What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 6, 1992

Vince McMahon moderates tonight’s panel of Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. WWF Champion Randy Savage joins as a guest panelist. Savage comes into the studio like a ball of energy, telling Perfect that he cannot be handled and Heenan that he is not as smart as he thinks he is.

Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship: Money Incorporated (Champions w/Jimmy Hart) (13-1) beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter (10-0) via disqualification when Duggan is caught using the 2×4 at 8:13:

This bout was filmed in Toledo, Ohio on April 7. Duggan and Slaughter have not teamed up since April 11 and this is a small sendoff for their pairing. It is a decent, basic tag match that works the crowd and never slows down. Duggan is quickly placed in peril and double teamed by the champions when Slaughter keeps trying to enter the ring illegally. After Ted DiBiase misses a fist drop, Slaughter gets the hot tag and puts DiBiase in the Cobra Clutch until IRS saved his partner. All hell breaks loose after that, with the referee buried among all of the men fighting in the corner. IRS grabs Duggan’s 2×4 and tries to use it but Duggan wrestles it away and hits IRS with the object in view of the referee, getting his team disqualified. After the bell, Slaughter holds IRS in place so Duggan can blast him with the 2×4 again. Rating: **

Kamala’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment replays his call with the Big Bossman from Superstars.

Heenan is on the phone with Ric Flair and passes it to McMahon, who hangs up on the former WWF champion.

The Undertaker’s squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.

Rick Martel’s squash from Superstars is shown.

Promo time with Sean Mooney! Kamala makes funny sounds and facial expressions as Harvey Wippleman talks about how Kamala will soon take over the WWF. It was hard to hear all of Wippleman’s promo because of Kamala’s wailing. The British Bulldog says he is training harder than ever and is ready to sink his teeth into Repo Man.

The panel does token hype for WBF Body Stars. Heenan says that Lex Luger will be returning. Savage says he has no idea who Luger is.

40-Man Battle Royal: The Berzerker wins, last eliminating the Texas Tornado at 10:01 shown:

Other participants: The Beverly Brothers, Virgil, High Energy, Skinner, Kato, Duane Gill, the Nasty Boys, El Matador, Joe Milano, Bob Bradley, Bret Hart, Tatanka, Barry Horowitz, Jim Brunzell, Sergeant Slaughter, Rick Martel, Money Incorporated, the Berzerker, Rick Johnson, J.A. Gooden, Barry Horowitz, Chico Martinez, Bruce Mitchell, Bob Knight, Gary Davis, Jim Powers, Al Hunter, Scott Colantonio, the Dublin Destroyer, Bob Starr, Barry Hardy, Nick Danger, and the British Bulldog.

The WWF ran several of these large 40-man battle royals in 1992, one of which was taped for the Rampage ’92 Coliseum Video release. This battle royal took place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on June 2. The Berzerker does not get into the ring when the match starts, pulling Milano out and beats him up on the floor. He does the same to Glen Ruth before getting into the ring. The filler jobbers are eliminated first so that the name stars remain. Tatanka eliminates Rick Martel in a continuation of their feud but then charges Skinner and is backdropped out. The Beverly Brothers have an issue with Bret Hart, causing an odd sequence where Blake Beverly hops over the top rope and causes his own elimination when he tries to help Beau eliminate the Intercontinental champion. The babyfaces try to keep Bret in the match but Beau yanks him off the apron and Bret is eliminated. The final six lead to an interesting imbalance between babyfaces and heels as El Matador, the Tornado, Ware, and the Bulldog face the Berzerker and Skinner. The Berzerker backdrops Ware out and Skinner does the same to El Matador to create a final four. Skinner finishes dumping the Bulldog after getting some early help from the Berzerker. The Tornado throws lots of punches in an effort to fend off the two heels and heel miscommunication causes Skinner to try to toss the Berzerker. However, the Berzerker lands on the apron and then eliminates Skinner and the Tornado when they brawl near the ropes. If the WWF pushed the Berzerker like this before he faced the Undertaker that program might be drawing more interest. This was a nice novelty but the ending sequence went on too long and did not have much drama because the Tornado is incapable of selling. Rating: *½

Okerlund’s interview with the Ultimate Warrior on Wrestling Challenge is shown.

The Legion of Doom (w/Paul Ellering) (10-1) defeat the Executioners when Hawk pins Agony after the Doomsday Device at 2:53:

One would expect Rocco to appear here but he is AWOL. The Executioners flee the ring after the bell so the Legion follow them to the floor and clothesline them out of their boots. An attempted double team by the Executioners on Hawk goes nowhere and Agony is destroyed with the Doomsday Device. After the bell, Hawk tosses the Executioners over the top rope.

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

The British Bulldog’s defeat of the Brooklyn Brawler on Wrestling Challenge is shown.

When McMahon asks about Ric Flair, Savage says he will do whatever he has to do to beat him. When Perfect tries to touch the WWF title belt, Savage quickly pulls it away and tells Perfect that it is too heavy for him.

Papa Shango (14-0) beats El Matador (21-1-1) after rolling through a flying body press at 9:49:

This bout took place in Munich, Germany on April 14 and it is Shango’s first feature match. He was originally booked to face the Texas Tornado. Since it was filmed early in his push he does not receive a lot of heat from the crowd. Shango uses his power to dominate the encounter, making this a glorified squash. El Matador struggles to take Shango off his feet during his comeback and El Matador’s trademark flying forearm only gets one. After that, El Matador goes to the top rope but Shango rolls through it and wins. The ending is weird because one would have expected Shango to do some powerful move to win the bout after the way it unfolded. Rating: *

High Energy’s squash from Superstars airs.

Nailz (4-0) beats Kerry Davis via submission to a chokehold sleeper at 1:45:

Nailz has a nice body slam variation, throwing Davis across the ring with the move. He does a lot of choking between moves before locking in the chokehold sleeper. After the bell, Nailz keeps his finisher on for a few more seconds and beats up Davis with a nightstick.

More promos with Mooney! Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart says that the Mountie, Rick Martel, and the British Bulldog want a crack at his title. He tells Shawn Michaels that he will soon find out why he is called “The Excellence of Execution.” Papa Shango tells the Ultimate Warrior that his curse is more powerful than he thought and he is not done with him yet.

Tatanka’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

The Last Word: One would have had high hopes for Randy Savage as a panelist, especially because he was opposing rivals Bobby Heenan and Mr. Perfect but his panel comments were unfocused and the studio bits did not do a good job building his feud with Ric Flair. Some of that might be owed to Savage going through a divorce as his distracted behavior was also apparent in an interview with Gene Okerlund several weeks ago. The tag team title match at the start of the show was fine and the 40-man battle royal was a novelty worth checking out in this era, even if it was below average by battle royal standards.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for July 11!