WWF SummerSlam
August 31, 1992
London, England
Wembley Stadium
(Taped on 8/29/92)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Randy Savage (4/5/1992)
Intercontinental Champion: Bret Hart (4/5/1992)
World Tag Team Champions: The Natural Disasters (7/20/1992)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan!

• The Legion of Doom (w/Paul Ellering & Rocko) vs. Money Inc. (w/Jimmy Hart)
  

This was the end of LOD’s first run in the WWF. Can’t say I blame them when they get stuck with a ventriloquist dummy was their inspiration. Still, they were VERY over in Japan and apparently London England. Hawk left the WWF right after this match for Japan while Animal stayed and teamed up with Crush for about a month until he had to step away from wrestling for a while because of a back injury. LOD control to start, but then Hawk misses a flying clothesline on IRS and he becomes our face-in-peril. DiBiase and IRS do all the dirty heel tag-team tricks like adding extra leverage in the chinlock, dumping Hawk out for a beating, and even a false tag spot. Animal finally gets the hot tag and hits all his usual stuff. They go for the DOOMSDAY DEVICE on DiBiase, but IRS saves (or assists in a electric chair drop on his partner, whichever way you want to look at it) with a dropkick. Animal doesn’t let that keep him from winning and gives DiBiase a Powerslam for the 1-2-3. (12:02) Major pop from this HUMONGOUS crowd. *½

Gene Okerlund is standing by with Ric Flair. The big question is, who’s corner will Mr. Perfect be in tonight? Randy Savage or Ultimate Warrior? Flair screws around with him and then says, “Why, he’s in the dressing room…of the WINNER! Who else? WOOO!”

Sean Mooney is with Virgil. He’s got the “ex-convict” Nailz to deal with tonight and he’s 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT! Yeah, I don’t know about that.

• Virgil vs. Nailz
  

Pretty interesting feud between Nailz and Bossman, if only to me. Nailz claimed he was abused by the Big Bossman back in the day when Bossman was his prison guard and now he’s here in the WWF for revenge. He beat up Bossman with a night stick and put him out of action for a while, so Bossman’s buddy Virgil is here in his defense. Onto the match – Nailz chokes Virgil a lot and then puts him away with a SLEEPER. (3:18) I kind of like the Nailz character because he’s not supposed to be an accomplished wrestler – the dude’s just an ex-con who wants revenge on the Bossman. Match totally sucked, by the way. Afterwards, Virgil receives the night stick treatment. CRAP

• Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) vs. Rick “Yes, I am a model and I have a huge button on my jacket that says so to prove it” Martel
  

Interesting fact: Sherri managed Nailz back in 1987 when he was Kevin Kelly in the AWA. This all started when Sherri caught Martel’s eye and he started to wink at her. Surely he just had something in his eye, because she is NOT attractive anymore. Like, maybe he got a little Arrogance in his eye or something. Nevertheless, Shawn wants to teach this guy a lesson: DON’T MESS WITH HIS WOMAN! Both guys have agreed not to punch each other in the face, so we’ll see how long that lasts. They take turns avoiding each others offense to start. Martel avoids a monkey flip while Shawn avoids a crossbody block of the corner. Martel kips up a bunch as Shawn yanks on his hair and then teases a punch to the face. Martel thinks better of it though and throws Shawn out to the floor. Yeah, it’s prime pimpin’ time for Martel. He goes over and gives Sherri a nice little hug. She likes it too. Back in, Martel gets all cocky with Shawn. They do a rollup sequence with both guys cheating by using the tights. Superkick to the chest gets 1-2-NO! Shawn tries for the Ric Flair corner pin, but the ref sees that and stops the count. Martel has had enough of being Mr. Nice Guy and the two forget the “no hitting in the face” rule and start slapping the crap out of each other. This upsets Sherri very much, so she “faints” on the apron. Both guys try to revive her, but just end up forgetting about Sherri and start fighting again until they both get counted out. (8:08) Once the guys get separated by security, they fight over who is going to carry Sherri to the back until Martel brings out a bucket of water and pours it on Sherri’s head! Yeah, now she’s definitely awake. Shawn chases after Martel and boy is that woman going to HATE him! Funny stuff. **½

Sean Mooney meets up with the Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart. They want a tag titles shot! NASTY SENSATION, BAYBEE!

