WWF Superstars 2/22/1992

Written by: Tom Hopkins

We’re in the Helium Capital of the world: Amarillo, Texas. Vince McMahon is joined with Mr. Perfect, a guy not exactly walking on air (get it, helium – air!) Vince recounts the big announcement last week that Macho Man Randy Savage will be wrestling Flair for the title at Wrestlemania. Perfect says Savage is the third best wrestler in the company (I guess behind Perfect and Flair) and again hints that they have inside info on Macho Man that will affect their match. He ends with a helium-voiced jab at Savage.

-The British Bulldog vs. Frank Robinson-
I think that’s the jobber’s name, though not to be confused with the former Oriole great. Vince references Perfect’s helium voice and compares him to Bart Simpson. Piper cuts a floating-box promo on Hart in regards to their upcoming Wrestlemania match. Hart finishes this one quickly with a Sharpshooter at 1:45.

Mean Gene is in the update center, which is brought to us by the Royal Rumble 1992 Video. He runs down the dual-main events for Wrestlemania VIII. He briefly mentions the Savage/Flair match before going to the real main event of Hogan and Justice. We look at footage from the Main Event that set up the match, as well as footage from the Wrestling Challenge the next day.

-Tatanka vs. BA Dalton-
BA Dalton is a tall guy with nice hair. If he just built up his physique he may have been something. Instead, he’s just a jobber. Tatanka cuts a promo hailing himself as the leader of all Indian Nations. That’s a bit bold there. He also calls for the Wisdom of the Gods to get to the top of the promotion. Of course Mr. Perfect makes fun of him for that. A tomahawk chop off the top sets up a Samoan Drop to end this at 1:27.

Hey, it’s a WBF magazine!

Sean Mooney is at the Event Center. He brings us a promo from the Beverly Brothers (and the Genius). They are undefeated in the WWE and they want to get to the top of the Tag Team ladder. Virgil is here thanking everyone for helping him through 1991 and hopes they are there for 1992. Virgil has a problem with the Repo Man and his mask. To him, the only people that should wear masks are Batman and the Lone Ranger.

Hey, it’s a Suburban Commando VHS tape!

-Ted DiBiase & IRS vs. Larry Williams & Jimmy James-
This is before they were named Money Inc. People’s mileage on IRS may vary but I always thought that he and DiBiase made a great heel tag team. IRS says that many tax cheats are found in Texas and he’s probably right. IRS starts with Jimmy James. Well, it could be Williams, I honestly have no clue. More importantly, I really don’t care. Teddy Boy comes in to inflict more damage on James before tossing him to the corner so Williams can come in. The match goes a bit on the longish side for a tag team squash until IRS ends with a Write-Off at 3:27. By the way, the Write Off is just a Samoan Drop so that move finished two matches in a row.

Mooney’s back and we hear from Skinner (he’s a Survivor it seems), and Shawn Michaels and his manager Sensational Sherri. Shawn did the arrogant character perfectly, probably because at that time it was just an extension of his self.

We see some Wrestlemania Moments, like Rhythm & Blues, Savage winning the WWE Title, Aretha Franklin singing America The Beautiful. Speaking of Wrestlemania, it’s time for a Wrestlemania Report. We have a double Main Event (Sid/Hogan and Savage/Flair), an IC title bout between champion Piper and challenger Bret Hart. We hear from Sid and his opponent Hulk Hogan. Both talk about Brutus and his role in this and both are angry. Hogan talks about having a deal with Sid at the Royal Rumble. What would the deal have been? For Sid to just lay down for Hogan? Perfect and Flair are here to talk about Savage and they riff on his name. He’s not Macho, he’s not a man, and he’s certainly not Savage. Savage has a rebuttal for Flair, dig it?

There’s a history of Wrestlemania magazine that Vince is shilling now.

-Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts-
This is their match from the most recent Saturday Night’s Main Event. This was their big blow-off to their feud that started at Summerslam when Savage got married and Jake crashed the party. Macho leaps out of the ring to chase Roberts and he posts his shoulder. Savage is just full of rage here, playing the character and the angle perfectly. Savage sends Jake hard into the corner and lays into him. Jake tosses Savage to get a breather but Savage comes right back in. Jake tosses him again and this time he follows, sending Savage headfirst into the ringpost. Jake’s nose is busted open and it looks like he’s been potatoed. Savage is sent into the post again and I think you could actually hear Savage’s head hit the post. We take a break and return with Savage trying a top-rope axe-handle. Roberts blocks and hits a DDT. He doesn’t cover but instead panders to the crowd. Jake actually waits for Savage to get up and when he does he delivers a short-arm clothesline. Jake tries a second DDT near the ropes but Macho counters with a backdrop that sends Jake to ringside. Macho Man delivers his patented top-rope axe-handle with Roberts draped over the barricade. He rolls Roberts in (with Roberts selling a throat injury) and Savage connects with the top rope elbow drop. He covers and gets the pinfall at 5:24. Savage delivers another elbowdrop and threatens to use the ring-bell some WWE officials run in to stop him. Jake runs to the back, Liz runs to the ring This was definitely energetic for the 5-minutes but these two needed at least 10 to tell a good story. Both were such good storytellers in the ring that this could’ve broken *** easily. As it was, this was **.

The show went to commercial but the camera’s kept rolling. Roberts is hiding in the Gorilla Room with a chair and he wants to nail the first person who walks through it. It’s Liz and Jake starts to swing but Undertaker is there to stop him! The Undertaker! Savage hits Jake with a chair so the WWE officials usher him off leaving Undertaker to stand over him. Well, Jake has his Wrestlemania opponent now.

We head towards the finish with Mooney bringing us promos from Rick Martel and the New Foundation. Neither have much to say. Next week we’ll see Papa Shango, More Wrestlemania Matches announced, The New Foundation, Duggan & Slaughter, Repo Man, and Jake on the Funeral Parlor.

-The Bottom Line-
This was another very fun episode. Again there were great angle builders, especially the Main Event segment. The Wrestlemania build always made these shows enjoyable. I also liked that this was the first appearance of Money Inc, a team that would play a big role in the next year’s Wrestlemania. Two very good episodes in a row for Superstars and both worthy of a view this month.