I was 8 years old for this show and remember attending, but don't remember any of the matches aside from the main event...
After running down the card, High Energy (Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware) take on The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu). An unremarkable, but everyone in the ring is competent and the match does what it is intended to do - even if it takes way too long to get there. The "heat" segment runs too long as Koko B. Ware gets destroyed for such a lengthy stretch that the crowd loses all interest in the match. Owen's hot tag wakes them up a bit, but its not long before he gets cut off too. The Headshrinkers get the clean win, which draws boos from the crowd, but High Energy were always a second-tier team and the 'Shrinkers would go on to get a run with the titles. (1.5/5)
Backstage, Sean Mooney interviews Nailz. This promo is absolutely insane. (+1)
"Mean" Gene gets some words from Big Bossman and its go-time for the Nightstick Match. The minute Nailz gets in the ring, Bossman sprints out of the backstage area and slides into the ring. Nailz immediately takes control, though, trying to choke the Bossman. Nailz isn't the worst worker I've ever seen, but he's definitely not good either - his selling comical, his moveset very limited, his bumping noticeably awkward (especially compared to Bossman, who was surprisingly agile for his size). Bossman eventually grabs the nightstick and uses it on Nailz, but Nailz gets a hold of it and regains control of the match. Bossman withstands some punishment but dodges a nightstick shot and catches Nailz with a big right hand. He hits the Bossman Slam and gets the W. Weak match and I'm not even sure the right man won considering Nailz lost a lot of credibility with this loss. (1/5)
Before we get a promo out of Ric Flair, we get a recap of the angle that saw Mr. Perfect decide to make his comeback on this show to team up with Randy Savage. Originally, Savage's partner was The Ultimate Warrior, but he left the company a few weeks before prior and they had to rebook their main event.
"The Model" Rick Martel makes his way down the aisle for his match against Tatanka (whose feathers he had stolen). Tatanka came into this match undefeated (a streak that would continue for quite awhile to come), while Martel had become a mainstay of the lower midcard - a position he'd stay in for the next year or two. This isn't a great match, but its a step up from what came before it. Martel is a smart, balanced worker that could really do it all in the ring, while Tatanka was serviceable. This match goes about 2-3 minutes too long and the finish wasn't really in doubt - even in 92' - as Tatanka was the one getting the push and The Model hadn't won a significant match in a long time. (2/5)
Backstage, Mr. Perfect and "The Macho Man" cut a promo and then, before you know it, its main event time? Ric Flair and Razor Ramon come down the aisle first. This would be Flair's second last WWE PPV appearance for close to a decade as he would leave the company in January (after appearing in the 93' Royal Rumble). Perfect and Ramon start things off, Hennig looking as quick and impressive as ever. Flair comes in and eats some right hands before getting back body dropped and then dropped again with a dropkick. Its hard to imagine how they would've worked this match with Warrior rather than Perfect as Curt's personal issues with Flair really drives the story of the match. Savage comes in and after a flurry of offense, he ends up on the receiving end of some punishment. Savage is one of the all-time great sellers to me - the grimaces of pain, the exhaustion, the way he slouches in the corner. While it may not be ultra-realistic, Savage just has that "X factor" to make it feel genuine and to bring the audience up and down with him on every hope spot and cut-off. With Savage locked in a half-crab, Mr. Perfect begins walking down the aisle, seemingly "quitting" the match. This would've been a better wrinkle in the story if it had been done for some clear reason - like a miscommunication or Savage continuously being cut-off from making the tag (which would lead to Perfect almost quitting out of frustration). Instead, Perfect's half-retreat comes out of nowhere and doesn't add anything to the drama. When Hennig does make his way back to the apron, Savage continues to just get beaten down; Perfect's involvement or non-involvement has no bearing on anything. Flair comes in and hits Savage with some punches and a clothesline in the corner, breaking up his offense with showboating and Woos. Flair, as per usual, inexplicably goes to the top rope, but Savage catches him with a press slam back into