House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[Chili]

24 minutes ago, Loki said:

We never got Flair v Taker on tv or PPV did we?  I can only assume it was awful.

 What a mess the WWF was at this point.  It’s clear they needed Hogan back

Oh this reminded me eventually we did get Taker/Flair, we just had to wait a decade. 

Edit me @The King of Old Schoolfastest finger first there ha. 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Chili

[Jazzy G]

I remember WWF magazine about the Bret/Shango feud with the headline "Hitman Hexed?". 

[Loki]

You know, I meant Flair v Warrior!  That match with Taker was great.

 

[The King of Old School]

Yeah i don't ever recall seeing a Flair/Warrior match.

[wandshogun09]

1 hour ago, The King of Old School said:

Yeah i don't ever recall seeing a Flair/Warrior match.

Description says September 92;

Might put myself through watching it later. I imagine it’s pure arse. Especially as it was probably around the time Flair had his inner ear problem so he’d be even less likely to carry it. 

And it’s obviously a different match to the video above but as much work and effort that clearly went into Warrior’s singlets in 92, I could never get used to him with the vest bit added to his attire. I never picture singlet Warrior when I think of watching wrestling back then. Half surprised they never got another Warrior Hasbro out in the singlet actually, unlike Jim I imagine it would’ve still sold better than most. He wasn’t around long with this look though, I suppose. 

Edited June 29, 2022 by wandshogun09

[gmoney]

No I never liked the singlet either, particularly the one with airbrushed muscles. He was still massive compared to everyone else, so not sure why he bothered. You didn't see Hogan wearing a jacket, even in 93 when he looked like he'd forgotten how to light weights. 

[air_raid]

11 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Half surprised they never got another Warrior Hasbro out in the singlet actually, unlike Jim I imagine it would’ve still sold better than most.

Hasbros took notoriously long to go from concept signed off to production. The first wave, including Macho Man in his trunks with little stars on, didn’t go into production until 1990, by which time Savage had become King, ditched headbands for the crown, and started wearing flashy long tights. The “King” figure that came out in 1991 was thus still out of date, for instance.

The time to sign off on a new Warrior mold would have roughly correlated with the same time the purple trunks one was already on the shelves for the kids to buy, and the wheels already turning for 1993s yellow card set including Nailz - who will be gone long before the toy was available to buy, just as Warrior would be. Warriors gone and taken his singlet with him by the time they start submitting ideas in 93 for the next batch, for which they just about have time to pull the “Beefcake in MegaManiacs attire” repaint, but which will still go on sale in 1994 featuring a conspicuous Giant Gonzalez. Even the cancelled orange set would have seen the ridiculous release of a Bastion Booger figure in 1995.

So yeah, timing wise it was never going to happen. Real life scuppered plenty of Hasbros, hence Dusty being pulled mid production and becoming the rarity he did, Anvil getting a figure being delayed due to cancellation of a Hart Foundation twin pack, and the Tugboat figure never happening at all.

[air_raid]

NOVEMBER 1992

We've hit a real wall here. Attendance is down. Cards are getting cancelled, still. A whole bunch of mid or long term guys have left or will leave ; The Mountie quit, Bulldog and Warrior will get fired this month, the clock has started ticking on Boss Man, Earthquake and Typhoon, and guys like the Nasty Boys and Hacksaw won't be much long after. Worse still, despite being on the books for another two years, this is the last month we’ll ever seen this much of Macho Man again.

THE MAIN EVENTS
Welcome to the first full month of Bret Hart as World Wrestling Federation Champion! He's working Papa Shango, supported by Randy Savage vs Razor Ramon 1st in Cape Girardeau MO and by Ultimate Warrior vs Kamala 5th in San Antonio and 6th in Minneapolis, before going on a run against The Model (in for the departed Mountie) - 8th in Orlando is the last report of Warrior before he's shitcanned so 12th they do two baby cards at the Silver Dollar Fair (Chico) and Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds (Watsonville) in California where support is The Undertaker crushing Nailz - less than 3000 fans combined. They run the same in Sacramento and San Bernardino, and to a meagre 3865 at LA Sports, 3000 in Fresno and 2400 in Oakland. He's back to Shango with Undertaker vs Kamala supporting for a few then 21st in Tampa, 22nd in Charlotte, Razor and Randy are back with him. He beats Papa again at Erie TVs, but the Nutter Center in Dayton (where Bret wins King of the Ring next year) sells out for a taping where Bret pins Ric Flair dark. He's with Flair for the rest of the month post-Survivors, 2400 at the Rosemont tells you all you need to know.

Macho Man vs Razor Ramon is a main event in Wichita 5th, East Lansing 6th, in front of 5500 at Boston Garden on 7th, Portland ME on 8th, at the Palace on 20th, (Big Boss Man v Nailz in a cage under/after) and a Canada loop (Boss Man v Kamala supports). A small show in Cadillac MI on the 19th Razor actually misses so it’s a reprise of Savage vs Ric Flair (Shawn Michaels vs Bob Backlund for the Intercontinental title on last). Lowell after Boston on the 7th actually puts Boss Man and Nailz on last with Savage vs Papa Shango on first ; the delightfully random Razor & Money Inc vs British Bulldog & Natural Disasters somewhere in the middle.

