WWF Superstars (September 19, 1992)

Original Airdate: September 19, 1992 (taped September 1)

From Hershey, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect

Bret Hart v Glen Ruth: It's hard to see Ruth as Thrasher of the Headbangers. It's really like two very different people. And speaking of guys who have had wildly different gimmicks, Papa Shango shows up on split screen to do some book burning. I know business was down, but were they running a lot of libraries? They're also pushing the narrative that Hart lost the Intercontinental title because of Shango's curse, though thankfully they didn't so much as mention that on the actual SummerSlam broadcast. Sharpshooter finishes at 2:16. DUD

 

Gene Okerlund again reviews the happenings that resulted in Ric Flair winning the WWF Title back from Randy Savage. I know sometimes I complain that not much happens on these shows, but on the other hand, I really appreciate how slowly things move sometimes. It's nice to let angle breathe

 

Shawn Michaels v Ross Greenberg: I'm guessing Greenberg is Dave Meltzer's favorite jobber. Sherri has the outfit from SummerSlam again, though this isn't pay per view, so they hide everything with camera angles. Perfect hypes up an appearance from Ric Flair on Prime Time Wrestling, including a weird bit where he promotes a local channel in Charlotte NC that Flair is appearance 'courtesy of.' Not sure what the deal was there, but that's not a very WWF-like thing. Teardrop Suplex finishes at 2:29. I know hard living on the road aged a lot of workers before their time, but it's hard to believe Sherri was only 34 at this point. She looks like she's pushing 50. ¼*

 

Big Boss Man wants Nailz, but damn if that doesn't sound like fear in his voice

 

Rick Martel is still excited about his tennis outfit. Apparently he feels like a Rolls Royce. Overpriced and quickly depreciating? Sounds more like Hulk Hogan or Ultimate Warrior. He doesn't even mention Tatanka's feathers anymore, making it all the weirder when they suddenly remembered it to build Survivor Series

 

Mountie v Tatanka: Mountie mocks Tatanka's heritage in a way that would get him cancelled today, but luckily Tatanka doesn't need a bunch of keyboard warriors to come to his aid, and stands up for himself just fine. Series of chops sends Mountie over the top, so he decides to walk out, and we get a long stall session. Jimmy Hart distracts Tatanka long enough for Mountie to sneak back in, but Tatanka fights off the attack, and hits an atomic drop. Mountie's Rick Rude sell of it is pretty great. Tatanka with a second one that sends Mountie over the top, but he skins the cat, so Tatanka keeps pounding him. Criss cross allows Hart to trip him up, however, and Mountie capitalizes with a jumping backelbow. He hangs Tatanka in an inverted tree of woe for some abuse, and a piledriver connects. He doesn't bother covering, however, instead calling for a microphone to gloat. That allows Tatanka to recover, and he makes a comeback. Flying tomahawk chop connects, but Mountie dodges a splash, and Hart quickly passes his man the shock stick. Mountie fires it up, but the referee sees it, and calls for the DQ at 9:14. This was mostly nothing, but Mountie's overselling was fun. ½*

 

Virgil is all excited because he's so popular with the fans. Well, that's one way to look at it

 

Razor Ramon is quietly menacing. Much like Jake Roberts, he does a great job of grabbing (and holding) your attention without having to shout

 

Nailz v Kerry Davis: We get an announcement that Shawn Michaels has left the building before the bell, which is another great little character touch like they used to really excel at. Vince notes that they "don't teach you a lot of science in the big house." Well, maybe they should! Education is important! Nailz with a choke sleeper at 1:01. 101? See, he's crying out for an education! The system failed this man, and Boss Man is the fucking heel in this thing. DUD

 

Ultimate Warrior is on the cover of WWF Spotlight Magazine, which features not one, but TWO giant posters inside

 

Okerlund brings Randy Savage out for an interview, with Randy selling the leg like crazy. That's some Bret Hart level selling there. He's also got an 'Ultimate Maniacs' knee brace on, which seems like it would take some real forethought to order. Gene puts over Randy's reign as champion, and the crowd is behind him, though sadly this was pretty much the end of the Macho Man at this level in the WWF. His focus now isn't even Ric Flair anymore, it's Razor Ramon. I know everyone like to fantasy rebook WrestleMania IX, and I generally stay away from that sort of thing, but if they weren't running Bret/Savage for the title, they really should have at least done Savage/Ramon on the undercard. Not like either guy was doing anything anyway. So Ultimate Warrior joins us, and the bodysuit is gone. Savage is so grateful to Warrior for saving him from Ramon and Flair that he bestows him with a special pair of sunglasses, and now they're officially the Ultimate Maniacs

 

Kamala v Tony DeVito: They put over Kamala's shitty flying splashes on Undertaker at SummerSlam like the ultimate murderdeathkill finisher here. I get wanting to get something over, but that shit looked horrible, even to a little kid who still thought it was all real. Kamala with a regular (also shitty) splash at 1:39. It's kind of ridiculous that they're still doing the 'can't figure out how to roll the guy over to cover' thing this far into his run. I mean, even cuttlefish have been proven to be able to pass a marshmallow test, but we're supposed to believe Kamala still can't figure out how pinfalls work? Afterwards, Paul Bearer wheels a casket out to mess with him, and Kamala does the big freak out. He did a good job of selling the terror, but the gold standard will always be Yokozuna the following year. DUD

 

WWF Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters are feeling so generous that they'll grant Money Inc a shot at the title. That strategy did not work out well for them

 

And speaking of bad strategies, WWF Intercontinental Champion Davey Boy Smith is also ready for his first challenger. Don't rush, Davey

BUExperience: Another fun – if not especially consequential – episode.