WWF SummerSlam Spectacular 1992 (Version II)

 

Original Airdate: August 23, 1992 (taped August 11)

                                                          

From Nashville, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan

WWF Champion Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior cut pre-taped promos on each other to open, despite being scheduled to team against the Nasty Boys tonight

 

Ric Flair v Tito Santana: Feeling out process to start, until Tito gets fired up, and starts throwing clotheslines to send Flair over the top. Santana follows with a clothesline on the floor, and Ric begs off. Flair stalls on the outside to kill the momentum, and manages to corner Santana on the way back in, dropping Tito with a big chop. Ric tosses him over the top for Mr. Perfect to abuse on the outside, and do you think it was a transition for Flair to get used to being able to casually toss guys over the top after years and years of having to do it behind the referee's back in the NWA? Back in, Ric uses a backelbow for two, but a criss cross allows Tito a drop-toehold, and he slaps on a figure four! Heenan is in all his glory calling this, of course. Perfect helps Flair make the ropes to force a break, but Tito is on him in the corner. Back to the figure four, but Flair makes the ropes again, so Tito starts kicking the leg. Ric tries cutting him off with chops in the corner, but Santana is fired up, and no-sells. Ric manages to throw a knee to the midsection to buy time, but Tito whips him into the ropes to escape a headlock, and both guys collide for a double knockout. Flair recovers first, and it's Figure Four time, but Santana is ready with a cradle for two. Flair responds with a thunderous chops, however, and Tito goes down like a ton of bricks this time. That gives Ric time to go to the top, but Santana slams him off, and starts throwing clotheslines. Backdrop sets up El Paso, but Perfect pulls him off at two. Tito takes the bait and goes after him, allowing Flair a cradle, but Santana reverses for two. Ric argues with the official, allowing Santana a schoolboy for two, and he takes Flair into the corner for a ten-punch. Earl Hebner channeling Tommy Young throughout the match is great stuff. Flair tries more chops, but Tito is in comeback mode, and corner whips him to flip Flair to the apron. Santana throws a clothesline to knock him to the floor, and a vertical suplex brings Ric back in for two. Criss cross allows Santana a bodypress for two, so Flair shoves him into the ropes, where Perfect is waiting to trip him up. Ric distracts the referee to allow Perfect to add a chair shot to the leg, and the Nature Boy capitalizes with the Figure Four at 13:54. Tito held on for a surprisingly long time in the hold before submitting there. Flair seemed to be having some timing issues, but this was a damn good match, and probably Tito's last one at this level. I severely underrated this on the first go around. *** ¼ (Original rating: *)

 

SummerSlam Report with Gene Okerlund

 

Tatanka v Kato: I still get a kick out of the fact that they describe Kato as 'from the Orient,' no specific location given. Just a step away from saying a guy is from 'over there somewhere' at that point. And I get that Kato is a white guy in a mask, but would it really be that hard to make up a location? Were they worried people in that location would call them out on the lie, thus shattering kayfabe and ending the business? Because that's just silly. I mean, Twitter wasn't even a thing back then. Tatanka dominates him in the early going, working armbars between winning criss crosses. Kato powers into the corner to fight him off with chops, but he loses a reversal sequence, and Tatanka hits an atomic drop. Vince is practically giddy about it, for some reason. Tatanka with a pair of shoulderblocks, but a third one goes badly when Kato dumps him over the top. Mr. Fuji is waiting out there with his cane, and Kato hits a bodyslam when Tatanka beats the count back in. Vince somehow manages to turn that into a promo for ICOPRO. The carny is strong with that one. Kato with an elbowdrop for two, and he works a chinlock, but Tatanka powers to a vertical base, and wins a criss cross with a sunset flip for two. Kato cuts him off with a clothesline, however, getting two. Back to the chinlock, but Tatanka fights free again, and a criss cross results in a double knockout. Tatanka is up first, and it's comeback time. End of the Trail finishes Kato at 8:40. Nothing special, nothing bad. Just kind of there. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

 

Backstage, Mr. Perfect shows up to offer the Nasty Boys tips against the 'ultimate morons' later

 

Nailz v Ken Wayne: Speaking of Twitter, Heenan brings the sexism with his comments on Mike McGuirk. He's lucky 1992 was a very different time. Anyway, choking. Lots and lots of choking. Then more choking. And a choke finishes at 3:29. If you've seen one Nailz squash you've seen 'em all, but the jobber was actually pretty game here. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

 

Okerlund brings Undertaker and Paul Bearer out for a podium interview, and apparently he's going to destroy Kamala's soul and force him into eternal darkness. That's kind of an extreme reaction. I mean, what was their feud even about? This far I don't think they've even interacted besides crossing paths in the aisle, like, one time

 

Review of the Randy Savage/Ultimate Warrior feud

 

Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior v The Nasty Boys: Savage and Warrior have trouble coexisting long enough to even decide who will start the match, to the point where the referee has to make the call for them. We end up with Warrior and Jerry Sags, and Warrior quickly starts running wild, so Brian Knobbs comes in for the double team, but Warrior fights them both off, and aggressively tags out. Macho gets in his own partner's face instead of either of the Nasties, allowing Knobbs to attack from behind, and he pounds Randy into the corner. Warrior's sporting the body suit here, and it's not a good look. He's also got a case of the Goldust's in the crotchal region. Macho quickly fights off both Nasties and dives at both with a double flying axehandle, then aggressively tags. Warrior dives at Sags with his own flying axehandle, but wastes time rubbing it in Savage's face, allowing Knobbs to attack. He knocks Warrior into Savage, and the babyfaces nearly come to blows before Knobbs capitalizes again by dumping Warrior to the outside. The Boys go to work on Warrior on the way back in, as Vince describes it as a Handicap match. Yeah, not sure that's exactly accurate. The Nasties are being treated like jobbers who only happen to get lucky when these two babies can't be bothered to wrestle them. Even while working Warrior over he's barely selling for them. Warrior fights both guys off and tags, allowing Savage to run wild on Knobbs a bit, but the referee gets bumped in the process. That allows Sags to whack Macho with the motorcycle helmet to prevent a piledriver, and here come Flair and Perfect! They attack Warrior with a chair, while leaving Savage alone, and it looks like Macho is the one who sold out! Warrior mostly no-sells it, and chases them to the dressing rooms, as the Nasties beat on Savage with a chair on the outside as well. They revive the referee, and he counts Randy out at 10:16. This was less a match than an angle, but that's totally fine in this situation. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

