What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 13, 1992

Vince McMahon runs tonight’s panel. Hacksaw Jim Duggan returns to join Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Duggan says he wanted to bring Jim a backscratcher back from Japan but could not get it through customs. He also said he wanted to bring “fish heads and rice” back for Heenan and Perfect.

Opening Contest: The Texas Tornado (11-1) pins Kato (0-13) after the discus punch at 4:22:

This bout took place in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada on June 3. Gorilla Monsoon states the obvious truth that Kato was better in tag team wrestling than being a singles wrestler. There are some sloppy transitions between who is in control and each man relies on strikes for almost all their moves. The Tornado traps Kato in a sleeper hold and in a spot that is not seen often, the heel’s hand drops twice before using a jawbreaker to escape. The Tornado gets a random shot to the gut, though, and then comes off the ropes with the discus punch for the win. Rating: ¼*

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the Mountie’s “Great American Scream Machine.”

Shawn Michaels’ squash from Superstars is shown.

McMahon says that Perfect has a good relationship with the Mountie, saying that they are related. Perfect denies that and laughs about Sergeant Slaughter getting shocked by the Mountie. Duggan digs on Slick as a panelist, saying he is not going to just sit there and listen to trash talk from the heels tonight.

Okerlund interviews Tatanka, who says that Rick Martel is like many he has encountered that do not respect his native heritage. He says that his eagle feathers were earned through bravery and honor and Martel lacks both qualities. Tatanka closes by saying that the great spirits have told him to seek revenge. This promo had some good rhetoric and the crowd responded positively to it.

Perfect argues that WWF wrestlers that he knows are stronger than bodybuilders that Duggan knows in the WBF. Duggan proposes a tug-a-war to determine which side is better and Perfect agrees.

The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) (15-0) beat Jason Knight & Scott Colantonio when Jerry Sags pins Colantonio after the Trip to Nastyville at 3:52:

Instead of seeing Hart’s management of Money Incorporated and the Nasties as a conflict of interest, Lord Alfred Hayes sees it as a testament to Hart’s managerial ability. Monsoon is unaware of his English history, asking Lord Alfred Hayes if there has ever been a divorce in the royal family aside from Princess Diana and Prince Charles. That masks a lengthy squash where the Nasties take their time beating up their opponents, finally finishing Colantonio with the Trip to Nastyville. After the bell, the Nasties clear the jobbers from the ring.

El Matador’s squash from Superstars airs.

Howard Finkel tells the audience that Shawn Michaels has left the building.

WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated’s squash from Superstars is shown.

There is a replay of the Razor Ramon vignette from Superstars.

Promo time with Sean Mooney! High Energy tell the Nasty Boys that they will not be stopped in their race to the top of the WWF. The Berzerker and Mr. Fuji talk of crushing more superstars. The Berzerker tells the Undertaker that he cannot be stopped.

Heenan says that the Undertaker does not have a big enough body bag for the Berzerker. Duggan theorizes that the Berzerker might be put into smaller pieces to fit into something else.

The Legion of Doom (w/Paul Ellering) (12-1) beat Peter Motts & Chris Duffy when Hawk pins Duffy after the Doomsday Device at 1:36:

Motts was a former member of the U.S. Army that was trained at Killer Kowalski’s wrestling school by Scott Pieroni. He made his debut in October 1990 for Kowalski’s International Wrestling Federation (IWF) with a cowboy gimmick and went on to win the promotion’s light heavyweight title. A few years later he would achieve greater recognition in ECW as Perry Saturn.

Monsoon clowns a bit on the Rocco gimmick, arguing that whatever Ellering is trying to make the dummy say on the arena floor does not make sense. An insert promo is done by Rocco, screaming “Oh, what a rush!” Monsoon is not impressed. Rocco then gets a voiceover of the finish, screaming “Yeah!” when the Legion hit the Doomsday Device.

