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GENE OKERLUND sings the National Anthem, and shocks the MSG crowd by doing a decent job
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- ARETHA FRANKLIN Sings “America the Beautiful.”
- GLADYS KNIGHT sings “America the Beautiful.”
- ROCKIN’ ROBIN sings “America the Beautiful.” Holy crap, this is awful.
- HERCULES vs. EARTHQUAKE Earthquake gets a clean pin to set up his superpush.
- REBA MCINTYRE sings “America the Beautiful.”
- SAVIO VEGA vs STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN Better match than the silent crowd would let you think.
GENE OKERLUND sings the National Anthem, and shocks the MSG crowd by doing a decent job.TITO SANTANA vs. THE EXECUTIONERSPECIAL DELIVERY JONES vs. KING KONG BUNDY Bundy sets a new WWF record, so we are told, by pinning SD Jones in nine seconds, even though nine seconds isn’t record time and the match is really about 23 seconds. RICKY STEAMBOAT vs. MATT BORNE This is Steamboat before he was given his Bruce Lee ripoff gimmick, and Matt Borne before he was Doink. DAVID SAMMARTINO vs. BRUTUS BEEFCAKE Booooooyyyyyyyy, this is one crappy match. And it’s twelve damn minutes. David gets presented with a bad omen for his career, as Daddy gets a much bigger pop from the MSG crowd. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE vs. JUNKYARD DOG Greg scores the Ric Flair pin on JYD, but hated enemy Tito Santana runs in and makes the referee restart the match, getting Greg counted out. TAG TEAM TITLE: BARRY WINDHAM & MIKE ROTUNDO vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & IRON SHEIK Volkoff and Sheik win the titles in a major shock-booking upset. $15,000 BODYSLAM MATCH: ANDRE THE GIANT vs. BIG JOHN STUDD Andre must retire if he can’t slam Thudd. So he does and everyone’s happy. WOMEN’S TITLE: LALANI KAI vs. WENDI RICHTER The Rock & Wrestling Connection is in full swing, as Wendi the really hot challenger is managed by Cyndi Lauper, who was a great big celebrity in 1985. HULK HOGAN & MISTER T vs. ROWDY RODDY PIPER & “Mr. Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF, with referee Muhammed Ali, ring announcer Billy Martin, and timekeeper Liberace (who the hell thought of that?) PWI’s Match of the Year for 1985; There had to have been better matches than this, but this is the one that defined what wrestling became that year. TWO AND A HALF HOURS Wrestlemania 2: What the World is Coming To (Nassau County Coliseum, Long Island, NY; Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, IL; Los Angeles Sports Arena, 4/7/1986) RAY CHARLES sings “America the Beautiful.” I wish I could give Ray his vision so he could see what they put on the screen here at the end of the song.“Mr. Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs. MAGNIFICENT MURACO Ends in a double countout, prompting the fans to a “bullshit” chant so loud Vince McMahon actually acknowledges it. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. GEORGE “The Animal” STEELE Rumor has it Savage suffered a legit back injury from carrying this match. GEORGE WELLS vs. JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS George vomits after being “choked” with the snake. Huh-huh, cool. 10-ROUND BOXING MATCH: MISTER T vs. ROWDY RODDY PIPER with guest judges Darryl Dawkins, Cab Calloway, and G. Gordon Liddy, guest ring announcer Joan Rivers, and guest timekeeper Herb (I am the only person I know who even remembers Herb, BTW). Good match, but it’s staged boxing, so of course it looks good. WOMEN’S TITLE: FABULOUS MOOLAH vs. VELVET MACINTYRE Moolah wins in one minute. FLAG MATCH: CORPORAL KIRSCHNER vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF This is the shortest match I’ve ever seen where somebody blades. Nikolai cuts Kirschner open right on camera, then quite obviously puts the blade back in his trunks. Also, as of this match, the Chicago portion of the show is halfway over, and they’ve seen a total of 3 ½ minutes of wrestling. If I were in the Horizon, I’d be decently ticked off. 20 MAN WWF vs. NFL BATTLE ROYAL with Bruno Sammartino, Jimbo Covert, Ted Arcidi, Russ Francis, Iron Sheik, Pedro Morales, Danny Spivey, Harvey Martin, Bill Fralic, Hart Foundation, Big John Studd, Killer Bees, Hillbilly Jim, Ernie Holmes, and Andre the Giant, with guest referees Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Dick Butkus. Way too fast for a battle royal (which are rarely any good, but they should at least take a little while to finish). Anyway, Andre scores the big win before skipping town to film “Princess Bride.” Also, a funny moment here: Lee Majors was supposed to be guest ring announcer, but he no-showed. Gene Okerlund is the substitute guest announcer, and he’s introduced with what is obviously the same introduction they were going to use for Majors. TAG TEAM TITLE: GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE & BRUTUS BEEFCAKE vs. BRITISH BULLDOGS Best match of the show, obviously, but as