WWE Vault Grab Bag
Commentators: Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes

So since the WWE Vault has a tendency to throw out all kinds of random matches, it can be fun to see what comes out and mix them together. That’s what I’m doing here, with a collection of seven matches that have been posted recently(ish). There’s no connection to them other than that (at least that I’ll get into) so let’s get to it.

From Mexico City, July 13, 2024.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Isla Dawn

Vaquer had been signed in a big surprise a few days before. Dawn jumps her before the match but Vaquer knocks her down and hits a legdrop. A springboard high crossbody gives Vaquer two, only for Dawn to get in a cheap shot to take over. Dawn’s hip attack in the corner gets two and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up and Vaquer makes the comeback, including what would become known as the Devil’s Kiss for two. Dawn fights back to no avail as it’s the SVB to give Vaquer the pin at 4:23.

Rating: C. This wasn’t quite a squash, but Vaquer was never in anything resembling real trouble. That’s the point in having her debut like this, as she got to come in, make a good impression, and leave with the fans wanting to see more. Nice debut here, as Vaquer clearly had the skills right from the start.

From Savannah, Georgia, January 29, 1991.

Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel

This is a Blindfold Match after a Wrestling Challenge taping and a test run for their infamous match at Wrestlemania VII. Martel misses a (blind) charge to start and Roberts immediately gets the idea of pointing, with the fans telling him if he’s going in the right direction while Martel stumbles around. This goes on for a bit until Roberts finally gets him down and hammers away. Martel is back with some choking but misses a backdrop attempt as Roberts steps to the side. How he would know to do that is anyone’s guess.

Martel winds up on the floor and stumbles around for a bit, ultimately finding the snake bag and panicking. The staggering continues as Martel finds a chair and I wonder how there hasn’t been a 94 count by now. Martel’s chair shot hits the post and he slowly gets back inside (after almost four minutes on the floor).

They back into each other and Martel hammers away but misses an elbow drop. Martel finally gets frustrated and takes the hood off to hammer away. Roberts gets tied in the ropes so Martel grabs the Arrogance. The fight with the referee is enough for Roberts to hear them and hit the DDT for the VERY delayed pin at 8:46.

Rating: D+. This didn’t work again, partially as I’m not sure how Martel wasn’t counted out or disqualified at either point. That being said, the idea of a blindfold match works, but this was very little action or even teases with the crowd helping. Then again, it’s just a tryout for the big match later, even if a lot of the sequences were the same.

From Springfield, Massachusetts, November 12, 1991.

WWF Title: Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan is defending in a Wrestling Challenge dark match and Mr Perfect is here with Flair. We hit the stall button to start with no contact for more than the first two minutes. Flair gets in a shove and a WOO before ducking a lockup attempt. He ducks again and we’re now three and a half minutes in with that one shove being the only contact. Hogan draws a line on the mat and says bring it so we finally get a lockup, with Flair grabbing a headlock.

Flair grinds away but Hogan powers out and hits a running shoulder, allowing him to strut a bit as the fans are going nuts for all of this. A clothesline puts Flair on the floor and it’s time for a test of strength, but Flair is smart enough to pike him in the eye instead. Flair’s big chop just fires Hogan up and he hammers away in the corner. Hogan knocks him to the floor and Flair goes to leave, only to get dragged back for his efforts.

This time Flair manages to knock him down and drops the knee but the chops just wake Hogan up again. That’s one thing I love about Flair: whether it’s Sting or Hogan, he would keep doing the same things that never worked because he has the confidence to believe THIS TIME FOR SURE! Just like going to the top rope, even if it almost NEVER worked, Flair was delusional enough to believe that he could pull it off.

Anyway, Hogan fights back but stops to yell at Perfect, allowing Flair to start in on the leg. Flair crotches him against the post and starts in with his usual leg variety pack. The Figure Four attempt is blocked though and Flair goes up, only to be slammed down (there it is). Perfect puts the foot on the ropes at two and it’s time for the foreign object. The big right hand connects and yeah you know what’s coming. The Hulk Up is on and Flair bails to the floor for the chase, with Hogan beating the count back in for the win at 14:45.

Rating: C. Well it was fine and that’s about all I can give the thing. Flair just never felt like a threat to Hogan, as outside of a fluke rollup, was anyone buying that Hogan was losing to the Figure Four? It’s one of those matches that felt like it should have been massive but it just didn’t click for the most part, which was certainly the situation here.

Hogan poses to mix it up a bit.

From Cape Girardeau, Missouri, March 24, 1985.

Randy Savage vs. Jerry Lawler

This is officially from the ICW promotion, which officially done but Angelo Poffo (Randy’s father) might have been promoting a Memphis show and as a result, it was part of the ICW video library. Savage bails to the floor to start and says something I can’t understand before getting back inside for the lockup. They run the ropes with Lawler letting him jump over him about five times before grabbing a hiptoss.

Back up and Savage keeps moving around while Lawler waits on him, including another knockdown. The stalling continues as there is barely anything going on, but the fans keep screaming at just about everything. In other words, these two are crazy over and the fans want to see it happen. Lawler goes to the floor and grabs the mic to complain about…something (not the best audio as you can imagine).

They switch places and Savage’s manager and says if Lawler has any guts he’ll…something. Lawler drops to the floor again and seems to threaten said manager as we’re nearly ten minutes in with about a minute of contact. Lawler chases Savage outside again and Savage grabs the mic to yell some more. Back in and Lawler punches him into the ropes and, of course, Savage bails outside. This time he grabs the chair so Lawler runs for a change. Savage grabs the mic again and I have no idea what he’s saying. Granted this is for the live crowd and not us so it’s hard to get that annoyed.

Back in again and Savage knocks him into the corner before dropping to his knees for some mocking, followed by another yell into the mic. Lawler chases him back to the floor before dropping outside himself, where Lawler steals the bell for some reason. Savage chases him with a chair, so Lawler grabs the mic and seems to tell Savage to drop the chair. That brings Savage back in for roughly the 47th time, with Lawler punching him down again.

We stall again, as there are minutes long stretches between any kind of offense. Lawler catches a kick to the stomach and sweeps out the other leg, setting up the fist drop as we might be about to get going. That means Savage needs a breather in the corner, which allows him to catch Lawler’s kick to the ribs for a change. Lawler ENZIGURIS HIM into the corner, followed (eventually) by a right hand. Savage ducks a clothesline though and Lawler is sent to the apron, allowing the manager to slip in the cane for a shot to the ribs.

The slow beating knocks Lawler around ringside, followed by the top rope elbow….to the head. Well that’s just weird, and Lawler sending him outside on the kickout is even weirder. Back in and Savage sends him outside again, this time beating Lawler into the crowd, where we can’t see very much. Back in again and Lawler punches him out of the air, meaning it’s time to start the comeback. As is the case int his match, it doesn’t last long as Savage goes to the eyes and sends him into the buckle a few times. The strap comes down and Lawler hammers away, goes after the manager, and drops the middle rope fist for the pin at 31:57.

Rating: B-. Ok so here’s the thing: this is not going to be for everyone. If you like action packed matches, you will be bored out of your mind with this one. The vast majority of offense is punching, with Lawler’s enziguri and Savage’s stuff from the top being about the only variety. What you had here was a great lesson in milking a crowd, as these guys barely did anything for about twenty minutes and had the crowd going nuts. That’s how you do something like this and it worked, while also showing how brilliant both of them were with getting the most out of their actions.

Post match someone runs in after Lawler (likely Lanny Poffo) but Lawler clears him out, only to get jumped by two more guys….who he beats up as well.

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, January 31, 1997.

WWF Title: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Sid

Michaels is defending in a dark match after Raw. Canadian boxer George Chuvalo is guest ringside referee. Michaels does not seem to be quite with it and Hart isn’t looking pleased, though that’s often his default look. Hart and Michaels slug it out to start until Michaels is sent outside so Sid can beat on Hart instead.

Back in and Michaels tries the superkick on Sid, who reverses into a chokeslam. Hart drops Sid and goes after Michaels in the corner, with Michaels reversing and superkicking Sid to the floor. A dropkick and some right hands have Hart in trouble and Michaels isn’t sure why the (Canadian) crowd doesn’t like him. Another dropkick is countered into the Sharpshooter but Sid is back in for the save.

The powerbomb drops Hart again so Michaels makes a save. This time Sid is sent outside, leaving Hart to beat on Michaels some more. A backdrop sends Michaels to the floor in a nasty looking bump, leaving the other two to clothesline each other. The Sharpshooter has Sid in trouble but Steve Austin runs in…and gets knocked silly by Chuvalo. Well that didn’t work. Back up and Sid tries the powerbomb but Michaels comes back in with a high crossbody to pin Hart and retain at 12:13.

Rating: B-. Good enough match here, with the fans being completely behind Bret (of course) and Austin’s selling of the punch being rather impressive. Other than that, the match was rather basic with the two in, one out format that would wind up dominating the matches over the years. In other words, it’s been this way since the beginning (well, the modern beginning that is, as there were three person matches all the way back back to at least the 60s). Anyway, nice stuff here.

From Binghamton, New York, June 30, 1992.

Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog

From after a Wrestling Challenge taping, Hart’s Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line and I believe this was on one of the Unreleased DVDs from a few years ago. Bulldog runs him over with a shoulder to the floor to start and the fans are impressed. Back in and Hart’s headlock doesn’t last long so he gets two off a small package instead. A headlock takeover slows Bulldog back down, which he reverses into a hammerlock. That’s reversed but Bulldog rolls around and grabs an armbar.

Hart gets up again and hits a knee to the ribs, followed by the chinlock. Bulldog fights up and tries the crucifix but gets dropped down hard to cut that off. A piledriver (snappy one too) gets two and some elbows, including the middle rope version, get the same. Back up and Hart is sent chest first into the corner but he’s right back with a sleeper. That’s broken up and they crash out to the floor with Hart getting the worst of of it. Bulldog tries a suplex back in but Hart reverses into a sweet German suplex to retain at 13:55.

Rating: B. Well of course the match was good as you have two rather talented people in the ring for a decent amount of time. It was different enough from the Summerslam match and that made for a nice viewing. If nothing else, the German suplex looked rather good with Hart’s bridge making for a nice looking finish.

We get a post match hug.

From Mobile, Alabama, March 9, 1992.

Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper vs. Sid Justice/Ric Flair

Dark match from a Superstars taping but it was released on the 1992 Battle Of The WWF Superstars so we actually have commentary. Harvey Wippleman handles Sid’s entrance and the fans do not seem pleased. Piper and Flair start things off with Piper getting the better of things and knocking him around, with Hogan getting a shot of his own. The running knee has Flair flying again and Piper is right there waiting with two fingers to the eyes (you know Flair is willing to bump all over the place for something like this).

The right hands in the corner set up the Flair Flip to the apron, where Hogan is waiting with the big boot. Sid comes in and chokes Hogan in the corner before beating Piper up in a similar manner. Piper manages to punch him out of the air but Sid takes it right back into the corner. Flair’s atomic drop gives us a fairly funny sell from Piper, who is sent outside. Hogan goes out for the save but gets held back, allowing Sid to get in a chair to the back.

They head back inside and Piper slams Flair off the top but crawls to the wrong corner (giving us a good “NOPE” face from Piper). Flair and Piper get in a weird rolling sequence on the mat until Piper makes it over to Hogan for the tag. Hogan boots Flair down (the camera cuts half a second too late and it’s clear that there’s no contact) for the legdrop but Sid comes in and gently taps Hogan with a chair. Flair gets two but it’s Hulk Up time as everything breaks down. With Sid and Piper on the floor, Hogan clotheslines Flair for the pin at 12:49.

Rating: C+. You know exactly what you’re getting with something like this and while the WWF Champion just got pinned by a clothesline, the fans were going nuts and Piper was clearly having a great time. Piper vs. Flair was a heck of a feud at this point and Hogan vs. Sid was about to headline Wrestlemania. Good way to wrap things up here and the fans approved so it could have been a lot worse.

Hogan and Piper pose together, which will always be sick and wrong.

Overall Rating: B-. An overall rating for this is kind of a weird thing to put together as it’s not meant to be anything more than a homemade playlist. That’s the kind of fun thing that you get from the Vault and I had a good time with the whole thing. It’s a lot of stuff that I’ve either never seen before or haven’t seen in a long time. I had fun with this and hopefully I can do something like it again sooner than later.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Superstars
Date: September 7, 1991
Location: War Memorial, Rochester, New York
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper

We’re done with Summerslam and that means it’s time to talk about the big wedding. The real main event of Summerslam saw Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth get married and this week we’ll be seeing what happened at the reception. Other than that, it’s your usual Superstars goodness so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Roddy Piper goes OFF about Sid Justice being the only one willing to stand up to Jake Roberts and Undertaker. More on this later.