19th they're mad enough to run three locations - with Bret in Pensacola and Randy in Cadillac, Sarnia (Ontario) has Boss Man vs Nailz as top draw and the biggest star power match underneath is Earthquake vs Ted DiBiase. 21st in Richmond with Savage supporting Bret its a Boss Man vs Nailz (cage)/Undertaker vs Kamala double main, 22nd in Augusta they've thrown everything at Charlotte so the best support for Boss Man is a one-off Tatanka vs The Model.

Post Survivors, Undertaker vs Razor Ramon (with Boss Man vs Kamala) main events a couple, then 28th its a New Haven and MSG double shot with Taker vs Nailz. Supported by Boss Man vs Nailz, Money Inc vs Nasty Boys and Bob Backlund vs The Model... Taker actually puts 12,300 in MSG. Compared to some of the gates for the last 8 months, I'm shocked they didn't put the belt on him immediately. Unless New Yorkers have long memories and they were coming to see Backlund. Which actually wouldn't shock me at all.

THE CARDS
8th is also the day the bell tolls for Davey Boy Smith ; he'll make two defences of the Intercontinental title he's already taped losing (but it hasn't aired yet) and he'll pin Papa Shango 7th in Lowell and 8th in front of our friends in Portland ME, then at some point before next reports on 12th, he and Warrior will both lose their jobs with the title switch airing Saturday 14th. Post Smithers, Shawn does two weeks getting counted out or disqualified against Tatanka, a few nights doing the same with Bob Backlund, then post Survivors he's straight into a run of wins (both clean and dirty) over Marty Jannetty. Shango's replacement for Bulldog, before he goes back to Bret, is Backlund. You mostly know who Big Boss Man has been punching his card with but last couple of nights of November he starts doing jobs for Razor Ramon. Tatanka is with Repo Man when he's not with Shawn before Survivors, and with Shango after it. Crush works Berzerker before the PPV and Repo after. El Matador works a few with Brooklyn Brawler, a few with The Model before Martel is moved to Bret, so then Damien Demento covers for him, after Survivors Tito’s back to Skinner. The Model starts a run with Bob Backlund after Survivor Series. Virgil starts his month with Repo Man then moves into a long series of wins over Demento. Max Moon and Lance Cassidy both get rotating wins over Brawler, Skinner and Terry Taylor. Skinner gets a run of wins over young Louie Spicolli on six California shows. The Headshrinkers are full time on the road this month getting plenty of wins over High Energy. The Nasty Boys finally return and start their series with Money Inc for the belts ; that means the Natural Disasters immediately start doing decisive pinfall losses to Samu & Fatu.

VARIATIONS
Crush subs for Undertaker beating Nailz in Ottawa AFTER beating Repo Man because the planned sub misses his flight but it goes to plan in Glens Falls - it’s local hero Hacksaw Duggan who gets the call to fight Nailz while Takers subbing for Warrior. In West Palm, The Genius does his very occasional singles duty, losing to Virgil. That Charlotte show they loaded with three title matches, Savage AND Undertaker? Bam Bam Bigelow gets the call too, beating Virgil. The Mountie being gone sometimes leaves Tatanka without an opponent so he randomly works Blake Beverly. Early month they pad out the tag team scene - the Bushwhackers get a few bookings to lose to the Headshrinkers while Owen and Koko are beating makeshift teams like Barry Horowitz & Skinner or Barry & Bob Bradley. Those weakened cards in on 19th split the tag title match into Earthquake vs Ted DiBiase in Sarnia and Typhoon vs IRS in Cadillac, plus Koko beats Horowitz at the latter and Owen beats Tom Stone on the former. Model vs Virgil, Shawn vs Virgil, Virgil vs Skinner, Crush vs Skinner, Max Moon v Repo, Tito vs Repo, Tito vs Terry Taylor, Cassidy vs Berzerker and the Beverly Brothers beating High Energy 1st in Cape Girardeau are the rest of the rare or one-off meetings.

TVS
There are TVs right before Survivor Series. In Erie, you've got Nailz beating Boss Man in a cage match dark and also taping squashes that won't air because he gets the sack, a few Coliseum matches including the great Shawn vs Marty match which made the excellent 1992 Year In Review tape, plus our old friend Jim Brunzell getting to beat Duane Gill, presumably so people care when he does a job to Money Inc later. Next night in Dayton he gets a dark win in a tryout for the Angel Of Death, who'd also worked house shows as the Black Scorpion for WCW. Also in Erie a couple of interesting oddities for December Prime Time shows, Bam Bam goes over Tito with a well executed finish and Papa Shango and Repo work a double DQ in a rare heel vs heel match. Dayton also has a bunch of Coliseum matches, another Nailz/Boss Man cage match and as well as the Bret/Flair match mentioned above, Yokozuna and Virgil work a dry run for Survivor Series. They also tape TV shenanigans for Doink at the expense of Boss Man, Backlund, Cassidy, Marty and Tatanka.

Here's Bret's defence against Flair from Indianapolis ;

If you fancy it, here's Taker vs Nailz from MSG ;

 

 

[air_raid]

December 1992

Welcome to the end of the most transitional year in the history of the WWF to date. Even in a couple of months we will have gone from planned runs of Bret vs Mountie, Warrior vs Razor, Taker vs Nailz and Bulldog vs Shango to half those men quitting or getting themselves sacked.

