Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, still taped from Toledo, Ohio.
Opening Non-Title Contest: Bret Hart (Intercontinental Champion) (12-1-1) defeats Barry Hardy via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:50:
In the split screen Shawn Michaels and Sensational Sherri congratulate Bret on winning the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania and warn him that he is getting ready to battle “The excellence of persecution.” That turn of phrase sounds silly. Bret works through his moves of doom and submits Hardy in a hold that Heenan says is nearly impossible to get out of.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report recaps the Ultimate Warrior’s promo on last week’s Superstars.
Skinner (4-4-1) beats Red Tyler after the inverted DDT at 1:56:
Since Skinner has a feature match scheduled on next week’s Superstars the WWF needs to do some token work to give him credibility. Monsoon and Heenan hype the Warrior-Sid feud throughout the squash. The biggest thing Skinner does is ram Tyler into the ring post before doing his inverted DDT. Heenan cracks the Skinner wins with “his cleanest dirty shirt.”
There is a replay of Crush’s first vignette where he declares that he loves to crush things.
Rick Martel (10-2-1) beats Chris Hahn via submission to the Boston Crab at 2:12:
Hahn is proud of himself for kicking out of a body slam. That soon ends when Martel blasts him with a dropkick. Heenan insists that Tatanka was lucky to beat Martel at WrestleMania VIII, implying that the feud between the two may not be over. Martel finishes off a good week with a win, his fourth since the WrestleMania loss.
As Martel leaves the ring, Tatanka runs down for his match. The two argue in the aisle and Martel blows Arrogance around the newcomer. In response, Tatanka does a Native American war cry and it causes Martel to drop and break Arrogance.
Tatanka (12-0) pins Dwayne Gill after the Samoan drop at 2:14:
Gill takes a lot of chops and slams during the squash. Tatanka is looking more comfortable in the ring since his debut.
The Texas Tornado (5-1) pins Mark Roberts after the discus punch at 2:16:
The Tornado has a long entrance, kissing several female fans. Heenan begs fans to write to WWF President Jack Tunney and demand that he book a rematch between Randy Savage and Ric Flair over the WWF Championship. In the split screen, the Tornado says people have asked me where he has been and he says he was getting his mind, body, and soul right. Compared to other talents the Tornado does not much aside from punch but that is enough to win today.
Monsoon and Heenan waste some time talking about a new article about fast food in Bodybuilding Lifestyles magazine.
Gene Okerlund interviews WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated and Jimmy Hart. Hart claims to have managed the Disasters for a year and a half, which is longer than the team was together, but says that managing them almost wrecked his career. Ted DiBiase says that the Disasters had their chance to be champions at WrestleMania and fell short because the Disasters have to pin or submit them to get the titles. Whether it is because of his nagging back injury or something else, DiBiase does not look like he is enjoying this phase of his career.
The Big Bossman (7-1-1) pins Tom Bennett after the Bossman Slam at 1:56:
Reeling from a loss to Rick Martel on Prime Time Wrestling, the Bossman tells the Convict has 30 days before he gets out of jail and promises that if he comes after him that hard time will greet him in the WWF. This goes against what Vince McMahon said on Superstars about how the Convict has already been released. The Bossman beats Bennett down and plants him with the Bossman Slam. After the bell he handcuffs Bennett to the middle rope and poses for the fans.
Papa Shango (10-0) beats Buck Zumhoff after the reverse shoulderbreaker at 2:23:
It seemed like Shango was on course to feud with the Undertaker but that appears to have been scrapped as the Berzerker is being paired with the Undertaker instead. Monsoon brings up Shango’s interference at the end of WrestleMania VIII so it seems like a feud with the Ultimate Warrior might be on the horizon. Shango pulls Zumhoff up at two after a headbutt off the ropes. He throws a hard clothesline to set up the reverse shoulderbreaker.
Repo Man tells the British Bulldog that he hates dogs because they thwart his repossession efforts. The Bulldog rebuts that he stays alert all the time.
Tune in next week to see the British Bulldog face Repo Man! Also, Ric Flair and the Legion of Doom will be in action! And there will be a special interview with Shawn Michaels!
