Meanwhile, at the end of Saturday Night's Main Event from 11/14/92, Bobby Heenan hinted that one of the Ultimate Maniacs was not going to make it to Survivor Series. This was one time when the heel announcer was not just being a heel. The following Monday, on Primetime Wrestling from 11/16/92, it was announced that The Ultimate Warrior was out. The reality was that Warrior was fired in the midst of the McMahon federal investigation after he had been discovered to have been receiving shipments of HGH. The British Bulldog had also been fired at the same time for this very reason. With Warrior out, WWF President Jack Tunney had given Randy Savage 24 hours to find a new partner. To the surprise of the Primetime panel, Savage chose Mr. Perfect. At first, Perfect scoffed at the idea, due to being Ric Flair's executive consultant. However, after getting into arguments with Flair, Razor Ramon and Bobby Heenan, Perfect accepted the offer. This led to an altercation on the set with Heenan, and the Survivor Series main event was set.
LIVE! from The Coliseum in Richfield, OH. Your commentary team is Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan.
Match #1: High Energy vs. The Headshrinkers (w/ Afa).
The Headshrinkers get the "already in the ring" treatment. High Energy are WWE Hall of Famer Koko B. Ware and Owen Hart. Owen and Samu start us off. Owen with a dazzling display of speed and agility in hitting leapfrogs and dropkicks to put Samu down. Then Koko is tagged in and a cane shot from Afa puts the heels in control. Fatu puts Koko down with a big clothesline than tags in Samu who opts for the most exciting hold in the sport, the nerve pinch. Koko gets a surprise sunset flip for a 2 count but then falls victim to a superkick from Fatu. The heel beatdown continues as Koko tries for the tag but falls a little short. Samu misses a corner charge and Koko finally tags out to Owen. Owen cleans house on the heels with dropkicks and then hits a flying crossbody from the top for 2. Samu manages to hit a powerslam on Owen coming off the ropes, tags in Fatu who promply goes to the top for the flying splash. 1...2....3! (7:40) **
WINNERS: The Headshrinkers. Pretty much a notch above squash here, as High Energy did get some offense in. We saw a brief flurry of Owen's skill, but it was mostly Koko getting his brains beat in. The Headshrinkers didn't provide a varying amount of offense and were certainly capable of better when they were in WCW as The Samoan SWAT Team.
Sean Mooney is back in the locker room and warns the viewers that the next match may not be for the faint of heart. That match is the Nightstick match between the Boss Man and Nailz. Nails enters the shot and says that he sat in jail for 2,478 days waiting to get his hands on the Boss Man. Nailz proceeds to cut a pretty good promo and comes across as a guy who is righteously pissed for a perceived injustice.
The Boss Man retorts to Gene Okerlund as we get a split-screen of Nails making his way to the ring. Boss Man says he has a job to deliver justice to every man, woman and child then he rushes the ring before the match even starts.
Match #2: The Big Boss Man vs. Nailz - Nightstick Match.
The nightstick hangs from a pole in the corner. First man to get to the nightstick can use it in the match. Boss Man climbs but is tossed off by Nailz to the mat. Nailz with a backbreaker and some choking. Nailz then hits a chinlock as the crowd rallies behind the Boss Man. Boss Man misses the diving headbutt to end his comeback, then Nailz climbs the corner for the nightstick. Boss Man catches up to him and crotches him on the top rope. Both guys are down for a few moments, then Nailz gives him a knee to the gut. Whip off the ropes, and both guys clothesline each other in a sloppy looking spot. Boss Man climbs and gets the nightstick. He gets the first crack with it, but Nailz recovers and hits Boss Man across the back. Boss Man ducks another shot, then whips Nailz off the ropes for the Boss Man Slam. 1....2....3! (5:44) ½*
WINNER: The Big Boss Man. This match was not good. Boss Man had been a good worker at this point, but he was not going to get a good match with Nailz and his one-dimensional offense. Considering this was one of the hotter feuds in the WWF during the summer, this was a letdown to end that feud. Nailz was going to begin a feud with The Undertaker, but he was fired not long after this during a financial dispute with Vince McMahon that became violent. Lawsuits and countersuits were filed, and Nailz would testify against McMahon during the steroid trials. His testimony was claimed to have hurt the prosecution's case due to Nailz telling the court that he "hates Vince McMahon's guts."
Okerlund is in the interview area with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. They go to the video recap of the situation on Primetime where Savage picks Perfect to be his partner, and the subsequent blow-up between Heenan and Perfect that leads to Perfect's face turn. Flair claims that he allowed Perfect to walk in the shadow of greatness and now has to answer to himself and Razor. Razor says that they are going to prove that only one man oozes machismo and he is going to carve Perfect up.
Match #3: Tatanka vs. Rick Martel.
