- The HITMAN383 Rant for SummerSlam 1992. With this years
show JUST on the horizon, I’m going to go back to the older SummerSlams … 1992,
1993, 1994 (already up), 1998, and possibly 1990, 1991, and 1999 if I can get a
hold of them. (This one was originally written in 2000)
- BTW, I use this system: ***** - Excellent **** - Great ***
- Good **- Okay * - Decent DUD - Awful.
- Live from London England, at
Wembley Stadium with over 80,000 fans! I recently spoke with John Tenta
(Earthquake), who participated in this event, and he confirmed the number,
although some have said it was 25,000. (I remember people used to talk about it
being ‘done with mirrors,’ which is just ridiculous. Even more ridiculous: I
used to believe them)
- Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.
- Some fans outside Wembley speculate weather Mr. Perfect is
in Savage or Warrior’s dressing room, and who will win between Bret and Davey
Boy.
- Opening Match: Money Inc. vs. The Road Warriors:
The LOD have Rocko with them, which is something I don’t want to get into, but
if you visit www.wrestlecrap.com, they have a pretty good account of it. Long
stall fest to start, and DiBiase opens up with some Highclass Violence on Hawk.
It backfires, however, so he bails, and Animal kills him, and dumps him in. Tag
to IRS, and Hawk tags out to Animal. Animal wins the exchange fairly easily,
and slams him into oblivion. LOD is REALLY over, BTW, and London is a super hot crowd. Hawk gets in and
works the arm, but IRS gets a sleeper to comeback. The arm drops twice, and
Hawk breaks the hold. He goes through some stuff but misses a clothesline from
the top, and topples all the way to the floor. Cool spot. DiBiase kills him on
the floor, and tags in. Hawk play’s Ricky Morton to both of the Rich Men as
they do all their normal spots. IRS gets a chinlock, and Ted pushes his leg for
leverage, and they pull a switch a couple times when the ref.’s back is turned.
Yeah, but if a face really DOES tag and the ref. doesn’t see it, it NEVER counts.
He takes Ted and Irwin’s word for it here tough. Hawk gets a lariat out of
nowhere, but is dead and can’t tag. Money INC. pull every Memphis trick in the book to keep Hawk at
bay, even using the tag rope. Ted gets a frontface lock, but Hawk carries him
all the tag over and tags, but the ref. didn’t see it. See my point from
earlier? Animal gets the hot tag moments later, however, and murders both
heels, getting big pops the whole way. Both LOD get in and call for the
Doomsday device, but IRS dropkicks Animal when he has Ted up. Doesn’t make much
difference though, as they take out IRS, and hit a powerslam on DiBiase for
three at 11:58. Long opener. Fun match, ** ½.
- Mean Gene is with Ric Flair in the locker room. Flair,
gives a classic Flair interview, basically saying he’s pissed that he’s not
facing Savage tonight. When questioned what corner Mr. Perfect is in he
responds “Well, He’s in the dressing room of the winner, of course!” I love Ric
Flair. I wasn’t watching wrestling in 1992, so I have a question: Was it a big
mystery at the time as to what corner Hennig would be in?
- Nailz vs. Virgil: As I said, the crowd here RULES,
popping big for VIRGIL, and nearly booing NAILZ out of the building. I mean,
whoa. Virgil is a house of fire to start, but Nailz doesn’t really CARE enough
to sell, and chokes to comeback. Virgil tries a comeback, but more choking by
Nailz follows. Who hired this goof? (Well, we know who fired him, at least)
The “action” spills to the floor, and poor Virgil takes more abuse. Virgil gets
a big boot in, however, but Nailz can’t sell a damn thing, and hooks a choke,
which Vince calls as such, but Bobby argues it’s a sleeper, and shoots on Vince
“Don’t you know your holds McMahon?” Anyway, the sleeper/choke spells doom, and
we’re done at 3:16. DUD, in every sense of the word.