• WWF World Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters vs. Beau & Blake Beverly (w/The Genius)
  

This just went on WAY too long. The Disasters control early on with their fat until their fat works against them and Typhoon gets nailed with an Avalanche from Earthquake by accident. WHOA! I think I just stumbled on something. Avalanche! Oh man, just find a fat American wrestler and the Disasters could have their version of Demolition’s Crush! I’m a genius! Typhoon becomes the fattest Ricky Morton I’ve ever seen and gets double-teamed a bunch. Beau & Blake work Typhoon over in the ropes for like five minutes straight. Typhoon catches Blake off a crossbody and Beau missile dropkicks the big guy down for 1-2-NO! The Disasters almost get a tag, but Genius hands Blake the metal scroll while Beau distracts Earthquake. WHAM! Typhoon gets nailed, but Earthquake breaks up the cover with an elbow drop. Earthquake finally gets the hot tag and puts Beau away with the EARTHQUAKE SPLASH. (10:17) Crowd goes nuts for some reason. I guess England just loves fat people. ½*

The Bushwhackers hang with Gene to kill some time. They’re just babbling on about nothing.

• Crush vs. Repo Man
  

So it’s Smash vs. Crush. Major squash for the man who came ALL the way from Hawaii. He NO-SELLS everything Repo throws at him. Repo comes off the top-rope, but Crush catches him on the way down for a powerslam to set up the CRANIUM CRUNCH for the submission win. (5:41 total/4:03 shown) Nice squash for the repackaged Crush. ½*

You’ve got to love the buildup to this next match. It was GENIUS on the part of Flair and Perfect. Since Flair was pissed off for not getting a title rematch at SummerSlam, he and Perfect decided to screw with Savage and Warrior as much as possible by telling the world that Perfect has offered his managerial services to Savage and Warrior for their SummerSlam match and that one of them has accepted, but he won’t tell who it is. Of course, this caused Warrior not to trust Savage and vice versa. When these two started to get into it on Prime Time Wrestling during a tag match against the Nasty Boys, Flair and Perfect chose this moment as their time to strike and beat the crap out Savage and Warrior with steel chairs. I always loved the way the WWF pushed Flair as “the dirtiest player in the game”, because it always seemed like just the thing Flair would do.