THE MAIN EVENTS

Bret Hart vs Ric Flair for the WWF title is still our main event and the Canadian champ puts an uplift to Montreals gate on 4th - 6200 is more than double what Flair drew with Undertaker or Randy Savage earlier in the year, although 2400 at Boston Garden on 5th is poor. They announce a marathon (Iron Man) match for next month. The Cow Palace and LA Sports don't get 9000 combined. They DO draw a decent 9200 to Nassau on 27th however.

Undertaker vs Nailz is the draw 3rd in Fargo/4th in Hershey. They pivot to Undertaker vs Razor Ramon usually with the tag titles supporting for double shots 5th/6th - 5500 at the Spectrum on 5th is up from October but not by much and massively down from earlier in the year. After 6th, they're supporting Bret as is Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty.

Big Boss Man vs Nailz in cage or lumberjack matches is a main event 10th-13th with Boss Man getting some wins back, up to Green Bay TVs on 14th where Nailz confronts Vince about his SummerSlam cheque and gets the sack.

Proper B show 16th in Kankakee IL (huh?) - with Bret vs Flair in Rockford supported by Undertaker, their top matches are Boss Man vs Razor and Shawn vs Marty. Boxing Day in Utica and Rochester plus 27th in London and Toronto its Boss Man/Razor and Taker/Shango. 28th they're mad enough to run three shows without Bret, Fall River MA getting Randy Savage vs Razor, White Plains getting Undertaker vs Papa Shango, and an incomplete report from Niagara Falls doesn't even give us Boss Man's opponent, so the strongest match we know of is Money Inc vs the Nasty Boys.

THE CARDS

To the surprise of likely nobody reading this, Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty for the Intercontinental title happens every night - a wonderful exception being a 27th double shot of Nassau/Worcester where HBK works double count outs with Macho Man when Marty interferes. Undertaker goes from Nailz to Razor Ramon to Papa Shango. Big Boss Man finishes his run with Nailz then does jobs for Razor for the rest of the month. Crush does a couple with Shango, works Berzerker for two weeks then takes the holidays off. Tatanka does a week with Damien Demento, a week of rematches with The Model, then beats Berzerker over Christmas week. Hacksaw Duggan gets a few more bookings this month - he has a little run with Kamala before mid month TVs and then Brooklyn Brawler after them. Bob Backlund works Kamala early, then Shango until TVs, then he’s back with Martel. Virgil kicks off losing to Martel but month end he’s back beating Skinner. El Matador works Berzerker, then Skinner, then Brawler, then does a run of losses(!) to Demento. 

Money Inc exclusively defend the belts against the Nasty Boys with a mix of dirty wins and cheap losses by DQ. Natural Disasters do jobs for the Headshrinkers, High Energy trade wins with the Beverly Brothers. Christmas week, Owen & Koko are back losing to Fatu & Samu and the Bushwhackers are back in, working midget six man tags with Tiger Jackson against Beau, Blake and Little Mickey Moses. Before TVs it’s Lance Cassidy beating Terry Taylor and Max Moon pinning Repo Man, later it’s Cassidy vs Repo and Taylor beating Jim Powers. Before losses to Tito and Virgil, Skinner has a series with Powers.

VARIATIONS
Not dramatic numbers of subs, just specific events or nights. Hacksaw does a few more subs with Nailz when Undertaker is moved to Razor. 

Kankakee is a proper anomaly. Tatanka wrestles Papa Shango, Hacksaw does one with Repo, Yokozuna reprises his squash of Virgil, Jim Powers gets to go over Brawler. Same night in Rockford, Bam Bam Bigelow is in with Tito and it’s Max Moon vs Skinner. There are a few matches that only happen on 28th across three towns ; Hacksaw vs Berzerker, Bam Bam vs Virgil, Iron Mike Sharpe gets a cheque against El Matador, Double Trouble are still getting paid off and beat two jobbers in Fall River where it’s Tiger vs Mickey one on one and Bushwhackers vs Beverlys in a straight tag in White Plains.

TVS
On mid month TVs, you've got Bret pinning Ric Flair again in Green Bay but in Madison he puts Razor down with the Sharpshooter. Shawn works Marty both nights and Money Inc swap wins with the Nasty Boys, one of which makes the WrestleFest 93 tape. Doink beats Virgil dark in Green Bay then later they tape the angle where Crush does a stretcher job for him. Both nights we have the first tapings of squashes for the Steiner Brothers. Wrong time for them, tag division is in free fall.

Here's Shawn and Marty from Boxing Day in Hartford. Its the worst quality upload I've used, but I made the exception because the match is such a great sprint.