We run down the show.

Texas Tornado vs. Bubba Monroe

Commentary goes into their somber tones about the wedding reception and how horrible things were for Savage and Elizabeth. Piper shifts over to Tornado, who wrestles Monroe down to start. We get an insert interview from Tornado, talking about how Sgt. Slaughter should stay in seclusion after turning his back on his country. Tornado punches him in the ribs and hits the Tornado….we’ll call it a strike of some sort in the head region as it certainly wasn’t a Punch for the pin at 2:24.

We go to the wedding reception (Bobby Heenan shaking his head in sadness as he shakes Savage’s hand is great). They do the first dance and cut the cake and throw the boquet. Then it’s time to cut open the presents…which includes a cobra. Undertaker pops in to SMASH Savage in the head with the urn and Jake Roberts taunts Elizabeth with the snake.

Sid Justice is the only person to stand up to them, chasing Roberts off with a chair. Undertaker’s urn shot was great and there is something funny about someone filming Roberts tormenting the bride. Heck of a segment here, as it was so over the top that the villains look totally evil as a result.

Skinner vs. Scott Summers

Make your own Cyclops jokes. Skinner takes him down to start and ties him in the ropes for a neck snap. Skinner’s insert promo mocks the Dragon before Skinner hits something like a Pedigree into the reverse DDT for the pin at 2:04.

EVENT CENTER!

British Bulldog is ready for various villains, including the newly debuted BULLY.

Jimmy Hart and the Nasty Boys are ready to beat up various teams, including the Legion Of Doom. Knobbs accuses Jack Tunney wearing LOD shoulder pads so he must be on the LOD’s side. There’s a visual.

Virgil vs. Chris Duffy

For some reason Virgil’s entrance is missing. Virgil slugs away to start (must be mad about his missing entrance) and sends him outside for a dive. Back in and a slam sets up the Million Dollar Dream to give Virgil the win at 2:23.

UPDATE!

We look back at Bobby Heenan on the Funeral Parlor, where he suggested that the WWF Title was nothing compared to the REAL World Title. On top of that, there are some very loudmouthed people around here, like Roddy Piper. This brought Piper to the set, where he said Hogan was the only real champion. Piper says he scares Flair and spits on the belt to send Heenan running.

Berzerker vs. Kerry Davis

Mr. Fuji is here with Berzerker, who throws Davis around with ease. Berzerker ties him in the ropes for some running boots then throws him over the top for the countout at 2:27.

The Rockers want the Tag Team Titles and don’t care who they fight.

Harvey Wippleman brags about the Bully taking lunch money and stealing girlfriends at proms.

Bushwhackers vs. Barry Hardy/Duane Gill

The Beverly Brothers pop in to unveil the Genius as their new manager, which fits pretty well. The Bushwhackers do their wacking and stomping for about a minute and a half before Hardy grabs a headlock. That earns Gill some right hands to the floor and we wack a bit more. Some kicks in the corner set up the Battering Ram, followed by a double gutbuster for the pin on Gill at 3:45.

Rating: C-. It’s almost strange to see a match get so much time on this show. It doesn’t help that it was just an extended squash, with the stuff at the beginning taking up so much time. The Bushwhackers were never going to be anything serious, but at least they were good as a way to get the fans into things, which is what they did here.

We go to the Funeral Parlor with special guest….IRS? That’s the best you have? Bearer likes the idea of talking about DEATH and taxes and brings up the estate tax. IRS says even death is no excuse to not pay your taxes, which is kind of awesome. Bearer brings up Big Boss Man attacking wrestling, which IRS says makes him a tax cheat because he’s going after the government who taught him his trade. Bearer: “I think he’s just a hick cop from Georgia.” IRS wants RECEIPTS and walks off. This was some mixture of bizarre, stupid, and amazing.

We look at Bret Hart winning the Intercontinental Title at Summerslam. Roddy Piper praises Bret’s parents, saying Stu is a great man, even if Piper can’t understand a word he says.

Warlord vs. Mark Thomas

Slick is here with Warlord, who knocks him down to start and then hits a heck of a flying shoulder. We get the insert promo from Warlord, who wants the Intercontinental Title but settles for a knee lift to Thomas. A suplex sets up the full nelson and Thomas is done at 2:45.

Greg Valentine is going back to basics. Wait….WE’VE BEEN SEEING THE ENHANCED GREG VALENTINE???

Ted DiBiase and Sherri are upset over losing to Virgil but DiBiase seems to have a plan.

Here’s what’s coming next week to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling was the usual collection of mostly meaningless stuff, but there is a lot going on here that has me intrigued. You have what feels like Roddy Piper vs. Ric Flair on the horizon, plus everything that is going to come out of the wedding reception deal. Randy Savage is going to be ticked off and that makes for some great stuff. This was basically the kickoff for the post Summerslam run and that has me interested.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 29, 1996
Location: Stockton Civic Auditorium, Stockton, California
Attendance: 2,904
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We’re on the way to the next In Your House, which means we’ll be getting ready for the last stop on the Road To Wrestlemania. The big story continues to be Shawn Michaels’ quest for the WWF Title, though he seems like he’s going to have a stop over with the other Hart Brother on the way to face Bret for the title. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening preview.

Opening sequence.

British Bulldog vs. Diesel

Jim Cornette is here with Bulldog. Diesel powers him around to start and hits a slam but Bulldog gets in a knockdown of his own. Bulldog wraps the leg around the post and cranks away (because this formula worked so well in their disaster of a pay per view match), including a half crab. Cue Yokozuna to ringside as we take a break.

We come back with Bulldog choking and then doing his weird double step stomps to the leg. Diesel gets sent outside where Yokozuna…throws him back in. Back in and Diesel boots him down but Cornette has the referee, leaving Yokozuna to drop a leg. Granted the leg hits Bulldog so it doesn’t exactly work out well but at least he was trying. Cornette freaks out as Diesel gets the pin at 9:38.

Rating: C+. It’s still not a great match, but what matters is that it wasn’t an all time disaster like their match back in October. Keeping it shorter and not having the match drag on forever certainly helped, though they did something similar with the leg work. Diesel needed the win though, as it’s not like Bulldog had much going on at the moment.

It’s off to the Slam Jam where Bret Hart, with a black eye, still wants Diesel in a steel cage match. We run down the rest of the In Your House car, including the newly added Duke Droese vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Apparently WCW is threatening legal action over the Billionaire Ted skits. Therefore, here’s another one with Ted at a press conference where he won’t answer any questions about his business practices. This stuff is so beyond dumb and nothing but Vince McMahon whining about competition spending money.

Godwinns vs. Bodydonnas

This is Phineas’ debut and Hillbilly Jim and Sunny are here too. Henry runs Skip over to start but Zip comes in with a cheap shot to take him down. A double suplex drops Henry again and Sunny flirts with Jim, leaving Skip to miss a top rope splash. Phineas comes in and gets to clean house, with the Slop Drop finishing Zip at 2:17.

Post match Sunny runs away from…hillbilly things.

We look at Vader’s path of destruction in his rather short WWF career. This includes attacking Gorilla Monsoon last week, which was quite the moment. Of note: McMahon actually uses the term “stable mate” to describe Yokozuna and Vader.

Clarence Mason and Jim Cornette think the suspension is TOTALLY UNFAIR and there is an injunction against the suspension.

You can send in Get Well Soon letters to Monsoon. And I’m sure this won’t be used to restock the WWF’s mailing list.

Vince McMahon brings out the new acting President of the World Wrestling Federation: RODDY PIPER! The fans seem to approve, with Piper asking if he’s Vince’s boss. Piper lists off some of his accomplishments in the 80s but he knows that the wrestlers today are faster and stronger. The difference though is they’re a little confused, with Piper being here to fix things.

There will be no government shutdown when he is President. He pulls out some papers, which contain rules. Vince: “You’ve never lived by rules in your life!” Piper: “Good point!” And he puts the papers back in his pocket. He promises the fans are in good hands, gives Vince an airplane spin, and wraps it up. I’m not sure I have any idea what Piper was saying, but the GOOD POINT part was funny.

Mankind, with his deformed ear, wants us to have a nice day.

Yokozuna vs. Shawn Michaels

Owen Hart and Jim Cornette are here with Yokozuna. Michaels realizes that locking up with him is a really bad idea so he goes with right hands to knock Yokozuna outside. The villains have a meeting on the floor and we take an early break. We come back with Michaels’ top rope moonsault press getting two but Yokozuna whips him hard into the corner.

That sends Michaels crashing out to the floor, where Hart gets in a posting like a good villain should. Back in and we hit the nerve hold (Yokozuna certainly had his favorites) and we take another break. We come back with Michaels avoiding the legdrop but missing a top rope splash. Michaels slugs away, only to get driven into the corner. Hart tries to come in but kicks Yokozuna down by mistake. The superkick gives Michaels the pin at 11:42.

Rating: C. As usual, you know what you’re going to get with Yokozuna at this point and that’s not a good thing. He’s just so big and there is very little that anyone can do against him. Even Michaels was limited here, with the interference into the superkick being about as good as it was going to get. At least Michaels won by pinfall, as it makes him look like he could beat almost anyone. Or at least really big people who could barely move, which has little to do with either Hart brother, but it’s better than nothing.

Post match the Bulldog has to play peacemaker between Yokozuna and Hart. Michaels is caught 4-1 but Diesel runs in for the save. Cornette says his men are perfectly fine and issues the challenge for a tag match next week. Michaels and Diesel seem in to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The Vader stuff is interesting, mainly because you can see what kind of a monster he really is, but at the same time he’s not going to be around for the time being. You also have Roddy Piper around, and that’s only going to be….I have no idea actually (much like whatever he said). The wrestling was good enough, but this is all about getting to Wrestlemania and you can see some pieces coming together, which is exciting enough.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 18, 1996
Location: Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 9,364
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We are less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania and you can see most of the card from this far out. The matches are either already made or are close enough to being made, with a few more possibly being confirmed this week. Other than that, I’m sure we’ll get some more Bret vs. Shawn stuff, which should be fine as well. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening preview.

Opening sequence.

Jake Roberts vs. British Bulldog

Jim Cornette is here with the Bulldog. Roberts works on the arm to start and Bulldog bails straight to the floor. The threat of a DDT has Bulldog backing off again but he starts hammering on the back to take over. Bulldog’s legdrop misses and the DDT connects but Cornette grabs Roberts’ leg. Roberts gets the snake and gives chase, earning the countout at 4:52.

Rating: D+. Nothing to this one, as it’s just part of the preview for the six man tag. The problem is that Roberts is little more than the DDT at this point and that isn’t enough to carry him through the match. Bulldog was a bit better, but not quite better enough to make this work.

Just like last week, we see a Shawn Michaels training video. At least it’s a different package.

Likewise, we get a similar Bret Hart training video, this one from Calgary.

Goldust vs. Fatu

Marlena is with Goldust and I don’t think the Intercontinental Title is on the line here. Goldust is wrestling in a kilt and Fatu starts fast by sending him into the corner and mocking the deep breath. A possibly low blow connects as Roddy Piper calls in and we take a break. We come back with Fatu missing a Superfly Splash, allowing Goldust to rub his chest. The Curtain Call finishes at 4:41 as Piper rants about being dangerous. Not enough shown to rate but it was more of the last minute push towards Goldust vs. Piper.

Video on the Ultimate Warrior.

Here is Camp Cornette, with Jim Cornette agreeing to a six man tag with Ahmed Johnson/Jake Roberts/Yokozuna at Wrestlemania. The villains are ready to go, with Cornette seemingly writing Mr. Fuji off TV by saying he hurt his knee in a fall. Hold on though, as Roberts and Yokozuna pop up on screen to say that if their team wins, Yokozuna gets five minutes with Cornette. Panic ensues as Yokozuna beats up a Cornette doll.

We look at an MSG house show over the weekend, with Diesel turning on Michaels. This led to Michaels promising to “kick his seven foot a**”, which was the setup for their In Your House match after Wrestlemania.

Diesel vs. Barry Horowitz

Diesel hammers away to start but here is Paul Bearer, wheeling a casket to ringside. Horowitz actually fights back but gets booted in the face for two. Instead a right hand finishes Horowitz off.

Post match Diesel grabs the timekeeper’s hammer and goes to the casket, which contains….Diesel. Oh dear.

