What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – March 9, 1992

Vince McMahon hosts another episode as Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect debate issues of the day. McMahon is angry at Heenan and Perfect for releasing pictures of WWF Champion Ric Flair and Elizabeth. Heenan laughs about how more photographs are to come. The panel then debates whether Elizabeth told Randy Savage about Flair before they were married.

Opening Contest: The Big Bossman & Virgil defeat the Beverly Brothers (w/the Genius) (6-1) via disqualification when the Genius tries to toss the Bossman’s nightstick to Beau at 8:41:

This was filmed at the recent Wrestling Challenge tapings in West Palm Beach on February 18. The Beverlys do better than their last feature match on Saturday Night’s Main Event as Beau takes Virgil’s head off with a clothesline and the Beverlys work him over. The crowd is not into the match and while that could possibly be due to a long taping cycle it continues a lack of reaction to the Beverlys in many of their televised matches. The Beverlys love assisted body guillotine moves, using several of them to wear down Virgil. The Bossman has to save Virgil from getting pinned after a Blake powerslam and Beau has to break up pins when the Bossman covers after a splash on Blake. When all hell breaks loose the Genius tries to toss the Bossman’s nightstick to Beau but the Bossman intercepts it and he and Virgil use it wipe out Blake. The referee sees the Genius’ toss and awards the babyfaces the match by disqualification continuing a pattern where a mixed team of single stars is better than an established team. Rating: **

Skinner (2-2) pins Terry Daniels after the inverted DDT at 4:47:

Skinner’s problems on the card are emphasized in his struggles to beat an enhancement talent. Daniels flips over a backdrop and blasts his stunned opponent with some dropkicks, getting near-falls from a headlock and body press off the ropes. After three minutes, Skinner is able to reverse the tide by pulling Daniels into the corner turnbuckles but Daniels kicks out of a shoulderbreaker and gets a sunset flip for another near-fall, prompting fans to work up a loud “Terry!” chant. Skinner quickly ends that, though, by kicking out, kicking Daniels in the gut, and hitting his finisher. This was one of Skinner’s best televised matches! Rating: **

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the emerging Undertaker-Jake Roberts feud.

Heenan and Perfect laugh at the prospect of Randy Savage and Elizabeth getting divorced over Ric Flair’s revelations. Slick argues that the bond between Savage and Elizabeth is unbreakable so that will not happen.

WWF Tag Team Champions Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster’s squash from Superstars is shown.

The Warlord (4-0-1) defeats Chris Walker (1-1) after a powerbomb at 10:29 shown:

The Warlord had beaten Walker a month earlier on Prime Time so this was theoretically Walker’s chance at revenge in Madison Square Garden on February 23. The match starts well, with Walker firing dropkicks and the Warlord backdropping him out of the ring but the Warlord slows things down and the match turns into Walker escaping several chinlocks and getting beaten down. Walker gets a boot up on a Warlord blind charge and dazes the Warlord with several axe handles off the second rope. He gets amazing hang time on a flying body press, impressing Heenan, but the Warlord kicks out at two and uses the same finish that he used the month prior, catching Walker’s hurricanrana with a powerbomb. Walker showed potential here and it makes one wonder why the WWF did not consider slotting him into the New Foundation tag team with Owen Hart after Jim Neidhart was fired. Rating: *½

Heenan and Perfect put over how the Undertaker is not normal for surviving Jake Roberts’ assault on Superstars two weeks ago. Heenan tempers his praise by saying that Roberts will find some way to give himself a fighting chance at WrestleMania.

El Matador’s squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.

Okerlund does the WrestleMania VIII Report.

Heenan speculates that Randy Savage is going to be put in a straight jacket soon because he is going to be driven mad by the Flair photographs. Heenan dials the Hulk Hogan Hotline to get Hogan’s view of the photographs, arguing that Hogan knew Elizabeth was “always like that” and writes down the name of a motel. Perfect laughs as Monsoon incredulously looks at Slick.

