Rewriting Summerslam 1992

[LODemolition]

In my "Rewriting Summerslam '91", I stated that the late 80's/very early 90's were my absolute favorite time in all of my 31 years (I'm 36 and have watched since I was 5) as a WWF/E fan. The roster had never been as loaded as it was at this point in time. Yet they still, just as they did at WM8, managed to make some inexcusable booking mistakes in my opinion. You could even argue that 1992 featured the most booking mistakes of any year in the history of the company (my "Rewriting WM8" thread is http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=291003 here). With one of the greatest crowds they'd ever performed in front of (over 80,000) in London's Wembley Stadium - which somehow they've never returned to - WWF had an obligation to deliver a top notch show. While it had its moments, Summerslam '92 unfortunately only resulted in a mediocre event when it could have very easily been the greatest Summerslam of all time. Even with Hogan unavailable, at this point in time the roster was so unbelievably stacked that there was no reason to deliver a card that was nothing short of extraordinary. Here's the card and results of Summerslam '91.

1.(Dark match) Six Man Tag : The Bushwhackers & "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan def. The Nasty Boys & The Mountie

2. ( Dark match) Papa Shango def. "El Matador" Tito Santana

3. Legion of Doom def. Money Inc.

4. Nailz def. Virgil

5. Shawn Michaels vs. Rick Martel ended in a double countout.

6. Tag Team Championship : Natural Disasters (c) def. Beverly Brothers

7. Crush def. Repo Man

8. WWF Championship : Ultimate Warrior def. "Macho Man" Randy Savage* (c) by countout.

9. Tatanka def. The Mountie

10. The Undertaker def. Kamala by disqualification.

11. Intercontinental Championship : "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith def. Bret "Hitman" Hart (c)


*Rewriting Summerslam '92*


1. (Dark match) Eight Man Tag: The Beverly Brothers, The Mountie & The Berzerker def. High Energy, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan & Virgil

Just some slight tweaking to the existing opening dark match. High Energy (Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware) instead of The Bushwhackers, the Beverlies instead of the Nasty Boys, and throw in Virgil and Berzerker to make it an 8 man tag. HUSS!

2. (Dark match) Crush def. Repo Man

Wouldn't change this match, though it pained me to see Demolition break up. Only thing I'd do different is push it up to the preshow.

3. Natural Disasters def. Nasty Boys

I probably would have had Earthquake and Typhoon hold the tag team gold at some point, just not here. Instead I'd put Jimmy Hart's former duo face off against his current one...but not for long. In realiry, Knobs and Saggs made a babyface turn in the fall. Why not do it on a much bigger stage and have Jimmy turn on them after the frustration of another loss boils over, leaving him with only Money Inc to focus on.

4. Nailz def. Big Boss Man

Same match, different result. Seems like they forgot wrestling 101 where the heel always wins their first big ppv match. Boss Man gets payback at Survivor Series in the nightstick match.

5. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels def. "The Model" Rick Martel

An extremely rare heel vs heel matchup here, which I liked. The stipulation that neither man could hit the other in the face was humorous. That's something that maybe The Miz should bring back, with his face being "the moneymaker" after all.

6. Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. (c) def. Legion of Doom

Had no problem with these teams squaring off at SS, however I thought it should have been for the straps as they were the best 2 teams in the company at the time. LOD didn't have much time left in WWF so there wasn't much point in putting the gold on Hawk and Animal. However, I'd still give them them the spotlight as their popularity was undeniable.

7. The Undertaker def. Papa Shango

I might be in the minority, but I always thought they should've given Papa Shango a bigger push. I liked where they were going with his feud with the Warrior, but if memory serves me correctly, that came to an abrupt end. Again, I might be alone in this, but I really liked the Shango character and thought it was the best that Charles Wright had been given (yes including Godfather). It was unique, spooky, and a great gimmick to counter guys like Warrior and Taker. I thought Shango could have definitely made for a solid opponent for Taker at WrestleMania IX instead of Giant Gonzalez.