Ted DiBiase throws a camera out of the locker room.

Bret Hart vs. Tatanka

Non-title. Tatanka strikes away in the corner to start but gets dropped with a quick clothesline. Hart goes after the arm, with a knee to said arm setting up an armbar. Back up and a crossbody gives Hart two and it’s right back to the arm. Cue the 1-2-3 Kid as Tatanka is back with a clothesline. Hart stays on the arm but gets dropped by another clothesline as we take a break. We come back with Hart fighting out of a chinlock and grabbing the Five Moves Of Doom. The Kid’s distraction doesn’t work though as Tatanka is sent into him by mistake, allowing Hart to grab a rollup for the pin at 8:40.

Rating: C+. It really is amazing how Tatanka went from someone interesting to this in the span of a few years. That heel turn killed everything he had, as there was nothing to him after the change over. He was just a guy in trunks who used to have a big undefeated streak but was now Tatanka: Heel Who Happens To Be Native American. Where was that supposed to go?

We get another Billionaire Ted skit, this time parodying A Few Good Men with Ted talking about how he needs to use predatory practices. We also get the contact information for the FTC in case you’re worried about the idea of Ted Turner getting to merge his company with Time Warner. Perhaps spending time on this week after week is why Wrestlemania feels so weak?

Overall Rating: C-. Remember how the last two weeks were good? Forget all of that for this week, as it was another boring show with mostly bad action and little that would make me want to see Wrestlemania. Hart had a mostly nothing main event and it felt like little changed for the pay per view. Building towards a pay per view shouldn’t be this hard but they are managing to mess it up fairly well.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 4, 1996
Location: Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 8,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re less than a month away from Wrestlemania and Shawn Michaels is the star of the show. Michaels is on his way to the main event against Bret Hart for the WWF Title but he needs to be built up a bit more on the way there. That could mean some good matches along the Road To Wrestlemania so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a preview of the show.

Opening sequence.

Shawn Michaels vs. 1-2-3 Kid

Yeah this should work. Kid charges at Michaels before the bell and gets backdropped outside, even as the music is still playing. Michaels mocks the martial arts pose and gets taken down with a headlock as we officially start. A headlock takeover out of the corner brings Michaels down and Kid gets in a kick for two more. Back up and Michaels sends him to the floor and skins the cat, followed by a rare gorilla press slam.

We get a split screen interview with Bret Hart, who says he wouldn’t let Michaels get away with this stuff. Michaels grinds away on a headlock of his own but Kid is back up with a spinwheel kick for a breather. Kid sends him outside and hits a big dive, which has Lawler rather happy. Michaels’ head is rammed into the floor, which Hart doesn’t like as he doesn’t have any personal animosity against Michaels (A-HUH).

Back in and Kid kicks him down for two more and we take a break. We come back with Kid grabbing a chinlock until Michaels gets up, only to be kicked in the face for two more. Michaels fights up and hits the forearm as it’s already time for the comeback. Back up and Michaels head fakes him on a crossbody, setting up a top rope standing moonsault press for two instead. The top rope elbow connects but Kid bails from the threat of a superkick. Kid gets back in and manages a slam, only to miss a guillotine legdrop. Now the superkick can finish for Michaels at 13:36.

Rating: B. I for one am shocked that this was a good match as you had two talented stars getting some time to really make things work. It was one of the better matches you’ll see on Raw around this time, and the fact that they were friends behind the scenes is just a coincidence of course. Either way, heck of a match here.

Post match a kid gets in the ring to dance with Michaels. Eh sweet enough.

We get a Goldust film called Piper’s Pit, which is Goldust, with Marlena, on the set of, well, Piper’s Pit. He talks about the fantasies he had as a teenager from watching Roddy Piper on the set of the show. Stuff like the coconut bursting on Jimmy Snuka’s head you see. And the skirt, which had Goldust thinking about various things. Goldust picks up the bagpipes and isn’t very good at them. Yeah I think we get the idea here as they weren’t exactly pouring on the subtlety.

We look back at some great Ultimate Warrior moments, because he’s back at Wrestlemania.

Roddy Piper (WWF President at this point) is watching Raw in Hollywood and he needs to talk to Vince McMahon.

Hakushi vs. Justin Bradshaw

Uncle Zebekiah is here with Bradshaw, who is played to the ring by…Michael Hayes and the Raw Band. Which is actually a real thing. Ok then. Bradshaw starts stomping away as Vince talks to Piper, who says that he’ll announce Ultimate Warrior’s Wrestlemania opponent next week.

As Bradshaw kicks Hakushi in the face and drops a leg, Piper talks about how he fought Adrian Adonis so he knows what kind of mind games Goldust is playing. Hakushi fights up but charges into a boot to the floor, with Bradshaw hitting a dive to take him down again. Back in and another big boot sets up the lariat to finish for Bradshaw at 4:10.

Rating: C-. Well that seems to be it for Hakushi, who was more or less squashed here as the match was a backdrop for Piper talking about Goldust. Bradshaw is a fine choice for a Stan Lariat clone (minus a lot of the talent and charisma) but it’s not like this is going to get him very far. Not much to see here, and that’s a bad sign for Hakushi’s future.

Post match Hakushi gets hogtied and branded.

Mankind is in a very dark room (we can’t see his face) and talks about how he has dealt with evil for years and now it is time for others to face it as well. No one will have a nice day.

Bret Hart vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Non-title and we get a clip of a fan being moved to tears by getting Hart’s sunglasses at a recent live event. That’s awesome. Helmsley sends him into the corner to start but charges into a boot, allowing Hart to hit a clothesline. Hart hammers away and grabs an armbar for some cranking. Cue Shawn Michaels with a chair to watch at ringside and we take a break.

We come back with Hart taking him down by the arm again and working on a hammerlock. Helmsley gets up and rakes the eyes, allowing him to send Hart outside. Hart is fine enough to knock a dive out of the air as Vince thought Helmsley and Michaels might be in cahoots together (make your own jokes).

Back in and Helmsley hammers away in the corner, setting up a rather hard whip into the corner for two. We take another break and come back with Hart hitting a bulldog into the backbreaker. Naturally the middle rope elbow follows for two but Helmsley rolls him up for the same. Helmsley goes up and dives right into the Sharpshooter for the submission at 17:21.

Rating: B-. Helmsley wasn’t up to the next level yet but Hart was there to carry him far enough. It helps that the point of this match was to tease tension between Michaels and Hart, who are building towards one of the biggest matches of the year. Helmsley being in this kind of a match is a good sign for him, though he has a lot of work to do.

Michaels applauds Hart and leaves without incident.

And now, Tee Vee Trivia, which is a game show parody, featuring various quotes from Ted Turner, because this is a thing that had to happen for months on end. The one funny bit: we’re asked where the Huckster (Get it?) is and we cut to an empty arena, where he is still handcuffed to the ring, as he was to close Nitro. As usual, it’s just petty nonsense from the WWF, as they keep insulting Turner for daring to try to have something of his own and it went very badly for them for a good while.

Overall Rating: B. Yeah you can’t argue with a show like this, as you had two long matches, both of which went well. It helped set up Wrestlemania, but there is only so much on the card outside of Hart vs. Michaels. Piper vs. Goldust isn’t exactly working and there is a good chance it’s only going to get worse. The stuff that worked did so rather well though and that’s a great thing to see after some less than thrilling shows.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Summerslam 1991
Date: August 26, 1991
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Roddy Piper, Gorilla Monsoon

This is a show that almost no one remembers other than one match. The main event is Hogan/Warrior vs. Slaughter/Adnan/Mustafa, which would have been a much better match a few months ago when Slaughter was still a threat. Other than that we have the wedding of Savage and Miss Elizabeth who reunited at Wrestlemania VII in one of the best moments in company history. Let’s get to it.

We open with Savage in the back getting ready while Alfred Hayes asks him questions. Savage says that he’s ready and in the danger zone, but HAYES’ TIE IS CROOKED. “NOW YOU’RE OK AND IT’S TIME TO GO CHECK MY BABY BLUE EYES!”

We get the regular intro with the theme of a match made in Heaven and a match made in Hell.

Ricky Steamboat/British Bulldog/Texas Tornado vs. Warlord/Power and Glory

Steamboat is just The Dragon here, complete with what looks like a lizard man costume and breathing fire. The heels get the jobber entrance and have Slick with them. Steamboat and Roma get things going as Gorilla is listing off the rest of the card. Roma slams him down and mostly misses a dropkick before posing. Paul goes to the middle rope but dives into the armdrag and Steamboat cranks on the arm even more. Ricky hits a much better dropkick to put Roma in the corner for a tag to Hercules who gets caught in some armdrags of his own.

Off to Tornado and the fans go nuts as he rams Herc’s head into the buckle. Ten right hands to the head in the corner have Hercules in even more trouble but it’s off to Warlord vs. Bulldog which was a decent power feud. Bulldog hits the suplex for two and it’s off to Steamboat for a top rope chop to the head. Warlord blocks a monkey flip though and it’s back to Roma with a suplex of his own for two. Three straight backbreakers have Steamboat in even more trouble before it’s back to Hercules for a gorilla press.

Steamboat starts fighting back but gets caught in a big hotshot to put him down. Here’s Warlord again but he dives into two feet from Steamboat, allowing for the tag off to Tornado. The Texan cleans house but makes a blind tag to Bulldog who hits a cross body. That plus the Tornado Punch to Warlord is good for two as everything breaks down. Bulldog powerslams Roma down and Ssteamboat adds the high cross body for the pin.

Rating: C+. Nothing wrong with this as it was a basic six man tag to fire up the crowd. Everyone looked fine and the crowd was WAY into the smark god known as Ricky Steamboat. The heels were all about to be gone from the company with only Warlord making it to 1992.

Sean Mooney says to call some hotline to hear prerecorded comments from Liz and Savage!

Mr. Perfect says he’s an awesome champion.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart

Perfect has been champion since last November so he’s a pretty big deal. He also has his Coach (former wrestler John Tolos) with him. Stu and Helen Hart are in the audience to watch their son. Feeling out process to start with Bret scoring first by hip tossing Perfect to the floor. Back in and Bret grabs a headlock followed by a crucifix for two. Bret puts the headlock on again as Heenan and Piper are going to war on commentary. Gorilla: “WILL YOU STOP???”

Perfect grabs at the hair to escape and chops Bret’s chest off. A slam puts Bret down but he kicks Perfect away and slams him down, only to have Perfect kick him right back. Bret is all like screw this wrestling stuff and clotheslines Perfect to the floor. The champ tries to run but Bret throws him back in and the dude in pink is mad. Perfect gets in a HARD kick to the ribs and Bret is sent to the floor where Coach whistles at him.

Bret tries to get up but is knocked off the apron and right on top of a production guy who has a very confused look on his face. Back in and Bret jumps over Perfect in the corner and gets two off a rollup. The fans are WAY into this so far. Perfect sends Bret chest first into the buckle to take over again as Heenan is starting to lose his marbles. Another hard whip into the buckle gets two for the champion followed by the Hennig neck snap for two more.

Hart is sent to the floor for a bit and they both come back in on the top. It’s Bret crashing down to the mat to give Perfect two as Heenan is thinking Perfect should get himself disqualified. The champ hooks a sleeper but Bret fights up into a crucifix, only to be dropped down into a Samoan drop for two. The PerfectPlex looks to finish Bret but it only gets two, sending MSG into delirium.

Back up and Bret fights back, sending Perfect across the ring and crotch first into the post. A suplex and small package get two each for Bret and it’s Five Moves of Doom time. Bret yells at the referee and gets rolled up for two before Bret starts going after the knee. He loads up the Sharpshooter but he has to knock Coach to the floor. The distraction lets Perfect get in a shot to take over. Perfect drops a leg between Bret’s legs but as he tries it again, Bret grabs the leg and puts the Sharpshooter on from his back. He turns the hold over and Perfect submits really fast but it’s good for Bret’s first singles title.

Rating: A. Oh come on it’s Bret vs. Perfect from Summerslam 91. Do I really need to explain this one? It’s one of the best matches of all time and holds up over twenty years later. The counter by Bret is a great way to show how solid of a mat wrestler he was. Kicking out of the PerfectPlex was the perfect idea as Bret took the champ’s best shots and still won. It’s still excellent and required viewing for wrestling fans.

Bret celebrates with his parents.

The Bushwhackers are ready for the Natural Disasters and Andre is ready for Earthquake, the man who broke his leg a few weeks back.

