Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are commentating today’s show, which kicks off a new taping in Fort Myers, Florida. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on January 8. Heenan gets worked up about Ric Flair winning the Royal Rumble, screaming about how he has now become the wealthiest man in the world. Monsoon becomes angry at Heenan and walks off the set before the intro to the show.
Opening Contest: Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter (1-0) beat Pete Sanchez & Jim Cooper when Duggan pins Sanchez after a three-point stance clothesline at 1:59:
Sanchez’s work for the WWF goes back to the WWWF days in the 1960s, working in opening matches at Madison Square Garden and losing on television to bigger names. One of his noted career accomplishments was wrestling Ric Flair in Flair’s WWWF debut in 1976.
Duggan and Slaughter’s team has a lot of star power but they do not gel well aesthetically and something is just “off” about them working together. It does not take long for the American duo to wipe out their opponents and after the match, Slaughter is happy that Duggan catches the 2×4 that he tosses into the air.
Gene Okerlund argues that the Legion of Doom successfully defended their tag team titles at The Royal Rumble, glossing over the fact that the Legion lost. WWF Champion Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect do a taped promo about how fans will never know what it is like to walk with greatness like they do.
Irwin R. Schyster (1-0) pins Kenny Kendall after the Write Off at 2:20:
Kendall had done some enhancement work for WCW and wrestled on some cards for the Tampa-based International Championship Wrestling Alliance. Later in the year, he would spend time in the USWA, wrestling as Dr. Death and winning the Southern Heavyweight Championship.
Kendall surprises IRS with a sunset flip but is beaten down shortly afterward. IRS cruises from there. No mention is made of his feud with the Big Bossman so it is unclear if that program is over.
A replay of Chris Chavis’ recent vignette is shown.
Sid Justice (2-0) pins the Brooklyn Brawler after the powerbomb at 2:01:
Sid has the unique distinction of being the first man in two years to appear on all three prominent WWF television programs in the same week. The Brawler tries to attack Sid before the bell but that does not work. He does not go up well for Sid’s chokeslam, but the crowd digs the squash anyway as Sid goes undefeated for the week with a powerbomb.
The Mountie’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
El Matador (2-0) defeats Barry Horowitz after El Paso Del Muerte at 1:30:
Not deterred from The Royal Rumble, Jamison is shown eating a hamburger in the crowd and dancing to El Matador’s theme. Although Horowitz was able to fight off the Texas Tornado for a decent amount of time on Prime Time Wrestling, he is quickly annihilated by El Matador on today’s program.
A replay of Hulk Hogan, the Undertaker, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, and Sid Justice giving their pitch for why they should be able to face Ric Flair at WrestleMania is shown.
The Beverly Brothers (w/the Genius) (2-0) defeat Ray Hammer & Terry Davis when Beau pins Davis after the Shaker Heights Spike at 2:05:
Hammer and Davis had been used as enhancement talents in the past, doing jobs for the WWF going back to 1990.
In the split screen, the New Foundation say it is a matter of time before the Beverlys find out what they are all about. Monsoon gets tired of Heenan gloating about the Royal Rumble, threatening to walk out several times. The Beverlys destroy their opponents and do not have any interaction with Jamison, showing that their feud with the Bushwhackers is over.
Virgil (2-0) beats Bob Smedley via submission to the Million Dollar Dream at 2:06:
Smedley was trained by Boris and Dean Malenko and began working in 1988. He did some jobs for the WWF in 1991 and would find greater success later in Smoky Mountain Wrestling as Bobby Blayze, capturing the promotion’s heavyweight title.
Repo Man does an insert promo about how he enjoys repossessing things and repeats his claim to be out to repossess Virgil’s career. Virgil moves well in the squash, catching Smedley out of the corner with a belly-to-belly suplex and countering a leapfrog with an inverted atomic drop. A super side suplex sets up the Million Dollar Dream. Heenan questions why Virgil needs to do that after the side suplex spot. Monsoon answers that Virgil needs to show people that he still knows how to apply the hold.
Tune in next week to see the New Foundation, Jake Roberts, Ted DiBiase, and Bret Hart! Also, Chris Chavis will make his debut!
