What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – June 7, 1992

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary, starting a new cycle of tapings in Cincinnati, Ohio. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on May 18 and drew a crowd of 9,160 with almost half of the tickets given away for free.

Opening Contest: The Natural Disasters (13-0) beat Brian Costello & Barry Hardy when Typhoon pins Costello after the Tidal Wave at 3:07:

Bonus points to Hardy for wearing green tights to match Costello. WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated and Jimmy Hart do an insert promo, alleging that the Disasters are running away from them and bound to lose weight as a result. The Disasters follow their typical formula of beating up one of their opponents – in this case Costello – and then flooring the other partner with a token double shoulder block.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report recaps Nailz’s beating of the Big Bossman.

Sergeant Slaughter (4-1) beats Barry Horowitz via submission to the Cobra Clutch at 1:41:

In the split screen, Slaughter lets people know he is going to be at the WBF Fitness Expo and promises the Mountie the biggest shock of his life. Slaughter pulls Horowitz up after a couple of covers, preferring to finish with the Cobra Clutch instead of a stomachbreaker or clothesline.

Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) (16-1) pins Ron Cumberledge after the Teardrop Suplex at 1:46:

Sherri is now bringing a mirror out for Michaels so he can admire himself in the mirror before bouts. Cumberledge surprises Michaels with a body press off the ropes for two but a high knee stops him in his tracks. In the split screen, Michaels and Sherri appear. Michaels admires himself in a mirror and says that he has to have it all, which includes the Intercontinental title. As expected, Michaels uses a superkick to set up the Teardrop Suplex. After the bell, Michaels continues to admire himself in the mirror.

Tatanka (16-0) pins the Brooklyn Brawler (1-9) after the Samoan Drop at 2:12:

This is the second time that Tatanka has faced the Brawler this year, beating him in their first bout on the February 2 edition of Wrestling Challenge. Tatanka tells Rick Martel in the split screen that his heart burns for revenge. Heenan makes a lot of racist Native American ethnic jokes throughout the squash, doing a translation of Tatanka’s split screen promo and mimicking Tatanka’s trademark yell. As all of this happens, Tatanka slings the Brawler into the corner, slams him, chops him off the top rope, and wins after the Samoan drop.

A replay of Papa Shango setting a jobber’s feet on fire two weeks ago on Superstars airs.

Shango is scheduled to face Rock Werner in the next match. Something is up when Werner comes down the aisle after Shango when he would normally be in the ring. Shango goes into a trance and fireworks come out of all four corners of the ring. Black goo also drips from the top of Werner’s head and scared, he runs to the locker room. Monsoon and Heenan sell the crowd as terrified of Shango but many of them just look bored.

Crush (3-0) beats Dwayne Gill via submission to a head vice at 1:41:

After shaking Crush’s hand, Gill jumps on his back and applies a sleeper but Crush easily throws him off. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up a head vice submission. Gill did a great job bumping for Crush, going down again afterward when Crush helps him off the canvas and raises his hand in show of good sportsmanship.

In an ad for The WBF Championship, Lex Luger tells Barry DeMey that he is not going to be outshined. DeMey tells Luger that he is going to make him look like a toy.

Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) (4-1) defeats Dale Wolfe via submission to the figure-four leglock at 2:16:

Heenan provides generic comments about how Flair will soon catch up to Savage and win the WWF title again. Wolfe does not put up much of a fight, submitting to the figure-four in a little more than two minutes of action.

Heenan closes the show by announcing that Shawn Michaels has left the building.

Tune in next week to see WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated, the Undertaker, the Legion of Doom, and Repo Man in action!

The Last Word: Almost everything in the company seems to be in a holding pattern until the WBF Championship is over. Lots of programs are spinning in circles as the wrestlers do promos and are in their own bubble from each other. Like Superstars, this show had nothing going for it other than another Papa Shango voodoo trick.

As the WWF entered June it opened the week with television tapings for Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. The company also did a Prime Time-exclusive taping in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The Prime Time taping was because of lost content due to no longer airing Madison Square Garden cards on MSG Network. Beyond that here were some of its house show results, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Garden – June 6, 1992 (4,500): Jim Powers pinned the Brooklyn Brawler at 9:12…The Mountie beat Sergeant Slaughter via count out at 3:31…Nailz beat Virgil via submission to a choke sleeper at 6:08…WWF Champion Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair via reverse decision at 15:47. Flair initially won with a foreign object given to him by Mr. Perfect but Dave Hebner came to the ring and told the referee what happened…El Matador pinned Kato at 13:49…The Undertaker pinned the Berzerker after the Tombstone at 7:52. After the bout, the Undertaker also delivered a Tombstone to Mr. Fuji…The Legion of Doom defeated the Beverly Brothers when Hawk pinned Blake after Animal threw Hawk on top of Blake.

Dayton, Ohio – Hara Arena – June 7, 1992 (2,800): Tatanka beat Rick Martel via disqualification…The Texas Tornado pinned Barry Horowitz…Crush defeated Skinner…Repo Man pinned Hacksaw Jim Duggan (substituting for the British Bulldog)…The Ultimate Warrior beat Papa Shango…Earthquake beat Irwin R. Schyster…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart beat Shawn Michaels.

Backstage News*: The WWF is finalizing plans for SummerSlam and Hulk Hogan nor Ric Flair will appear on the show. Flair will do an interview while Hogan is not expected to return until 1993. Although many house show feuds after WrestleMania typically make it to SummerSlam, the WWF will be switching things up for the show, announcing in Europe that four big matches will feature Randy Savage defending the WWF title against the Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart defending the Intercontinental title against the British Bulldog, Money Incorporated defending the tag titles against the Legion of Doom, and the Undertaker facing Kamala. Without Hogan main eventing and competition from the Olympics, the WWF has low expectations for the buyrate of the show, with some thinking it could be the worst buyrate in company history. The WWF is hoping that closed-circuit sites across Europe, as well as high attendance at Wembley Stadium will make up for what they lose in the U.S. pay-per-view market.

-House show attendance is falling in regular markets but towns that only see the WWF once a year are remaining steady. This is a sign that the WWF’s loyal fans are tuning out the product because they dislike existing feuds or angles. For example, the house show circuit let by the Ultimate Warrior and Papa Shango drew a record-low crowd of 2,500 to Chicago on June 5.

-The WWF had a major screw up for a house show in Fort Wayne, Indiana on June 4. Local promos a week before hyped a WWF title match between Randy Savage and Ric Flair and its accompanying list of matches but the town was supposed to get the Ultimate Warrior-Papa Shango feud and the matches that go with that circuit. Then, the Warrior no-showed the card with the Texas Tornado for unknown reasons. Fans were told that if the Warrior did not show up that they were going to get a battle royal at the end of the night. The Warrior never did show, so the battle royal took place and Earthquake won it. Fans were offered refunds because of the Warrior’s absence.

-The New York State Athletic Commission has not urged the New York State Attorney General to investigate the WWF even though there have been steroid and sex scandals swirling around the company this year. Dave Meltzer wonders if this is due to the Commission not wanting to hurt the WWF’s business since it gets 5.5% of the WWF’s gate for shows held in the state.

-Even though Vince McMahon claimed on television this week that The WBF Championship was sold out, tickets are still available.

-Former WWWF Champion Superstar Billy Graham had a third operation on his bad hip after it went out as he was about to eat his birthday cake on Sunday.

-In talent relations news, the WWF is starting negotiations with Bob Backlund.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for June 15.

Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for June 8!