SummerSlam 1992 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, August 31st, 1992
Wembley Stadium
London, England

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After some shots of the fans outside the building, they show a crowd shot that is still really impressive. I think every wrestling fan needs to go to at least one stadium show in their lifetime. Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are the hosts for tonight. I'm not quite sure why they decided to tape this on a Saturday, but air it on Monday night in the US? Seems like an odd choice to me.

Money, Inc. vs. Legion Of Doom

Rocco leads the way, as LOD comes down on motorcycles to the ring and are wearing gold shoulder pads. The number of foam fingers in the crowd is pretty remarkable. Ted Dibiase is wearing his white ring gear. LOD dominates the early going until IRS is able to rake Hawk's eyes and put him in a sleeper hold. No move has ever represented a wrestler better than IRS doing a sleeper. Hawk battles out, but then misses with a clothesline off the top rope and falls to the outside. Dibiase then attacks him while the ref is distracted by Animal. IRS has Hawk in another rest hold. Who would have guessed? Hawk teases a few moments of being able to hit the tag to Animal and finally does and he takes out both men. All four men are in the ring, until Animal sends IRS over the top rope. They put Dibiase up for the Doomsday Device, but IRS dropkicks Animal. Then in kind of a surprise, LOD gets the win with a body slam. That was a little bit better than I remembered, but IRS is still one of the most boring wrestlers in the company during this time.

Match Rating: ** (out of 5)

Ric Flair is backstage with Mean Gene. He tries to get it out of Flair as to whose corner he'll be in, but Flair won't budge. Not one of Flair's more memorable promos there.

Virgil is in the locker room with Sean Mooney. Virgil tells us that he is too legit to quit. Good times.

Nailz vs. Virgil

Vigil hits a clothesline and a dropkick, but it's not enough to knock him over. If you were to take a shot every time Nailz tries to to choke someone, you'd be dead pretty quickly. Nailz looks winded about two minutes into the match. Virgil gets a few more moves, but then runs into an ugly clothesline. Nailz then puts Virgil in another choke hold and the ref calls for the bell. This was Nailz's best match to date!

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Nailz attacks Virgil with the nightstick and, you guessed it, chokes him with it.

Lord Alfred Hayes is shown knocking on Macho Man's locker room door, but isn't getting an answer.

Mean Gene is now back with Sensational Sherri. They show the clip of Shawn Michaels costing Rick Martel in his Intercontinental Championship match. The next clip shows Martel and Sherri winking at each other. Sherri says that both men have agreed to not hit each other in the face and that she stands by her man.

Rick Martel vs. Shawn Michaels

This is still one of the stranger pairings for a big show that I can remember. Shawn Michaels comes out with a huge mirror. Sherri is wearing an exposed thong and Vince says sincerely that she is missing part of her clothing and that it's too bad. I'm honestly a little surprised she was given the OK to wear that in this era. Within the first couple of minutes, it is more than apparent how much better these two guys are than just about everyone on the roster. Martel sends Michaels over the top rope and Sherri is checking on her man. Martel comes from behind and they hug, which makes Sherri smile. They take turns pulling each others tights while attempting to pin each other, which naturally we get comments from Vince and Bobby. Both guys get heated and Michaels slaps Martel in the face and then Martel retaliates. Martel then "faints" and Shawn accidentally kicks her off the apron face first to the floor. Vince speculates if she had a heart attack. They then fight over who is going to help her out and then brawl down the entrance ramp and we get a double countout. Sherri wakes up and sees what is going on and then "faints" again. Shawn then comes back and picks her up and we get more butt jokes. They the go back and forth fighting over who gets to carry her to the back with Sherri getting beat up along the way. Martel then dumps a bucket of water on Sherri and Michaels chases him to the back as Sherri screams. The action that we did get was quite good, however this was overshadowed by a story that went nowhere as far as I can remember.