Natural Disasters vs. Bushwhackers

Andre looks terrible here and would be dead in less than 18 months. The Whackers sneak up on the big men on the floor and poke them in the eyes. We finally start with Butch vs. Typhoon and the big man being bitten on the trunks. Earthquake tries to come in but splashes his own partner by mistake. A double clothesline puts Quake down and the Bushwhackers are in full control.

Earthquake finally realizes he weighs more than both Bushwhackers put together and pounds Butch down with a few shots to the back. Heenan makes an obscure Newhart reference as Quake slams Butch into the corner but misses an elbow drop to the back. The second attempt connects though and it’s off to Typhoon for more fat man offense.

Off to an over the shoulder backbreaker on Butch which transitions into a bearhug by Earthquake. Heenan leaves to go find Hogan and embarrass him which we’ll get to later. Quake finally hits Typhoon with a clothesline by mistake as everything breaks down. The Bushwhackers hit Battering Rams on both Disasters but it’s finally the big men crushing Luke and the Earthquake for the pin.

Rating: D-. This was a waste of time and everyone knew it was going to be from the moment the bell rang. The Bushwhackers were the epitome of comedy bumpkins and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not sure why they picked them of all teams for Andre to back and the match was horrible.

Post match the Disasters go after Andre but the LOD comes out for the save. This was Andre’s last appearance for the company.

Heenan goes to Hogan’s dressing room with the NWA World Title to issue a challenge. “Hogan” (you never see him) opens the door and slams it in Heenan’s face. For the life of me I can’t get over seeing that belt in the WWF.

Virgil recaps his feud with DiBiase. You’re probably familiar with this one: Virgil was his bodyguard for years but at the Rumble, DiBiase pushed him just once too often and Virgil snapped. DiBiase lost to Virgil via countout at Wrestlemania and tonight it’s a rematch with the Million Dollar Title on the line.

Million Dollar Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil

This is one of the very rare defenses of this title. DiBiase has Sensational Sherri with him. Piper is Virgil’s mentor so the commentary is going to be rather slanted. Virgil starts fast and hits three straight clotheslines to send DiBiase out to the floor. Heenan is back on commentary but doesn’t want to talk about Hogan. Virgil misses a dive to the floor and DiBiase sends him into the steps to keep him down. Back inside and Ted is in full control but he brags too much and gets caught in the Million Dollar Dream. The fans go nuts but Sherri comes in and blasts Virgil with her loaded purse for the DQ.

Rating: D. Actually hang on a minute.

The referee says the match MUST continue, sending Sherri to the back and Roddy into delirium. Virgil pounds on DiBiase in the corner but since he doesn’t have much experience he can’t do anything. He tries to whip DiBiase across the ring but gets countered into a ref bump to put both guys down. Ted yells at Piper like the true heel that he is before suplexing Virgil down. A piledriver lays Virgil out but sicne there’s no referee, DiBiase rips the turnbuckle off instead. Ted yells at Piper once too often though, allowing Virgil to ram him into the buckle twice for the pin and the title. Piper goes NUTS.

Rating: D+. This is a good example of a match where the crowd and announcing make it much better than it would have been otherwise. Virgil just wasn’t that good and this was his one and only storyline with the company due to there being nothing else to his character. How the guy kept a job for so many years with both WWF and WCW is beyond me.

The Mountie is ready for his Jailhouse Match with Boss Man. We get a clip of him shocking a handcuffed Boss Man from a few weeks ago. Moutnie insults the New York cops who take the loser to jail later tonight.

Boss Man says Mountie is going to jail tonight.

Mountie vs. Big Boss Man

Mountie talks trash to start so Boss Man punches him in the mouth to take over. They slug it out with Boss Man hitting a back elbow and a splash for two. Boss Man hits his running crotch attack to the back of Mountie’s neck followed by the sliding uppercut. Mountie dives into a good looking spinebuster for two but Boss Man chases Jimmy Hart instead of following up, earning him a trip into the steps.

Back in and Boss Man misses a splash in the corner as Heenan says it’s not Mayberry for the Boss Man tonight. Mountie gets two each off some elbows and a dropkick but the kickout sends him to the floor. He pulls Boss Man to the floor as Gorilla calls Jimmy a walking advertisement for birth control. Back in and they slug it out with Mountie hitting a piledriver for no cover. Instead Mountie gets his shock stick but only hits the mat. A hard uppercut sets up the Boss Man Slam for two (I don’t remember anyone not named Hogan kicking out of that) before another piledriver attempt is countered into an Alabama Slam to end Mountie.

Rating: D+. I’ve seen far worse and Boss Man’s high impact offense is always worth a look. This is the perfect blowoff to the feud which is something you rarely see anymore. Today feuds just keep going with some random gimmick match which may or may not fit the feud. This was the logical ending to it and it was tailor made for the blowoff. Why thy don’t do this anymore is beyond me.

Mountie is dragged away by cops.

DiBiase goes on a huge rant about the title, saying that Virgil stole it and he’ll get it back.

Bret says this is the best day of his career and he waited a long time to prove how great he is. I’m pretty sure we’re in intermission.

The Natural Disasters are going to eat the Legion of Doom for dinner.

Boss Man asks Sean Mooney what kind of bird can’t fly. A jailbird of course. He brags about winning a bit more.

Savage is nervous for the wedding.

Speaking of the wedding, here’s the phone number again, complete with a countdown clock for a five minute intermission. Seriously they just count down five minutes of dead air time. AND THIS WAS ON THE HOME VIDEO.

Mountie arrives at the jail and shouts that the cops can’t do this to him because HE’S THE MOUNTIE! He tries to read the cops their rights and gets thrown in a cell.

Jimmy Hart is panicking while his Nasty Boys are read for the LOD. It’s a street fight later tonight.

Mountie is tricked into having his picture taken.

The Legion of Doom wants the tag titles. Hawk says once they win the belts they’re going to chew up the Natural Disasters and spit them out “like the tartar that sticks to your teeth.”

Mountie yells about having being fingerprinted. These bits are so overblown that they’re hilarious.

Sgt. Slaughter and his cronies are excited about having a 3-2 advantage. Slaughter says he might have a surprise for later.

Sid Justice, the referee for the main event tonight, says that he’ll call it down the middle. Gene shows us a video of Slaughter and company offering Sid a spot on the team but Sid says they stopped him but he turned them down.

Tag Titles: Nasty Boys vs. Legion of Doom

The Nasties are defending and this is No Countout/No DQ, making it a street fight in modern terms. The champions are sent to the floor and the fight is on early. Back in the ring Animal hits a quick powerbomb on Knobbs for two followed by Hawk enziguring Sags down. We get down to the stupid tagging part of the street fight with Sags sending Hawk to the floor and hitting him with a bucket of water.

Back in and Knobbs works over Hawk in the corner before Sags sends him into the steps. A back elbow gets two for Knobbs and a top rope version gets the same for Sags. Brian goes up top again but jumps into Hawk’s boot, finally allowing for the hot tag off to Animal. Everything breaks down and Sags hits Animal in the back with Jimmy’s helmet for two. Hawk steals the helmet and lays out both Nasties, setting up the Doomsday Device on Sags for the pin and the titles.

Rating: D. This SUCKED as the street fight rule was barely used at all. It was little more than a few shots with the helmet when the referee wasn’t looking anyway. Hawk and Animal barely broke a sweat out there as they were already talking about the Natural Disasters earlier tonight instead of worrying about winning the belts. This win was a long time coming though.

The Mountie is put in a cell by some VERY sweaty policemen.

I.R.S. vs. Greg Valentine

Uh…..sure. Feeling out process to start so Gorilla recaps the show so far. Valentine takes over with a quick shoulder block and a clothesline. Somehow we’re nearly two minutes into the match with this much action. IRS rolls to the floor as Gorilla says Undertaker and Jake Roberts might be here. Back in and Valentine slams him down, sending IRS right back to the floor.

The tax guy heads in again and puts on an abdominal stretch followed by a jumping clothesline for no cover. Off to a chinlock before IRS misses a knee into the corner, giving Greg the opening on the leg. The Figure Four is quickly broken by a grab of the ropes and a second attempt at the hold is countered into a small package for the pin by IRS.

Rating: D. The match wasn’t even that bad but it had no business being on a pay per view. This would be the equivalent of the Divas match on a modern show to give the fans a breather between the big matches. Valentine was long past his point of being a star but he could still put people over like he did here.

Buy Hulk Hogan’s PPV, which is a Best of Hogan show. I’ve heard of worse ideas.

Hogan and Warrior talk about their victims in the main event.

Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Colonel Mustafa/General Adnan

Sid Justice is guest referee and Hogan is WWF Champion. Hogan and Slaughter get things going but the Sarge wants to stall. Slaughter pounds on him in the corner but gets caught between the right hands of both superheroes. Off to Warrior for a clothesline followed by a double big boot to put Slaughter down again. A clothesline gets two for Hogan and it’s back to Warrior. This is completely one sided so far. Hogan comes back in with a middle rope ax handle for two.

Sid breaks up some choking in the corner and the distraction lets Slaughter get in some shots on Hogan. Adnan, an old manager, comes in to rake Hogan’s back and slowly pound away in the corner. Off to Mustafa (Iron Sheik) for the gutwrench suplex and the camel clutch but Warrior makes the save. Slaughter comes back in to choke away in the corner and send Hogan into Sid for a staredown. Sarge jumps the distracted Hogan and stomps away on the back.

Warrior breaks up a top rope something by Slaughter, allowing for the hot tag to the painted one. Warrior cleans house on Slaughter but runs into Sid for another staredown. Back to Mustafa who gets caught in a suplex but Slaughter blocks a tag. Slaughter puts Warrior in a chinlock, only to have the Ultimate One fight up and clothesline Sarge down. There’s the hot tag to Hogan as Hogan chases the lackeys to the back with a chair. More on that later as Hogan throws powder in Slaughter’s face and drops the leg to win.

Rating: D+. I’m not a fan of this one as the match was never in doubt at all, but above that the Iraq War had been over for six months so the interest in the feud was done long ago. Nothing to see here but the fans reacted pretty well to it. This would have been better as a house show main event instead of the main event of Summerslam. If nothing else there was a match around this time on a Coliseum Video with Slaughter/Mustafa/Undertaker against the superheroes. Wouldn’t that make a much better main event here?

Hogan and Sid pose for a long time post match.

Mountie is in jail and a fat biker hits on him.

Hogan and Sid are STILL posing.

We get the video of Savage proposing to Liz and her responding with an OH YEAH. We also get a four minute music video highlighting their entire history together to a sappy love song.

The ring is set up like a chapel for the wedding. Savage comes out in a shiny tux with a big feather on his hat. Heenan: “Why is the second most important guy called the best man?” From what I’ve read this is a legit renewal of vows as the two were already married in real life. There isn’t much to say here other than it’s a wedding and no one interrupts it. This takes like ten minutes.

With the show in the arena done we go to the reception with Savage telling Heenan to beat it. Gene Okerlund does the ceremonial toast. They have the first dance and everything seems to be fine. Now we eat cake before heading over to the gift table where things get interesting.

First off, “WE GOT A BLENDER!!!” Savage freaks out as only he can as you would think he just got the WWF Title instead of a blender. Liz goes to open a present…..and there’s a cobra inside. She freaks out and Savage tries to pull her back, but Undertaker comes in and bashes him in the head with the urn. Jake Roberts comes in and holds the cobra in front of Liz’s face until Sid makes the save with a chair to end the show. This would set up Roberts vs. Savage in the feud of the year which resulted in Undertaker’s face turn.

Overall Rating: C-. This is an interesting show in that the first half is a much higher quality than the second half. The second half has all predictable matches where the winners were never in doubt, but that doesn’t exactly make it terrible. The show is definitely entertaining and set up a lot of stuff down the road while launching Bret Hart up to the next level. It’s worth a watch if you can find it in full but I wouldn’t expect to be blown away.

Ratings Comparison

British Bulldog/Ricky Steamboat/Texas Tornado vs. Warlord/Power and Glory

Original: D

Redo: C+

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

Original: A+

Redo: A

Natural Disasters vs. Bushwhackers

Original: C-

Redo: D-

Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase

Original: B

Redo: D+

Big Bossman vs. The Mountie

Original: D

Redo: D+

Legion of Doom vs. Nasty Boys

Original: D

Redo: D

Irwin R. Schyster vs. Greg Valentine

Original: D+

Redo: D

Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Colonel Mustafa/General Adnan

Original: D

Redo: D+

Overall Rating

Original: D

Redo: C-

Dang this show ticked me off the first time.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/25/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1991-a-wedding-that-goes-badly-what-a-new-concept/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Summerslam 1989
Date: August 28, 1989
Location: Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jesse Ventura

We’re back with another edition of the show with another tag team main event. This time it’s the now heel Savage teaming with an actor named Zeus to face Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. This isn’t even the blowoff match between the teams which makes the match even more of an odd choice. The other major match tonight is Rick Rude defending the Intercontinental Title against Ultimate Warrior, the man he stole the title from back at Wrestlemania. Let’s get to it.

