WWF Superstars – December 12th, 1992

December 12, 1992

From the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, OH

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Jerry “The King” Lawler in his debut as a color commentator.

This week, we have an interview with Bret Hart. Also in action are The Undertaker, Bam Bam Bigelow, and the Nasty Boys.

Nasty Boys vs. John Rechner & Brooklyn Brawler

Rechner is the future Balls Mahoney. And just 20 years old here. Knobbs beats down Brawler in the corner then catches him with a clothesline. Sags tags in and hits a pumphandle slam on Brawler then plays up to the fans. Rechner is in now and gets the Pit Stop treatment as Lawler says this is beneath him then Sags hits a flying elbow drop for the win (2:40).

Thoughts: Lawler is lightly playing up the royal snob part on commentary as the Nasty Boys are showcased as the #1 contender to the Tag Team Titles.

WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. We learn that the Royal Rumble will take place on Sunday January 24th in Sacramento, CA and the main event will be Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon for the World Heavyweight Title. We then clips from previous Royal Rumble matches. Okerlund then says that the winner of this year’s Rumble will get a title shot at WrestleMania IX. We will learn of the first six Rumble match competitors next week. Based off of last week’s promo from Flair you’d think it would be Flair vs. Bret for this title shot. A week or so after this aired the Rumor Mill was buzzing as Flair was trying to negotiate out of his contract and it was probably sooner than that even so its probably why you saw Razor against Bret but according to Bret himself he was told after winning the title that he would face the Ultimate Warrior at the Rumble (and beat him clean with the Sharpshooter) so its possible they had plans and just put Razor in Warrior’s place.

John Paul vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Lawler says that Razor vs. Bret is like a king against a peasant and predicts Razor will win the title. Paul hammers away and hits a dropkick but gets caught with a backbreaker. The clown is back now holding a bucket and a cup of water. Bigelow then hits an avalanche before going up top with a flying headbutt for the win as Vince wonders if he will enter the Rumble match (1:14). After the match, the clown threatens to dump the contents inside of the bucket on Bigelow but it ended up just being confetti. The clown laughs hysterically as Bigelow heads up the aisle. Vince also found this amusing but Heenan & Lawler did not.

Thoughts: Vince was putting over Bigelow as a threat to win the Rumble match and we actually saw the clown interact with a wrestler for the first time.

Reverend Slick is back and talks about the Royal Rumble and how its just like life as everything changes and trouble comes from all directions. Slick then wants us to say to ourselves that we will have a happy day. I can see where he’d make a great reverend but we will have to wait and see if this can adapt into a face act people care about.

Duane Gill vs. Marty Jannetty

Marty stretches out Gill on the mat as the clown is back in the aisle with his bucket. Marty uses a monkey flip and a flying headscissors as the announcers talk about the Shawn/Marty feud. Vince now wants to know Sherri’s whereabouts then we see Shawn in an insert promo saying he’s sure that like all of the women in his life, Sherri will be there when needed. Marty stays in control and punches Gill in the corner after calling out Shawn. Gill escapes and lands some shots but misses a corner splash and gets punted in the ribs. Marty then slingshots Gill out of the corner as Vince calls him a proponent of ICOPRO then Marty uses a flying fist drop for the win (2:59). After the match, Marty talks into the camera and tells Shawn it will be a matter of time before they wrestle each other but as Marty walked up the aisle the clown drenches him with water as Heenan & Lawler laugh while Vince does not think it is funny.

Thoughts: They keep hyping the Shawn/Marty feud and both guys have been doing a damn good job on TV. We also saw the clown once again mess with a wrestler but this time it was water in the bucket. I get trying to establish the clown but doing this to a guy in the IC Title feud does make him look like a goof.

Nailz vs. Mike Collins

Nailz chokes out Collins in the corner as Heenan says either Razor Ramon or Ric Flair will be the champion heading into WrestleMania. Nailz beats on Collins as the announcers talk about the Nailz/Undertaker feud then Nailz uses a chokehold for the win (1:48). After the match, Nailz tosses Collins outside.

