World Wrestling Federation presents Prime Time Wrestling
Date: 10/26/1992
From: Various Locations
Matches:
1.) Tito Santana fought Terry Taylor to a ten-minute draw
2.) Yokozuna defeated Joey Maggs
3.) Crush defeated Papa Shango by disqualification
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Vince McMahon, Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect are on the panel this week. McMahon notes that Ric Flair will be on the show via satellite. We’ll also see an exclusive match between Crush and Papa Shango.
2.) Santana backs Taylor into the ropes, but backs off cleanly. Taylor takes Santana down to the mat, but Santana quickly gets to his feet. They trade shoves in the middle of the ring. Santana strikes Taylor and they have a standoff. Taylor puts a side headlock on Santana for a few moments. Santana arm drags Taylor followed by a hip toss and Taylor bails to the floor to regroup. Santana takes Taylor down to the mat and keeps arm control on the mat. Taylor goes to the apron, but is pulled over the top into the ring. Santana controls Taylor on the mat with a top wrist lock. Santana counters a hip toss with a backslide for a two count and arm drags Taylor. Santana keeps Taylor on the mat with an arm bar. Taylor misses a clothesline and Santana hits a crossbody for a two count. Taylor pulls Santana into the corner chest first. Taylor knee drops Santana on the mat several times. Taylor stops Santana with a jawbreaker. Taylor covers for a two count. Taylor drives Santana down with a backbreaker for a near fall. Taylor puts a kneeling abdominal stretch on Santana. Taylor switches to a chin lock, but doesn’t get a submission. Taylor takes Santana down to the mat and keeps headlock control. Santana elbows Taylor a few times, but is met with an eye poke. Taylor tries for a vertical suplex, but Santana nearly wins with an inside cradle. Taylor chokes Santana on the mat. Taylor jabs Santana on the throat. Taylor covers Santana for a near fall and puts a chin lock on Santana. Santana elbows Taylor a few times and shoulder blocks Taylor. Taylor tosses Santana through the ropes to the floor. Santana slingshots into the ring for a sunset flip, and gets a two count. Taylor nails Santana with a clothesline for a near fall. Taylor delivers a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. Taylor snapmares Santana and heads to the middle rope missing a splash as Santana got his knees up. Santana hammers away on Taylor hitting a backdrop. Santana atomic drops Taylor and hits a flying forearm smash. Santana atomic drops Taylor and hits another flying forearm smash, but the bell sounds and the match has ended in a time limit draw. (**1/2. For a ten minute time limit draw, I thought there was some good action here and it kept my interest throughout. It feels like the WWF has learned about the concept of a time limit draw and may be their new favorite finish for a match between two feature wrestlers.)
3.) This is the television debut of Yokozuna. Yokozuna is a Japanese sumo wrestler and is accompanied to the ring by Mr. Fuji. There was never any kind of vignette shown on television to promote Yokozuna. Also, Yokozuna isn’t Japanese and is actually Samoan.
4.) Yokozuna tosses Maggs across the ring to kickoff the match and delivers strikes on the mat. Yokozuna delivers a modified Rock Bottom. Yokozuna delivers a leg drop to the back of Maggs head. Yoko delivers a savant kick. Yoko sends Maggs into the corner and hits a running back splash. Yoko heads to the middle rope and delivers a Bonzai Drop for the win. (NR. It’s a complete squash, but Yokozuna looks to be a dominate big man and I loved his offense. I’m a bit surprised there wasn’t any kind of vignette to promote his arrival, but his sudden arrival and apparent dominance could be a better approach than building up his debut.)
5.) The panel talks about Yokozuna and Bobby Heenan thinks that Mr. Fuji has done it again by bringing in Yokozuna. Duggan is sure that Yokozuna is a vicious man. Heenan notes that Duggan ways over 500lbs. They promote six new WWF Coliseum Video releases. We see footage of a match between Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels from the WWF World Tour video.
6.) The panel promotes the coffin match between The Undertaker and Kamala at Survivor Series. Heenan claims that Wippleman told him that Kamala doesn’t have any fear. Heenan doesn’t believe Undertaker will be able to get Kamala in the coffin. Sean Mooney is on a honeymoon, but the camera goes to his bedroom for the WWF Event Center. Mooney has rather childish looking bed sheets. Mooney is pissed off about having cameras on his honeymoon and knows that Heenan is involved. They appear to have been in a hotel room.
