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Coliseum Video Presents: WWF Invasion '92

by Scrooge McSuck

- Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes host, doing their best Star Trek cosplay and fan fiction wrapped around WWF content. No, I don't know why they had to tag a "92" on there, with this being the one and only Invasion. Usually a title wouldn't get numerical or yearly consideration unless it's an established series, but whatever.

Hulk Hogan vs. Typhoon (w/ Jimmy Hart):

This is a "Fan Favorites" Match, requested by Simon Allan from Hertfordshire, England. Taped on December 2nd, 1991 from Corpus Christi, TX. How hard of a flop was Tugboat? When he turned heel, it wasn't on Hulk like every other friend of Hogan's ever, it was on the f*cking BUSHWHACKERS. There's a "Hulk Still Rules" sign, predating the marketing slogan by a solid 10 years. Lockup and Typhoon with a lazy push sending Hogan into the corner. Hogan returns the favor and poses. He side-steps the charging Natural Disaster and pounds away with right hands. Hogan blatantly rakes the eyes and charges across the ring with a clothesline. He takes a shot at Hart on the apron and continues clobbering Typhoon. Hart picks the ankle, allowing Typhoon to attack from behind. He sends Hogan into the corner and grabs a bear-hug. Hogan fights free but runs into a shoulder tackle. Typhoon with an avalanche for two, and it's time for the Hulk-Up™. Hogan with three right hands, big boot and leg drop for three at 5:52. No slam?! Yeah, this was definitive "lazy dark match" formula. ½*

- Feature Profile on Ric Flair, including footage of the "real" version of what happened at the Royal Rumble where the crowd was 100% behind Hogan's plight of unjustifiably being eliminated from the "Every Man For Himself" Royal Rumble Match.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect):

Taped on November 12th, 1991 from New Haven, CT. There's got to be a cheap finish, because Hart is nowhere near the star power to get a clean victory over Flair at this point. Flair challenging for the Intercontinental Title. I guess so. There's a caption to note this was recorded BEFORE the Royal Rumble. Lockup and Bret takes Flair over with a side headlock. Whip to the ropes and Bret with a shoulder tackle before going back to the headlock. They do a bit of chain wrestling, going back to the canvas with the same result we've seen so far. Flair with a slap and Bret responds with a bigger slap. Flair with the side headlock and shoulder tackle. Bret catches him coming off the ropes with a drop toe hold and teases the Sharpshooter, but Flair gets to the ropes. Alfred gets on Hebner's case for being physical with Flair. Flair uses the hair to take Bret down with a top wrist-lock, but Bret nips up and backs him into the corner. Bret responds by grabbing the hair of Flair and dropping him with a headbutt. Flair comes up with a knee to the midsection and lays into Hart with chops. He takes time to strut and mouth off to a ringside fan before sending Hart into the corner. Bret reverses a whip across the ring and takes Flair over with a back body-drop. Hart with a pair of clotheslines and a series of right hands in the corner. Flair counters with an inverted atomic drop and comes off the ropes with a knee drop for two.

Whip to the corner, with Bret taking his chest-first bump into the turnbuckle. Flair tries to use the ropes for leverage, but he can't keep the Hitman down. Bret fires back with right hands and grabs a headlock. Flair catches him off the ropes with a sleeper, but Bret uses his momentum to ram Flair face-first into the turnbuckle. Bret with the inverted atomic drop and another headlock, this time countered with an atomic knee drop. Flair doesn't waste a moment hooking the Figure-Four, gratuitously using the ropes for leverage. Flair with slaps that do nothing but fire Hart up. He turns the hold over to reverse the pressure but Flair escapes. He remains in control and teases a suplex to the floor, but Bret counters, bringing Flair back into the ring with a suplex of his own. Bret pulls the straps down in response to Flair's chops and throws a series of rights. He backs Flair into the corner with a headbutt and pounds away at the midsection. Whip to the corner and Flair flips out of the ring. Bret rolls him back in and mounts him with a flurry of rights. Flair pops back up and is knocked back down. He begs for mercy, but Bret's response is a back breaker. Sharpshooter is applied, but Flair is pulled to safety by Mr. Perfect. Bret with another back breaker. Perfect hops on the apron to distract Hart from going back to the Sharpshooter. Flair boots him low and tosses him out of the ring. Bret counters a suplex and rolls Flair up for two. They do a series of counters, including a bridge into a back-slide for a near-fall. Bret with a forearm, knocking Flair over the top rope. He follows and back-drops Flair onto the floor. Perfect comes over to cheap shot Bret while Flair climbs in, and we've got a CHEAP Count-Out victory for Flair at 19:19. This was a popular choice for people collecting the best of what Coliseum Video had to offer. It wasn't an out-of-the-norm performance from Flair, but when it came to WWF content, this was lightyears above the usual quality, and it wasn't a common practice to give dark matches at TV tapings 20-minutes. ****

Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect):

Taped on December 2nd from Corpus Christi and featured on the December 16h episode of Prime-Time. As far as the TV product was concerned, they've been teasing problems between Michaels and Marty Jannetty, including Michaels selfishly working a tag match on his own, refusing to tag out. Lockup and a clean break (Woo!). Michaels with a side headlock and shoulder tackle. Flair with the same sequence, then Michaels with a hip toss and a side headlock takeover. Flair forces a break in the corner and unloads with chops. Flair misses a charge and Michaels springboards off the top with a flying sunset flip for two. Flair with a shove and Michaels responds with a slap. They trade chops in the corner, with Michaels escalating things with mounted punches. He brings Flair back in from the apron with a suplex. Whip to the corner and Michaels with a back body-drop. He sends Flair to the corner again, and this time he takes the bump over the top rope. Michaels follows, getting in the face of Perfect. He avoids an ambush and suplexes Flair on the floor before getting Perfect's face again. Back inside, Flair uses the tights to throw Michaels out of the ring. Michaels comes back in with a sunset flip, but Flair blocks and counters with a fist to the forehead. Michaels counters an atomic drop and connects with a dropkick. Perfect trips him up, and Flair drops a knee across the forehead. Whip to the corner and Flair with a boot to the face. He makes a trip to the top rope, only to get slammed down. Michaels with the super-kick. He goes to the top rope and hits the flying fist drop for a near fall. He sends Flair over the top with a clothesline, skins the cat back in, and sets up for a plancha, but Perfect pulls Flair out of the way, causing Michaels to hit nothing but the floor. Good Samaritan Marty Jannetty comes out to help his partner, throwing him back in the ring to avoid being counted-out. Unfortunately, it leads immediately to Flair covering him with his feet on the ropes for three at 10:11. Post-match, Marty and Shawn continue to air their dirty laundry in public. Good, but this match gained a reputation that might not be where it should be. Besides that, what sense does it make to have Ric Flair struggle to defeat ROCKER SHAWN MICHAELS? ***

WWF Tag Team Championship Match:
The Legion of Doom (c) vs. The Beverly Brothers (w/ The Genius):

Taped on December 2nd, from Corpus Christi. Jesus, what did they do, tape the entire night for this one Coliseum Video? This match predates the "Legion of Sissies" and Rocco stuff by several months, so it's a random match instead of a match based around a terrible storyline. Lots of jaw jacking before any action. Animal and Blake start. Blake with a shove and Animal shoves him out of the ring. Blake offers a handshake, but IT'S A TRAP. He boots Animal and grabs a front face-lock, and no, it doesn't go well for him. Lockup into the corner and Blake throws a cheap right hand. Whip and Blake with a powerslam. Animal reverses a second whip, barely clears Blake on a leapfrog, and hits a powerslam of his own. Beau runs in and gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Beau cheap-shots Hawk but is sent out of the ring with a dropkick. Hawk no-sells some stomps and hits Beau with a hangman's neck breaker, followed by a press slam. Whip to the corner and Hawk hits the post on a missed charge. Blake drops him throat-first across the top rope and connects with a leg drop. Beau with a back breaker for two. Beau with a leapfrog and splash across the back. Blake sends Hawk to the corner and they somehow do the spot where they bop heads. Beau comes in and now we get the clothesline double-down. Animal gets the tag and hits Blake with a diving shoulder tackle, followed by a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Blake rakes the eyes and plants Animal with a slam but misses a dive from the second rope. Doomsday Device finishes at 9:00. Perfectly fine, as long as you're OK with the LOD gobbling people up. **

- Manager Cam with the Sensational Sherri. The gimmick here is the match is taped with the manager microphoned, so the focus is less on the in-ring action and more on the ringside shenanigans. Yay.

