WWF at Market Square Arena (November 29, 1992)

 

Original Airdate: November 29, 1992

From Indianapolis, Indiana

Opening Match: Tatanka v Papa Shango: Papa measures him some to start, but misses a shot in the corner, and Tatanka unloads. Tatanka grabs a wristlock, but Papa fights into the ropes, and uses a cross corner whip. Another one rattles the ring, and Shango throws a backelbow to put Tatanka on the mat. Papa gives him a headbutt drop to the groin, and a clothesline follows, leading to a bow-and-arrow. Tatanka escapes, and makes a comeback, landing a standing dropkick, and throwing chops. He goes for the flying tomahawk chop, but Papa blocks, and nails him with a few axehandles. He goes to scoop Tatanka up, but Tatanka is ready with an inside cradle for three at 8:33. Really weak stuff here. DUD

Big Boss Man v Razor Ramon: Stalling from Razor to start, after infuriating Boss Man with trash talk before the bell. Boss Man takes it in stride and returns the favor with some stalling of his own, and then it’s inside for some posturing. Night off in the ring tonight, looks like. They engage in a test-of-strength, dominated by Ramon, but Boss Man slugs free, and wins a criss cross with a right hand. A backelbow follows, and a schoolboy gets Boss Man two. A small package gets another two, and Boss Man corners him for a ten-punch, so Ramon pops him with his own nightstick for the pin at 5:31. This was, like, two minutes of actual action, the rest was just posturing. DUD

Undertaker v Nailz: Undertaker chokes him into the corner to start, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. Nailz charges in, but hits a boot, and Undertaker delivers a ropewalk forearm. Backdrop, but Nailz nails him to block, and a clothesline sends Undertaker over the top. He tries pulling him back in, but Undertaker snaps his throat across the top rope to block, and Undertaker uses a ropechoke. Undertaker with a short-clothesline, but a charge in the corner misses, and Nailz uses a facebuster. Nailz tosses him to the outside, and the big galoot is so clumsy that he nearly breaks his neck following. He manages to whip Undertaker into the steps out there, and he delivers a bodyslam on the way back in. Another bodyslam, but Undertaker keeps coming, so Nailz uses a side suplex. Undertaker sits up again, so Nailz bails. Undertaker follows, but Nailz pops him with a nightstick, and grabs a sleeper to put it away. Undertaker fades, but Nailz lets off too soon, wanting to go after Paul Bearer. Undertaker recovers, so Nailz decides to walk out, but Undertaker stalks after him. Undertaker brings things back into the ring, so Nailz goes low. Clothesline, but Undertaker ducks, and delivers a chokeslam at 6:42. This was okay! I mean, I was expecting a real stinker, and was pleasantly surprised. ¾*

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Ric Flair: I always loved the way Bret would kiss the belt before handing it to the referee. They feel each other out to start, with Hart controlling. Flair goes to the eyes to grab control, and a snapmare sets up a chinlock, but Bret immediately counters to a hammerlock. Flair fights into the corner and throws a chop on the break, but a criss cross ends in Bret using a drop-toehold into a figure four. Ric gets the ropes to break, but Bret stays on the part, working the leg. Hart gets a leglock on, but an elbowdrop to the knee misses. Flair looks to recover, but Bret hammers him into the corner before he can, so Ric goes to the eyes. That allows Flair a corner whip, and the challenger takes control. Ric continues selling the leg as he delivers another two corner whips, and a snapmare gets him a few leveraged two counts. Another pair of corner whips, and another snapmare into a leveraged pin for two. Ric hammers the champion's lower back, and a backelbow gets him two. Bret fights back with fists of fury, so Flair kicks him in the cut, and tries a sleeper. Hart quickly drops into the corner to shake the challenger loose, but Flair dumps him to the outside before he can fully recover. Hart manages a slingshot sunset flip for two on the way back in, so Flair tries a hiptoss, but Bret counters to a backslide for two. Hart gets a sleeper on, but Flair quickly uses a side suplex to escape, and both men are left down. Flair is up first, and he goes to the top, but Bret pops up, and slams him off. He looks for a comeback, so Flair starts throwing chops, but Bret is on the warpath now. Hart with a ten-punch count, and a cross corner whip rebounds Ric into a backdrop. Bret with a Russian legsweep for two, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop. The Sharpshooter looks to finish, but Ric goes to the eyes to block, and delivers a kneebreaker. Figure four, but Hart is ready with an inside cradle at 17:47. This was solid enough on general principle, but felt like they never really got it off the ground. One of the biggest issues here was that the match seemed like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. One moment it was a ‘Flair match,’ one moment it was something else. It just wasn’t a coherent, fully realized piece. * ¾ 

