WWF Prime Time Wrestling, shown on the USA Network 28.12.92

The "Panel of Experts" includes Randy Savage, Hillbilly Jim, Vince 
McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Jerry Lawler (suit).  Vince says that 
this is the last two hour PrimeTime.  Next week will be a one hour 
Best-of show, and the next week will be "Monday Night Raw," "live 
from New York."

Virgil v. The Berzerker (All commentary by Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby 
"The Brain" Heenan except where noted otherwise)  Heenan:  "Doesn't 
that guy have a last name?"  Berserker misses, Virgil hits, runs into 
boot.  Berserker with slam and cover.  RIGHT.  Virgil with psuedo-
boxing, clothesline, arm wringer.  Berserker with claps and 
clothesline, then throws Virgil out and husses.  Virgil with heads to 
the gut and sunset flip for 2.  Berserker comes back with his own 
head to the gut.  Boot to the head.  The next boot to the head try 
results in Virg grabbing the "size 16" and tripping the other foot, and 
the Berserker grabs the ropes.  Berserker with eye rake, slam, knee 
to the chest, 2.  Chin lock, but darn it the arm only falls twice.  Virgil 
plays the canvas as if it were a set of bongoes and gets up.  Elbows, 
face slam.  Clothesline from the second rope and 2 count.  Shoulder 
block and Berserker takes an involuntary trip outside the ring.  
Virgil punches repeatedly, preventing Nord from reentering the ring.  
The second time in, he grabs the sword.  The ref and Virgil hightail it 
and Virgil's theme plays.  Fuji was conspicuous by his absence.  What 
would happen at Rumble Royale if Berserker and Yokozuna were the 
last two wrestlers?  A Berserker face turn?  Why not, he's already 
got a fan-favorite mark chant.

Flashback:  Gorilla Monsoon and Heenan are feeding some "wild" 
animals, including a couple Bushwhackers.  From 1988.

Crush v. Kerry Davis.  Crush now has new, metallic purple shin 
guards.  Heenan says there are only six letters in the Hawaiian 
alphabet, and Crush's inset interview proves he's right.

Mean Gene Okerlund brings you Update, sponsored by the WWF Fan 
Club.  Look for a new single, "WWF Slam [Jam]," in your local record 
hut.  It debuted at #4 in Great Britain!  But then, they thought Sigue 
Sigue Sputnik was pretty hot stuff too.  Video shown.  Everywhere 
the Warrior should be, Papa Shango shows up instead (although he 
has no vocals).  Although Davey Boy Smith is in the single, he is not 
referred to by name by Gene, instead included in the lump sum term 
"...and a host of others," which includes...um...no one else.  Yes, that is 
Savage wearing the Ultimate Maniacs outfit.  Clips are mostly WM8, 
SummerSlam, and SNME.

Vince brings up Perfect and Heenan reminds us of Hennig's illiteracy.

Skinner v. Buck Zumhoff.  Here's a riddle I just wrote:
Q:  What's the difference between Skinner and the Brooklyn Brawler?
A:  Um, let me get back to you on that.
Monsoon thinks Yokozuna is the odds-on Rumble Royale favourite.

Vince welcomes out Gorilla Monsoon, who is supervising the set 
destruction.  The bombshell is dropped that Heenan will not be 
appearing on the new show.

Bob Backlund v. Damien DeFreshMaker.  Believe it or not, 'Mentos 
won't shake hands, yep.  DeMento starts off well, slam after slam, 
albeit verrry slow.  Backlund does some of those wrestling moves as 
a counter, but they don't look as painful as repeated slams.  DeMento 
with head in the gut, smacks, shoulder block, 2 count.  Another 2 
count.  Chin lock.  If it weren't for DeMento's tongue waggling I'd 
have fallen asleep by now.  Backlund has the least exciting 
resurgence I've ever seen.  Bad dropkick, but DeMento still 
somersaults over the rope out of the ring.  Backlund follows, and 
somehow we end up with a countout win for Backlund.  DeMento, 
after discussing it with the sky, lets it go.  To his credit, Backlund acts 
like he wants some more.

Flashback:  Heenan, in a Western, gets thrown through a window.  
From 1989.

Money, Incorporated v. Jumpin' Jim Brunzell and Mike Collins.  
Brunzell's ring attire just gets uglier and uglier.  Brunzell performs 
adequately against IRS, but then tags, and...well, you know.  Rare 
event:  Nasty Boys give an entire inset interview without removing 
their shades.

Okerlund with the Rumble Royale Report, sponsored by ICOPRO.  
Okerlund stresses Pay-Per-View, unlike the Sacramento syndicated 
shows' RRR.  Berzerker, Backlund, DiBiase, Tatanka, Undertaker, 
Yokozuna.  Bad Fuji interview.  New entrants:  Nature Boy Ric Flair 
(interview), Macho Man Randy Savage, Irwin R. Schyster, Virgil and 
Mr. Perfect (interview).  Hmmm, only five names?  I guess Nailz or 
Duggan was #6 until their untimely unemployment.  New match:  Big 
Boss Man vs. Bam Bam Bigelow.  And, yes, Hart/Ramon.  Interview 
from Hart.

Promos:  ICOPRO (Hart), Slim Jim (Savage), "Out of Gas" Game Boy 
cartridge.

