1992 is one of my favorite years in professional wrestling. WWF had most of the top names in wrestling and the rise of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, plus whacky characters like Papa Shango! WCW had a stellar roster too. But, the focus for this article is on the WWF. I’ll be looking through the year and mention both the good and the bad for what was happening.
Of course, this will be broken up into two parts. Part one will highlight what happened from January 1st to June 30th, 1992. Here we go…
The Good #1: In a memorable heel turn, Shawn Michaels super kicked longtime partner Marty Jannetty during a Barber Shop interview segment on the January 12th edition of WWF Wrestling Challenge.
The Good #2: One of the first things that popped into my head was the Royal Rumble match and just how great of a match it was. Ric Flair won the vacant WWF World Championship last eliminating Sid Justice, with help from Hulk Hogan on the floor.
The Bad #1: Marty Jannetty would be suspended and then fired from the WWF in January due to an altercation at a Tampa nightclub. His feud with Shawn Michaels would be put on hold, as a result.
The Good #3: During a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Sid Justice left Hulk hogan high and dry against Ric Flair and the Undertaker. Justice would develop a persona where he’d put jobbers on stretchers and destroy many in the WWF. It might be the most entertaining character Sid ever had.
The Good #4: At the same show, The Undertaker turned face backstage when he prevented Jake Roberts from using a chair on Miss Elizabeth following a match with Randy Savage. Taker had been getting a positive reaction from the crowd, so the decision made some sense.
The Bad #2: Due to Hawk failing a drug test, the Legion of Doom lost the WWF Tag Team Championships to the makeshift tag team of Ted DiBiase and IRS at a Denver house show on February 7th. Given the circumstances, that’s not a good thing to me, and I love Money Inc.
The Good #5: The first several months of the year saw WWF World Champion Ric Flair take on WWF Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper in a series of matches, including cage matches, which did good business.
The Good #6: Hulk Hogan would step out of his WWF World Championship match and instead Randy Savage got the shot at Flair. The feud would get heated with Flair claiming to have been Elizabeth’s lover before Savage and claimed to have sexy photos of her, which he’d show at Mania.
The Bad #3: After failing to get more power backstage, Jake Roberts is set to leave the WWF after WrestleMania and his match with the Undertaker. His matches with Savage on house shows and match with Taker at Mania were mostly one-sided. Jake’s DDT finisher was killed at Mania with Taker kicking out of the move after the move was delivered a few times.
The Good #7: At WrestleMania, WWF IC Champion Roddy Piper lost to Bret Hart in a good title match. Lex Luger made his first appearance in the WWF hyping the WBF. Randy Savage won the WWF World Championship from Ric Flair. Plus, the Ultimate Warrior made his return to the WWF.
The Bad #4: Papa Shango, a new voodoo character, missed his cue for the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice causing Justice to kick out of the leg drop finisher.
The Bad #5: Sid Justice would leave the WWF shortly after WrestleMania due to failing a drug test as he attempted to use someone else’s clean urine to pass the test. He’d be out of the WWF for three years.
The Bad #6: A major program following WrestleMania was between Papa Shango and the Ultimate Warrior. The premise being that Shango put a curse on Warrior. There would be several ridiculous segments including ooze coming out of Warrior’s head and Warrior vomiting. The vomiting one being hilarious for all the wrong reasons.
The Good #8: A bitter prisoner began to have vignettes airing stating that he was coming after Big Bossman for mistreatment. This would lead to a brutal beating on Superstars in May taking Bossman out of action for several months.
The Bad #7: The prisoner would be known as Nailz and was just a terrible wrestler.
The Good #9: WWF World Champion Randy Savage had a good, competitive title match with Shawn Michaels at the UK Rampage show on April 19th.
The Good #10: Vignettes for the debuting Razor Ramon began to air in the middle of June. Ramon would become a major fixture in the WWF in a short period of time.
The Bad #8: Despite having serious legal issues involving forged prescription drugs, Kerry Von Erich continued to work for the WWF during the summer months.
The Bad #9: Legion Doom went to their old roots in Chicago to reconnect with their old doll Rocco on the June 27th edition of Superstars. This was so bad, that it contributed to Hawk leaving the company in August.
That’s all I stumbled upon that is noteworthy while there is several other feuds that are middle of the road. The early years that get focused in this series will likely be shorter in length in comparison to when wrestling programming was all over the place and there was twelve pay per views a year.
What memories do you have for the first month of the WWF in 1992? Agree or disagree with my opinions? Leave them below, too!
Thanks for reading.