Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, still taped from Huntington, West Virginia.
Opening Contest: Bret Hart (21-0-3) beats Vito Krus via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:56:
In the split screen, Jimmy Hart says that he knows Bret’s weaknesses because of their past together and the Mountie warns Bret that he will shock him if they face off in the future. This would imply that Bret has won his feud with the Warlord and is moving into a new program with the Mountie. Heenan makes cracks about Roddy Piper, arguing that Piper is planning on going as a man for Halloween. Krus starts getting up too early for the second rope elbow drop, causing Bret to land the blow on the back of his head, and that leads to the Sharpshooter.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report recaps the Sid Justice, Jake Roberts, and Undertaker angle on Superstars two weeks ago.
The Texas Tornado’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) (21-3) beat Brian Donahue & Al Coleman when Jerry Sags pins Coleman after the Trip to Nastyville at 3:03:
Some of the narrative for the Nasties loss to the Legion of Doom at SummerSlam has shifted to Hart not reading the fine print of the contract for the match. That complaint is mute, though, as the Nasties championed the stipulations in promos leading up to the pay-per-view. The Nasties club their opponents in turn and notch another win with the Trip to Nastyville.
Skinner (6-0-1) pins Jose Vega after the inverted DDT at 2:18:
Monsoon criticizes WWF officials for allowing Skinner to bring a knife to the ring. As Skinner pounds away, the Dragon does one last ridiculous insert promo about how he has been around for thousands of years and no one can put out his fire, including knights and “poachers” like Skinner. Skinner pulls Vega into the ring after knocking him to the floor and wins with his inverted DDT.
Gene Okerlund interviews Sid Justice, the Big Bossman, and the Legion of Doom. Sid says that it does not matter if Jake Roberts shows up as himself or El Diablo at Survivor Series because he will not like what he is going to face. Hawk says that Roberts’ team agitates them, so they are going to make the pay-per-view a disaster for their opponents.
Okerlund does the Survivor Series Report. Roddy Piper, Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart, the British Bulldog, and Virgil do a promo where Piper likens his group to the Village People. The Bulldog says that Ric Flair’s team cannot survive against them. Virgil argues the team is ready for dinner for four, and Bret runs down the gimmicks of the Warlord, Mountie, and Ted DiBiase.
A replay of Sergeant Slaughter’s vignette from Superstars is shown.
Ric Flair (2-0) beats Bill Pierce via submission to the figure-four leglock at 2:41:
Flair lays in chops as Heenan talks down Roddy Piper, arguing that Piper is going to hide behind his teammates at Survivor Series. Two minutes in, Flair stars working Pierce’s knee and that sets up the figure-four. Flair has been fine on the mic since his arrival but these squashes are not helping him stand out or seem like anything special.
The Natural Disasters and Jimmy Hart tell the Rockers that bad weather awaits them. The Rockers rebut that they are the masters of motion and the Disasters will not be able to catch them.
Tune in next week to see the Rockers face the Natural Disasters! Also, El Matador will be in action! And Hulk Hogan will appear on the Barber Shop!
The Last Word: The WWF is entering a sweeps month so there will be some feature matches on the road to Survivor Series. That will give fans a reason to tune into Wrestling Challenge as the program has lacked a draw for most of the year. This episode was filler, boosting acts and building up Survivor Series.
And here were the results of the WWF’s house show circuit near the end of the month, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Sacramento, California – Arco Arena – October 24, 1991 (5,000; 4,000 paid): The British Bulldog pinned Colonel Mustafa with a sunset flip at 11:45…The Mountie defeated Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart via count out at 13:28 after the Mountie used the shock stick on Bret outside the ring…Greg Valentine beat Hercules via submission to the figure-four leglock at 12:51…WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom beat the Natural Disasters via disqualification when the Disasters tossed referee Earl Hebner out of the ring at 8:13. After the bout, Hawk gave the Disasters a double flying clothesline…The Berzerker pinned Jim Neidhart with a Flair pin at 7:31…The Big Bossman pinned Irwin R. Schyster with a roll up. IRS originally won the match with the Flair pin, but the referee reversed the initial decision and continued the match, with the Bossman winning quickly after the restart. After the bell, IRS blasted the Bossman with his briefcase…Ric Flair pinned Roddy Piper with the Flair pin at 11:36.
Oakland, California – Oakland Coliseum – October 25, 1991 (14,900; 13,400 paid): Hercules pinned Jim Neidhart after reversing a powerslam attempt and using the tights for leverage at 10:00…Irwin R. Schyster pinned the Big Bossman after hitting him with his briefcase at 9:25. After the bell, IRS hit the Bossman with his briefcase a second time…The British Bulldog pinned Colonel Mustafa with a roll up at 9:57…WWF Champion Hulk Hogan beats Ric Flair (w/Bobby Heenan) via reverse decision. Flair initially pinned Hogan after hitting him with a foreign object at 11:35 but another referee came to the ring to dispute the outcome. After the decision was rendered, Flair put Hogan in a figure-four leglock until the British Bulldog and Greg Valentine made the save…The Berzerker pinned Greg Valentine with a roll up at 10:55…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart pinned the Mountie with a roll up after heel miscommunication at 11:24. The Mountie wrestled the match without a shirt…WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom defeated the Natural Disasters via disqualification at 9:01 when the Disasters threw referee Earl Hebner out of the ring after giving Animal their finishers. After the bell, Hawk hit the Disasters with a double flying clothesline.
Dallas, Texas – Reunion Arena – October 26, 1991 (1,800): Skinner beat the Brooklyn Brawler…The Nasty Boys defeated the Rockers when Jerry Sags pinned Shawn Michaels…Ted DiBiase beat Virgil via count out…The Undertaker beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan…The Texas Tornado pinned Big Bully Busick…The Bushwhackers beat the Beverly Brothers…Jake Roberts defeated Randy Savage (substituting for Sid Justice) via disqualification.
Backstage News*: Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair had their first match at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Dayton, Ohio on October 22. Hogan was substituting for Roddy Piper in a dark match and Flair ended up winning via count out. Their first advertised match drew a crowd of 14,900 (13,400 paid) to Oakland, California on October 25. Fans in Oakland bought the fake title change before the reverse decision and one-third of fans were said to be rooting for Flair.
*In injury news, Sid had surgery for his torn tricep muscle on October 24. It looks like he will not be able to return to the ring until March but the WWF is going to hold off on acknowledging the injury until a few weeks before Survivor Series. On house shows, the WWF continues to do the Mr. Madness gimmick with Randy Savage as a substitute, although the Texas Tornado has also been used as a substitute for Sid in a few towns. There were rumors prior to his injury that Sid was going to win the WWF Championship at the Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view airing days after Survivor Series but that was never in the company’s plans.
*In talent relations news, Ricky Steamboat was fired at a television taping in Fort Wayne, Indiana on October 21. The WWF contends that Steamboat refused to do jobs for the Undertaker and Irwin R. Schyster, while Steamboat argues that the WWF wanted him to do stretcher jobs for each man, which he believed exposed the business. Steamboat had been unhappy with his bookings since he returned and was only making $52,000 for the year. He had already given the company his notice on October 16. The WWF has also contended that they were about to start a program between Steamboat and Ted DiBiase where Steamboat would blow fire at DiBiase and burn up his money and Steamboat quit before they could start it. They are unhappy they have invested time in building Steamboat up and he is abandoning the promotion. With Steamboat out of the picture, Tito Santana will be programmed with DiBiase instead.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for October 28 and November 4.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for October 28!