The 1992 Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the sixth annual Survivor Series and took place on Thanksgiving Eve in the United States on Wednesday, November 25, 1992, at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Ohio, which was the third time a Survivor Series was held there after the 1987 and 1988 events. The event was highlighted by the titular Survivor Series match, a tag team elimination match that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other.
In the final match on the card, Bret Hart retained his WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels. The card also included a highly promoted match in which the team of Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect defeated the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon by disqualification; Ultimate Warrior was advertised for the show but left the company and was replaced by Perfect. Also featured were two speciality matches: The Undertaker won a coffin match against Kamala, and The Big Boss Man defeated Nailz in a nightstick on a pole match. Unlike the prior five events, in which the card was entirely or almost entirely Survivor Series matches, only one Survivor Series match was held at the 1992 event where The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) and The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags and Brian Knobbs) defeated Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) and The Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake).
Some of the matches were changed after they were first announced, as several wrestlers left the WWF shortly before the event. The WWF Championship match and the main event tag team match won by Savage and Perfect both garnered praise.
Production Background Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987, held around Thanksgiving in the United States. In what has become the second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, referred to as the "Big Four".Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The was the first event in which the card was not dominated by Survivor Series matches; only one such match was scheduled to occur at the 1992 event. Like the prior year, the sixth Survivor Series was scheduled to be held on Thanksgiving Eve on Wednesday, November 25, 1992, at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Ohio. It was the third Survivor Series at the venue, after the 1987 and 1988 events.
Storylines In the storyline behind the match between The Big Boss Man and Nailz, Nailz claimed that while he was serving time in prison, the Big Boss Man, who was a guard at the prison, mistreated Nailz. In early 1992, Nailz appeared in introductory vignettes to talk about his hatred of the Big Boss Man. Upon his debut in the WWF, Nailz attacked Bossman and stole his nightstick, which he used to attack his opponents over the following months.
Shortly after Tatanka's debut in the WWF, he became involved in a feud with Rick Martel. They faced each other at WrestleMania VIII, and Tatanka defeated Martel. The following month, Martel gained revenge by attacking Tatanka with an atomizer of cologne and stealing the eagle feathers that Tatanka carried to symbolize his Lumbee heritage.
Ric Flair and his "executive consultant" Mr. Perfect had been allies in the WWF for much of 1992. After Flair lost the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to Macho Man Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII, Flair and Perfect continued their feud with Savage. They interfered in Savage's match at SummerSlam and caused him to lose by countout. The rivalry continued, and Flair received assistance from Perfect and Razor Ramon to win the title back from Savage on September 1, which aired on the September 14 edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling. The WWF planned for Savage to team with Ultimate Warrior in a match against Flair and Ramon at Survivor Series, but Bobby Heenan announced at the end of Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI that he had been informed either Savage or Warrior was going to have a new tag team partner. Ultimate Warrior left the WWF before the match could take place. Two possible reasons have been given for his departure. The first states that he was fired due to allegations of steroid abuse,The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. while the other states that he was upset with the WWF's future plans for his character. The WWF was forced to change the plan and decided to turn Perfect into a babyface (fan favorite) from a heel. To help facilitate the face turn, Perfect and Flair began having conflicts while teaming together, and eventually Perfect accepted Savage's offer on the November 16 episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling to team with him at Survivor Series.
Money Inc. ("Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) had been feuding with The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) since February 1992 when manager Jimmy Hart turned on Earthquake and Typhoon in favor of helping Money, Inc. With Hart's assistance, Money, Inc. defeated the Legion of Doom for the WWF Tag Team Championship on February 7, 1992. Five months later, Earthquake and Typhoon defeated Money Inc. to win the championship. The Natural Disasters were also feuding with The Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly and Blake Beverly) and defeated them in a title match at SummerSlam 1992. A match was then announced for Survivor Series in which The Natural Disasters would team with The Bushwhackers (Bushwhacker Luke and Bushwhacker Butch) to face Money, Inc. and the Beverly Brothers. However, when The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags), also managed by Hart, were scheduled to face The Natural Disasters for the title on October 13, Hart replaced The Nasty Boys at the last minute with Money, Inc., who went on to regain the championship with help from The Headshrinkers. This led to a break-up between Hart and the Nasty Boys, who received the Bushwhackers' spot in the Survivor Series match to get revenge against Jimmy Hart and Money, Inc.
At SummerSlam 1992 in August, The Undertaker defeated Kamala. Harvey Wippleman, Kamala's manager wanted revenge, so a rematch was scheduled for Survivor Series. The match was promoted as the WWF's first coffin match, in which the winner would place the loser in a coffin after the match.