Thoughts: They talked up the Nailz/Undertaker feud a lot and they had big plans for this apparently because they were both featured on the “WWF Magazine” cover. However, the day after this aired at the 12/14 “Superstars” tapings in Green Bay, Nailz was fired after attacking Vince McMahon. Nailz was upset over his SummerSlam payoff (once source told Dave Meltzer that Nailz screamed “I want my fucking money!”) and assaulted Vince then later accused him of sexual harassment and even filed a police report stating Vince also harassed him at the November Madison Square Garden. It was also reported that Sgt. Slaughter, Arnold Skaaland, Dave Hebner, and Gorilla Monsoon pulled Nailz off of Vince. Typhoon claimed in his shoot interview with RF Video that he witnessed Nailz chokeslam Vince and Bret Hart said he heard the noise but did not see what happened and said that Blackjack Lanza was first on the scene. And if this incident never happened lord knows how long they would have dragged out Nailz/Undertaker and what the future would have in store for both men.

Vince plugs the Super WrestleMania game for Sega Genesis.

Okerlund welcomes Bret Hart to the interview platform. He asks Bret about Flair’s comments that he defends the title too much and will lose. Bret tells those saying he will burn himself out that it will not happen as he wants to be the greatest champion of all-time and for that to happen is to face all comers. Heenan says he is going to go down despite Vince yelling at him to get back. Heenan interrupts and says as a broadcast journalist he can go anywhere he wants and wants to talk with the champ. Heenan tells Bret he will be meeting Flair before the Rumble and if by some fluke he beats Flair again that Razor will beat him at the Rumble. Bret says he beat Flair with the Sharpshooter and that Razor cannot compare with his technical ability. Heenan now says if the left hand will not get him then the right one will as Flair comes out first. Flair guarantees Bret that the marquee will read Flair being champion for the third time and that being the man and staying the man are two different things. Heenan then brings out Razor, who tells Bret that he is all about execution and the only man in the WWF who is oozing machismo. Razor also says he is the only man in the WWF that looks good in gold and tosses his toothpick at Bret, resulting in a fight. Flair joins in on attacking Bret but Mr. Perfect runs out to make the save as Bret & Perfect clear the platform. Great stuff here as we also saw a brief alliance between Bret and Perfect too. Flair & Razor along with Heenan will be kept as a unit until at least the Rumble now with the story of if the left hand doesn’t get Bret, the right one will.

Gus Kantarakis vs. Lance Cassidy

Vince is disgusted at what over Heenan had started but Lawler said Bret started the whole thing by throwing the first punch. Cassidy uses a clothesline and a slam before going to the arm. Cassidy grounds Kantarakis as the announcers talk about the last segment then Cassidy uses a flying clothesline for the win (1:29).

Thoughts: Cassidy is just filling time here with a crappy gimmick as he would not be here much longer.

We see clips of WWF wrestlers at Planet Hollywood as they greet children as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Well, the company definitely needed some positive PR after the tumultuous year of scandal after scandal.

The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. Barry Horowitz

Horowitz bails but returns and gets caught with a chokeslam and that gets the win (1:29).

Thoughts: Weird to see Undertaker use the chokeslam as a finisher but they were still hyping his Nailz feud during the match.

Next week in action are Big Bossman, Money Inc., Crush, and Yokozuna. Plus, Royal Rumble match competitors are announced.

The show closes with Bret Hart telling Flair & Razor that they can jump him but it will not make a difference as they will both pay.

Final Thoughts: We found out about the Royal Rumble main event and learned the winner of the Rumble match gets a title shot at WrestleMania as that stipulation is outright confirmed for the first time. Besides that we saw the clown interact with the wrestlers as his storyline advances and in the coming weeks will learn of the Rumble match competitors and the rest of the other matches on the show.