Vince McMahon hosts the typical panel of Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Heenan calls into a hotline to vote for Ric Flair’s opponent and casts a ballot for Hulk Hogan. Slick says he will vote for Roddy Piper.
Opening Contest: Bret Hart (2-0-1) beats Colonel Mustafa (w/General Adnan) (0-1) after a sunset flip into the ring at 6:22:
This match was filmed at the Wrestling Challenge tapings in Fort Myers, Florida on January 8. It takes three minutes for the match to get going. Mustafa uses a loaded boot to get an edge but loses it when Bret reverses a suplex. Mustafa does not sell much of the moves of doom, kicking out from a side Russian leg sweep at one. When Mustafa clubs Bret to the floor, Bret dispatches Adnan and sunset flips into the ring to continue his path back to the Intercontinental Championship. Rating: *
Monsoon suggests that Sid justice showed a lot at the Royal Rumble that would be worth getting a title shot at Ric Flair but says there is no way that WWF President Jack Tunney can deny Hulk Hogan. McMahon rebuts that he would love to see the Undertaker face Flair.
Marty Jannetty beats Kato (0-1) after the Rocker Dropper at 3:48:
The match is supposed to jump start Jannetty’s singles push but that push has been abandoned because of Jannetty’s arrest in Tampa. While Michaels has embraced a new look, Jannetty is sticking to the old Rocker colors and tights. Lord Alfred Hayes suggests that Kato is suffering from loneliness and confusion because Tanaka and Mr. Fuji have abandoned him in the United States. This is an average television match where each competitor exchanges blows before Jannetty flattens Kato with the Rocker Dropper. Rating: **
Slick discusses how members of his congregation are going to get a tour bus to go from Fort Worth to Indianapolis for WrestleMania. Heenan shows off a button about how he is Indiana’s “greatest Bobby” and hypes an appearance in Indianapolis on Friday night where a celebration will be held in his honor.
Skinner (0-2) pins Jim Powers after the inverted DDT at 6:51:
Although he received a small push as a member of the Young Stallions tag team with Paul Roma in 1987-1988, Powers had spent the last few years becoming a glorified enhancement talent. While he would sometimes win house show matches or dark matches before pay-per-views, he lost all twelve of his televised matches in 1991, losing to heel stars like the Undertaker, Ted DiBiase, Ric Flair, and Irwin R. Schyster, among others.
This contest comes from the December 29 Madison Square Garden show. Powers gets a quick offensive flurry at the beginning, but the crowd dies when Skinner takes control with long chinlocks. Powers mounts one last comeback and blasts Skinner with a dropkick, with Skinner draping his leg over the bottom rope to force a break. Skinner reverses a whip into the corner, Powers awkwardly goes into it chest-first and that leads to the finish. If someone were to watch this match without any background they would question why the WWF was pushing Skinner more than Powers. Rating: ½*
Non-Title Match: The Legion of Doom (WWF Tag Team Champions) (1-1) defeat Pete Sanchez & Jim Cooper when Hawk pins Cooper after the Doomsday Device at 2:33:
In a fun spot, Sanchez takes a boot from Hawk and then stun guns himself on the top rope. The Legion pulverize their foes as it remains unclear on television if they are still feuding with the Natural Disasters or being placed in a new program.
Ted DiBiase and Sensational Sherri are in Mexico. DiBiase jokes that they wanted to see the bull that Tito Santana fought to become El Matador but could not because it was being milked. He becomes a historian to discuss how long the Alamo held out against Mexican defenders. They come upon a man sleeping under a tree. Sherri wakes him up and he tells DiBiase in Spanish that he is a big El Matador fan. When the man asks for money, DiBiase pushes him away with his foot. In the studio, Heenan jokes that DiBiase was talking to the mayor of Tocula, El Matador’s hometown.
El Matador & Virgil defeat Ted DiBiase & Repo Man (w/Sensational Sherri) via disqualification when Repo Man chokes Virgil with his tow rope at 9:21:
This rematch from This Tuesday in Texas took place at the recent Superstars taping in Daytona Beach, Florida on January 7. Sherri helps put her team in control by tripping El Matador, putting him in peril. During a false tag spot, DiBiase and Repo Man double slam El Matador for two but DiBiase puts his head down too early after an Irish whip and El Matador uses a swinging neckbreaker to give himself room to give Virgil a hot tag. A sunset flip and side Russian leg sweep on Repo Man generate near-falls, leading to Virgil dropkicking Repo Man out of the ring. DiBiase quickly sends Virgil to the floor, leading to Repo Man choking Virgil with his rope and dragging him to the locker room. That leads to a disqualification and El Matador saves his partner after getting the better of DiBiase in the ring. This was not as good as their pay-per-view encounter and the WWF had to pipe in a lot of crowd noise. Still, it was a good, clean match and Virgil showed great fire after the hot tag. Rating: **¼
A replay of the Superstars promos from the top five contenders to the WWF Championship air. Afterward, Heenan calls the hotline to put in more votes for Hulk Hogan.
The Nasty Boys (3-0) beat the Bushwhackers (1-1) when Brian Knobbs pins Butch after a clothesline at 8:30:
This is yet another match from the recent Madison Square Garden show. The Nasties refuse to engage in the beginning, only goaded to enter the ring when the referee begins counting them out. The pattern of the match is the Nasties attacking the Bushwhackers from behind when they play to the crowd and the Bushwhackers quickly turning the tables with double teams that cause the Nasties to regroup. The Nasties are eventually able to get Luke in their corner and wear him down. Luke kicks out of an elbow drop and escapes when heel miscommunication occurs, leading to the hot tag. Things start to get sloppy after that and the Bushwhackers blast Knobbs with the Battering Ram, which gets two until Jerry Sags interrupts the count. As the referee gets Luke out of the ring, Knobbs blasts Butch with Bushwhacker kryptonite – a clothesline – to keep the Nasties undefeated on the year. By Bushwhacker standards this was not bad. These two teams had decent chemistry when they brawled and it kept the crowd engaged. Rating: **
Heenan thinks Chris Chavis’ Native American tribe is “Lumpy” instead of Lumbee. This leads to a replay of the latest vignette for Chavis since he is making his television debut later this weekend.
Irwin R. Schyster’s squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.
The Beverly Brothers’ squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter (2-0) defeat Louie Spicolli & Barry Horowitz when Duggan pins Spicolli after a three-point stance clothesline at 4:10:
Duggan and Slaughter go through the motions of another squash match, slowly working over their overmatched opponents. Their feud with the Nasties is on hold because of injuries that Brian Knobbs sustained in a fan attack in Peoria, Illinois on January 5.
Sid Justice’s squash from Superstars is shown.
Tune in next week to see Marty Jannetty face Rick Martel! Also, the British Bulldog faces the Berzerker, Greg Valentine & the Texas Tornado face the Beverly Brothers, Virgil wrestles Virgil, and Sergeant Slaughter faces Colonel Mustafa & General Adnan in a handicap match!
The Last Word: The last few Prime Time shows have been better because of new, original content and that trend is continuing next week as well. While there was not great match on par with Bret Hart vs. Ted DiBiase, most of the action was perfectly fine for filling television time. And the Tuesday in Texas rematch furthered the Virgil-Repo Man feud.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for February 1!