 

 

[air_raid]

January 1993

MAIN EVENTS

Bret Hart vs Ric Flair is still our WWF title main event even though we know Flair has asked to be let out of his contract, and will record his exit and be written out of TV before month end. 3600 come to the Palace on New Years Day, a fraction of the 14,000 that will attend SummerSlam. I'd say blame hangovers but if Flair turned up, it's no excuse. 6300 at the Spectrum is up from December (Taker/Shango) and October (Bret/Nailz), and 5800 at Boston Garden for the marathon match might sound low but its more than double what the first match drew last month. Bret wins 3-2 despite interference from Bobby Heenan and a final pin at 59:42. A huge 12,000 come to MSG for the Headlock On Hunger show and Bret defeats Bam Bam Bigelow with the same Victory Roll finish they nearly always did, with loaded support from Mr Perfect vs Ric Flair, Undertaker vs IRS, Macho Man vs Ted DiBiase, Boss Man vs Razor, Shawn Michaels vs Bob Backlund and more. Brets still with Bigelow on a Providence/New Haven double, still with Perfect vs Flair underneath (and Shawn v Savage in Providence), then at Maple Leaf Gardens on 31st its the first Bret Hart vs Yokozuna main event with both Perfect/Flair and Shawn vs Macho Man underneath. 2nd at the Rosemont we have a cross-feud tag of Hitman & Mr Perfect vs the Nature Boy & Razor Ramon.

The second crew is a total mess as the support for Bret keeps changing. On 1st and 2nd the Undertaker vs Papa Shango match becomes a main event but it has support - and how - in Randy Savage vs Yokozuna, and these are invariably pinfall wins for Yoko after Mr Fuji jabs Macho Man with his flagpole. What a team player Savage was. Post TVs Taker is supporting Bret so 6th-8th we have a double main of Mr Perfect vs Razor Ramon (count-out finish) and Big Boss Man vs Yokozuna with Shawn and Marty Jannetty supporting. 8700 at the Meadowlands puts an extra 2000 bodies onto October's attendance with Warrior on top. 10th the IC title is on Bret's cards so in Youngstown then Richfield its Perfect vs Razor and Undertaker vs Yokozuna. 14th/15th the IC title is back with Taker and its Undertaker vs Berzerker and back to Boss Man/Yoko because PERFECT now supports Bret. By 18th in West Palm its back to Taker vs Yoko, Razor is back from an injury working Boss Man. 22nd in Denver its Taker/Berzerker again with Yoko vs Earthquake, 23rd in Reno its Mr Perfect vs Ric Flair atop the same crew. There are TVs after the Rumble but no B show reports.

THE CARDS
Shawn Michaels again wrestles Marty Jannetty nearly every night until the latter gets himself his annual P45, otherwise he does the few matches mentioned with Macho Man and a few with Bob Backlund. Mr Perfect is with Razor Ramon until Brets run with Ric Flair winds down then Hennig is with Flair. Undertakers usual opponent starts off as Papa Shango, planned replacement for the sacked Nailz, but he has to face Berzerker a fair few times when Shango gets hurt, but also does a few mains with Yokozuna. Tatanka splits his month between Damien Demento and the Brooklyn Brawler. Crush takes Skinner early month, then the Brawler, then Repo Man. Big Boss Man is getting all the jobs squeezed out him they can this month, giving the rub to Yoko, to Bam Bam Bigelow, and a handful with Razor. As well as Bret and Boss Man, Bam Bam works a series of wins over Typhoon. In a similar boat to his partner, Earthquake does jobs to Yoko on a few shows and he's done. Bob Backlund beats Berzerker for most of the month when he isn't with Shawn. El Matador is getting welcome wins over Repo Man all month. Terry Taylor is back in the winners' circle ; he's beating Jim Powers every night since Steve "Lance Cassidy" Armstrong has quit. Skinner recovers from his Crush run second half of the month pinning Max Moon every night (what a waste). When Virgil’s booked, he’s usually with Brooklyn Brawler. Kamala tapes babyface squashes (with Reverend Slick) on TV but isnt booked on any house shows.

Money Inc defend the titles against the Nasty Boys every night. The Steiner Brothers, new darlings of the tag division, are squashing The Executioners every night who are Barry Hardy and Duane Gill under masks. The Headshrinkers are still beating High Energy every night. The Bushwhackers are used for TV but not on the roads.

VARIATIONS
Early month there are a couple of one offs from last months program - Lance Cassidy over Skinner before he quits, and Repo Man beat Jim Powers ; Powers also does a few jobs for Skinner. Month end Jim will get to have a few wins over The Predator, who is far less exciting than he sounds - its Horace Boulder in a leopard skin mask. 23rd in Reno Papa Shango is supposed to be with Taker but misses it so ridiculously the Dead Man beats the Beverly Brothers in a handicap match. There's no Flair either so Mr Perfect works Repo Man ; he also wrestles Damien Demento and Doink a couple of times when Razor is briefly injured. Typhoon actually wins some matches, 10th Florida double shot over Repo Man and last two nights of the month against Berzerker. Orlando gets padded out as the roster is piss weak so there's a couple of squashes - Mickey Jay comes in to lose to Skinner in the opener and Frankie Lancaster looks at the lights for Virgil in the piss break match before Bret/Flair. Crush works one offs with Papa Shango and Beau Beverly. Beau also works some singles with Backlund when Berzerker is injured. Shango also works twice with Macho Man on the 10th double shot. The Steiners work the Beverlys at MSG and New Haven at the end of the month, Tito ends up with Skinner. Early month Terrific Terry has to do a couple of jobs for Virgil then late month one for Backlund. The MSG show, while packed, is refreshingly low on one-offs ; apart from Savage/DiBiase and Taker/IRS, the Headshrinkers go over Virgil & Jim Powers. There's a booking that again speaks to where Virg has found his stock fallen to. Also the Steiners go over the Beverlys, as they will evening of the 30th in New Haven - the afternoon in Providence, its Double Trouble. If the "Undertakers/Undertaker" copyright story surrounding them strikes you as funny, you should Google what WWE did to be able to refer to Taker as "The Last Outlaw" for Mania 27 and the poor sod involved.

