What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – August 2, 1992

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan provide commentary, concluding the tapings in Binghamton, New York.

Opening Contest: The British Bulldog (20-0) pins Dave Millson after the running powerslam at 1:56:

Monsoon enjoys getting a rise out of Heenan by correcting his statement that Bret Hart and the Bulldog are “brothers in law.” In the split screen, Diana Hart Smith, who is simply labeled as “Davey Boy’s wife,” talks about how she is afraid of the family being torn apart by the SummerSlam outcome. For the finish, the Bulldog does not get Millson on his shoulder, doing the powerslam from a body slam position.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report segment recaps the face-to-face segment between WWF Champion Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior on last week’s Superstars.

Repo Man (19-4) beats Phil Apollo via submission to the single leg Boston Crab at 1:12:

Apollo tries to wrestle, so Repo Man pokes him in the eyes and laughs. Heenan says that he found out Repo Man is related to no one, which gets a laugh out of Monsoon. It is surprising that Repo Man is being allowed to do the single leg Boston Crab as a finisher since Rick Martel uses the Boston Crab for his. After the bell, Repo Man hits Apollo with the hook on his tow rope a few times.

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

High Energy (12-1) beat the Dublin Destroyer & Dwayne Gill when Owen Hart pins the Destroyer after a Koko B. Ware missile dropkick at 1:20:

High Energy have a new theme song, rocking a disco-like beat composed by Jimmy Hart instead of using Ware’s old “Birdman” theme. That is a small upgrade for the team and Owen would later keep it when he transitioned into singles competition. Monsoon counters Heenan’s criticism of High Energy’s pants, saying they look comfortable to him. Ware has always had issues with the pants, though, as he always seems to be adjusting them during matches. The Destroyer runs into Owen’s grasp, who holds him up for Ware’s missile dropkick.

Gene Okerlund interviews Nailz, who is happy that the Big Bossman is coming back for another beating and he promises to finish the job. When it comes to SummerSlam, Nailz tells Virgil that there is an unwritten rule in prison that people do not get involved in other people’s business and Virgil is violating that rule by messing with him. He repeats what he said on Superstars that the Bossman will not recognize Virgil when he is done with him. The Bossman part of this promo was better than the Virgil part since Nailz’s issue there seemed to be a stretch since Virgil rarely interacted with the Bossman on-camera.

El Matador (23-2-1) pins Glen Ruth after El Paso del Muerte at 1:42:

El Matador’s tights are black this week instead of the usual green. Monsoon and Heenan discuss the SummerSlam card as El Matador rolls to another relatively meaningless win.

Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) (22-1) pins Red Tyler after the Teardrop Suplex at 1:27:

Michaels uses his agility to never give Tyler an advantage, skinning the cat back into the ring when Tyler throws him over the top rope and then sliding around him to get in position for his trademark superkick.

Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer talk about Harvey Wippleman and Kim Chee crying when they cart Kamala away and how the chimes of Big Ben will for Kamala’s death. Virgil tells Nailz that he watches out for his friends so he will bring his business “upside” Nailz’s head. Money Incorporated and Jimmy Hart tell Paul Ellering to bring Rocco “and his other two dummies” to SummerSlam and call their opponents “The Legion of Dummies” who they will go through in the path to regain the tag team titles. The Legion and Ellering rebut that they will beat the pride out of Money Incorporated.

Ring announcer Mike McGuirk tells the crowd that Shawn Michaels has left the building.

The Beverly Brothers (w/the Genius) (18-2) beat Jason Knight & Jerry Seavey when Beau pins Seavey after the Shaker Heights Spike at 1:31:

Seavey was a Killer Kowalski trainee who began doing WWF enhancement matches in 1985. He wrestled on the Northeast independent circuit as the Candyman.

The Beverly Brothers have been around for a year and gotten a lot of wins but they are not getting reactions. They debut a new double team as Blake holds Knight over his head so Beau can come off the top rope with an elbow. Monsoon wonders if the Beverlys would still get their tag team title shot at SummerSlam if Money Incorporated were to regain the belts from the Natural Disasters before the pay-per-view. Heenan has a nice rebuttal that Monsoon would have to ask the corrupt WWF President Jack Tunney for an answer to that. Beau gets his signals confused for the finish, sitting in the corner initially instead of getting in position for the Shaker Heights Spike. The nice thing about the SummerSlam booking is that there is no post-match ritual where the Beverlys paint one of their opponents.

