannnnndd go! Shawn tries a closed fist right off the bat, but hurts his hand on the facemask, and runs to Sherri to kiss the boo boo. Shawn tries a slap instead (variety!), but that doesn't work either, so he runs... right into a side-headlock. Series of clotheslines, but Shawn sidesteps, and Virgil goes tumbling to the floor to turn the tide. Shawn literally stomps his face, then lifts up the faceguard to properly fire off some right hands. Chinlock, but Virgil fires up - only to miss a blind charge, and allow Shawn a few more shots to the exposed nose. Backdrop, but Virgil counters with a faceslam, and hits both sides of an atomic drop. Fists of fury, and another series of clotheslines, but a Russian legsweep only gets two. Another blind charge misses, and Shawn finishes him with the TearDrop suplex (a modified side suplex) at 11:20. Shawn was still adjusting to the heel turn, as well as to working as a single, and while already good - he wasn't Shawn Michaels yet. DUD

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Money Inc v The Bushwhackers: From a TV taping, April 1992. The Bushwhackers' pre-match licking routine takes a dark turn, as they pick some random kid in the front row (who looks to be about six) to lick in the face, and he nearly vomits. The champs jump them before things get out of hand (licking random audience members was 'in hand' - there was still a very real fear of bukkake breaking out), but quickly gets dumped - allowing the 'Whackers to play to the crowd. IRS starts with Butch all official-like, and quickly takes him to the mat. Tag to Ted DiBiase to help cut the ring in half, but Butch starts no-selling, and bulldogs IRS. Luke pops in to hit one of his own, and the 'Whackers with a Battering Ram on both champions to clean house again. The dust settles on IRS and Luke, and a cheap shot from DiBiase puts the champs back in control for some more double-team fun, but Luke blocks a backdrop, and gets the tag to Butch. Outhouse of fire, and the Battering Ram looks to finish IRS, but Money manager Jimmy Hart gets involved, and IRS finishes Butch to retain at 8:30. Basic Bushwhackers match - as the heels easily dominate them, but run into Wacky House Cleaning, heel control, More Wackiness, and so on. DUD

Davey Boy Smith v Rick Martel: From a TV taping, March 1992. Davey tries to come in hot, but Martel catches him with a kneelift to keep him at bay. Davey regroups for a (dog)collar-and-elbow, and manages to get Martel in a side-headlock from there, but Rick makes the ropes. Davey with an armbar, but a blind charge misses, and Martel tosses him over the top. Martel works the back, but gets kicked in the face during a backdrop attempt, and hit with a series of clotheslines. He tries to sucker Smith into a chase, but Davey dives back in with a sunset flip for the pin at 5:21. Thankfully short. DUD

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Bret Hart v The Barbarian: From a TV taping, November 1991. This is preceded by a video package of Hart's best moments as a single (winning the Intercontinental Title, defending against Skinner, promos), which acts as the promised 'profile.' Barbarian tries to overpower the champ, and a big criss cross allows him to shoulderblock Hart all the way to the outside. Hart regroups, and comes back in with a side-headlock, but Barbarian shrugs him off, and slams him. Bret uses his speed to dodge an elbowdrop, and goes right to work on the arm. Barbarian tries to power out again, but Hart holds him firm, so Barbarian kicks him in the gut, and hits a stungun. Bret goes to the floor to recover, but it backfires when Barbarian follows him out to post him a couple of times. Inside, Barbarian gives him the chest first bump, and a backbreaker gets two, so he hugs him like a bear. Bret can't wrestle out, so he goes to the eyes to break, but that only pisses Barbarian off more, and he slaughters him. Blind charge misses, however, and Hart with a backbreaker followed by the 2^nd rope elbow for two. Russian legsweep for two, but Hart ends up on the floor again when Barbarian does the Yokozuna kickout. Hart sunset flips back in for two, but gets caught with a hanging vertical suplex for two. Barbarian tries again, but this time Hart fires off an inside cradle to retain at 11:35. Barbarian was on the way out (he was already in WCW by the time this tape was released), but Hart still made him look great - selling and bumping for him like his life depended on it, and getting an almost fluke win. * ¼

