What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – February 9, 1992

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are on commentary, concluding the taping in Fort Myers, Florida. Monsoon rants about Sid Justice turning heel on Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event, saying that Sid has made an enemy for life.

Opening Contest: The Big Bossman (2-0) beats Jim Cooper after the Bossman Slam at 2:46:

The Bossman turns Cooper into a punching bag in the corner and then toys with him for several minutes. Monsoon and Heenan prefer to talk about Hogan and Sid for the squash, overlooking the Bossman padding his record. After the bell, the Bossman handcuffs Cooper to the middle rope and trash talks him.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report says that the Intercontinental Championship match for WrestleMania VIII will now see Roddy Piper face Bret Hart. Videos recap Sid’s recent turn and Hayes announces that Sid will appear on the Barber Shop later in the show.

Skinner (1-2) pins Kevin Katlin after the inverted DDT at 1:51:

In an insert promo, Skinner puts himself over as unpredictable and holds up some dead alligators. The man from the Everglades makes quick work of Katlin and spits his “tobacco juice” on the jobber’s chest.

Footage of past WrestleMania pay-per-views is shown.

Repo Man (2-0) beats Mickey Jay via submission to a leg grapevine at 2:19:

As Repo Man beats down Jay, Virgil tells his adversary in the split screen that if his left hand does not get him that his right one will. Repo Man keeps yelling about Jay not being up to date on his payments but he bores the crowd by relying too much on punches. A leg grapevine out of nowhere makes Jay submit. After the match, Repo Man hooks his tow rope around Jay’s neck and drags him around the ring. Since Repo Man likes to hang people with the rope a neckbreaker variation would be a good finish for him.

The Texas Tornado (2-0) pins Pat Tanaka (0-1) after the discus punch at 2:03:

In 1990 each of these guys still had hope that their WWF careers could turn into something special. Tanaka attacks the Tornado before he can get his robe off but the Tornado does not sell that and tees off. A long claw hold dazes the former Orient Express member and that makes him easy pickings for the discus punch.

Sid Justice is this week’s guest on the Barber Shop. The WWF is trying to portray Sid’s Rumble behavior as cowardly as he preferred to dump Hulk Hogan out from behind rather than facing his head on, but that is just standard battle royal behavior. Sid cuts off Beefcake’s chronicling of his tensions with Hogan, saying that he does not care about his friendship or what Beefcake thinks of him. He then promises to give Beefcake a new face before grabbing a chair and smashing the Barber Shop window and hitting different parts of the set. This triggers an accidental explosion of some shaving cream, which goes all over Sid’s face and chest but it works by making Sid look insane as he screams about how Hogan fears him. And this would be the last ever Barber Shop segment. Poor Beefcake must have gone bankrupt from having to replace two windows as wrestlers kept destroying his place of work. That or insurance companies refuse to cover him anymore.

The Legion of Doom (2-1) beat Bob Avery & Bob Morgan when Hawk pins Avery after the Doomsday Device at 2:06:

The Legion appear with the tag team titles here but they had lost them a few nights prior at a house show to Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster. They pulverize their jobber opponents as per usual and look great.

Papa Shango (1-0) pins Brian Costello after a reverse shoulderbreaker at 2:13:

The WWF splices some shots of young fans into Shango’s entrance to get him over as a scary heel like the Undertaker. Shango shows off more moves than he did on Superstars a day earlier, using a flying headbutt off the ropes to set up the reverse shoulderbreaker. After the result, Jamison cowers in fear in the crowd.

A replay of Sid Justice’s comments last night on Saturday Night’s Main Event air.

Tune in next week to see Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter, the Undertaker, and Bret Hart in action!

The Last Word: The Sid segment was a great way to write off the Barber Shop and provides a vehicle for Hulk Hogan to make Sid his top priority for WrestleMania. Everything else was filler but that typically happens near the end of a taping cycle.

Here was the WWF’s house show action to start the month of February, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Denver, Colorado – Denver Coliseum – February 7, 1992 (4,500):The crowd was told that the planned Legion of Doom vs. Natural Disasters match was changed by WWF President Jack Tunney because the Disasters had received enough title shots…Repo Man beat Virgil with a Flair pin…The Big Bossman & El Matador defeated the Natural Disasters when the Bossman pinned Earthquake…The Warlord defeated Chris Walker…Shawn Michaels pinned Jimmy Snuka…The Mountie pinned Jim Brunzell (substituting for the Texas Tornado)…Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom when DiBiase pinned Hawk after Sensational Sherri and the Natural Disasters interfered to win the titles at 11:49…WWF Champion Ric Flair defeated Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper via disqualification after Piper was caught using a chair that Flair had brought into the ring. The match was title-for-title.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens – February 9, 1992 (8,000; matinee): Rick Martel pinned Jim Powers…Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter defeated the Nasty Boys…Kato pinned the Brooklyn Brawler…The New Foundation beat the Beverly Brothers…Bret Hart pinned the Berzerker…Tatanka beat Skinner…Sid Justice defeated the Undertaker via disqualification…Randy Savage pinned Jack Roberts in a steel cage match.

Backstage News*: The decision to switch the tag team titles in Denver was a last-minute decision. The Legion of Doom knew they were going to drop the titles to Ted DiBiase and Mike Rotunda (Irwin R. Schyster) at some point before WrestleMania, though. It has been reported that the Legion did not want the bout to be taped but that the WWF had a film crew do it anyway. There were rumors that the Legion were looking to go back to WCW or head to New Japan when their contracts expire in June as they are unhappy with their payoffs and have been critical of the company’s steroid testing policy. The switch does not mess with WrestleMania plans as sources expect the Legion to face the Natural Disasters in a street fight while DiBiase and Rotunda defend against Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Sergeant Slaughter. The WWF is also waiting to reveal the title change later on television as the Legion wore the titles at other house show cards over the weekend after losing them in Denver.

*Kerry Von Erich (the Texas Tornado) was arrested around midnight on February 9 at an Eckerd Drug Store in Richardson, Texas on two felony counts of forging drug prescriptions. If convicted, Von Erich could go to prison for two-to-ten years per count, as well as be fined $5,000 for each infraction. Von Erich made his problems worse by giving police a false address and phone number. The WWF had already suspended Von Erich prior to his arrest and he will be entering a drug rehabilitation facility. It is thought that some of Von Erich’s problems stem from the recent breakup of his marriage.

*The WWF’s effort to kill a bill in Florida that would have required mandatory random steroid testing for all companies running in the state succeeded as the legislation did not clear committee. The WWF’s representatives told Florida legislators that its product was not real and that they have had a drug testing policy since June 1987.

*Vince McMahon’s WBF project hit another snag as its syndicated television show that was supposed to start soon was put on hold because no stations were interested. However, the WBF will have a Saturday morning show on USA Network before its WBF Championship event in June.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for February 17 and 24.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for February 15!