What the World Was Watching: Prime Time Wrestling – “Survivor Series Showdown” (1992)

Ric Flair and Razor Ramon tell Mr. Perfect in a taped promo that they do not walk in anyone’s shadow.

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are calling tonight’s special, which aired on USA Network on November 22. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the matches on this show were taped in Springfield, Illinois on October 26 and drew a crowd of 4,500, 3,300 of whom paid to attend.

Opening Contest: Tatanka (38-0) beats Repo Man (24-9-1) after the Papoose to Go at 7:42:

In the split screen, Rick Martel tells Tatanka that a painful and featherless Thanksgiving awaits him.

This is a long squash for Tatanka as Repo Man only takes advantage when Tatanka misses a reverse flying body press off the second rope. Tatanka goes on the war path after blocking a double axe handle off the second rope and his flying chop gets two. Repo Man blocks an O’Connor roll but a lariat misses and Tatanka turns that into the Papoose to Go to hand Repo Man a third straight loss. Rating: *

Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect do a taped promo with Gene Okerlund. Savage takes issue with Perfect calling himself the greatest wrestler in the WWF. Perfect wonders if Savage will hold up his end of their deal at Survivor Series and puts over he and Savage as survivors.

Marty Jannetty (5-0-1) pins the Brooklyn Brawler (1-16) after the flying fist drop at 4:56:

The clown is in the front row for the match and Heenan finds him distracting. Jannetty outfoxes his opponent, who only manages some fists in response. A hurricanrana keeps the Brawler down for the flying fist drop, ending a boring squash.

Kamala (w/Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee) (19-4) pins Red Tyler after a splash at 3:29:

Wippleman gets some heat for threatening to knock out ring announcer Mike McGuirk if he does not get the microphone faster next time. Kamala destroys Tyler with chops and then does a splash but rolls him over several times since he does not know how to do a pin. One has to consider that a liability for his match with the Undertaker at Survivor Series.

Earthquake (2-0) beats Irwin R. Schyster (w/Jimmy Hart) (3-3-1) via disqualification when Ted DiBiase interferes at 11:07 shown:

Before the match, IRS tells fans that if they were patriotic they would pay more taxes. IRS struggles to come up with an effective strategy against Earthquake so he goes to a series of chinlocks since that worked when Money Incorporated won the Tag Team titles. However, he eventually runs into a bearhug and gets atomic dropped over the top rope. Ted DiBiase comes to ringside and after a commercial break, Typhoon does as well. A missed Earthquake elbow drop allows IRS to spam more chinlocks but a Write Off effort misses and sends him to the floor. Back in, Earthquake misses an avalanche but IRS’ dive off the top rope eats boot and he falls to the floor. When the action resumes, Earthquake drops an elbow and goes for the Earthquake Splash but DiBiase trips him in view of the referee. This match encapsulates why the Disasters as babyfaces never worked as IRS was limited with his moveset against a bigger opponent. Much of the bout was rest holds galore to set up a screwy finish. Rating: ½*

After the bell, Earthquake reaches for DiBiase so DiBiase rakes Earthquake’s eye.

Okerlund interviews Money Incorporated, Hart, the Beverly Brothers, and the Genius, who make fun of Earthquake’s eye problem. DiBiase tells Okerlund that they set out to slow down the Natural Disasters tonight so they accomplished their mission. The Beverlys throw in some eye puns to make fun of the Disasters.

The Big Bossman (21-3-2) pins Barry Horowitz after the Bossman Slam at 3:27:

In the split screen, the Bossman tells Nailz that he is going to bring up hard times for the former convict. Heenan makes a good point that Nailz has already been beaten by the Bossman with a nightstick before so that gives him a psychological advantage in their Survivor Series encounter. Horowitz puts up a better fight than his previous encounters this year with the Bossman, working the big man’s arm. However, he runs into the Bossman Slam and loses. After the match, the Bossman handcuffs Horowitz and chases him out of the ring.

Okerlund interviews Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. Ramon makes a funny historical error by calling Mr. Perfect an “Arnold Benedict.” Flair denies that Perfect had anything to do with this success and says that Perfect will not survive the Survivor Series.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (5-0) beat Jerry Fox & Royce Royal when Fatu pins Royal after the top rope splash at 2:41:

As the Headshrinkers throw Fox high into the air for a double flapjack, the clown struts and dances around in the aisle. Fatu refuses to pin Fox after a double headbutt because he wants to bite him. He slams Fox into his corner so Royal can be tagged in and greets Royal with a thrust kick. The double front side Russian leg sweep follows and Fatu flies off the top rope to give the Headshrinkers their sixth consecutive victory.

