What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – June 21, 1992

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, concluding the taping cycle in Cincinnati, Ohio. Heenan does a funny rant about how his father is a bum because he never gets him anything for Father’s Day unlike his mother. Monsoon almost starts laughing and kicks the show to its intro package.

Opening Contest: Crush (5-0) beats Barry Horowitz via submission to a head vice at 2:26:

Crush does not sell Horowitz’s uppercut and “crushes” Horowitz’s hand after blocking a punch. Horowitz yells in terror as he is gorilla press slammed and does it again when taking the head vice. After the match, Crush raises Horowitz’s hand and Horowitz crumbles to the canvas, unable to stand on his own two feet.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report replays Randy Savage’s Superstars promo from two weeks ago. Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect remind Savage that Flair is the dirtiest player in the game and Flair will soon be a two-time WWF champion.

The Beverly Brothers (w/the Genius) (12-1) defeat Kevin Kruger & Ron Cumberledge when Beau pins Kruger after the Shaker Heights Spike at 1:56:

The Genius’ poem tells the Legion of Doom that their parents do not know if they are a he or a she. At this point in the taping empty seats are shown facing the hard camera. In the split screen, the Beverlys and the Genius tell the Legion of Doom’s fathers are disappointed in them because they grew up to become sissy girls. By this point it is making the Legion looks weak by not coming out and annihilating these guys. The only highlight of the squash is Kruger taking a good head-first bump into the canvas for the Shaker Heights Spike. After the bell, the Beverlys paint Kruger’s face and “LOS” on his chest. They also get him to admit that Hawk and Animal are real sissies.

The Texas Tornado (8-1) pins Bob Bradley after the discus punch at 1:33:

The Tornado likes to kiss female fans on the way to the ring and today he gets all he can handle as an elderly woman aggressively pulls him close to her for a kiss on the cheek. This is a return to the Tornado’s spastic nature during squashes as he does not sell Bradley’s punches in the corner, appears to hurt his hand after throwing a bunch of punches, and then stands Bradley up after a clothesline for the finish.

A replay of Razor Ramon’s vignette from Superstars airs.

Kamala (w/Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee) (6-0) defeats Reno Riggins after a splash to the back at 1:12:

Riggins is overwhelmed by Kamala’s strikes, which makes him vulnerable for the splash to the back. If Wippleman wants Kamala to help him take over the WWF, which he has expressed in previous promos on the Event Center, then he needs to teach his man how to pin someone quickly after hitting a finisher.

El Matador (19-1-1) pins Tom Stone after El Paso del Muerte at 2:05:

This is El Matador’s 25th in-ring appearance for the year, more than any other wrestler. When Stone tries to do some second rope corner bunches, El Matador uses an inverted atomic drop to stop it. A knee lift opens the door for El Paso del Muerte. This win makes El Matador the first superstar to 20 singles wins in 1992.

Gene Okerlund interviews the Mountie and Jimmy Hart. Okerlund is afraid that the Mountie might use his big shock stick on him, looking at the object with trepidation. The Mountie says he does not like Sergeant Slaughter commanding people and giving orders as the only person who is going to be doing that around the WWF is him due to the shock stick. He calls his shock stick “The Great American Scream Machine” and says he wants to hear Slaughter scream when they face off. The Mountie got a good level of heat for this promo and is doing his best to get this program over. It is just not catching on because fans do not care about Slaughter like they did back in the 1980s.

High Energy (7-0) beat the Executioners when Owen Harts pins Pain after an electric chair drop-missile dropkick combination at 2:03:

Heenan continues to make fun of Koko B. Ware’s pants, arguing that another bird might be inside of them. In the split screen, the Nasty Boys warn High Energy that they are going to be short circuited. Monsoon notes that this Executioner team is not the one that once held the WWF Tag Team Championship and he notes that they have names, Agony and Pain. High Energy adopts a spot from the New Foundation, with Ware whipping Owen into a suicide dive so he can take out their opponents. Owen rolls one of them into the ring and puts them on his shoulders, giving them an electric chair drop after a Ware missile dropkick. That is a good finisher for the team but they may struggle to do it against bigger opponents.

A video package shows the highlights of The WBF Championship. That is needed because barely anyone in America ordered the show.

Nailz (1-0) beats Dan Robbins with an electric chair drop at 1:38:

Like Lexington, no one in Cincinnati knew who Nailz was before this match so his entrance is greeted with silence. Nailz tries to rip Robbins face off a few times and lays in some kicks. He does an electric chair drop for the finish but botches it, with Robbins falling on his ass rather than his back. Oh well, it is the thought that counts as that finish was topic for the character. After the bell, Nailz beats up Robbins with a nightstick and chokes him. When he stops, Robbins is taken away on a stretcher.