Lawler says a Rumble Royale without the King is like having a WWF 
show without Heenan.  Monsoon is moving/removing walls.

Repo Man v. Martyr Jannetty.  Repo has control early, and by gosh is 
funny too.  They have the old sunset flip attempt, but heel gets his 
balance and prepares to punch the face's nose, but at the last minute 
the face pulls away and the heel gets knuckles to the canvas.  Ha ha 
ha...Jannetty gets lots of offense and Repo is hilarious as the target.  
Repo finally gains momentum with a surprise clothesline which cause 
Jannetty to do a full somersault.  Repo breaks all the rules and 
throws everything he's got at Jannetty, which takes all of 15 seconds.  
One reverse chin lock later, Jannetty gets a mild resurgence, but you 
know Repo get four or five more 2 counts before Jannetty gets the 
REAL comeback.  For a change, Jannetty wins with a crucifix.  This 
match wasn't all that bad, I'm just lazy in describing this week.  Last 
week's squashfest hanging heavy on my style didn't help.

Flashback:  The Berzerker, under Fuji's direction, throws Jamison off 
of Titan Towers.  Unfortunately, he lives.  From 1990.

Papa Shango v. Todd Becker.  Shango's smoke smells "just like the 
inside of the Undertaker's urn."  For some reason, the Undertaker is 
mentioned yet again.  Shoulderbreaker, pin.  And for good measure, 
Shango shoots some sparks out of his voodoo stick (wotta surprise).

Vince thinks an Undertaker/Papa Shango matchup would be swell.  
Aha!  I guess Shango WILL be staying around, if only to fill Nailz' UT 
dates.  Jamison makes an appearance.  Vince says Jamison will be on 
Monday Night Raw.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Sean Mooney tells us if 
we're ever near the Manhattan Center (not MSG, sorry), we should 
buy tickets and go see the show in person.  Phone number.  Heenan 
calls up Tunney.

Flashback:  Hacksaw Jim Duggan blows up Heenan's rented Cadillac.  
From 1990.

Slick gives it to ya.  He may end up with Kamala yet.

Tatanka v. Bret "Not Red" Tyler (Vince McMahon, King Jerry Lawler, 
Heenan)  Get this, *Vince* derides *someone else* for making fun of 
stereotypes!  Look at that Clown!  Of course, Tatanka, like Perfect, is a 
proponent of ICOPRO.  Clown mops up the floor, Tatanka's moccasins, 
his thighs, his chest, and the swings around the mop to smack him in 
the face, ending his undefeated streak.  I could yet like this Clown.

Savage surreptiously hides Lawler's crown, and Heenan is conned 
into signing a bill for the set demolition.

Raymond Rougeau (!) interviews Yokozuna.  For some reason, 
Rougeau talks more than Fuji and Yokozuna combined.  I guess Joe ? 
is out, or this is taking the place of a Nailz interview.

Beverly Brothers v. The Nice Guys.  At least with the Genius absent 
for this match, I get to hear more Beverly music.  Crowd is chanting 
"Nas-tee."  Spare me.  At least Blake gets to give Knobbs a pitstop of 
his own.  I guess now that the Nasty Boys are faces, Sags can't break 
the rules by saving his partner.  Heenan can't believe the fans simply 
flocked to the Nasty Boys, and so quickly too!  See Knobbs beat up 
the wrong guy.  See Sags yell out "Nasty!" to encourage his tag team 
partner!  Yeah, the standard face vs. heel tag formula is followed to 
the letter, except we get the surprise double disqualification ending 
when the ref gets too annoyed with not having control of the match.

Flashback:  The Queen doesn't REALLY hate the British Bulldog, does 
she?  Of course not, this FBI/CIA footage land Heenan in a heap of 
trouble.  From 1991.

Wade Boggs introduces us to his good friend Mr. Perfect.  This 
particular "vignette" was awarded at Cannes for Most Judicious Use 
of Editing.  Amazingly, no soundtrack awards were given.

Heenan says HE taught Boggs to hit, and also got him the Yankee 
contract.

Lance Cassidy v. Barry Hardy.  The Clown grabs Cassidy's jacket from 
the ring boy and tapes a "KICK ME HARD" sign to it.  I leave the rest 
to your imagination.  Heenan:  "There's two kinds of music I 
hate...country and western."  Give the Clown credit, he beats up 
cowboys AND Indians.

Sean Mooney announces a new Saturday morning WWF show.  
Jamison walks in wearing Lawler's crown.  

Promos:  WWF Cartridges, Exact Acne Treatment, Spiderman 
Nintendo Cartridges

Next week:  The "Best" of PrimeTime, well, everyone who's still 
working for Vince anyway.  Wonder if we'll see Piper.

I'll be checking out this Saturday show, as well as the "new" All-
American Wrestling, to see if I need to report those as well as the 
new Monday night show.  If it turns out this Monday night show is 
only an hour (and I think that's what they were hinting--it also 
explains a new hour of WWF on USA), I'll probably double my 
reports.  Of course, it could just be more syndicated re-hashings, too.  
I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks.

Happy new year!

Christopher Robin Zimmerman       =I have my Royal Rumble ticket=
  / kzim@watserv.ucr.edu / kzim@ucrmath.ucr.edu / 
zimmerma@ucrengr.ucr.edu /