The Fan-Cam Files: WWF @ Worcester, MA – 02.24.1992

Welcome back to the Fan-Cam Files! We spent some time on the West Coast, first from Anaheim on June 17th, 1995, and then San Jose on May 30th, 1997. This time around, we’re heading East, to Worcester (or “Wooster”, for those unfamiliar) as we’re on the Road to WrestleMania VIII, which saw considerable changes to the original lineup (as well as a fake Main Event announced to go with it). I could probably go on for a little while about that Mania, but for now, we’ll just focus on the Fan-Cam from Worcester, MA from February 24th, 1992.

We have two tours going on, with Hershey, PA getting the following card… Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts in a Steel Cage, Jim Duggan and Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Natural Disasters, Bret Hart vs. The Mountie, El Matador vs. Ted Dibiase, Virgil vs I.R.S., Owen Hart vs. Beau Beverly (that would be Wayne the Train Bloom), Jimmy Powers vs. Shawn Michaels, and Tatanka vs. Kato. Most of the fellows working the Worcester show appeared the previous afternoon at MSG, headlined by a 20-Man Battle Royal (and featuring the infamous no-sell from Hercules in an under-card match against Sid Justice). Looks like we have the complete lineup here, except for Rick Martel vs. an unknown named Rex Armstrong.

Jim Brunzell vs. Skinner:
Skinner was introduced to the WWF audience during the Summer of 1991, and had a short house show run with The Dragon (Ricky Steamboat in his “we acknowledged you, but we’re only going to identify you by your nickname going forward” run), and then settled into a prelim heel spot without much of note. He did get the call to be an extra Doink towards the end of his run, released in July 1993. I guess it’s better than where Jim Brunzell was in his career. Following the Killer Bees split in the Fall of 1988, Brunzell would come and go, mostly as enhancement for syndication, and used for competitive matches taped for Prime Time or in spots like this, working prelims on house shows. He would be far more active in 1992 than he had been, and would make his last appearances for the WWF in the Spring of 1993.

Your standard opening moments, with Brunzell getting the better of the situation despite Skinner’s telling the audience how smart he is. Brunzell gets a few roll-up attempts before Skinner takes a powder. Back inside, the filthy pig from the Everglades offers a sportsman-like handshake, but Brunzell cheap-shots him like the bum he is and goes on the attack. Skinner with an escape, launching Brunzell into the turnbuckle and then dumping him to the floor, playing prevent defense until Brunzell picks the leg and pulls Skinner to the outside with him. Back inside, Brunzell with a sleeper, but Skinner backs him into the corner for the break. Skinner meets the post on a charge attempt and Brunzell gives him ten tastes of the turnbuckle. More dirty tactics from Brunzell, smacking Skinner with his own Gator accessory that is hanging in the corner! Whip to the ropes and a dropkick, but Skinner is too close to the ropes. Skinner immediately retaliates, hitting Brunzell in the midsection with a headbutt, followed by an uppercut to the throat… and THAT gets the three-count at 12:08?! Low effort stuff but they picked things up for a decent 2-3 minutes at the end to give it a boost. *½

The Berzerker vs. Hercules:
Oh, sweet Christmas… Well, we’ll start with Hercules, who is subbing for Kerry Von Erich. If you skipped our intro, it was 24 hours earlier where Hercules took a Powerbomb from Sid Justice and popped up immediately after in a glorious “pin me, pay me” moment, and this is the last match on record for Hercules in the WWF, a run that began in the Fall of 1985. Berzerker has lingered on the WWF roster since early 1991, and wouldn’t have a proper feud until after WrestleMania VIII, mostly a mid-level threat who put over guys with modest pushes or went over the bottom-feeders of the babyface side of the depth chart.

