WWF UK Rampage '92 (April 1992)

UK Rampage (not to be confused with several Coliseum Videos of similar names) was a UK only pay per view, held as the finale of the WWF’s post WrestleMania European tour. Booking wise, it was basically a glorified house show, put on for the increasingly popular European market.

The market in England was so strong, in fact, that the WWF would return four months later to hold SummerSlam at Wembley Stadium, drawing over 80,000 people – one of the largest crowds ever for a WWE/F event (including recent stadium WrestleManias). At this point, though, SummerSlam was still scheduled to be held States-side (Washington D.C., to be exact), and there’s even a bit during the show that offers a lucky family of four a trip to D.C. for SummerSlam (along with a rental car, and hotel accommodations). Unfortunately for that family, they’d be across the pond while SummerSlam was taking place within driving distance of their home.

From Sheffield, England; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan.


Opening Match: Skinner v Tatanka: You know it's the opener when they take turns playing to the crowd before locking up. Tatanka with a side-headlock, but Skinner slugs free, so Tatanka catches him with a well executed sunset flip for two. To the mat with another side-headlock, but Skinner just won't play along, and bails to the floor to kill the momentum. Skinner tries to offer a handshake coming back in, but Tatanka sees it coming, and shoots first. Yeah, sure, Skinner was likely to throw a cheap shot, but what if this was a turning point for him? What if he had finally seen the error of his... bestiality (?)... and had a change of heart, mid-match? What if he really did just want to say 'good going' to Tatanka for wrestling him to the mat like a pro? This behavior on Tatanka's part directly resulted in shit like Hurricane Katrina, and the Great Recession. Anyway, TaMadoff goes into an armbar, but Skinner's pissed at Tatanka's pissing on his olive branch, and shrugs him off into a leglock. He gives Tatanka a proper beating, and a suplex, but he doesn't even bother covering - it's Trail of Tears time! 2^nd rope axehandle (nothing says 'genocide' like an axe), but Tatanka catches him going down and starts LUMBEEING UP!! Chops! Backbreaker! 2^nd Rope Tomahawk Chop! Fallaway Slam! 11:53! Total house show booking, but again, this was a glorified house show. DUD

The Legion of Doom v Dino Bravo and Colonel Mustafa: Bravo has dark hair here, and looks like a dead ringer for late 80s Don Muraco. Odd pairing with Mustafa (the Iron Sheik), but both guys were on the way out, so they make for good squash. The heels try to jump the LOD at the bell, but they get hustled to the floor in short order. Animal starts with Bravo all propers, and tries to match power, but it's not 1988 anymore, so he gets thrown around. Hawk tags in to have a go, but misses a blind charge, and ends up on the floor. Bravo feeds him the rail, and inside Mustafa hits a gutwrench suplex. Abdominal stretch, but Animal blatantly interferes, and Hawk hits a suplex before tagging. Animal's a house of arson, and a flying clothesline finishes Mustafa at 4:29. This was effectively Bravo's last appearance before retirement, and his murder early the next year. DUD

The Undertaker v Sid: Oh, great. Sid's gonna cause an international incident. Sid jumps him at the bell, and tries to choke him out. Undertaker promptly no-sells it, and hits a bodyslam - but the leaping elbowdrop misses, and Sid goes back to plodding. 'Taker works in the ropewalk forearm, and the diving clothesline, but Sid manager Harvey Wippleman gets involved during a Tombstone attempt, and Sid turns the tide. Chokeslam, and a sidewalk slam set up more choking, but no ring can contain that amount of awesome, and they spill to the floor. Sid posts him (which 'Taker essentially no-sells), but still moves so slowly, he can't beat the count in, and that's it at 5:15. I'm surprised Sid didn't job outright - let alone get a technical victory - as he had already failed a drug test, and was on his way out. And lucky for the fans, too, because these two were supposed to be married all summer doing this match at an arena near you. -*

WWF Title Match: Randy Savage v Shawn Michaels: Shawn was being actively groomed to take the Intercontinental Title off of Bret Hart at SummerSlam (before the venue change shuffled the booking), but at this point no one really bought him as a threat to Savage. To that point, Savage toys with him in the early going, shrugging off or reversing anything Michaels tries. Shawn tries to run, so Savage grabs a chair to settle him down, and threatens a flying axehandle. Shawn keeps coming, so Savage dumps him for said flying axehandle to the floor, so Michaels manager Sherri goes after Miss Elizabeth. That distracts Savage enough for Shawn to clobber from behind, and ram into the rail for good measure. Inside, Shawn hammers away, and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Swinging neckbreaker gets two, and a series of jabs leaves Savage punch drunk - but he manages a slingshot into the corner for two. High knee puts the challenger on the outside, and Savage drops another bomb of an axehandle. Trip to the post, and back inside, another flying axehandle gets two. A third, but Michaels nails him on the way down, and follows with a short-clothesline for two. Superkick only gets two - but it was still years away from becoming his finisher/gaining credibility, so that's not shocking. Bodyslam, and a flying fistdrop (a spot Shawn would modify into his famous flying elbow after Savage left the WWF in late 1994) puts Savage on the floor for Sherri to abuse. Inside, Shawn misses a backdrop, and the referee goes flying out of the ring during the criss cross that results. Savage controls, and hits the Flying Elbowdrop - but there's no referee! Sherri runs in and puts the boots to him (ala their breakup at WrestleMania VII), so Savage SPITS IN HER FACE! Dude… it’s not Missy Hyatt. Elizabeth runs in to swat her away, and Savage catches Michaels with a flying bodypress for two. Criss cross, and Savage hits another flying bodypress for the pin at 16:58. Looks like someone missed their mark on the ending there, as the first bodypress seemed like the planned finish. Afterwards, Savage and Liz pose with the WWF Title for the last time, as they would be real-life divorced by summer, and Liz never appeared in the WWF again. Total dream match, but really more retroactively, as Shawn wasn't at that level yet. Not that he couldn't absolutely hang, but he was adjusting to the heel/singles role, and his heat segments were still crude. ** ½