- Lord Alfred Hayes (DRUNK) searches for Mr. Perfect around
Randy Savage’s dressing room.
- Mean Gene is with Sherri. G-D, WWF women uses to be DOG’S.
I mean, couldn’t they get some better looking chicks? Anyway, Gene does some
VERY sucky commentary on the highlights of the Michaels/Martel feud. The basic
point? Shawn and Rick can’t get any good chicks, and fight over Sherri.
- No Hitting in the Face match: Rick Martel vs. Shawn
Michaels: Cute moment, as Rick Martel (dressed as a Tennis Player) struts,
Heenan say’s “Eat Your Heart out Andre Agasi” and Martel walks over to the
camera, and say’s the same thing. Oh, BTW the stip. in this match comes about
as Sherri didn’t want their faces getting messed up, and INSISTED on this rule.
Martel catches a side headlock to start, and HBK escapes, and they do a great
criss cross sequence ending in Martel out smarting Shawn, and doing a
cartwheel. They do it again, and Shawn dropkicks him this time. Martel jumps
him from behind, and works him over, but misses a springboard bodypress.
Michaels works the arm, and Rick and Shawn trade Owen Hart style kick ups off
armbars. They both get up, and Martel tosses him over the top. Anyway, as Shawn
is down, Rick starts hugging and kissing Sherri. What people will do for money.
Shawn gets a roll up and hooks the tights, and Martel reverses, then Shawn
reverses into another one. Nice sequence. They have a go again, and eventually
get into a shoving/slapping match, and are about to punch eachother, as Sherri
“faints” to stop them. Anyone notice Bobby took his character from Archie
Bunker? (And if you didn’t notice, I helpfully pointed out for you in almost
every review I did back then) Anyway, both fight over who will get to
save her, and fight up the isle, even dropping her a few times. She takes some
nice bumps, too. Pretty heated rivalry, but I don’t like the ending to the
match. Good match, however, ** ¾, and the actual MATCH lasted 7:16, not
counting the fighting over Sherri to the locker rooms. (I downgraded this pretty
significantly in the BUExperince)
- WWF World Tag Team Titles: The Natural Disasters vs.
The Beverly Brothers: Great, my two favorite teams! Like I said earlier, I
spoke with Mr. Tenta earlier this week and he has confirmed the 80,000 + number
for this show. The Bev’s jump to start, but a double cross corner whip
backfires, and the fat boys do some doubles stuff to the Beverly’s, including several “sandwich”
spots. Eventually they screw up (The Shockmaster? Screwing up?) and Earthquake
splashes Typhoon, allowing the heels to do their stuff, as Bobby tells us that
Shawn Michaels has left Wembley. Typhoon play’s Ricky Morton, in a long, boring
segment for like 5 minutes. Typhoon comes back with a double clothesline, and
goes for the hot tag, but gets stopped, and a missile dropkick/crossbody combo
gets two for the Bev’s. Genius gives Blake his metal scroll, and he bashes
Typhoons brains in, and covers, but Earthquake makes the save. Both guys tag,
and Earthquake is HUNGRY, destroying Blake with some suplexes, and hip tosses.
Both faces get in there, and sandwich him in the corner, and a powerslam sets
up the Earthquake! The crowd goes wild, and he hits it to finish at 10:17. BIG
pop. BAD match. ¼ *.
- Hayes is now outside the Warrior’s dressing room (we know
it’s his room because it has a Warrior symbol on it, because we obviously know
Jim cannot read.) and Hayes lets himself in, and gets the door slammed in his
face.
- Repo Man vs. Crush: Repo’s music sounds like the
old Orient Express music, oddly enough. Repo jumps him (big theme tonight, to
jump people), but Crush hits a military press slam. Crush is REALLY strong,
BTW. He had SO MUCH potential at this point, and look where he ended up. He
murder’s Repo, without really breaking a sweat, and hits a backbreaker. Repo
comes back, and hits a nice side suplex, but Crush no sells and hits a belly to
belly. He goes up and misses a knee, and the tape cuts to Crush (on his knees)
coming back. Tremendous cut, as you can barely tell. Repo goes up top, but gets
slammed off, and the Compactor finishes in 4:01 with the clip job. It was like
5:00 without it. Crowd loves it, and the match was decent. *.
