What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – October 26, 1992

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

Opening Contest: El Matador (27-4-2) wrestles Terry Taylor (1-0) to a time-limit draw at 10:22:

This opening bout took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 12. El Matador scores early near-falls from a backslide and a body press but loses the advantage when Taylor pulls him into the turnbuckles. Taylor uses a jawbreaker and backbreaker for near-falls of his own before going to a few chinlocks. In a sign that the WWF is not high on either man, Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes spend the bulk of the match talking about various Survivor Series matches rather than the action. Fans bite on some near-falls late as El Matador flips back into the ring with a sunset flip and Taylor responds with a hard clothesline and swinging neckbreaker off the ropes. However, a corner slingshot splash eats knees for the former Red Rooster and El Matador goes into his finishing sequence. Taylor recovers quickly after the flying forearm, which is strange, and the bell rings for a time-limit draw after El Matador hits El Paso del Muerte. Some of the slow beginning telegraphed a time-limit draw but the last four minutes were quite good. Rating: **½

Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) pins Joey Maggs after a sit-down splash from the second rope at 2:45:

Yokozuna was Agatupu Rodney Anoa’i, another member of the famous Anoa’i wrestling family. He was trained by Afa and started working in 1984. Billed as the Great Kokina, he worked in New Japan from 1988-1992 and had a run in the dying days of the AWA in 1989 and 1990 as Kokina Maximus. Even though he was of Samoan heritage, his massive size led him being packaged as a former Japanese sumo wrestler, even though the WWF never went as far as to claim that he was of Japanese descent.

Before the match, Yokozuna does a salt throwing ritual, prompting Monsoon to say that having some of that salt in one’s trunk can help with the Canadian winters. The crowd immediately takes note of Yokozuna’s size when he takes off his robe and then they react to his offense as he plants Maggs with a uranage and does a leg drop to the back of the head. After avalanching Maggs against the buckles, Yokozuna goes to the second rope and does a sit-down splash for the win. This was a good debut as everything Yokozuna did looked like it could be a finishing move. It was weird that the WWF did not do any vignettes to herald his arrival.

The panel talks about Yokozuna’s big size before hyping cheap Coliseum Videos that are available for the holiday season. Footage is shown of Randy Savage facing Shawn Michaels on the World Tour ’92 tape.

Heenan does not think that the Undertaker will be able to shut a coffin lid on Kamala at Survivor Series. For the Event Center, a camera catches up with Sean Mooney on his honeymoon in bed with his wife. An irate Mooney orders the cameraman out, blaming Heenan for the violation of privacy.

Ric Flair joins the show via satellite from WJZY in Charlotte, North Carolina. Flair runs down how Duggan and Jim have never been WWF champions. He puts over his team’s chances at Survivor Series because he is a great wrestler, Razor Ramon is the toughest guy in the WWF, Perfect is the best manager, and Heenan is the best advisor. This was more subdued than most Flair promos recently and it provided generic comments for the Survivor Series main event.

Crush (18-0) defeats Papa Shango (28-1) via disqualification when Shango uses his voodoo stick at 6:46:

This match also took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Crush sells for the first time when Shango attacks him before the bell. A decent brawl unfolds, with the better action happening when Crush is in control. He gets a two count from a flying clothesline off the second rope and a big boot sends Shango over the top rope. When he gets back in the ring, Crush sends him back out with a clothesline. Frustrated, Shango grabs his voodoo stick and shoots fireworks into Crush’s face to draw a disqualification. That only causes a few seconds of pain for Crush, who looks no worse for wear when his hand is raised in victory. Rating: *

Heenan talks up Ric Flair and Razor Ramon’s credentials. Duggan rebuts that both are cheap shot artists.

Jamison comes onto the set in a Randy Savage mask and takes it off to reveal others. Heenan makes fun of Jamison’s face and Jamison grabs Duggan’s 2×4 as the show goes off the air.

Tune in next week to see Tatanka square off with Kamala!

The Last Word: There was not much original content on this telecast and yet the WWF wonders why the ratings for Prime Time Wrestling are not doing well during football season. Yokozuna had a great debut and he is scheduled for more matches on the syndicated programs this week. Terry Taylor is also putting in good work since returning but he lacks a gimmick and is clearly being positioned as a glorified enhancement worker.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for October 31!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990 WWF, 1991 WWF, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!