Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan handle commentary for a new set of television tapings. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these took place in Niagara Falls, New York on April 28 and drew a crowd of 5,000 fans. Lots of empty seats are seen in the upper deck of the venue.
Opening Contest: The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (12-0) beats Glen Ruth after the Tombstone at 2:29:
Ruth was a Larry Sharpe trainee, a product of Sharpe’s “Monster Factory” professional wrestling school. He worked his first match in 1990 and cut his teeth on the New Jersey independence scene. As the Spider he was the heavyweight champion in Sharpe’s WWA promotion and he also worked All Japan in 1991 as Frankie Favorite. Ruth had been doing enhancement matches for the WWF since 1990. He got his big break in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1995 where he would radically alter his look, putting on a skirt and donning face paint as Headbanger Thrasher.
Heenan asks Monsoon what is in the urn, leading to Monsoon bashing Heenan for failing to do his job as a broadcast journalist and find out. In the split screen, Mr. Fuji orders the Berzerker to finish the Undertaker. The Berzerker tells the Undertaker that he is going to stab him with his sword at the earliest opportunity. Fans wildly cheer the Undertaker’s annihilation of Ruth, culminating in the Undertaker stuffing Ruth in a body bag afterward.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report hypes the WWF Fan Club and recaps Rick Martel spraying Arrogance in Tatanka’s eyes on Superstars two weeks ago. Tatanka does a taped promo, angry that Martel has taken the eagle feathers of his ancestors.
Virgil (9-2) beats the Dublin Destroyer after a super back suplex at 1:16:
The Destroyer is enhancement talent Brian Donahue. Monsoon and Heenan hype the WWF-WBF clash on Family Feud, illustrating how Virgil is directionless following his feud with Repo Man. There is a bad blind charge spot where the Destroyer gets his leg up well early of a Virgil charge. Virgil grabs the leg, twists the Destroyer around, puts him on the top rope, and does a super back suplex to win.
Skinner (5-5-1) pins Scott Taylor after the inverted DDT at 1:37:
Taylor was a three-year veteran, starting his career in Portland, Maine in 1989. He started doing enhancement work for the WWF a year earlier after longtime enhancement worker Phil Apollo vouched for him. It would take several years of enhancement appearances before Taylor got a push under his own name, breaking out in the Attitude Era as Scotty 2 Hotty.
There is more Family Feud hype as Monsoon and Heenan ignore the action in the ring. Skinner pulls Taylor up at one after using a Pedigree. A slingshot suplex and kick to the gut off the ropes set up Skinner’s finishing maneuver.
Earthquake beats Ted DiBiase (w/Jimmy Hart) (2-0-1) via disqualification when Irwin R. Schyster interferes at 2:16:
With how heatless the feud over the tag team titles has been between Money Incorporated and the Natural Disasters it seems fitting that this match is airing on the WWF’s C-show. Earthquake destroys DiBiase early, avalanching him against the buckles and dropping an elbow. Earthquake goes for the Earthquake Splash but DiBiase rolls out of the ring and tries to quit. Typhoon intercepts the Million Dollar Man in the aisle, though, and the match continues. That brings IRS to ringside, who blasts Typhoon in the back of the head with his briefcase. IRS then gets into the ring and hits Earthquake in the head with the briefcase several times and he and DiBiase do a two-on-one beatdown until Typhoon recovers and saves his partner. Reading the audience even they knew this was not going to have a definitive finish after DiBiase was close to getting beaten 45 seconds into the bout.
High Energy (2-0) defeat Duane Gill & Barry Hardy when Owen pins Hardy after a missile dropkick at 2:58:
Koko B. Ware has updated his look so that he has parachute pants like Owen. Heenan has a great joke about how Ware would give Tatanka some of Frankie’s feathers if he was a real friend. In the split screen, High Energy put themselves over as the company’s hottest act. Heenan adds that the Nasty Boys do not like High Energy and want to nasticize them. Like on Prime Time, Owen’s attempt to win the match with a belly-to-belly suplex is interrupted. That leads to all hell breaking loose and High Energy vanquish their foes with missile dropkicks.