The Nasty Boys v The Natural Disasters: From a TV taping, March 1992. Jerry Sags starts with Typhoon, but stupidly tries to bodyslam him, and gets squashed in the corner. He bails to Brian Knobs, but he's anxious, and wants Earthquake instead - though he's less than thrilled once they make his wish come true. He tosses Knobs around, but a cheap shot from Sags turns the tide, and the Nasties cut the ring in half on 'Quake. The Nasties do their best with him, but he's just too big for them to handle, and Sags gets pinned after a Disaster sandwich at 6:46. Thankfully short. ¼*

WWF Title Match: Randy Savage v IRS: From a TV taping, April 1992 - just days after Savage won the title at WrestleMania. IRS hangs out on the floor, frustrating Savage, but finally heads in(to) a side-headlock. He makes his token hairpull complaint, so Savage hits him with a hangman's clothesline to put the challenger on the floor. He regroups out there, but takes an atomic drop on the way in, and ends up right back out on the floor. Savage gets sick of waiting, and follows with a high knee, then drags him in for a flying axehandle. Tax manager Jimmy Hart gets involved, allowing IRS a cheap shot, and he tosses Savage over the top for Hart to abuse some more. Inside, IRS with an elbowdrop for two, and he hooks a rope-assisted abdominal stretch - until the referee catches him, and Savage manages to hiptoss out. Slugfest goes Savage's way, but he gets caught with a kneelift out of a criss cross, and falls to the floor. IRS drags him back in for a chinlock, but shockingly Savage doesn't submit, so IRS tries a flying splash - only to get clobbered on the way down. Randy with a backelbow, but a blind charge misses, and IRS catches him with the Write Off for two. Frustrated but undeterred, he tries to use his briefcase, but Savage turns it on him, and the Flying Elbowdrop finishes at 11:15. A lot of resting and stalling - overall very dull. ¼*

Party Tips!: Mr. Fuji and The Berzerker offer tips on how to properly throw a party. Unfortunately for ten year olds everywhere, they neglect to tell us how to score coke. Berzerker manages to 'huss' a lot, as apparently that character trait carried over into all areas of his life. Imagine his first blowjob.

Repo Man v Tito Santana: From a TV taping, April 1992. Santana looks wary of locking up - though, really, if Demolition Smash suddenly started running around in a Lone Ranger mask and wanted to lock arms with me, I'd be wary, too. Repo powers him into the corner, but it's only a matter of time before Santana manages an armdrag/armbar combination. Repo blows him low to turn the tide, and hits a side suplex for two. Repo runs through his offense (clothesline, bodyslam, legdrop), and runs out of Hogan-spots, so he goes to an armbreaker. Backdrop, but Santana sunset flips for two, and wins a slugfest. Dropkick, and the Diving Forearm to finish - but it knocks Repo to the outside. Repo lures him to the floor, and whacks him with his tow-rope, but the referee sees it, and it's a disqualification at 8:30. I like Tito Santana (really, both men), but he was dead in the water with this gimmick, and the crowd slept through this. ¼*

Eight-Man Tag Team Match: The Legion of Doom and The Natural Disasters v Money Inc and The Nasty Boys: From a TV taping, April 1992. Hawk starts with Ted DiBiase, and overpowers the Million Dollar Man, triggering an eight-way brawl early on. The faces easily clean house, and the dust settles on Hawk and IRS. Hawk continues to throw power moves, so DiBiase fires off a cheap shot from the apron, and now we're in business! Hawk gets trapped in the heel corner for some bukkake, and they take turns chinlocking him, but DiBiase fucks it up, and Animal's a house of arson. It doesn't take long for another eight-way, and Earthquake sits on Jerry Sags in the chaos at 8:25. This was just a bunch of star power (hell, they were essentially the entire division at that point) for the live crowd, and it was paint by numbers from there. DUD

BUExperience:  Yeah, any tape with two Nasty Boys matches following a Bushwhackers match needs a classic or lost gem to save it – and Bret Hart throwing himself around to make the Barbarian look good doesn’t quite cut it. Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.