- Highlights of the tremendous build to the WWF title match
between Savage and Warrior, with Perfect and Flair involved and Warrior and
Savage working a great angle. This angle was done perfectly, and everyone is
jacked for it.
- Main Event, WWF Title: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. The
Ultimate Warrior: Who’s corner is Mr. Perfect in? Who knows, as no one
comes out with him. The crowd is really ready for this. I mean Warrior comes
out first, and has no Hennig, so when Savage’s music hits there are boo’s because
they figure Savage must have sold out. But still, both draw massive face heat.
The stadium is darker now (it’s an open place), and I think it looks cooler in
the light. They have a violent little handshake to start, and the crowd is
RABID here. No one really controls in the early going, but Savage takes over
with some heavy clotheslines, drawing boos for being vicious. Warrior quickly
takes over, and atomic drops him into next week, and clotheslines him for two.
A stunner gets another two, and a vicious face slam for another. Man these two
are taking it to the next level! He kills him in the corner with rights, and a
short clothesline gets ANOTHER two count. Randy hooks the tights to ram him to
the corner, and follows with a clothesline to the floor, drawing more boos.
This is the hottest crowd EVER! He brings him in, and gets a double ax, but
Warrior no sells, so Randy does it again, but this time gets two. He goes up
again, but gets caught, and Warrior hits a backbreaker. Jim kills him between
the corners with whip after whip, and punch after punch. He busts out a
sidewalk slam for two, but Savage gets a small package in for two. Warrior and
Macho are working pretty damn hard tonight! Neckbreaker by Savage gets two, and
he hits the over the top stun gun for two, getting some boos. He tries a
suplex, but he sells a back injury and falls down. Warrior shows psychology and
works the back, a rare feat for the Warrior. He even sells a neck injury as he
suplexes Randy. Warrior … a master of psychology? Anyway, he charges Savage,
but Randy ducks, and Jim topples to the floor. Macho heads up and hits a nice
double ax, then beats his ass on the outside. They go in with a piledriver
turning into a backdrop into a sunset flip, when Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect
appear and walk down the SUPER LONG isle to the ring. They should have brought
out the WM III/VI cart’s for this one! Warrior tries a splash, but Randy gets
the knee’s up, as Hennig and Flair stand in the neutral corner. Double KO spot
follows, and Warrior puts an arm on for two, and Savage rolls through for
another two. He bounces off the ropes, and HENNIG TRIPS SAVAGE. WARRIOR SOLD
OUT! Macho taunts the perfect duo, and Warrior jumps him, getting boos. He hits
a double chokeslam spot, and the crowd is in SHOCK that he sold out. Hebbner
gets bumped off a corner whip, and Warrior slams him, and heads up stairs
(!!!). He hits an ax handle, and Earl crawls over for a slow two. Warrior
argues the count, and Savage nails him from behind for another ref. bump. He
piledrives him and goes to check on Earl when Hennig walks in and helps Warrior
up, then lets Flair deck him? SAVAGE SOLD OUT! Crowd is totally confused, and
Savage is unbeknownst to the cheating. Macho heads up and hits the big elbow
for a dramatic two count. Warrior hulks up, doing his usual “maniac coming
back” (CRACKING UP!!!) spots, and is killing Savage. He hits the
Warrior line (flying shoulderblock), and the press slam, and bounces off the
ropes for the big splash, and Flair catches him with a chair. Macho, again, has
no clue why the fans are booing, and then looks around and realizes that Flair
and Hennig did it. He heads up for the elbow anyhow, but the fans boo, so he
turns around, and drops on Flair instead, and gets a chair to the knee leading
to a countout at 25:20. Flair and Hennig beat the hell out of him, and hook the
figure four, while the announcers clear up that NO ONE sold out. Warrior runs
out and saves, chasing them all the way up the isle. He then takes the WWF
belt, and gives it to Savage, and both embrace. Both guys are even more over
now than in the beginning. I am REALLY impressed by both (especially Warrior
trying so hard), and this match (wrestling AND sports entertainment wise)
ruled. ****.
