Vince McMahon moderates another night of discussion. This time the panel features Gorilla Monsoon, Lord Alfred Hayes, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect.
A replay of WWF President Jack Tunney’s announcement on Superstars about the vacating of the WWF Championship is shown. Heenan hates the idea because Ric Flair should be handed the title instead of having to go through 29 superstars to get it. Perfect adds that Flair will prove that he is the “real world’s champion” in the Rumble.
Opening Contest: The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) (27-1-2) beats Jim Neidhart (5-1-1) after a blind charge and holding the tights at 10:33 shown:
This opening bout was filmed in Madison Square Garden on October 28. The Mountie gets the crowd on his case by stalling between failed offensive moves and threatening to leave after Neidhart slams him three consecutive times. A Hart distraction allows the Mountie to go to work after six and a half minutes, but that offense consists of rest holds like a chinlock and claw. Neidhart’s comeback begins after the Mountie puts his head down too quickly on an Irish whip and he gets a near-fall from a clothesline. However, a blind charge causes Neidhart’s knee to collide with the turnbuckles and the Mountie uses a jackknife cover while holding the tights to win. This was another ugly feature bout from Neidhart this year. Rating: ½*
McMahon suggests that Neidhart will set his sights on the Beverly Brothers now that he has teamed with Owen Hart. Monsoon concurs. McMahon also brings up Roddy Piper quitting commentary to focus on the Royal Rumble. Heenan argues that Piper has a reason to be motivated because he has never won a title in the WWF.
Repo Man (3-0) beats Mark Boswell via submission to a leg grapevine at 3:31:
Repo Man screams that Boswell that he is a day late, leading to a discussion between Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes about how unfair it is for the Repo Man to go after people that quickly for late payments. Repo Man works Boswell’s left knee as the jobber screams. A leg grapevine puts him out of his misery and Repo Man opts not to tie his opponent in the ropes.
Gene Okerlund does The Royal Rumble Report.
The Nasty Boys’ squash from Superstars airs.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.
Irwin R. Schyster (20-1-3) beats Sonny Blaze after the Write Off at 2:19:
Blaze already lost to IRS earlier this year on the August 18 edition of Wrestling Challenge. What makes no sense with some of IRS’ squashes is that he does his abdominal stretch while grabbing the ropes spot and the jobber does not submit. To get that move over, he should have won with it a few times. IRS wins with the Write Off and drops an elbow on the jobber after the bell.
Heenan repeats claims that the Big Bossman takes bribes, careful to say that he got that information from IRS. He also repeats how he paid $280 in taxes last year on his income.
The Big Bossman (40-0-1) defeats the Warlord (w/Harvey Wippleman) (24-5-2) via disqualification after Wippleman interferes at 5:34:
The bout, which aired on All American Wrestling on December 1 and was filmed in Utica, New York on November 11 as part of Survivor Series Showdown, is joined in progress to the Bossman dazing the Warlord with a series of punches and clotheslining him out of the ring. The Warlord takes over shortly thereafter after a sloppy spot where he grabs a diving Bossman and falls with him, rather than slamming him, to the canvas. A long bearhug follows, leading to a two-count. The Bossman fights out and splashes the Warlord, causing Wippleman to get into the ring and jump on the Bossman’s back for a weak disqualification finish. Rating: ¼*
After the bell, the Bossman grabs Wippleman but the Warlord saves his manager and drops some elbows. The Warlord throws the Bossman out of the ring, so the Bossman grabs his nightstick, blasts the Warlord a few times, and the heels flee. Wippleman leaves his hat behind, so the Bossman puts it on his head and poses for the crowd.
McMahon speculates that the Legion of Doom could end up in the Royal Rumble.
WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom’s squash from Superstars is shown.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Bret Hart (26-0-3) pins the Barbarian (10-8-1) after a small package at 12:24:
The Barbarian has bad luck against the Hitman, losing to Bret twice already this year on the July 8 and SummerSlam Spectacular episodes of Prime Time Wrestling. This encounter took place at the Springfield, Massachusetts Wrestling Challenge tapings on November 12 and aired on All American Wrestling the previous day. The early stages of the match are a carbon copy of their previous encounters, with the Barbarian overwhelming Bret with his power until Bret starts doing some basic technical work. A stun gun puts Bret in a vulnerable position and the Barbarian goes to work on the back, getting a close near-fall from a backbreaker. That is the only time he goes for a cover, though, and it costs him since a blind charge leads into Bret’s moves of doom. A Barbarian kickout from a side Russian leg sweep sends Bret to the floor and he sunset flips back in for two. That does more damage to Bret than his opponent, though, and the Barbarian delivers a suplex for a near-fall. However, he takes a breather for a second and tries to do the same move again, leading to Bret small packaging his opponent and winning. This was a really good match, the best of their 1991 series so far. The Barbarian deserved so much better than what the booking was giving him. Rating: ***½
Ted DiBiase (w/Sensational Sherri) (26-3-1) beats Greg Valentine (19-8-3) after a schoolboy roll up at 6:57:
This match also took place at the Utica tapings. For fans of the 1980s, it is a unique clash between two of the biggest heels in the company during that decade. There is some nice technical wrestling until DiBiase knocks the Hammer to the floor and goes to work on him. After Valentine misses a blind charge, DiBiase tries to work over his knee. In a nice bit, he does some spinning tie holds but Valentine knows that is a precursor for a figure-four so he kicks DiBiase into the buckles and mounts a comeback. The audience does not get behind him because Valentine’s win-loss totals have not been good since his babyface turn. Sherri trips Valentine when he tries to do an elbow drop off the ropes and when Valentine confronts her, DiBiase rolls him up for a cheap win. This was a fun little match that could have been so much more if the time given to it was doubled. Rating: **½
Following the match, Valentine chases Sherri to the locker room.
Virgil (21-1) defeats Von Krus via submission to the Million Dollar Dream at 2:47:
Sean Mooney and Hayes talk about how Virgil has vowed to go after Repo Man. In the split screen, Repo Man says that Christmas is a time for taking as far as he is concerned. Virgil runs through his usual offense, still finishing matches with the Million Dollar Dream. Since his feud with Ted DiBiase is over, Virgil needs to get a new move.
Monsoon says that Jake Roberts would love to be in the Royal Rumble and become WWF Champion. McMahon wonders if Roberts may make it there because Randy Savage is after him. Hayes asks Heenan what Ric Flair’s gameplan will be if Flair draws #1 and has to face the Legion of Doom if they draw #2 and #3. Heenan does not have much to say to that. Monsoon insists that if Flair draws the first number that he has no chance of winning.
Jake Roberts (23-2) pins Chris Duffy after a short-arm clothesline at 3:15:
Roberts, usually known for colorful tights, wears brown snakeskin-like long tights for this squash. He opts to finish with a short-arm clothesline instead of the DDT because fans were cheering for the DDT after he put Duffy in a front facelock.
The Last Word: This show had four feature matches, which already made it better than most episodes of Prime Time for the year. Two of them were bad but Bret Hart’s title defense was one of the best matches on free television in 1991 and Ted DiBiase and Greg Valentine also had a fun encounter. Too much of the studio banter centered around Ric Flair, which got old quickly, but thankfully most of the show was focused on showing matches than talking.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for December 14!