Should be interesting to see if either tries working babyface or not. Berzerker gives a clean break in the corner, and in the opposite corner, Hercules chooses violence. Berzerker pushes-off on several lock-up attempts, sending Hercules to the floor to rethink his strategy. Are we getting babyface Berzerker?! Back inside, Berzerker with clubbing blows, but Hercules manages to avoid a dropkick and sends the big bruiser over the top rope with a clothesline. We tease a test-of-strength spot, with comedic “offering the opposite hand” routine. Berzerker controls again, and we slow it down with a chin-lock… I mean, slow it down further. Hercules impressively carries ‘Zerk on his back, crashing into the turnbuckle for a break. The fight spills to the floor, with Berzerker being introduced to the ring steps. Back inside, Hercules pops off three clotheslines. He misses a charge to the corner, and Berzerker puts him away with a sloppy powerslam at 8:52. I was expecting much worse. It wasn’t GOOD, but there was a moment or two of decent. Hercules would soon arrive in WCW as the masked Super Invader, but that run would last less than a year and is mostly forgotten. *

The British Bulldog vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer):
Undertaker is in a bit of a transition here, as they taped his babyface turn on January 28th, but that won’t make broadcast until the February 29th episode of Superstars. After months of his alliance with Jake Roberts, Undertaker decided enough was enough and they did a hot angle on the set of the Funeral Parlor where Roberts slammed the lid of a coffin on Taker’s hand, DDT’s Paul Bearer, and beats on Taker with a chair, who shrugs it all off and chases Roberts while dragging a coffin along with him. As for Davey Boy, he’s between feuds, and his spot on WrestleMania VIII ended up being trimmed for time, but things pick up in the Spring as he starts a feud with REPO MAN.

Taker gets the jump on the Bulldog, punishing him in the corner while the referee is easily distracted by Paul Bearer. Bulldog avoids a charge to the corner and sends Taker over the top rope with a clothesline, but gets baited into Taker’s signature guillotine across the top rope. Back inside, Taker blocks the delayed suplex and Bulldog buckles under a slam attempt. More Taker punishment and quickly transition to Bulldog’s comeback. The suplex and powerslam connect, but Bearer hops on the apron for a distraction. Taker pops up, bops Bulldog with the urn, and covers for three at 4:40. They got in and out, which might be for the best, but there wasn’t much to this, with Bulldog mostly looking like a geek. ½*

The Bushwhackers vs. The Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart):
Originally advertised as the Legion of Doom vs. The Nasty Boys, the LOD dropped the Tag Team Titles to the newly formed duo of Ted Dibiase and I.R.S. on February 7th in Denver, CO, and soon removed from the road, returning as a surprise at WrestleMania VIII with Paul Ellering. The Nasty Boys have slid down the pecking order since losing the titles at SummerSlam ‘91, but are still protected enough as the #2 tag team on the heel side of things. The Bushwhackers are coming off a short program with the Beverly Brothers that made Jameson canon after years as someone who appeared (mostly) on Prime Time, and the less said about that, the better.

Jimmy Hart comes out to address the crowd and hype up his men. If you’ve watched these two teams work together once, you can pretty much set your watch to what they’re going to do. There’s a cut in the action (BOO) with the Bushwhackers doing the ROW BOAT spot. I thought that was only reserved for the little people! The Nasty Boys tease taking a walk, but are threatened with a $5,000 fine to get them back in the ring. Knobbs unloads on Luke with forearms, but things quickly get out of control and the Bushwhackers clean house with a pair of double-clotheslines. Luke gets tripped up on a whip to the ropes, giving firm control to the Nasties. We’re so bored, the guy filming pans all the empty, darkened sections. It looks like the Worcester Centrum holds 10-11K, and from that pan, they’re lucky to have half the building sold. The referee misses the tag, allowing some double-team pummeling. Knobbs eats a boot with a dive from the second rope, setting up the hot tag to Butch. He hits Knobbs with a clothesline and bulldog, but Sags saves. Heck breaks loose with all four men in the ring. Knobbs accidentally bops Sags with the megaphone, and Butch covers for three at 11:02 (shown). THE BUSHWHACKERS WON?! I don’t think I’ve ever watched the Nasty Boys lose to them! HISTORY IN THE MAKING! The match was mostly cheeks, by the way. *

The Big Boss Man vs. Repo Man:
After a strong feud with the Mountie that carried through most of the Spring and Summer of ‘91, Boss Man was put in a program with I.R.S. that was just DEATH, and now Boss Man is stuck in limbo before getting his hot post-WrestleMania program with Nailz. Repo Man debuted shortly before Survivor Series, helping Ted Dibiase reclaim his Million Dollar Championship from Virgil, and they took that match around the horn for a little bit. In case we haven’t touched on it yet, Repo is a repackaged Barry Darsow, coming off a highly successful run as Smash in Demolition. Repo Man is all camp, and you can never say Darsow didn’t put his all into this character.

