World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event
The 1992 SummerSlam was the fifth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on Saturday, August 29, 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, England and aired on tape delay on Monday, August 31, 1992. It was the first major WWF pay-per-view to take place outside North America.
The pay-per-view included two main event matches. In the first, The Ultimate Warrior challenged "Macho Man" Randy Savage for the WWF Championship. The Ultimate Warrior won the match by countout but did not win the title. In the other main event, "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. The undercard also included The Natural Disasters retaining the WWF Tag Team Championship against the Beverly Brothers and Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel wrestling to a double countout in a match with the stipulation that the wrestlers were banned from hitting each other in the face.
The event had an attendance of 78,927. WWE themselves claimed a disputed attendance of 80,355, which would make it their seventh-biggest event. Between ticket prices and merchandise sales, the WWF made over $3,650,000 in revenue. Reviews of the event are almost all positive, with the Smith–Hart match rated as the best match in SummerSlam history.
On April 29, 2022, it was announced that a 30th anniversary DVD and Blu-ray would be released for the United Kingdom and European markets to celebrate the anniversary of the event on August 29, exactly 30 years to the event taking place. The release would also include all live event dark matches for the first time which are not a part of the WWE Network showing or on the previous release. During a WWE Live event at London's O2 Arena that same day, it was announced that WWE would return to the United Kingdom to host another major stadium event titled Clash at the Castle in September 2022.
Production.
Background.
Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom had achieved major mainstream popularity via television broadcasts on ITV since 1955, particularly on Saturday afternoons. From 1965-1985 it was part of the show "World of Sport", featuring matches from dominant promotional cartel Joint Promotions. The WWF's first significant foothold in the British market came in January 1987 when it began providing "American special" editions fort the standalone "Wrestling" show which succeeded the slot (which the WWF and Joint Promotions now shared with opposition promotion All Star Wrestling.) Less than two months after ITV cancelled its wrestling coverage in December 1988, the WWF relaunched on new satellite channel Sky One and by October 1989 was running house shows in London and Birmingham. From spring 1991 the WWF and its main US rival WCW regularly held successful national tours of the UK while the WWF remained one of Sky TV's highest rated broadcasts and ITV effectively reinstated Saturday afternoon wrestling by scheduling WCW in the old slot. Overall, by 1992 wrestling in the UK was at the peak of a boom in popularity.
SummerSlam is an annual pay-per-view (PPV) produced every August by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, eventually dubbed the "Big Four". It has since become considered WWF's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. The 1992 event was the fifth event in the SummerSlam chronology.
SummerSlam 1992 was originally intended to take place at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. However, the WWF decided to move the event to Wembley Stadium in London, England due to the company's growing popularity in the United Kingdom and the possibility of increasing the revenue from the event. The event was scheduled to be held on Saturday, August 29, 1992, and it aired on tape delay on Monday, August 31. Shawn Michaels was originally booked to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart, but the storyline was adjusted due to the change of venue. As a result, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, a native of Golborne, a working-class town in the north of England, was chosen to win the belt.
Storylines.
One of the main events was the Intercontinental Championship match between Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith, brothers-in-law in real life as Smith was married to Diana Hart, Bret's sister. On television broadcasts leading up to SummerSlam, interviews with Diana and her mother Helen portrayed the family as being torn apart by the upcoming match. Bruce Hart publicly supported Smith, while Owen Hart sided with his brother Bret. Diana stated that she did not know who she wanted to win the match, as she had close ties to both men. She ultimately stated that she simply hoped that neither wrestler would get hurt. Prior to the match, Smith was hospitalized with a legitimate staph infection in his knee. Despite the concerns about his health, he decided to wrestle the match as planned. Bret Hart later revealed in an interview that he doubted the legitimacy of the injury.
The other main event was a WWF Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage. Although they had a previous run of house show matches in early 1989, the rivalry between them began in earnest in the fall of 1990, when Sensational Sherri, who was managing Savage, tried to arrange a match between Savage and Warrior. The Warrior refused to defend his WWF Championship against Savage, and he ripped up a contract that Sherri had given him. While they faced each other at house shows over the next few months, where Savage was unable to win the title, they never had a televised match with each other. Savage then interfered in the title match at Royal Rumble 1991, enabling Sgt. Slaughter to win the title. To settle the rivalry, Savage and the Warrior agreed to face each other in a retirement match at WrestleMania VII. The Warrior won the match, forcing Savage into retirement. However, Savage would be reinstated as an active wrestler in November 1991. by which time the Warrior had left the WWF.
The following year, the rivalry was rekindled when the Ultimate Warrior, having returned to the WWF at WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992. was granted a shot at the WWF Championship, which Savage had won from Ric Flair earlier that same evening. Flair and his executive consultant Mr. Perfect, were upset that Flair had not been granted a rematch. They decided to cause trouble between Savage and the Warrior. In August, Perfect claimed that he was in negotiations with Savage and Warrior, who both had sought his managerial services, but refused to clarify which wrestler he would support at SummerSlam. At the "SummerSlam Spectacular", a show designed to promote the pay-per-view, Savage and the Warrior teamed up to face The Nasty Boys. Perfect and Ric Flair interfered in the match, resulting in a count-out victory for the Nasty Boys and more animosity between Savage and Warrior.