"El Matador" Tito Santana vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Sensational Sherri):

Come on, we're wasting the gimmick on a match that could be decent? Thanks a lot, Coliseum Video. Taped on January 8th, 1992 from Ft. Myers, FL. Oh wow, we ran out of content from Corpus Christi already? Santana/Dibiase is one of those blink-and-you'll miss it feuds that was quietly introduced and even more quietly forgotten once Dibiase formed Money Inc. with Irwin R. Schyster. Lockup into the ropes and they trade shoves. Sherri refers to Santana as "Taco Bell." How that wasn't edited out, I have no idea. Another lockup and Dibiase with a cheap-shot in the ropes. Sherri calls Dibiase "Teddy Bear" approximately 130 times in this match. Santana follows Dibiase out of the ring and nails him with a series of right hands. Back inside, Santana blocks a boot and sends Dibiase over the top rope with an atomic drop. Santana gives them a double noggin' knocker, and Sherri keeps the gig up while selling it. OK, that's pretty funny, despite the unnecessary assault. Sherri retaliates, tripping Santana up and trash-talking him for messing with her. Dibiase tosses Santana to the floor and slams him face-first into the steps. Sherri comes over with the referee distracted and gets a shot in of her own. Back inside, Dibiase chokes Santana across the rope, with Sherri giving another helping hand. Whip and Dibiase with a clothesline, followed by an elbow drop for two. Santana blocks being sent to the corner and rams Dibiase into the turnbuckle instead. He whips Dibiase across the ring and connects with a clothesline. Santana hits the flying forearm but Dibiase pulls Dibiase's foot out, breaching the ropes. Santana gets in her face and gets nailed from behind by Dibiase. They trade blows and it's a Double Count-Out at 8:08. Post-match, Sherri accidentally whacks Dibiase with her shoe and runs for the hills. Hard to rate the match itself. Some of the antics with Sherri was entertaining, but the constant hollering of "Teddy Bear" got annoying fast.

- Coliseum Video presents The Nasty Boys' Video Store Invasion. Oh, this should be entertaining. The store clerk has been seen in other segments, like the one with Needles, the Tailor to the WWF Superstars. The Nasty Boys aren't happy that there isn't any Nasty Boys videos on the shelves (and for good reason), smashing the poor schlub into the wall and covering him in silly string. They take over control of the store and pelt a guy looking for tapes of ballet with a bunch of WWF tapes. If you think I'm short-changing this segment, that was literally the entire thing.

Big Boss Man vs. Hercules (w/ Slick):

Taped on October 1st, 1991 from Huntington, WV, and featured on the October 21st episode of Prime-Time Wrestling. Lockup, Hercules with a side headlock and shoulder tackle. Boss Man pops back up and cradles Hercules while he poses for a two count. Boss Man with a pair of slams. Hercules tries the same, but Boss Man counters. Whip and they botch something, so Boss Man rolls to the floor to nail Slick, pops back in the ring, and back drops Hercules to the floor. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER. Slick pulls Hercules to safety, leading to Boss Man straddling the ropes. Hercules with an inverted atomic drop for two. Clothesline for two. Boss Man fights into the early 90’s version of ground and pound. Hercules with a thumb to the eye and roundhouse rights. Is it weird I just now remembered Boss Man and Slick's former relationship? Hercules keeps Boss Man up by the belt and continues to pound away. Boss Man mounts the comeback, planting a boot to the face and coming off the ropes with a splash. Whip to the corner and Boss Man meets the elbow. Whip reversed and the Boss Man Slam finishes at 7:36. Match wasn't too bad, to my surprise. *1/2

Million $ Championship Match:
Virgil (c) vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Sensational Sherri):

