Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect call today’s action, still taped from Austin, Texas. Perfect puts over all of the positive attributes of Ric Flair, who is a guest on today’s Funeral Parlor.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter defeat Barry Horowitz & Jesse Hernandez when Duggan pins Hernandez after the three-point stance clothesline at 3:34:
Duggan and Slaughter started 1991 as enemies as Slaughter had turned against the United States as an Iraqi sympathizer, a turn that got him a run with the WWF Championship. Slaughter won the program between them but went into a period of self-reflection after he, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan lost a handicap match to Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam. A series of vignettes saw Slaughter beg for Americans to take him back and on November 24 he saved Duggan from a beatdown at the hands of the Nasty Boys on Wrestling Challenge. After that, both men began teaming together and ended the year undefeated.
Duggan and Slaughter tower over their jobber opponents, pounding them down as the Nasties and Jimmy Hart call Duggan and Slaughter a pair of “flag waving geeks.” That leads to McMahon and Perfect debating whether the Nasties or Slaughter and Duggan will work together in the Royal Rumble. Slaughter takes out Horowitz on the floor and clotheslines him off the apron and whips Hernandez into Duggan’s three-point stance clothesline for the win. After the bell, Slaughter tosses Duggan’s 2×4 up into the air for Duggan to retrieve.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment tells fans that they can buy Supertape ’92 on January 23. What is not mentioned is that the tape includes the matches from This Tuesday in Texas. Sid Justice’s appearance on the Barber Shop on Wrestling Challenge is shown. In Royal Rumble promos, the Warlord and Harvey Wippleman put over his size and power, the Big Bossman promises to give hard time to the other 29 men, and Rick Martel says he is new and improved and will prove it in the Rumble match.
Irwin R. Schyster beats Ray Taylor after the Write Off at 1:50:
Schyster, an evil tax collector that reflected some of McMahon’s hatred of the Internal Revenue Service, was a gimmick given to Mike Rotunda, who returned from WCW to the WWF in May 1991. IRS squashed lots of jobbers and defeated Greg Valentine at SummerSlam to solidify his position as a credible midcarder and then engaged in a feud with the Big Bossman, who he accused of taking bribes and avoiding taxes in Cobb County, Georgia. IRS eliminated the Bossman from a Survivor Series elimination match and the two were still facing off on house shows going into 1992.
Taylor gets a hope spot by rolling up Schyster for a one count and that leads to Schyster tossing him out of the ring, causing Taylor to land on his head. Shortly after rolling Taylor into the ring, IRS finishes with the Write Off (a Samoan drop).
Footage of the Randy Savage-Jake Roberts match and its extracurriculars from This Tuesday in Texas are shown.
El Matador pins Brian Donahue after El Paso del Muerte at 1:11:
El Matador was the new bullfighting gimmick for Tito Santana, a longtime WWF competitor and formed Intercontinental and tag team champion. Santana disappeared for a few months from WWF television after losing to the Mountie on April’s Saturday Night’s Main Event and a series of vignettes showed him going to Mexico to learn bullfighting and acquire new skills for the ring. He returned in October and enjoyed a new push, beating heel midcarders such as Hercules, Skinner, the Barbarian, and the Berzerker. El Matador entered into a feud with Ted DiBiase after rescuing Virgil from a beating on Survivor Series Showdown from the Million Dollar Man. That feud was originally meant for Ricky Steamboat, but Steamboat quit the company days before.
In the split screen, the Texas Tornado tells El Matador that friendships will go out the window in the Royal Rumble. El Matador makes quick work of Donahue, blasting the jobber with El Paso del Muerte (a flying forearm to the back of the head) to win his first match of the year.
Ric Flair and Perfect appear on the Funeral Parlor. Perfect tells Paul Bearer that the Undertaker is not perfect or the “real world’s champion” so he is not winning the Royal Rumble. Flair argues that winning the WWF Championship is secondary to his main mission in life: getting Hulk Hogan to bow his head in disgrace. He puts himself over as someone with nothing to lose because he is already destined for the Hall of Fame, a quality that will aid him in winning the Rumble and making Hogan the third-best wrestler in the WWF behind Perfect and himself.
Okerlund does The Royal Rumble Report. In Rumble promos, the British Bulldog says he is coming to take the gold, the Repo Man laughs in saying that the other 29 men think the WWF title belongs to them but it really belongs to him, Roddy Piper screams about his dreams and the threats of others, Jake Roberts argues that he or the Undertaker will get the job done and asks Randy Savage how Elizabeth is doing, and Hulk Hogan says he is going to take a walk on the wild side for the Hulkamaniacs to win the WWF Championship.
In a new vignette, Chris Chavis is at a pow wow and discusses Native American dancing. He addresses the Native Americans there, vowing to bring the Indian Nation to the WWF. Afterward, McMahon hypes Chavis as the best Native American athlete since Jim Thorpe.
The Natural Disasters (w/Jimmy Hart) (1-0) defeat Bobby Jones & Ken Johnson when Typhoon pins Jones after the Tidal Wave at 3:17:
WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom scream about how the Disasters better be ready for a fight at The Royal Rumble. The Disasters destroy Jones with an Earthquake belly-to-belly suplex and a series of Typhoon backbreakers. They also avalanche the jobbers against the turnbuckles, which makes doing their finishers to Jones at the end hilariously unnecessary.
Tune in next week to see Randy Savage face the Barbarian! Also, the Nasty Boys, Virgil, Jake Roberts will be in action! And Hulk Hogan will give a special interview!
The Last Word: This show featured more Royal Rumble hype. Ric Flair’s promo was over the top but that fits the cartoon that the WWF wants him to be. The Disasters squash at the end of the telecast was fun and it is odd that the WWF is not putting more hype into their tag team title match against the Legion of Doom. That feud has been exhausted on house shows since SummerSlam but there is no other team in the division right now that appears to be as large of a threat to the Legion as the Disasters.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for January 12!