Martel stole Tatanka's ceremonial eagle feathers several months ago and this is the blow-off to that situation. Martel starts things off by slapping Tatanka in the corner. Tatanka gets a back bodydrop out of the corner and sends Martel out of the ring off a dropkick. Back in the ring, Tatanka gets an atomic drop and then clotheslines Martel to the floor. Back in the ring. Martel gets some knees in and then drops Tatanka throat-first on the top rope. Martel with a front facelock in the middle of the ring. Tatanka hits a nice suplex to break it up but Martel is back on him. At this point, we get an appearance by Not Quite Known as Doink the Clown in the aisle as he makes balloon animals. Tatanka drops Martel on the apron then slingshots him back in. I hate that move. Martel comes back with a neckbreaker for a 2 count. Martel reapplies the front facelock to slow down a match that didn't need to be slowed down any more. Tatanka gets free and hits a clothesline then dodges a corner charge as Martel hits post. Tatanka hits a backslide for a 2 count. Martel dodges a charge and tosses Tatanka to the floor where he rams Tatanka's back to the apron. Martel brings him back in and drops and elbow to the back, followed by a knee. Martel goes to the middle rope and jumps off into Tatanka's waiting fist. Tatanka goes into wardance mode with chops, then he goes up top for a big tomahawk chop. Whip off the ropes and the Samoan Drop hits. 1...2....3! (11:07) *½
WINNER: Tatanks, as he reclaims his sacred feathers. This match was mostly dull due to the restholds. Tatanka was kayfabe undefeated at this point and he came out of the match looking strong, but this was not the best effort for either guy. Meanwhile, the clown pops the balloon that he gave to a kid. What a jerk!
In the locker room, Mooney is with Savage and Perfect. Perfect says that it's got to be killing Flair to see him back and teaming with Savage. He also states that Razor is oozing something that stinks. Savage says the key to surviving is to do whatever you can and that meant going to Perfect as his partner.
Match #4: Randy Savage & Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon.
Heels out first in matching purple, very nice. Savage is out first for his team, gets on the mic and introduces his partner. Being a Perfect mark at the time, his entrance music was sorely missed. Heenan calls Perfect every PG name under the sun as the faces make their way to the ring. Perfect an Razor start us off. In a funny moment, Razor flicks his toothpick at Perfect, prompting Perfect to spit his gum at Razor. Shoulder block puts Perfect down. Perfect retaliates by taking Razor down and slapping the back of his head. Perfect fights his way out of the heel corner and Flair is tagged in. Perfect takes him down with forearms and then back bodydrops him out of the corner. Some chops in the corner, then a corner whip has Flair go up and over and into a Savage right hand. Savage in the ring now with Flair. Savage cleans house on the heels before falling victim to a knee to the back from Razor in the corner. Razor chokes Savage and stomps away. Flair back in and he chops Savage in the corner. The heels show good teamwork by tagging in and out often. They also cheat on an abdominal stretch spot. Savage hiptosses out of the stretch but Razor stays on him to retain control. Flair in the ring and he tosses Savage over the top and to the floor, where Razor works him over. Back in the ring, Flair gets a couple of 2 counts. Knee drop from Flair then he draw in Perfect for the distraction, where the heels switch off. Perfect then decides to take a walk, contemplating leaving Savage, but he returns to the corner. Razor draws him in again, in order for more heel shenanigans on Savage to occur. Savage gets a backslide on Flair for a 2 count. Razor in with an elbow drop and a 2 count. Throat slam from Razor that gets 2 before Perfect breaks it up. Savage with a surprise small package that gets 2. Flair in again and he gets a combo in the corner then a hard whip to the opposite corner. Another whip and Flair puts Savage down with a clothesline. Flair climbs to the top and you know how that works out. Both guys are down and make the tag to their partners. Perfect hits the necksnap on Razor, then gets an atomic drop. Knee lifts for both heels before Flair takes out Savage on the floor with a chair. Perfect is alone in the ring but he bumps the ref accidentally. Perfect reverses a Razor's Edge and hits the Perfect Plex and replacement ref Joey Marella counts 2. Perfect then hits the Perfect Plex on Flair but Razor breaks it up and the double team is on. Ref calls for the bell for the lame DQ finish. (16:38) ***¼
WINNERS: Via disqualification, Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect. The post-match beatdown continues as Flair gets the figure four leglock on Perfect and Razor grabs a chair, intending to smash the legs of Perfect. Savage stops that attempt, Perfect gets the chair and hits Flair with it to break the figure four. The crowd eats this up as the heels bail. The match was good with tons of heat. Flair and Razor made a great heel team, and the tease with Perfect almost bailing added more drama. Perfect looked good in his comeback match. The ending wasn't the greatest booking, but still this was good stuff.
