Gorilla Monsoon returns to commentary with Bobby Heenan for this episode, which kicks off a new television taping cycle in Toledo, Ohio. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 6,500 fans attended the taping on April 7. Monsoon hypes the new WWF Magazine that exposes Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect, and Heenan’s lies about the photographs of Flair and Elizabeth. And just like that the duo are back to their usual fun that was sorely missed on last week’s episode.
Opening Contest: The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (11-0) beats Mike Collins after the Tombstone at 1:36:
Collins goes up nicely for a chokeslam as the Berzerker and Mr. Fuji tell the Undertaker that he is not as unstoppable as he thinks. Monsoon chides referee Earl Hebner for not counting the pinfall faster. After the bell, the Undertaker and Bearer put Collins in a body bag.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report recaps Paul Ellering rejoining the Legion of Doom.
The Beverly Brothers (w/the Genius) (7-1) beat Rock Werner & Jerry Fox when Beau pins Fox after the Shaker Heights Spike at 2:26:
Werner had done jobs for the WWF the year prior, losing to heels like Jake Roberts and Repo Man. He also worked for the Wisconsin-based Nu-Age Wrestling promotion as Jay Werner.
Fox was trained by Sam DeCero and Sonny Rogers. He made his debut in 1988 and worked as an enhancement talent/opening act for the AWA, USWA, World Class, and WCPW. While working for the USWA he also went by the name Rockin’ Randy and Goon #1.
The Genius’ poem before the match promises that the Legion of Doom are going down. Monsoon loves to dig on the Genius and says that if the Genius is so smart he should not have to read his poems with notes. In the split screen, the Beverlys put themselves over as tougher than the Legion and the Genius promises to slap Ellering. Monsoon responds by saying that the Beverlys and Genius look like “three sissies” to him. The Beverlys beat their opponents in turn to set up the Shaker Heights Spike.
Koko B. Ware pins Barry Horowitz after a missile dropkick at 1:28:
Monsoon puts over how members of the WWF Fan Club can get free tickets and a complimentary watch. He adds that Ware has been gone on a trip of the Far East and was undefeated there. Who ever knew that Memphis was so far away! Horowitz attacks Ware before he can get out of his ring gear and Frankie is unimpressed by Ware’s efforts, looking more into the crowd than the ring. Ware fakes Horowitz out with a reverse flying body press and finishes with a missile dropkick. Ware needed a new look as his act with Frankie looked dated by 1992.
Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) (10-1) pins Louie Spicolli after the Teardrop Suplex at 1:21:
Monsoon is disgusted with Sherri’s look and her antics with Michaels, saying that his tune will change when he faces real competition in Bret Hart. Spicolli’s chances end when he runs into a Michaels tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, giving Michaels a second win over him this year.
The convict says he is getting out of jail so the Big Bossman better be ready to lock up with him.
On the Event Center, Sean Mooney hypes the WWF having a warehouse sale in Stamford, Connecticut where fans can get WWF merchandise at an “extreme discount” of 60%. It will happen next Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will also be a drawing for tickets to live events.
Sergeant Slaughter beats Tom Stone via submission to the Cobra Clutch at 1:45:
Stone broke into the business near Milwaukee in 1978 and wrestled for the AWA, appearing later in its Team Challenge Series. After that he worked as a WWF enhancement talent. His highlight in that role was beating Jake Roberts via disqualification in 1990. By this time Stone was noted trainer, a job that he gained experience in while working for the AWA.
Since Slaughter wears a hat to the ring Heenan alleges that Slaughter is trying to steal the Mountie’s gimmick. Monsoon wonders aloud why anyone would want to be like the Mountie. In the split screen, Jimmy Hart tells Slaughter that the Mountie is an international hero and always gets his man. Slaughter rams Stone into the ring post several times and hits Stone with a flying elbow to the back of the head. A Cobra Clutch gives Slaughter his first singles win of the year but his standing has fallen a great deal since he main evented WrestleMania the previous year.
