What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – November 9, 1992

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

Opening Contest: Marty Jannetty (3-0-1) beats Skinner (11-11-1) after a flying fist drop at 5:42:

The opening match for this evening’s show was filmed in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 13. Lord Alfred Hayes does not like what happened to Sensational Sherri a few weeks ago and Gorilla Monsoon responds that it is not the first time that Sherri has been hit, providing a weird justification for what happened if what Jannetty did was intentional. They then debate whether Sherri needs to manage Michaels at Survivor Series, with Monsoon in favor and Hayes against. Jannetty outwrestles Skinner until a blind charge into the corner sends him over the top rope. Skinner works the left knee, which pays off when Jannetty’s atomic drop attempt backfires. However, Jannetty drives Skinner’s head into the canvas when Skinner ducks his head too early after an Irish whip and finishes with the flying fist drop. This was mostly an elongated squash for Jannetty as all Skinner did was kick his leg. Rating: *¾

Duggan says the law of averages is going to catch up to Tatanka soon. Heenan says that Blake Beverly will end it in the next match, which makes no sense because Heenan already saw that match and called it the day before.

Jim hypes Coliseum Videos. Footage is shown of Randy Savage against Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII that is part of the WrestleMania’s Greatest Matches release. After this, the Tatanka-Blake Beverly match from Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Max Moon (7-0) defeats Barry Horowitz after a reverse flying body press off the top rope at 1:50:

It did not take Moon long to circle back to Horowitz, who he beat in his debut match. The unknown clown is shown in the crowd as Moon arm drags Horowitz. Moon points to the clown after doing the Star Trek Splash and then finishes Horowitz with a reverse flying body press off the top rope.

Damien Demento (1-0) pins Louie Spicolli after a knee drop at 4:37:

Monsoon and Hayes spend more time hyping Survivor Series than talking about the match. Spicolli works a headlock but that is all that he gets in during this long squash. The crowd watches in silence as Spicolli misses a reverse flying body press off the second rope and succumbs to a clothesline, neckbreaker, and knee drop. Demento should use the neckbreaker as a finish as that has more of an impact than using his knee.

WWF Championship Match: Bret Hart (Champion) (33-2-1) defeats the Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji) (14-3) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 4:30:

This match also took place in Regina. It is the first televised match for the Berzerker since SummerSlam as he went AWOL in England and was suspended for six weeks. Since that made the WWF sour on his reliability, he is sacrificed to Bret in the Hitman’s first televised defense of his WWF title. Bret kicks out of a delayed piledriver and goes into the moves of doom for some near-falls. The Berzerker offers no resistance to the Sharpshooter, giving Bret a convincing victory. Rating: *½

Bret joins the show via satellite from TSN in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Heenan and Perfect refuse to congratulate Bret on his victory over Ric Flair last month. McMahon announces that Bret will defend the title against Papa Shango on Saturday Night’s Main Event this week. Heenan warns Bret that he is going to burn himself out defending the title as much as he is. Bret rebuts that Heenan was not smart to sign a title defense for Flair against him in Saskatoon and he also tells Heenan that he was never able to teach Perfect how to escape the Sharpshooter. Heenan argues that he scheduled Flair to defend the title in Sacramento and WWF President Jack Tunney showed his Canadian bias by changing the defense to Saskatoon. Bret says he will defend his title against all comers and will not underestimate any opponent. Since the panelists let Bret talk, this promo went well. Bret’s serious promo delivery is a change from the style of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior and it helps him stand out as something different.

Heenan and Perfect deny that Flair has an inner ear injury.

Terry Taylor (1-0-1) beats Jim Powers (3-10) after a sit-out powerbomb at 6:40:

This match took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on September 21. Taylor gets an entrance this week but he has no entrance music like Damien Demento and that is out of place by 1992 standards. The match is stuck in neutral for a long time until Taylor uses a neckbreaker for a two count. A blind charge hits boot and Powers does a fiery comeback to wake up the crowd. Powers comes close to infringing on the Ultimate Warrior’s gimmick by shaking the ropes. A dropkick gets two before Taylor puts his foot on the bottom rope and Taylor gets caught using a Flair pin when he blocks a Powers blind charge. Powers schoolboys Taylor for two and a body press off the ropes gets another near-fall. However, Powers puts his head down too early on an Irish whip and that lets Taylor hit the sit-out powerbomb. Since the WWF has few plans for Taylor this was content filler but it was better than giving Skinner a five-minute squash match. Rating: **

Jamison is sitting in for Sean Mooney in the Event Center.

Heenan joins Jamison at the Event Center, saying that Jamison is what Sean Mooney married.

The Last Word: Sean Mooney is going to return next week so there might be a payoff to Bobby Heenan’s shenanigans about Mooney’s marriage and honeymoon. The WWF is leaning into Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes calling all the matches on the show even if they took place on the syndicated programs, which probably seemed strange to the audience at the time. Nevertheless, the show gave Bret Hart a strong win in his first televised match since winning the WWF Championship and the other exclusive matches were decent, albeit nothing worth watching again.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for November 14!

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!