8. Tatanka def. Kamala by disqualification

Never cared much for Kamala, so I put Taker in a much more interesting feud in my opinion. Kamala and Tatanka would've been a fine substitute, and I'd give them the same finish with interference causing an early bell.

9. Intercontinental Championship : "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith def. Bret "Hitman" Hart (c)

Although Davey Boy was only a transitional champion, dropping the IC Title to Shawn Michaels less than 2 months later, you'd have to be crazy to change anything about this absolute classic of a match The brothers in law put on an amazinr show with Bulldog countering a sunset flip by Bret to capture the gold in front of his home crowd who proceeded to go absolutely nuts. And maybe I'm crazy, but I just wouldn't have it end the show. Because my WWF Championship match wouldn't have had the garbage ending that Warrior and Savage did. Even though it was cool to see the IC Title match main event for the first time in history, I'd have to go the traditional route and put the WWF Title match on last.

10. Razor Ramon def. Ultimate Warrior

So with hindsight being 20/20 as it always is with this rewrite series of mine, it would've made perfect sense to bring Razor in and give him a huge win to start his WWF career and put him over the Warrior, seeing how the WWF universe wouldn't see him again until WrestleMania XII. It wouldn't have to be a clean win for Razor, but a win all the same. Razor had debuted just before SS, but didn't have a spot on the card. Not sure why they didn't make room for him, even if it was a quick squash over a Duggan or Virgil.

11. WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage def. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c)

The WWF Championship match at Summerslam '92 was awful. Not only did it end in countout, which no one ever wants to see, but the whole "Who's corner will Mr.Perfect be in?" angle went absolutely nowhere as well. It came across as just lazy writing to me. I don't know if they had a plan to turn Warrior heel and couldn't pull the trigger or what. I do remember reading that Warrior refused to turn heel in 1992, just not sure if it was this point in time that Vince wanted him to. So what I would have done here is take Flair and Savage's exact WM8 match and simply push it back to Summerslam. It was too gteat of a feud and match to get rid of it, bit the timing of it just needs pused back ever so slightly. In my WM8 rewrite, I of course put Flair against Hogan in the main event, having him retain and carry the title from Royal Rumble to here at SS. Once Savage became champion, he would carry it into WrestleMania IX and pass the torch to Bret Hart. I wouldn't have Savage drop it back to Flair and hot potato it to Bret in the fall. The fact that Flair wasn't on this card just flat out baffles me. At SS91 I could understand, he had just arrived and they wanted to properly build his debut. But here? it's just flat out nonsense that you leave a perfectly healthy (as far as I know) Ric Flair off the card. Not only did he belong on the card, but he belonged in the main event. I thought about a triple threat between Flair, Savage, and Warrior, however with Warrior being on his way out the door and triple threats not existing yet, I opted for Warrior/Razor and Flair/Savage.

And these wouldhave been how I booked the title changes for the entire year of 1992...

WWF Championship: Vacated --> Ric Flair (Royal Rumble) --> Randy Savage (Summerslam )

Intercontinental Championship: Roddy Piper --> Bret Hart --> British Bulldog (Summerslam) --> Shawn Michaels (House show in October)

Tag Team Championship : Legion of Doom --> Money Inc. (Royal Rumble)


Hope you enjoyed my Summerslam '92 rewrite. Feel free to post your rewritten card.

 

[hhhfactor]

I really like your change to your Summer Slam 92 card. I definitely think it would have made it a better card.

The only changes I would add would be having Kamala win over a lesser opponent like Tito Santana in order to build him up for the Undertaker at Survivor Series.

In the main event where you have Macho Man defeating Ric Flair for the championship. I would have Razor Ramon coming down after the match and attacking Macho Man. Have Mr. Perfect try and get involved but accidentally gets a blow from Razor Ramon. This would create confrontation leading up to Macho Man and Mr. Perfect vs. Razor Ramon and Ric Flair at Survivor Series.

 

[rge2010]

Ok I am completely rewriting it. It was a very good event although I think there were too many matches and the booking could’ve been better!!! Hart vs Bulldog was one of my all-time favourite matches but I am still cutting it out of the event for the good of the card.


