What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – October 4, 1992

The Legion of Doom have been removed from the show’s opening, replaced by Razor Ramon doing the Razor’s Edge.

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, wrapping up the taping cycle in Landover, Maryland. Heenan holds up an “Elect the Brain” sign and is wearing a red, white, and blue campaign hat and confuses the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

Opening Contest: Bret Hart (30-2-1) defeats Barry Hardy via submission to the Sharpshooter at 2:30:

Bret does an insert promo about how he does not think much of Papa Shango’s voodoo and that he does not believe Shango can outwrestle him. After the moves of doom, Bret traps Hardy in the Sharpshooter, beating him for the second time this year.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report shows fans expressing their views of the Ultimate Maniacs. While the fans bring energy to their segments it does not come across as organic.

Repo Man (22-7) defeats Kerry Davis via submission to the single leg Boston Crab at 2:01:

The big spot of the squash is Repo Man throwing Davis to the floor and then sneaking up behind him, tripping him so that the jobber goes face-first into the apron. Monsoon talks about how he would like to see Repo Man face Rick Martel, which would have led to a clash of Boston Crab finishers. After winning, Repo Man hits Davis a few times but does not tie him up with the tow rope.

Tatanka (31-0) pins the Brooklyn Brawler (1-14) after the Papoose to Go at 2:45:

Heenan complains that Tatanka’s dancing in the ring is causing it to rain too much at WWF events. Tatanka has already beaten the Brawler twice this year and he cuts through his opponent again, sending the Brawler shoulder-first into the ring post and chopping him down to size. Heenan finally gives Tatanka’s Samoan drop finisher a name, calling “The Papoose to Go.”

The end of last year’s Survivor Series match between Roddy Piper and Ric Flair’s teams is shown.

Razor Ramon (9-0) pins Glen Ruth after the Razor’s Edge at 1:59:

In this squash, Ramon debuts his fallaway slam when he catches Ruth off the ropes and it gets a good reaction. Referee Bill Alfonso almost gets hit by Ruth going backward because he is not prepared for how that move is going to go. In the split screen, Ramon says that Randy Savage cannot hide behind his fans because he is going to have to beat him one-on-one. Monsoon puts over Ramon’s abilities as he uses the super backdrop suplex and Razor’s Edge to get his tenth win of the year.

El Matador (26-4-1) defeats Kamala (w/Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee) (16-1) via count out at 5:03:

Kamala traps El Matador in a long bearhug early and El Matador fails to knock Kamala off his feet until hitting the flying forearm. Kim Chee provides a distraction to prevent a pinfall and when El Matador confronts him, Kamala blasts him with a thrust kick. Before injustice is done, Paul Bearer wheels a coffin to ringside and when Kamala sees it he freaks out and runs through the crowd, ending a bad match. Rating: ½*

Money Incorporated (w/Jimmy Hart) (23-2) defeat Mike Bell & Tony Perez when Irwin R. Schyster pins Perez after the Write Off at 2:07:

In a spoof of President George H.W. Bush, IRS tells the crowd “Read my lips: Pay your taxes!” In the split screen, Money Incorporated hype themselves as the top contenders for the Natural Disasters’ tag team titles and that it is time for the Disasters to pay interest on the titles that they stole. Money Incorporated are not challenged at all by their opponents, using this as a tune up for their next crack at the tag team championship.

Gene Okerlund interviews Intercontinental Champion the British Bulldog, who thanks his family and fans and promises to be a good champion that will make fans proud.

The Last Word: The show had an odd ending because Wrestling Challenge did not often close with a promo and the British Bulldog’s promo was poor, not providing a rebuttal to Shawn Michaels’ recent comments about how he was coming for the Bulldog’s Intercontinental title. The El Matador-Kamala match had a surprising outcome since fans are being conditioned to think that Kamala has no answer for the Undertaker.