Crush v Repo Man: Crush knocks him around to start, but misses an elbowdrop, and Repo hammers him. Bodyslam, but Crush blocks the attempt, and uses a backbreaker. Crush takes him to the mat in a bodyscissors, but Repo escapes, so Crush tries a big boot, but Repo bails to avoid it. Crush drags him back in for a cross corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Repo capitalizes with a piledriver. Repo goes to work, but Crush escapes a hold, and makes a comeback. A backbreaker leads to the headvice, and Repo is done at 6:57. ¼*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Marty Jannetty: Shawn attacks as Marty climbs into the ring, but Jannetty wins the resulting slugfest, and uses a matslam. Jannetty with a clothesline, so Michaels dumps him to the outside to buy time, but Marty pulls him right out with him! Jannetty tries sending him into the post, but Michaels reverses, and heads back in. Jannetty beats the count to the apron, so Michaels snaps his throat across the top rope, and pops the challenger with a fist on the way inside. Shawn with a cross corner whip, and a snapmare sets up a chinlock. Jannetty escapes, and dumps Shawn over the top on a criss cross, but Michaels lands on the apron. He slides back in and drops Marty with a swinging neckbreaker, and a backelbow follows. Turnbuckle smash, but Marty reverses, only to miss an elbowdrop. That allows Michaels a ropeburn, and he grabs a front-facelock, but Marty fights free, after initially fading. Cross corner whip, but Shawn reverses, only to miss the charge in. That allows Jannetty a 2nd rope bulldog, but Michaels ducks a punch, and delivers a bodyslam. Shawn tries a dive off the middle, but hits Jannetty’s boot, and Marty makes a comeback. A cross corner whip flips Shawn over the top, and Marty follows to send him into the steps before bringing the action back inside. Jannetty with a powerslam to set up a dive off the top, but Shawn looks to dodge - only for Marty to anticipate, and land on his feet. He corners the champ for a ten-punch, so Shawn uses an inverted atomic drop, but the superkick misses. Marty with a superkick of his own for two, and a reversal sequence ends in Jannetty throwing a bodypress, but Michaels rolling through for the pin at 10:56. Unlike Hart and Flair, these two always had great chemistry. This felt effortless (in all the best ways). ** ¾ 

The Natural Disasters v The Headshrinkers: Typhoon starts with Samu, and they do some posturing, mostly revolving around Typhoon being fat. Typhoon with a bodyslam, so Fatu runs in to try an assist, but takes a bodyslam as well, and both heels bail. Tag to Earthquake, so the Headshrinkers try double teaming him, but can’t get any traction. The babyfaces with some double teaming as they continue to casually dominate, but Earthquake misses an elbowdrop, and the heels are quick with a double team to capitalize. That’s enough to turn the tide, and they work Earthquake over. Samu misses a corner splash to allow the hot tag to Typhoon, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Disasters dominate, but Typhoon makes the critical error of trying to bash their heads together, and gets dropped. That allows the heels stereo headbutt drops for the pin on Typhoon at 13:34. This was really long for what it was, and the heels went over. Considering that Bret pinned Flair cleanly earlier, I have no idea why that didn’t close the show. My only guess is that Hart and Flair needed to get on the road again as quickly as possible for whatever reason. ¼*

BUExperience: An intriguing card on paper, and even though a lot of the matches don’t necessarily live up to the intrigue, it’s worth at least giving this a look for the novelty. And Michaels/Jannetty is worth a look in general. 

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