Gene Okerlund interviews WWF Champion Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect. When asked about the new photographs from Randy Savage and Elizabeth, Perfect says those are doctored photographs. He repeats that Savage cheated to win the WWF title and Elizabeth is a cheater too. Flair adds that Elizabeth wanted more after he kissed her at WrestleMania, saying that she begged to ride Space Mountain. He concludes by promising to regain the WWF Championship at the earliest opportunity.
Virgil (8-1) defeats Kent Carlson after a super back suplex at 1:05:
Carlson had been doing work for the WWF going back to 1990. He also did some enhancement work for the AWA in its dying days.
Virgil is no longer wearing his face guard so his nose must have healed. He got the win in the eight-man tag team match at WrestleMania but it is not moving him up the card. In the split screen, Virgil challenges anyone who wants a piece of him. As Heenan announces that Shawn Michaels has left the building, Virgil uses a new finisher for his ninth win of the year.
Sid Justice (w/Harvey Wippleman) (8-1) pins Ron Cumberledge after the powerbomb at 2:18:
Cumberledge started working in 1988 and started doing enhancement work for the WWF in 1990. He also spent time doing the same for WCW starting in 1991.
Cumberledge was known for taking good bumps and takes a good one off of Sid’s clothesline, twisting on his way to the canvas. As Wippleman distracts the referee, Sid nails Cumberledge in the back with a chair and finishes him a minute later with the powerbomb. After the bell, Wippleman hops into the ring, pronounces Cumberledge dead after using a stethoscope and Cumberledge is put on a stretcher. Sid puts a “Call 911” sign around Cumberledge’s neck, dumps him off the stretcher, and then picks up the stretcher, throwing it onto Cumberledge. It would have been a nice touch if Sid had Wippleman do some quick makeup on the jobber before Sid did something vicious. In a bad sign for the Ultimate Warrior, the crowd chants for Hulk Hogan.
Tune in next week to see the Texas Tornado, the Big Bossman, and Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart in action! Also, there will be a special interview with WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated!
The Last Word: The syndicated shows are able to have more matches since a pay-per-view report by Gene Okerlund is not needed to absorb seven to ten minutes of television time. Sid’s destruction of jobbers is always fun and was a good way to end the show. The Ric Flair-Randy Savage feud still has some life in the sense that Savage wants to get back at Flair over kissing Elizabeth at WrestleMania but the photograph issue seems settled so if the company wants to drag the feud out they need to do something else.
The WWF continued its tour of Europe and here were some of the results of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
London, England – Wembley Arena – April 13, 1992 (11,000+; sellout): Repo Man pinned El Matador…The Legion of Doom beat the Nasty Boys…Sergeant Slaughter pinned Colonel Mustafa…The British Bulldog defeated Ric Flair after the running powerslam…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart wrestled Shawn Michaels to a double count out…Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat Dino Bravo…WWF Champion Randy Savage pinned the Mountie with a piledriver and flying elbow drop at 6:34.
Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle – April 14, 1992 (12,345; sellout): Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart pinned Dino Bravo (substituting for Shawn Michaels) with the backbreaker and elbow drop from the second rope at 14:17…Hacksaw Jim Duggan (substituting for Crush) beat Colonel Mustafa with the three-point stance clothesline…Repo Man pinned Sergeant Slaughter (substituting for the British Bulldog) after hitting him in the face with his steel tow hook at 14:09. Afterward, Slaughter puts Repo in the Cobra Clutch…The British Bulldog & the Legion of Doom defeated the Mountie & the Nasty Boys when the Bulldog pinned Brian Knobbs after the running powerslam at 12:24…Papa Shango pinned El Matador (substituting for the Texas Tornado) after reversing a flying body press off the top rope…WWF Champion Randy Savage pinned Shawn Michaels (substituting for Jake Roberts) with a flying elbow drop at 14:26. After the bell, Michaels and Sensational Sherri attacked Savage’s injured leg and he had to be carried from the ring, unable to compete in the battle royal that ended the show…The British Bulldog won a 16-man battle royal, last eliminating the Mountie at 17:07.