Dark Match: El Matador vs Rick Martel

A nice way to get the crowd pumped. Classic face vs heel match between two superstars who had a storied history from their Strikeforce days.

Winner: El Matador

Singles Match: Big Boss Man vs Nailz

These two had beef, not sure why Boss Man missed the event but I know he was back at Survivor Series and they had a match there. Well that could’ve been the rematch with Nailz winning here.

Winner: Nailz

Fatal Four Way Tag Team Championship: Natural Disasters (c) vs The Legion Of Doom vs Money Inc vs The Nasty Boys

The four best tag teams in the division at this stage. And I think a fatal four way match would’ve been a great way to involve all four teams in the title picture and to keep building The Natural Disasters up as the dominant force.

Winner: Natural Disasters

Singles Match: Razor Ramon vs Crush

Razor had debuted but was mainly fighting jobbers and lower card guys on Challenge and Superstars. I would have given him his PPV debut here and had him score the big win over fan favourite Crush.

Winner: Razor Ramon

Two on Three Tag Match: Ultimate Warrior & The Undertaker vs Papa Shango & Kamala & Bezerker

On his return Warrior was thrust into the Title picture which was probably a little premature! WWF couldn’t put their trust in Warrior and in hindsight he should have stayed at the mid/main event level before proving his worth. Warrior was still hugely popular so tagging him with Undertaker would have given Undertaker a nice rub who had recently turned face. Warrior and Taker were definitely the ‘odd couple’ and they both had beefs with a group of Shango, Kamala and Bezerker so the story made sense.

Winners: Ultimate Warrior & The Undertaker

Singles Match: Ric Flair vs Mr Perfect

Flair and Perfect were due a falling out and a parting of ways so they could have brought it forward a few months. This could have stemmed into a ‘Team Perfect’ vs ‘Team Flair’ match at Survivor Series and continued all the way through until February 2013 when Flair left the company.

Winner: Ric Flair

WWF Championship: Randy Savage (c) vs Bret Hart

The WWF match that never happened! Ok, I think they wrestled at a few house shows but they never had a rivalry or a TV match which was a same. Bret was primed to win the gold and Savage was primed to be put out to pasture. What a ‘passing of the torch’ this could have been!

Winner: Bret Hart

20 Man Battle Royal: Roddy Piper, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tatanka, Owen Hart, Koko B Ware, The Mountie, Virgil, Repo Man, Skinner, Brooklyn Brawler, Barry Horowitz, Headshrinkers, Beverley Brothers, Bushwhackers.

I think after the excitement of the WWF title match the crowd would need a break before the big main event. Throwing in a fun 20 man battle royal would have being much better than watching Piper play the bagpipes. Have his surprise return here as the last entrant.

Winner: Roddy Piper

Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs British Bulldog

I would still put Bulldog on last because he was the draw and the main man at this event!!! While this match wouldn’t have had the stronger storyline or maybe even appeal, this was certainly a main event worthy match! Have Shawn Michaels pick up the cheap win over Bret Hart prior to this event and the brother in law wants revenge and the story writes itself. Bulldog picks up the win, new WWF Champion Bret and his wife Diana celebrate together. Beautiful.

Winner: British Bulldog

Followed by…….

Survivor Series 1992 (I was devastated when they changed the formula)

Team Boss Man vs Team Nailz: Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Crush, Virgil vs Nailz, Repo Man, The Nasty Boys

Team Perfect vs Team Flair: Mr Perfect, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Tatanka vs Ric Flair, Razor Ramon, Money Inc

Team Warrior vs Team Shango: Ultimate Warrior, Undertaker, Legion Of Doom vs Papa Shango, Kamala, Bezerker, Giant Gonzalez

Team Hart vs Team Michaels: Bret Hart, British Bulldog, High Energy vs Shawn Michaels, Rick Martel, Beverley Brothers

 

[HBKperfect23]

My all time favorite pay per view. The atmosphere was unreal. I wouldnt change a lot from this card. I do like the OPs idea of having Hogan/Flair at WM8 and Savage/Flair at SuSl92. I will disagree about Warrior/Savage tho. I thought the build was great with Flair and Perfect even though neither turned heel. I would be OK having this match stay as is, assuming we can't change mania to Hogan/Flair.

