WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event – February 8th, 1992

February 8, 1992

From the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum in Lubbock, TX

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan

Tonight, we have Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice vs. Ric Flair & The Undertaker, Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts

Intercontinental Title Match: The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Roddy Piper (c)

Heenan mocks Piper for kissing a woman he dubbed the “Queen of the Weight Watchers.” Hart yanks the title away then gives it to Mountie. Piper gets tossed outside by Mountie but lands on his feet and returns to take out both men. Piper heads out and uses a double noggin knocker and heads back in but Hart grabs his leg. Mountie hangs Piper in the tree-of-woe as we hear from Bret Hart in an insert promo and wants to know who will give him the title shot at WrestleMania as he wants his belt back. Mountie covers for two but Piper gets his knees up on a splash attempt. Piper runs wild and tries for a bulldog but Mountie shoves Piper into the referee. Mountie then hits a piledriver but the referee is still out. Hart then grabs a cup of water and hands it to Mountie so he dump it on Piper. Hart then gives Mountie the shock stick and he shocks Piper but it has no effect then Piper drops Mountie with a right and tosses Hart outside. Piper goes mental and shocks Mountie as the ref is still out. Piper tosses the shock stick outside then covers Mountie as the ref crawls over and counts to three (3:30) *. After the match, Piper takes off his shirt and reveals a shock proof vest then says “Roddy don’t play that.”

Thoughts: Short match with a creative finish as it now seems Bret will face Piper in order to reclaim the IC Title.

Highlights from the Royal Rumble match including Sid eliminating Hogan, who then yanked Sid out from the outside and cost him the title.

Sean Mooney is in the locker room with Hogan & Sid. They both smile and shake hands to show that they are on the same page but Sid leaves as Hogan speaks. Hogan then promises to take the title back at WrestleMania. Hogan then promises a special surprise that will walk him down to the ring. So, Sid gave an insincere apology on TV over not congratulating Hogan after the WrestleMania press conference and he walked out on Hogan during the interview. Its quite clear he will be turning.

The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer & Ric Flair w /Mr. Perfect vs. Sid Justice vs. Hulk Hogan w/ Brutus Beefcake

Beefcake was the surprise Hogan talked about. Sid does not look too pleased. Flair and Sid start off the match. Sid reverses an Irish whip then skies Flair with a back drop. Flair bails and returns as Hogan has now tagged into the match, giving us a preview of WrestleMania VIII. Or so we thought. Hogan now cleans house then Sid comes in and beats on The Undertaker. Sid blocks a slam and hits one of his own then Hogan tags back in and clears the ring. Sid is back in and beats on Undertaker but ducks his head and gets hit with an uppercut. Undertaker & Flair hit a double clothesline as Hogan makes the save on the pin attempt. Hogan then breaks up the pin after a double atomic drop then the match breaks down with Hogan & Sid cleaning house before we head to break, with Sid not too pleased with Hogan’s posing. The match returns as Undertaker attacks Sid from behind. Undertaker & Flair neutralize Sid in the corner for a bit then Sid uses a double noggin knocker and tags out. Hogan runs wild and even knocks Bearer off of the apron but Perfect grabs his leg and that allows Flair to attack. Flair goes after the leg and works the figure four as Sid decides to turn around and adjust his knee brace instead of reaching for the tag. Hogan reverses the hold and crawls towards Sid but Sid does not make any effort to help put his partner. Sid smiles then yells at the fans as Hogan tosses Flair off of the top rope. Both Hogan and Flair are down then Sid grabs the tag rope and wraps it around his hand while barely extending his arm. Sid now mocks Hogan’s hand-to-ear pose then looks shocked that Hogan was able to hulk up. Hogan hits a double clothesline then crawls over to Sid then Sid mocks Hogan and jumps off of the apron. Sid yells at the fans then goes to leave. Beefcake turns Sid around and almost gets decked then Sid tells Beefcake he wants Hogan to help himself. Sid walks up the aisle as Hogan gets beat down. Flair then tosses the referee outside and gets disqualified but Beefcake runs in to help his friend (11:09) **. Beefcake distracts Flair & Undertaker long enough so Hogan can hulk up and clean house. After the match, Hogan asks Beefcake what happened to Sid.