John McAdam pointed out, Ozzy Osbourne and Lou Albano are jerks for their post-match celebration. **** RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT vs. HERCULES HERNANDEZ UNCLE ELMER vs. ADORABLE ADRIAN ADONIS I’m guessing Adrian was booked the whole time to win this match, but based on the ending, I’m guessing Elmer really ticked off Vince McMahon at some point before the show. JUNKYARD DOG & TITO SANTANA vs. FUNK BROTHERS Pretty good brawl. WORLD TITLE STEEL CAGE MATCH: HULK HOGAN vs. KING KONG BUNDY with guest ring announcer Tommy Lasorda, timekeeper Ricky Shroeder (who gets LOUDLY booed) and referee Robert Conrad, who sets new standards for lazy wrestling guests by sitting back at the timekeeper’s table and letting Dave Hebner do all the work…in a cage match…with escape rules. THREE HOURS Wrestlemania III: Bigger, Badder, Better (Pontiac Silverdome, 3/29/1987) ARETHA FRANKLIN Sings “America the Beautiful.”CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. MAGNIFICENT MURACO & COWBOY BOB ORTON The Can-Ams I think were penciled in to get the tag titles until Tom Zenk had a falling out with Vince, which led to the creation of Strike Force. Gee, thanks, Tom.BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. HERCULES Ends in a double countout, and Herc gets his revenge by busting open Billy Jerk (as Heenan and probably several wrestling promoters are known to call him) with the chain. HILLBILLY JIM, HAITI KID, & LITTLE BEAVER vs. KING KONG BUNDY, LITTLE TOKYO, & LORD LITTLEBROOK Boy, what a nosedive for Bundy: Main event last year, tag teaming with midgets the next. Well, he keeps some of his heat by bodyslamming and elbowdropping Beaver, getting his own team DQ’ed. LOSER MUST BOW MATCH: JUNKYARD DOG vs. KING HARLEY RACE Harley gets a clean pin, and JYD bows down to the king, but then hits him with a chair and steals his cape. ROUGEAU BROTHERS vs. DREAM TEAM Dino Bravo interferes to give Dream Team the win, then he leaves Brutus behind in the ring and takes off in the cart with Greg and Johnny V, leading to Brutus’s face turn. HAIR MATCH: ROWDY RODDY PIPER vs. ADORABLE ADRIAN ADONIS This is Piper’s farewell match, which I offer no comments about. He scores the win with Brutus Beefcake’s help, then lets Brutus cut Adrian’s hair himself, leading to the “Barber” gimmick. *** BRITISH BULLDOGS & TITO SANTANA vs. HART FOUNDATION & DANNY DAVIS Great heat, as Danny scores a major upset pin, and the crowd is livid. *** ½ KOKO B. WARE vs NATURAL BUTCH REED Tito runs in after the match and rips up Slick’s suit. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT One of the very best matches of all time, so good, it deserves bigger font. Seriously, just about everyone has heard about this match, and here it is, in its entirety. ***** JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. HONKY TONK MAN Jake has Alice Cooper in his corner here. Honky pulls a major upset here, but Jake gets revenge by having Alice thrown Damien onto Jimmy Hart. GENE OKERLUND announces that WrestleMania III has just set the world’s record for indoor attendance. KILLER BEES vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & IRON SHEIK Hacksaw interferes to cost the Bees the match. It would have made a little more sense for Duggan’s interference to cost Volkoff & Sheik the match (and the way the spot is done, that would have been easy to do.) The amount of trash thrown in the ring during the Soviet national anthem is unreal. WORLD TITLE: HULK HOGAN vs. ANDRE THE GIANT The biggest match in wrestling history at this point. Hogan wins after slamming Andre, but Andre and Bobby Heenan spent the next 10 months protesting about a spot earlier in the match where Andre scores a very close count after a failed slam attempt.THREE HOURS Wrestlemania IV: What the World is Watching (Trump Plaza, 3/27/1988) GLADYS KNIGHT sings “America the Beautiful.”BATTLE ROYAL With “Outlaw” Ron Bass, Killer Bees, “The Olympian” Ken Patera, Junkyard Dog, Bad News Brown, Bolsheviks, Hart Foundation, Young Stallions, Sam Houston, “Dangerous” Danny Davis, King Harley Race, Sika, Hillbilly Jim, George “The Animal” Steele, and the Rougeau Brothers. Bad News turns on Bret to win the battle royal, setting up Bret’s initial failed singles push.FIRST ROUND: HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. “Million Dollar Man” TED DIBIASE André the Giant interferes for a DiBiase win, which surprises nobody. FIRST ROUND: “The Rock” DON MURACO vs. DINO BRAVO Dino gets himself DQ’ed after a terrible match. FIRST ROUND: RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT vs. GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE Best match of the show. Greg goes to the quarter-final, and Ricky goes to a better career in the NWA. *** ½ FIRST ROUND: RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. “The Natural” BUTCH REED Elizabeth distracts Reed for a Savage win. FIRST ROUND: BAM BAM BIGELOW vs. ONE MAN GANG Slick interferes to cost Bam Bam the match. FIRST ROUND: JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. RAVISHING RICK RUDE Ends in a time limit draw, eliminating both men, and it’s obvious about three minutes in that they’re going for a draw. ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. HERCULES Warrior is getting a heavy push, so they threw him into this match to protect his reputation. QUARTER-FINAL: HULK HOGAN vs. ANDRE THE GIANT Terrible match that ends in a DDQ. Hogan spends waaaaayyyyy too much time posing afterwards, like we might forget what he looks like while he's filming “No Holds Barred." QUARTER-FINAL: DON MURACO vs. TED DIBIASE DiBiase gets a clean pin, surprisingly. QUARTER-FINAL: RANDY SAVAGE vs. GREG VALENTINE KOKO B. WARE & BRITISH BULLDOGS vs BOBBY “The Brain” HEENAN & ISLANDERS Heenan pulls a Danny Davis and gets the major upset pin, then gets attacked by Matilda afterwards. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: HONKY TONK MAN vs. BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE Jimmy Hart costs Brutus the title, so Brutus cuts off some of his hair. SEMI-FINAL: RANDY SAVAGE vs. ONE MAN GANG Savage wins on a DQ after getting beaten with Slick’s cane. TAG TEAM TITLE: STRIKE FORCE vs. DEMOLITION WORLD TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: RANDY SAVAGE vs. TED DIBIASE Andre interferes liberally until Orange Walrus comes to the ring to even the sides. Savage wins the match and the World Title. FOUR HOURS Wrestlemania V: The Mega-Powers Explode (Trump Plaza, 4/2/1989) ROCKIN’ ROBIN sings “America the Beautiful.” Holy crap, this is awful.HERCULES vs. KING HAKUROCKERS vs. TWIN TOWERS Listen closely for Slick’s soundbite about how “we need a black referee.” BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE vs. “Million Dollar Man” TED DIBIASE Question: You have the biggest card of the year coming up. Somehow, you’ve forgotten to book either one of them in any meaningful angle going into the show, and more importantly, due to your plans for them for the rest of the year following that, you can’t afford to show either of them losing. What do you do, what DO you do? If you said “Book them against each other and have a double count-out finish,” send your resume to Vince McMahon, Stamford, CT.BUSHWHACKERS vs. FABULOUS ROUGEAU BROTHERS BLUE BLAZER vs. MISTER PERFECT This is the kind of match that always impresses me. These guys put on a great effort despite basically being booked in way that suggests to the fans that we shouldn’t give a crap about this match. RUN-DMC performs a “Wrestlemania Rap.” TAG TEAM TITLE: DEMOLITION vs. POWERS OF PAIN & MISTER FUJI The Demos destroy their former manager for revenge, and to officially put their title reign at the one-year mark. SUPERFLY JIMMY SNUKA comes out and takes a bow for no reason whatsoever. RUGGED RONNIE GARVIN vs. DINO BRAVO Ronnie destroys Frenchy Martin afterwards. During 1989, the WWF was heavy into this obsession with having managers getting beaten up, but it didn’t occur to anyone that booking like that only works if the manager did something nefarious during the bout. In this case, Ronnie lost the match cleanly, and comes off as a huge sore loser. STRIKE FORCE vs. BRAINBUSTERS Rick Martel turns on partner Tito Santana. This is great, as a tag team split is usually incredibly predictable, as it comes after months of discension, and then being told that everything is JUST FINE. Here it came out of nowhere, but it made perfect sense. Best of all it led to the exciting Santana/Martel “Best of 3,197 Series.” PIPER’S PIT with Morton Downey, Jr. and Brother Love. This is Piper’s big return to professional wrestling, and he exchanges insults with two huge loudmouths, especially Downey, who says some pretty shocking stuff by WWF ’89 standards. Piper responds by violating him with a fire extinguisher. Just out of curiosity…the WWF’s two big shows at this point were “Superstars” and “Wrestling Challenge.” “Superstars” had The Brother Love Show, while “Wrestling Challenge” had an interview by Gene Okerlund. Why didn’t they just have Piper’s Pit fulltime for “Challenge”? “NO HOLDS BARRED” is announced with a trailer, and Gene Okerlund gushes about how it’s sure to be a hit. Yeeesssss…. JAKE “THE SNAKE ROBERTS vs. ANDRE THE GIANT Overbooking takes control as Big John Studd is the guest referee. He and Andre still hate each other. Ted Dibiase runs to the ring and steals Damien and Roberts goes after him. Studd tries to see what’s going on and Andre sneak attacks him, getting DQ’ed for doing so. HART FOUNDATION vs. HONKY TONK MAN & GREG “THE HAMMER” VALENTINE Bret gets hold of the megaphone and knocks out Honky for the cheap win.INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. RAVISHING RICK RUDE Bobby Heenan hooks Warrior’s leg for the great big shocking upset. Warrior is none too pleased, so he kicks the tar out of Heenan, which is important later. HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. BAD