What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – June 1, 1992

Vince McMahon moderates tonight’s panel, which features Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Heenan is happy that the Big Bossman was beat up on Superstars because the Bossman imprisoned an innocent man.

Opening Contest: El Matador (17-1-1) pins Mike Fury after El Paso Del Muerte at 3:53:

Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes spend the bout hyping the WBF competition that will happen in 12 days. El Matador holds Fury by the arm for a long time without doing anything for Fury punches out. However, the big man goes knee-first into the corner on a blind charge so El Matador goes to work on the leg, making experienced fans wonder if he will try to win with his old figure-four leglock. That does not happen as El Matador backdrops Fury and then hits El Paso Del Muerte to win a longer than usual squash match. After the match, Monsoon argues that ring announcer Mike McGuirk is interested in El Matador.

Kamala’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the Ultimate Warrior-Papa Shango feud. In the studio, Heenan has his back turned and tells the panelists he does not want to see the effects of voodoo on the Warrior.

A Virgil-Pat Tanaka match from the April 13 edition of Prime Time Wrestling is shown.

Footage of Papa Shango laying out a jobber with voodoo on the recent Superstars airs. Afterward, Duggan tells the panelists that all wrestlers are going to be scared to go to the ring with Shango from this point forward. McMahon remains skeptical of Shango’s voodoo powers, though.

McMahon reminds viewers that the WBF Championship will take place on pay-per-view on June 13. When McMahon asks the panelists who will win, Heenan picks Barry DeMay because he has great legs. He wants to pick Lex Luger but cannot because Luger is not competing. Duggan picks Jim Quinn because he has a good diet. Jim liked Eddie Robinson, leading to a joke by Heenan that he was unaware that Grambling University’s head football coach was competing.

The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) (11-4) beats Rock Werner after the dropkick at 1:36:

One older gentlemen gets on the Mountie’s case during his entrance, decked out in a Sergeant Slaughter t-shirt and a Big Bossman hat. The gentleman also has a Styrofoam Bossman nightstick. The Mountie slaps Werner several times as he screams into the camera that Sergeant Slaughter better acknowledge him as providing law and order to the WWF. After flattening Werner with a dropkick, the Mountie gets the pin with one foot in Werner’s face. Following his win, he handcuffs Werner to the top rope and retrieves the big shock stick. The Mountie coerces Werner into saying that the Canadian law enforcement officer is the best wrestler in the WWF and is a better man than Slaughter. Those admissions are not enough for the Mountie to not move to shock Werner but WWF officials pour into the ring. They force the Mountie to go back to the locker room.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Bret Hart (Champion) (15-1-1) beats Dino Bravo after an elbow drop off the second rope at 13:25:

Bravo was a big star in Montreal beginning his career in the city’s Lutte Internationale promotion in the 1970s after being trained by Gino Brito. He came to the WWF in 1986 as part of the company’s expansion and was inserted into Luscious Johnny Valiant’s stable as a new tag team partner for Greg Valentine in a restructured Dream Team. In 1988 he took on the tongue-in-cheek gimmick of the “World’s Strongest Man” as he bench pressed a world record 715 pounds at the 1988 Royal Rumble after commentator Jesse Ventura helped him. Bravo reached his biggest heights in the company in 1989-1990, feuding with the Ultimate Warrior over the Intercontinental Championship and then seconding Earthquake in the big man’s feud with Hulk Hogan. In 1991 Bravo slid rapidly down the card, becoming the first man eliminated from the Royal Rumble and losing at WrestleMania VII to the Texas Tornado. He left the company shortly after a televised loss to Valentine on an April episode of Prime Time Wrestling but randomly returned for a few televised matches in the summer, abandoning his bleach blonde hair for his natural black hair and beating Shane Douglas and Louie Spicolli. Nothing long-term came from those matches, though. Bravo had wrestled a retirement match on a WWF card in Montreal on January 20, beating the Barbarian. However, he was brought out of retirement by the WWF for its European tour when roster turnover forced it to adjust some of its cards.

This bout took place in Munich, Germany on April 14. It was originally booked as Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels but Michaels was moved into some main events to wrestle Randy Savage for the WWF Championship so Bravo got the spot instead. Bravo plays heel and is less muscular than the previous year, but that also makes him more mobile. The challenger uses several long rest holds, breaking some of it up with a piledriver and elbow drop, both of which get two counts. Bravo goes on to hit his finishing side suplex but Bret gets his foot on the bottom rope to save his title. Bret’s comeback begins after clapping Bravo’s ears to escape a bearhug and the moves of doom score some near-falls. There is some awkwardness in the finish as Bret does a second chest-first corner bump but quickly recovers, hits a backbreaker, and wins with the second rope elbow drop, one of the few recorded times that move finishes a match for him. Bravo’s reliance on rest holds weighed down the match as Bret had nearly all the work. This would be Bravo’s last televised appearance in the WWF. He would be murdered the following year in a case that remains unsolved. Rating: **

The Big Bossman’s squash on Superstars and the vicious attack perpetuated by the unknown convict afterward is shown. After a commercial break, Duggan is angry about what happened and how Heenan and Perfect are laughing about it. Perfect rebuts that Duggan has no idea what the convict went through.

A Jimmy Snuka-Repo Man match that aired on March 16 edition of Prime Time Wrestling airs.

The Berzerker’s squash from Superstars is shown.

A replay of Crush’s junkyard vignette of feasting on other WWF superstars airs.

Promo time with Sean Mooney! Sergeant Slaughter says that the Mountie crippled him for an hour but now he is 100% and is going to put him in the Cobra Clutch. Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart vows to take on any challengers for his title.

Slaughter’s squash from Superstars airs.

Skinner (6-5-1) pins Jim Powers (1-5) after the inverted DDT at 7:07:

This match took place in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 18. It is a rematch of a prior encounter on Prime Time Wrestling from January 27, which Skinner won. Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes joke about whether any women would want to date Skinner. Powers moves around Skinner for much of the match but his momentum ends with a stun gun. Rather than go for a cover, Skinner opts to do a long abdominal stretch with the help of the ropes and a couple of chinlocks. A blind charge eats boot and Powers does a short comeback. A dropkick almost gives Powers the win but Skinner puts his foot on the bottom rope to break and a Powers blind charge eats buckle, allowing Skinner to hit his finisher. There were some good spots here and this would have been a better match if it was limited to four minutes. Rating: *

Heenan says that he called down to Cobb County for an update on the Big Bossman’s condition. The bad news is that the Bossman’s jaw is wired but the good news is that the Bossman “can suck grits.” Jim goes off, saying that someone cannot suck grits.

Tune in next see High Energy face Skinner & the Brooklyn Brawler! Also, the British Bulldog faces Irwin R. Schyster! And El Matador & Virgil team up to face the Nasty Boys!

The Last Word: Two of the feature bouts on the show were recycled from past Prime Time episodes and featured acts that are no longer with the company. The only novelty that this show had was Dino Bravo’s last televised WWF match. The lack of discussion of the WWF title picture is due to Randy Savage’s separation from Elizabeth since she would no longer be used as an on-screen character for the company. As a result, the WWF was having to come up with a new storyline to continue the Savage-Ric Flair feud and it has not yet decided on an angle.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for June 6!