WWF SummerSlam 1992

WWF SummerSlam 1992
London, England
Wembley Stadium
August 29, 1992

Over Christmas holidays I was excited to watch what is still my favorite pay per view of all time. It’s truly impossible for me to be objective in discussing this event. It’s one of a handful of “chicken soup” ppvs for me; a ppv that fills with me with instant joy and happiness, one that I can throw on at any point in my life and instantly feel the warm magic of being 12 years old all over again.

I could write an entire dissertation on this PPV, could probably even get a masters in 1992 WWF history should such a thing exist (nope, it doesn’t), but I will refrain from being too overly detailed. You know the story – my WWF fandom exploded in 1992. Never had I been so excited to see a PPV before this one. Don’t get me wrong – I had been plenty excited to see previous events, but never like this. The anticipation I had for SummerSlam began the instant they made the announcement that it would be taking place in Wembley Stadium. It wasn’t long after that I saw the latest edition WWF Magazine, promoting Macho Man vs Ultimate Warrior, which hadn’t even been announced on TV yet!

A quick background – My excitement continued to build over the summer. Part of the anticipation was where and how I would be seeing this event. PPV was new to the city that summer, and I remember excitedly watching the PPV preview channel, promoting SummerSlam. There was some talk in my family at one point about ordering the event at my grandpa’s house, but that never happened. Watching it with Matt at his grandma’s was an unknown as his interest in the WWF had faded and I remember him being away for part of the summer. Finally towards the end of August, Matt called me with the exciting news that yes, I would in fact be invited over to his grandma’s house with him and his family to watch Slam. Winning a million dollars wouldn’t have even come close to this feeling of excitement at that age.

Summerslam more than delivered. The entire show felt so huge, magical and special and I still have crystal clear memories of sitting in Matt’s grandma’s living room watching the event. The classic story is that Matt didn’t know who a lot of the newcomers were, so I took great pleasure in explaining characters like Crush and Nailz. When grade six started, my wrestling pals wanted to know every detail and result and of course this all lead to the hilarious and infamous after school viewing of the tape at my house, which lead to nothing but fights.

Months later, I came across one of the Apter mags in Safeway, which had a special full color feature on SummerSlam. To my astonishment – there were THREE extra matches not included on the PPV! I remember being irritated while watching the PPV that the announced Tatanka-Berzerker match never happened, but I couldn’t believe that it DID actually take place, along with two other opening dark matches! I burned these images into my brain and for years wished that I could have seen the complete card.

Fast forward to the late 00s. Once I got into downloading wrestling torrents, I shockingly came across the COMPLETE SummerSlam PPV! It turns out that those extra matches had all been shown on Prime Time and were later included in the special UK home video release. It was one of the first things I downloaded and watched. It was a surreal, dreamlike experience, finally seeing those extra matches that had been burned in my mind since fall 92.

I haven’t watched SummerSlam as a complete card in nearly 10 years, so it was definitely due time to park myself on the couch and enjoy this whole show start to finish, with all the extra matches.

It’s amazing to me how immensely popular the WWF was in Europe in 1992, despite the sag in business in North America. Having watched those European Rampage shows from post Mania, the WWF was red hot overseas, selling out arenas with shitty main events like the British Bulldog vs IRS. It’s incredible to look back on the sellout of nearly 80,000 fans at Wembley, considering this was the first PPV of the post Hulk Hogan era. I wonder how many casual fans who bought tickets to SummerSlam even realized that the Hulkster wouldn’t be there? I noticed quite a few Hulk Hogan signs in the crowd. But even more telling was just how over all the upper faces were – LOD, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Undertaker, Bret Hart, the British Bulldog all received MONSTER pops. Not always easy in an outdoor stadium, but the support was unanimous and people were visibly losing their shit over these top level faces. Why did this popularity not transcend to American audiences? I’m sure they were still over, but not to the extent as they were across the Atlantic.