Jesse blames Tony for having Heenan run off the air. I have no idea what he’s talking about as Heenan is on the show later tonight.

We get an intro video similar to the opening of a regular TV show with various highlights and people enjoying the warm weather.

Hart Foundation vs. Brain Busters

The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) won the tag titles a few weeks before this show, but since the match was already signed this is non-title. Why it wasn’t changed to a title match is beyond me but there’s no way this won’t be awesome. Heenan is with the Brain Busters here, making what Jesse said even more confusing. Bret and Tully get things going with Hart going straight for the arm. Arn comes in to take Bret to the mat with a headlock, only to have Bret crank on his arm as well.

A hammerlock slam puts Arn in a cute bit before it’s off to Neidhart for some powerful cranking on the arm. The Harts change two more times and both guys get to crank on the arm before Bret puts on an armbar. Arn slips out and brings in Tully who has his own arm pulled on by Anvil. Blanchard pulls on the beard to escape but can’t hiptoss the big man over. Back to Bret for more arm work before Anvil sneaks in without a tag. It’s only cheating if you get caught remember.

Anvil completely no sells some chops to the chest and sends Tully into the buckle before bringing Bret back in. The fans are all over Heenan with a Weasel chant while Bret works on a hammerlock. Tully grabs a top wristlock but Bret bridges off the mat to escape and the Busters are sent to the outside. Back in and Bret wins a slugout with Tully but gets suckered into a chase with Blanchard making a blind tag to Arn who blasts Bret from behind.

Everything breaks down again with the Brain Busters being knocked out to the floor once again. Back in and Bret sends Tully’s face into Anvil’s boot before bringing Neidhart again. Things break down again but Bret accidentally whips Jim into the buckle to give the Busters control. Arn drives a middle rope elbow into Neidhart’s back before it’s back to Tully for a reverse chinlock. Neidhart picks him up but Tully makes another blind tag off to Anderson to block a tag.

Arn punches him down but Anvil LAUNCHES Anderson off at two. Back up and both guys collide before Bret gets in a knee to Arn’s back to give Neidhart a breather. The hot tag brings in Hart vs. Blanchard with Bret dropping the middle rope elbow for no cover. Everything breaks down for the third or fourth time tonight with Bret being whipped into Tully to put both guys down.

Arn and Jim go to the floor but Bret slingshots Jim over the top into a shoulder block to Tully. Anvil powerslams Bret onto Blanchard but Anderson hits an ax handle to Bret’s head for the pin (while covering his head so the referee doesn’t see it’s Arn in the ring because Arn Anderson is more awesome than you).

Rating: B. I could watch Arn Anderson matches all day because of stuff like that at the end. I mean, who would think of such a little thing like that at the end of a match? This was a very solid opener but again I have no idea why the titles weren’t on the line here, especially if the Busters were going to go over by pin. The Harts wouldn’t even be a factor in the title scene for another year and even then they were big underdogs.

Dusty Rhodes talks about how the man in the blue suede shoes told him he can dance better than the Honky Tonk Man. This is a bit of a step down from Hard Times.

Honky Tonk Man vs. Dusty Rhodes

Dusty recently stole the Boss Man’s hat and nightstick after debuting early in the summer. We start with a dance off before Dusty takes him into the corner for a clean break. Honky bails to the floor to avoid the Bionic Elbow but comes back in for Dusty to grab his arm. Instead of driving an elbow into the shoulder though, Dusty messes with Honky’s hair to really get on his nerves. An atomic drop and the Bionic Elbow put Honky down with Dusty in full control.

Ten right hands in the corner drop Honky to the mat and it’s off to Dusty’s totally lame leg lock (meaning he stands there and turns Honky’s foot) fills in some time. Honky fires off some right hands but drops down to avoid a running Dusty. Jimmy Hart trips Dusty up and Honky just lays on the mat instead of going after Rhodes as Jimmy is stalked. Honky gets Jimmy’s megaphone for a shot to Dusty’s ribs and finally takes over with a chinlock.

It’s the long form version as we’re still in the hold about two minutes later. Dusty fights up and misses an elbow so it’s back to the chinlock. Rhodes fights up again and pounds away with right hands but Honky sends him into the referee to make this match go even further. Jimmy accidentally knocks Honky silly with the guitar and Dusty drops a big elbow for the pin.

Rating: D-. Who in the world thought this deserved ten minutes should be carried into the street and shot. Between the leg lock and the WAY too long chinlock, this could have been cut in half and nothing would have been lost. Honky was fine as a jobber to the stars at this point and he would maintain that position for months to come. This was way overbooked for what it was worth, but the fans loved Dusty which is the point of the match.

Honky asks someone to help him find the stage and wants to know where Priscilla is.

Demolition and King Hacksaw Jim Duggan are ready for their six man tag against the Twin Towers (Boss Man/Akeem) and Andre the Giant.

Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster

Perfect is still perfect at this point. They shove each other around to start until Hperfect shoves him down and hits a hiptoss. Things speed up a bit with both guys running the ropes and Perfect trying a slam. Rooster slips down the back and tries a slam of his own but can’t get Perfect up in a weird spot. Perfect sends him to the floor for a second and pounds away back inside, only to be shoved to the floor by Rooster. Perfect wins a quick slugout on the floor before going inside for the PerfectPlex and a very fast pin.

Rating: D. This was very odd with the match finishing out of nowhere after no build at all. The match had to be cut for time or maybe an injury because there’s no way this was the match they were planning. Or maybe they didn’t have time because we needed Dusty to have an even longer chinlock. These two are capable of having a far better match though and did many times.

Survivor Series is coming.

We go to Gene with Rude and Heenan in the back but the set falls down and the interview never stars. They try it again and the heels say they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the title.

The Rockers/Tito Santana vs. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers/Rick Martel

This should be awesome. Martel teases getting in there against Tito to start but sends Jacques in instead. As is his custom, Jacques requests a handshake but sneaks in some choking on Tito instead. The Rockers come in without tags and the good guys hit stereo dropkicks to send the French Canadians to the floor. Things settle down to Marty vs. Jacques with the latter going to the middle rope and head faking Marty, but Jannetty is faking the head fake and punches Jacques on the way down.

The advantage is short lived though as Ray Rougeau gets in a knee to the back from the apron and a kind of superkick to put Marty down. Off to Martel for right hands and some dancing followed by a cartwheel out of the corner. Marty is tired of the dancing and dropkicks Martel down but Rick runs away from the charging Tito. Instead it’s Santana putting a headlock on Ray before getting two off a clothesline.

Much like his brother did earlier, Jacques interferes for Ray and the Rougeaus take over on Santana with a double back elbow. Martel comes in to pound on the weakened Tito like a true weasel. Rick stomps away against the ropes as the fans are getting angrier and angrier at the Model. Jacques comes in again and hooks a front facelock to block the hot tag. Back to Martel but Tito fires off right hands to send the crowd into a frenzy. Jacques quickly pulls Tito’s hair to break it up but Tito gets a sunset flip for two.

Rick puts Tito down with a backbreaker and Ray hooks a Boston crab to stay on the weakened back. Back to Jacques for an abdominal stretch with a helping hand from Martel on the apron. Rick comes in again to break up another hot tag attempt and Ray stops Tito’s comeback just like Jacques did earlier. Tito hits a quick cross body for two and the Rockers finally come in to break up the interference. Ray comes in to keep Tito down but Jacques’ flying knee hits his brother, FINALLY allowing Tito to make the hot tag to Shawn.

Martel tries to hide in the corner but gets caught in a huge backdrop to send him running even further. A dropkick and a suplex put Martel down and the top rope right hand gets two as everything breaks down. Tito hits the flying forearm to send Martel to the floor and Marty rolls up Jacques, only to have Martel slide back in and blast Jannetty with a right hand, giving Jacques the pin.

Rating: B. Take six guys and two feuds, give them fifteen minutes in front of a hot crowd and witness the awesome. That’s exactly what happened here and the crowd got WAY into it, especially the Martel vs. Santana stuff. Those two just started feuding a few months before this and people were drooling to see Tito get his revenge. Really solid old school six man tag here which worked exceptionally well.

We recap Rude vs. Warrior. Rude attacked Warrior during a posedown at the Rumble before stealing the IC Title at Wrestlemania with help from Heenan. Tonight is the rematch with rude defending against a ticked off Warrior after Warrior spent months fighting through the Heenan Family. This was also used to set up Warrior vs. Andre the Giant over the winter.

Warrior rants about Andre before saying he’ll get his title back from Rude.

Intercontinental Title: Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude

Rude isn’t sure what to do with Warrior to start so he tries punching him in the face to no avail. A clothesline puts Rude on the apron and a sunset flip is easily blocked with a right hand to the champion’s face. Warrior easily picks him up and gorilla presses him to the floor as this is one sided so far. Rude is sent into the barricade as Jesse is losing his mind over the referee not disqualifying Warrior.

Warrior gets two off a top rope ax handle before throwing him into the corner and pounding away. A shoulder block gets two on Rude and there’s an atomic drop to crush Rude’s spine a bit more. Warrior swivels his hips but gets crotched on the top rope to Jesse’s glee. Rude pounds on the back as he did in the Wrestlemania match and gets two off a suplex. Off to a reverse chinlock with Rude dropping down onto Warrior’s back for good measure. Back up and Warrior breaks up the Rude Awakening but gets caught in a sleeper.

Warrior finally fights out with a jawbreaker but after they run the ropes a bit, Rude sends Warrior into the referee to put everyone down. It’s Rude on his feet first but Warrior starts to Hulk Up to a HUGE reaction. A big backdrop and a clothesline put Rude down followed by a powerslam but there’s no referee. Warrior hits a piledriver but the referee crawls over for two. A powerslam sets up the splash but Rude gets his knees up to slow Warrior down again.

Rude hits a kind of powerbomb (basically driving Warrior’s head into the mat) for a close two as things slow down again. Rude hits a top rope right hand to the jaw as Roddy Piper strolls down. A piledriver puts Warrior down but Piper flashes Rude, allowing Warrior to suplex him out of the corner. Warrior hits a quick shoulder block followed by the gorilla press and splash for the title and an ERUPTION from the crowd.

Rating: B. If there has ever been better chemistry between a talented guy and a guy who could barely survive against anyone else, I’m not sure where it is. Warrior looked great out there and got the win back to conclude a very well done feud. Good stuff here as this show is cooking after a somewhat weak start. That pop for Warrior pretty much gave him the world title right then and there.

Mr. Perfect says he’s perfect.

Roddy Piper laughs about costing Rude the title, setting up his first feud after returning to the ring.

Ronnie Garvin is in a tuxedo and gets to be a guest announcer tonight. Heenan comes in to interrupt him and rants about Piper coming to the ring and costing Rude the title. Rude isn’t pleased either and yells as you would expect him to.

We go to an intermission, which is just a graphic with a countdown clock until the show continues.

We recap the main event tag match. Hogan was in a movie with Tiny Lister portraying the villain. The idea of the story is that Lister’s character Zeus felt that he could beat Hogan in Hogan’s real life job so he beat up Hogan before a cage match. This would be like Harrison Ford picking a fight with Mark Hamill because of what Hamill did on the Millennium Falcon. I don’t know if we were supposed to take it seriously or not, but the main problem here is obvious: Zeus is an actor instead of a wrestler, meaning there isn’t much he can do in the ring.

Savage and Beefcake got involved to make it a tag match so Zeus didn’t fight alone. Hogan couldn’t hurt Zeus with a chair to the back but raking the eyes had an effect, giving Hogan an opening tonight. Savage was still a big deal at this point so this really was a big heel team to face Hogan and Beefcake. We get full clips of these moments as the intermission continues.

Twin Towers/Andre the Giant vs. Demolition/Jim Duggan

Duggan is King of the WWF and has his face painted like Demolition but is rocking an American flag pattern of course. Akeem starts with the King with Duggan absorbing the trash talk and pounding away on the big man before it’s off to Ax for some pounding on the arm. Smash comes in and Demolition pounds Akeem down before bringing Duggan back in to crank on the arm as well.