Birmingham, England – NEC – April 17, 1992 (12,000; sellout): Owen Hart pinned Skinner with a flying body press…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart beat Shawn Michaels via count out when Michaels knocked Bret back into the ring just before the ten count when both men were brawling on the apron at 17:24…Sergeant Slaughter defeated Colonel Mustafa with a clothesline at 12:40…WWF Champion Randy Savage pinned the Mountie with a flying elbow drop at 6:26…El Matador beat Dino Bravo at 10:00…Papa Shango pinned Hacksaw Jim Duggan with an elbow drop at 9:53…The Legion of Doom beat the Nasty Boys when Hawk pinned Knobbs after a flying clothesline at 12:42.
Birmingham, England – NEC – April 18, 1992 (12,000; sellout): Tatanka pinned Kato with a Samoan drop at 16:26…The Big Bossman pinned the Berzerker with a small package at 16:26…Rick Martel pinned the Texas Tornado (substituting for Roddy Piper) with a Flair pin at 17:28…The Undertaker wrestled Sid Justice to a double count out at 7:45…Virgil beat the Warlord with a small package at 9:22…The Bushwhackers defeated the Brooklyn Brawler (substituting for Ted DiBiase) & Irwin R. Schyster…The British Bulldog pinned Repo Man with the running powerslam at 12:42.
Sheffield, England – Sheffield Arena – April 19, 1992 (sellout): Tatanka pinned Skinner with a flying chop and a Samoan drop at 11:53…The Legion of Doom beat Colonel Mustafa & Dino Bravo when Hawk pinned Mustafa with a flying clothesline…Sid Justice beat the Undertaker via count out after throwing the Undertaker into the ring post as the two battled outside of the ring at 5:15. After the match, Sid hit the Undertaker with a chair until the Undertaker sat up and gave Justice a Tombstone…WWF Champion Randy Savage pinned Shawn Michaels with a reverse flying body press off the top rope at 16:58. Elizabeth came out late in the contest to thwart interference from Sensational Sherri…The Mountie pinned Virgil after using the shock stick at 8:57…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart defeated Rick Martel with a small package at 13:02…Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat Repo Man via disqualification when Repo hit Duggan with his steel tow hook at 7:14. After the bell, Duggan got his 2×4 and chased Repo Man backstage…The British Bulldog pinned Irwin R. Schyster after the running powerslam at 12:48.
Backstage News*: The WWF drew massive houses across Europe, making it the most success overseas tour in company history. For example, the company drew an estimated $300,000 at Wembley Arena in London. The WWF sold so much merchandise that they had to have a Concord jet ship more so they could sell it at other stages of the tour. The success has European promoters imagining a regular European circuit of WWF shows but Dave Meltzer finds that unlikely as the company would wear out its welcome and the size of houses would decline. As of now the WWF is planning to do European tours three times per year.
-Ric Flair was not used in the latter stages of the tour as he went to Japan to face Genichiro Tenryu at SWS shows. Tenryu was reportedly upset that Flair was no longer WWF champion because he is telling people that he was promised a shot at the WWF title. According to Tenryu, Randy Savage should have been sent to wrestle him instead of Flair. The Tenryu-Flair best-of-three falls match was won by Tenryu and drew a disappointing crowd of 9,000 fans on April 18, with a good number of tickets given away for free.
-While the WWF drew well in Europe, advance sales of house shows in the United States are weak for its “A” and “B” circuits.
-Former announcer Murray Hodgson’s case against the WWF will enter the deposition phrase this week. It will be hard to prove Hodgson was fired because of refusing Pat Patterson’s advances unless he can get a witness to corroborate any of his stories and the whole case is going to come down to whether to believe his word or Vince McMahon’s.
-Bob Goldman, a steroid expert, recently told The Wrestling Observer that the WWF’s steroid testing policy is not credible because a testing system cannot be based on levels since that cannot be done accurately.
-Ted DiBiase still has some back problems as he had to leave the European tour early because of that as well as some personal problems.
-The Warlord has been pulled from all bookings for 60 days for undisclosed reasons.
-In talent relations news, Kevin Wacholz has been signed to be the Convict and feud with the Big Bossman. P.N. News was backstage at the Wrestling Challenge tapings in Toledo and inquired about a job as part of a tag team.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 27.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for April 20!