SummerSlam has the same classic opening with all the English pageantry, interviews with fans, etc. Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are on commentary, and immediately have me in stitches. I’d wager to say that this is Vince and Bobby at their best. Definitely an underrated commentary duo, and to me they were never funnier together. Heenan has a ridiculous crown, and the look of disgust on Vince’s face when he sees Heenan putting it on is pure gold!

1) Hacksaw Jim Duggan & the Bushwhackers defeated the Mountie & the Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart) at 12:37 when Duggan pinned the Mountie after the Mountie sustained the Bushwhackers’ battering ram, Duggan’s running clothesline, and then Jerry Saggs’ flying elbowsmash when Duggan moved out of the way as he had the Mountie covered

This throwaway six man tag is a testament to the WWF’s popularity in England. Duggan and the Whackers are HUGELY over with the crowd, including a fucking USA chant! Wrestling quality is virtually non-existent, but this match more than serves its purpose of warming up the crowd and getting them excited for the show. I also thought it would have made more sense to have the Nasty Boys get the shots against the Disasters, but it was actually leading up to the angle of the Nasties turning on Jimmy Hart in the coming months. The Mountie was such a zany character, I love the disgust in McMahon’s voice as the Mountie marches to the ring singing along with his theme music. He was in a feud with Sgt Slaughter at this point that ended up going nowhere. Duggan ends up pinning the Mountie for the win after all sorts of zany brawling with the Bushwhackers and Nasty Boys. Damn, I wish they had showed this whole PPV in full at the time because these geeky matches are just so much fun!

2) Papa Shango pinned El Matador at 6:12 with the reverse shoulderbreaker after Santana hit the corner face-first

Word has it that Shango and the Warrior were originally penciled in for the planned Washington DC SummerSlam, but of course all those plans were scrapped when the show was rebooked for London. Also interesting, Papa Shango was then announced to face the Texas Tornado on the main SummerSlam PPV. I’ve even seen a clip of Mean Gene announcing the match and interviews with both guys. The Tornado was a liability at this point, so was just dropped off this card. It’s weird how Shango beat jobbers endlessly on TV, but was never really given any victories over guys like Matador and Tornado on TV. According to Bret Hart, it was because of Pat Patterson’s return over summer that guys like Shango were shunted down the card and his feud with the Warrior was dropped. So many interesting tidbits from this era! Heenan had me full on roaring with laughter during this match as he endlessly mocked El Matador, making jokes about the “dead chihuahua and shower curtain” that he brought down to the ring with him. Man, Heenan’s commentary was on point throughout this whole show! El Matador put Shango to the test as expected, but it was the evil Voodoo man who soon overpowered Tito and put him away with the shoulderbreaker. 12 year old me would have marked out hard had this been on the actual PPV, but little did I know that Shango’s stock was on the way down. Shango did however start a feud with Bret shortly before Slam, putting a curse on him, in a mini story that lasts up until the October SNME, but really, Shango was never presented as much of a threat to the Hitman.

3) The Legion of Doom (w/ Paul Ellering & Rocco) defeated Ted Dibiase & IRS (w/ Jimmy Hart) when Road Warrior Animal pinned Dibiase with a powerslam at 12:00 after Dibiase collided with IRS on the apron

So bizarre to see this as the third match. It works so well as a PPV opener, especially with LOD arriving on motorcycles, wearing those cool shiny gold shoulder pads. This is the last hurrah of the original run of the LOD/Road Warriors. After this event, Hawk disappeared in the UK, riding off with Hell’s Angels and doing hard drugs for the next couple months, abandoning Animal and their WWF careers. LOD would officially be canned in the fall, and the team was never truly the same ever again. They had short stints of greatness, but were forever a shell of their former selves. The feud between LOD and Money Inc had been brewing for months by this point, and the UK fans were more than ready to see LOD annihilate IRS and Dibiase. Of course the funniest part of this match is the presence of Paul Ellering and Rocco, cheering on LOD at ringside. And another note – the white suit/trunks combo Dibiase wears was so sweet. What a phenomenal look, perfect for a show of this caliber. This is an excellently paced match, and the powerslam finish is just amazing. As a kid I thought it was beyond weird when LOD disappeared from TV after this event and soon I’d be reading in the Apter mags about Hawk disappearing and Crush filling in for him on tour cards.