The Mountie & the Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) beat Roddy Piper & the Bushwhackers when Brian Knobbs pins Luke after the Mountie uses the shock stick on Luke at 7:41 shown:

This six-man tag took place at the Superstars tapings in Tampa on February 17. Piper easily meshes with the Bushwhacker’s comedy, taking a bite out of the Mountie’s rear end when his partners do the same to the Nasties, and he has fun doing their trademark arm swing. The heels rally by putting Luke in peril until Knobbs eats turnbuckle on a blind charge, cueing a hot tag to Butch and everyone fighting in the ring. There is a fun triple noggin knocker spot and Piper and the Mountie end up brawling on the floor as the Bushwhackers take out the Nasties with Battering Rams. However, the referee is distracted trying to get Butch out of the ring and that allows the Mountie to sneak in, shock Luke, and puts Knobbs on top to steal a win. The Bushwhackers and Nasty Boys had sneaky chemistry, making for an above average match as the action kept moving. Rating: **½

After the bell, Piper uses the belt on his kilt to whip the heels and makes them flee the ring.

Bret Hart (7-0-1) beats Jimmy James via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:23:

Bret wears some all-pink tights for this squash. Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper does an insert promo about how he does not take dives and is too legit to quit. Bret unceremoniously drops James with a side Russian leg sweep and that sets up the Sharpshooter.

A replay of Ric Flair’s revelation of photographs with Elizabeth on Superstars is shown. Afterward, Flair asks Heenan when Elizabeth had a relationship with Flair and all Heenan knows is it was before Randy Savage. McMahon is aghast that Heenan would say that Flair is a better love than Savage.

Owen Hart (1-0) pins Hercules (1-3) with a flying body press at 8:40:

This match also took place in Tampa on February 17. Owen manages to outwrestle Hercules throughout, whether it is in technical wrestling or using his agility to go over Hercules on a blind charge, skin the cat into the ring and dropkick Hercules to the floor and following that up with a plancha, and using the ropes to escape a test of strength. Late in the match, Hercules backdrops Owen to escape some corner punches but Owen just ends up on the apron and stuns Hercules with a flying body press to win. If Hercules was motivated, this could have been better but it was still an adequate bout between wrestlers of contrasting styles. Rating: *½

A new Papa Shango vignette shows him lighting candles and talking about different types of pain that are slowly growing everywhere. In the studio, Perfect jokes that Shango has been asked to carry the torch for the next Olympic Games.

After McMahon chastises Heenan and Perfect for releasing the photographs after Randy Savage and Elizabeth were married, Heenan feigns contrition before promising more photographs next week and laughing.

The Natural Disasters’ squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.

Repo Man (4-0) defeats Jim Brunzell after a side suplex at 4:13:

A trainee of Verne Gagne and a twenty-year veteran, Brunzell was best known to WWF fans as a member of the Killer Bees tag team that competed between 1985-1988. After his tag team partner B. Brian Blair quit the promotion, Brunzell entered the singles ranks and did not have much success. He wrestled exclusively on house shows in 1991 after putting together a 1-16 record in televised matches in 1990.

The final match of tonight’s show also comes from Tampa. Monsoon rips into the Repo Man gimmick, calling him a Zorro rip off and wondering why a repo man would need to wear a mask. Brunzell is positioned as a competitive wrestler, managing to take Repo Man to the canvas and eventually land his patented dropkick. However, Repo Man kicks out of that and finishes Brunzell with a side suplex, a move that he has not used to finish opponents before. The finish was abrupt and it seemed like these two could not get on the same page about what they wanted to do in this bout. Rating: ½*

After the match, Repo Man chokes Brunzell with his tow rope and sneaks back to the locker room.

Tune in next week to see Jimmy Snuka face Repo Man! Also, the British Bulldog wrestles Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker faces Colonel Mustafa, and Tatanka collides with the Warlord! And Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan will play Super WrestleMania for the Super Nintendo with Monsoon wrestling as Hulk Hogan while Heenan wrestles as Sid Justice.

The Last Word: Having Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan playing Super Nintendo next week is a better draw than anything on Prime Time in a while. This was a good episode because Heenan and Perfect had new material to talk about with Ric Flair’s photographs and most of the matches were fun, even if they have no bearing on existing storylines.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 14!