The WWF also planned a match featuring The British Bulldog defending the WWF Intercontinental Championship against The Mountie at Survivor Series. The WWF released Smith due to steroid allegations, however, and he was made to drop the title belt to Shawn Michaels on the November 14 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI. Ultimately, the WWF neglected to include an Intercontinental Championship match on the card as Michaels was already scheduled to challenge Bret Hart for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series. In this match, Hart's title was defended while Michaels' title was not.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorVince McMahonBobby HeenanInterviewersGene OkerlundSean MooneyLord Alfred HayesRing announcerHoward FinkelRefereeMike ChiodaDanny DavisEarl HebnerJoey Marella Prior to the pay-per-view broadcast, Crush defeated the Repo Man via submission.
In the first televised match, High Energy (Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware) faced The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). Samu used his strength advantage to control the opening of the match against Hart. Ware entered the match and gained the advantage over both opponents until he attempted to knock The Headshrinkers' heads against each other. According to WWF storylines, Samoans like The Headshrinkers have thick skulls and cannot be hurt in the head; as a result, The Headshrinkers no-sold the attack. Afa, The Headshrinkers' manager, attacked Ware while the referee was distracted. Samu and Fatu took turns attacking Ware, and Fatu performed a thrust kick on Ware. The Headshrinkers used rulebreaking tactics to control the match until Hart was able to enter the match. He performed dropkicks from the top rope against both Headshrinkers. As he tried to attack Samu from the top rope again, Samu caught him and powerslammed him before Fatu executed a diving splash to get the pinfall victory.
The next match, between The Big Boss Man and Nailz, was a nightstick on a pole match. A nightstick was suspended above the ring and could be used as a weapon once it was retrieved. Nailz began the match by attempting to get the nightstick, but Boss Man stopped him. Nailz choked Boss Man before making another unsuccessful attempt to climb the pole and obtain the nightstick. Boss Man punched Nailz and then tried to climb the pole. Nailz stopped him, performed a back body drop, and choked Boss Man again. Boss Man regained control but missed a splash, which gave Nailz another chance to retrieve the nightstick. Both men clotheslined each other, but Boss Man recovered first and got the nightstick. He hit Nailz with it, but Nailz took it and used it against Boss Man. Boss Man performed the Boss Man slam, his finishing move, before pinning Nailz to win the match.
Tatanka controlled the opening of the next match against "The Model" Rick Martel with several throws and dropkicks. Martel responded by wearing Tatanka down with a front facelock. Tatanka escaped, but Martel used another front facelock almost immediately. He performed a neckbreaker on Tatanka before going back to the same hold as before. Tatanka gained the advantage by performing a clothesline on Martel. Martel ran at Tatanka, but Tatanka moved out of the way and Martel hit his shoulder against the ring post. Tatanka focused on attacking Martel's injured shoulder but eventually was thrown out of the ring by Martel. Martel's advantage was short-lived, as Tatanka performed a series of backhand chops and a Tomahawk chop from the top rope before nailing The Model with a Samoan drop. Tatanka got the pinfall victory and retrieved his feathers from Martel after the match. While the match was in progress, a clown stood in the aisle and made balloon animals before popping them to upset the children in the audience.
In the next contest, promoted beforehand as the main event of the evening, Ric Flair and Razor Ramon wrestled against Mr. Perfect and Randy Savage. Ramon and Perfect began the match, but Flair entered after Perfect insulted him. Perfect threw Flair into the corner, and Flair's momentum carried him over the top rope to the ring apron. Savage attacked Flair and then took Perfect's place in the ring to maintain the advantage over Flair. From outside the ring, Ramon hit Savage with his knee and Flair and Ramon took turns attacking Savage's knee. While Ramon performed a half Boston crab on Savage, Perfect considered leaving the match and abandoning Savage. Savage recovered briefly by trying to pin Flair, but Ramon performed a chokeslam on Savage. Ric Flair attempted to attack Savage from the top rope, but Savage threw him to the ring floor instead. Perfect executed a neckbreaker and an atomic drop on Ramon. Outside of the ring, Flair attacked Savage with a chair. The referee was knocked unconscious, and Perfect tried to pin Ramon by performing a PerfectPlex. Because no referee was available to count the pinfall, a substitute referee came to the ring. The first referee recovered as Perfect attempted to pin Flair with a PerfectPlex. Flair escaped the pin attempt, and he and Ramon attacked Perfect until the referees were unable to keep the match under control. As a result, Ramon and Flair were disqualified, and the victory was awarded to Perfect and Savage.