Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper, and Mr. Perfect are in the booth, starting a new round of television tapings from New Haven, Connecticut. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these tapings were held on November 13.
McMahon tells fans that the Undertaker is the new WWF Champion.
A replay of WWF President Jack Tunney announcing at Survivor Series that Randy Savage is reinstated, reptiles are barred from ringside, and that Savage and Jake Roberts will face off at This Tuesday in Texas is shown. McMahon adds that the Undertaker will defend the WWF Championship on the show against Hulk Hogan.
Opening Contest: The Barbarian (9-7-1) beats Mark Thomas after the flying clothesline at 3:23:
The Barbarian has only made two televised appearances since the fall began. The last time fans saw him wrestle was a squash win on the October 13 edition of Wrestling Challenge. He dominates Thomas with power offense as Perfect reveals that the Barbarian is getting an Intercontinental Championship match against Bret Hart at This Tuesday in Texas. Considering that the Barbarian lost his house show feud to Bret earlier in the year, his chances of leaving Texas with the title are slim to none.
The Big Bossman (38-0-1) pins Von Krus after the Bossman Slam at 1:31:
The Bossman is full of energy, giving Krus little breathing room in this squash. It marks his 26th straight win in singles competition. After the match, the Bossman handcuffs Krus to the ropes and poses.
Jake Roberts does a taped promo where he tells fans that the snake they need to worry about is not the one in the bag but him. Randy Savage rebuts that Roberts can trust that he is coming to Texas to take him out.
Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) (4-0) beats Glen Ruth via submission to the figure-four leglock at 4:59:
Ruth was a Larry Sharpe trainee that wrestled as the Spider on the New Jersey independent circuit, holding the World Wrestling Association (WWA) Heavyweight Championship at the time of this match. Ruth also wrestled for All Japan as Frankie Favorite around this time. He wrestled a few enhancement matches for the WWF the previous year as well. Fans would later know him as Thrasher of the Headbangers.
McMahon says that Jack Tunney told Flair that he will continue to censor his world title belt until Flair wins a title in the WWF. This is a boring squash as Flair throws lots of chops before finally grounding Ruth with a kneebreaker and figure-four. Booking like this is doing no favors for Flair’s drawing power, compounded by the weak way he became the sole survivor at Survivor Series.
Gary Strydom is shown helping El Matador working out in the gym.
A replay of Sergeant Slaughter saving Hacksaw Jim Duggan from the Nasty Boys on Wrestling Challenge is shown.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter defeat Paul Perez & Dale Wolfe when Duggan pins Perez after a three-point stance clothesline at 2:31:
The tag team division needs fresh blood so it is not the worst idea to put Duggan and Slaughter together as a team. The new duo have the same problem as other stacked “all-star” tag teams in that each man wrestles their own mini-match as a singles. The only double team is the finish where Slaughter whips Perez into Duggan’s three-point stance clothesline. After the match, Jamison is shown sitting at ringside.
WWF Champion the Undertaker and Paul Bearer do a taped promo where they talk about wanting Hulk Hogan’s immortal soul for the urn.
The British Bulldog (36-2-2) pins Dave Wilson after the running powerslam at 2:20:
Wilson is just another big boy jobber for the Bulldog to vanquish with impressive power moves like the vertical suplex. McMahon announces that the Bulldog will face the Warlord at This Tuesday in Texas, a bout that exemplifies how the Bulldog has been stuck in neutral for the year.
Repo Man (2-0) beats Phil Apollo via submission to a leg grapevine at 2:01:
One would think that Repo Man costing Virgil the Million Dollar Championship would spark a feud between the two, but Virgil is being programmed on house shows after Survivor Series with Skinner instead. McMahon tells fans that Repo Man will team with DiBiase to face Virgil and El Matador at This Tuesday in Texas. DiBiase and Sensational Sherri do an insert promo where he says he is done beating up Virgil and that his real target is El Matador, who is getting in his way. Repo Man remains undefeated after slamming Apollo and grapevining his right leg. After the bell, Repo Man ties up Apollo’s legs, ties him to the ropes, and picks him up to dump him on his head. He also yells at Jamison in the crowd on the way to the locker room.
Hulk Hogan does a taped promo, arguing that his loss of the WWF Championship was a tragedy. He promises a reality check for the Undertaker and Paul Bearer, adding that if he fails to win the WWF Championship he should be buried with all his Hulkamaniacs. He closes by saying that if the Undertaker and Bearer were to cut him open they would unleash millions of Hulkamaniacs who would fight them to the death.
The Last Word: The aim of this show was to hype This Tuesday in Texas and it did an okay job of that. The taped promos were fine, and the commentary team got across the big matches. However, the lack of footage from Survivor Series was a big omission because fans needed to see how Hogan lost the WWF title to sympathize more with his effort to regain it.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for December 1!