Akeem finally gets in a shot to Ax’s ribs and it’s off to Boss Man who is immediately pounded down by the fresh Smash. Boss Man rakes the eyes to slow Smash down but Smash rakes the eyes right back in a good bit. Ax comes in again and cranks on the arm but gets sent into the wrong corner so Andre can come in and pound away with big right hands.

Akeem comes back in but misses a slow motion splash, allowing for the hot tag back to Smash who slams Akeem down in an impressive power display. Everything breaks down and Akeem hits a bottom rope splash on Smash, but Duggan hits Akeem in the back with the 2×4 to give Smash the pin.

Rating: C. It wasn’t much of a match but for above seven and a half minutes with these six guys, this was as good as you were going to get. Duggan was about as big as he was going to get in the WWF at this point as the fans were WAY into his Hogan-Lite character. Demolition was fresh off losing the tag titles but but they were still the most popular tag team in the company. Good, fun little match here which was much better than I was expecting.

Ted DiBiase says he’ll beat Jimmy Snuka because he’s cultured and Snuka is a savage.

Greg Valentine vs. Hercules

Ronnie Garvin is guest ring announcer after being fired from being a referee. He takes a ton of shots at Valentine (“Weighing in at 249lbs…..but he looks about 30lbs heavier and wears a robe with cheap rhinestones.”) since Valentine got him suspended in the first place. Hercules jumps Valentine to start and powerslams him down for two. A quick rollup gets two for Greg before they head to the floor for nothing of note. Back in and Valentine pounds him down with some elbows but the Figure Four is broken up. Hecules suplexes him down but gets rolled up with Valentine’s feet on the ropes for the fast pin.

Rating: D. This was all about furthering Garvin vs. Valentine with the stuff before the match and a bit we’ll get to in a second. I’m no Garvin fan at all but this was an amusing angle given where you could turn your brain off and laugh at some stupid jokes for a few minutes every show. There’s nothing wrong with comic relief and having a talented guy like Valentine out there made it a bit easier to sit through.

Post match Garvin announces Hercules as the winner, which apparently is good enough to get Valentine disqualified. Like I said, this is the time to turn your brain off.

Randy Savage, Zeus and Sister Sherri gather round a cauldron and predict bad futures for Hogan, Beefcake and Liz. The late 80s were weird in case you were wondering.

Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

No story here as they’re just out there to fill in a few minutes before the main event. Snuka headbutts DiBiase to the floor before the bell and avoids a charging Ted to send him into Virgil for a big crash. An atomic drop sends DiBiase to the floor and the match slows down a bit. Back in and Snuka can’t get high enough for his reverse leapfrog so he sends DiBiase into the corner to keep control. Ted goes to the eyes to get a moment’s breather but gets caught by a shoulder to put him back down.

A quick stun gun sends Snuka into the top rope and Ted can stomp away like a good 80s heel. DiBiase works on the back with knees to the spine and a backbreaker for no cover but a middle rope elbow misses. Jimmy slams Ted down and hits a middle rope headbutt but Virgil breaks up the Superfly Splash. Snuka chases him around on the floor but gets sent into the post by DiBiase for the countout.

Rating: D. Another lame match here and I’m not sure why DiBiase couldn’t get a pin. Either way, the match was there to give the fans a breather from that EPIC Hercules vs. Valentine heat before the main event. Snuka was still a fan favorite so having him out there wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

Post match Snuka hits the Superfly on Virgil.

Hogan and Beefcake talk about riding motorcycles across a river (just go with it) with Liz riding on the back of Hogan’s bike. Savage and Zeus weren’t mentioned at all.

Genius recites a poem about Summerslam, saying he thinks Zeus and Savage (his real brother) will win.

Zeus/Randy Savage vs. Brutus Beefcake/Hulk Hogan

Before we get going, Liz gets her own full entrance as the secret weapon. It’s a brawl to start but Hogan can’t hurt Zeus. He goes to the eyes but can’t slam Zeus down so the monster chokes Hulk down. Beefcake tries to dive on Zeus but gets caught in midair. Now it’s a bearhug on Hogan but here’s Savage off a tag. Why in the world would you change when you had Hogan in trouble like that? A top rope ax handle gets two for Randy and it’s off to the sleeper.

Hogan elbows out of it and hits some shoulder blocks but Zeus knees him in the back to slow him down. Back to Zeus for another bearhug which takes Hogan down to the mat for some two counts. It’s back to Savage to snap Hogan’s throat over the top rope and a suplex gets two. Savage misses some elbow drops and there’s the hot tag to Beefcake. A high knee gets two on Savage and Beefcake hooks his sleeper. Savage rams him into the middle buckle and it’s off to Zeus, but Brutus puts him in a sleeper as well.

Randy breaks up the hold with Sherri’s loaded purse but he suckers Hogan into the ring instead of covering. Hogan stops Savage from attacking Liz but Beefcake is still in big trouble. Back to Zeus for some choking on Beefcake until the referee makes the save. Savage comes back in but walks into a double clothesline to put both guys down. The hot tag brings in Hogan to clean house but Sherri trips Hulk up to give Savage control again.

The big elbow hits but Hogan is up before there’s any cover. Savage runs away and it’s time for the showdown with Zeus. Hogan pounds away and finally puts Zeus down to one knee. Liz takes out Sherri and Beefcake intercepts Savage, causing him to drop the loaded purse. Hogan blasts Zeus in the face with the purse, slams him down and drops the leg for the pin.

Rating: D+. Amazingly enough, a non-wrestler like Zeus wasn’t capable of having a good match on any size of a stage. Beefcake and Savage were just window dressing here, but in this case the window dressing carried the match for his team. Zeus was just horrible here and was basically the original promotional stunt for a wrestling movie, which never works.

Post match Liz cuts Sherri’s hair. Much posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. There’s a lot of bad stuff here but the good matches are more than good enough to make up for the lame short ones. The crowd is VERY hot all night to lift the show even higher up which helped a lot. The main event was horrible and while the cage match that blew it off a few months later was better, this is the match that should have been the big deal. Still though, the show is worth checking out but you should fast forward a few of the matches.

Ratings Comparison

Hart Foundation vs. Brain Busters

Original: B+

Redo: B

Honky Tonk Man vs. Dusty Rhodes

Original: F

Redo: D-

Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster

Original: C+

Redo: D

Rick Martel/Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Tito Santana/Rockers

Original: B+

Redo: B

Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude

Original: A-

Redo: B

Jim Duggan/Demolition vs. Andre the Giant/Twin Towers

Original: C+

Redo: C

Hercules vs. Greg Valentine

Original: F-

Redo: D

Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

Original: D

Redo: D

Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage/Zeus

Original: B-

Redo: D+

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: C+

About the same this time.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/23/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1989-gather-round-the-cauldron/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

MSG Steel Cage Matches
Commentators: Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield, Rich Brennan, Sean Mooney, Brother Love, Gorilla Monsoon, Hillbilly Jim, Tony Schiavone, Lord Alfred Hayes, Superstar Billy Graham, Roger Kent, Gene Okerlund

It’s time for another WWE Vault collection and as usual, the name speaks for itself. In this case, we have a bunch of cage matches from the company’s home base. That could go in a variety of directions as there have been cage matches throughout the venue’s history. I’m optimistic about this one so let’s get to it.

From WWE Live From MSG.

US Title: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

Cena is defending and Rollins’ WWE Title isn’t on the line. They take their time to start with Cena working a headlock but Rollins is back up with the knee to the face (which previously broke Cena’s nose). Rollins knocks him down again and goes up but Cena cuts him off rather quickly. A bulldog off the top gives Cena two but Rollins is back up with a top rope knee to the face for two more.

Cena manages a desperation (or as desperate as you can get about five minutes into a match) dropkick and climbs up, only to be pulled back down for a Sling Blade. Rollins drives him face first into the cage and drops him for two more but Cena manages an electric chair. Cena goes up and tries the top rope Fameasser, only to dive into a sitout powerbomb (ala Batista in 2008) for two, leaving them both down.

Back up and Cena goes into the cage but Cena reverses and does the same right back to him. The comeback is on with Cena initiating the finishing sequence but Rollins cuts off the Shuffle. Rollins tries his own Cena finishing sequence but Cena catches him with a ProtoBomb. Rollins’ dive is pulled into the STF until he pulls them into the ropes for a creative break.

Both of them dive for the door to no avail so Rollins slams it onto Cena’s head for a near fall. Cena is back up with a catapult into the corner, with Rollins rapidly climbing up. That’s cut off and Rollins goes into the cage, only to come up and cut off Cena’s climb as well. The superplex into the Falcon Arrow gets two on Cena and they’re both down again. Rollins goes up so Cena runs the corner and catches him on top for the slugout, only to have Rollins crash back down.

A top rope DDT gives Cena two and they both need another breather. Rollins goes up and kicks the door into Cena’s face for a nasty counter but Cena pulls him back in for the AA, with Rollins sticking the landing. The basement superkick gives Rollins two but Cena pulls him into the STF again. This time Rollins reverses into the crossface (sweet) so Cena powers up and tries the AA, which is countered into a low blow. Cue Kane though, leaving Rollins stuck on top (because climbing down in a hurry wasn’t an option). Instead Rollins misses a dive off the top and gets AA’d to retain Cena’s title at 22:45.

Rating: B. These two work well together so there is no shock that they did it again here. Cena beating the World Champion to retain the US Title is acceptable enough due to reasons of “it’s Cena”, but I was never a fan of this double champion story they were doing. For a main event on a Network special though, this was quite good.

From January 21, 1991 (oddly enough, this is the second review in a row featuring a match from this show).

Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

Savage has Queen Sherri with him and hides outside the ring to jump Warrior during his entrance for a smart move. I mean it doesn’t work as Warrior cuts him off and starts the brawl on the floor but it wasn’t a bad plan. Warrior throws him through the door and then climbs over the cage because that’s what a rational person does. An atomic drop has Savage in more trouble but he sends Warrior into the cage for a breather.

A rake to the eyes and that running clothesline that Savage always does connect, though Warrior hits a clothesline of his own. Savage gets a rather delayed two so Warrior gets up, only for a Sherri distraction to allow Savage to knee him into the cage. With nothing else working, Warrior opts to punch him in the face, earning some choking against the ropes.

Savage pounds him down and drops the top rope elbow for two (with the referee having to climb inside to count), with Warrior launching him off the cover. Warrior Warriors Up and makes the clothesline comeback but the splash hits knees. Savage gets up and over but can’t master the art of jumping four feet, allowing Warrior to pull him back up. Sherri decks the referee and climbs in to choke Warrior…which actually works as Savage falls down to win at 10:33.

Rating: B-. You could always see the chemistry between these two and that was on display again here as they had a good match. Warrior losing is weird enough to see, though they protected him well so it doesn’t really hut things. Throw in that he was two days after losing the WWF Title though and the writing was pretty clearly on the wall for him at this point.

From December 28, 1989.

Roddy Piper vs. Rick Rude

Bobby Heenan is here with Rude and for the first time, pinfalls or submissions are allowed as well. Rude jumps him fast to start but Piper is back with a whip into the cage. Piper finds a belt to whip away, followed by a big right hand with the belt around his fist. A bite to the head makes it even worse for Rude as Monsoon goes over the possible ways to win.

As expected, Rude’s tights are pulled down on the way up the cage, which is one of his favorite spots. Piper sends him into the cage again but this time Rude pulls Piper’s trunks (and Piper) down. The bloody Rude wants the door open as we get a cool wide shot to show how everything looks at once. Piper grabs the boot so Rude just unloads with big forearms to put him down.

Rude goes for the door again and gets pulled back in, with his tights coming (and staying down). That means Piper can make the comeback, but the big blurry spot is rather distracting. Rude grabs a quick Rude Awakening, though he crawls around instead of covering (in theory because of the blood in his eyes but that’s a stretch).

Piper gets up and cuts Rude off at the door again so a double clothesline can leave them both down. They both go up and slug it out on top before climbing down at the same time. A double ram lets them jump down at the same time and….they just keep fighting. Therefore the match continues (the fans approve) so Rude hits him in the head with a chair. Back in and Rude (still with the big blurry spot) knocks him down again before going all the way to the top or the cage.

The big fist drop connects for a rather delayed two, followed by a piledriver to knock Piper silly again. Rude wants to go up top again so Piper shakes the cage for the big crotching. Piper ties him in the cable on top of the cage, leaving Rude hanging upside down (nope). Heenan slams the door on Piper’s head for a quick two though and it’s time….for what looked like a comeback to be cut off by a belly to back suplex. We get a foreign object thrown in but Piper knocks it away. A big running shot to the head knocks Rude cold and Piper walks out for the win at 12:57.

