What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – October 12, 1992

Vince McMahon moderates this evening’s panel of Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect.

The Bushwhackers’ squash from Wrestling Challenge kicks off the show.

The panel discusses the Survivor Series main event. Perfect argues that the Ultimate Maniacs do not have enough experience teaming together to be effective. Duggan says that could be a problem for Ric Flair and Razor Ramon too but Heenan says at least Flair and Ramon have two good pairs of legs.

Razor Ramon’s squash from Superstars airs.

Rick Martel’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

There is a replay of Bob Backlund’s vignette from Superstars.

Crush’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Jim argues that the Beverly Brothers wear a shower curtain with them to the ring. Duggan shows off his ICOPRO tank top.

Non-Title Match: The British Bulldog (Intercontinental Champion) (26-0) defeats Kamala (w/Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee) (17-2) via count out at 7:24:

This bout took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on September 21. Gorilla Monsoon raises a good point that the Bulldog should stomp Kamala’s bare feet to get an advantage. Kamala does not sell much of the Bulldog’s early work and a slam attempt by the champion fails. The Ugandan Giant kills time with a bearhug and nerve holds. The Bulldog finally fights back and knocks Kamala down with dropkicks as Paul Bearer wheels a casket to the ring. When another dropkick sends Kamala over the top rope he seems the casket and runs away, getting counted out. This match did not help the Bulldog, who was swallowed up in his first feature bout since SummerSlam. Rating: ½*

Lance Cassidy’s debut on Superstars is shown.

High Energy’s squash from Superstars airs.

Promo time with Sean Mooney! Papa Shango argues that he has brought curses to the WWF and that he will make Bret Hart a zombie. Heenan interrupts that Mooney is getting married in a few weeks, which Mooney confirms.

Earthquake (1-0) beats Ted DiBiase (2-1-1) (w/Jimmy Hart & Irwin R. Schyster) after an elbow drop at 11:20:

This is another match from Winnipeg, Manitoba and is a rematch from the May 10 edition of Wrestling Challenge that Earthquake won by disqualification. Typhoon is not with Earthquake for reasons that are not explained and referee Earl Hebner evens the odds a bit by ordering IRS to the dressing room before the opening bell. Earthquake gets a long shine at the beginning as DiBiase struggles with a bigger opponent. Eventually, a splash misses and DiBiase resorts to chokes and stomps because much of his offense is neutralized against a big man. Earthquake comes back after blocking a DiBiase dive off the second rope and blocks a schoolboy roll up by jumping on DiBiase’s back. That lays DiBiase out for a match-winning elbow drop, putting an end to a tedious bout. Rating: ½*

Nailz joins the show via satellite, telling the Big Bossman that steel bars do not exist between them anymore and it is time for the Bossman to experience hard time. When McMahon asks Nailz about what he was sentenced for, Nailz refuses to answer and says he has paid his debt to society. The Bossman is linked up from WTLK-TV from Atlanta, Georgia, arguing that he knows Nailz is crazy based on his police file and was freed on a technical error. Heenan talks about a rumor that the Bossman’s mother visited Nailz on Tuesday, causing the Bossman to threaten Heenan with violence again. The Bossman loses his place in the promo when he talks about his own character but recovers enough to promise law, order, and justice for Nailz and Nailz’s voice distortion gets exposed in the segment as it gives an echo when he talks. While the segment had good intensity, this feud lost its momentum in the summer when the WWF kept the Bossman and Nailz apart for months.

Jason Phillips & Jim Powers upset win over the Nasty Boys on Wrestling Challenge airs.

Bret Hart (32-2-1) beats Blake Beverly (w/the Genius) via reverse decision at 9:49:

This last feature match of the evening took place in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada on September 22. Like the opening match, the heel dominates the bout while the babyface gets no opening shine. That does not stop the Genius from interfering as he trips Bret early in view of referee Earl Hebner, who opts to send the Genius backstage rather than disqualify the Beverly Brother. Bret finally mounts some offense eight minutes in after slamming Blake’s head into the mat and the moves of doom score a few near-falls. When Bret applies the Sharpshooter, Beau walks out and distracts Hebner, eventually leading to Bret breaking the hold. Blake then hits Bret in the back of the head with a double axe handle and gets the pin, quieting the crowd who wonders why a former two-time Intercontinental champion lost to a tag team wrestler. Sergeant Slaughter gets in the ring and talks with Hebner, reversing the decision in favor of Bret even though Beau never touched Bret to cause the finish. The booking of this match was terrible as Bret is quickly becoming one of the company’s premier stars and he was beaten down by a tag team wrestler for 75% of the match and pinned like a Bushwhacker. At the very least the match should have been restarted so that Bret could get a convincing win. While some might have been worried about what the layout of this match meant for Bret’s future, he was having the biggest night of his career in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada at a Superstars television taping at the time that this match aired on American television. This bout was later put on a Coliseum Video of Bret Hart’s Greatest Matches even though it was anything but. Rating: *

Heenan complains about Sergeant Slaughter overturning match results, causing McMahon to passionately argue that Slaughter is around because of the way that Ric Flair recaptured the WWF title.

Tatanka’s squash from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Max Moon’s squash from Superstars airs.

Heenan says that he is concerned about the Ultimate Maniacs at Survivor Series because WWF President Jack Tunney and Sergeant Slaughter are going to let the Maniacs do whatever they want.

Tune in next week to see El Matador face Kamala! Also, Max Moon wrestles Rick Martel! High Energy squares off against the Beverly Brothers! And Randy Savage faces Papa Shango!

The Last Word: This was the worst episode of Prime Time Wrestling in some time. While it caught fans up on the big squash matches from syndicated shows, all of the feature matches were terrible. Booking a tag wrestler to dominate Bret Hart? Making Intercontinental Champion the British Bulldog look weak? Giving Earthquake and Ted DiBiase 12 minutes? There were lots of questionable decisions in the agenting of the matches on this program.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for October 17!