 

Backstage, Gene finds Warrior still storming around, and he's pretty sure Savage sold out to Perfect and Flair, since they only attacked him, and left Macho alone. This angle was so great

 

Rick Martel v Joey Maggs: Martel is still sporting Tatanka's feathers, though no one (including Tatanka) seems to really care about that anymore. And then they randomly started caring again after SummerSlam. Maybe Tatanka thought it worked like school, and he needed a two month feather break. Vince goes on a long, motor mouth rant about how nothing (never, ever, ever) has been as successful as the WWF on pay per view, and how it's the greatest form of family entertainment in the world. Wow, I think he did that all in one breath, too. This is, like, the third such rant on this show alone. Didn't think he started doing those until the mid-90s, but I guess business was way down at this point, and he was feeling pretty insecure. Sensational Sherri shows up mid-squash, allowing Maggs to roll Martel up for two, but that's the end of Joey's offense for the night, and the Boston Crab finishes at 2:43. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

 

Backstage, Gene catches up with Savage, and he knows how things look, but he did not sell out. And, in fact, he thinks Flair and Perfect were not really beating on Warrior, it was just for show to throw everyone off the scent. Again, great angle

 

Kamala v Burt Stiles: Again, I really don't get what this feud with Undertaker was even about. Kamala was so simple and jolly looking that he really should have just been a babyface the entire time. And, yes, I'm aware that they eventually did turn him in 1993, and that it sucked, but maybe if they didn't ruin the character with this bullshit heel run it would have worked as a lower midcard character. Kamala with a splash at 2:19. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

 

Money Inc v The Bushwhackers: Vince's over the top fake laugh is in full force for the Bushwhackers, of course. Money Inc attack before the bell, but get reversed into each other coming out of the corners, and the Bushwhackers clean house. Dust settles on Irwin R. Schyster and Butch, and Schyster pounds him into the corner, but misses a charge, and Butch bulldogs him. A cover draws Ted DiBiase in, but he accidentally lands on Irwin with an elbowdrop, and the Bushwhackers clean house again. Ted manages to sneak up on Luke to turn the tide, and he dumps him to the outside for Schyster to choke with the tag rope. Money Inc go to work on Luke, as Vince notes that he believes Savage over Warrior. At this point in the timeline, would that really be surprising? Heenan believes Warrior, however, and each makes an impassioned case for their side. Give it to them, they are hard selling the shit out of that match. It's too bad business was down regardless in 1992, because they were doing some really cool stuff at the top of the card, and this show should have been a blockbuster. At least they had the huge crowd, though. Butch gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door. Battering Ram on IRS looks to finish, but Ted breaks up the count, and Jimmy Hart runs in for a distraction. That allows Irwin to charge Butch with a knee to the back, and Schyster covers at 5:48. This was really basic, but fine for what it needed to be. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

 

Repo Man's underwear is on too tight

 

The Legion of Doom are a couple of dummies

 

Bret Hart v Skinner: Bret's WWF Intercontinental gold is not on the line here. Bret's original singles theme was his best theme, no idea why they bothered changing it. Bret dominates on the mat to start, but gets dumped to the outside while trying a rollup. Skinner dives after him with an axehandle from the apron, and he delivers a shoulderblock on the floor like he's Braun Strowman. Back in, Skinner uses a snapmare to set up a choke with his gator glove, doing a great job of hiding the weapon from the official. Vince spends the match trying to explain the Hart family tree, sounding totally confused. It's not that complicated... Diana is Bret's sister, Davey Boy Smith's wife. Pretty straightforward. Skinner with a rope-assisted abdominal stretch, as Heenan notes that they should 'get the money, get the gold - forget the family, they're just a bunch of parasites anyway.' Now, I may not agree with him normally, but in this particular case... maybe he has a point. Bret reverses the hold, but gets dumped to the outside again, and Skinner hammers him on the way back in. Backdrop, but Bret uses a sunset flip to counter for two, so Skinner drops him with a shoulderbreaker. Skinner goes upstairs, but Bret blocks the dive with a fist to the midsection, and the Hitman makes a comeback. Russian legsweep gets two, and a backbreaker is worth two. Charge in the corner hits boot, however, and Skinner drops a leg to the groin - only for Bret to catch it, and roll into the Sharpshooter at 5:51. Maybe Mr. Perfect should have shown up in Skinner's dressing room with some tips instead. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

 

Backstage, Okerlund is with Flair and Perfect, trying to get to the bottom of this corner mystery, but of course neither man is showing their hand. Flair looks like Ronnie Garvin's grandmother tonight

 

BUExperience: Between some last minute angle development for the main event of SummerSlam, and a hot Flair/Santana match that you should totally check out if you haven’t seen, I’d call this a pretty good hype special. They really did a great job of making sure every match got a little bit of time, though I’m surprised how sparse the hype for the Hart/Bulldog match was, since it’s been getting pretty even airtime with the main event on Superstars.