Gene Okerlund interviews Repo Man. In a nice touch, Repo sneaks behind Okerlund instead of doing a conventional entrance. He also steals Okerlund’s watch before giving it back. Repo Man gloats about what he did to the British Bulldog on last week’s show and says he has a choke chain to handle the Bulldog if he comes after him. The crowd did not have any idea what Repo Man was talking about because the angle with the Bulldog aired a week after the date of this taping.
The Big Bossman (9-1-1) beats Vince Sola after the Bossman Slam at 1:24:
Monsoon says that the Bulldog had a fracture of his second vertebrae in the neck and might be out for some time. Heenan reads a letter from the unknown convict who says that he is out and is going to beat the Bossman with his own nightstick. This leads to a fun exchange where Monsoon wonders how Heenan got the letter because it was not addressed to him. The Bossman beats Sola in less than 90 seconds, awaiting the presence of the convict. After the bell, the Bossman handcuffs Sola to the middle rope and poses for the crowd.
A replay of Crush’s junkyard vignette airs.
Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) (13-1) pins Bob Wisseman after the Teardrop Suplex at 2:44:
In the split screen, Michaels and Sherri put over Sherri’s appearance on Family Feud and Michaels says he is going to beat Bret Hart for the Intercontinental title. Eight-year-old fans rush the front when Michaels comes off the apron with a double axe handle to Wisseman and yell at him, causing Michaels to act like he is going to come after them. That scares the kids away. In the ring, Michaels uses the superkick and Teardrop Suplex to pin Wisseman with one finger.
The Beverly Brothers and the Genius tell the Bushwhackers to prepare for their demise and the Bushwhackers are sissies like the Legion of Doom. The Bushwhackers go back to their old promo material that the Beverlys are sisters.
Tune in next week to see the Bushwhackers face the Beverly Brothers! Also, Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart and Kamala will be in action! And WWF Champion Randy Savage will do a special interview!
The Last Word: There were lots of matches packed into this show and again, the WWF is trying to heat up as many of its feuds as it can to increase house show attendance. However, there is not a powerful draw anywhere on the card. Randy Savage-Ric Flair appears finished but is still going on, the Berzerker and Papa Shango are not on the same level as the Undertaker and Ultimate Warrior, and the tag team title feud has never caught on because its major developments happened off-screen. Even things that seem fresh and are working on some level have issues as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Tatanka are too new to the singles ranks to have a devoted following and Repo Man’s feud with the British Bulldog started well but is now becoming overloaded with dog puns. Typically, the WWF runs its spring feuds all the way to SummerSlam but it is hard to see these combinations making it that far.
Here is where the WWF house show action stood in early May, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Tampa, Florida – The SunDome – May 9, 1992 (2,800): The Nasty Boys beat High Energy…The Genius pinned Jim Brunzell…Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeated Repo Man via disqualification…The Legion of Doom beat the Beverly Brothers when Animal pinned Blake…Rick Martel beat El Matador…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart defeated Shawn Michaels…The Ultimate Warrior pinned Papa Shango (substituting for Sid Justice).
Backstage News*: WWF officials are still expecting Sid Justice to return after his six-week suspension has elapsed but Sid has expressed little desire to go back. As of now, house shows billed by Sid-Ultimate Warrior are way to look at that side of the business because the main Warrior-Papa Shango angle has not aired on television. House shows headlined by Randy Savage and Ric Flair continue to draw poorly, with just 1,800 fans attending a house show on May 8 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. 3,000 fans attended for another Savage-Flair match in Milwaukee on May 9.
-The British Bulldog and Chris Walker have each been suspended for six weeks, presumably for violations of the new steroid policy. WWF spokesman Steve Planamenta had said earlier that the Bulldog was suffering from a thyroid problem that made it hard for the Bulldog to lose weight and he was clean but that does not appear to be the case. Some chalk up the suspensions, which have also hit Sid and the Warlord, to Dr. Mauro DiPasquale taking over the steroid testing program from Dr. Anthony Daly earlier this month. Hacksaw Jim Duggan will substitute for the Bulldog on house shows.
-The Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, and the Legion of Doom will be guests at the WBF Championship on June 13.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 18.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for May 11!