the center of the ring. It may be predictable, but that spot never fails to elicit a reaction. Savage makes the tag and the crowd pops as Hennig takes out Ramon with everything he's got. The fight spills out of the ring and Flair knocks Savage with a weak-looking chair shot. It looks like Perfect will be in some serious trouble as things are now 2-on-1, but Perfect holds his own. Perfect inadvertently hits the ref as Ramon (barely) gets Hennig up for a Razor's Edge. Perfect counters it, though, and hits the Perfect Plex for the visible pin - but there's no ref! The new ref shows up, but Flair breaks up the pin - this is total bedlam. Perfect hits another Perfect-Plex on Flair and gets another visible win, but as the referees lose control of the contest, they call for the bell. I liked the finish of this match more than the "meat" of it. It really does feel like things have devolved into such chaos that the match needs to be called off, but we still get to see the heels get beaten down and chased out of the ring by the babyfaces. I'm not sure I totally understand the babyfaces getting the DQ win - if anything it should be a double DQ - but whatever. Not a "must see" match and there were any number of ways they could've teased Mr. Perfect betraying Savage that would've been better than this, but still an above-average contest due to the talents of the performers involved. (3/5)
After some final words from the heels, we're back in the ring to witness the arrival of Yokozuna, who had only recently debuted in the company. His opponent on this night was Virgil, who looks super pissed off - maybe because he knew he was about to get squashed? In a line that Vince should probably wish he could take back, he references Virgil's entrance as "shucking and jiving." Not a great choice of words there. Virgil tries to bring the fight to Yoko, but the big man can not be taken down so easy, able to withstand a number of dropkicks. Yoko catches Virgil with a thrust kick and then a Rock Bottom/Chokeslam-esque maneuver that gets a big reaction. Yokozuna isn't the most fascinating worker to watch, but he's very good at the limited number of things he does - the exaggerated teeter-tottering, the cut-offs, the impressive power moves, even the surprising 0-to-60 speed. And, in front of this crowd, he gets sizable reactions for everything he does. In 93', Yoko really did seem like a monster - even if, over the years, he would lose that aura. Not a bad squash at all. (2.5/5)
The action continues with The Beverly Brothers teaming up with reigning WWE Tag Team Champions Money Inc. to take on the foursome of The Nasty Boys and The Natural Disasters. What's interesting about this match is that we've got four teams who spent most (like 90%) of their careers working as heels. By this point, The Nasties and the Disasters were full-fledged babyfaces, though, and got a more-than-decent response from the crowd. Blake Beverly (aka Mike Enos) starts things off against Typhoon and its not long before both Beverlys end up sandwiched in the corner. Knobbs comes in and goes after Blake, egging Money Inc. on. Like in the opener, what keeps this match decent is that just about everyone involved is competent and that even the least skilled (Typhoon?) and most boring (IRS) are only in the ring for a few minutes at the time. This is a match designed to "cool down" the crowd before the next two bouts and it meets that purpose - though I do think it would've been just as efficient with some minutes shaved off. The Beverlys' elimination gets a huge pop and is well-executed, but its always a little weird when the heels end up as the "underdogs" in a Survivors match. Eventually the heels take over, Earthquake playing the face-in-peril (and doing it quite well considering it was a role he rarely played). Typhoon gets the hot tag and almost gets the win with a splash on IRS. The Nasty Boys chase him off, but this allows for some chicanery from the heels and the Disasters are eliminated. As IRS celebrates, though, one of the Nasties comes in and schoolboys him for a 3 count to end the match. A few minutes too long, but I liked the speedy finish when it eventually got there. (2/5)