TVS

4th TVs in Beaumont they get some fun dark matches - Bret vs Yoko, Undertaker vs Razor and Perfect vs Flair all make it to Coliseum and Shawn's taking a walk against Macho Man in a match we WISH had made a tape. There's also Money Inc vs Nastys, Boss Man vs Bam Bam, Hacksaw vs Yoko and everything they taped for TV. Next night in San Antonio, Bret's with Flair and on Coliseum there's Taker vs Yoko, Bam Bam beating Typhoon and HBK vs Bob Backlund. We've got Scott Putski wrestling both nights and Horace vs Louie Spicolli in Beaumont - it really is Nitro circa 1998 isnt it? We get the Yoko v Hacksaw match taped for Superstars where 'Zuna gives him four Banzai Drops and sends him to hospital coughing up blood. Powerful stuff.

Late month TVs in San Jose and Fresno have a few notable stories, not just for Marty being Marty. There's try outs for Predator and for Volcano Kid (a Hawaiian lad doing a Samoan gimmick, not another Sean Waltman moniker) Genichiro Tenryu works squashes for international markets as they expect Tenryu to work Mania IX (potentially against Jerry Lawler). The Narcissist is taping squashes as is Giant Gonzalez going over between 1 and 3 jobbers at a time. They tape Big Boss Man vs Doink which will be Boss Man's last TV appearance with a DQ win with a finish where Doink blinds him with green liquid, plus Earthquake's last TV match for a year, losing by count-out to Bam Bam. They also tape the Tatanka win over Shawn in a non-title match which will factor into the Mania IX build. In Fresno, Bigelow does a rare pinfall loss to Taker that ends up on Unreleased, and there's a dark match where Bret & Owen go over Money Inc non title - they film an angle over this that makes TV where Koko hurts his leg leaving Owen by himself, Money Inc get disqualified for excessive double teaming and Bret makes the save after the bell. No idea if this was meant to go anywhere.

Monday Night Raw of course starts this month and the very first has an interesting dark match before the show proper - Cheetah Kid pins Johnny Rotten ; these two men will become Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge respectively a/k/a The Public Enemy. Of course, this story will run and run, leading to another look in 1995 and a bit of a shit kicking in 1999.

DEPARTURES
Steve Armstrong quits, presumably over either not getting the bookings/payouts he expected, or lack of perceived push. Marty Jannetty gets his walking papers at San Jose TVs, depending on who you believe he was either passed out in the locker room, or Vince fired him face to face after hearing the reason the Rumble match with Shawn didn't live up to expectations was that Marty was hanging out his arse from going out the night before, but he'll tell Marty it was only because it wasn't good enough. Shawn tells us the real reason was that they'd had the match they were having on the house shows every night for weeks, and it was great, then on the day they were given all the Sherri spots to work in, and it was thrown off. I believe him. Marty says Shawn was off his face on somas the night before. I believe him too.

Do you want to watch the Hart/Flair 60 minute match? Of course you do, and you can. Plus more, from Boston Garden.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

On 3/20/2022 at 3:57 PM, air_raid said:

What if there was a PPV every month?

 

On 7/1/2022 at 10:43 AM, air_raid said:

…..the most transitional year in the history of the WWF to date.

JANUARY 1992
Hulk Hogan VS Ric Flair
Randy Savage VS Jake Roberts
Sid Justice VS The Undertaker
(ICT) Bret Hart VS The Mountie!
(TTT) Legion of Doom VS Natural Disasters
Roddy Piper VS Skinner
Big Boss Man VS IRS
El Matador VS Million Dollar Man
British Bulldog VS The Berzerker
Hacksaw Duggan & Sgt Slaughter VS The Nasty Boys
Virgil VS Repo Man
The New Foundation VS The Beverly Brothers
Texas Tornado VS Warlord
Greg Valentine VS Hercules
Superfly VS The Model
Shawn Michaels VS Jim Powers
Chris Chavis VS Kato

FEBRUARY-MARCH
Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper VS Ric Flair & Sid Justice
Randy Savage VS Jake Roberts
The Undertaker VS British Bulldog
Big Boss Man VS IRS
Bret Hart VS The Mountie!
Hacksaw Duggan & Sgt Slaughter VS Natural Disasters
El Matador VS Million Dollar Man
The Bushwhackers VS Nasty Boys
The New Foundation VS The Beverly Brothers
Virgil VS Repo Man
Texas Tornado VS The Model
Superfly VS Shawn Michaels
Tatanka VS Skinner
Chris Walker VS Warlord
Crush VS The Berzerker 
Jim Powers VS Kato

APRIL-MAY
(WWF TITLE) Randy Savage VS Ric Flair
Ultimate Warrior VS Papa Shango
The Undertaker VS The Berzerker 
(ICT) Bret Hart VS Shawn Michaels
(TTT) Money Inc VS Natural Disasters
Hacksaw Duggan VS Repo Man
Legion of Doom VS Beverly Brothers
Sgt Slaughter VS The Mountie!
El Matador VS The Model
Texas Tornado VS Skinner
Tatanka VS Col Mustafa
Crush VS Kato
High Energy VS Nasty Boys
Virgil VS Brooklyn Brawler
Nailz VS Jim Brunzell

