WWF Superstars (September 12, 1992)

Original Airdate: September 12, 1992 (taped August 10)

From Huntsville, Alabama; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect

Since we last met, Ric Flair has defeated Randy Savage to capture the World Wrestling Federation title for the second time (with help from Razor Ramon), and we open with clips

 

Razor Ramon v Gary Jackson: Mr. Perfect is, of course, positively giddy about the title change. It's kind of crazy that Razor got put into the main event angle, main evented the next two pay per views... and didn't even have so much as an appearance at SummerSlam. You'd think he'd at least have gotten a squash, an interview, something. Even Roddy Piper got to play the bagpipes. Razor's Edge finishes at 2:33. This was a pretty low-tier jobber, but he sold the hell out of the Edge, at least. DUD

 

Gene Okerlund gives us a full review of the title change in Hershey Pennsylvania, complete with a great altercation between Randy Savage and Razor Ramon before the match. And man, if you thought the count in the HHH/Booker T match at WrestleMania was slow, it looks like Luger/Sid at Clash XI in comparison to what's happening here. Afterwards, Ramon kept beating on him, until Ultimate Warrior carried Macho to the back in his arms like Kevin Costner at the end of the Bodyguard. After seeing all this stuff, I'm a little sad that we never got a proper TV feud between Savage and Ramon. Or a Brokeback Mountain deal with Savage and Warrior. So many missed opportunities!

 

The Natural Disasters v Doug Somers and Joe Turner: The WWF Tag Team title is not on the line here. They're already starting to push the narrative that Jimmy Hart has two teams gunning for the belts, which eventually led to the Nasty Boys' face turn. The crowd seems to be sick of this taping, as there are a ton of empty seats all over the place, and lots of people walking around. Not that I blame them. These shows are fun on TV, but I can't even imagine sitting through hour after hour of squash matches, just to get a handful of star/star bouts. Earthquake Splash/Tidal Wave combo finishes at 2:27. DUD

 

Speaking of Jimmy Hart's teams, Money Inc declare themselves top contenders. Well, they have a legitimate case. And they won the belts back when they got the rematch, so you can't really argue with that

 

Tito Santana wants to go to the top, and he doesn't care who he has to beat, even if it's Bret Hart. That seems like a really random note, considering Bret isn't even a champion at this point. Maybe learn the champions, Tito. There's only three belts at this point, it's not like it's one of the early Starrcade's, or something

 

Papa Shango v Justin Taylor: Speaking of Bret, they're pushing the idea of a Shango/Hart feud, that I'm sure would have been... something. Taylor does a great job of selling for Shango here, though he takes the actual bumps in really awkward fashion. Shango with the inverted shoulderbreaker at 2:15. Did that finisher ever get a proper name? Because it desperately needed one. DUD

 

Apparently, Crush has been a closet Hawaiian this whole time, faking his accent, and everything. But he's done living a lie, and ready to be out and proud. I'm sorry, was there a time when we all hated Hawaiians, or something? Was there some sort of Hawaiian Punch backlash I wasn't aware of?

 

Speaking of 'out and proud,' Genius presents the Beverly Brothers, who also seem to think they're the top contenders. Well, they're coming off a loss to the champions at SummerSlam, so I'm not sure I really follow their logic there

 

Big Boss Man v Iron Mike Sharpe: At least Boss Man gets a quality jobber. The crowd sweetening is pretty out of control on this one, with the volume turned way up. Boss Man Slam finishes at 3:22. Boss Man constantly threatening jobbers with the nightstick just makes me feel like maybe Nailz had a point about him. I mean, how is he really any better than Mountie with the shock stick treatment? DUD

 

In Hershey, Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect, and Bobby Heenan try recreating their classic Royal Rumble victory promo, this time with a cameo from Razor Ramon

 

The Nasty Boys v Red Tyler and Craig Brown: This is such a weird jobber team. One of them has a poncho! Meanwhile, the crowd seems to be getting thinner with each passing match. Nasty's put poncho boy away at 3:21. The only notable thing about this was that they took a commercial break in the middle of it, which I think is the only time I've ever seen that happen during a squash on this show. The action picked back up almost exactly where it left off though, so don't worry, you don't have to miss a moment of this classic! We still don't have a full version of the Kliq tag from Action Zone, but this we do. And they say life's NOT fair? DUD

 

Ultimate Warrior is on the cover of the new WWF Spotlight Magazine. Maybe he'll talk about his torrid love affair with the Macho Man

 

Skinner is all worked up because apparently Jack Tunney has banned his chew from events, and he needs something in his mouth to function. Too bad he wasn't around when Jim Barnett was booking

 

The Legion of Doom is still getting promo time, despite no longer being in the promotion. They really couldn't shoehorn something else in here? Or maybe they were hesitant about scrubbing them from the shows so quickly, hoping things would cool down and they'd be back in a couple of weeks?

 

Undertaker v Pat Rose: Oddly, this comes on after the hype package for next weeks show, which is another weird thing with this week's episode. Maybe these two's siblings should have a match? Tombstone finishes at 1:51, with Earl Hebner rivaling his count for the Savage/Flair title switch for 'slowest draw in the West.' Or, well, East, as it were. DUD

BUExperience: Fun episode this week, with the big title change angle giving them lots of material to work with.