Original Airdate: Saturday, February 8th, 1992
Lubbock Memorial Coliseum
Lubbock, Texas
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Off The Grid, Volume 8:
Intercontinental Championship Match
The Mountie vs. Roddy Piper
So this was taped 8 days after Royal Rumble, but of course did not air until February 8th. The action gets started right away and Piper gives Mountie and Jimmy Hart a double noggin knocker. Hart grabs his leg and Mountie is able to capitalize. They announce that Bret Hart will face the winner of this match at WrestleMania. Piper tries to go for a bulldog, but Mountie pushes him and he knocks down the referee. Mountie hits a piledriver and then Hart gives the Mountie a cup of water. He pours it on Piper and tries to shock him, but Piper no sells it. Piper takes it away and shocks Mountie and gets the victory. That was certainly a brief match. After the match, Piper reveals that he's wearing a shock proof vest. That crafty Piper. This was really too short to be anything special.
Match Rating: *
They then show the ending of the Royal Rumble match. The crowd reaction has clearly been edited. They then show the highlights of the WrestleMania VIII press conference with Sid snapping. We then get a studio promo from Sid apologizing to Hogan.
Undertaker & Ric Flair vs. Sid Justice & Hulk Hogan
It is pretty crazy that Undertaker doesn't even get a televised entrance here. They then cut to a Sid and Hogan interview with Sean Mooney that starts with them shaking hands. I love how they tried to make it an argument that Sid didn't fight him face to face. It's totally cool to have lost and then cheat to eliminate someone else though. We get a huge surprise here with Brutus Beefcake making his return in Hogan's corner. Sid and Flair start things out and Flair quickly has to roll out of the ring. Hogan gets tagged in and he takes care of both opponents. Hogan looks a lot less toned here. The heels eventually double team Sid and hit a double atomic drop. So between these four men, you have the WrestleMania VIII main event, WrestleMania 13 main event and the WrestleMania X-8 semi-main event. Sid and Hogan clean house before the commercial break, but Sid seems annoyed by Hogan's gloating. Undertaker attacks Sid from behind and they regain control. They then start to work on Hogan and his knee. Sid doesn't extend to Hogan as he is starting to crawl to his corner. Flair goes up top, but Hogan is able to slam him off. Sid again doesn't tag and encourages the booing. Hogan again is able to make a ta and this time Sid walks away. Beefcake tries to stop him, but it doesn't work and Taker and Flair continue the attack on Hogan. The ref calls for the bell and Beefcake gets in the ring. It allows Hogan to take care of both guys and get his posing in. This match was actually worked at a much quicker pace than you would expect, but the Sid and Hogan story was the focus of the match and completely telegraphed.
Match Rating: **1/4
Sid is with Sean Mooney and he still can't believe that Jack Tunney named Hogan the #1 contender.
Mean Gene is now with Hogan and Beefacake. They gush about how great of friends they are or something. Whatever it is, I couldn't care less about it.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter vs. Beverly Brothers
Well here's the reason to watch the show. All four men are in the ring when they come back from the interview. All four men eventually get into the ring and Beau misses Slaughter with the scroll. Slaughter hits him with it and that's enough for the victory. That was barely a match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We get a recap of the Randy Savage/Jake Roberts feud. Savage is with Mean Gene and he says that Roberts doesn't know how insane he is.
Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage
They start brawling quickly with Savage doing the madman role. Jake is bleeding from his nose here, but is able to throw Savage into the ring post. After the commercial, Savage goes up top, but Roberts blocks it and then hits the DDT. Roberts sits in the corner and lets the referee count to 10 instead of pinning him. What could go wrong with that plan? Roberts goes for another DDT, but Savage dump him over the ropes and then hits a double ax handle on Roberts, who is leaning on the guardrail. Savage hits the elbow drop for the victory. Savage hits another elbow drop despite a bunch of officials being in his way. He then grabs the bell, but Roberts retreats. Out comes Elizabeth to celebrate, but they pan to Roberts peaking behind the curtain, saying that it's not over yet. This was a pretty fun main event here and Savage worked his butt off.
Match Rating: **1/4
This was a very fast paced show and it absolutely flew by. I'm not sure why they felt they had to cram in four matches here because the Duggan and Slaughter match felt completely unnecessary. Regardless, everything felt like a winner and despite the popularity dwindling, this felt like a big deal. I have really enjoyed all of the 90s SNME shows that I have watched so far.
Overall Rating: 68%
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