The Last Word: The WWF is in sweeps month so short feature matches will pop up on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge the next few weeks. It is a welcome change of pace for this show, which is at the bottom of the company’s pecking order. The biggest event on the show was Tatanka continuing his feud with Rick Martel. It seems like the company is seeking to elevate Tatanka more than the Big Bossman, hence why Martel stopped the Bossman’s long unbeaten streak on Prime Time several days earlier.
The WWF resumed house shows in the United States after a tour of Europe. Here are the results of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Chicago, Illinois – The Rosemont Horizon – April 26, 1992 (3,600): Chris Walker pinned Bob Bradley with a flying clothesline at 6:00…Skinner beat Jim Brunzell (substituting for the Texas Tornado)…The Natural Disasters beat WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated via count out when Money Incorporated walked out at 5:00…Tatanka pinned Colonel Mustafa with a body press off the ropes at 7:00…The Undertaker pinned the Berzerker after a Tombstone at 7:00. After the match the Undertaker gave Mr. Fuji a Tombstone…Papa Shango pinned Virgil after a reverse shoulderbreaker at 5:00…Sergeant Slaughter beat the Mountie via submission to the Cobra Clutch at 5:00…WWF Champion Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair via disqualification when Mr. Perfect attempted to hit Savage with the title belt at 17:00…Virgil won a 16-man battle royal, last eliminating Ted DiBiase at 7:00.
Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Garden – April 26, 1992 (3,500): Crush pinned Kato…The Nasty Boys defeated Owen Hart & Jim Powers…Rick Martel pinned El Matador…The British Bulldog beat Repo Man…The Legion of Doom defeated the Beverly Brothers…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart pinned Shawn Michaels…The Ultimate Warrior beat Sid via disqualification in four minutes.
Backstage News*: The WWF had to cancel two house weekend house shows due to poor ticket sales. A house show at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia scheduled for April 25 had only sold 600 tickets and the venue cancelled the show because of a miscommunication with the WWF, who intended to cancel the next Richmond show. A matinee card in Valparaiso, Indiana scheduled for April 26 was also cancelled due to poor advance sales. This is alarming because typically house show business does not reach its nadir until several months after WrestleMania. The lack of Hulk Hogan might already be rearing its head, just like it did after WrestleMania VI in 1990.
-Sid Justice stormed out of the Boston Garden after his match with the Ultimate Warrior on April 26. He has been suspended for six weeks for unprofessional conduct. It is unclear whether Sid was upset over the booking of the feud, working with the Warrior, or the quality of the matches he was in. There were backstage rumors that a high-level WWF talent was caught trying to cheat a recent steroid test and was about to be served with a six-week suspension. Dave Melzer speculates that Sid could be the person this rumor was about and him finding an excuse to quit the company might be related to looming discipline over the test. Sid will be replaced in his feud with the Ultimate Warrior with Papa Shango.
-The WWF lost a lawsuit with the New Jersey Athletic Board over back taxes from WrestleMania IV, WrestleMania V, and SummerSlam ’89. The WWF argued that a New Jersey tax on a percentage of international television revenue of events broadcast in the state violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. Even though the WWF originally claimed $20 to $30 million in revenue for each of those shows it tried to lowball the state and say that the revenue was less than $9.5 million for each. As a result of the decision, the WWF will owe New Jersey $100,000 for each show if it does not appeal the decision.
-Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson were able to delay their depositions in the Murray Hodgson’s wrongful termination, sexual harassment lawsuit. (Note: Hodgson was later exposed as a fraud once he was deposed and the WWF’s lawyers started digging into his background)
-WCW has sued Lex Luger, alleging that he breached his contract by appearing on WWF television to promote the WBF.
-Mr. Perfect is expected to return to the ring in October and feud with Ric Flair.
-The WWF is looking at hosting WrestleMania IX in Tampa, Florida, possibly on the campus of the University of South Florida.
-In talent relations news, Del Wilkes has chosen to work in All Japan.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 4 and May 11.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for April 27!