Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect are in the booth for the final Superstars before The Royal Rumble. They are concluding a four-show taping cycle in Austin, Texas. Perfect vows that Ric Flair will win the Rumble. McMahon tells viewers that the Mountie is the new Intercontinental titleholder, defeating a flu-addled Bret Hart a night earlier to capture the belt in Springfield, Massachusetts. He adds that the Mountie will be defending the title against Roddy Piper at The Royal Rumble.
Randy Savage’s defeat of the Barbarian, which aired on Prime Time Wrestling on December 30 of the previous year, airs.
Gene Okerlund does the Update segment, talking about the Intercontinental title change. Okerlund describes how after the Mountie won the title, he pummeled Bret Hart with the title belt until Roddy Piper made the save. Since Bret is sick and cannot compete, WWF President Jack Tunney is ordering a Piper-Mountie match for the title at The Royal Rumble. In promos, the Mountie and Jimmy Hart promise that all Piper will be leaving Albany with is his skirt. Piper rebuts that he now has a chance to win the WWF Championship and the Intercontinental Championship in the same night, something that has never been done. He promises to use the Intercontinental Championship Belt to hold up his kilt.
Opening Contest: Virgil (1-0) defeats B.A. Dalton via submission to the Million Dollar Dream at 2:09:
Virgil incorporates some knife-edge chops into his arsenal, but they look weak. In the split screen, Virgil screams about wanting to give Repo Man the “whoopin’ he deserves.” After a side Russian leg sweep, Dalton is woozy and Virgil locks in the Million Dollar Dream for his second win of 1992. Perfect raises a good point that Virgil needs to stop stealing other people’s moves.
The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) (1-0) beat Dale Wolfe & Robert Taylor when Jerry Sags pins Taylor after the Trip to Nastyville at 3:04:
Before the match, Jamison is shown in the crowd taunting the Nasties. Taylor never tags in his partner, taking a slow and deliberate beating from the Nasties before they finish him off. After the bell, the Nasties corner Wolfe, club him down and throw him over the top rope.
Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan. Hogan recounts challenges that he has faced to this point in his career from Andre the Giant to the Undertaker. He blames WWF President Jack Tunney’s “near sightedness” for making him go through the Royal Rumble to regain the WWF Championship and he promises to make everyone see things from his perspective, along with those of his fans.
The Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji) (2-0) beats Scott Bazo via count out at 2:44:
With this match, the Berzerker is the first wrestler to appear on all three of the WWF’s big televised shows this year. Perfect theorizes that screaming “Hus!” helps the Berzerker get more oxygen to his brain. Fuji does an insert promo about how the Berzerker will be the new WWF Champion when the Royal Rumble is over. After a couple of big boots, the Berzerker tosses his opponent over the top rope and wins another squash.
A replay of the Rockers’ breakup angle on last week’s Wrestling Challenge airs.
Okerlund does The Royal Rumble Report. He announces that Marty Jannetty is out of the Rumble because of injuries sustained on the Barber Shop. Shawn Michaels tells fans that he was tired of carrying Jannetty and is going to show people what he is capable of. In Rumble promos, Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect put over their odds of winning because Flair has always been a champion, Jake Roberts calls out Randy Savage and says more pain awaits him in the Rumble, Savage announces that he has two objectives in the Rumble: destroy Roberts and become the WWF Champion for the second time, and the Undertaker and Paul Bearer reiterate how the Rumble gives them a chance to bury more than 20 men. The Natural Disasters and Jimmy Hart vow to make the Legion of Doom history and take the tag team titles. The Legion rebut that the Disasters need to eat more salad because they have not got a prayer of beating them.
Jake Roberts (1-0) pins Sean Spencer after the DDT at 2:19:
Roberts’ tights have a cool look where they are black with a red snake outline on them. In the split screen, Sid Justice talks about taking out Roberts to win the WWF Championship in the Royal Rumble, a nod to their short feud the previous fall. Spencer mounts no offense against Roberts, who DDTs his way to another win.
The Last Word: News that Bret Hart had lost the Intercontinental Championship was shocking – no pun intended – because the Mountie was more of a comedy character that had done little of note since losing a Jailhouse Match to the Big Bossman at SummerSlam. The WWF emphasized several times that Roddy Piper has a chance to win the WWF and Intercontinental titles in the same night at The Royal Rumble, which boosts some of the odds of Piper winning the Rumble. And Hulk Hogan’s promo was a bit too egocentric for a babyface but there are only so many things one can say about winning a battle royal.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for January 19!