• WWF World Champion Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior
  

It shouldn’t surprise anyone (especially since this event is fifteen years old) that Perfect and/or Flair shows up with neither participant. They do a distrustful handshake to start. Warrior shoves Savage away out of a tie-up, but then Savage goes low and hits a pair of clotheslines for two. Savage tries a double-ax handle, but Warrior nails him in the gut on the way down. Warrior works the back with a pair of atomic drops. Savage avoids an elbow drop and pounds away for two. Savage grabs a sleeper, but it’s WAY too early for that and Warrior quickly escapes with a jawbreaker. Face slam from Warrior gets two. Warrior whips Savage from corner-to-corner and then goes mudhole stomping. The crowd is solidly behind Warrior at this point. Short-arm clothesline gets two, then Savage yanks Warrior into the corner and clotheslines Warrior to the floor. Back in, Savage covers for two. He comes off the top for that double ax-handle he didn’t get earlier and connects, but Warrior doesn’t go down, so he delivers another one to put Warrior on his back for 1-2-NO! Savage tries ANOTHER flying double-ax handle, but Warrior catches him for a backbreaker for 1-2-NO! Warrior takes Savage from corner-to-corner again working on the back and then grabs a quick bearhug for two. Side slam gets two. Savage counters a slam into an inside cradle for 1-2-NO! Warrior ducks low off a whip and gets caught with a swinging neckbreaker for two. Running hotshot gets 1-2-NO! Savage wants a suplex, but he can’t lift Warrior up because his back is hurting too bad. As Savage limps down in agony, Warrior tries to get his neck back in order. Whoa, PSYCHOLOGY! Warrior hammers on Savage’s lower back and hits a suplex for 1-2-NO! Savage crawls to the ropes to pick himself up and then dodges a charging Warrior to send him crashing to the floor. He heads up top and connects with the double-ax handle and then sends Warrior face-first into the steel steps! Warrior eats the ringpost, which gets two for Savage. That cues Flair and Perfect as they head down to ringside. Warrior backdrops out of a piledriver attempt, but Savage pulls him down into a sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Warrior clubs him with a clothesline for two. He goes for the WARRIOR SPLASH, but Savage brings up his knees to block! Double-clothesline! Warrior’s the first man up and covers Savage for 1-2-NO! Then Savage covers for 1-2-NO! Savage comes off the ropes, but Perfect trips him up! Vince immediately assumes Warrior sold out to Perfect for his managerial services. Once Warrior gets up to his feet, all he sees is Savage yelling at Perfect and spins him around for a big right hand. Choke-lift follows, and then the ref gets in between Savage and the corner. Warrior heads up top and connects with a double-ax handle of his own, but Earl Hebner is still down. Once he gets over to Warrior, he counts 1-2-NO! Warrior argues with Hebner and then gets nailed with a high knee from Savage to put both the ref on the floor. It’s Piledriver time! Warrior is done! Savage goes out to bring Hebner back in the ring. Meanwhile, Flair nails Warrior in the face with brass knuckles to make you (or maybe just Vince and Bobby) think that Perfect was actually in Savage’s back pocket. Tripping a guy up is forgivable, but getting nailed in the face with brass knuckles is BIG. Savage did not see any of what just happened to Warrior. After he brings Hebner back in the ring, he delivers the MACHO ELBOW for the slow 1…2…NO!! Warrior starts to WARRIOR UP and runs Savage over with clotheslines and shoulderblocks. He hits the GUERRILA PRESS SLAM and goes for the WARRIOR SPLASH, but Flair nails him in the back with a chair as he comes off the ropes! Savage didn’t see that either, but knows for sure that he didn’t knock out Warrior like that. He heads up top anyway, but changes his mind and comes down on Flair. The only thing is, Flair sees it coming and hits Savage in the knee with the chair on his way down! The ref didn’t see THAT because HE was arguing with Perfect down on the floor for some reason. That’s it. There’s no way Savage is going to be able to return to the ring in time. Hebner gets back in the ring and counts Savage out to give the Warrior the countout victory. (26:17) After the bell, Flair immediately goes after Savage’s knee and beats it with the steel chair until Warrior makes the save and chases Perfect and Flair away. In the end, Warrior hands Savage his title belt and helps him to the back. Not quite the epic match like these two at WrestleMania 7, but the effort was still there. I hate countout victory, but you’re dealing with mega-size egos here. All the same, a well put-together dramatic match with TONS of nearfalls. ***¾

Gene meets with Flair and Perfect in the back. He scolds them for being such jerks, but Flair explains he WILL get his belt back. His plan to injure Savage’s knee worked perfectly, (pun intended) because Flair defeated Savage with the Figure-Four to regain the WWF title on the following Tuesday.

• The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Kamala (w/Kim Chee & Harvey Wippleman)
  

Undertaker’s entrance is pretty cool. He rides down on the tailgate of a hearse. Taker OWNS Kamala to start with chokes and throat thrusts. Taker hits OLD SKOOL and tries it again, but Kamala yanks him down. Kamala dumps Taker out to meet Wippleman and Chee for some choking. Kamala saves them and takes Taker to the steel. Back in, Taker delivers a Chokeslam, connects with the Jumping Lariat and goes for the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER! But wait, Kim Chee comes in and hits Taker with his safari hat for the DQ. Kamala SPLASHES Taker a couple times, but then Taker sits up and scares the crap out of him to send everybody running in fear. (3:40) Crap load of filler. CRAP

AHH! There’s so much pressure on the Hart family! Shut up and wrestle!

Before we can get started, Roddy Piper makes a special appearance to blow on the bag pipes with a bunch of old dudes.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith
  