NEWS BROWN Lousy match ends in a DDQ. RED ROOSTER vs. BOBBY “THE BRAIN” HEENAN Heenan, already badly injured by the Warrior, gets destroyed in 30 seconds. The Brooklyn Brawler runs in afterward to get revenge for Heenan by attacking Rooster, setting up their main event calibur feud. WORLD TITLE: RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. HULK HOGAN, with Elizabeth in a neutral corner. One of Hogan’s five best matches ever. He scores the clean pin and his second WWF Title. *** ½ 3 ½ HOURS Wrestlemania VI: The Ultimate Challenge (Toronto SkyDome, 4/1/1990) ROBERT GOULET sings “O Canada.” Interesting story here. The reason Howard Finkel encourages the crowd to sing along is because Robert had never performed in front of a live crowd this large, and was so convinced he’d forget the words that they had to display the lyrics on the marquees in the Dome. (Sports historians probably remember the press attention he stirred up by screwing up the American anthem before a boxing match years before) The “Sing-Along” thing was the excuse for having the lyrics there.KOKO B. WARE vs. RICK “THE MODEL” MARTEL TAG TEAM TITLE: COLOSSAL CONNECTION vs. DEMOLITION Ax & Smash threepeat, while Andre gets slapped in the face by Bobby Heenan for screwing up, and Andre kicks the crap out of him so he can leave his U.S. wrestling career as a face. HERCULES vs. EARTHQUAKE Earthquake gets a clean pin to set up his superpush.RONA BARETT interviews Elizabeth. Geez, Vince, great celebrity booking there. 90% of your audience never saw Tom Snyder’s NBC show and thus doesn’t have a clue who Rona is. BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. MISTER PERFECT This match was set up by Brutus cutting the Genius’ hair, and after the match Brutus celebrates by cutting off more of the Genius’ hair. ROWDY RODDY PIPER vs. BAD NEWS BROWN considering who was involved, this should have been a wild, all-over-the-place brawl, and it should have run a good ten minutes. Instead, we get this mess, as well as Piper painting half his body black just in case there was somebody he hadn’t offended yet. STEVE ALLEN rehearses the Soviet Union National Anthem in the Men’s Room with the Bolsheviks. HART FOUNDATION vs. BOLSHEVIKS The Harts win in one minute, setting up the Bolsheviks’ split and feud. TITO SANTANA vs. BARBARIAN DUSTY RHODES & SAPPHIRE vs. “MACHO KING” RANDY SAVAGE & SENSATIONAL QUEEN SHERRI Elizabeth makes a surprise appearance managing the faces, and her interference costs Savage & Sherri the match. ROCKERS vs. ORIENT EXPRESS HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. DINO BRAVO Earthquake attacks Duggan after the match. Serves him right for trying to start a “USA” chant in Canada. MILLION DOLLAR BELT MATCH: “MILLION DOLLAR MAN” TED DIBIASE vs. JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS Really cool segment where, during a resthold, the crowd does the “Wave.” Dibiase gets DDT’ed and poetically gets a $100 bill crammed in his throat after the match. BIG BOSS MAN vs. AKEEM Boss Man squashes his former partner, even after a sneak attack by Ted DiBiase. RYTHYM AND BLUES sing “Hunka Hunka Honky Love,” which the play-by-play team pronounces about 40 different ways during the course of the evening. It’s an awful song, and the Bushwhackers run in to destroy their guitars after they threaten an encore performance. HOWARD FINKEL announces the SkyDome attendance record was set by tonight’s event. I don’t know if it’s still there, but when I toured the SkyDome a couple years ago, there was a huge WrestleMania VI poster in one of the hallways and the guide did mention WrestleMania VI as part of her facts-&-figures speech. SUPERFLY JIMMY SNUKA vs. RAVISHING RICK RUDE Rude gets a clean pin to set up his main event push. TITLE FOR TITLE: HULK HOGAN vs. ULTIMATE WARRIOR The best match ever for either man. Warrior wins the World Title on, of all things, a clean pin, and Hogan was supposed to get the favor returned to him in a rematch at WrestleMania VII. I don’t know why that plan got changed, though. **** 3 ½ HOURS Wrestlemania VII: Superstars and Stripes Forever (LA Sports Arena, 3/24/1991) WILLIE NELSON sings “America the Beautiful.” ROCKERS vs. HAKU & BARBARIAN “BRITISH BULLDOG” DAVEY BOY SMITH vs. WARLORD TEXAS TORNADO vs. DINO BRAVO Okay, this match is a little creepy… BLINDFOLD MATCH: JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. RICK “THE MODEL” MARTEL Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, and crappy. TAG TITLE: HART FOUNDATION vs. NASTY BOYS The Harts split up after this match, and this time Bret’s singles push is well-received. SUPERFLY JIMMY SNUKA vs. UNDERTAKER Taker, in the midst of a big heel push, gets a big face pop from the crowd. RETIREMENT MATCH: ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. “MACHO KING” RANDY SAVAGE Un-friggin’-believable. It’s a five-star match, and amazingly, Savage doesn’t carry it. Warrior is really busting his butt here. ***** INSTANT REPLAY DEBATE moderated by Vince McMahon, with guest debaters Paul McGuire and George Steinbrenner. Vince must have been hammered out of his mind when he conceived this. TENRYU & KITAO vs. DEMOLITION The Demos’ big send off, and as a nice touch, they get to job to a team that nobody on this side of the Pacific Ocean gives a crap about. LEGION OF DOOM vs. POWER & GLORY LOD wins in the annual WrestleMania squash in one minute. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: MISTER PERFECT vs. BIG BOSS MAN The Heenan Family runs in for the DQ, but André the Giant awkwardly stumbles around to make the save. GREG “THE HAMMER” VALENTINE vs. EARTHQUAKE I guess it makes sense because the Earthquake is a bigger star, but logic dictated that Valentine should face Honky Tonk Man, since Honky was leaving the promotion and Greg’s face turn was triggered by the split-up of Rhythm & Blues. VIRGIL vs. “MILLION DOLLAR MAN” TED DIBIASE The match that everyone had been waiting for four years to happen. Sherri debuts as DiBiase’s manager after the match, giving the crippled Roddy Piper a two-on-one beating. If you want to feel good watching this feud, though, the SumerSlam ’91 has the more satisfying end. TITO SANTANA vs. MOUNTIE WORLD TITLE: SGT. SLAUGHTER vs. HULK HOGAN The most tasteless angle in wrestling history. Some would argue that a weekly episode of RAW is more offensive than this, but nobody ever died from taking off their clothes and swearing…or, maybe they were. I dunno. But the thing is, people really were getting killed in Desert Storm, meanwhile, back in the US, Vince was counting his money. 3 ½ HOURS Wrestlemania VIII (HoosierDome, 4/5/1992) REBA MCINTYRE sings “America the Beautiful.”EL MATADOR vs. SHAWN MICHAELS Shawn’s first really notable match as a heel.LEGION OF DOOM does an interview, announcing Paul Ellering as their new manager. Why is this airing on a PPV? And why are they giving it so much time? UNDERTAKER vs JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS Undertaker’s face debut, and Jake’s last match in his initial WWF run. This is the proper way to send off a departing heel, BTW. Undertaker is the first wrestler to ever recover from the DDT, and he DESTROYS Jake. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: ROWDY RODDY PIPER vs BRET “HITMAN” HART They HAD to put the title back on Bret, but Roddy was surprisingly really really over, so to make sure the fans react positively for Bret, Roddy turns heel during the pre-match interview, then cheats horribly throughout the match. Bret scores the win anyway, and Piper turns face to congratulate him. **** BIG BOSS MAN, HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN, SGT. SLAUGHTER, & VIRGIL vs MOUNTIE, REPO MAN, & NASTY BOYS Guest ring announcer Ray Combs insults the heels before the match. WORLD TITLE: RIC FLAIR vs RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE Great angle going into this match, as Flair had given photos to WWF Magazine that supposedly proved that Elizabeth, Randy’s wife, was “damaged goods.” Fantastic heat going into a fantastic match, and Savage finally gets the spotlight all to himself during the post-match celebration. ***** TATANKA vs. RICK “THE MODEL” MARTEL TAG TEAM TITLE: MONEY, INC. vs NATURAL DISASTERS Money, Inc. walks out of the match to retain the titles. I hate that kind of booking. OWEN HART vs SKINNER HULK HOGAN vs SID JUSTICE Heavily hyped as Hogan’s farewell match (he really does take the next 10 months off), and he’s fighting for revenge against former best friend Sid, who had previously betrayed him. For those keeping track, that’s the 4th time Hogan’s done that exact same angle. THREE HOURS Wrestlemania IX (Caesar’s Palace, 4/4/1993) INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: SHAWN MICHAELS vs TATANKA Shawn brings Luna Vachon to ringside, but freshly face-turned Sensational Sherri evens the sides.STEINER BROTHERS vs HEADSHRINKERS CRUSH vs DOINK This match kickstarts the disastrous “So Many Doinks” angle. BOB BACKLUND vs RAZOR RAMON TAG TEAM TITLE: MEGA MANIACS vs MONEY, INC. Hulk Hogan’s first match in a year, so it’s already impressive that he’s getting a title shot of any kind. The Maniacs are DQ’ed because, as we soon find out, a tag team title just isn’t good enough for Orange Walrus… UNDERTAKER vs GIANT GONZALES Awful, awful, awful, awful, awful, awful, awful match. MISTER PERFECT vs THE NARCISSIST Luger gets the win with a Ric Flair pin, then knocks Perfect unconscious with that suspicious elbow of his… WORLD TITLE: BRET “HITMAN” HART vs YOKOZUNA Hart puts on a wrestling clinic, but every move in his arsenal isn’t enough to put down the larger but less skillful Yoko, who wins thanks to the evil ceremonial salt. Hulk Hogan comes to ringside to check on Hart’s condition, and Mr. Fuji challenges him to a title match, leading to… WORLD TITLE: YOKOZUNA vs HULK HOGAN After Hart’s skill and talent can’t do anything to put the mighty Yoko