WWF at Philadelphia Spectrum (January 11, 1992)

Original Airdate: January 11, 1992

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Opening Match: Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair: That’s quite the opener. I assume this is going on first because Flair had to make it to New Haven Connecticut for a match with Roddy Piper later in the day, but a lot of the guys on this card were also going to be on that show, so that doesn’t really explain it. Hulk blitzes him early on, but gets nailed coming into the ring, and Flair tries a chop - only for Hogan to no-sell. Hogan takes him into the corner for a ten-punch, and a cross corner whip flips Flair to the outside. Hogan is on him with a chair out there, and he uses the guardrail and post before rolling Ric back in. Hulk keeps running wild on him, so Mr. Perfect assists with a distraction, and Flair is able to clip the leg. Ric goes to work on the part, but a trip to the top rope ends in him getting slammed off, and Hogan turns the tide. He works the leg, using a kneebreaker and a smash into the post to set up a figure four, but Perfect comes in to save. Hulk deals with him, allowing Flair to get hold of a pair of knux, and he clocks the Hulkster with them. Cover, count, but it triggers a Hulk Up at two! Big boot connects, so Perfect pulls Ric to the outside to avoid the legdrop. Hogan follows, so Flair tries to post him, but Hulk reverses, and Ric is counted out at 8:03. This was pretty short, but all action, and fun. I’m certain they would have had a great, memorable match if they ran them at WrestleMania VIII, but I guess it will have to go down as one of the greatest ‘what ifs’ in history instead. ** ½ 

Brooklyn Brawler v Chris Walker: Brawler with some right hands early, so Chris forces a criss cross, and hiptosses him. Dropkick knocks Brawler out of the ring, and Brawler stalls out there. Inside, Walker continues to dominate, but walks into a cheap shot in the corner, and Brawler drops him across the top rope to turn the tide. Bodypress gets him two, so Brawler takes it to the mat in a chinlock. Walker fights free, so Brawler drills him with a clothesline, and bootchokes him. Brawler with a ropechoke, but Chris comes back with a powerslam, and he dives with a flying bodypress at 6:02. Very basic stuff. ¼*

Sgt. Slaughter v Col. Mustafa: Sarge’s entrance takes forever here. Mustafa attacks before the bell, and he pounds on Slaughter for a bit. Cross corner whip sends Sarge bumping over the top, but Slaughter comes back in with a bodyslam, and he wants to stomp Mustafa downstairs, but the referee intervenes. I’m sure the Colonel was feeling mighty humbled after that. Mustafa gets hold of a belt and makes a comeback with that, but wastes time arguing about a count, and Slaughter schoolboys at 6:46. This was some late stage AWA level stuff. DUD

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Bret Hart and The Legion of Doom v Mountie and The Natural Disasters: Animal and Mountie start, but Mountie wants the Hitman instead. Bret obliges, but Mountie immediately bails, frustrating the Hitman. More tags give us Hawk and Typhoon, and actual contact is made this time! They do a few false tieups before things fall apart again, and all six men end up in the ring for a standoff. Dust settles on Animal and Earthquake, and a criss cross results in a double knockout spot. Tag to Bret for a tandem clothesline, so Typhoon tries running in, but Hawk cuts him off, and we get another standoff. Bret ends up getting rammed into the post by Earthquake in the scuffle, and the heels go to work on the Hitman from there. Animal gets the tag and runs wild, but gets clobbered, and the heels take control again. Mountie tries a splash, but hits the knees, and Bret gets the tag. He runs wild on Mountie, so Earthquake comes in, but accidentally lands on his partner - allowing Hart to pin him at 10:27. I wasn’t expecting a workrate classic, but this was surprisingly boring considering the big personalities involved. ½*

Hercules v Jim Powers: Lots of posturing to start, as they literally circle and point at each other for minutes on end. They finally do a test-of-strength spot, with Hercules dominating, before moving on to a chinlock. Powers escapes, and makes a comeback, hooking a schoolboy for two. Dropkick gets two, but Hercules reverses a whip into the ropes, and delivers a powerslam at 9:28. This was mind numbingly boring. -½*

Tito Santana v Ted DiBiase: DiBiase is in stall mode early on, so Tito chases him to the outside, and Ted begs off on the way back in. Tito sends him over the top with an atomic drop, and he grabs a mat-based side-headlock when DiBiase comes back in. Clothesline gets him two when DiBiase tries escaping, and allows Santana to go back to the hold. Ted escapes again, and tries a hiptoss, but Tito reverses, and throws a dropkick for two. Back to the headlock, until Ted escapes, and this time gets the better of Santana in the corner. He dumps Tito to the outside for a smash into the apron, and he chokes Tito on the rail while Sensational Sherri distracts the referee. Sherri was always worth every last cent of her cut. Ted with a 2nd rope axehandle for two, and a clothesline is worth two. DiBiase works a chinlock from there, until Tito fights to a vertical base, so Ted throws a knee to keep him down. Turnbuckle smash, but Tito reverses, and makes a comeback. El Paso looks to put it away, but Sherri puts Ted’s foot under the rope at two. Every. Cent. Santana stays in control with a bodyslam, but Ted bails to avoid another El Paso. Tito drags him back in, so Sherri attacks, allowing Ted to nail him on the way. Tito fights him off anyway, and a clothesline knocks DiBiase over the top, as time expires at 18:27. This was slow, but both guys are such excellent workers that it worked more than it reads. *

Main Event: Virgil v Repo Man: This is… the main event? Obviously Hogan/Flair earns that honor, even if this is going on last. That last sentence is all the proof you’ll ever need that this was not written by CM Punk. Repo tries a sneak attack while Virgil is posing on the ropes, but Virgil is ready with a 2nd rope bodypress, and some mounted punches. Dropkick looks to set up the cobra clutch, but Repo is able to bail before Virgil can lock it on. Back in, Virgil hooks a backslide for two, and he applies an armbar. Repo fights him off in the corner, but misses a charge, and Virgil delivers a clothesline. Bodypress, but Repo hits the deck, and Virgil takes a nice bump over the top. Repo follows for a clothesline on the floor, and another one finds the mark on the way back into the ring. Repo works a reverse chinlock, and throws a knee when Virgil fights free. Repo unloads in the corner, but Virgil fights back with a schoolboy for two, and a small package is worth two. Repo tries cutting him off with a backdrop, but Virgil counters with a facebuster, and makes a comeback. Russian legsweep gets him two, so he unloads a ten-punch count, but Repo slips him into a leveraged pin at 9:34. Clearly they were done with whatever push Virgil was getting after the DiBiase split. ¾*

BUExperience: The Hogan/Flair house show run matches were always fun, but the rest of this definitely is not, with all the star power packed into a couple of matches, and a bunch of lower tier guys in uninteresting pairings filling the rest of the card out.

DUD