Funny how Davey Boy Smith gets suspended for steroids and then receives a big push that puts him on a major PPV main event in front of 80,000 people in his mother land. Only in wrestling, I tell ya. With the rumors still flying around that Bret might consider possibly at some point in time in the future that he may think about jumping to WCW, somebody else getting the belt was a must and it might as well be done right – even if the guy had broken a few rules in the company. Britain-born Lennox Lewis accompanies Davey Boy to the ring and carries a big ol’ UK flag with him. No dreadlocks back then, just a clean-cut fade. Talking about Lennox, not Davey Boy. By the way, this crowd is REALLY loud for the entire match. They get into a shoving match to start with obviously DBS winning that one. Bret grabs a headlock takedown. DBS sends him into the ropes, but Bret slips out of a slam and rolls up DBS for two. Inside cradle gets two, and we’re back in the headlock. Davey escapes into a hammerlock, but Bret elbows out and grabs a wristlock. Davey Boy cartwheels out of that and goes to an armbar. Davey Boy catches Bret off a leapfrog and then catapults him into the corner! DBS reverts to the armbar and then surprises Bret with a crucifix for 1-2-NO! DBS goes back to the armbar, but Bret slings him off into the ropes and buries a knee to the gut. That draws 100% boos from the crowd. Bret stomps the mid-section and delivers a legdrop before grabbing the chinlock. DBS elbows out, but then runs into an elbow. Bret hits an inverted atomic drop and whips DBS into the ropes. DBS tries the crucifix, but Bret is wise to it and slams Davey Boy to the mat. Cover, 1-2-NO! Back to the chinlock. DBS shoves off and delivers a monkey-flip! DBS takes Bret from corner-to-corner, but then runs into a boot. Running bulldog on the Bulldog! How ironic. Bret heads up top, but DBS is there to meet him with a slam to the canvas. DBS heads up top for a diving headbutt I believe, but Bret moves out of the way. DBS slips out of a slam and looks to roll Bret up off the ropes, but Bret ducks and the momentum sends DBS flying out to the floor. Bret follows him out with that badly mistimed pescado that could’ve easily broken Davey Boy’s neck or back. Bret posts DBS and brings him back in the ring. Corner-whip and a Russian legsweep gets 1-2-NO! Bret unloads with European uppercuts and then follows up with a backdrop for two. Bret grabs the chinlock again. DBS starts to stand up, so Bret maneuvers over into a front headlock to set up for a suplex! THEN, he goes back to the chinlock. Brilliant. DBS fights up again and gets a backslide for 1-2-NO! Bret comes back with the backbreaker and the vertical elbow drop for two. He grabs the sleeper and Davey Boy really fights it until he gets to the ropes. Doesn’t matter much, because Bret just whips him into the ropes and reapplies the hold. DBS stands up out of it and backs Bret into the corner for the break, but Bret is right back on top of him with the sleeper! DBS backs Bret into the corner again and this time he mounts a comeback. He lifts Bret up for a press slam, but winds up dropping him funny in the ropes. A bunch of clotheslines gets two for Davey Boy. He follows that up with a Press Slam for another two. Stalling suplex follows THAT for 1-2-NO! Davey Boy sends Bret into the corner for the chest-first bump for another near-fall. He delivers the RUNNING POWERSLAM! It’s over! 1-2-NO!! Davey Boy starts to get antsy, which Heenan calls the beginning of the end for him. Davey Boy knocks Bret out to the apron and gives him a suplex back in, but Bret flips out and hits a German suplex for 1-2-NO! Bret tries a suplex, but DBS blocks and places Bret up in the corner for a Top-Rope Superplex for 1-2-NO!! Is Dynamite Kid watching this, you think? They clothesline each other, but Bret still manages to apply the SHARPSHOOTER. The crowd is FREAKING OUT! Davey Boy looks to be done, but he fights through the pain and makes the ropes! Davey Boy reverses a whip into the ropes. He ducks low, so Bret attempts a sunset flip, but Davey Boy sits down and hooks Bret’s legs for 1-2-3!! (25:14) We’ve got a NEWW Intercontinental champion! Absolutely humongous pop from the crowd. In the end, Bret, Davey Boy and Diana Hart-Smith all hug and everything is going to be okay. The only problem I have with this match was the few messed up spots that just can’t go ignored. I’m going to say that it was probably nerves more than anything else, but that pescado and the press slam was completely noticeable and could’ve really injured somebody. Davey Boy Smith would go on (and had already had some great ones in Stampede and the WWF, of course) to have a few more great matches with the Hart brothers throughout the ’90s. If not for those blown spots, this one would be the absolute best if only because of just how many people showed up to see it. I’m probably going to get some flack for not going five stars, but oh well. ****¾

Final Thoughts: For the first WWF PPV ever, there’s NO Hulk Hogan! How cool is that? No Hulkamania running wild on this show. You’ve got Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith in a classic match. You’ve got Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior (in his last match that was worth watching) busting their rumps to entertain with Ric Flair screwing with their heads. Plus, there’s a fun Shawn Michaels/Rick Martel/Sensational Sherri love-triangle going on here. It’s an entertaining card and the filler is short. Although I think I am the only one who was bored by the tag team titles match. All the same, SummerSlam ’92 gets a thumbs up from me.