Virgil v The Mountie: Virgil goes right at him with a backdrop, and a series of clotheslines before giving him a series of turnbuckle smashes. Jabs put Mountie on the floor, but Virgil drags him back in, and rips his shirt off to use as a weapon. A soft, cottony weapon. Even the kids in the crowd have a hard time buying that one, so Mountie rips Virgil's facemask off (worn after sustaining a 'broken nose' from Sid a few months back), and gives him a closed fist. Mountie works the face, and hits a bulldog before putting his shirt back on. Poor Virgil has to lay on the mat writhing in agony while Mountie tucks in, and more shots to the face follow-up, but Mountie takes too long showboating (consisting of literally stopping to yell 'I AM THE MOUNTIEEEEEE' at the crowd), allowing Virgil a comeback. He goes in for the kill, but Mountie grabs his taser, and shocks Virgil behind the referees back for the pin at 8:57. Formula house show match. ¼*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Bret Hart v Rick Martel: Martel throws Bret off his game by pulling out a cartwheel to avoid contact during a criss cross, they lures the frustrated Hart into the corner for a closed fist. He tries the cartwheel trick again, but Hart sees it coming this time, and clotheslines him right over the top to the floor. Inside, Hart tries an armbar, but Martel returns the favor with a short-clothesline. Bret tries again, Martel counters again - but it was strategy from Hart, as he ducks the clothesline, and levels him with one of his own. He goes after the knee with a leglock, but Martel starts choking him out as a way to break (can't say it's not effective...) so Hart catches him with a kneebreaker. He tries to wrap him around the ringpost, but Rick reverses, then adds another for good measure. Axehandle, but a backdrop attempt leads to a double knockout, and Hart recovers first with an inverted atomic drop. Russian legsweep gets two, and a suplex for two. Backbreaker sets up the 2^nd rope elbow for two, so Martel makes a last ditch effort by sidestepping a blind charge, and sending the champ tumbling to the outside. Suplex back in, but Bret counters into a small package to retain at  13:02. About on par with the other house show matches I've seen between them from this period - which is to say, it was well worked (selling, execution, psychology, etc), but dull. * ¼

Repo Man v Jim Duggan: Duggan actually successfully gets a 'USA' chant going (maybe they were just trying to be nice to someone with such an obvious mental handicap), but Repo wants no part of it, and tries to choke him out. Duggan responds with a series of clotheslines (the default retard comeback), and an atomic drop leaves Repo reeling. Repo manages to sucker him into the ropes for a stunner, and takes off the turnbuckle pad - though, really, not much to hurt up there. Legdrop gets one (see, told you...), so Repo goes to a chinlock - but Duggan shrugs him off. Repo takes him back to the exposed buckle, but Duggan's 'TARDING UP!! Clothesline! Slam! 3-Point Stance! - but Repo falls to the floor. He snags his tow-rope out there for a cheap shot, but the referee sees it, and it's a disqualification at 7:14. Poor Repo Man never had any luck - the bastard always got caught. Aannnnnndd DUD

Main Event: Davey Boy Smith v IRS: Davey dominates with power in the early going, leading to the usual IRS stall tactics (jaw at the crowd, hide in the ropes, bail), until IRS manages a cheap shot to turn the tide. There you go: five minutes in one sentence. IRS with an abdominal stretch, and the Write off - but it only gets two. Chinlock, but Bulldog powers out - only to get dumped. He flies back in with a sunset flip for two, but IRS retains control by blowing him low. Suplex, but Davey reverses into a hanging vertical for two. Series of headbutts gets two, so IRS reverses a whip into the corner, and has manager Jimmy Hart pass him the briefcase. Davey shrugs him off, though, and the Running Powerslam finishes at 12:48. When the match goes thirteen minutes, and I've only got a couple of lines, it's not good. Certainly not a main event caliber match, but Davey's home turf popularity necessitated he go on last. DUD

BUExperience: As noted, this was basically a glorified house show to end the post-WrestleMania European tour – and unfortunately, no one particularly wanted to step it up for the English pay per view buyers. This was like the last day of a long vacation, as everyone’s going through the motions – tired and ready to go home. DUD