Rating: B. Oh yeah this is still a classic, with Piper getting to have one of the best brawls of his career. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it made for a heck of a match, with the fans getting way into the whole thing. You don’t get to see Piper going this hard this long very often and it was awesome to see these guys like this. If nothing else, this is on Supertape 2 so it’s easy to find otherwise.

From March 18, 1989.

Big Boss Man vs. Hulk Hogan

Slick is here with Boss Man and the place goes nuts for Hogan, as expected. Hogan chases Slick to the back before getting in and climbs in over the top of the cage, which Hayes says he’s never seen before. Oh come on dude. It’s not even the first time you’ve seen Hogan do it (Wrestlemania II for instance). Hogan chokes with his shirt to start and sends him into the cage, followed by the running elbow in the corner. Boss Man is down early and Hayes can’t believe what he’s seeing.

A suplex drops him again as Slick is back at ringside and Schiavone is screaming a lot. Boss Man gets in a shot of his own and they go up top, where Hogan hammers away again. A headbutt knocks Hogan backwards though and it’s quite the craw all the way down. Hogan runs back up to catch him and there’s the superplex to bring Boss Man back down, though it doesn’t land quite as clean as the famous one from Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Both of them are down again and Boss Man is slight cut open. The referee comes in for the arm drops but Boss Man goes for the door, with Hogan making the save. A spinebuster drops Hogan again and Boss Man chokes him down with a chain. Back up and Hogan manages a double ram into the cage, allowing them to very clearly talk to each other on the mat. Hogan goes up but gets pulled down, meaning it’s a slam to put Boss Man back down.

Now it’s Hogan getting the chain to knock Boss Man silly, giving us a bit more blood. Naturally Hogan motions that he wants the title, which has nothing to do with this match. Boss Man gets chained in the head a few more times, followed by some rams into the cage. The legdrop connects and Hogan goes up, which draws Slick in.

That’s broken up as well and Boss Man gets crotched…and handcuffed to the ropes. Hogan goes up and gets out just before Slick can unlock Boss Man (the same ending as Saturday Night’s Main Event). Boss Man does get to the floor before the bell but Hogan hits him in the head with a chair and wakes up the referee, which is enough to give Hogan the win at 11:14.

Rating: B-. The problem here is pretty obvious, as this match would be done again not long after this on a much bigger stage and quite a bit better. This is mainly a dress rehearsal for the famous version on Saturday Night’s Main Event and while it’s still good, it really just makes me want to see the well known version again. Not at all bad, but history has screwed this one over a bit.

Post match Hogan beats up Slick and takes his hat, which is quite the trend for him.

From June 25, 1988.

WWF Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Savage

DiBiase, with Virgil (to oppose Elizabeth) is challenging and you’ve probably seen this one before. We get an awesome shot of the always gorgeous Winged Eagle (as opposed to a wingless eagle) title and DiBiase jumps him to start fast. The fist drop (dang that always looked cool) connects but DiBiase misses a knee drop. Savage hammers away but gets knocked right back down, giving us the often awesome sight of Savage taking a beating.

DiBiase goes up so Savage slams him down, only to get beaten down again. Savage catches him on top and tries to go out, only for Virgil to interfere so Savage gets tied in the Sapling Of Woe. That’s broken up so Savage tries another climb, only to be pulled down by DiBiase this time. Savage’s clothesline lets him try for the door but DiBiase cuts him off again. Some rams into the mat have Savage in trouble but he fights back again and gets a needed breather.

A suplex drops DiBiase again and an atomic drop sends him into the cage, as tends to be the case. Savage goes for the door but Virgil rams it onto his head, with Graham suggesting that Elizabeth get in the gym so she can fight Virgil. DiBiase goes for the door and loses a good deal of his trunks as Savage makes the save. Back in and Savage rams him hard into the cage before climbing up. Virgil is there to cut him off again (and a kid climbs the cage but gets pulled down, which is edited out here), only for Savage to ram their heads together and climb out to retain at 12:20.

Rating: B. I get why they cut it out but dang that ending is missing just a little something without the kid running in. It showed just how emotional this whole thing had gotten, but at the same time you don’t want to glorify something like that. Otherwise, another awesome match between these two, which is pretty standard for them.

From July 12, 1986.

Randy Savage/Adrian Adonis vs. Tito Santana/Bruno Sammartino

Well ok. Both have to escape to win here. Sammartino gets jumped on the way in but Santana fights back to make the save. A belt shot misses for Savage and Sammartino sends him into the corner to stomp away. Savage blocks a ram into the cage as Adonis takes over on Santana. Sammartino fights back on Adonis but has to get a running charge to cut off Savage’s escape.

Santana sends Adonis into the cage but gets pulled back down. Savage is tied in the Tree of Woe for some stomping but Adonis suplexes Santana. Adonis gets caught trying to escape and Sammartino crotches him on top. A ram into the cage has Santana busted open as Sammartino pulls Savage back through the door. Adonis rakes Santana’s face against the cage but gets kneed into the corner by Sammartino.

Savage goes up and Adonis punches him out of the air as Sammartino pulls Adonis back through the door as well. Savage is very busted open as well as he cuts off Santana in the corner. Adonis drops Sammartino and goes up but…well kind of misses a splash off the cage (grazing Sammartino on the way down). Savage goes up but Santana is there to catch him. With Savage knocked down and Adonis dropped, Sammartino bolts out the door and Santana climbs down to win at 9:53.

Rating: B+. There are very few people who could get more out of the most basic punch/kick offense than Sammartino. He didn’t do much in the ring but the fans absolutely loved him and that made these matches so much better. I had a blast with this, as you had four guys beating the fire out of each other until two of them survived. That’s the nature of a cage match and few could bring it like Sammartino.

From June 21, 1985.

WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Magnificent Muraco

Hogan is defending and jumps Muraco to start fast. That doesn’t last long and they stop to stare at each other as the door is locked. Muraco can’t ram him into the cage but Hogan can’t make it work either. Instead Hogan rakes the eyes and sends him into the corner, where he still can’t get in a ram to the cage. Muraco gets in a knockdown and seems to hit Hogan low but it’s way too early for the door.

Another low blow cuts Hogan off but he wastes no time in Hulking Up and firing off….Mongolian chops of all things. A clothesline and elbow drop have Muraco in more trouble, followed by a bite to the head. Muraco gets rammed face first into the cage to draw some blood so Hogan does it again for a bonus.

Back up and Hogan gets rammed into the cage as well, giving him the chance to rather clearly blade. A slingshot sends Hogan into the cage again and he comes up bleeding, though he’s still able to catch Muraco on top. Some biting to the head has Muraco in trouble so he bites Hogan right back. Hogan crashes down and Muraco hammers away, only for Hogan to shove him away. That’s enough for Muraco to get tied in the ropes but he gets out, only to be punched away so Hogan can retain at 9:08.

Rating: C+. Kind of a weak way to wrap up the collection, but it pretty much had to be Hogan or Sammartino given the subject. Those two are synonymous with the Garden and Hogan did so many cage matches that he had to get on here a few times. Hogan was absolutely still figuring his stuff out though and it was weird to see him trying different things. Not a bad one here, but just a bit of a strange pick.

Overall Rating: B+. I had a great time with this as they picked quite the nice batch of matches. You had some of the greatest hits with Savage vs. DiBiase and Piper vs. Rude, plus the awesome tag match and Cena vs. Rollins. The rest ranges from good to good enough and that made for a heck of a collection.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Supertape 4
Host: Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes
Commentators: Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, Bobby Heenan

It’s time for another in this series and that could mean just about anything, as this series likes to stretch the definition of “super”. You never know what you’re going to get on this thing, though I’d assume on some wrestling from the WWF. Other than that, it could be quite the variety of quality so let’s get to it.

This is presented in the most complete form, which is a weird thing for a home video.

Opening sequence, which is likely just a preview of what we’ll be seeing.

Sean Mooney is tasked with delivering the master tape of Supertape 4 to Coliseum Video and he has a cooler, van, driver and tour guide. The van is labeled with a piece of paper and the driver is Lord Alfred Hayes…who doesn’t let the food or driver inside. Hayes already doesn’t know where they’re going but the cooler is left outside.

Mr. Perfect, with Bobby Heenan, has the Intercontinental Title back and insists he is perfect enough to beat the Texas Tornado.

From West Palm Beach, Florida, December 12, 1990.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Texas Tornado

Perfect, without Heenan, is defending. Tornado tries to slug away to start but takes too long taking off his robe, allowing Perfect to knock him outside. Tornado pulls him outside as well and gets in some shots of his own before throwing Perfect back inside. That means Tornado can throw him right back outside, as Tornado doesn’t have the clearest strategy. Back in (again) and Tornado hammers away before grabbing the Claw…on the stomach. With that broken up, Perfect grabs the sleeper until Tornado powers into the corner.

Tornado misses a charge into the post though and Perfect pulls a turnbuckle pad off. A quick Tornado Punch sends Perfect outside but another one hits the post by mistake. Back in and Perfect sends him into the post for two but the PerfectPlex only gets two. Tornado gets the Claw so Perfect pulls the referee in, only for the Tornado Punch to connect for a delayed near fall. Back up and Tornado hits another Tornado Punch….but NOW the referee calls for the DQ at 7:45. What a ridiculous ending.

Rating: C-. Perfect was trying here but there is only so much that can be done when Tornado is in this kind of shape. Tornado was clearly not right out there, which was becoming an issue more and more frequently. The guy looked great, but it didn’t matter if he couldn’t have a coherent match most of the time. Throw in a screwy ending and there was only so much to be done with this.

Post match Tornado sends him into the exposed buckle for the big spinning sell.

From New York City, New York, January 21, 1991.

Koko B. Ware vs. Tito Santana

This is a very rare face vs. face match and even Heenan thinks this will be good. They shake hands and then go to a lockup to start, with Heenan saying that his Family could have a better match. An armdrag takes Ware down and Santana does it again as they’re certainly in first gear so far. Santana snapmares his way out of a hammerlock and actually suggests a hair pull. A shoulder block into an armdrag puts Ware down and they seem to be getting a big agitated.

We get an exchange of shoves (Heenan: “I LIKE IT!”) before Ware punches him in the face as things get a lot more aggressive. They go outside where Ware sends him into the post before going back inside to hammer away. Ware slugs him down and drops an elbow for two, setting up the nerve hold. Some snap jabs have Heenan rather pleased, with Mooney thinking Ware might belong in the Heenan Family. The top rope fist drop misses though and Santana makes the comeback. They both miss clotheslines but Santana hits the flying forearm for the pin at 10:10.

Rating: C+. This was so strange to see and oddly enough, it worked well. Ware knows how to work this style and Santana is as good of a face as you’ll find, but dang this does doesn’t feel right in the WWF. I’ll take something going this way for a change though, as it was cool to see a fresh take on a match instead of more of the same.

Believe it or not, Hayes is lost.

We look at wrestlers who have gone from wrestling to broadcasting (From The Mat To The Mike), including Gorilla Monsoon, who talks about making the transition and promises to be around more often.

Roddy Piper gets a look as well and insists he is NOT retired. He makes some jokes about Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper before saying it’s better to not get beaten up.

We also have Gene Okerlund, which is an excuse to show his match with Hulk Hogan against Mr. Fuji and George Steele.

Finally Randy Savage talks about going against the best of all time and giving everything he had. Naturally he’s as intense as a broadcaster as he was as a wrestler.

The van has engine trouble.

From West Palm Beach, Florida, December 12, 1990.

Undertaker vs. Tugboat

This is the Fan Favorite match, meaning someone actually requested to see it. We’re VERY early in Undertaker’s time as he still has Brother Love as his manager. Undertaker slugs away to little effect as Tugboat shoves him back. An exchange of shoulders doesn’t go anywhere so Undertaker tries a leapfrog but Tugboat just stops, resulting in a knee to the head instead.

Back up and Tugboat elbows him down, which is quite the big deal for Undertaker at this point. Another elbow drops Undertaker but Tugboat misses the elbow drop. Undertaker hammers away but misses a charge in the corner, with Tugboat falling down as he tries a slam. Some shots to the back have Tugboat down again but he’s back up with a powerslam. A kick to the face rocks Undertaker again but Tugboat misses a charge in the corner. Undertaker’s top rope forearm to the chest is good for the pin at 5:43. Mooney: “What a great match this turned out to be!” LIAR!

Rating: D. I was a fan when I was a kid but my goodness Tugboat was HORRIBLE. He was big, he was slow, and those are his good points. Other than that, Tugboat just did not have anything to offer in the ring and that was on display here. Things would get a bit better when he would turn into Typhoon, but this was not a good time for him whatsoever.