Match Rating: **3/4

The Nasty Boys give one of their obnoxious promos proclaiming they are the #1 contenders and that they should have the title shot.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Natural Disasters

Naturally, the Genius reads a poem. The Beverly Brothers attempt to attack the big men, but it doesn't work out so well as the Disasters sandwich both brothers. Earthquake accidentally splashes Typhoon and the Beverly Brothers are able to capitalize. Bobby has an announcement. SHAWN MICHAELS HAS LEFT WEMBLEY STADIUM. Despite the stupid gimmick, I have to say the Beverly Brothers were an underrated team. After some shenanigans, Beau hits Typhoon with the metal scroll, but Earthquake evens the score by dropping a big elbow on Beau. Typhoon makes the tag and Earthquake takes it to Blake with a nice belly-to-belly suplex. The Disasters were much more over here in London than in the US. Quake knocks Blake off the apron and squashes Beau for the victory. That wasn't terrible, but nothing to write home about. The crowd was into it more than you would think they would be.

Match Rating: *3/4

Mean Gene is now with the Bushwhackers and many cheesy 90s-era WWF jokes are made.

Lord Alfred Hayes is now at the Ultimate Warrior's dressing room. He opens the door, but it is immediately closed. Thrilling.

Repo Man vs. Crush

Here's the main event in my book. Crush immediately lifts him above his head and hits a press slam, which was pretty impressive. They should have found a way to make Ax the referee for the match. Poor Repo is trying his best, but Crush is just way too much for him here. It's kind of weird to me that they devote as much TV time to Repo Man, but treat him like a jobber in every big match he is in. I will say that Repo did his best do make Crush look good here.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Mean Gene says that it's time for the main event and we get the history of the story between the two.

WWF Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

They shake hands before the match, but Warrior immediately pulls Savage to him and things get heated quickly. The crowd is eating this up. Savage goes up top for the double axe handle, but Warrior strikes him in the gut instead. Warrior is a completely different performer when he is in there with Savage. It certainly helps that both of their famous matches had strong stories heading into them. Savage seems to be getting some boos from the London crowd. Savage out of desperation pulls Warrior by the tights into the turnbuckle and clotheslines him over the top rope. Even more boos for Savage. Savage then hits the double axe handle twice and gets a nearfall. Savage goes up top again, but Warrior catches him and hits a backbreaker for a 2 count. This is such a classic example of the WWF main event style of the time. Good storytelling and making sure that each move means something. It's just so weird to see Warrior look this confident and using such good psychology. It can't be understated by how much the crowd is into the match (and the show in general) and how much it is helping it feel epic. Savage baits Warrior and then ducks, with Warrior sending himself over the top rope. Savage now hits a double axe handle from the top rope to the floor. Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair are finally on their way to the ring as Warrior regains control. Warrior goes for the big splash, but Savage gets the knees up. Double clothesline and now both men are down. Perfect grabs Savage's leg and everyone assumes that Warrior sold out. Warrior tries to ship Savage into the corner, but he throws him into Earl Hebner and he is down. Warrior is up top and he hits a double axe handle from the top rope. Hebner eventually gets up and Warrior gets a 2 count. While Warrior is arguing with Hebner, Savage hits him with a knee to the back, sending Hebner to the outside. Savage hits a big time piledriver. Perfect is in the ring, trying to revive the Warrior. Perfect then holds Warrior up and Flair hits him with brass knuckles. Savage goes up top and hits the elbow drop off the top rope. Hebner again takes awhile to get to the count and Warrior is able to kick out at 2. Warrior gets to the ropes and is miraculously regaining his strength clubs Savage with a series of clotheslines. Flashbacks to their WrestleMania classic as Warrior hits the leaping shoulder tackle. Gorilla press by Warrior and as he goes off the ropes to hit the splash, Flair hits Warrior in the back with a chair. Savage is going up top again, but then turns and jumps towards Flair, but Flair hits him with a chair. Warrior is down in the middle of the ring and Savage attempts to crawl back in, but Warrior gets the victory by countout. Flair then puts Savage in The first half in particular is really good stuff, but the ending hurt it a bit.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Mean Gene is in the showers with Flair and Perfect. They say that they are moving onto plan B and here's the Ric Flair promo we all deserve.