Backstage, the heels cut a pissed off promo and vow revenge on Perfect. Razor says that he was double-crossed once before. He should ask that chico about it, if he can find him.
Match #5: Virgil vs. Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji).
PPV debut for Yokozuna here, not long after his TV debut. The last WWF Superstars prior to this show featured Virgil losing to WWF Champion Bret Hart. Virgil actually tries to charge Yokozuna and gets a shouldblock for his troubles. A series of dropkicks dazes Yoko until a thrust kick puts a stop to that. The Yoko hits a big belly-to-belly suplex. Virgil decides to no-sell the effects of that but falls to a side suplex and then a huge fat legdrop. Virgil then goes for a roll-up and Yoko just sits on him, then he hits the corner splash. Yoko goes to the middle rope and then hits the Banzai Drop for the academic 1...2....3! (3:34) *
WINNER: Yokozuna. Impressive win for the big man. Virgil appeared to not want to sell some of what Yokozuna was offering, but that could be because the value of his autograph might decrease on the convention market. Yokozuna was primed to be a major heel in the WWF very quickly.
In the locker room, Mooney is with Savage and Perfect where Perfect has turkeys for the heels, including a really small one for Heenan. Perfect does the gum swat to the little turkey in a funny visual.
Match #6: The Nasty Boys & The Natural Disasters vs. The Beverly Brothers (w/ The Genius) & Money, Inc. (w/ Jimmy Hart) - Survivor Series Elimination Match.
SWANK~! white tights for DiBiase tonight, which should make him sole survivor for that reason alone. Nice pop for the recently face-turned Nasty Boys. Typhoon and Blake Beverly start us off as Typhoon shoves Blake around quite easily. Typhoon with a backbreaker and a tag to Earthquake. Both Disasters hit corner splashes on both Beverlys, then Quake gets a powerslam on Blake, then tags in Knobbs. He slams Blake's head to the mat and then hits a clothesline. Sags tagged in and he gets a pumphandle slam on Beau. Beau comes back with a double underhook suplex then tags in DiBiase. Saggs powers him up into a suplex but IRS comes in for a double clothesline. A legdrop from IRS gets a 2 count. Sags comes back with a series of hiptosses but falls to some heel teamwork in the corner. Beau gets a legdrop for a 2 count. Blake in a with a neckbreaker for another 2 count. Sags and Blake collide in the middle and the tag is made to Earthquake. The faces clean house on the heels while Typhoon drops Beau with a Samoan Drop. Earthquake hits the Quake splash for the 1..2...3 at 9:25. This eliminates The Beverly Brothers from the match, leaving Money, Inc. at a 4 on 2 disadvantage. The faces with quick tags on DiBiase but then Quake misses a splash in the corner. Money Inc with the double-team back suplex for a 2 count. IRS then misses his own corner charge but quickly tags out to DiBiase. The heels work over Quake in the corner for a few moments. DiBiase tries to chop Quake down, but a double axhandle from the middle rope does the job. Quake gets the boot up from another middle rope move and both guys are down. Quake gets the hot tag to Typhoon, who cleans house on both heels. Typhoon with a big splash but his 2 count is broken up by DiBiase. The Nastys dump DiBiase to the floor, who then trips up Typhoon into a roll-up from IRS for the 1...2...3 at 15:45 to eliminate the Disasters. Then Sags comes in immediately after that to roll-up IRS for the 1...2...3! (15:50) **
WINNERS: And sole survivors, The Nasty Boys. Okay match with some surprising selling by Earthquake in the face-in-peril role. Not much else to the match as the Beverly Brothers were eliminated so we could get Money, Inc alone in the ring with the two teams that Jimmy Hart screwed over. This pretty much propelled The Nasty Boys into the top babyface tag team and challengers for the tag titles.
We get video highlights of The Undertaker scaring the bejeebus out of Kamala by no-selling his top rope splash at SummerSlam and then the continued taunting by Paul Bearer by wheeling caskets to ringside for almost all of Kamala's matches.
Match #7: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Kamala (w/ Harvey Wippleman & Kim-Chee) - Coffin Match.
Kamala's eyes bug out of his head at the sight of the coffin wheeled to ringside by Paul Bearer and The Undertaker. Kamala hits the floor to start the match, backing away and running from Taker, who calmly stalks him. Back in the ring, Kamala with chops until Taker nails him with some thrusts. Taker does the rope walk then hits a short-arm clothesline. Taker puts his head down on a whip and Kamala hits him with chops then tosses him to the floor. Kamala goes out after him and rams him into the steps. Chops to the head and then back to the stairs. Kamala grabs a chair and nails Taker in the back. Back in the ring, Kamala with a slam which Taker no-sells. A second slam is also no-sold but a third appears to do the trick. Kamala with a series of splashes as Kim Chee trips up Bearer on the apron and he wants Kamala to use the urn. Kamala doesn't want anything to do with it, as Taker recovers, takes the urn and wallops Kamala with it. Cover....1....2....3! (5:27) ½*
WINNER: The Undertaker. Kamala is rolled into the coffin, then the lid is hammered in place. This match is about what you expect from 1992 Undertaker and Kamala. That being "not good". The less said, the better.