My card:
LOD vs Money Inc for the tag titles. I don't know why the titles weren't in this match.

nailz vs Virgil Nailz was getting his win before his feud with Bossman. Short match. I'm fine with keep it as is.

Michaels vs Martel: this was actually built pretty well. Ditch the stipulation and let these two wrestle. Put Michaels over since he's winning the ic title in a few weeks. I think this match could be pretty good and could have helped. Elevated Shawn if he had a great match. This is also somewhere we could have got Michaels vs Jannetty but I'll leave that off to make it more realistic

Undertaker vs Papa Shango. I too, liked the papa Shango character. I know they were planning on having this feud. Not sure why it never happened

Beverly bros vs Disasters. I'm fine with this. Not sure why they got the titles tho

WWF title: Warrior vs Savage: keep the build, keep the same match but with an ending. savage goes over. Mr perfect comes to ringside. Ric flair does not.

Hogan vs Flair. I know I'm taking a risk putting this here but the two have never had a pay per view match in WWF and this could work. While interjecting himself in the Warrior/Savage storyline, Flair also calls out Hogan post mania, claiming hogan avoided him at mania for his match with Sid. Hogan could do interviews from home claiming to be retired. This would lead to hogan making the save during a Flair and company beating of Warrior/Savage. Hogan then grabs the mic and accepts. This would truly make SuSl 92 "the summerslam you thought you'd never see" ....as it was billed

Repo man vs Crush. Cool down match

IC title: Hart vs the Bulldog. This match needed to go on last. This is what everyone was here to see. IMO this is the greatest match in wrestling history. Leave it as is.

 

[Goldie]

Singles Match: Big Boss Man vs Nailz

These two had beef, not sure why Boss Man missed the event but I know he was back at Survivor Series and they had a match there. Well that could’ve been the rematch with Nailz winning here.

Winner: Nailz

I think Boss Man wasn't there because his wife had just given birth- and having Nailz beat him up with the nightstick allowed Boss Man to be written out of the storylines- until he could come back in the autumn at settle the score at survivor series

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

There's only one change you'd need to make, and that's the WWF Title match being Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior.

This was of course before they ever did Triple Threat matches, but this was the perfect time to do one. Flair still has his quest for the gold, Warrior being Warrior and Savage being fighting champ willing to take on both.

This also lets you do the classic booking of shitcanning Ultimate Warrior out of the ring for the majority of the match so Flair and Savage can go at it.

Have the finish be Flair pinning Warrior for the belt (because fuck him, you're going to fire him in November anyways for steroids), saving you having to switch the title on Prime Time Wrestling of all shows like a month later.

Bret/Bulldog still main events to send the crowd home happy.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

To me (likely as I was 4th row) Summerslam 92 is basically perfect, I wouldn't want to change that much about it... I'd change a bunch of stuff afterwards, notably not getting rid of Davey and promoting his and Bret's feud to the main event of Mania... Bret wins it as happened, Shawn upends Davey but the Bulldog wins the Rumble for the title shot... Now the big belt is in play... Bret gets the win at Mania setting up a rubber match at Summerslam 93... Davey wins it but gets "taken out" by Shawn and Diesel... setting up a whole new programme for the year ahead...

 

[Goldie]

The IC title match should be left alone- the atmosphere and pop for Davey was incredible. I would also leave this match on last.... yes its only the IC title, but to the home crowd, this was the main event.

I would have had a clean finish in the world title match- would have been nice to see Savage get a return win over Warrior after Wrestlemania 7.

LOD going over Money Inc was slightly strange in hindsight, due to LOD leaving the company soon afterwards- in fact Hawk went out on a wild drinking session this very night after the show.

Shawn vs Martel was ok too... Martel was being jobbed out by this point (in PPVs before and after this show he lost to Tatanka)... but it was just before Shawn became a big deal... and having Martel and Shawn fawn over Sherri- and Martel getting a face pop for dousing her in water... the draw worked for what it was.