- In the back Flair and Perfect gloat about how they are gonna
get the WWF title back. And they would, shortly after. Only Ric Flair’s
guarantee’s are more solid than Vince McMahon’s. (Just ask his creditors)
- We gets a look at Wembley, and the attendance is announced
as 80,355. It is extremely huge, no doubt about it. You know, people talk about
how WrestleMania III’s crowd was gigantic (and it was), but this one doesn’t
get enough credit. (Yeah, seriously. It’s still a huge crowd, even by modern stadium-era
WrestleMania standards)
- The Undertaker vs. Kamala: ‘Taker rides out on a
hearse (as opposed to today’s motorcycle) and it is VERY slow moving, just like
he is. You know this match is on the “best of SummerSlam video” as opposed to
the classic before it, and the one to follow. (Yeah, but this one only ate up
four minutes on a one hour VHS, and allowed them to advertise the Undertaker. Not really rocket surgery there, HITMAN)
‘Taker beats the snot out of him to start, and chokes away. UT vs. Nailz, who
would choke more? He hits the ropewalk/forearm shot spot, and then goes for it
again! Of course, it backfires as Kamala pulls him off. He clotheslines him
over the top, but he lands on this feet and chokes out Kamala’s seconds. He
follows out, and kicks UT’s ass all over ringside … slowly. Back inside, and he
does some Ugandan Violence (badly too), and gets chokeslamed for sucking so
much. Flying clothesline by UT (getting a big pop), and he lifts him for the Tombstone, but Kamala’s
manager attacks causing a DQ win for ‘Taker at 3:46. Kamala kills him, and hits
some big splashes, but UT keeps sitting up so Kamala does to Giant Gonzalez bug
eyed selling, and runs. This would set up the CLASSIC Casket Match at Survivor
Series. DUD, of course. Like he did here, 1993 and 1994, leave it to the
Undertaker to ruin good a show. (Eh, I wouldn’t go as far as to say a boring
four minute match ruined the show, but it certainly didn’t make it any better,
that’s for sure)
- Davey does an interview with Sean Mooney saying he’s going
to beat Hart tonight, and won’t even think twice about beating him for the
gold.
- Bret does a follow up about how Davey is an ungrateful
punk. He moans that he made Davey what he is, and introduced him to Diana. BTW,
Reggie, what kind of belt is that? It looks so … crappy. (As I’ve noted in another of
these looks back, that’s hardly Reggie Parks’ fault. These guys just used to
abuse the holy hell out of these belts – Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, and
Bret Hart among the worst offenders of the era)
- Rowdy Roddy Piper and a Scottish Band play some bagpipes
for the fans. Dear G-D Piper is over. Piper and Flair should have had a match
here, it would have rocked.
- Sean talks to Diana Smith, who is Davey’s wife and Bret’s
sister. She was pretty good looking here, but Sean annoys the hell out of her
with questions to the point where I thought he might slap him. She’s really bad
on the stick, BTW. (Too… many… jokes. I’ll just leave this one alone)
- Main Event, WWF Intercontinental Title: Bret Hart vs.