Tune in next week to see the Nasty Boys face the Bushwhackers! Also, Money Incorporated, Shawn Michaels, the Big Bossman, and Razor Ramon will be in action!

The Last Word: Aside from High Energy getting a new theme, there was not much to report on with this episode. Next week’s feature match is something fans have seen several times but it is always good to at least get a competitive bout on this program. Footage of the August 3 edition of Prime Time Wrestling is incomplete so the next show that will be discussed is the August 8 edition of WWF Superstars.

As the WWF entered August here were some of the results of its house show circuit, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Santa Rosa, California – Sonoma County Fair – July 30, 1992 (1,500): Crush pinned the Brooklyn Brawler with a side suplex at 3:53…Tatanka pinned Repo Man at 10:40…Shawn Michaels pinned Koko B. Ware after Rick Martel interfered at 14:36…The Bushwhackers beat the Nasty Boys via disqualification when Jerry Sags used a chair at 12:00…Owen Hart pinned Rick Martel after Shawn Michaels distracted Martel at ringside. After the match, Martel and Michaels brawled and had to be separated…The Mountie pinned Louie Spicolli (substituting for Sergeant Slaughter) after a piledriver…The Ultimate Warrior beat Kamala with a splash at 2:15.

Long Island, New York – The Nassau Coliseum – August 1, 1992 (6,000): Luke beat the Brooklyn Brawler…Shawn Michaels pinned Butch…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart beat Kamala via disqualification when Kim Chee interfered. After the match, Kamala accidentally splash Harvey Wippleman when Bret pulled him in front of him…Sergeant Slaughter & Crush (substituting for the British Bulldog) defeated the Mountie & Repo Man after heel miscommunication with the Great American Scream Machine…Tatanka pinned Rick Martel with a roll up…The Nasty Boys beat High Energy when Jerry Sags pinned Koko B. Ware after the Trip to Nastyville…WWF Champion Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair with a roll up in a match where Hacksaw Jim Duggan was the special guest referee.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The Philadelphia Spectrum – August 2, 1992 (6,000): Crush beat the Brooklyn Brawler…High Energy defeated the Nasty Boys when Koko B. Ware pinned Brian Knobbs…The Mountie pinned Sergeant Slaughter…WWF Champion Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair in a match where Hacksaw Jim Duggan was the special guest referee…Tatanka beat Rick Martel…The Bushwhackers (substituting for the British Bulldog & the Texas Tornado) beat Shawn Michaels & Repo Man when Luke pinned Repo Man…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart defeated Kamala via disqualification.

San Francisco, California – The Cow Palace – August 2, 1992 (7,500): Virgil pinned Skinner with a sunset flip…El Matador pinned Kato after the flying forearm at 11:07…The Undertaker pinned the Berzerker after a flying clothesline and the Tombstone at 8:19. After the match, the Undertaker gave Mr. Fuji a Tombstone…WWF Tag Team Champions the Natural Disasters beat Money Incorporated via disqualification when Ted DiBiase hit Typhoon with IRS’ steel briefcase at 10:31…The Legion of Doom & Paul Ellering defeated the Beverly Brothers & the Genius…The Big Bossman beat Nailz via disqualification when Nailz used a nightstick as a weapon at 6:13…The Ultimate Warrior pinned Papa Shango with a splash after hitting Shango with a voodoo stick at 7:00.

Backstage News*: At a recent videotape convention the Coliseum Video display had nothing for the WBF, so that is another sign that the federation will likely disband. Lines to see the Ultimate Warrior were smaller than previous years and no one wanted to see Hacksaw Jim Duggan. On WBF Body Stars on August 1, the heel crew of WWF wrestlers beat the WBF body stars in a best-of-three tug-of-war battle two games to one.

-The bodybuilding newsletter Muscle Mag International reported that ten of the twelve participants in The WBF Championship tested positive for steroids six weeks before the competition. This was likened to entrapment as the tests were sprung on the participants and have been an excuse for Vince McMahon to not pay WBF talent during that time frame.

-The WWF’s European tour in the fall will run from September 23 to October 6. There will be one crew that appears overseas while another crew will run a house show circuit in the United States.

-WWF Champion Randy Savage appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show this week and was asked about steroids. Savage denied taking them now but said he experimented with them at one point.

-Rick Martel might turn babyface after his SummerSlam match with Shawn Michaels.

-After several weeks of strong ratings, Prime Time Wrestling went back down to a 2.2 share.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for August 10.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 8!