Boss Man was not around for Summerslam due to his wife giving birth... so building Nailz up here over virgil served its purpose

 

[Just Do It]

I honestly don't think the event needs touching, it was such a lovely one. Perhaps change the gimmick match "no slapping to the face" to a straight up match.

 

[LODemolition]

I just happened to be reading this thread over again and it still bugs me that Ric Flair wasn't on the card. Does anyone have any clue why? Maybe there was an injury I'm unaware of, but he seemed perfectly fine when he was ringside for the main event. This is still one of my favorite events of all-time, but with the roster they had available then, it could've been the greatest hands down. Pretty frustrating in hindsight.

 

[FlairFan2003]

10. Razor Ramon def. Ultimate Warrior

So with hindsight being 20/20 as it always is with this rewrite series of mine, it would've made perfect sense to bring Razor in and give him a huge win to start his WWF career and put him over the Warrior, seeing how the WWF universe wouldn't see him again until WrestleMania XII. It wouldn't have to be a clean win for Razor, but a win all the same. Razor had debuted just before SS, but didn't have a spot on the card. Not sure why they didn't make room for him, even if it was a quick squash over a Duggan or Virgil.



The WWF Championship match at Summerslam '92 was awful. Not only did it end in countout, which no one ever wants to see, but the whole "Who's corner will Mr Perfect be in went nowhere.


Hope you enjoyed my Summerslam '92 rewrite. Feel free to post your rewritten card.

First, Warrior wss not on his way out of the company. In fact, just the opposite, Warrior was being primed for a World Title run.

The entire World Title Match storyline at S.S revolved around Ric Flair (he deserved the title match, his constant weekly taunting of Savage & Warrior, the "Who's corner will we be in" / "serviced up for grab"). Flair thus was heavily involved in the event's promotion and was the main attraction in the championship bout. Bottom line, the way the story was presented, fans watched the title match mainly to see what Flair would do and how he would do it, it was his character's storyline because...

The S.S main event result immediately set up Flair getting the title back literally the next night (due largely to what transpired at S.S) as he basically screwed Warrior twice, costing him the belt at the PPV and swooping in and stealing the title for himself before Warrior could get a re match. This set up the Flair-Warrior feud that dominated the fall and seemed to point to a Warrior title win in the near future.

So the idea Flair wasnt involved in SummerSlam is false, if anything the whole World Title match revolved around him. Second, the idea the "Who's corner will Mr Perfect be in" angle went nowhere is false, it drove interest in the title match & served to set up Flair-Warrior. Third, having Warrior lose outright to someone relatively unknown to the wrestling audience (Razor Ramoan) wouldnt have made sense since he was being positioned to replace Savage as the top fan fave on the roster.

 

[LBGetBack]

First, Warrior wss not on his way out of the company. In fact, just the opposite, Warrior was being primed for a World Title run.

The entire World Title Match storyline at S.S revolved around Ric Flair (he deserved the title match, his constant weekly taunting of Savage & Warrior, the "Who's corner will we be in" / "serviced up for grab"). Flair thus was heavily involved in the event's promotion and was the main attraction in the championship bout. Bottom line, the way the story was presented, fans watched the title match mainly to see what Flair would do and how he would do it, it was his character's storyline because...

The S.S main event result immediately set up Flair getting the title back literally the next night (due largely to what transpired at S.S) as he basically screwed Warrior twice, costing him the belt at the PPV and swooping in and stealing the title for himself before Warrior could get a re match. This set up the Flair-Warrior feud that dominated the fall and seemed to point to a Warrior title win in the near future.

So the idea Flair wasnt involved in SummerSlam is false, if anything the whole World Title match revolved around him. Second, the idea the "Who's corner will Mr Perfect be in" angle went nowhere is false, it drove interest in the title match & served to set up Flair-Warrior. Third, having Warrior lose outright to someone relatively unknown to the wrestling audience (Razor Ramoan) wouldnt have made sense since he was being positioned to replace Savage as the top fan fave on the roster.