Mooney is backstage with the Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Mooney makes note how Sherri is not present thanks to Marty Jannetty reappearing a few weeks back. Michaels reminds us that the British Bulldog beat Bret Hart at SummerSlam, and he beat Bulldog for the title after that so the math wizards should be able to figure out that he can beat Bret for the WWF Championship.
Match #8: Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels - WWF Championship.
Before the match, Okerlund is in the interview area with the champ. He proclaims that Bret is a fighting champion, taking on all comers like The Mountie, Papa Shango, Rick Martel and even Virgil. Of course, Bret puts himself over talking about how he started in the tag team ranks and fought his way to the top. With a tear in his eye, he says he's feeling pretty excellent tonight.
They lock up and take it to the corner where referee Dave Hebner has difficulty getting them to separate. Bret takes Michaels down and they're in the ropes where Michaels screams to the ref to "get him off!". They're to their feet where they fight over a wristlock, then Bret takes him down to the mat. Bret works the arm but Michaels shoves him off into a whip, then a leapfrog before Michaels takes him down with a toe hold before Bret reverses that into an armbar. Michaels reverses into his own but Bret dumps him to the floor. Bret slingshots him back in (I hate that move) then goes back to the armbar. Michaels holds on to the ropes on a roll up, but Bret hits a crossbody for a 2 count. A sunset flip gets another 2 count and then Bret goes back to the armbar on the mat. A right hand from Michaels breaks that up, but then Bret reverses a whip into a clothesline and than back to the armbar on the mat once again. Michaels whips him off the ropes and hits Bret with a stungun. Bret reverses a corner whip but misses a charge and hits the post shoulder-first. Michaels with an armbreaker to take advantage of the injured shoulder, then a whip to the corner where Bret does his required hard bump. Michaels grabs a side headlock as the shoulder appears to be forgotten about now. Bret elbows out but runs into a dropkick that gets 2 for Michaels. Michaels gets a backbreaker for 2 and then goes back to the headlock. Bret punches his way out and then hits a swinging neckbreaker. Michaels recovers quickly, however, and stomps the head then grabs a front facelock. Bret rams him into the corner to break. Michaels whips him to the opposite corner and runs into Bret's boot, who then hits a nice bulldog. Bret goes to the middle rope but misses an elbow. Michaels covers for a 2 count. A whip by Michaels into a flying back elbow for a 2 count, then he goes back to the front facelock. Bret to his feet and gets a small packge for a quick 2 count. Back suplex from Bret and then a catapult into the corner and both guys are down. To their feet, Bret whips Michaels into the corner and then crotches him on the top rope. Back bodydrop for Bret, cover..1....2..kick out! Russian legsweep gets another 2 count. Backbreaker then an elbow from the middle rope. Cover...1....2....shoulder up! Bret puts Michaels on top then follows up with a superplex! Both guys are down, but Bret recovers first for the cover..1........shoulder up! Michaels dumps Bret to the floor, then follows out and rams him back-first into the post. Bodyslam on the floor then Michaels rolls him back in. Whip to the corner back-first. Cover...1....2....kick out! Back bodydrop for Michaels. Cover...1...2...kick out! Bret rolls him up...1.....2....kick out! Michaels nails Bret with a superkick (not yet his finisher). Michaels hits the teardrop suplex. Cover...1....2...kick out! Bret charges Michaels on the ropes and misses, getting crotched. Michaels goes to the middle rope, comes off and misses a dropkick, but Bret catches his legs and gets him in the Sharpshooter! Michaels submits!! (26:40) ****¼
WINNER: And still WWF Champion, Bret Hart! The match started slowly with armbars and headlocks and front facelocks, but then it became a solid back and forth match. Michaels still had some ways to go before becoming the Showstopper but he definitely showed his potential here. Bret did a great job taking him through this match.
After the match, Santa Claus comes down to the ring to celebrate Bret's win, and with a tear in his eye, Bret asks Santa for a football.
FINAL PARTING SHOT: This was a two match show. The Savage/Perfect vs. Flair/Razor match was almost the perfect comeback for Mr. Perfect, if only the match had a better ending. The title match was match of the night. Everything else was completely missable as this show was good but not great. The buyrate for this show was something like 1.4, which was down from the previous year's 2.2 It was, at this point, the lowest buyrate for a Survivor Series.
UP NEXT: WCW STARRCADE '92. BATTLEBOWL RETURNS!
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