What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – December 21, 1992

Vince McMahon hosts this evening’s panel, composed of Sergeant Slaughter, Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Jerry Lawler.

Opening Contest: Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) (10-0) beats Kevin Kruger after the sit-down splash off the second rope at 2:31:

Due to the WWF’s taping cycle and their mixing of matches, Fuji’s look keeps changing. Gorilla Monsoon hypes Yokozuna’s appearance in the Royal Rumble and wonders how anyone will throw him over the top rope. Yokozuna impresses again by wiping out Kruger with big, fat man moves.

McMahon asks Sean Mooney what he would like for Christmas. Mooney replies a yacht. Heenan jokes that Mooney needs to ask for a decent haircut.

Rick Martel (29-7-3) beats Brian Costello via submission to the Boston Crab at 3:22:

Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes discuss Ric Flair’s victory in last year’s Royal Rumble. Costello surprises Martel late in the squash with a body press off the ropes and a sunset flip for near-falls. However, his attempt at a reverse flying body press off the second rope misses and Martel locks in the Boston Crab.

Jamison shows up with some holiday shorts and wants Heenan to model them. Heenan refuses.

When asked his impression of Bam Bam Bigelow, Lawler says he is impressed by Bigelow’s toughness as getting a head tattoo is painful.

Promo time with Sean Mooney! The Undertaker and Paul Bearer tell Nailz that dark days await him. A woman in a Santa outfit interrupts and asks where the Prime Time set is. She says she is Mrs. Claus. Heenan tells McMahon he will handle this and gives the woman instructions to go to the bottom floor where he will meet her later. The woman tells Heenan that he is on the naughty list. When Mooney asks his status, he finds out he is on the nice list but has to do more to get a yacht.

El Matador (28-6-3) pins Louie Spicolli after El Paso Del Muerte at 2:49:

El Matador, who was all over WWF television in the spring and early summer, has only made six appearances since October. Monsoon predicts that El Matador will be in the Royal Rumble but does not take a position on how well he thinks El Matador will do. Spicolli mounts no significant offense in this squash, which serves to remind fans that El Matador is still alive.

McMahon announces that the Steiner Brothers have signed with the WWF. The Steiners join the show via satellite from WJBK-TV in Detroit, Michigan. McMahon says that the Beverly Brothers want some competition. The Steiners respond that they are the better brother tag team in the WWF, with Rick going back to the Bushwhackers old line about how the Beverly Brothers are really “The Beverly Sisters.”

Papa Shango (30-4-1) defeats Marty Jannetty (9-0-1) via count out at 4:44:

This match took place in Dayton, Ohio on November 24. Three minutes into the match, Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels walks out to get a closer look. Jannetty overcomes the distraction and clotheslines Shango over the top rope. After doing a missile dropkick to the floor, Jannetty chases after Michaels and gives him a hurricanrana in the aisle. That gets him counted out, though. The match was going nowhere when Shango was in control so whatever redeeming value this had was because of Jannetty. Rating: ½*

After the match, Jannetty and Michaels are prevented from escalating their fight by WWF officials.

Heenan is confident that Razor Ramon will win the WWF Championship at The Royal Rumble because Bret Hart has not had a day off since beating Ric Flair for the title. Jim argues Bret will give Ramon a spanking and Heenan laughs at that phrasing. “Mrs. Claus” returns to tell Heenan that Santa has a special list just for him, which is a mug that has Jamison’s face on it. The other panelists get WWF mugs. When panelists ask what is on Lawler’s Christmas list, Mrs. Claus says she cannot say. Heenan asks if Mrs. Claus would like to check out the mistletoe and they walk away together until a slap is heard off the set and Heenan returns clutching his face.

Bob Backlund (4-0) pins Skinner (12-13-1) after a bridging O’Connor roll at 3:40:

Springfield, Illinois was the site of this battle on October 26. The match is a replay of when Backlund wrestled Repo Man two weeks earlier. Skinner blocks an atomic drop and tries an O’Connor roll. It seems like the plan for that is for Backlund to keep rolling through with his bridge but that does not happen so they improvise a Skinner slam attempt that Backlund floats over and traps Skinner with a pin. Rating: ¼*

Mooney wishes everyone a great holiday season, including Heenan.

McMahon announces that on January 11 Prime Time will be no more as it will be replaced with a live show called Monday Night RAW. Heenan panics since that means he could be out of a job and that could make the orphanage he has supported in Cleveland go under.

WWF Champion Bret Hart sits on Santa’s lap and says that he wants peace and prosperity for everyone around the world. On a personal level, Bret wants Santa to bring him tough competition to prove that he is “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.”

The Last Word: That matches were not good on this show but the big announcement was the Prime Time Wrestling only had two more episodes left. It was time for a change as the magic of the show was never the same once the format switched away from Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan. And the dwindling number of exclusive matches over the last few years has not helped the show’s ratings. The Steiner Brothers also made their first WWF appearance. Unfortunately, they are walking into a bare bones tag team division.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for December 26!

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