4) Nailz defeated Virgil via KO with a choke; after the match, Nailz assaulted Virgil with the Big Bossman’s nightstick

Ahhh yeah, Nailz! The debut of Nailz was one of the coolest things. I remember being sickened by the beating he laid in on the Bossman and the horrible pictures from WWF Magazine showing bruises all over the Bossman’s body. The character of Nailz was just tremendous and was played perfectly. I always get a laugh out of internet nerds complaining about Nailz’s matches. What the fuck do you expect?! The guy is a psycho ex-con! Of course his matches should be all punches and chokes! Also, don’t forget the classic Virgil “to legit to quit” interview before this match, which, along with his friendship with the Big Bossman, would spawn a million laughs for Matt and myself throughout grade six. This match is just a perfect showcase for Nailz, and once again Bobby Heenan had me in hysterics making fun of Virgil and showing sympathy for Nailz. The after match beatdown is just as classic, with Heenan getting in the immortal line about the ‘good soccer kick’ when Nailz boots Virg in the ribs. Fun stuff!

5) Shawn Michaels (w/ Sensational Sherri) fought Rick Martel to a double count-out when both men began fighting over Sherri on the floor; after the match, Martel dumped a pail of water over Sherri’s face to revive her from fainting; pre-match stipulations made by Sherri stated that neither man could punch the other in the face

Two face vs face championship matches and an ultra rare heel vs heel singles match – just like McMahon kept saying, this is definitely the SummerSlam you thought you’d never see! Part of this event’s appeal to me is it’s sheer uniqueness, with this out-of-the-ordinary booking. This match features the greatest outfit Sherri ever wore to ringside. It was easily the skimpiest outfit to show up on a WWF PPV up to this point and would remain so for years. I love the subtlety in the commentary too, as rather than perving out like Lawler would later do, Heenan made quips about the moon being out in London and the like. It’s PG, but PG done right. Despite being embroiled in a feud with Tatanka, this detour storyline with Michaels made sense, as it kept Shawn relevant leading up to his planned IC title run. I really enjoyed the goofy “no hitting in the face” storyline and I loved how these two cocky heels constantly tried to cheat and one up each other. The sequence where they keep using the tights to roll each up is super funny, as is Heenan’s quip about never seeing so many smiles in his life. The ending is kind of shit as Sherri pretends to faint when they begin hitting each other in the face and they stop the match, leading to the lame double countout. However, I don’t know how else you could have finished it, maybe with Michaels going over? But Martel was still strong in the mid-card at this time too, so it’s tough to say. The whole thing with fighting over carrying Sherri to the back takes a little too long, but the payoff is funny, with Martel dumping a bucket of water on Sherri to revive her. Have I mentioned yet how amazing Sherri’s outfit was? Mannnn…..

After this is an interview I never really paid much attention to before, as Mean Gene is standing by with the Nasty Boys. They cackle about Sherri getting doused with water and Knobbs thought the Wicked Witch was supposed to melt when she got wet. They rant and rave about not getting the tag title shots since they beat Savage and the Warrior at Summerslam Spectacular, but Jimmy Hart has promised them that title matches will be forthcoming. I never really paid attention to the fact that this one interview was sowing the seeds for the upcoming Nasty Boys face turn. Fascinating.

6) WWF Tag Team Champions the Natural Disasters defeated the Beverly Brothers (w/ the Genius)

This has always been my least favorite match on the card. The Beverly’s felt so random in getting this title shot, as they hadn’t done anything of note all year other than beating the Bushwhackers. This match plods along, and it’s weird seeing a former monster like Earthquake selling so much for Beau and Blake. The most notable part of the match for me was watching the light slowly fade around Wembley as dusk starts to settle. This kind of thing always made these super cards feel so long and epic to me, especially when time felt longer as a kid.