JUNE-JULY
(WWF TITLE) Randy Savage VS Ric Flair
Ultimate Warrior VS Papa Shango
The Undertaker VS The Berzerker 
(ICT) Bret Hart VS Shawn Michaels
(TTT) Money Inc VS Natural Disasters
British Bulldog VS Repo Man
Legion of Doom VS Beverly Brothers
Sgt Slaughter VS The Mountie!
Tatanka VS The Model
Texas Tornado VS Kamala
Tatanka VS Col Mustafa
Crush VS Skinner
El Matador VS Kato
High Energy VS Nasty Boys
Virgil VS Nailz

AUGUST
(WWF TITLE) Randy Savage VS Ric Flair
Ultimate Warrior VS Papa Shango
(ICT) Bret Hart VS Kamala
(TTT) Natural Disasters VS Money Inc
The Undertaker VS The Berzerker 
Big Boss Man VS Nailz
Legion of Doom & Paul Ellering VS Beverly Brothers & The Genius
Tatanka VS The Model
Sgt Slaughter VS The Mountie!
High Energy VS Nasty Boys
Crush VS Skinner
El Matador VS Kato
Virgil VS Brooklyn Brawler

SEPTEMBER 
(WWF TITLE) Ric Flair VS The Undertaker
Randy Savage VS Razor Ramon
Ultimate Warrior VS Kamala
(Cage) Big Boss Man VS Nailz
(ICT) British Bulldog VS Repo Man
(TTT) Natural Disasters VS Money Inc
Bret Hart VS Papa Shango
Tatanka VS Shawn Michaels
El Matador VS The Mountie!
High Energy VS Nasty Boys
Virgil VS The Model
Crush & Animal VS The Beverly Brothers

OCTOBER
(WWF TITLE) Ric Flair VS Ultimate Warrior
Randy Savage VS Razor Ramon
(Cage) Big Boss Man VS Nailz
Bret Hart VS Papa Shango
(ICT) British Bulldog VS Shawn Michaels
(TTT) Money Inc VS Natural Disasters
Tatanka VS The Mountie!
Crush VS Repo Man
Virgil VS Skinner
El Matador VS Brooklyn Brawler
High Energy VS Beverly Brothers
Max Moon VS Barry Horowitz 
Jim Powers VS Terry Taylor

NOVEMBER 
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Papa Shango
Randy Savage VS Razor Ramon
The Undertaker VS Nailz
Big Boss Man VS Kamala
(ICT) Shawn Michaels VS Tatanka
(TTT) Money Inc VS Nasty Boys
Crush VS The Berzerker 
El Matador VS The Model
Natural Disasters VS The Headshrinkers 
High Energy VS The Beverly Brothers
Virgil VS Repo Man
Max Moon VS Skinner
Lance Cassidy VS Terry Taylor 

DECEMBER 
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Ric Flair
The Undertaker VS Razor Ramon
(Cage) Big Boss Man VS Nailz
(ICT) Shawn Michaels VS Marty Jannetty 
(TTT) Money Inc VS Nasty Boys
Hacksaw Duggan VS Kamala
Crush VS Papa Shango
Tatanka VS Damien Demento
Natural Disasters VS The Headshrinkers 
El Matador VS The Berzerker 
Bob Backlund VS The Model
High Energy VS The Beverly Brothers
Virgil VS Skinner
Max Moon VS Repo Man
Lance Cassidy VS Terry Taylor

[air_raid]

February 1993

MAIN EVENTS
There's a big tour of the UK and Germany early month. It's Bret Hart vs Ric Flair in most big cities including London and Berlin, but its Bret vs The Model in Bayreuth (Flair goes over Big Boss Man) and Bam Bam Bigelow in Aschaffenburg (Flair does a job for The Undertaker). Back home, Bret works Bam Bam every night. There's only 2700 at the Capital Center. A Canada loop through Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, London and Thunder Bay has the first Bret vs Lex Luger matches when an injury to Razor prompts a shuffle, necessitates a sub and moves Bigelow's assignments ; Luger and Hitman are already slated to be working each other after Mania too.

Randy Savage is doing more jobs for Yokozuna early month including at Boston Garden (just 4000). It's clear Randy isn't drawing like they want, only 1800 in Baltimore. Randy has transport problems to Portland (OR) so they add a show closing battle royal and Yoko is last out to Crush. Wish I could see that one. Mid month we go back to Undertaker with Yoko, 5500 in Chicago isn't great (and that’s with support from a one off Shawn Michaels vs Macho Man) but they crack 10,000 at Nassau Coliseum then they nearly double the attendance at the Palace that Bret vs Flair did last month.

