SummerSlam (1992)
SummerSlam | |||
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World Wrestling Federation | |||
Date | August 29, 1992 (aired August 31, 1992[1][2]) | ||
City | Wembley, England | ||
Venue | Wembley Stadium | ||
Attendance | 78,927[3] | ||
Tagline(s) | The SummerSlam You Thought You'd Never See! | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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SummerSlam chronology | |||
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WWE in Europe chronology | |||
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The 1992 SummerSlam was the fifth annual
The pay-per-view included two main event matches. In the first, The Ultimate Warrior challenged "Macho Man" Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The Ultimate Warrior won the match by countout but did not win the title. In the other main event, "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. The undercard also included The Natural Disasters retaining the WWF Tag Team Championship against the Beverly Brothers and Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel wrestling to a double countout in a match with the stipulation that the wrestlers were banned from hitting each other in the face.
The event had an attendance As of 78,927.[3] WWE themselves claimed a disputed attendance of 80,355, which would make it their seventh-biggest event. Between ticket prices and merchandise sales, the WWF made over $3,650,000 in revenue. Reviews of the event are almost all positive, with the Smith–Hart match rated as the best match in SummerSlam history.
On April 29, 2022, it was announced that a 30th anniversary DVD and Blu-ray would be released for the
Production
Background
SummerSlam 1992 was originally intended to take place at the
Storylines
One of the main events was the
The other main event was a
The following year, the rivalry was rekindled when the Ultimate Warrior, having returned to the WWF at WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992. was granted a shot at the WWF Championship, which Savage had won from Ric Flair earlier that same evening. Flair and his executive consultant Mr. Perfect, were upset that Flair had not been granted a rematch. They decided to cause trouble between Savage and the Warrior. In August, Perfect claimed that he was in negotiations with Savage and Warrior, who both had sought his managerial services, but refused to clarify which wrestler he would support at SummerSlam. At the SummerSlam Spectacular, a show designed to promote the pay-per-view, Savage and the Warrior teamed up to face The Nasty Boys. Perfect and Ric Flair interfered in the match, resulting in a count-out victory for the Nasty Boys and more animosity between Savage and Warrior.[12]
The
Meanwhile, the Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) and the Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly and Blake Beverly) had a rivalry dating back to a match aired on WWF Prime Time Wrestling on July 20, 1992. While Earthquake brawled with Beau and Blake, Typhoon attacked the Beverlys' manager, The Genius.[12] When the Disasters won the WWF Tag Team Championship,[20] their SummerSlam match was transformed into a title match.
The rivalry between Shawn Michaels against Rick Martel centred around Martel's attempts to steal Michaels' manager Sensational Sherri. During one of Michaels' matches televised on August 9, 1992, Martel came to ringside and winked at Sherri, who returned the gesture. At the SummerSlam Spectacular, Sherri came to the ring during one of Martel's matches and winked at him.[12] Both Michaels and Martel were "heel" wrestlers who bragged about their good looks, and Sherri had them agree not to hit each other in the face during their SummerSlam match.[21]
Event
Preliminary matches
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
Commentator | Vince McMahon |
Bobby Heenan | |
Interviewer | Lord Alfred Hayes |
Sean Mooney | |
Gene Okerlund | |
Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
Referee | Mike Chioda |
Danny Davis | |
Earl Hebner | |
Joey Marella |
Before the pay-per-view broadcast began, two matches were taped for later showings on WWF Prime Time Wrestling. These matches were never advertised on US television in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam. The first match saw "Hacksaw"
The actual pay-per-view opened with the
The second match of the broadcast pitted
In the following match, competitors Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel were unable, due to a pre-match stipulation, to hit each other in the face. The two men exchanged holds but were both preoccupied with looking to ringside for approval from Sensational Sherri. Martel gained the advantage by throwing Michaels to the outside of the ring and attacking him there. When the two returned to the ring, they took turns attempting to pin their opponent, pulling down their opponent's wrestling tights to reveal their buttocks each time. Michaels then kicked Martel and tried to pin him, but the referee stopped the three-count because Michaels' feet were on the ropes. Both wrestlers broke the pre-match stipulation by slapping each other in the face. Sherri pretended to faint, which drew the attention of both wrestlers. Michaels and Martel argued over who would carry Sherri backstage, with each man carrying her a few feet before being stopped by his opponent. Both wrestlers were counted out, but they continued to argue. Martel tried to revive Sherri by throwing a bucket of water over her head. Michaels dropped Sherri and chased Martel backstage; upset at being publicly humiliated and then left behind by both men, Sherri screamed and cried as she ran backstage.[23][24]
The tag team championship match came next, which saw the
The following match, which was not broadcast in the United Kingdom,[12] pitted Crush against the Repo Man. Crush used his size advantage to perform a Gorilla press slam on Repo Man. Repo Man performed a back suplex, but Crush showed no sign that the move affected him. Crush continued to dominate the match with such moves as a belly to belly suplex. Repo Man eventually tried to attack Crush by jumping off the top rope, but Crush caught him and performed the Cranium Crunch to win the match by submission.[23][24]
Main event matches
One of the two main event matches came next, as
