What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – March 2, 1992

Vince McMahon moderates another panel featuring the usual gang of Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Heenan and Perfect tease revealing information about Randy Savage before the opening match.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart beats the Brooklyn Brawler with a splash off the top rope at 4:47:

This opener was filmed in West Palm Beach, Florida on February 18. With Jim Neidhart fired, Owen is pushed into the singles ranks while the WWF flirts with giving him a new tag team partner. On house shows Jim Brunzell and Koko B. Ware were getting tryouts for that. The problem with that is that the babyface side of the ledger is overcrowded and he will run into a hard lower midcard ceiling quickly. This is a long, drawn-out squash as the Brawler throws some token blows and takes a powder halfway through. Owen catches him with a hurricanrana for a near-fall and then uses a belly-to-belly suplex to set up a winning splash off the top rope. It is not a thrilling encounter but it keeps Owen over as a high-flying act.

Shawn Michaels (3-0) defeats Jimmy Snuka with the Teardrop Suplex at 12:24 shown:

Snuka was nearing the end of a three-year return run with the WWF. Once one of the promotion’s hottest commodities, he had been used to put over other talents in the midcard since his return in 1989. In 1991 his most notable work came in losing to the Undertaker at WrestleMania VII, beginning the Undertaker’s famous WrestleMania winning streak. His lack of appearances to this point in the year showed how little the WWF thought of his value.

This match was filmed at Madison Square Garden on January 31. Throughout its duration the match struggles to get momentum and any big spot or moment, like Michaels taking a big bump to the arena floor or Snuka getting a two-count from a reverse flying body press take forever to be followed up on. After suplexing Snuka into the ring, Michaels blasts him with a superkick and uses his finisher for an anticlimactic pin. It is hard to find a terrible Michaels match and this might be the worst televised match of his WWF career. Rating: ½*

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps how the WWF Tag Team Championship changed hands in Denver.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter’s squash from Superstars is shown.

Okerlund does the WrestleMania VIII Report.

Perfect says that Roddy Piper will do whatever it takes to retain the Intercontinental Championship against Bret Hart. Heenan reiterates that Bret is going to win for fear of earning criticism from his father, Stu. Monsoon changes the subject in predicting a Randy Savage victory in the WWF title match, prompting Heenan and Perfect to say that they will reveal information about Savage next week that will help Ric Flair’s WrestleMania odds.

The Nasty Boys’ squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

El Matador’s squash on Superstars airs.

The Big Bossman (4-0) wrestles the Warlord (4-0) to a double count out at 5:07 shown:

The match, which took place in Tampa, Florida on February 17, is joined in progress. Harvey Wippleman’s new alliance with Sid means that he does not have time for the Warlord, something that bodes ill for the Warlord’s future. Like the Snuka-Michaels match, this one features limited action and a lot of resting and stalling. And it is all for naught because the Bossman hot shots the Warlord on the ropes, drags him to the floor, and the two fight on the outside until a double count out results. The Bossman has lost a ton of momentum since SummerSlam and televised bouts like this are not helping him. Rating: ¼*

The Bushwhackers (2-2) defeat Lee Armstrong & Doug Summers when Luke pins Armstrong after the Battering Ram at 3:36:

Summers, whose name is misspelled by the WWF for this match, was a longtime veteran who was trained by Harley Race. Beginning his career in 1971, he found the greatest success in the AWA, winning the tag team titles with Buddy Rose and having a blood feud with the Rockers. The year prior he did work for Global and WCW.

The Bushwhackers yell for the crowd. They are against some competent enhancement talents so they are able to do some comedy spots to setup the finish where they run over both foes with Battering Rams.

The panel debates why the Undertaker kept Jake Roberts from doing a heinous attack after Saturday Night’s Main Event on Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Slick hilariously claims that the Undertaker has found religion, causing Heenan to put his head in his hands. This sets up a replay of the Funeral Parlor segment from Superstars that turned the Undertaker babyface.

Virgil (5-0) beats the Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) (4-3) via disqualification when the Mountie uses the shock stick at 7:24:

This match was filmed at the Amarillo, Texas Superstars tapings on January 28. Virgil does a good job firing up the crowd and Sean Mooney puts him over as “one of the most giftset pugilists in the WWF.” After the Mountie stalls and knocks him out of the ring, Virgil rebounds with a swinging neckbreaker. The Mountie comes close to blowing his knee out after a backdrop and Virgil locks in the Million Dollar Dream, releasing it when Hart gets on the apron. Virgil traps the evil manager in the hold but the shock stick goes into the ring, which the Mountie picks up and uses, getting disqualified as a result. This was another slow, bad match in a list of many tonight. Luckily for Virgil, the Mountie does not press his advantage and prefers to leave the ring shortly thereafter. Rating: *

Sid Justice’s squash on Wrestling Challenge is shown. Afterward, Heenan predicts that Hulk Hogan will not get up from Sid’s powerbomb at WrestleMania. Monsoon rebuts that Hogan has overcome adversity many times before.

The British Bulldog’s squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.

Papa Shango’s squash from Superstars is shown.

Heenan feigns that he is going to attack Monsoon when Monsoon argues that Heenan is not “Indiana’s favorite Bobby.” He pivots to he and Perfect promising to reveal information about Randy Savage next week.

Tune in next week to see Roddy Piper & the Bushwhackers face the Mountie & the Nasty Boys! Also, Owen Hart faces Hercules and the Big Bossman & Virgil square off against the Beverly Brothers! And WWF Tag Team Champions Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster will be in action!

The Last Word: This was a dreadful show, filled with slow and boring matches. Next week’s slate offers an interesting array of tag matches so hopefully things will get better.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 7!