The WWF’s overseas tour of Europe continued into early October as a stateside crew toured the East Coast. Here are the results of some of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Birmingham, England – NEC – September 29, 1992 (12,000; sellout): Rick Martel pinned Virgil after reversing a sunset flip at 18:12…Money Incorporated defeated the Bushwhackers when Ted DiBiase pinned Butch with a neckbreaker at 12:12…Randy Savage pinned Papa Shango after the flying elbow drop at 12:38…WWF Tag Team Champions the Natural Disasters beat the Beverly Brothers when Earthquake pinned Beau after the Earthquake Splash at 8:00…El Matador pinned the Genius with the flying forearm at 5:12…Animal & Crush beat Kato & Skinner when Crush pinned Kato at 11:12…WWF Champion Ric Flair defeated Bret Hart via count out at 25:16.

Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle – October 1, 1992 (10,000): Rick Martel beat El Matador…Animal & Crush defeated the Beverly Brothers…Virgil beat the Genius…The Bushwhackers defeated Skinner & Kato…Bret Hart beat Papa Shango…WWF Tag Team Champions the Natural Disasters defeated Money Incorporated…WWF Champion Ric Flair beat Randy Savage.

Poughkeepsie, New York – Mid-Hudson Civic Center – October 2, 1992 (2,500; sellout): Double Trouble defeated Mark Thomas & Phil Apollo…Jeff Jarrett beat Mondo Kleen…The Undertaker beat Razor Ramon via count out…Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeated the Mountie…Owen Hart beat Barry Horowitz…The Big Bossman defeated Nailz.

Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Garden – October 3, 1992 (5,800): High Energy defeated Double Trouble (substituting for the Nasty Boys) at 20:00…Tatanka pinned the Mountie after the Papoose to Go at 12:00…Jeff Jarrett (substituting for Sergeant Slaughter) pinned Barry Horowitz with a cradle at 15:00…Intercontinental Champion the British Bulldog defeated Shawn Michaels via disqualification when Sensational Sherri interfered at 13:00…Jim Powers pinned the Brooklyn Brawler with a powerslam at 8:00…Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat Repo Man after the three-point stance clothesline at 7:00…The Undertaker, the Ultimate Warrior & the Big Bossman defeated Nailz, Kamala & Razor Ramon when the Undertaker pinned Kamala after a chokeslam at 10:00.

Backstage News*: It is estimated that the WWF grossed more than $2.5 million from its two-week European tour and that is before merchandise sales are factored in. The shows drew great crowd reactions and observers noted that there were lots of clean finishes, especially in main events where Ric Flair defeated Randy Savage and Bret Hart in different stops in good matches. The WWF is planning to return to Europe in February.

-The experiment of putting Animal and Crush together as a new Legion of Doom was well received in Europe. The duo got strong reactions in each city on the tour. Animal was trying to get WWF officials to look at his younger brother, Marc, as a replacement for Hawk.

-Former WWF star Kerry Von Erich was sentenced on October 1 to a ten-year suspended sentence, ten years of supervised probation, and $6,000 in fines for forging drug prescriptions.

-Randy Savage’s divorce from Elizabeth has been finalized.

-Next year’s WrestleMania will not be held in Madison Square Garden.

-Several WWF stars are suffering from injuries. Tito Santana injured his back and struggled to do anything in the ring at the end of the tour. Steve Armstrong hurt his shoulder after the first night of television tapings last week and missed the next day’s taping as a result. The Undertaker is still nursing his collarbone/shoulder injury and in six-man tag team main events with the Big Bossman and the Ultimate Warrior he is coming in to do the chokeslam finish and not much else.

-Jeff Jarrett and Terry Taylor began working house shows in the U.S. this week. Jarrett’s matches were poorly received by fans, who worked up “Boring!” chants during his matches with Barry Horowitz. Matt Borne worked last week’s television taping as a jobber so it does not seem like he will be doing much.

-When Bob Backlund debuts, do not be surprised to see him get a strong push and eventually wrestle Ric Flair in big matches, possibly for the WWF Championship, in 1993. Dave Meltzer questions this strategy because Backlund has been gone from the WWF for more than seven years and has never been proven as a national draw.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for October 12.

Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for October 5!