The next match pitted the Undertaker against Kamala, who was accompanied by his manager, Harvey Wippleman, and his handler, Kim Chee. Kamala attacked before the match but the Undertaker blocked the attack and punched Kamala repeatedly before performing a chop from the top rope on his opponent. The Undertaker attempted the same move again, but Wippleman knocked the Undertaker off the rope. Kamala knocked the Undertaker outside the ring, where the Undertaker attacked Wippleman and Kim Chee. Back inside the ring, the Undertaker gained the advantage by executing a chokeslam and a clothesline. When the Undertaker attempted his signature move, the Tombstone Piledriver, Kim Chee ran into the ring and hit the Undertaker with a pith helmet. As a result, Kamala was disqualified and the Undertaker won the match. Kamala kept on attacking and hit Undertaker with a series of splashes and seemingly left his opponent unconscious. When the Undertaker suddenly sat up and looked directly at the Ugandan Giant, Kamala, Wippleman and Kim Chee panicked and fled ringside with The Undertaker and Paul Bearer slowly walking in pursuit.[23][24]
Next,
The event concluded with the second main event, a contest for the Intercontinental Championship between champion Bret Hart and challenger "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, who was accompanied by the reigning Commonwealth Heavyweight Boxing Champion, London native Lennox Lewis. In the opening minutes, Hart used his technical wrestling abilities and Smith relied on his power advantage. Hart got control of the match with a reverse atomic drop and a Samoan drop. Smith came back with a monkey flip, but Hart regained the advantage with a bulldog and a plancha. Smith eventually recovered and tried to pin Hart with a back slide. Hart escaped the pin attempt and wore Smith down with sleeper holds. Smith gained the advantage, however, and used power moves to control the match, including a running powerslam and a variety of suplexes. Hart managed to place Smith in the Sharpshooter, Hart's signature submission hold. Smith escaped the hold, however, and threw Hart against the ropes. While running back at Smith, Hart attempted a sunset flip. Smith countered the move and pinned Hart to win the Intercontinental Championship. Immediately after the match, Hart refused to shake Smith's hand. He soon changed his mind, however, and hugged Smith as well as Diana Hart, who was celebrating with her husband.[27][23][24][25] Writing in his autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, Hart recalled that prior to the match, he had been unable to contact Smith to prepare for the match as Smith had spent the few weeks before the match smoking crack cocaine with Jim Neidhart.[28]
Reception
According to the WWF, the 80,355 people were in attendance for SummerSlam 1992, which at that time was behind only WrestleMania III in attendance (though has since been surpassed by future events). WrestleMania III was said to have attracted 93,173 crowd.[29] However some observers place the attendance for WrestleMania III closer to 78,000,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36] which makes the crowd for SummerSlam 1992 arguably the biggest verified crowd in WWF history until WrestleMania 29 in 2013.[10]
The event has received positive reviews from a variety of sources. RD Reynolds has called it "a huge success".[37] The atmosphere in the stadium was a big part of the event's success, with Tomás Cunha claiming the fans "elevate[d] everything to the next level".[38] In particular, the Intercontinental Championship match has been called "one of the greatest matches of all time".[39] Pro Wrestling Illustrated named it the Match of the Year in the magazine's year-end issue,[40] and WWE has called the match the greatest moment in SummerSlam history.[27] Bret Hart has also named it as his favorite match of all time.[10]
The WWF collected $2,200,000 in revenue from admissions, up from $445,000 the previous year.[41] The company also sold $1,456,203 in merchandise at SummerSlam, which is the largest amount of merchandise revenue at a WWF event.[10] The buyrate for the event was 1.5, down from 2.7 at SummerSlam 1991 but higher than the 1.3 buyrate at SummerSlam 1993.[41]
SummerSlam 1992 was released on VHS format on September 24, 1992.[42] While the US release only included the eight matches shown on pay-per-view, the UK release included all eleven matches including the three dark matches. On October 3, 2005 in the United Kingdom, the event was released on DVD, packaged together with SummerSlam 1993, as part of the WWE Tagged Classics line.[43] The event was again later released as part of WWE's SummerSlam Anthology boxed DVD set. The anthology was released on August 5, 2008 in North America and was released on October 6, 2008 in the United Kingdom. However, the version that is included with the Anthology is only the 8 match PPV broadcast version.[44][45]
Aftermath
Randy Savage, who continued to
WWF writers had originally planned that the Ultimate Warrior should be the one to accept Mr Perfect's services,[48] turning heel in the process of winning the title and that, as new champion, he would further feud with Savage. After these plans were scrapped due to the Warrior's refusal to turn heel,[49] the two were scheduled to face Flair and Ramon at Survivor Series 1992. However, as the Warrior quit the promotion on November 21, his spot was surprisingly offered to Mr. Perfect, who accepted it in spite of Flair,[12] thereby turning face and initiating a feud with Flair which culminated in Flair leaving the WWF in January 1993.[50]
Shawn Michaels, who had originally been booked to win the Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart at SummerSlam, won the title from Davey Boy Smith on October 27 (the match would air on the November 14, 1992 episode of
The Undertaker continued to feud with Kamala and Harvey Wippleman. The two wrestlers faced each other again at Survivor Series 1992 in a coffin match, which the Undertaker won.[52] Wippleman gained revenge by introducing Giant Gonzalez (and later Mr. Hughes), with whom the Undertaker feuded through 1993.[53][54][55][56]
Upset about the amount of his pay for appearing at SummerSlam, Kevin Wacholz (Nailz) confronted WWF owner Vince McMahon after Survivor Series 1992. According to reports, he legitimately attacked McMahon. As a result, Nailz was fired from the WWF. He briefly appeared in rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the Prisoner but was released after the WWF sued WCW because of The Prisoner's similarity to the Nailz character.[57] The anger between Wacholz and McMahon spilled over into McMahon's 1994 trial, in which McMahon was accused of distributing steroids to wrestlers. Although Wacholz testified against McMahon, his statements, which included, "I hate Vince McMahon's guts" ultimately proved harmful to the prosecution's case.[57]
Results
No. | Results dark match |
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See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1499656343.
