Survivor Series Retro: WWE Survivor Series 1992

WWE Survivor Series 1992
November 25, 1992
Richfield Coliseum
Richfield, Ohio
Watch: WWENetwork

In late 1992, WWE had no choice but to transition into what would be called the “New Generation.” In 1991, WWE was under investigation for the illegal distribution of steroids. This forced WWE to create their first drug testing policy which led to the firings of top talents such as the British Bulldog and Ultimate Warrior. Not only was WWE forced to rid their main event spots of larger than life superstars for smaller wrestlers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, but they were forced to change the biggest match of this very event at the last second. The main event was originally scheduled to be Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior taking on Ric Flair and Razor Ramon until Warrior’s abrupt departure from WWE. Some have speculated this was due to Warrior testing positive for steroids, others speculated this was due to Warrior having a negative reaction to the direction WWE was taking his character. In any event, this is marked as the “birth” of the New Generation.

High Energy (Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware) vs. The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu)

High Energy was a team that showcased Owen Hart’s incredible talents; Koko B. Ware was simply there for name value. The Headshrinkers came into WWE after a short stint with the NWA as the Samoan Swat Team. The Headshrinkers dominated this match to show their dominance in their PPV debut. Hart got in some nice offense before Fatu hit the Samoan Splash for the win. Winners: The Headshrinkers – 7:39 – *3/4

Nailz can count

Nailz was a former convict of the Cobb County, Georgia prison system where Big Boss Man was a corrections officer. Nailz debuted with some vignettes claiming to be coming to WWE to exact revenge on Boss Man for unfairly abusing him while in prison. In this promo, Nailz, who appears to be constipated and sounds like he has a bag of marbles in his mouth, claims that for 2,478 days he suffered Boss Man’s abuse. Nailz says that Boss Man knows how good of a climber he can be (they’re about to have a Nightstick on a Pole match) and that he will stick Boss Man’s night stick down his “stupid stinkin’ throat.”

Boss Man knows about hard times: Big Boss Man then cuts a promo sentencing Nailz to a life sentence of “hard times.” Apparently Boss Man is now a judge.

Nightstick on a Pole Match 
Big Boss Man vs. Nailz

This was a good #HOSSFIGHT type of match. Ray Traylor aka Big Boss Man was an underrated worker. Watching a lot of his old matches shows what a great babyface big man he was. Boss Man could take punishment and get the crowd behind him while also executing an effective big man offense. The crowd popped big time when Boss Man managed to grab the nightstick. Winner: Big Boss Man – 5:43 – **3/4

Flair/Razor Promo

Flair and Ramon cut a promo backstage to set up their tag team match against Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect. They replayed the angle from Prime Time Wrestling that set up the match. Randy Savage asked Perfect to team up with him. Heenan then begged Perfect to stay with him, but Perfect took Savage up on his offer. Heenan was GREAT in this angle and put the feud over in a matter of minutes. This was how much time they had to explain how Mr. Perfect was a suitable replacement for Ultimate Warrior.

Ric Flair cuts one of his classic promos here talking about how Mr. Perfect was walking in the shadow of greatness when he was the corner man for Flair. Razor Ramon, who had recently debuted his Tony Montana-esque character, cut a promo that sounded like a deleted scene from “Scarface.”

Rick Martel vs. Tatanka

This match completely over delivered. Martel worked as the smarmy/cowardly heel and made Tatanka look like a million bucks. This match is also important for being the debut of Doink the Clown. During this match Doink came out as a nameless clown who played some mean jokes on fans with no effect on the match at all. Winner: Tatanka – 11:05 – ***1/2

Savage/Perfect promo

Savage and Perfect have their chance at a rebuttal promo. Perfect cut an awesome babyface promo about how he was never in Flair’s shadow. Perfect seemed to be getting behind this babyface run and a chance at being a main eventer finally.

Mr. Perfect & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon

Mr. Perfect came into this match in bad shape. Perfect’s last match before this was 15 months earlier, the classic Intercontinental Championship match against Bret Hart at Summerslam 1991. In Perfect’s defense he did not have much time to prepare for this match because he was booked for this event just a couple of weeks before.

This was an awesome tag team match between four top guys. The crowd was on fire throughout. Ramon worked as a cowardly heel in this match and you could tell he hadn’t quite found “it” yet. In 1993, Ramon would improve when he would start working as a big man. The story of this match was whether Savage could trust Perfect as his teammate. In the middle of the match Perfect teases walking out as he walks up the aisle toward the back. Savage worked great as a babyface in peril until he hot tags Perfect. The match ended in a DQ with two ref bumps, a substitute referee, and a steel chair coming into play. Winners: Mr. Perfect & Randy Savage – 16:27 – ***3/4

Yokozuna vs. Virgil

This was Yokozuna’s PPV debut and the fans were in awe of his presence. Just the removal of his robe got a gasp from the audience. Yokozuna’s offense looked devastating in squash matches. Winner: Yokozuna – 3:44 – ***

Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags & Brian Knobbs) & The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) vs. Money Inc. (Ted Dibiase & Irwin R. Schyster) & The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake Beverly)

This match was made up of two tags teams on either side and if one member of a particular tag team was eliminated then their partner was eliminated as well. This match was the ultimate snooze fest. I was literally fighting sleep while watching Typhoon get beat down for a number of minutes as he tried to make the hot tag to the Nasty Boys. There was little reaction from the crowd for this match largely because this match was made up of four tag teams that spent the majority of their runs in the WWE as heels. ¼*

Coffin Match
The Undertaker vs. Kamala

This was the first match of its kind. If you’ve ever watched an Undertaker casket/coffin match then you know his opponent always has to act like they were deathly afraid of the casket/coffin and Kamala was no different . This match was very uninteresting. Either the rules for this match were different than a “casket match” or the Undertaker forgot the rules, because at 5:32 Undertaker pinned Kamala after a Tombstone and the bell rang. Then Undertaker rolled Kamala into the coffin and nailed it shut which resulted in another bell ring at 7:05. Winner: The Undertaker – 7:05 – ¾*

Shawn Michaels uses math to defeat the Hitman

Shawn Michaels turned heel in late 1991, but it wasn’t until late 1992/early 1993 that he really came into his own with this character. This was perhaps his first great heel promo. Shawn Michaels states that he defeated the British Bulldog on Saturday Night’s Main Event to win the Intercontinental Championship. And since the Bulldog defeated Bret Hart at Summerslam 1992 that means Shawn Michaels will defeat Bret Hart.

Bret Hart isn’t on a first name basis with HBK

Bret Hart must not be on a first name basis with HBK, because he says the full name, “Shawn Michaels,” about 15 times in this promo. With that said, Hart was an underrated promo. Historically, the narrative is that Bret Hart wasn’t a good promo until his 1997 heel run. Upon re-watching his promos from the 1992-1996 era I realized that he was a great promo. Hart brought a realistic side to his promos as if these were real fights that grounded the WWE with their Hulk Hogan era “yelling” promo. Bret Hart sounded like an MMA fighter does today.

WWE Championship Match
Bret Hart © vs. Shawn Michaels

This match was fantastic. These two guys had a chip on their shoulder and knew this was their opportunity to carry the next era of WWE on their backs. The match started off with some slower chin lock spots, but around the halfway mark it picks up and doesn’t give up until the end. After the match Santa Claus comes to the ring to celebrate with WWE Champion, Bret Hart, as snow comes down on the inside of the arena. Winner: Bret Hart – 26:40 – ****

The following stats are accumulative through the first six Survivor Series PPV’s:

Top Ten Wrestlers with Most Eliminations in Survivor Series Tag Matches

Top Ten Wrestlers with Most Accumulative Time Surviving a Survivor Series Tag Match

More Fun stats:

• This was quite the uneventful Survivor Series for the accumulative stats feature of these reviews. Ted Dibiase moved into first place and none of the other 7 participants of the only Survivor Series elimination match made any sort of mark.

Fun Survivor Series 1992 Facts:

• This PPV took place in the Richfield Coliseum. This was the venue for Survivor Series ’87 and ’88.
• Bret Hart was originally scheduled to defend his WWE championship against Jake Roberts, but WWE couldn’t come to terms with Roberts for a new contract.
• British Bulldog was originally scheduled to defend Intercontinental Championship against the Mountie. Bulldog allegedly failed a drug test and was forced to drop the IC title to Shawn Michaels on an episode Saturday Night’s Main Event and was subsequently fired. The Mountie was also fired before this event.
• Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart is the only match to main event multiple Survivor Series PPV’s (They main evented Survivor Series ’92 and ’97)
• Nailz claimed to have served 2,478 days (6+ years) of a prison sentence in Cobb County, Georgia. It was believed that he left prison when his sentence was over and did not escape. The reason Nailz was in prison was never declared on air with WWE TV. Upon some research I looked up potential reasons Nailz could have been in jail for 2,478 days based on his character:

1. Aggravated assault against a police officer: If the assault is against a police officer or correctional officer performing their job duties, you would face 5-20 years
2. Aggravated stalking: A felony, if you are convicted you will be facing not less than 1 year and not more than 10 years in prison.
3.  Possession of Methamphetamine: Meth is classified as a Schedule II substance under Georgia law. This means the government views meth as highly addictive and dangerous. Possession of meth is a felony offense and you could face 2 to 15 years in prison. This one may be a stretch, but then again….. have you seen this guy?

November 1992 in history:

• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was the number one movie at the box office the weekend after this PPV aired
• “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston was the number one song on the Billboard music charts the weekend after this PPV. It stayed the number one song for the next 14 weeks
• Bill Clinton became the 42nd President-elect of the United States of America 22 days before this PPV
• Two days before this PPV there were reports that 10 million cellular telephones were sold. There was nothing on this report indicating if Paul E. Dangerously carrying a cell phone around on WCW TV had any impact on these sales