Kamala vs. Undertaker

Undertaker arrives riding on the back of a hearse. Taker immediately goes after Kamala. But this is 1992, so this is sloooooow Undertaker. Taker hits Old School, before it was called Old School. Kamala sends Taker over the top rope, but he of course lands on his feet and goozles both Kim Chee and Wippleman. Kamala breaks it up and brings Taker back to the ring. Kamala is working pretty timid here compared to his Superstars squash matches. Chokeslam by Taker and then a leaping clothesline. Taker gets Kamala up for a Tombstone, but Kim Chee hits Taker in the midsection with his hat. Seriously. That's enough for the disqualification, but Kamala isn't done. He continues the assault and hits him with a splash from the second rope and then from the top rope. As they are trying to get Kamala to go back into the ring for more, Taker sits up and Kamala gives a great facial expression and tries to make his way to the back. Undertaker goes after him, but in the same way that George Costanza got chased on a motorized cart by a senior citizen on Seinfeld. The match wasn't much and the ending was stupid, especially coming after a countout in the title match.

Match Rating: 1/4*

British Bulldog is with Sean Mooney and he hopes that the families are able to get back together after this match is over.

Bret Hart is with Mean Gene is upset that British Bulldog is saying that when they step in the ring, it will be as if he doesn't know Bret.

The Balmoral Highlanders are out to perform and out comes Roddy Piper to a big pop. "Out of all the instruments in the world, why would you want to learn how to play the bagpipe?"

Sean Mooney is now in the crowd with Diana Smith. Diana gives a robotic promo, but it can't be easy for a non-performer to give a promo in the crowd. Mooney kind of cuts her off and asks her who she thinks will win. She doesn't care who wins the match and this promo goes off the rails and Mooney just cuts it off. I know what they were going for, but that wasn't it.

Intercontinental Championship Match
British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart

Bulldog comes down to the ring with boxer Lennox Lewis. This version of Bret's music during this era was so much better than the mid-90s version. We get a lot of back and forth to begin with. Bulldog looks more confident than I remember him being during this era. Bret shows off some heel tendencies here and he has to be one of the most underrated heels of the era. Again, it can't be understated how great the crowd is here. I can't even imagine a modern day event having this type of atmosphere, as it's mostly unheard of in 2019. Bret bulldogs the Bulldog and then goes up top, but Bulldog powerslams him off. Bulldog then goes off the top and Bret moves and both men are down. That was not the most graceful landing I have ever seen. The boos continue to grow for Bret here. Bret launches himself over the top rope and grabs Bulldog back on the way down in what felt like an impromptu move there. I do have to say, there are more rest holds in this match than I remember. Bret continues to work on the Bulldog. I just realized that at the two biggest events of 1992, both matches that Bret was involved in were face vs. face matches. Bulldog fights back and hits a suplex for a 2 count. Bulldog hits the running powerslam, but Bret is able to kick out. I'm surprised the crowd didn't react a little bigger to that, as that was not the norm in 1992. Bret hits a belly-to-back suplex with a bridge for another nearfall. Bulldog goes all the way to the top to hit a superplex and that's still not enough. While both men on are down on their backs, Bret wraps up Bulldog's legs and gets him in the Sharpshooter, but Bulldog is able to grab the bottom rope. Bret goes for the sunset flip, but Bulldog grabs his legs and gets the pinfall to a HUGE pop. That was a really good match, but I'm not sure it's as good as most people say it is. I think it's more about the moment then the actual match.

Match Rating: ****

After the match, Bret teases that he won't shake his hand, but he does and hugs his sister as well. They all raise hands after the match and we get one ore hug as the pyro goes off.

In terms of atmosphere, SummerSlam 1992 is a top 10, possibly top 5 event. The crowd brought it and it helped every match out. It's obviously remembered most for the two main event matches and the undercard isn't most likely going to win over people who didn't watch during this era, but I would still call it an easy watch. If you're looking to find a fun event to watch from this era, this one has to be near the top of the list. This one gets a definite thumbs up from me.

Overall Rating: 81%