WWF Prime Time Wrestling 3/29/1992 March To Wrestlemania VIII

WWF Prime Time Wrestling 3/29/1992 March To Wrestlemania VIII

We see clips of Hulk beating The Iron Sheik for the WWF Title.

Vince McMahon is a tuxedo in a black suit with Hulk Hogan photos. He says we are on the eve of what could be Hulk's final match and then we see Hulk vs Andre at Wrestlemania III. I reviewed this here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/wwf-wrestlemania-3-review.html

We get some lines from some fans about Hulk maybe retiring.

We see clips of Hulk posing with Sid at Summerslam 1991 and then see Sid eliminating Hulk at Royal Rumble 1992. We then see the Wrestlemania VIII press conference where Hulk is given the title shot at Wrestlemania VIII against Flair and where Sid flips out. We see Sid's phony apology prior to Saturday Night's Main Event then we see clips of Hulk/Sid vs Taker/Flair where Sid officially turned on Hulk.

We then see clips of Sid destroying The Barber Shop and Virgil.

We then see:

MSG 2/23/1992 - Sid Justice vs Hercules

Sid says he will turn his back and tells Herc to leave and take the easy way out. Herc hits punches on Sid and they go out. Sid boots Herc as he tries to get in and clubs on him. Sid knees Herc in the gut then Sid hits a big powerbomb. Sid then gets the pin.

Thoughts: This was just a quick squash here but at least there was a point to this. 

Shawn Michaels vs "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

Piper is the current Intercontinental champ. Sherri looks under Piper's kilt and laughs. Shawn and Piper shove each other before it starts.

They lock up and roll on the ropes. Piper spits on Shawn. They shove each other and then slap each other. Shawn crossbodies him but Piper rolls it into a pin attempt. Shawn rolls up Piper off a backdrop for 2. Piper catapults Shawn into the buckles for 2.

Sherri gets on the apron. Piper grabs her and kisses her. We then go to break and return. Shawn lariats Piper over the top. Piper's head is banged off the steps. Shawn double axe handles Piper off the apron. Shawn pounds on Piper and bangs his head off the buckles.

Shawn hits punches. Shawn hits boots on Piper's gut then Shawn drops him with a punch for 2. Shawn chinlocks him.  Piper hits shots then Shawn superkicks him. Piper hits Shawn in the face then trades punches with him. Shawn eye pokes him.

Shawn goes into the corner, ends up laying on the top buckle and takes a kicks to the gut. Shawn then ends up getting crotched on the top rope. Piper shakes the ropes up and down and knocks Shawn off of them. Piper kneelifts Shawn. Shawn then pushes Piper into the ref. Shawn lariats Piper.

Sherri gives Shawn her boot and Shawn nails Piper with it. Bret Hart comes down. He throws Piper Sherri's boot. Piper swings and misses, the ref sees it and DQ's Piper. Piper then nails Shawn with the boot and knocks him over the top.

Thoughts: It was a pretty good match here. Piper showed a lot of fire in his brawling and the win definitely helped out Shawn at this point in time.

Piper yells at Bret after and says he got him DQ'd. Piper tells him to stay out of his life and tells him to do something about it if he doesn't like it. 

We see clips of Flair showing off the photos of Flair and Liz.

Ric Flair vs Jim Brunzell

Ric is the WWF champ. We haven't seen Jim for a while. Jim has some nice tye dye gear on.

Jim backs Flair up in the corner and Flair woo's at him. Flair shoulders him over then is hiptossed. Jim slams him and headlock takeovers him.

Flair chops Jim. Flair then punches and stomps him. Flair backdrops him then knee drops him. Flair atomic drops Jim then hits chops in the corner. Jim hits some punches and he back body drops Flair. Jim hits a very high dropkick for 2.

Jim sleepers Ric but is kneebreakered. Flair then figure fours Jim and submits him.

Thoughts: It was short but Jim got some offense in and it wasn't a total squash. Flair got the win here as expected. Jim looked good and I was fine with this one.

Vince McMahon interviews Miss Elizabeth at her home. They have a nice house. Liz says she couldn't speak to them two weeks ago when they were here. Liz says she's angry that the WWF Magazine published "untrue" photos. Liz says she has proof and says Macho Man is sending the negatives to the publisher. She says she can't believe someone like Flair would be taken at face value.