Davey Boy Smith: Davey brings British boxer Lennox Lewis with him, and is
SUPER over with the hometown crowd. Bret (a babyface) gets a mixed reaction. I
mean, clearly the crowd does not hate the guy, and some even cheer, but they
rather see Davey get the gold. They trade shoves to start off, and Davey gets a
side headlock, and a criss cross sequence is won by Bulldog with a
shoulderblock, and Bret bumps all the way to the floor. They wrestle on the
mat, trading headlocks and leg scissors in a cool bit, and Bret nearly gets
three off a roll up, and then a small package. Bret hooks the headlock again,
which Davey reverses into a hammerlock on the mat. Bret escapes with a stiff
elbow, and wrenches the arm. He is clearly playing the heel here. Davey does
the Owen Hart escape from the standing armbar, and gets one of his own. Criss
cross follows, and Bret gets slingshot to the corner. Davey with a crucifix for
two, and then grabs another arm hold, as we see Diana looking on. Bret tries to
slam out of the hold, but Davey rolls through into a vicious wrist lock
variation. Another criss cross, and Hart gets a vicious knee in to win that,
drawing big boos. Hart continues playing the heel, taunting the crowd, and
dropping the leg on Davey. He gets a chinlock, and then takes Davey apart piece
by piece. He tries a crucifix, so Bret Samoan drops him for two. Big criss
cross leads to a stiff monkey flip type move, and he posts Hart, but gets a
hard boot on the charge. Bulldog (move, not guy) follows. This match is stiff
as hell! Bret goes up top, but gets slammed off, and Davey misses a knee. Bret
ducks through a roll up, and Davey bumps to the outside, and more BIG boos for
Bret. Davey takes a breather, and Bret leaps over dropping him right on his
neck/head. My G-D THAT WAS VICIOUS. I mean, whoa. Anyone notice Joey Marrella
always ref’s the big main events, with big crowds? This, and Hulk/Andre at WM
III. Hart hits a stiff forearm, and takes him out with punches and a dropkick.
He then hits a big backdrop for two. Bret is doing pretty well as a heel here.
Snap suplex for two, and another chinlock. Davey gets a backslide out of
nowhere for two, so Bret hits a backbreaker to keep control. 2nd rope elbow
(stiff one too) gets two, and he hammers the skull. Sleeper hooks, and Vince
yells about how the match is over, but Davey makes the ropes, and Bret refuses
to let off, then kicks his face in. Ouch. Another sleeper, and the arm falls
twice, and stays up on the third, and he tires to break, but can’t. He try’s
again, ramming him to the corner, and finally breaks. Slugfest, and Davey tries
a press slam, but drops him wrong, and he falls into the ropes. Series of big
clotheslines get two, and now he hits the press slam right. It gets two. Big
vertical suplex, and he holds him up for a long time getting the crowd even
MORE into it. Another two count off that. Bret takes his corner bump, for two,
and Davey calls for the Running Powerslam. He gets him up, and slams to a
mammoth pop, but Bret kicks out. Crowd is in shock! Bret leans on the ropes,
and Davey cools shoves him to the floor. Cool visual. Bret reverses a suplex,
into a bridging German suplex for two, and tries a suplex, but can’t do it.
Davey gets him up and a big superplex gets two. The crowd is TOTALLY having
heart attacks every two minutes. Double KO spot, and Bret gets the Sharpshooter
from a mat based position. Everyone goes NUTS, knowing this one is done, but
Davey gets the ropes. Bret goes for a big sunset flip, but Davey cradles the
legs for three, and the IC belt at 25:10. The 80,000 fans pop BIG, BIG for
that! Match was amazing, as expected. **** ¾. Bret teases walking out, but the
crowd boos that heavily, so he shakes Davey’s hand to a mammoth pop. Diana gets
in there, and all three rejoice, in better times.
- Bottom Line: Well, this show RULES! I mean,
Bret/Davey is a classic for the ages, and Warrior/Savage is truly something
special. I mean, their WrestleMania VII match WAS better (These days, I actually think the
SummerSlam one was slightly better), but this one still rules!
Everything else is pretty solid for the most part. Some DUD’s in there, but
overall the good beats the bad. And a HUGE crowd of over 80,000! Sports
Entertainment wise, and wrestling wise it’s this, and WrestleMania X folks…
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 
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