Wrestling Spotlight
Date: August 14, 1988
Commentator: Gorilla Monsoon, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura,
Hosts: Vince McMahon, Lord Alfred Hayes

This is one of the low level WWF shows from back in the Golden Era and upon seeing an episode of it pop up on YouTube, I figured it was worth a look. This is my favorite era of the company’s history and we would be coming up on the first Summerslam around this time. Odds are this is going to be promo based so let’s get to it.

Dang I love that WHAT THE WORLD IS WATCHING voiceover.

Opening sequence.

Vince and Alfred hype up the Summerslam main event and talk about who we might be seeing here.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Rick Rude vs. Billy Brown

Bobby Heenan is here with Rude and before the match, Rude shows off his Cheryl Roberts tights. Brown actually tries to fire up the crowd as we get a voiceover from Howard Finkel for an upcoming show, which sounds like a fundraiser. The beatdown is on as we get an inset promo from Rude saying that Jake Roberts should get some WWF binoculars (because there are WWF binoculars) to see just how ravishing he REALLY is. Oh and Cheryl has never looked so good either. The Rude Awakening finishes at 1:15.

Post match Heenan brings in a woman (who is NOT like Cheryl Roberts) to get the kiss from Rude.

And now, the Brother Love Show. Love is SO excited this week because his personal benefactor, Ted DiBiase, is his guest. Instead though, here are Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth to interrupt, with Savage saying they have some very different definitions of love. Savage LOVES being the WWF Champion but he also loves his partner at Summerslam, so here is Hulk Hogan (in a weird looking red shirt/yellow trunks combination).

Love goes to leave but Hogan says hang on, because he has a different definition of love too. Hogan loves being the Hulkster and the Hulkamaniacs, but for now he would LOVE to get his hands on Love. That’s enough to send Love running off and the Mega Powers LOVE the idea of beating up the Mega Bucks at Summerslam. They lift up Liz and pose, with Hogan’s music playing because he’s still the real star.

From LaCrosse, Wisconsin, July 13, 1988.

Tito Santana vs. Tim Dixon

Jesse Ventura doesn’t buy that Tito is a singles star again because there is no way Rick Martel is STILL injured, but rather he’s just scared of Demolition. Santana works on an armbar to start before running Dixon over with a shoulder. Another armbar sends Dixon over to the ropes as Jesse insists that he will NOT be intimidated by Andre the Giant at Summerslam (which was a great story to the match as even Jesse was intimidated by Andre because, you know, it’s Andre).

Santana grabs the armbar again so Dixon makes it to the rope for the break. The armbar goes on yet again and Vince gets bored listening to Jesse talking about not being worried over Andre and acknowledges how boring this is. Tito FINALLY finishes with the flying forearm at 4:01.

Rating: D. Tito is one of my all time favorites but my goodness this was boring. They went four minutes and most of that was spent on various armbars. This is a match that could have had probably three minutes cut off for the same result. The match was there as a way for Jesse to talk about not being intimidated by Andre and that got old almost immediately.

We go to the Event Center with Sean Mooney to run down a card at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland (remember that this would be the show for the local market so this part would be different depending on where you were). Therefore, let’s hear from some people on the card.

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers are sure they’ll beat the Hart Foundation because they’re really brothers.

Ultimate Warrior is ready for Honky Tonk Man, who won’t be a challenge.

Video on Honky Tonk Man.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Greg Valentine vs. Ken Patera

Joined in progress with Valentine begging off and getting punched in the corner. Valentine kicks him down though and hits a headbutt between the legs to take over. The Figure Four (with the Heartbreaker shin guard, which was a big deal for Valentine around this time) is loaded up but Patera kicks him away. A clothesline gives Patera two as commentary mocks the cover and Patera’s skills in general. I mean fair enough but you could be a bit nicer. Patera misses a charge in the corner so Valentine loads up the Heartbreaker, only to have Don Muraco come in and jump Valentine for the DQ at 2:58.

Post match Muraco goes after the Heartbreaker but has to deal with Jimmy Hart, allowing Valentine to escape. Muraco holds up Patera’s arm, even as Valentine is announced as the winner. Patera was AWFUL at this point and it was showing badly here.

The Mega Powers know how big Summerslam is going to be because…..kids have been asking for their allowance before doing their chores? Anyway, there are plans of elbows, bearhugs, slams and the Kiss Of Death. You can figure out who is going to do what.

Here’s how you can order Summerslam!