Liz says the photos will show that Randy is next to her in the photos, not Flair. Liz says those are personal photos and she's mad that the magazine published them. Liz says she feels terrible about what happened and says everyone looks at them differently now.

Liz says she feels vulnerable. She says they will be vindicated when the magazine publishes the true photographs and gets to see what the true story is. She says she will always worry someone believes those photos are legit.

Thoughts: This segment almost feels like it was from a different world by 2025 standards where stars are appearing in adult videos and getting naked online. 

Vince McMahon says it's a Mania of firsts with Flair facing Macho for the first time and Sid facing Hulk for the first time. He then says we will see the first and only encounter of Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior. I reviewed that here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/wwf-wrestlemania-vi-review.html

Thoughts: The timing on this one was interesting as Hulk lost and it had The Ultimate Warrior, who hadn't been mentioned or seen since Summerslam 1991 due to being fired.

Vince says Hulk proved he was gracious in defeat at WM6. He asks if Hulk's power is strong enough to beat Sid.

Sid Justice and Harvey Wippleman do a promo. Sid says Hulk was the greatest wrestler that ever was in his day. He says he feels sorry for Hulk as Hulk is facing a fuel injected suicide machine. He says Hulk has fear for him.

We see clips of the Jake/Undertaker feud.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs Jim Powers

Jim armdrags Jake and backs him up by teasing a punch. Jake laughs then Jim side headlocks him. Jake backdrops Jim. Jake throws Jim out. Jake punches Jim down.

Jim hits more punches then Jake short arm clotheslines him. Jake then hits a ddt to win.

Thoughts: It was a short one and it was even. It was a squash though and Jake won as expected.

Heenan says he hopes Jake ddt's Mike McGuirk on an escalator after.

The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) vs Kato and Barry Horowitz

Ty misses a corner shot then Kato eye rakes him and boots him in the gut. Ty blocks Kato's hiptoss then blocks a double hiptoss. Ty then double clotheslines his opponents. Quake hits Kato in the gut. Quake fails to catch Kato when he's supposed to off the 2nd rope but powerslams him anyway. Quake then elbow drops Kato.

Quake boots Barry then backdrops him. Quake hits a running butt drop and gets the pin.

Thoughts: It was all squash as expected here. Kato got a couple shots in but nothing of any substance.  It's still kind of weird to accept The Disasters as faces after being heels for so long.

Vince McMahon interviews Hulk Hogan, who is wearing a black oversized shirt and a red bandana. Hulk says the whole WWF is under pressure with Sid running around says the four demandments could cease to exist if Sid has his way with him. He says he could be on the edge of greatness or disaster.

Hulk says Sid better be all that he says he is when he faces him. Hulk says testing Hulkamania is a test of time. He says Sid will have to beat everyone who believes in positive thoughts and deeds and doesn't think Sid can do it.

Vince asks Sid what Hulkamania means to him. Hulk says it's a standard you have to fight to keep up. He says he becomes better each day by realizing the four demandments. He says the goal is set so high that anything less than 100% dedication is a failure. He says Sid puts everything in jeopardy and it makes him think that Sid doesn't know what he's getting in the ring with. He says Sid is another guy with a big mouth and body who is taking a shortcut to the top. He says when you take a shortcut in the WWF, you run into Hulk.

Vince asks if Mania is Hulk's last match. Hulk says it makes him sweat. Hulk says everyone is asking him about that and Sid Justice. Hulk says he's the only one that can make the decision on whether this is his last match or not. He says he won't know until he comes out of the ring at Wrestlemania VIII. Vince then thanks Hulk for the memories, inspiration and for Hulkamania.

Overall thoughts: It was a very easy episode to get through if you have been watching the shows up to this. There were a lot of recaps and probably 40 minutes spent here on showing classic Hulk matches. The wrestling was a step above the usual Superstars offerings atleast. I liked Shawn/Piper and Flair/Brunzell was okay for what it was. We also got a new Hulk interview here with him at least acknowledging that Mania could be his last match for the first time. We also heard Liz say the photos with Flair were fake. This show could be skipped though because not much new was learned and the matches weren't good enough to be must see. The Hulk interview wasn't that great either. This special was also totally different from prior Prime Time go home shows as they did not put up a special card for this and showed lots of old footage. I wouldn't recommend this one and would just give it a 5 out of 10.