From Savannah, Georgia, January 29, 1991.

Shawn Michaels vs. Crush

Marty Jannetty and Mr. Fuji are here too. Crush pounds away to start and blocks a sunset flip. Michaels hammers back and hits a flying shoulder but the kickout sends him flying outside. Back in and Michaels goes simple with a front facelock, which Crush powers into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

A torture rack dropped down into a backbreaker keeps Michaels in trouble, followed by the required bearhug. With that broken up, Crush switches over to a bodyscissors but misses a top rope knee drop to leave them both down. Fuji gets on the apron as Crush catches Michaels, only for Jannetty to add a high crossbody to knock Michaels onto Crush for the pin at 7:19.

Rating: C+. Crush was little more than a monster for Michaels to slay here, as you could see Michaels’ singles star power trying to break through. That’s a great sign for his future and he is getting better before your eyes at this point. It’s no surprise that he is getting this kind of a singles push and it was working well enough.

Hayes and Mooney work on the van, with Hayes using Mooney’s jacket to clean up. They know the problem….but don’t know how to fix it.

From Huntsville, Alabama, January 7, 1991.

Mr. Fuji/Orient Express vs. Legion Of Doom

For some reason Fuji starts for the team but then switches out with Kato, while also playing pass the salt. Animal shoves Kato around and then does it again for a bonus. With that not working, Kato slaps him in the face and gets a chase going, allowing Kato to strike away back inside. Tanaka comes in and gets knocked down, where it’s time for a meeting with his cohorts.

Back in and Tanaka teases going after Hawk, who growls him away. Hawk fights off a double teaming and Kato bails out to the floor, where Animal picks him up for a gorilla press toss back inside. A running clothesline puts Kato on the floor again though and Animal clotheslines him there as well.

This isn’t going so well for him at the moment. Animal runs Tanaka over so Kato offers a distraction, with the salt to the eyes taking Animal down. That has Animal in trouble for all of a few seconds before he clotheslines his way to freedom. Hawk comes back in clean house and the Doomsday Device finishes Kato at 8:00.

Rating: C-. There was only so much you could get out of this kind of a match and there was no way around it. The LOD more or less squashed them here, with even the salt not being able to do much. That was part of the problem with the LOD: you could only put so many teams against them and that was the case at this point, as they didn’t have much in the way of competition.

And now, Gourmet Cooking Tips with the Bushwhackers. We start with a salad, which is thrown everywhere, then the mashed potatoes, which has a special ingredient, then broccoli, which results in bodily function jokes, and then walnut surprise cake, which is shoved into faces. We also get a flashback to Gene Okerlund becoming a Bushwhacker in the first Supertape thanks to some Bushwhacker Buzzard. Back in the kitchen, an apple goes into Okerlund’s mouth and the Bushwhackers want him for dinner. This was about ten minutes of not funny.

Hayes says he knows a good repairman and Mooney shows us to a profile on the Big Boss Man.

Boss Man talks about being the law and order around here and promises us three matches.

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 16, 1990.

Earthquake vs. Big Boss Man

Jimmy Hart is here (minus the megaphone for some reason) with the non-Canadian Earthquake. They take their time circling each other to start and finally lock up, with Earthquake shoving him hard into the corner. For some reason Hayes finds this hilarious, though it might be Earthquake doing the posing. Back in and Boss Man does his weird bouncing headlock before punching him into the corner.

Boss Man gets powered into the corner but knocks Earthquake down, followed by chasing Hart around the ring. Earthquake misses a charge into the corner and gets low bridged down for two, only for Earthquake to hit him in the throat. Boss Man gets sent into the corner so Earthquake can sit on him, which doesn’t go well.

Back up Earthquake wins a slugout and an atomic drop has Boss Man in more trouble. Boss Man gets up with a shot to the back of the head and a kick to drop Earthquake, setting up the running clotheslines. That means Earthquake gets tied up in the ropes, but Boss Man goes after Hart and an invading Dino Bravo. Earthquake gets out and hits him in the back, setting up a big elbow for the pin at 10:04.

Rating: C+. I liked the match, but it’s a bit weird to see Boss Man losing in a match designed to be part of his profile. That being said, it was a good brawl, as Boss Man was always good at slugging it out at someone bigger than him. It worked very well against Vader and this was a similar enough idea.

Post match Earthquake goes after him again but Tugboat makes the save.

From Syracuse, New York, November 20, 1990.

Bobby Heenan vs. Big Boss Man

So Heenan has spent weeks insulting Boss Man’s mother so it’s time for payback. Before the match, Heenan brings out a Hulk Hogan wrestling buddy (that’s worth some cash these days) as a gift to Boss Man’s mother, along with roses that he has already sent to her. Boss Man comes to the ring and shoves the wrestling buddy into his face. Heenan gets in a shot with the microphone so Boss Man hits him with the nightstick for the win at 31 seconds.

Post match Haku comes in and gets beaten down just as fast. Boss Man handcuffs them together but Mr. Perfect runs in to go after Boss Man as the other two leave. That’s broken up as well and Boss Man clears the ring, with Mooney declaring it a “great matchup.” Again, LIAR!

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, November 25, 1990 (I believe, as I’ve seen multiple dates and locations for this one).

The Barbarian vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man slugs away to start and hits a big boot, followed by a running elbow to send him outside. Back in and Barbarian strikes away for a change, only to get clotheslined out to the floor. Barbarian gets back in but has a big boot blocked, allowing Boss Man to hit the running crotch attack against the back. That doesn’t last long as Barbarian knocks him down for some ax handles to the back.

The bearhug goes on for a good while but Barbarian lets it go. The middle rope elbow misses for Barbarian though and they slug it out, with Boss Man doing his always rather awesome “out on his feet” selling. Boss Man kicks him in the head and grabs a hot shot for two but can’t hit a piledriver. Instead Barbarian backdrops him down…and right into a sunset flip to give Boss Man the pin at 11:18.

Rating: C. There is something cool about the way Boss Man sells and it was working again here. At the same time, Barbarian continues to be the perfect choice for a spot like this as he can make someone like Boss Man work but doesn’t lose any status whatsoever in defeat. This wasn’t anything special, but it could have been far worse.

Post match Haku runs in to help Barbarian with the double team. And no one makes the save. What a great way to wrap up a profile.

Mooney pulls up his pants to cross a stream. Hayes uses the footbridge about twenty feet away, which Mooney somehow didn’t notice.

From Huntsville, Alabama, January 7, 1991.

WWF Title: Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter

Slaughter, with General Adnan, is challenging. They take their time to start until Slaughter takes him into the corner and chokes/kicks/hammers away. Warrior kicks right back though and a right hand sends Slaughter over the top, with his massive chin getting caught on the bottom rope (that’s a new one). Back in and Slaughter gets knocked out to the floor again, this time allowing Warrior to send him back inside for the hard chops.

Slaughter manages to knock him outside and send him into the timekeeper’s table before hammering away back inside. A catapult into the corner gives Warrior a breather though and a double clothesline puts both of them down. Slaughter grabs a backbreaker for two and puts on the camel clutch, with Warrior getting to the ropes for the break. Warrior Warriors Up, hits a flying shoulder and drops the splash to retain at 9:57.

Rating: C. Yeah you could only expect so much out of a match like this, as it was a dark match from a TV taping to send the fans home happy. The problem with that is there was only so much joy to be found in a Warrior match. He was mere days away from losing the title to Slaughter, so it was almost weird to seeing him win clean like this.

Mooney and Hayes realize they’re walking around in circles. Hayes walks off on his own, presumably leaving Mooney to die in the woods.

Overall Rating: C-. These compilations can be a lot of fun, but at the same time, they can also be rather dreadful. Unfortunately the latter was the case here, as nothing on here was worth seeing, with even the profile on Boss Man only being so good. Total waste of a tape, which fits the era rather well.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Wrestling Challenge
Date: November 1, 1986
Location: War Memorial, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan

These shows continue to be easy watches and are making me want to see some of the live events where the feuds are blown off. That means they’re doing something right and I could go for seeing more of this stuff to see if they can keep it up in the short term. That’s tricky to do so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming this week.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Savage vs. Billy Jack Haynes

Savage, with Elizabeth, is defending and commentary points out how rare it is to a title match on TV, which is rather true. Haynes shrugs off a wristlock to start and grabs a headlock. That’s broken up and Savage sends him hard into the buckle for two. Haynes fights up and hits a clothesline, setting up the full nelson. Savage swings and hits the referee, who calls for the DQ and the bell at 4:55.

Rating: C. Not much to see here, with the biggest story being the crooked referee. That is something that could go rather big if done properly and they seem to be on their way. Haynes could have been just about anyone in the role as Savage could work well with everybody. It wasn’t much of a match, but at least it moved a bigger story forward.

Post match Davis clarifies that Hayes swung Savage into him so Savage wins. Monsoon: “IT WAS SNEAKY!”

We get a Wrestlers’ Rebuttal from Hulk Hogan, who knows the fans believe in him. Orndorff is the one in the wrong and the fans want Hogan to destroy him.

Islanders vs. Mike Sharpe/Terry Gibbs

Gibbs and Tama start things off with Tama knocking him down. The insert promo from the Dream Team talks about how the Islanders are supposed to play hockey. Everything breaks down and Sharpe takes over on Tama, with a double back elbow putting him down. It’s off to Haku to clean house, including planting Sharpe. A top rope splash gives Tama the pin at 2:55.

Davey Boy Smith introduces Matilda, who we’ve already met. Dynamite Kid comes in to say they’re ready for any team, including the Dream Team.

George Steele tried to order fast food but could only say EAT. Well yeah.

Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik/Hercules Hernandez vs. Lanny Poffo/SD Jones/Corporal Kirschner

Slick is here with the villains. Poffo does not like the Soviet National Anthem and reads a poem about how we should chant USA. Jones hammers on Volkoff to start and hands it off to Poffo to pull on the arm. Slick talks about how Hercules is going to win the WWF Title as Kirschner comes in, only to get suplexed by Sheik. Hernandez grabs the backbreaker (torture rack) for the submission at 1:23. I would have bet on Jones taking the fall there.

The Killer Bees think they deserve a Tag Team Title shot. B. Brian Blair is excited about an upcoming youth amateur wrestling tournament in his hometown. Nothing wrong with that.

Hart Foundation vs. Pedro Morales/Tito Santana

Jimmy Hart is here with the Harts. Neidhart knees Santana in the ribs to start but Santana is back up with a quick dropkick. Jimmy trips Santana down and we get an insert promo from Jimmy talking about how he would NEVER use the megaphone to cheat. Morales comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner, allowing for some assisted choking. A backdrop gets Morales out of trouble and it’s off to Santana as everything breaks down. They all fight to the floor and it’s a double countout at 2:52. That’s a surprise for the Harts, who were quite the up and coming team.

We’re off to the Snake Pit with Jake Roberts saying this is a special week for him. He brings out quite the big deal guest with Roddy Piper, who gets to join the NEW Pit. Piper makes it clear that he doesn’t like either kind of snake (meaning Damien and/or Roberts) but Roberts wants him to touch Damien. With that not happening, Piper decks Roberts and leaves.

Rougeau Brothers vs. Tiger Chung Lee/Barry O

Raymond works on a top wristlock with O to start before they both miss elbow drops. Dino Bravo pops in to say he’s the only worthwhile Canadian wrestler and the Rougeaus make him sick to his stomach. Lee comes in to take over on Jacques as Heenan asks which Rougeau is in the ring. Monsoon: “That’s Jacques.” Heenan: “Who cares?” Raymond comes back in and Le Bombe de Rougeau finishes O at 1:55.

Jack Tunney announces that the company is officially looking into Danny Davis’ ability to referee.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Moondog Rex

Steamboat grabs a headlock to start but Rex powers up and sends him into the corner. A quick rollup out of said corner gives Steamboat the pin at 1:25. Well that was short.

The Dream Team want the Tag Team Titles back and do not like being compared to dogs. Valentine: “WE’RE THE DREAM TEAM! WE’VE GOT DOLLS MADE OF US!” Valentine goes on a rant about how the Bulldogs are going to have to deal with them and the titles are changing.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Roll those highlights.

Overall Rating: C+. There were some weird choices for the decisions on here but the talent alone made it work. This show had appearances or matches from Randy Savage, the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and more. That is an absolute murderers row of talent and just seeing them do basic matches is a lot of fun in a short span. It might not have been a great show, but it was nice to see all of these people in one place.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6