7.) The panel joins Ric Flair to the show via satellite from Charlotte, NC. Flair is sitting down and McMahon asks how Flair’s mental state is going now that he’s lost the WWF World Championship to Bret Hart two weeks ago. McMahon notes that Flair doesn’t have much momentum heading into the Survivor Series. Flair insults Hillbilly Jim for never being a champion and says Duggan got close to the title by carrying it backstage one time. Flair says that the left side of the table drastically outweighs the right side because that’s the side that Flair and Perfect are sitting. Flair says the next time he’s on the show he’ll be called the three time WWF World Champion. Duggan thinks that Flair is talking the talk, but is hiding behind the talk. Flair brags that he’s rich and famous. McMahon asks how well Flair will function with Ramon as a tag team. Flair continues to mention that Duggan and Hillbilly have never been on top while he’s been on top his entire life. Flair says that Ramon just needs to be the toughest man he’s ever known and the toughest man in the WWF. Flair claims to be the best wrestler in wrestling. Heenan also says Heenan is the greatest advisor. Flair recalls winning the Royal Rumble and beating 29 other guys (though he keeps saying 30). Flair promises victory for himself and Ramon.
8.) Shango quickly goes on the attack ramming Crush into the corner and delivers a headbutt. Shango chokes Crush over the top rope and delivers a kick to the midsection. Shango strikes Crush several times in the corner. Shango splashes Crush in the corner and taunts the crowd. Crush stops Shango with a backbreaker. Crush nails Shango with a savant kick sending Shango to the floor. Shango regroups on the floor for a moment. Shango is ready for a test of strength, but Crush waits a moment before attempting the test of strength. They lockup and Crush appears to get the advantage, but Shango nails Crush with a knee lift. Shango controls Crush on the mat with the test of strength. Crush powers up, but another knee lift takes Crush to the mat. Shango keeps control for a moment, but Crush fights to his feet again. Crush kicks Shango several times in the midsection and monkey flips Shango out of the corner followed by a clothesline. Crush strikes Shango in the corner and misses a splash in the corner. Shango throat thrusts Crush to the mat. Shango clubs Crush over the back followed by strikes on the mat. Shango bites Crush’s forehead in the corner. Shango decks Crush with a clothesline. Crush continues with a headbutt to the lower midsection of Crush. Shango scoop slams Crush and comes off the ropes to miss a leg drop attempt. Crush punches Shango followed by a slam and leg drop. Crush boots a charging Shango in the corner and hits a middle rope flying clothesline for a near fall. Shango blocks a boot, but Crush uses his free leg to kick Shango. Crush big boots Shango over the top rope to the floor. Shango gets back in the ring, but Crush clotheslines Shango back to the floor. Shango grabs his voodoo stick and blasts sparklers into Crush’s face to lose the match by disqualification. (*. Well, I’m not sure if this is going to lead to any kind of angle between these two because Crush appears to be mostly unbothered by the attack. Crush looked decent here and I enjoyed his comeback and overall performance. Shango is a good character, but he lacks quite a bit in the ring.)
9.) The panel talks about Razor Ramon and how he’s teaming with Ric Flair at Survivor Series. Duggan thinks they will struggle as a team because they haven’t teamed before. Duggan thinks there’s a better bond between Savage and Warrior. Heenan hypes up Flair’s success and Ramon being the baddest guy in the WWF.
10.) Vince McMahon promotes what will see next week on the show. WWF Tag Team Champions Natural Disasters will defend against Money Inc. this weekend on Wrestling Challenge. McMahon thinks the Nasty Boys are going to be upset about that development. In an exclusive match next week for Prime Time, Tatanka squares off against Kamala.
11.) Jameson makes his way out wearing a Randy Savage mask. The panel acts like they don’t know who it is. Jameson reveals himself and they don’t react. Heenan throws some insults at Jameson.
Final Thoughts:
A fine episode this week as they are focusing a quite a bit on Survivor Series as we’re about a month away now. I’d say this is a worthwhile episode since it’s the debut of Yokozuna and he’s about to be a major fixture in the WWF and his arrival is quite abrupt. The action was solid enough and I didn’t feel bored throughout the episode.
Thanks for reading.