down, Hulkster wins the World Title with a clothesline and a legdrop, and now he’ll be taking three months off to make a movie. I can’t decide who sucks more for this: Hogan, for demanding the title, even though he was about to take a long time off, or McMahon, for adhering to Orange Walrus’ wishes instead of firing him on the spot. This was the show that first made me turn against Hogan. At age ten when this show took place, I was an adamant Hulkamaniac, but I remember coming away from watching this show feeling totally numb. I didn’t know the backstage story behind this for years to come, but even within the boundaries of kayfabe Hulk looked like a glory-hogging ass here. I mean, if Hogan was the great guy we were supposed to believe he was, he would have rejected the title shot and helped his friend Bret get rehabilitated and prepare for a rematch for the title he got screwed out of. After all, Hulk was already a four-time champ with nothing left to prove. Years later, learning the true story behind the booking here, I was that much more pissed off. THREE HOURS Wrestlemania X: Ten Years in the Making (Madison Square Garden, 3/20/1994) BRET “THE HITMAN” HART vs. OWEN HART Great heat, with jealous baby brother Owen trying to step out of Bret’s shadow. They put on one of the five best non-main events/non-title matches of all time here. Owen scores a major upset, with a clean pin no less, and is immediately elevated to main event superstar. *****DOINK & DINK vs. BAM BAM BIGELOW & LUNA Wow, uh…what a way to follow up that last match, eh? FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. CRUSH This is the family-friendly era of the WWF, so they vacuumed all the hardcore out of it. That’s right: a non-hardcore falls-count-anywhere match. TAG TEAM TITLE: QUEBECERS vs. MEN ON A MISSION And the hits keep coming… WOMEN’S TITLE: ALUNDRA BLAYZE vs. LEILANI KAI Leilani wins the Women’s Title, and then Wendi Richter runs out of the crowd, attacks her, rolls her up and counts her own pin. She then grabs the Women’s Title belt and yells, “I beat you at the first one, and TRADITION RULES!” She then darts into the “Legends” section of the crowd and goes after Fabulous Moolah, all the while screaming “You never beat me!” As she’s dragged off by security, she flips Vince McMahon the bird and screams “LIAR!” over and over again, and Vince is visibly shaken by the whole ordeal…By the way, I made all of this up, but the match really sucks so I did this because is was the one scenario I could think of that would make it watchable. WORLD TITLE: YOKOZUNA vs LEX LUGER with guest ring announcer Donny Wahlberg, guest timekeeper Rhonda Shear, and guest referee Mister Perfect. Lex was supposed to win the Title, but then he got drunk and screwed himself out of the title by bragging to a sportswriter at the bar. Perfect turns on Luger and DQ’s him, setting up a feud that went nowhere. EARTHQUAKE vs ADAM BOMB Before the match, Harvey Wippleman comes out for his ritual of introducing his man and insulting Howard Finkel. He takes the insults too far, and Howard loses it and shoves him to the mat. Adam Bomb, very ticked off, runs into the ring and is ready to unload on Howard when Earthquake runs in, attacks Bomb from behind, and gets the pin in about 30 seconds. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE LADDER MATCH: RAZOR RAMON vs SHAWN MICHAELS One of the best matches of the decade. Easily. They could do this today, seven years after the fact (which is an eternity in wrestling terms), and it would probably win “Match of the Year,” which shows what kind of standards it set. ***** WORLD TITLE: YOKOZUNA vs BRET “THE HITMAN” HART with ring announcer Burt Reynolds, timekeeper Jennie Garth, and referee Rowdy Roddy Piper. Scott Keith was right in observing that this match and the post-match celebration was really a disguised but big and obvious apology to Bret for what happened last year. THREE HOURS Wrestlemania XI (Hartford Civic Center, 4/5/1995) ALLIED POWERS vs BLU BROTHERS Jacob and Eli come to the ring in their Blumobile, which obviously an old police car. Pretty funny, as the fans throw so much trash at them that a big net goes up around the ring. Gosh, I hope a lot of people got that.INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: JEFF JARRETT vs RAZOR RAMON Jarrett is seconded by Roadie, while Ramon is seconded by 1-2-3 Kid, both of whom went on to be much bigger stars. UNDERTAKER vs. KING KONG BUNDY They were just completely out of ideas for Undertaker at this point, of which this match is a good example. TAG TEAM TITLE: SMOKING GUNNS vs OWEN HART & A SURPRISE PARTNER The surprise turns out to be Yokozuna, who was chosen for being the only man who ever beat Bret for the title. Yoko does most of the work in the match, and Owen parades around with both belts screaming “I did it!” Great angle! SUBMISSION MATCH: BRET “THE HITMAN” HART vs BOB BACKLUND Rowdy Roddy Piper is the guest referee. Backlund loses