- ^ a b c "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling’s Historical Cards: SummerSlam 1992 (London, England, Wembley Stadiu). Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 128.
- ^ Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archivedfrom the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
93,173 (WrestleMania III), 80,676 (WM 29), 80,355 (SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium) and 80,103 (WM 23). The real numbers for those shows were 78,000, 72,000, 78,927 and 74,287.
- ^ Bee, Daniel (29 April 2022). "Breaking: SummerSlam 1992 – 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray/DVD Added to WWE Home Video Schedule!". wrestlingdvdnetwork.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ Russell, Skylar (29 April 2022). "WWE Reveals Clash At The Castle Name For U.K Stadium Event, Ticket On-Sale Date Set". Fightful. Archived from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ Dee, Louie (17 May 2006). "Let the Party Begin". WWE. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
- ^ Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
- Independent.co.uk. Archivedfrom the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- CBSSports. Archivedfrom the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ ISBN 1-58261-817-8.
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- ^ a b c d e f g h "Ring Results: 1992". The History of WWE. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
- ^ "The greatest moments in SummerSlam history". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ RickRomo (8 October 2014). "BRET HART - SUMMERSLAM 1992 AND GETTING OVER IN EUROPE". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ "1989". thehistoryofwwe.com.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 7 February 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
- ^ DiFino, Lennie (27 March 2008). "Retiring on pins and needles". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
- ISBN 1-58261-817-8.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 29 November 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
- ISBN 0-7434-9380-X.
- ^ a b "WWF SummerSlam 1992". Hoffco. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "SummerSlam 1992". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gutschmidt, Adam (19 May 2004). "SummerSlam 1992 Re-Revued". Online Onslaught. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ a b "SummerSlam 1992: Main Event". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Card « WWF SummerSlam 1992 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ a b Dee, Louie (1 September 2007). "Brother, can you spare some gold?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
- ^ "Bret Hart and British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992 – The True Story". Pro Wrestling Stories. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ "WrestleMania III: Facts/Stats". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
- ISBN 1-58261-817-8.
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- ^ Nemer, Paul (27 September 2003). "ASK WV (9/27/03): WM III attendance, Hart/HBK, Sting/4 Horsemen, & More". WrestleView. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ Madigan, TJ (28 November 2006). "Mania draws manic response". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Professor Wrestling: Personal Grudges". KTVU. 5 November 2004. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ Leduc, Paul (8 December 2003). "La WWE a les yeux tournés vers le Québec" (in French). RDS. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ISBN 1-55022-661-4.
- ^ Cunha, Tomás (2022). WWF SummerSlam 1992 Review (A Spectacle For The Ages) – SmarKDown’s Blog. SmarKDown’s Blog – Your Wrestling Website. https://smarkdownsblog.com/wwf-summerslam-1992-review/
- ISBN 1-4165-3257-9.
- ^ "Awards der Pro Wrestling Illustrated: 1992". Genickbruch: Die Wrestlingseite des alten Europa (in German). Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- ^ a b "SummerSlam". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- ASIN 6302260922.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1992 and 1993". Amazon. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
- ^ "Summerslam: The Complete Anthology". Amazon. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1-20: The Complete Anthology". Amazon. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
- ^ "History of the WWF Championship: Ric Flair's second reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ To be The Man, Ric Flair, Pocket Books 2004, pp305-306
- ^ "10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1992 Facts - 3) WWF Wanted Ultimate Warrior to turn heel". 6 July 2017.
- ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
- ^ "WWF Prime Time: November 16, 1992". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 10 June 2003. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
- )
- ^ "Survivor Series 1992". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ "Wrestler Profiles: Giant Gonzales". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ "WrestleMania IX". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ "Wrestler Profiles: Curtis Hughes". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1993". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
- ^ ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 4 July 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1992". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
External links
- Official website
- SummerSlam at IMDb