"Macho Man" Randy Savage is the special referee, so expect shenanigans. Taped on September 10th from Cornwall, Ontario. Virgil avoids a pre-bell ambush and pounds away. Whip to the corner and Virgil with a pair of clotheslines, sending Dibiase to the floor for a breather. Virgil shows off the belt, reminding everyone he hasn't pawned it yet. Back inside, Virgil surprises Dibiase with a sunset flip. He plants Dibiase with a pair of slams, sending him out of the ring again. Did I mention Savage's gear is white and black stripes to fit the referee motif? Virgil rolls Dibiase back in the ring and sends him to the corner. Dibiase gets a boot up on the charge and tosses him out of the ring. Dibiase follows, slamming Virgil into the steps. Mooney calling Virgil blocking the blow entirely is either the greatest or worst thing ever, you decide. Back inside, Virgil pounds away at the midsection but Dibiase cuts him off with a rake of the eyes. Whip to the ropes and Dibiase with a clothesline. Gut-wrench suplex for a "two-count", pulling Virgil off the canvas. Dibiase with a suplex and his signature fist drop, but he pulls Virgil up at two again. Dibiase with a whip and back body-drop for another false near-fall. Savage isn't fond of the tactics, so Dibiase nails him with a right hand and throws him over the top rope! Savage throws the unbiased laws out the window and saves Virgil from the Million Dollar Dream with a double axe-handle from the top rope. Virgil covers and retains at 7:13. Nothing much to this one. If you've seen Dibiase vs. Virgil once, you've seen it all. *1/2

"Macho Man" Randy Savage & "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) & Jake "The Snake" Roberts:

The "Tag Team Match of the Month" (yes, that was a recurring segment on Coliseum Video) taped on December 4th, 1991 from Austin, TX. Mooney with the understatement of the year, saying there's bad blood between Savage and Roberts. Mooney clarifies that Elizabeth's formal name is "Miss Elizabeth Macho." My brain hurts hearing stuff like that. Savage takes a shot at Roberts napping on the apron. Undertaker starts by working Duggan over in the corner. Bearer shakes the urn, making a weird rattling noise. I guess it really is a martini shaker. Whip to the corner and Taker misses a charge. Duggan unloads with huge right hands and clotheslines him over the top rope, with the Undertaker landing on his feet. Duggan tries to club him on the apron, but Taker hangs him across the top rope. Roberts gets a cheap shot in with the referee distracted. Taker back in the ring with a choke across the middle rope. Roberts in and Duggan quickly counters a wrist-lock. Savage tags in, sending Roberts to the corner and clawing at his eyes. Whip to the corner and Savage pops him with an elbow. He goes to the top rope and nails Roberts with a double axe-handle. Taker tags back in and nails Savage while still preoccupied with Roberts outside the ring. Taker with a smother hold in the ropes. Jesus, Earl Hebner is awful at his job. Duggan ends up with the hot tag and takes shots at both men before being cut off for being too aggressive. Roberts hits him with the short-arm clothesline, but Savage saves him from the DDT with a clothesline. Savage grabs a steel chair, smacking everyone with it, and that's obviously a Disqualification at 7:12. Short and inoffensive, felt like a dark match put on at the end of a taping to give the fans a star power filled match. *

Final Thoughts: Coliseum Video was always a crapshoot for quality matches and segments, so you have to weigh the good against the bad. The negatives are obvious: exclusive matches from long T.V. tapings with bad finishes, and recycling matches from television. This tape is guilty of both, though the recycled material from T.V. isn't as outrageous as I've seen on other releases. Second, the goofy segments. I've seen worse, but the Manager-Cam segment, featured on only a handful of titles, is a cheap concept that rips you off from watching the actual match as it is. As far as good qualities, there's a kick-a$$ match between Bret and Flair (with a cheap finish), a good match between Shawn and Flair (recycled from TV), and while most of the matches are unspectacular, they're mostly short and feature match-ups that weren't done to death (I'm looking at you, Hogan vs. Typhoon). With the strength of the top two matches, and a weird enjoyment for the goofy violence in the Nasty Boys segment, this one is worth checking out.

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