The undercard included two tag team matches: Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) had been feuding in 1992 over the WWF Tag Team Championship. The Legion of Doom held the championship belts until dropping the title to Money Inc. This title change occurred after Hawk failed a drug test and was suspended. Once Hawk's suspension ended, a rematch was scheduled to take place at SummerSlam. The match was first scheduled as a title match but Money Inc. lost the championship to The Natural Disasters.
Meanwhile, the Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) and the Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly and Blake Beverly) had a rivalry dating back to a match aired on "WWF Prime Time Wrestling" on July 20, 1992. While Earthquake brawled with Beau and Blake, Typhoon attacked the Beverlys' manager, The Genius. When the Disasters won the WWF Tag Team Championship, their SummerSlam match was transformed into a title match.
The rivalry between Shawn Michaels against Rick Martel centred around Martel's attempts to steal Michaels' manager Sensational Sherri. During one of Michaels' matches televised on August 9, 1992, Martel came to ringside and winked at Sherri, who returned the gesture. At the "SummerSlam Spectacular", Sherri came to the ring during one of Martel's matches and winked at him. Both Michaels and Martel were "heel" wrestlers who bragged about their good looks, and Sherri had them agree not to hit each other in the face during their SummerSlam match.
Event.
Preliminary matches.
Before the pay-per-view broadcast began, two matches were taped for later showings on "WWF Prime Time Wrestling". These matches were never advertised on US television in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam. The first match saw "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and The Bushwhackers (Bushwhacker Luke and Bushwhacker Butch) defeat The Mountie and The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags) when Duggan pinned The Mountie. In the other match, Papa Shango defeated Tito Santana by pinfall.
The actual pay-per-view opened with the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) taking on Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster). The Legion of Doom used their size and power to wear down their opponents in the opening minutes of the match. Money Inc. gained the advantage when Hawk missed a flying clothesline. Hawk tried to tag in his partner but was unable for several minutes because Money Inc. kept him away from the corner where Animal was standing. Eventually, Hawk and Schyster hit each other at the same time. Hawk tagged Animal in, and the Legion of Doom attempted the Doomsday device, their signature move. Schyster stopped them, but Animal hit Schyster in retaliation, causing Schyster to run into DiBiase. Animal then powerslammed DiBiase and pinned him to get the victory.
The second match of the broadcast pitted Nailz against Virgil. Nailz spent the majority of the match choking Virgil. Virgil recovered several times and performed several offensive maneuvers, but Nailz always regained the advantage. Ultimately, Nailz won the match by performing a sleeper hold. After the match, he attacked Virgil with a nightstick.
In the following match, competitors Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel were unable, due to a pre-match stipulation, to hit each other in the face. The two men exchanged holds but were both preoccupied with looking to ringside for approval from Sensational Sherri. Martel gained the advantage by throwing Michaels to the outside of the ring and attacking him there. When the two returned to the ring, they took turns attempting to pin their opponent, pulling down their opponent's wrestling tights to reveal their buttocks each time. Michaels then kicked Martel and tried to pin him, but the referee stopped the three-count because Michaels' feet were on the ropes. Both wrestlers broke the pre-match stipulation by slapping each other in the face. Sherri pretended to faint, which drew the attention of both wrestlers. Michaels and Martel argued over who would carry Sherri backstage, with each man carrying her a few feet before being stopped by his opponent. Both wrestlers were counted out, but they continued to argue. Martel tried to revive Sherri by throwing a bucket of water over her head. Michaels dropped Sherri and chased Martel backstage; upset at being publicly humiliated and then left behind by both men, Sherri screamed and cried as she ran backstage.
The tag team championship match came next, which saw the Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly and Blake Beverly) attack the Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) before the bell. The Disasters used their size and strength to gain the advantage, but Earthquake accidentally performed an avalanche on Typhoon. The Beverlys controlled the match for several minutes, with Blake executing a splash and a front facelock. Typhoon recovered and clotheslined both opponents but was unable to tag in Earthquake. Later, Typhoon tried to tag again, but Beau distracted Earthquake; while the referee's back was turned, The Beverlys' manager, The Genius handed Blake a metal scroll, which Blake used to hit Typhoon. Typhoon recovered, however, and Earthquake entered the ring and controlled the remainder of the match. He performed a powerslam on Beau before pinning him with an Earthquake splash.
The following match, which was not broadcast in the United Kingdom, pitted Crush against the Repo Man. Crush used his size advantage to perform a Gorilla press slam on Repo Man. Repo Man performed a back suplex, but Crush showed no sign