Bobby Heenan, carrying the NWA World Heavyweight Championship Belt, reminds the production team that everything needs to run perfect for Ric Flair debut on tonight’s program.
Sean Mooney and Heenan are the hosts. Mooney suggests that they pass around Ric Flair’s belt to the audience, but Heenan dismisses that.
Opening Contest: The Dragon (18-0) beats Colonel Mustafa (13-0) with the flying body press at 4:04:
This bout took place at the Wrestling Challenge taping in Erie, Pennsylvania on August 20. The Dragon slows his offense down so the broken down Mustafa can keep up. Mustafa struggles to get up for a suplex and after the Dragon lands that he comes off the top rope with the flying body press to keep his undefeated record intact. With SummerSlam over, this should be the start of Mustafa’s jobbing tour. Rating: *
Jamison shows off the newest edition of WWF Magazine.
The Undertaker and Paul Bearer are the first studio guests. Footage is shown of the Randy Savage-Elizabeth wedding reception and Bearer shows off a photo album he has to memorialize the occasion. Bearer tells Sid Justice that he may have saved Savage but no one will be able to save him. The Undertaker adds that Sid has brought himself into the middle of the dark side.
The Bushwhackers’ squash from Superstars airs.
Hercules (0-1) (w/Slick) beats Phil Apollo via submission to the torture rack at 1:46:
Giving Hercules a squash is a curious decision because his return should theoretically usher in a new wave of bouts for Power & Glory. Hercules does a few token moves and then puts Apollo in the torture rack for a submission win.
Footage of Heenan getting a locker room door slammed in his face by WWF Champion Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam is shown. Heenan insists that if Ric Flair was with him, Hogan would have been dragged from his locker room to the ring and had the yellow and red beaten out of him.
Jim Neidhart defeats the Brooklyn Brawler after the Anvil Flattener at 1:16:
Instead of getting his own theme music in a rebooted singles career, Neidhart is still using the Hart Foundation’s anthem. The story given for Neidhart’s return is he got tired of dealing with Heenan on commentary. What has changed about Neidhart’s look is that he is wearing gaudy blue parachute pants. Neidhart makes quick work of the Brawler, winning with his Anvil Flattener powerslam.
Big Bully Busick (w/Harvey Wippleman) (2-0) defeats Jim Powers via submission to a stump puller at 3:06:
To put over his gimmick, Busick takes the tie from a ring attendant on the way to the ring and Wippleman reties it around the young man’s neck. Powers is able to get some token offense in like a kneelift and dropkick for a near-fall. In a telling sign for the Bully’s prospects, he puts his foot on the bottom ropes to break that near-fall instead of powerfully kicking out. The Bully turns the tide by throwing Powers chest-first into the corner, planting him with a back suplex, and applying the stump puller to make Powers quit.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the Roddy Piper-Heenan confrontation on the Funeral Parlor.
Heenan has a red carpet rolled out for Ric Flair’s arrival. Flair comes out to his traditional theme music from the NWA/WCW. He chastises those, like Roddy Piper, who thought that he was not coming into the WWF and he will soon slap Piper so hard that his skirt “will fall below his ankles.” Flair transitions to Hulk Hogan, arguing that he has challenged Hogan for the last ten years and received no answer. He insists that Hogan will soon have to answer the question of whether he can beat him.
The Texas Tornado (27-0) beats Irwin R. Schyster (14-0-2) via disqualification when IRS pulls the referee in front of a discus punch at 8:20:
This match, like the opener, also took place in Erie, Pennsylvania on August 20. The match has a disjointed flow, as there is stalling in the beginning and then the Tornado catches IRS off the ropes with the Claw and refuses to release it when IRS is in the ropes. To cover for the Tornado not doing what he is supposed to, referee Earl Hebner restarts the five count three times. IRS rolls out of the ring after taking the discus punch to avoid being pinned and takes control with two long chinlocks after the Tornado goes shoulder-first into the ring post after a blind charge. The only thing that makes that tolerable is hearing Lord Alfred Hayes’ English pronunciation of “tornado” and how Monsoon laughs at it. When the Tornado gets out of a chinlock. The Tornado begins escaping the chinlock and IRS pulls Hebner in front of him, leading to Hebner getting decked with a discus punch. Hebner recovers quickly and IRS gets disqualified as a result. This had flashes of brilliance but was mostly a mess. Rating: ½*
Jimmy Snuka (10-3) beats Tanaka (w/Mr. Fuji) (0-1) with the Superfly Splash at 3:26 shown:
The bout is joined in progress to Tanaka blasting Snuka with his patented flying forearm. Snuka is back to wearing short tights, continuing the 1991 identity crisis about his look. He catches Tanaka with a chop off the ropes out of nowhere and uses a backbreaker to set up the Superfly Splash. There was not much action here and what was featured was not much to celebrate. Rating: ½*
WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom are the third guests of the evening. They put over their victory over the Nasty Boys at SummerSlam. Hawk tells the Natural Disasters that they will run through them like they have all of the other teams in the WWF.
Footage of the six-man tag team match that opened SummerSlam is shown.
A replay of Ted DiBiase and Sensational Sherri’s appearance on the Barber Shop on Wrestling Challenge airs.
Footage of the Mr. Perfect-Bret Hart Intercontinental title match at SummerSlam airs.
The Warlord’s squash from Superstars is shown.
Jamison hypes trivia in WWF Magazine and the Hulk Hogan Hotline, saying that he can play all of the time because he does not have to listen to his mother or father.
The Big Bossman (30-0-1) pins Dwayne Evans after the Bossman Slam at 1:03:
Evans has good size and bumps well for the Bossman’s offense. After a headbutt, the Bossman makes short work of Evans and pins him after a Bossman Slam. Following the pinfall, the Bossman handcuffs Evans to the ropes and runs to the locker room.
Heenan closes the show by placing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship Belt on top of Ric Flair’s robe, which is draped over a director’s chair. He warns Hulk Hogan that he has not seen anything yet before walking out of the studio.
Tune in next week to see Sid Justice, Ted DiBiase, and the Rockers!
The Last Word: The show was built around Ric Flair’s debut and Flair gave a strong promo in the middle to announce his intentions. It was a big moment for fans who were only used to seeing Flair in the NWA/WCW and never thought they would see Flair work for a rival promotion. A feud between Sid Justice and the Undertaker sounded exciting on paper too, although that would only be a short-term stopgap for the Ultimate Warrior’s departure. The only big disappointment were a lot of the feature matches, which are exposing the dearth of quality talent outside of the main event. Jim Neidhart looks ridiculous, Big Bully Busick is not a charismatic worker, and the tag team division is short of heel teams since the Orient Express and Power & Glory have fallen off the radar screen.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for September 14!