Tune in next week to see WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated, Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart, and Papa Shango in action! There will also be a special interview with the Berzerker!

The Last Word: The WWF had quite an all-star lineup of enhancement talents on this show as it featured Barry Horowitz, Tom Stone, Bob Bradley, Reno Riggins, Duane Gill (Executioner), and Barry Hardy (Executioner). The Mountie’s promo in the middle of the show was good and on the microphone alone he has helped to rebuild himself from some big losses at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, the Texas Tornado appears to be back to his old ways and that is not good for him on a personal or professional level.

After drawing poorly in a lot of parts of the country, the WWF returned to its stomping ground near the East Coast for a series of house shows. Here were the results of those events, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Pittsburgh Civic Arena – June 19, 1992 (3,500): El Matador pinned Skinner after the flying forearm…Animal pinned Blake Beverly with a flying clothesline…Rick Martel beat Tatanka via count out…The Ultimate Warrior pinned Papa Shango after three clotheslines and a splash…Crush beat Kato via submission to a head vice…High Energy beat the Nasty Boys via disqualification after Jerry Sags hit Koko B. Ware with a chair…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart pinned Shawn Michaels with a schoolboy roll up after heel miscommunication.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Spectrum – June 20, 1992 (7,800): The Texas Tornado pinned the Brooklyn Brawler after the discus punch at 8:11…Nailz beat Virgil with a chokehold sleeper at 5:18…The Bushwhackers beat Double Trouble at 7:45…Ric Flair beat WWF Champion Randy Savage via count out when Flair hit Savage with brass knuckles outside of the ring at 18:18…The British Bulldog pinned Repo Man at 8:11…The Natural Disasters beat WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated via count out at 8:25 when Money Incorporated walked out…The Undertaker pinned the Berzerker after the Tombstone at 8:36. After the match, the Undertaker gave Mr. Fuji a Tombstone.

Backstage News*: Tickets for SummerSlam went on sale Wednesday and reports were that 83,000 tickets were sold in the first six hours, shattering records of first-day sales for a professional wrestling event. Wembley Stadium officials later refuted that, but they still reported that 60,000 to 65,000 tickets had been sold and only seats in the upper deck remained. In comparison, WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome “only” sold 23,000 tickets in its first week. The most expensive tickets for the event were $45 and if the venue sells out the WWF will generate a $2,160,000 gate. The all-time WWF record for a gate was WrestleMania VI, which had a gate of $3,450,000. Big gates in Europe have allowed the WWF to keep its finances steady.

-Attendance at WWF house shows is down 36% when compared to this point in the previous year. Not all of the decline can be tied to Hulk Hogan because he did not work a full schedule in 1991. Again, towns that only get to see the WWF once a year are declining but its traditional markets in the East are doing okay. The WWF drew a crowd of just under 11,000 paid to the Nassau Coliseum on June 19 for a gate of $160,000 and the 7,800 drawn to the Philadelphia Spectrum drew a gate of $115,000. Some think the high attendance at Nassau was due to a column in The New York Daily News that claimed Ric Flair was going to regain the WWF Championship at the show.

-The WWF’s shows on USA Network – Prime Time Wrestling and All American Wrestling – drew a 3.7 combined rating (2.0 for Prime Time and 1.7 for All American), the lowest they have ever been. Syndicated shows are also drawing less than they once did. In fact, television ratings are down by 16% when compared to last year. Dave Meltzer speculates that with the rise of paid commercial programs on Saturday mornings, the WWF and WCW could lose some of their syndicated markets.

-The WWF has counter-sued former announcer Murray Hodgson, alleging that his public statements have damaged Titan Sports.

-In talent relations news, Vince McMahon and J.J. Dillon held meetings with Antonio Pena, head of Mexico’s AAA promotion, about talent exchange ventures. The WWF has a desire to promote shows in Mexico City while AAA wants to do the same in the United States. The WWF also has a desire to use Mexican little people wrestlers and they could appear on WWF cards later this summer. Double Trouble (Val & Tony Puccio) received more tryouts from the company at the Nassau Coliseum and Philadelphia Spectrum as part of the WWF’s settlement with the duo over the Undertaker name. Konnan should finally be making appearances at television tapings on July 20 and 21. Bob Backlund has reportedly turned down the WWF’s offer to return.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for June 29.

Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for June 22!