Thoughts: The action was not too good but the production was much better. The stuff with Sid teasing a tag was especially great and is overall presence is incredible. Beefcake coming out was a surprise as they really played up his facial injury on commentary. The problem though is that Sid has every reason to be pissed at Hogan over what happened at the Royal Rumble and for that reason the crowd is not into this as much as they are when other guys turned on Hogan.

Mooney is backstage with Sid. He asks Sid about what happened then said he does not need friends and is pissed over Tunney giving Hogan a title shot at WrestleMania. Great stuff from Sid.

Gene Okerlund is now with Hogan & Beefcake. Hogan thanks Beefcake for being his friend until the end. Beefcake thanks Hogan for being beside him after his parasailing accident then Hogan says he is dedicating his title match at WrestleMania to Beefcake.

Sgt. Slaughter & Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Beverly Brothers w/ The Genius

This was originally announced as a Tag Team Title match for the Beverly Brothers. Slaughter cushions the blow in the corner for Duggan as Duggan clotheslines Blake. Beau then cheap shots Duggan from the apron as the Beverly Brothers double-team Duggan for a bit. Duggan comes back with a kick to Beau then tags out as Slaughter runs wild Blake. The match breaks down then Slaughter ducks a scroll shot and hits Blake, who does a 360 sell, then the Irish whip/Three Point Stance combo puts Blake away (2:37) *.

Thoughts: Basically a squash match win for Slaughter & Duggan but the real story is what was going on with the Legion of Doom. They originally refused to drop the belts to the Natural Disasters on TV so they agreed to drop it to DiBiase & IRS off camera at the 2/7 house show in Denver, CO. Hawk was listed as having a hip pointer injury at one point as well. I’ll talk more about the Tag Title change when it is acknowledged on air.

We get a video package on the Randy Savage/Jake Roberts feud.

Okerlund is now with Savage. The Macho Man then tells us men that if you were forced to watch your woman beg for another man it would make you insane. However, Savage said that while he is in fact insane, its time for Jake to find out just how insane he really is then leaves.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Savage attacks Jake out on the floor then chases him around and pulls him into the post. Savage grinds Jake’s face against the mat then tosses a chair into the ring that hits Jake and starts choking him out with his foot. Savage hits a high knee then gauges Jake’s face until that is broken up with an eye rake. Jake tosses Savage over the top rope but Savage runs back in and attacks Jake from behind. Jake tosses Savage outside again as Savage rolls into the guardrail. Jake heads out and rams Savage’s head into the ring post a few times then we head to break. The match returns with Savage fighting back but getting punched coming off the top with a double axe handle. Jake then hits the DDT and taunts the fans before telling Savage to get up. Jake plays with Savage and goes for another DDT but Savage backdrops him outside and flies out with a double axe handle. Savage then rolls Jake back inside and hits a flying elbow drop for the win (5:25) **1/2. After the match, Savage goes back up top but a few officials run out to stand in front of him. Savage does not care and jumps over them for the elbow drop then grabs the ring bell but Jake was able to slither away as he is grasping for air. Elizabeth then runs out to the ring as we see Jake peek through the curtain saying its not over yet.

Thoughts: The action was intense for the most part but the finish was anticlimatic. And its Savage’s second clean win on TV/PPV so this feud should be over. The cliffhanger with Jake looking through the curtain is something to keep an eye on going forward though.

Final Thoughts: The in-ring was not strong but it was a show heavy on angle advancement. In its FOX debut, the production values were not that great as it looked like a better lit version of the syndicated shows. And, while finishing just 74th out of 92 shows that week, it was still two points better than what FOX usually averages and came in at 3rd out of the 4 major networks. However, the WWF troubles would soon mount and the company would be painted negatively to say the least. But, as a hype for the product, this show was fine.