Absolutely! Thank you. Some of these posts make it real obvious as to who watched the WWF at the time and who has just watched the PPVs. Last I checked, the Network stopped putting Prime Time up in like 1989 and doesn't have Superstars on there. So if you weren't watching at the time, you can't really catch up on that era on the Network. That was 4-5 months before Raw started. So it's kind of the "lost" era on the Network right now.

I still remember my friend telling me that Savage lost the belt to Flair, but that the Ultimate Warrior was the #1 contender. I didn't believe him initially because I thought they wouldn't have a title match that wasn't on PPV or SNME.

Flair and Perfect softened up Savage to take the title off him.....I'm amazed that someone could post that the "whose corner are they in" angle went nowhere.

 

[LBGetBack]

The IC title match should be left alone- the atmosphere and pop for Davey was incredible. I would also leave this match on last.... yes its only the IC title, but to the home crowd, this was the main event.

I would have had a clean finish in the world title match- would have been nice to see Savage get a return win over Warrior after Wrestlemania 7.

LOD going over Money Inc was slightly strange in hindsight, due to LOD leaving the company soon afterwards- in fact Hawk went out on a wild drinking session this very night after the show.

Shawn vs Martel was ok too... Martel was being jobbed out by this point (in PPVs before and after this show he lost to Tatanka)... but it was just before Shawn became a big deal... and having Martel and Shawn fawn over Sherri- and Martel getting a face pop for dousing her in water... the draw worked for what it was.

Boss Man was not around for Summerslam due to his wife giving birth... so building Nailz up here over virgil served its purpose

Martel was always pushed just hard enough to keep him credible though. He was a good rival for Tatanka to help get him over during his undefeated streak. And I think he and Michaels made the Angle quite enjoyable.

Can't remember what happened to Martel for much of '93, did he leave the company or was he just barely being used? But he got pushed pretty hard in late '93. I remember him beating guys like 1-2-3 Kid, Marty Jannetty, and Owen Hart around that time and they made him look strong to push him for his IC Title match with Razor Ramon. That was really his last good push in WWF.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

There's quite a bit of revisionist history going on here. For one thing, no one knew Bulldog, Hawk and the Warrior were on the way out - all left due to drug related issues. Indeed, the main event of Survivor Series was meant to feature Warrior, and even early posters for the 1993 Royal Rumble had Bulldog and Warrior featuring prominently.

An interesting, which no one has yet posed, is how different would the card have been had it remained in Washington DC, as was already booked? One assumes that the IC title would have stayed as Bret Hart v Shawn Michaels (even at the actual SS92, it was repeatedly mentioned that Shawn was the number 1 contender, an angle I'm sure began at Wrestlemania 8 with Bobby Heenan declaring on commentary that Michaels had challenged the winner of Hart v Piper); given the long-term planning, I think it's safe to assume that Hart would have lost to Michaels, so, in essence, Bulldog was merely a transitional champion all along.

The tag division was a bit of a mess in 1992, due to Hawk's suspension in January. This meant that the likely Money Inc. title change didn't occur at Wrestlemania, but a few weeks earlier; take out the suspension, and you get a match at 'Mania and surely then a rematch here for the titles, with LOD probably regaining the belts.

As for the main event, which in Washington WOULD have been the WWE Title match, I'm simply not sure. If I remember correctly, both Flair and Savage were nursing injuries at the time, which necessitated both losing the belt. I'm starting to think that this match would have been booked exactly the same, I just can't think of a viable alternative.

The rest of the card, as with most ppvs of the era, was just filler so it didn't really matter who faced who

 

[FlairFan2003]

There's quite a bit of revisionist history going on here. For one thing, no one knew Bulldog, Hawk and the Warrior were on the way out - all left due to drug related issues. Indeed, the main event of Survivor Series was meant to feature Warrior, and even early posters for the 1993 Royal Rumble had Bulldog and Warrior featuring prominently.