7) Crush defeated Repo Man via submission with the head vice

Man, Crush’s face run sure sucked in the end. He started so strong but wasn’t ever given anything meaningful to do. He looked like a complete loser in his feud with Doink and even failed in his IC title feud with Michaels. They should have just brought him in as a heel right out of the gate and paired him against the Undertaker or something. Night has fallen in London as we get to the phenomenal second half of Summerslam. The Apter mags billed this as Demolition exploding, something that never even really crossed my mind when this match was announced, given how drastically different Repo and Crush both seemed compared to the Demolition days. Repo Man was of course one of my all-time favorites, and it was so cool getting to see him at this PPV. Watching it now, I was surprised at how much offense Repo was able to get in on Crush. He even impressively plants him with a back suplex! As cornball as the Repo gimmick was, the fact that the announcers played it straight and Repo was so good in the role made it work perfectly. Crush eventually gets the best of his former tag team partner, and squeezes his skull with the head vice, getting a huge pop from the fans. Too bad for Crush, he doesn’t make it to Series or the Rumble and his face run never really takes off.

8) The Ultimate Warrior defeated WWF World Champion Randy Savage via count-out after Savage attempted to hit a double axe handle off the top on Ric Flair at ringside but instead Flair hit the champion’s knee with a chair on the way down; Flair and Mr. Perfect continued to attack Savage’s knee after the match until Warrior made the save and carried the champion to the back

Easily in my top 5 favorite matches of all time. Easily. A lot of net fans dish out high praise for the Warrior-Savage Mania VII match, but it’s sequel is even better and even more epic. Savage simply brought out the best in the Warrior and never did he look better to me. The crowd is JACKED for this match. The entire stadium is standing and going nuts for both wrestlers before they even lock up! Talk about guys being over! The original direction post Mania was a lot different, as they were planning a Warrior-Sid showdown and Macho-Flair rematch, both of which were upended along with all the other original booking plans. It all ended up working out for the best, as we get two of the greatest WWF matches of the 90s instead. The whole first half of the match is just epic, Savage and Warrior going move for move. Despite both being faces, there already was so much natural hatred left over between Savage and Warrior that you could just feel the intensity between them. Savage wrestled a far more aggressive style against the Warrior than what he was normally doing throughout 92. I’d wager to say that this ends up being Savage’s last true epic, as nothing he did after comes close to this level. Same with the Warrior. He never had anything close to this ever again, which makes this match feel even more epic to me now. Warrior really pours it on as the match progresses and the crowd seems to be cheering both wrestlers equally. Every single punch and clothesline gets a massive reaction from the fans. You shouldn’t need endless finishers and kick outs, but this was a different era and a different style. Perfect and Flair show up later in the match, with McMahon grilling Heenan on who’s corner they’re really in. They attack both wrestlers at various points, leading to much speculation about who paid them off. Critics of this match say that Perfect and Flair detract from the quality, but I disagree. This added a lot of mystery and intrigue, and lead to a huge post SummerSlam angle (which sadly was ruined by the Warrior’s firing). The finish was crazy as Savage decides to double axehandle Flair on the floor, but Flair swats a chair into his knee, leading to the Warrior’s countout victory. Kind of a cheap ending, but again, how else would you finish this? I’ll forever wonder if the rumors were true about the Warrior supposedly turning heel and being revealed as the one who paid off Perfect and Flair? I could actually see it, based on the ending of this match. Warrior chases away Perfect and Flair and helps up Savage, even presenting him with the title. Phenomenal visual of Warrior holding up a hurting Savage, and the MASSIVE ovation from the London fans. Brilliant.

Tremendous post match interview with a crazed Perfect and Flair. Where they claim that this was all part of their plan and on and on. This leads to Flair beating Savage for the title a week later, with the help of newcomer Razor Ramon. So awesome.