THE CARDS
HBK does one more week of getting counted out against Bob Backlund then moves to getting disqualified against Crush by hitting him with the belt, until his injury. Sherri Martel is booked for those shows as it was meant to be Marty, so she’s in Crush’s corner. Mr Perfect vs Razor Ramon still goes on unless one is missing, when Razor injures his knee Perfect spends the Canada loop with Doink. The Undertaker beats Papa Shango all over Europe before headlining with Yoko. Macho Man is supposed to have a run with Shawn but when Shawn hits the bench the remaining dates with Savage are picked up by old mate Jerry Lawler. Backlund works a short series with Doink then goes back and forth between Shango and Repo Man. Tatanka does a week with Damian Demento, beats Skinner half the month then gets stuck with The Predator because Berzerkers finished up - this will be the last look they have at Horace until June. Crush winds up with Shango late month. El Matador has a long stretch with Predator after swapping wins with Skinner. Big Boss Man still gets a cheque this month, losing to Bam Bam most nights in Europe - this will be his last month wrestling regularly for the WWF.

Money Inc vs Nasty Boys, Steiner Brothers vs Beverly Brothers and High Energy vs Headshrinkers continue almost uninterrupted. The Bushwhackers don't work domestically but lose to Fatu & Samu every night in England and Germany. Virgil has an uncharacteristically great month, one loss shy of perfect in fact - he beats Repo Man near every night in Europe and a few nights domestically, then beats Terry Taylor every night for the rest of the month - far from Terrific for the Rooster. Terry has a run with Jim Powers winning most (but NOT all) of their matches. Jim does a couple of jobs too for Demento then month end Powers is picked up by Skinner. Typhoon is a fairly regular booking still, putting over Doink and picking up a few wins from Taylor until the shuffle for the Canada loop lands him with Bam Bam. The Model is slowing down but he beats Max Moon (in for Marty) in Europe - this is the closest Rick does to a full month until July. Kamala vs Kimchee is a fixture of the cards. There's a decent run of our mate Jim Brunzell going over Predator.

VARIATIONS
Some additional shuffling, as if most programs weren't short-term enough.... Perfect misses Boston, Hershey and Baltimore so Tatanka works Razor instead, the shuffle underneath has Tito with Demento and Jim Powers getting the call to lie down for Skinner. At Nassau Coliseum its meant to be Shawn Michaels vs Boss Man but Shawn's done his shoulder by this point so its an equally unique job for Ray - he puts over The King. Terry Taylor works losers like Duane Gill and Glen Ruth (a/k/a Headbanger Thrasher) when numbers are short on a few shows as well as doing a stray job to Tatanka. Predator gets a couple of lone wins over Louie Spicolli and Frankie Lancaster. Typhoon gets one win over Brooklyn Brawler in Canada before Luger arrives to make up numbers and Fred starts working Bam Bam.

The two nights in Germany where Bret and Flair wrestle men other than each other the whole cards are rearranged. In Bayreuth, Virgil loses to Papa Shango, Undertaker pins Bigelow, for shits and giggles Money Inc work Bushwhackers and the Nasty Boys actually win a match, over the Headshrinkers. In Aschaffenburg its Boss Man vs Shango and a MASSIVE upset for Virgil over The Model (told you he had a good month) and finally, Max Moon and Repo Man swap wins in those towns. For reasons unknown Money Inc don't make it to Manchester so the Beverly Brothers are the ultimate team players, losing to the Nasty Boys then flying straight home to pick back up with the Steiners.

DEPARTURES
As is well documented, the European payday is the end for Ric Flair. He loses to Bret on 10th in Dortmund then heads back down South. Germany are also the last bookings for Paul Diamond/Max Moon - after three reliable years of making others look good as himself, Kato and Max Moon, Pauls contract runs down and they don't pick him back up. A really good hand to just let go, that one. The battle royal taped for Raw on 1st is the last use of The Berzerker.

TVS
Mid month TVs are the usual but very little thats worthy of note except one dark match where Giant Gonzalez beats Tito - a pretty rare example of him actually going over anyone with name value.

[Loki]

Lawler v Savage in 93 must have been a ton of fun!

Raider, how does the early 90s house show regimen compare to modern WWE.  Do they run anywhere like this number of shows still?

Edited July 5, 2022 by Loki

[air_raid]

March 1993

THE MAIN EVENTS
Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow continues through several cities, draws 4000 to Louisville Gardens. 19th in Lakeland we move to Bret & Mr Perfect vs Razor Ramon & Lex Luger - imagine this, only 2400 turn up despite local boy HULK HOGAN & Brutus Beefcake vs Money Inc (non title) on the card as well. The same tag goes to New Haven and Boston Garden (6000) then gets an acceptable 10,400 to MSG but only 5000 to LA Sports.

The Undertaker vs Yokozuna goes on in Memphis and through Canada including just 4800 in Montreal. In Utica on 19th they go on halfway through the card doing their usual DQ then Taker is challenged by Giant Gonzalez for later - which also goes to a DQ. Many houses are disappointing but 9000 in Pittsburgh and 8700 to the Philly Spectrum are among the best crowds of the month.