An interesting, which no one has yet posed, is how different would the card have been had it remained in Washington DC, as was already booked? One assumes that the IC title would have stayed as Bret Hart v Shawn Michaels (even at the actual SS92, it was repeatedly mentioned that Shawn was the number 1 contender, an angle I'm sure began at WrestleMania VIII.

The tag division was a bit of a mess in 1992, due to Hawk's suspension in January. This meant that the likely Money Inc. title change didn't occur at Wrestlemania, but a few weeks earlier; take out the suspension, and you get a match at 'Mania and surely then a rematch here for the titles, with LOD probably regaining the belts.

As for the main event, which in Washington WOULD have been the WWE Title match, I'm simply not sure. If I remember correctly, both Flair and Savage were nursing injuries at the time, which necessitated both losing the belt. I'm starting to think that this match would have been booked exactly the same, I just can't think of a viable alternative.

HBK was getting a huge push pretty much all year, I think getting him the IC Title was probably in the long term planning all along but being in London certainly made sense for Bulldog to get a nice win. Given how HBK continued steadily up the ladder while Bulldog essentially remained a B-Team player enhances that train of thought.

Niether Savage nor Flair were injured in Aug of 92. Savage wanted to drop the belt and get off the road. Flair was picked to regain the title as part of the S-Slam storyline to set up a run vs Ultimate Warrior. Savage went to Germany immediately after the PPV & fulfilled obligations there (putting over Flair, who also wrestled Brett Hart on this tour) then did a brief run of matches on the US house show circuit putting over Scott Hall before taking time off.

Flair feuded on TV & on the house show circuit with Warrior, seemingly headed to a Survivor Series showdown where it looked as if Flair would put over Warrior as champ, classic Vince McMahon, turning to an 80s star like Warrior to keep the company rolling in the absence of Hogan, going with a fan fave champ on too of the card. Flair isnt injured until mid Oct, at which time he asked for time off. The surprise was always Vince giving the title to Brett Hart and basically dropping Warrior altogether.

I always suspected Warrior's lack luster showings hurt him with Vince in 92, his squabbles over pay (allegedly complaining he wanted more money than Flair & Savage earned) and steroid issues (at a time Vince was trying to clean up his house while under investigation from the Feds) pretty much icing his cake. However, unlike the sustained push of HBK, no one could have predicted Flair's injury or Warrior's sudden firing in Aug of 92, exactly why I hate fantasy booking based on events months after the fact.

Flair has addressed the title switch before, saying Vince didnt want to wait for him to return since no one knew how long he'd be out (inner ear injury caused by Warrior screwing up the press slam spot and dropping Flair on his head). Flair stated he told Vince he thought he could get through a match to drop the belt in the ring and Vince OK'd it but according to Flair Vince never mentioned Warrior or asked if he would put over Warrior. Per Flair Vince told him if he thought he could get through a match he would have him lose on that night's TV taping and then take off, telling him he would wrestle Hart. Flair stated in the past he was surprised Warrior wasnt put in that spot but at the same time already injured he was happy he wouldnt be facing Warrior.

According to Hart, he was overseas and just returning to the US when he was ordered to get to Canada for the TV taping. He didnt have an active storyline and wasnt sure if he was being summoned to start a new angle or if he was in trouble with Vince. Per Hart Vince congratulated him, told him he was giving him the title and the chance to top the card, and Hart was surprised.

Hart has stated initially he didnt know the extent of Flair's ear injury and both men have blamed that for a lackluster match (Hart has said before that his matches in Germany vs Flair were some of his best during this period).

Funny thing, right after Hart debuted as champ Warrior basically disappeared, roughly a month later he was brought back when Flair returned ostensibly to finish their storyline along with Hall & Savage but almost immediately he disappeared (beaten up by Flair & Hall on SNME) and was pretty much done.

Given Warrior's numerous issues and unreliable nature, it's a plus for Vince & WWE was probably better off their S-Slam plan to move him into the title didnt come to fruition. On the downside, if Vince was already thinking of changing course by Oct and not giving the belt to UW then Flair's injury denied us a potentially really great run vs Hart to crown him as champ, a real minus for fans.