9) Tatanka pinned the Berzerker (w/ Mr. Fuji) at 5:03 with the Samoan Drop

Here’s the third un-aired match from the show. WWF had a wacky habit in the early 90s of advertising matches for PPVs and dropping them at the last minute. I had figured that this was the case, much like Bulldog-Berzerker from Mania. Turns out it did actually happen, which blew my 12 year-old mind. Tatanka was massively over in London and the crowd was still hot despite the amazing match that preceded this. Despite its 5 minute run time, this match was all action. Berzerker battled Tatanka to the floor early and slammed him on the concrete. Tatanka would return the favor later in the match, leading to the Samoan drop finish. Quick and fun, and a good showcase for Tatanka. This might have been it for Fuji managing the Berzerker, as he’d be with Yoko just weeks later. There’s also another story out there about how the Berzerker joined Hawk and the Hell’s Angels, which is why he disappears from TV over the next month and returns as a jobber to the stars, now in Vince’s bad books.

10) The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) defeated Kamala (w/ Harvey Wippleman & Kimchee) via disqualification at 3:39 when Kimchee interfered as Kamala was set up for the tombstone; after the match, Kamala attacked Taker in the corner, hit a splash, hit a splash off the middle turnbuckle, and then a splash off the top; moments later, Taker sat up and stalked Kamala and his handlers all the way backstage

More wacky SummerSlam booking as the Undertaker was embroiled in a feud with the Berzerker that was never really paid off. That seemed like the natural match for SummerSlam, but instead they booked Kamala in his place. As a HUGE Kamala mark, I was so excited for this match and still love it to this day. Like I said, I love the variety in wrestling, and there’s room for wacky characters like Kamala. The real attraction in this match is the Undertaker riding on the back of the hearse to the ring. Talk about epic! All these touches are just what made me love this event so much. Kamala plays his role perfectly in this match, trying his best to hurt the Undertaker, and being scared of his no-selling. It’s quickie match that sees Kimchee jump in for the cheap DQ, but it doesn’t matter, as it’s all about the post match angle. Kamala beats down the Undertaker and delivers three splashes, including the final one off the top rope. But the Undertaker sits up!!! The visual of Kamala’s frightened face is just awesome! Undertaker stalks Kamala slowly down the aisle leading to a couple months of great storylines and the debut of the coffin match at Series.

In a big surprise, Rowdy Roddy Piper returns to play Scotland the Brave on bagpipes before the main event. As a kid, I didn’t realize that Piper was done with wrestling at the time. His last WWF match was at Mania VIII before returning for that insipid Lawler feud and match at King of the Ring 94. Piper wasn’t even on TV after Mania, instead doing a few un-televised Piper’s Pits.

Before the main event, we get amazing interviews with Bret and the Bulldog, and a hilariously terrible Diana Hart-Smith interview. She can barely speak English it seems and can’t answer even the most basic Sean Mooney questions. She would get a lot better when she returned with a heel Bulldog in 95.

11) Davey Boy Smith pinned WWF IC Champion Bret Hart to win the title by blocking a sunset flip attempt at 25:11; prior to the bout, Smith was escorted to the ring by Lennox Lewis; after the match, Hart initially refused to shake Smith’s hand before the two eventually hugged; moments later, Diana Hart Smith celebrated in the ring with Hart and Smith as the show went off the air

What can I say that hasn’t been said about this match already? Another easy top 5 favorite. Simply one of the greatest matches in WWF history. Bret and the Bulldog are INSANELY over with the fans. It’s hard to believe this is in an outdoor stadium, as the cheering is unbelievably loud for this match. So awesome. This is a back and forth masterpiece, and I love how, despite being between two faces and family members, Bret and the Bulldog pull out all the stops and wrestle an aggressive, hard-hitting electric style. This is a star making performance from Bret and it’s no wonder he was chosen to wear the heavyweight gold less than two months later. What an unbelievable match and an unbelievable moment in WWF history. I could watch this match every day and never get tired of it.

26 years later and SummerSlam more than holds up. Forget the IWC, forget star ratings, forget workrate – this is one of the greatest PPVs hands down, based on spectacle, classic wrestling, characters, and the crowd. It will forever remain my all-time favorite!