Repo gets the jump on the Boss Man, using the ropes to choke and rake the eyes. Whip to the ropes, Boss Man ducks under a clothesline and counters a drop-down with a splash across the back. We get dueling eye pokes and Repo powders. Boss Man gives chase, bringing the match back in the ring and connects with a back breaker. Repo gets dumped over the top rope, but his attempt to sneak backfires and Boss Man hits his signature seated splash across the middle rope. Boss Man misses a charge into the corner, which seems to be the go-to spot of every match to signal momentum changes. Repo works the back, cutting off several comeback attempts along the way. The rally finally takes off, as Boss Man catches Repo under the chin with a right hand. Repo gets sent from corner-to-corner and Boss Man charges in with a splash. Repo says screw this, grabs his tow rope and chokes Boss Man out for the cheap Disqualification at 8:16. You know we’re in dire straits when we’re protecting the god damn REPO MAN. This was nothing more than average until the weak finish. *¾

Non-Title Steel Cage Match:
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Ric Flair (WWF Champion):
Our Main Event, and final match of the card. If there’s one match on the lineup that could deliver SOMETHING, here it is. These two kicked off a program back in the Fall with some heavy heat on WWF Superstars, but for the TV audience, we’re full steam ahead with hyping WrestleMania VIII, so Ric Flair, coming off winning the WWF Championship via winning the Royal Rumble, is playing mind-games with Randy Savage, while Roddy Piper, coming out of the Rumble PPV with the Intercontinental Championship, is doing a friendly with Bret Hart… I was trying to think of something to describe babyface vs babyface, and I got nothing.

Flair with a cheap-shot right at the start and makes an attempt to escape, with his trunks pulled down for our amusement. Piper sends Flair crashing to the canvas, and instead of making the easy escape, jumps down to serve up punishment. Flair goes to the eyes, but throwing Piper into the cage backfires, and an inverted atomic drop is countered with a casual poke of the eye. Piper climbs and gets straddled across the top rope, followed by a most-blatant low blow from Flair. Piper blocks another escape with Flair just a few feet from touching down, bringing him over with a gratuitous amount of hair grabbing. More fighting atop the cage, and now Piper’s escape is blocked with the hair grab. We get a head-smack double-down, and both men climb opposite sides of the cage, with simultaneous escape at 6:01. The referee declares that we must have a winner, so they’re ordered back in to restart the match.

Piper keeps Flair from escaping, giving him a taste of the steel and finally giving us his first face-first flop to the canvas. Piper with a low blow now, followed by a whip into the corner and back body-drop. The sleeper has Flair in a compromised position, but RICK MARTEL shows up to slam the door on Piper’s face! Flair covers, but it only gets two. Both men slowly climb over, fighting along the way. Piper has his head bonked into the cage and drops down for the victory at 11:09! That’s the spirit, you teased us with an interference knockout, but gave us the slip on a banana peel finish instead! I’m not the biggest fan of cage matches, but this at least felt like a match that was worth the price on the ticket. ***

Strength of Card: Below Average. Flair vs. Piper on top does some heavy lifting, because everything else is just thrown together stuff that has nothing to do with the ongoing television angles, and there’s a considerable lack of star power, as we have a sharp drop from the top three names on the card as we get a cooled off Boss Man, directionless Bulldog, and or assortment of interchangeable prelim bodies.

Highs: Once again, we’re shining a spotlight on Ric Flair and Roddy Piper, delivering the only match that was worth the price of admission. Oh, and I guess Hercules’ final match with the WWF! That’s something!

Lows: A considerable lack of effort across the board. I know what I’m getting with the era and the lineup presented to me, and even with that knowledge, I expected a little more effort, but it felt like everyone cashed in their “ready for a day off” cards at the same time.

Final Thoughts: There’s not much reason to check this out. Even if you’re interested in Flair vs. Piper (take a shot), they worked plenty of times in the months preceding this show, both for TV and other live events captured on fan recorded videos, so it’s not like there aren’t other options. The rest of the card is mostly boring. The work is sub-par, but there’s no juice in Bushwhackers vs Nasty Boys, or Boss Man vs. Repo Man. This era is one of my least favorites to re-visit, and the uninspired roster with a bunch of go-nowhere gimmicks are easy excuses to point a finger at.