the match, and walks around afterwards saying “Did you see it?,” which doesn’t really go anywhere. Maybe he should have started asking for Dewey. WORLD TITLE: DIESEL vs SHAWN MICHAELS I forget who called this the match of the year for 1995, but they’re really really stupid for doing so. I mean, it’s good, but it shouldn’t have even been in contention. Diesel wins the match after hitting the fakest powerbomb in wrestling history. Shawn actually lands on his feet and slumps over. LAWRENCE TAYLOR vs BAM BAM BIGELOW The Flair/Steamboat of celebrity matches. Honestly, I’ve never seen a celebrity make such an effort in a special wrestling appearance. I don’t think they would have put a World Title on Lawrence if he had gone into wrestling full-time, but he probably could have done pretty well, I think. The match is followed by highlights of the post-Wrestlemania press conference, where LT tells a planted reporter that wrestling is real. ***** on the celebrity scale. THREE HOURS Wrestlemania XII (Anaheim Pond, 3/31/1996) YOKOZUNA, JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS, & AHMED JOHNSON vs VADER, BRITISH BULLDOG, & OWEN HART If the faces win, they get five minutes with Jim Cornette. The heels win, though, to begin Vader’s rise to main eventer. On a sidenote, Mister Fuji manages the faces, and is smiling and waving an American flag. He was phased out very shortly following WMXII because it occurred to somebody that certain wrestlers and managers can never be faces, and Fuji falls in that category. HOLLYWOOD BACKLOT BRAWL: ROWDY RODDY PIPER Piper hadn’t wrestled a match in two years and suddenly he was back for this fight, so everyone assumed he was doing this so he could have a “last hurrah,” especially since it was revealed by several sources that Roddy was about to get half his body replaced by plastic, because he never bothered to let injuries heal properly. Piper came back seven months later in WCW, but he was obviously gone. His talent wasn’t there, and he was beginning a noticeable mental spiral, as his interviews were now rambling and incoherent, and his ego swelled horribly. It makes me sad every time I hear that, because Hot Rod is about 90% of what got me hooked on wrestling when I started watching. SAVIO VEGA vs STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN Better match than the silent crowd would let you think.ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY Warrior makes his big return. What the hell was Vince thinking? UNDERTAKER vs DIESEL Diesel begins his big send-off by jobbing clean to Undertaker. WORLD TITLE IRON MAN MATCH: BRET “HITMAN” HART vs SHAWN MICHAELS I really don’t like this match. I just don’t. There are a lot of hardcore fans out there who liked it, which I understand because, in all fairness, I wasn’t around during the 70s, so I’m not used to pace like the one in this match. THREE HOURS Wrestlemania XIII: Heat! (Rosemont Horizon, 3/30/1997) FOUR CORNERS MATCH: NEW BLACKJACKS vs HEADBANGERS vs GODWINNS vs DOUG FURNAS & PHILLIP LAFON INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: ROCKY MAIVIA vs SULTAN The Rock and Rikishi. You could have never made me believe these guys would be the stars they are today. Never, ever, ever. GOLDUST vs HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY A pre-plastic surgery Chyna makes one of her earliest appearances, attacking Marlena and distracting Goldust long enough for him to lose the match. Okay, ironic moment here. If you ever want to get really angry, get out that RAW promo where Chyna talks about all the hard work and dedication it took for her to get into Playboy magazine…Okay, now get out this match and take a good look at her. She should get a “Thanks, Vince” tattoo across her breasts. TAG TEAM TITLE: BRITISH BULLDOG & OWEN HART vs VADER & MANKIND Bulldog & Hart are arguing, and they were supposed to drop the titles here, but Bret pulled a power play for them. SUBMISSION MATCH: BRET “HITMAN” HART vs STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN WOW, WHAT A MATCH! John McAdam called this the best match of the decade. Now my opinion, in all honesty, means absolutely nothing, but I’m inclined to agree. ***** STREET FIGHT: AHMED JOHNSON & LEGION OF DOOM vs NATION OF DOMINATION Better than it should have been. This is a good little garbage match that might still be good for a PPV today. It would be a spectacular TV main event, though. WORLD TITLE: SID vs UNDERTAKER Undertaker wins the title, and for the first time a few months, the belt will actually stay somewhere for a little while. THREE HOURS WrestleMania XIV: DX-Rated (Boston Fleet Center, 3/29/1998) THE NATIONAL ANTHEM is performed by the DX band, and the Boston crowd completely shits on their attempt to turn the words that represent our nation into alternative punk rock. TAG TEAM BATTLE ROYAL Only an excuse to show off the LOD2000 gimmick, which gets a huge pop from the live crowd but is a total bomb with everybody else.