THE CARDS
Shawn Michaels has a fucked shoulder all month so aside from wrestling Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler 29th and 30th in the USWA, he's off all month. Crush vs Papa Shango is the replacement match, that's after a short run of Doink dry runs. Tatanka works Shango early then Doink for the rest of the month (I bet that was interesting). Mr Perfect works Shango too when Tatanka has a few days off, then works a couple of double-count outs with Lex Luger while Razor is still resting his knee, before the tag main event starts. Bam Bam Bigelow works a series with his would-be Mania opponent, Kamala. Bob Backlund has a mixed bag but more often that not beats Damien Demento. El Matador works with Doink the first week of March then usually goes over Skinner or Terry Taylor thereafter. Typhoon has runs of wins over first Taylor then Repo Man although occasionally makes do with trialists or jobbers.  Otherwise Taylor is pinning Jim Brunzell. Virgil does a lengthy run of jobs for Giant Gonzalez then redeems himself with Repo then somehow month end he’s got Reno Riggins. Meanwhile Macho Man actually picks up the slack with Gonzalez for DQ wins and draws. Koko is back mid month, losing to Skinner. Things are so bare bones Brooklyn Brawler vs Jim Powers gets a run after Powers finishes losing to Demento early month. The difference in star power here to last autumn is stark, as it will be again when things pick up in Q4 of 1993.

The Steiner Brothers crush the Beverly Brothers every night. Mid month there are supposed to be some non-title matches with Money Inc but Ted's injured. Half the roster's injured, it's worse than Graham Taylor's England at the same time. The Nasty Boys are doing wild brawls with the Headshrinkers every night.

VARIATIONS
At MSG Randy Savage works a one off with Doink, who gets around a bit this month. In Hull (Quebec) the Clown does a one off with Kamala then later works a DQ loss to Big Boss Man. Lakeland is really stretched, but interesting. Typhoon works Cuban Terrorist (eep) who would be better known elsewhere as the Cuban Assassin, and our pal Steve Lombardi works twice - midway through the card Bob Backlund goes over Kimchee (imagine seeing that on the program) but he curtain jerks as Brooklyn Brawler getting beaten by a random as hell one off Ray Rougeau. IRS works a fair few singles with Sags or Scott Steiner while Ted is trying to get fit for Mania. Virgil gets a lone win over Skinner before the jobs to Gonzalez begin. Backlund gets the odd win over Shango or Bam Bam (by count-out only, that one. Thankfully). At LA Sports Louie Spicolli does a one-off with Tito. Local hero Rick Martel does jobs for Virgil in Halifax and Tatanka in Montreal. In Peterborough (Ontario) there is a one-off High Energy vs Headshrinkers before Owen suffers a knee injury. At Boston Garden and MSG Tito does two jobs for Jerry Lawler. 

TVS
Raw taping on the 1st has Steiners vs Headshrinkers dark, nothing special there. At Fayetteville TVs they record The March To WrestleMania from which a couple of matches make Coliseum but the only true dark match is Bret defending the belt against the Narcissist by count-out. Next night in North Charleston we've got trials for Todd Champion, Mike Shaw (latterly Bastion Booger) and the Nightstalker who will be in soon as Adam Bomb. Plus you've got Bret Hart vs Bam Bam which made it to Coliseum, a MegaManiacs vs Beverly Brothers match that didn't, and three decent-sounding marquee matches of Undertaker vs Yokozuna, Mr Perfect vs Lex Luger and Crush vs Doink - NONE of which have a finish. Next night in Augusta we have more tryouts for Clark and Shaw, plus Crush/Doink again, Bret vs Yoko and Taker vs Giant Gonzalez - none of THEM have a finish either, the Coliseum match where Hogan & Beefcake cheat the Beverlys and the infamous test drive of The Toxic Turtles, a flagrant attempt to cash in on the popularity of TMNT. Hilariously this will be misreported in several sheets (including my first purchase of Superstars Of Wrestling mag) as the "Boxing Turtles." 15th Raw in Poughkeepsie had no dark matches apparently, which if true is criminal. On 22nd they're REALLY treated with Tatanka vs Bam Bam, Backlund beating Doink by DQ, and Giant Gonzalez actually going over Kamala. This is where they start taping Raw in blocks, as a note of historical interest. Also of note, 1st March Raw is the first use of PJ Walker a/k/a Aldo Montoya/Justin Credible, getting squashed by the Narcissist.

DEPARTURES
Skinner going over Koko in Los Angeles is the last booking for both for now (although Keirn will get a few more booking as alternate or additional Doink and Koko will be back), and Repo Man does his final job for Typhoon on the same night. On 22nd Raw taping they squeeze the last job out of JIM BRUNZELL, to Demento, airing on 5th April Raw,

Here's Macho Man vs Doink from MSG ;

And here you've got Bret and Perfect vs Luger & Razor

FUCK IT! Here's the Toxic Turtles ;

 

 

On 7/5/2022 at 12:00 PM, Loki said:

Raider, how does the early 90s house show regimen compare to modern WWE.  Do they run anywhere like this number of shows still?

Hard to say without reliable data as thehistoryofwwe which is my primary source hasn't been updated regularly for a good few years or at all since 2019. Now this MAY be just that not every show has people sending in reports, but a quick glance at cagematch shows that in the last quarter of 2021, there were about 30 house shows worth of results tendered, about a third of what they ran even in the bleakest times of 1995 where it was still a show every night. And checking WWE.com for tickets, on the 26 days of July left, there are 10 live events listed that aren't TV, not including NXT. Which tallies.

Edited July 8, 2022 by air_raid

[The Dart]

They do 4 house shows a week on average these days, with the occasional exception - PPV weekends: less, international tours: more.   NXT are doing 2 a week most weeks now.