What the World Was Watching: Prime Time Wrestling “March to WrestleMania VIII” Special – March 29, 1992

The program begins with footage of Hulk Hogan defeating the Iron Sheik in 1984 for the WWF Championship.

Vince McMahon hosts the program from a studio. The matches on this show were filmed in Biloxi, Mississippi on March 10.

A replay of the Hulk Hogan-Andre the Giant match from WrestleMania III airs. The commentary is redubbed with Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan because Jesse Ventura had sued the WWF over royalties from his commentary on past broadcasts.

A video package recaps the Hogan-Sid Justice feud.

Non-Title Match: Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) (7-1) beats Roddy Piper (Intercontinental Champion) (6-0) via disqualification when Piper is caught using Sherri’s boot as a weapon at 8:02 shown:

Michaels has only been a heel for two months but he is getting a big push in the heel midcard as Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan talk about how he wants to face the winner between Piper and Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship after WrestleMania. They also dwell on whether Michaels loves Sherri as much as she loves him. At the beginning, Sherri looks under Piper’s kilt and laughs, so Piper slaps her on the rear end when she turns to face Michaels and that leads to an argument between the two competitors. Piper rolls through a Michaels crossbody for two, kicks out of front roll at two, and slingshots Michaels into the corner for two before kissing Sherri on the apron to pop the crowd. That causes Piper to get clotheslined to the floor, though, and Michaels blasts Piper with a superkick. Piper blocks the Teardrop Suplex with a fist to the face and Michaels becomes a bumping machine for Piper’s comeback. When Piper goes for a Bulldog, Michaels pushes him into the referee and Sherri tosses him her boot. Michaels blasts clocks Piper with it but referee Earl Hebner is out. Bret Hart runs down and tosses the boot to Piper, who is caught using it by Hebner and gets disqualified as a result. This match had great energy and did a good job accomplishing its purpose of making Michaels look like a credible title contender and pushing the Piper-Bret feud forward. Rating: ***¼

After the bout, Piper blames Bret for costing him the match and tells him to stay out of his life. Bret only responds by taking the Intercontinental title belt from the timekeeper and throwing it into the ring.

A recap of Ric Flair’s reveal of pictures with Elizabeth is shown.

Non-Title Match: Ric Flair (WWF Champion w/Mr. Perfect) beats Jim Brunzell via submission to the figure-four leglock at 3:58:

Flair and Brunzell were both part of a Verne Gagne training class in 1971 that also included the Iron Sheik, Ken Patera, and Greg Gagne. In true 1990s fashion, Brunzell has tie dye trunks and knee pads but the bright colors do not help him much. Flair scores a two count from a knee drop. Brunzell fights out of the corner to land his dropkick finish but Flair kicks out at two and uses a kneebreaker to escape a sleeper hold. After that Flair wastes no time applying the figure-four and getting Brunzell to quit. Rating: *

McMahon interviews Elizabeth in her home. She says that she and Randy Savage have proof that Ric Flair’s photographs are false and Savage is taking the negatives to WWF Magazine that show Savage where Flair appears in the photographs that have been circulating for weeks. She is upset that the magazine’s publishers would take Flair at his word because it has hurt her family.

Hulk Hogan’s match with the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI is shown.

Sid Justice, with Harvey Wippleman, says that Hogan will be a facing a “fuel-injected suicide machine” at WrestleMania VIII.

A video package that recaps the Undertaker-Jake Roberts feud airs.

Jake Roberts (5-1) pins Jim Powers after the DDT at 3:05:

Powers works a long headlock but gets thrown over the top rope. He ducks under Roberts’ short-arm clothesline and tries a comeback but no one reacts to it. They also do not react to the DDT, which is unusual for a Roberts squash.

The Natural Disasters (8-0) defeat Barry Horowitz & Kato when Earthquake pins Horowitz after the Earthquake Splash at 1:57:

The Disasters have been busy, wrestling three matches over the last two days. Kato sneaks a few blows in on Typhoon but makes the stupid decision to try to hiptoss him and that gets nowhere. Horowitz tries to help but that does not work either. And from that point forward the Disasters roll, tying Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Sergeant Slaughter for best tag team record in the company.