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Rockers vs. Dave Wagner/Tom Burton

Jannetty hiptosses Wagner down into an armbar to start before a drop toehold sets up Michaels’ legdrop to the back of the head. A belly to belly drops Wagner again as Heenan is teasing his own team. Brown comes in as Monsoon doesn’t seem to know which Rocker is which. Michaels drops a running elbow, setting up the top rope fist (off of Jannetty’s shoulders….so I guess it’s a top shoulders) fist drop for the pin at 2:59. Total and complete squash.

Vince and Alfred talk about Jesse Ventura being the guest referee for the Summerslam main event, which has been a major topic for this show.

UPDATE with Gene Okerlund looks at Summerslam, or at least the main event. This show is starting to look like a one match card. We do at least get some more matches discussed, which has barely been done all show.

From LaCrosse, Wisconsin, July 13, 1988.

Terry Taylor vs. Chris Todd

Taylor armdrags him down a few times as Jesse compliments Todd’s tights. We get an inset interview from Taylor, where he brags about being so handsome and thanks his parents for making him into Scary Terry Taylor. Vince: “Thanking his mom and dad? For what?” Anyway Terry keeps hammering away and we talk about Jesse being guest referee AGAIN. Some stomping and an awful looking spinebuster (Taylor dropped him) sets up the Scorpion Deathlock to finish Todd at 2:24. This was BAD and Taylor would actually get worse as the Red Rooster.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Brutus Beefcake vs. Warren Bianchi

Bianchi is rather short and….I guess we’ll say ugly. We get an inset interview from Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart, who aren’t happy with Beefcake being on the cover of the new WWF Magazine instead of Honky Tonk. Beefcake unloads on Bianchi with the usual array of right hands and stomping before finishing with the sleeper at 2:01. Total squash and Gorilla says this is a win on Wrestling Challenge, as this was from a taping of another show (and probably aired on there too).

Post match, Bianchi gets an unwelcome haircut.

King Haku is ready for Tito Santana at the Capitol Center, with Bobby Heenan demonstrating proper bowing procedure.

Randy Savage is ready for the taller and heavier Andre the Giant, also at the Capitol Center.

We get the rest of the Landover card and….yeah I think I’m good.

Vince and Alfred wrap us up and give us one more Summerslam push to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It’s pure nostalgia and I’m not even going to pretend it’s anything else. This show was all about Summerslam (mainly the main event/Jesse’s referring) and that got a bit old fast. Other than that, this is basically the poor man’s version of Superstars or Prime Time and that didn’t exactly make for a fun 45ish minutes. That being said, it’s late 80s WWF and I’m always in for that, so odds are I’ll be back on this period sooner rather than later.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: January 11, 1993
Location: Manhattan Center, Manhattan, New York
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Rob Bartlett, Randy Savage

Since the random months deal isn’t working whatsoever, let’s just go with doing them straight through. I have twenty months left in the first four years so we might as well start off with the first year. It’s a shorter month because the show started in the second week. Oh and it’s also the show’s debut so let’s get to it.

Sean Mooney is on the streets of Manhattan and welcomes us to the first ever show but has to stop one Bobby Heenan from going inside. He has been replaced by Rob Bartlett and since Mooney is security, Heenan stops to bicker.

Opening sequence.

Commentary welcomes us to the show and Bartlett is already getting annoying.

Yokozuna vs. Koko B. Ware

So here’s your first trivia of the night as we have the first ever match in the history of the show. Bartlett: “This guy has his own no fly zone!” Savage: “He doesn’t even have a zipper.” We also get some Japanese/fat jokes from Bartlett until Ware is shoved across the ring. It works a second time but Koko is back up with a dropkick. A big charge misses though and Ware is sent HARD into the top rope. The big legdrop sets up the corner splash and the Banzai Drop finishes Ware in a hurry.

Rating: D+. Total squash and a good example of the Yokozuna who was that scary of a monster. He looked great and could still move around out there, with the running splash coming off as athletic. This is the Yokozuna who could be the top heel for a long time, and it’s easy to see why he was pushed so hard.

Bobby Heenan talks about Narcissus, who has Mr. Perfect scared. Yes, Narcissus is beyond perfect and comparing the two of them is like comparing ice cream to horse manure. Narcissus will be unveiled at the Royal Rumble and Perfect will think he is from another world.

Steiner Brothers vs. Executioners

Scott isn’t playing around and tilt-a-whirl slams #1 as Doink the Clown is playing around a bit in the audience. Rick comes in and whips #2 into the ropes so hard that #2 falls down. #2 is driven ribs first upside down into the corner and it’s a double noggin knocker from Scott on the floor. Back in and the referee has to get out of the way of a Scott belly to belly and there’s the tiger driver to make it worse. The Steiner Bulldog ends the masked goons.