A video recap helps explain the reasoning behind our next match as Kamala and Undertaker had been feuding for quite awhile up to this point, leading to this show's Casket Match (dubbed a "coffin" match on this show). This includes a portion (maybe the whole thing?) of the Undertaker and Paul Bearer building Kamala's mammoth-sized coffin. Kamala tries to run from the very beginning, but can't escape the clutches of the Deadman, who connects with an Old School (before it was called that). When the fight spills to the floor, Kamala connects with some chops, some thrust chops to the neck, and a couple smashes into the steel steps. At one point, he even clobbers him with a fairly stiff chair shot, the Ugandan Giant standing up to the Phenom. Kamala hits him with a trio of bodyslams, but Taker sits up from each one except the last. Kamala strikes him with a number of splashes as Bearer tries to revive the Deadman with the power of the urn. Kamala, terrified of the urn, refuses to use it to his advantage, though, and ends up struck with it (and subsequently pinned). I'm not sure why the Undertaker had to pin Kamala first, but the bell is rung and Taker then closes up the coffin to officially end the match. This almost seems like a situation where Vince didn't have much confidence in Kamala and Taker actually having a back-and-forth match, but their brawling is way better than expected and this match had potential to actually be pretty good if they had been allowed to go full force against eachother and almost have a southern-style brawl around ringside (with some extra drama added by some false finishes). Instead, this one is over before it ever really gets going - which is probably better than if it had gone on too long. (2/5)
Main event time - the Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels challenging the WWE World Champion, Bret Hart. One of the things I remember most from attending this show is that Shawn Michaels' entrance music played at 3 times. That makes sense because, after Shawn comes out, we get a lengthy Bret Hart promo. At this point, Shawn was not super established, but Bret really wasn't either - his sole main event match being his SummerSlam bout against Davey Boy Smith some months earlier (in the Bulldog's home country). Bret and Shawn start off with some mat wrestling as Heenan runs the Hitman down on commentary, still upset that Bret defeated Ric Flair for the gold. Bret works the arm and, within 3 minutes, we've now seen more actual wrestling than maybe the rest of the show combined. Bret and Shawn's chemistry is apparent here, but what's really fun about this match is that it is a wonderful blend of old school storytelling (Bret's laser focus on working Shawn's arm, the way they separate the big spots with side and front headlocks) and a much more rapid pace than the WWE had offered in their main event than they had previously. With that quicker pace, the bigger spots look all the more devastating, the shifts in momentum way more exciting. Still, compared to the Undertaker match or the star-studded tag match, the crowd's reaction is generally mild. These two just didn't have the "star power" to main event yet - but its clear from the action that their work will get them there, that they couldn't be held down for long. There are segments of the match that run a bit long - especially compared to what fans might be used to today - but almost feels like Bret and Shawn re-training the audience for a different type of match, one rooted in realism and wearing down your opponent rather than cartoonish brawling or gimmicky signature spots. Again, at times, the abundance of "rest holds" (even if they are well-executed) drags the match, but every time they actually punch the gas a bit, the action is great and the crowd pops. Bret may have eventually found Shawn's bumping style to be showboaty, but it absolutely works here. Bret goes into his finishing sequence, but Shawn stays alive, kicking out of a superplex and eventually retaking control of the match with a bodyslam outside the ring. Shawn gets frustrated and starts jawing with the ref, but Bret rolls him up for 2. Shawn hits a superkick - which wasn't his finisher yet - but doesn't make the cover in time to capitalize. From here, Shawn and Bret just nail the last few minutes of the match, everything clicking. Had they taken some of the "filler" of this match out, this would probably be more fondly remembered, but as it is, it is still a very good match (though not a great or "must see" match). (3/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.25-out-of-5, Survivor Series 92' isn't too good of a show, but its not unwatchable. There are moments that are actually pretty fun - the Coffin Match exceeds expectations, the main event is an interesting watch, and the Perfect/Savage vs. Flair/Ramon match is above-average thanks to its star power and the crowd's enthusiasm. Plus, that Nailz promo is really great. Aside from that, though, its not surprising that the company was about to enter a years-long rough patch right around this time as there's very little else to rave about on this show.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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