What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 27, 1992

Vince McMahon moderates the usual panel of Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. McMahon needles Heenan and Perfect for Ric Flair not appearing in the SummerSlam main event.

Opening Contest: The Undertaker (19-0) beats Skinner (8-7-1) after the Tombstone at 3:02:

This match took place in Glen Falls, New York on June 29. Skinner blows his tobacco juice on the urn, causing the Undertaker to choke him. Skinner tries to use his alligator claw as a weapon several times but the Undertaker is not phased. Some long choking follows until the flying clothesline and Tombstone. The outcome reinforces Skinner’s place on the card as the second-lowest heel act, just above the Brooklyn Brawler. Rating: ¼*

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the Natural Disaster’s recent tag team title win.

The Mountie’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

The panel provides hype for the WBF vs. WWF tug-of-war on WBF Body Stars this week. Heenan argues WWF wrestlers have an advantage because they have more experience tugging.

Virgil (17-4) pins the Brooklyn Brawler (1-12) after the side Russian leg sweep at 5:54:

This encounter was filmed in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada on June 3. Virgil is going back to his WrestleMania VII look for this, wearing boxer-like tights instead of long ones. He tries to make something of this but the Brawler is not wanting to go at the same tempo. Gorilla Monsoon notes that it has been more than a month since the Brawler won a match and jokes that it might have been against little people wrestlers. Virgil comes back after a swinging neckbreaker off the ropes and a few sloppy dropkicks set up the finish. Rating: *

Nailz’s squash from Superstars is shown.

Duggan argues that Nailz should still be in jail. Heenan goes back to his argument that Nailz was imprisoned for three parking tickets and got a bum rap. When Jim argues that no one goes to jail for that, Heenan argues they were big cars that Nailz got the tickets for.

The Legion of Doom (w/Paul Ellering) (13-1) beat Flex Armstrong & Richie Rich when Hawk pins Armstrong after the Doomsday Device at 1:48:

Rocco offers words of encouragement as the Legion beatdown their opponents. Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes talk about the recent tag team title change. After the squash, Hawk points to Rocco and proclaims him to be “Chicago style.”

Kamala (w/Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee) (9-0) pins Scott Taylor after the splash to the back at 1:36:

Taylor charges Kamala but just gets knocked down and slammed. Kamala unleashes the chops and wins his tenth match of the year after rolling Taylor over from his finishing move.

Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report.

Heenan says that the Harts and Smiths need to keep their noses out of Bret Hart’s Intercontinental title match with the British Bulldog. Duggan says that Bret’s sister is “a looker.” Heenan brushes that aside and says that if Bret loses he will not have to buy the Smiths any Christmas gifts.

The end of last week’s match between Bret and Rick Martel is shown.

Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) (21-1) beats the Texas Tornado (12-1) via count out at 8:10:

This bout was also from the Cornwall, Ontario tapings. It aired on All American Wrestling a day earlier. While fans of each man might see this as a dream match today, it is a slow and plodding encounter that is worse than Michaels’ match with Jimmy Snuka back in February. Its only redeeming quality are some fun spots that involve Sherri, who bumps more than the Tornado. For example, after taking an early blow, Michaels retreats to examine himself for damage in Sherri’s mirror. Later on the Tornado clotheslines Michaels to the floor and tries to pull him in. When Sherri tries to prevent that by holding onto Michaels, the Tornado lets go and Michaels and Sherri crash into the guardrail. The Tornado does not stay down long after a superkick and traps Michaels in the Claw. They do one of the most convoluted finishes in recent years where Sherri holds onto Michaels when he gets in the ropes, causing Michaels to “moon” some of the audience, and the Tornado lets go, creating a dangerous fall for Michaels where he comes close to falling backward into the ring steps. As it is, he knocks over Sherri’s mirror, which shatters. Lost to many viewers from the camera angle is that the Tornado was dragged into the ring post when Michaels fell to the floor. Sherri rolls Michaels into the ring and he wins via count out. This sad outing would mark the Tornado’s last televised match for the WWF. He would never return, committing suicide in February 1993 after being indicted again for forging a painkiller prescription. Rating: ¼*

A replay of the face-to-face segment between WWF Champion Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior on Superstars airs as Heenan and Perfect laugh in the studio. Heenan says that his camp is going to have fun in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam if they cannot be in the main event.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeats Repo Man (19-3) via disqualification when Repo Man uses his tow rope as a weapon at 7:16:

This match took place in Sheffield, England on the UK Rampage ’92 card on April 19. It was the “popcorn” match of that show, going on before the main event, and it is Duggan’s first televised singles match for the year, which stands in stark contrast to how he has been featured over the previous five years. In a testament to Duggan’s popularity, he gets the English crowd to chant “USA!” The match loves to make use an exposed turnbuckle. Duggan goes into it three times but is no worse for wear. Repo Man goes twice and also recovers quickly, unfathomable in an era when that spot was typically death. Duggan blasts Repo with the three-point stance clothesline and Repo Man falls to the floor, where he grabs his tow rope and uses the metal hook to hit Duggan, getting disqualified. That is the fourth time this year that Repo Man has lost with that finish. Very little about the layout of this bout made sense. Rating: DUD

After the bell, Repo Man chokes Duggan with the rope but the referee keeps him from hitting Duggan again with the metal hook. Duggan grabs his 2×4 and drives Repo Man off.

There is a replay of Razor Ramon’s vignette from Superstars.

Rick Martel’s squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.

Promo time with Sean Mooney! The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart tell their future opponents that they take no prisoners. Virgil calls out heels like Nailz and says he is ready to rumble with them. The Virgil promo was going 100 mph and it was like he was begging for the company to give him something meaningful.

The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) (17-0) beat Jim Powers & Jim Brunzell when Jerry Sags pins Powers after a double DDT at 5:52:

This match also took place at the Glen Falls taping. Powers and Brunzell are prepared for their opponents, doing a dropkick-schoolboy combo to stun Brian Knobbs. Brunzell catches an attempt by Knobbs to hit him in the back when he runs the ropes but Sags hits him in the back of the head afterward to put the Nasties in control. That control lasts less than a minute before Powers gets a hot tag and starts taking out the former tag team champions by himself. A dropkick on Knobbs gets two before Sags interrupts and all hell breaks loose. Sensing an upset, Hart hops on the apron and distracts Powers, allowing the Nasties to do a double DDT behind the referee’s back and win. It was questionable whether the Nasties should have been on the defensive as much as they were here but this was the best match of the show! Rating: **

Heenan says that he is supporting several refugee families and since he is a caring man he will buy the rope for the WBF-WWF tug-of-war. Perfect says that reminds him of donating his belt to use on Randy Savage on Superstars.

The Last Word: Prime Time Wrestling is doing great ratings this month helped, once again, by featuring more original content. The recipe for having good ratings for this broadcast was not difficult but the WWF always thought the production was the problem. That aside, the feature matches on this show were terrible or disappointing for the most part but some of the show was saved by Bobby Heenan finally having something of substance to talk about with Ric Flair and the WWF title.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 1!