Rating: C-. I could watch the Steiners beat up goofs forever and this was a good example of how effective it can be. Those suplexes and the bulldog had the Executioners flying all over the place and it was absolutely glorious. They were brand new at this point and even 1993 WWF couldn’t screw them up.

Bobby Heenan, this time in drag, still can’t get into the building. He thought he was getting into the building normally, so he just had that in his bag?

Here is Razor Ramon for a chat with Vince McMahon. He is happy to have a WWF Title shot at the Royal Rumble because it has his name written all over it. Vince says it took Bret eight and a half years to get his title shot but now Razor is happy with getting his shot after eight and a half months. That’s not good enough for Vince, who wants to know why Razor jumped Owen Hart over the weekend. Razor says it was fun and there is nothing Bret can do about it. You know what else Bret can’t do anything about? Razor winning the WWF Title. Good interview here, as Razor was still in serious mode.

There will be a Headlock On Hunger show later this month, with Randy Savage not exactly knowing what is on the card (“Shawn Michaels vs. Bob Backlund for another title. The Intercontinental Title!”).

Tatanka wants us to put a headlock on hunger.

Intercontinental Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Max Moon

Shawn is defending. Moon flips around a bit as Bartlett does a bit about the WWF version of the Amy Fisher story and Savage….thinks Heenan looked good in drag? Shawn gets thrown into the corner and can’t figure out what to do here, so Moon armdrags him down. We take a break and come back with Shawn dropping him throat first across the middle rope as commentary gets in “uncooked, uncut and uncensored” as many times as they can.

Shawn hits…something as Doink comes out to watch again and Bartlett “calls in” with a bad Mike Tyson impression. This gag keeps going as Shawn sends him face first into the buckle as Bartlett (still as Tyson) makes up matches for the Royal Rumble. Moon grabs a small package for a quick two and gets punched in the face some more. The chinlock goes on and Tyson wants to know what it’s called.

Back up and Moon catapults Shawn over the top and out to the floor (Bartlett: “He disappeared!”) for the crash. Moon scores with a spinwheel kick in the corner and a cradle gets two. Shawn is back up with the superkick, which isn’t his finisher yet so here it’s just a thing. Instead it’s the tear drop suplex (kind of a cross between a belly to back suplex/Angle Slam) to retain Shawn’s title.

Rating: C. The wrestling was fine but the commentary was one of the dumbest, most annoying things I can imagine. The bit itself, a confused Mike Tyson calling in, is fine enough but it JUST KEPT GOING and wasn’t all that funny in the first place. It’s not the kind of comedy that fits in on a wrestling show and that’s why Bartlett never fit. He was funny in a different format, but here it feels so forced and it never worked.

WATCH WWF MANIA! I liked that show.

It’s time for the Royal Rumble Control Center. This week we’re talking about the Intercontinental Title match between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. The question is whose corner Sensational Sherri will be in, with both guys saying she’s going with them. Marty and Sherri were never a thing so this always felt a bit weird.

Moving on, Gene Okerlund runs down the Royal Rumble lineup, with Mr. Perfect saying he isn’t worried because no one else in the match is perfect. On the other hand, Mr. Fuji says no one can get Yokozuna over the top so he’ll win. Oh and Jim Duggan thinks he’ll….fight. He might not win, but he’ll fight. Of note: this segment went on so long that Tito Santana beat the Brooklyn Brawler in a dark match as it aired.

Bobby Heenan, now as Rob Bartlett’s uncle Morty, still can’t get in. The stereotypes here are rather strong.

We look at Kamala’s face turn, as he leaves Kim Chee and Harvey Wippleman and joins up with Reverend Slick. That pairing could bowl some people over.

Undertaker vs. Damien Demento

Demento is a weird guy and billed “from the Outer Reaches Of Your Mind”. Vince and Bartlett go into a bit about Paul Bearer being from a famous family and needing an iron supplement. Demento’s right hands have no effect and the very Young School connects, with Vince ignoring it to talk about the Royal Rumble. Demento gets in a few shots out of the corner but Undertaker sits up and hits the jumping clothesline. The Tombstone finishes without much trouble.

Doink talks about enjoying making kids cry but Crush comes out and threatens him with that Hawaiian accent. If Doink keeps it up, his bad arm will have another arm and both legs for company in that cast. Doink squirts him with water and the chase is on.

Bobby Heenan is allowed in now that the show is over.

Overall Rating: C-. I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground by saying that this first show is not very good. The wrestling was more miss than hit and Bartlett was a nightmare, but what mattered here was that they had to start somewhere. It’s the first episode of the most famous wrestling series ever and it took place live from New York City. The content isn’t important here, but rather the fact that the show happened. Not a terrible show, but it’s all about the history instead of the content.

 

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

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AND

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