The Last Word: As was the case with Superstars, everyone is just going through the motions until the hype for WrestleMania continues in earnest. Sid is getting great reactions from crowds as a babyface and Virgil is putting in good work in his squashes. However, his feud with Repo Man is dragging him down from where he was the previous year.
Here is a summary of the WWF’s house show action a week after The Royal Rumble, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Nashville, Tennessee – Nashville Municipal Auditorium – January 20, 1992 (6,000): Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat Jerry Sags (the match was originally supposed to feature Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter vs. the Nasty Boys)…Randy Savage pinned Jake Roberts. After the match, Roberts attacked Savage with the ring bell…Irwin R. Schyster pinned the Big Bossman with a roll up…Chris Walker beat Hercules…The Undertaker defeated Sid Justice via disqualification when Sid used the urn as a weapon…Tatanka pinned the Warlord…Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper pinned the Mountie after using the Mountie’s shock stick against him.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada – The Montreal Forum – January 20, 1992 (10,992): The Texas Tornado defeated Skinner…Dino Bravo beat the Barbarian in a match hyped as Bravo’s retirement match…WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom defeated the Natural Disasters via disqualification…Virgil beat Repo Man…El Matador pinned Ted DiBiase…The New Foundation defeated the Beverly Brothers when Jim Neidhart pinned Beau…The British Bulldog pinned the Berzerker…Hulk Hogan defeated WWF Champion Ric Flair via count out.
Chicago, Illinois – The Rosemont Horizon – January 25, 1992 (3,800): Chris Walker pinned Hercules after a flying body press at 6:57…Greg Valentine pinned Skinner with a small package at 11:50…El Matador wrestled Ted DiBiase to a 20-minute time-limit draw at 18:06…Sid Justice beat the Undertaker via disqualification when the Undertaker hit Sid with an urn at 7:22 after Mr. Perfect came to ringside and distracted Sid…Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper beat Ric Flair via disqualification at 11:05 when the Undertaker, Paul Bearer, and Perfect interfered…The British Bulldog pinned the Berzerker with a roll up at 4:01…Repo Man pinned Virgil after holding onto the tights for leverage at 7:01…The New Foundation defeated the Beverly Brothers when Jim Neidhart pinned Beau with a powerslam at 12:56.
Backstage News*: Marty Jannetty was arrested at 2 a.m. on January 25 at a nightclub in Tampa, Florida after getting into a fight with police officers who had arrested his 19-year-old female companion, who tried to use a fake ID. Police searched Jannetty’s car and discovered a gram of cocaine. Jannetty was charged with cocaine possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting arrest with force. In response, the WWF has indefinitely suspended Jannetty, which the locker room is interpreting as a firing.
*Although many thought the WrestleMania main event was going to be Hulk Hogan against Ric Flair for the WWF Championship, the WWF is deviating from that plan and decided to do so early in the month. Instead, Hogan will wrestle Sid Justice and Flair will defend the title against Randy Savage. This switch makes sense because having Hogan beat Flair for the title at WrestleMania would do little for the company if Hogan takes five months off. There are also rumors that Hogan might want to retire from professional wrestling to pursue a full-time career in Hollywood.
*Superstar Billy Graham and David Schultz are directing more fire at Hogan, alleging past cocaine use. More negative press is set to follow as the Charleston Post-Courier recently had a big story on the WWF’s steroid scandal and Hogan and 20/20 and The San Diego Union are poised to do other stories in the weeks to come.
*More information about Bret Hart’s contract is that he cannot escape his WWF contract until September and WCW reportedly offered him a $300,000 guarantee to jump ship.
*The WWF has broken into the Japanese television market, but their broadcasts are going to be on a local station in Osaka rather than a national network.
*To bring balance to the tag team division, there are rumors that Ted DiBiase will be paired with Shawn Michaels and managed by Sensational Sherri.
*In talent relations news, the WWF recently gave tryouts to the Harris Brothers and Billy Jack Haynes. Brian Adams was also brought in for dark matches and wrestled under the name Crush without face paint or allusions to his past role in Demolition.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for February 3 & 10.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for January 27!