McMahon interviews Hulk Hogan. Hogan says that Sid Justice is his final test and that Sid will face Hulkamania at its highest power. He believes that Sid is trying to take a shortcut to the top which is why they are wrestling next Sunday. When asked if WrestleMania will be his last match, he says he does not know until he comes out of the ring. On behalf of the fans, McMahon tells Hogan thank you for the memories and inspiration.

The Last Word: This took a different tact than past specials before a pay-per-view, relying less on new feature matches and more on showcasing old ones. And this was an era when putting on full pay-per-view matches from the past did not happen. The telecast served as a decent tribute to Hulk Hogan by showing some of his career milestones but like many parts of this WrestleMania, the storyline of Hogan’s departure is abrupt and comes off forced. For fans that could read between the lines, the biggest story from this program was the showcasing of the Ultimate Warrior as the Warrior had not been mentioned since SummerSlam. It was a signal that the Warrior was back in the company’s good graces and he may return soon.

A week before WrestleMania here is the state of the WWF’s house show business, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

New York City, New York – Madison Square Garden – March 23, 1992 (9,000): Tatanka pinned Colonel Mustafa with a Samoan drop at 8:45…Irwin R. Schyster wrestled El Matador to a 20-minute time limit draw at 20:34…Rick Martel pinned J.W. Storm with a roll up and holding the tights at 9:33…Bret Hart & the Bushwhackers beat the Mountie & the Nasty Boys when Bret pinned the Mountie with a roll up at 13:05…The Warlord pinned Jim Brunzell after a running powerslam at 10:18…Shawn Michaels pinned Virgil after the Teardrop Suplex at 12:13…Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper beat Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair with a clothesline.

Sacramento, California – Arco Arena – March 28, 1992 (8,600): Chris Walker pinned Kato…Owen Hart & Koko B. Ware defeated the Beverly Brothers…The Natural Disasters beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sergeant Slaughter after Duggan was caught using a 2×4…Crush pinned the Berzerker…Repo Man beat Jim Powers…The British Bulldog pinned Ted DiBiase…Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper beat Ric Flair & Sid Justice when Hogan pinned Flair after a clothesline.

Boston, Massachusetts – Boston Garden – March 28, 1992: Virgil beat Pat Tanaka (substitute for Shawn Michaels)…Rick Martel beat J.W. Storm…El Matador wrestled Irwin R. Schyster to a draw…Tatanka defeated Colonel Mustafa…The Nasty Boys beat the Bushwhackers…Bret Hart defeated the Mountie…Randy Savage beat Shawn Michaels (substituting for Jake Roberts) in a steel cage match.

Backstage News*: The WWF held a steroid symposium at the Plaza Hotel in New York on March 24 with Dr. Mauro DiPasquale, a Canadian physician. At that symposium the WWF announced a $1 million drug testing program that will go into effect on May 1. If a wrestler tests positive the first time they face a six-week suspension without pay. A second positive test would result in a three-month suspension. And a third positive test would result in a firing.

-Roddy Piper was asked about steroid usage when he appeared on a Sacramento radio station and said that he quit using steroids a few years ago when he found out they could kill you. However, Dave Meltzer said that this answer was not completely honest because the Zahorian trial revealed that Piper received steroids over several years from him.

-The WWF recently took out a story in The New York Daily News to promote its charitable work, hoping that will assist it in the fight against negative publicity that have been leveled against the company in recent weeks.

-Billy Jack Haynes appeared in segments on ABC and CBS local news broadcasts in Portland urging fans to boycott the WWF.

-New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick, a noted WWF critic, revealed that Vince McMahon’s longtime limo driver, Jim Stuart, filed a lawsuit in July for wrongful termination, alleging that he was dismissed after refusing to cover up nefarious behavior.

-The WWF will return to the Meadowlands on July 10.

-In talent relations news, Lex Luger’s WCW contract does not reportedly expire until March 1993. Until it expires he cannot compete for the WWF.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 6.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for April 4!