Heenan and Perfect are shown laughing, which was probably genuine from what they saw of the previous segment. Duggan argues that the Beverly Brothers wear the drapes of a cheap motel to the ring. Perfect says that Duggan would know what a cheap motel looks like because he has no class. Heenan tells Perfect that Rocco had an accident the other day and sawdust was found all over the floor. If true, the Legion of Doom should be investigated for foul play.

There is a replay of the Randy Savage tribute video from Superstars.

The Undertaker’s squash from Superstars airs along with the post-match angle with the Berzerker.

More promos with Mooney! Skinner talks about how WWF President Jack Tunney reminds him of a game warden and that Tunney can drop dead if he tries to fine him. Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart says there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He tells Shawn Michaels that his ego is a problem that will become more pronounced with time.

High Energy (11-0) defeat the Beverly Brothers (w/the Genius) (16-1) via disqualification when Beau Beverly hits Owen Hart with the Genius’ scroll at 9:53:

This is another match from the Cornwall taping and it is High Energy’s first feature match. Koko B. Ware ends up in peril after getting kneed in the back running the ropes and Blake distracts the referee to prevent a count after Ware catches Beau by surprise with a reverse flying body press off the second rope. For much of the heat segment the Beverlys work long bearhugs, which has to irritate the crowd because they saw them wrestle a boring bout against Jim Powers and Jim Brunzell at this taping already. The crowd wakes up when Owen gets the hot tag and a face slam on Blake gets two before Beau interrupts. When all hell breaks loose, Owen traps Blake in an O’Connor roll and Beau grabs the Genius’ scroll, whacking Owen in the face with it in view of the referee and the Beverlys are disqualified. Owen’s spots were great but everything else in this match was sub-par. The outcome was also surprising because the Beverlys are in a more featured program on the house show circuit than High Energy. Rating: *½

After the bell, the Beverlys try to double team Ware but Owen pulls Beau out of the ring and High Energy get the better of their opponents.

Ric Flair’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown. In the studio, Duggan says that Flair is a good wrestler. Heenan argues that there are too many great Ric Flair moments to make a video tribute. And Heenan and Perfect predict that Flair will be WWF champion again by SummerSlam.

There is a replay of Papa Shango’s video promo on Wrestling Challenge. A flustered Heenan says that Shango is his favorite wrestler. Duggan and Jim poke fun at Heenan by yelling “Voodoo!” because Heenan does not like the term.

Virgil (15-4) beats Rick Martel (16-3-1) via disqualification when Martel uses Arrogance as a weapon at 4:47:

This encounter took place in Binghamton, New York on June 30. There is a good exchange of technical wrestling early, with Virgil coming out on top. A frustrated Martel fires back with a clothesline but does not do much of note on offense. Virgil lands his new side Russian leg sweep but Martel gets up like nothing happened and then Virgil lands some body shots in the corner, prompting Martel to grab Arrogance and clock Virgil with it, getting disqualified. Rating: *

Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Nailz’s squash from Superstars airs.

Jim Powers (2-6) pins Bob Bradley after a powerslam at 3:56:

Powers has struggled on syndicated shows but is getting a small push against lower-level enhancement talents on Prime Time. The match is basic and the crowd is not into it because they know the score for both men. Bradley reverses a whip into the corner so he can do his backflip elbow spot but a corner slingshot splash eats knees. Powers throws a clothesline and hits a powerslam to beat Bradley for the second time this year. Rating: *

Heenan and Perfect are confident that the SummerSlam main event will see Randy Savage face Ric Flair. McMahon rebuts that last year had a handicap tag team match so a WWF title match between Savage and Flair is not guaranteed.

Tune in next week to see Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart defend his title against Rick Martel! Also, the Natural Disasters face the Beverly Brothers! And WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated defend their titles against High Energy!

The Last Word: Prime Time Wrestling got a strong rating last week after the WWF went back to its formula of having three feature matches and some more original content so now the company is trying to do that again. While these week’s matches were sub-par, next week’s show will feature two title defenses, something that Prime Time has not had in a while and those should be good bouts because of the participants.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for July 18!