Goody Bag 50: Survivor Series Showdown '92 Dark Matches

 
Big Boss Man v Nailz: Dark match from a TV taping, October 26 1992 in Springfield Illinois. Boss Man rushes in, but that backfires when Nailz immediately puts the boots to him, and chokes him down. The hard camera angle and lack of sound sweetening give this a neat vibe, like you're sitting at a house show. Nailz with a corner whip, but Boss Man comes back with right hands, as the camera crew tests out the zoom and such on random sections of the crowd. The action spills to the outside, where Boss Man rams him into the apron a few times, but gets reversed into the steps. Not that this is a great (or even particularly good) match, but I think keeping these two apart on TV from the debut on May until all the way until Survivor Series was a mistake. They should have done a brawl to a double DQ at SummerSlam to set up the blowoff at Survivor Series. Nailz exposes a turnbuckle on the way inside, and when Boss Man beats the count in, Nailz is ready with a backelbow for two. Chinlock, but Boss Man escapes, and takes Nailz down. Splash, but Nailz dodges, and he punts Boss Man in the ribs to knock him to the outside. Boss Man beats the count, and he snaps Nailz's throat across the top rope on the way back inside. That leads to a slugfest, and Boss Man cross corner whips him. Spinebuster gets two, and a windmill punch sets up a straddling ropechoke. Boss Man goes in for the kill, but Nailz jabs him in the throat with the nightstick for the pin at 7:10. This was not good. Of note: the closed captioning actually displays the lyrics to Boss Man's theme, which I don't think I've seen on the Network before. I like it. ¼*

From the TV taping in Springfield Illinois on October 26 1992, Gene Okerlund brings Jimmy Garvin out for a podium interview, which was meant as a tryout for Garvin in an announcer role. Which obviously didn't take, since this is his one and only appearance. He plays a heel, predicting all the heels to win their various matches at Survivor Series. This was super awkward, and Jimmy felt totally out of place - his act and brand of humor much more suited to TBS in the 80s, and not the goofy early 90s WWF

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Mountie: Dark match from a TV taping, October 26 1992 in Springfield Illinois. Nothing to this one, as Mountie mouths off, and gets immediately pinned with a bridging German suplex at 0:38. I don't think I've ever seen Bret pin anyone with that move, neat. Shame this wasn't longer, because it might have actually been pretty cool. This would mark Jacques Rougeau's last match with the WWF until returning as part of the Quebecers in July 1993. DUD

Virgil v Bam Bam Bigelow: Dark match from a TV taping, October 26 1992 in Springfield Illinois. This is Bigelow's first match back in the WWF since July 1988. This was certainly an eventful taping. Bam Bam wrecks him to start, but misses a corner charge, and Virgil returns fire. Virgil grabs a wristlock, but walks into a pop-up flapjack. Elbowdrop, but Virgil dodges, and it's back to the wristlock. Bigelow whips him into the corner to escape, but misses another charge, and Virgil pounds him back into the wristlock. Bigelow escapes and manages to throw a dropkick this time, knocking Virgil to the outside... which is somehow a DQ at 2:43. What an odd way to bring Bam Bam back in. Like, they didn't let him look too strong, and then he can't even go over late 1992 VIRGIL? Was he just getting a tryout or something here? I know this wasn't televised anyway, but it was really weird. DUD

Randy Savage v Razor Ramon: Dark match from a TV taping, October 26 1992 in Springfield Illinois. Razor attacks before the bell, but Savage fights him off, and rope chokes him down. Razor tries a single-leg takedown, but Macho dodges the elbowdrop followup, so Ramon goes after the bad knee to take control. Razor works the leg, but Savage manages to knock him to the outside with a backelbow - which thankfully isn't another DQ. Razor sweeps the leg from the floor, however, and he bases the knee into the post to keep control of the contest. Inside, Razor work a half-crab, followed by a spinning-toehold, both boring as hell. I get that it's a dark match, but turn it up a little, guys. Savage escapes, and starts making his comeback, but Ramon capitalizes on the bad leg to cut him off. Figure four, but Macho shoves him to the outside to block, and rams him into the steps out there. Flying axehandle on the floor follows (completely out of range of the hard camera, unfortunetely), but Randy hurts his knee on the landing, and gets counted out at 7:55. These two should have had a proper feud around this time. I think there were better potential uses of Randy Savage at WrestleMania IX than feuding with Ramon, but it still would have been better than what they ended up doing with both guys at that show. And having Savage putting him over would have been a much bigger/better rub than Ramon pinning all-but-forgotten Bob Backlund. Vince could have gotten a LOT of good rubs out of Savage during this period actually, as he was building up a whole new roster of stars that could have used name guys like Savage to put them over. ½*

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Papa Shango: Dark match from a TV taping, October 26 1992 in Springfield Illinois. I'm pretty sure Bret gives his glasses away to the same kid twice. Shango ain't havin' that shit neither, however, and he jumps the champ during the handout. Why didn't more guys try that?! Inside, Shango pounds away, but misses a corner charge, and Bret hooks a rollup for two. Series of shoulderblocks leads to a bodypress for two, and an inverted atomic drop sets up a clothesline over the top. Back inside, Hart unloads in the corner, but Shango reverses a cross corner whip to allow Bret to take his chest-first bump. The crowd loves Bret, but they are dead for Shango's offense. Like, DEAD. I thought he was creepy as fuck, and had more mileage than they got out of him, but maybe not. Shango works the Hitman over in dull fashion, until Hart dodges an attack, and dives onto him with a sleeper. Shango drops him into the top turnbuckle to escape, however, and goes back to working the champion over in his plodding style. 2^nd rope elbowdrop misses, allowing Bret to make the comeback. Shango makes a last ditch effort by exposing the top turnbuckle, but Hart reverses him into it, and the Sharpshooter takes us home at 10:07. Having Shango lose by submission is a weird choice, but I guess they'd given up on him as anything of a threat by then anyway. This was pretty similar to the match they did on Saturday Night's Main Event (which was taped the day after this), but turned down. ½*

Ultimate Warrior v Nailz: Dark match from a TV taping, October 26 1992 in Springfield Illinois. Nailz is subbing for Ric Flair here. Yeah, 'cause that's a fair trade. Pretty subdued reaction to the Warrior, actually. Like, not a dead crowd, but not quite the pop you'd expect, and definetly significantly less than Hart or Savage were getting. Nailz attacks with the nightstick during the entrances, and he chokes Warrior down. Warrior selling Nailz's choking with his crazy convulsions is pretty hilarious. Forget Mr. Perfect, they should have brought in Sherman Hemsley, painted his face, and called it a day. Warrior makes the comeback at random, and hits a jumping shoulderblock to set up the splash at 2:14. Thankfully short. DUD