Vince McMahon interviews WWF Champion Bret Hart in a park. Bret says he would have loved to go back out at SummerSlam immediately to get another crack at the Intercontinental title that he lost. He theorizes that Ric Flair underestimated him when they wrestled for the WWF title and he was able to take advantage of that. There is a discussion of how Bret is a fighting champion. When asked how he compares to past titleholders, Bret admits he is not as big or strong but is a better wrestler and that can be a great equalizer. He closes the segment by promising not to underestimate Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. This was a long interview segment by WWF standards, going more than ten minutes. It was not exciting but reinforced Bret’s push as a different type of WWF champion.

The Last Word: This was a terrible “go home” show for the pay-per-view. In the past, the WWF was able to select wrestlers from different teams to face off on this show but since it is abandoned the team concept for this year’s Survivor Series that was off the table and this was the result. The two feature matches were dreadful, compounded by fans being tired of seeing Money Incorporated and the Natural Disasters interacting with each other. The only unique segment was Bret Hart’s interview with Vince McMahon but it ran too long and was more about putting over Bret’s abilities than hyping his Survivor Series match with Shawn Michaels.

Here were the WWF’s house show results going into the week of Survivor Series, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Sarnia, Ontario, Canada – Sarnia Arena – November 19, 1992 (4,000): Tatanka beat Repo Man…Lance Cassidy defeated Skinner…Nailz defeated the Big Bossman…Owen Hart defeated Tom Stone…Earthquake defeated Ted DiBiase.

Cadillac, Michigan – Wexford Civic Center – November 19, 1992 (1,700): Koko B. Ware pinned Barry Horowitz after a missile dropkick at 10:00…Max Moon defeated Terry Taylor with a flying bulldog at 10:13…Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair (substituting for Razor Ramon) with a small package at 14:52…Irwin R. Schyster pinned Typhoon with the Write Off at 15:20…Bob Backlund defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via count out at 17:32.

Auburn Hills, Michigan – The Palace – November 20, 1992 (2,500): Max Moon beat Terry Taylor at 15:15…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated beat the Natural Disasters when IRS pinned Earthquake at 10:46…Lance Cassidy beat Skinner at 8:22…Razor Ramon defeated Randy Savage via count out at 8:57…High Energy defeated Barry Horowitz & Bob Bradley at 14:18…Tatanka pinned Repo Man at 8:29…Bob Backlund beat Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via count out at 15:44…Nailz pinned the Big Bossman in a steel cage match at 8:39.

Charlotte, North Carolina- Charlotte Coliseum – November 22, 1992 (1,300; matinee): Originally scheduled matches of Ric Flair vs. the Ultimate Warrior and the British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels did not occur…Lance Cassidy beat Repo Man…Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Virgil…High Energy defeated Barry Horowitz & Skinner when Owen Hart pinned Horowitz…Bob Backlund defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via disqualification…The Undertaker pinned Kamala…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated beat the Natural Disasters when IRS pinned Earthquake…Razor Ramon beat Randy Savage via count out…WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Papa Shango.

Backstage News*: FOX was disappointed with the rating of Saturday Night’s Main Event, which dropped 31% from its last episode in February. The show also lost 38% of its lead-in audience from Cops. FOX put the show in a prime time spot for November sweeps because it thought the new episode would achieve the same rating as the last one. Still, the 6.1 rating for the show was far beyond the 2.0 rating that Prime Time pulled for Mr. Perfect’s babyface turn.

-The WWF will be adding a third show on USA Network on Saturday, January 9 called Slam and Jam. Its format and time slot are still yet to be determined. Dave Meltzer worries that if the WWF’s Saturday show goes against WCW Saturday Night that it will kill the wrestling audience because of overexposure.

-Yokozuna will be getting a big push and is scheduled to headline house shows in early 1993 against Randy Savage while Ric Flair and Bret Hart headline the other loop. Bret is getting first class travel as WWF champion but is not being given a limousine, which departs from tradition.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for November 30.

Up Next: Survivor Series ’92!

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