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: CHRIS JERICHO vs. STEVEN REGAL Ends in a clean pin. Definitely didn’t see that coming, but I was thrilled to see it. TAZZ & THE ACOLYTES vs. RIGHT TO CENSOR Another clean pin! Thanks, Vince! HARDCORE TITLE: BIG SHOW vs. RAVEN vs. KANE I really hate the way Hardcore Title matches are more along the lines of comedy matches anymore. These need to stay at ringside and be a little more violent and a little less laughable and “stunty.” EUROPEAN TITLE: TEST vs. EDDIE GUERRERO Better than it should have been, I’ll give it that much. WOMEN’S TITLE: IVORY vs. CHYNA The worst match of the night happens to be the shortest. Good. CHRIS BENOIT vs. KURT ANGLE Great match!!! The majority of the fans in attendance are conditioned towards chanting “Boring” throughout a match like this, but we see that there’s still a lot of respect for classic mat wrestling, as the crowd offers several rounds of applause during the match. **** ½ STREET FIGHT: SHANE MCMAHON vs. VINCE MCMAHON for control of the recently purchased WCW. In addition to incorporating the biggest news story in wrestling history, this match featured Trish Stratus’ face turn, Linda McMahon coming out of her drugged-up coma, and Shane McMahon proving that he could be the only head booker in wrestling to book himself to win the title without getting crapped on for it. **** Absolutely unbelievable match that could have been “Gimmick Match of the Year” if not for… TAG TEAM TITLE TABLES, LADDERS & CHAIRS MATCH: HARDY BOYZ vs. DUDLEY BOYZ vs. EDGE & CHRISTIAN You see, this is what the Hardcore matches ought to look like. Best gimmick match of the entire year, and it’s got about nine years to go to be topped for gimmick match of the decade. ***** GIMMICK BATTLE ROYAL with Gobbeldy Gooker, One Man Gang, Sgt. Slaughter, Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Tugboat, Doink, Repo Man, Earthquake, Goon, Brother Love, Jim Cornette, Bushwhackers, Kamala, Kimchee, and “Fabulous Freebird” Michael P.S. Hayes, as well as special guest play-by-play men Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan. This should have taken longer than three minutes, so fans like me could savor the chance to see these seventeen wrestlers in the ring for the only possible time in history. Iron Sheik wins because his body had deteriorated so badly he couldn’t safely go over the top. UNDERTAKERS vs. HHH More likely than not Undertaker’s last really good match. WORLD TITLE: ROCK vs. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN Yup. Four purple matches. Vince apparently gave the entire roster some don’t-suck pills beforehand because this was a damn good PPV. Everyone was here expecting Rock to turn heel, but it’s a swerve, and it’s Austin who makes the turn after selling his soul to Vince McMahon. Unfortunately, it was stupid judgment from somebody to do this in Texas, so Steve gets a huge face pop anyway. **** ½ FOUR HOURS WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1987 January 3 1986 YEAR IN REVIEW- Highlights of The Big Event, Harley Race’s coronation, Lou Albano’s retirement, newcomers, animals, and superstar resolutions for 1987. January 10 RANDY SAVAGE vs. STEVE GATORWOLF TITO SANTANA vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK KAMALA vs. JESSE CORTEZ KING HARLEY RACE vs. JERRY MONTI SNAKE PIT with guest Butch Reed. RANDY SAVAGE-RICKY STEAMBOAT FEUD RECAP BLACKJACK MULLIGAN threatens to stuff all the heels into a manure spreading machine. KILLER BEES vs. MAGNIFICENT MURACO & “Cowboy” BOB ORTON Referee Danny Davis disqualifies the Bees for wearing masks. January17 BLACKJACK MULLIGAN & U.S. EXPRESS vs. RAY MILLER, JOE MIRTO, STEVE LOMBARDI BUTCH REED vs. MARIO MANCINI André the Giant, reinstated following his suspension, takes a bow before the match. CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. GLADIATOR & TERRY GIBB HONKY TONK MAN vs. TOM SHARPE PIPER’S PIT Jack Tunney reads a lengthy, fawning speech over a video package and presents a trophy to Hulk Hogan in celebration of the third anniversary of his World Title win. André the Giant appears to congratulate Hulk and shakes his hand. HILLBILLY JIM, TITO SANTANA, PEDRO MORALES vs. DINO BRAVO & DREAM TEAM The faces get so disgusted with Danny Davis’s biased officiating that they walk out and throw the match via count-out. “EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT” MUSIC VIDEO GEORGE “THE ANIMAL” STEELE vs. TONY NARDO January 24 JUNKYARD DOG vs. AL NAVARRO DEMOLITION vs. JERRY ALLEN & SIVI AFI The Demos debut managed by Luscious Johnny V. Their look is still developing at this point, and they have green and purple hair, plus fur-lined boots. Also, Smash is a different guy. Randy Culley, a.k.a. Moondog Rex, who co-created the gimmick is wrestling, but the problem is too many fans recognized him as a jobber and he had to be replaced so people would take Demolition seriously. KAMALA vs. MICK FOLEY Yes, Mick Foley! Kamala drops him in 30 seconds, and the future hardcore legend and bestselling author is taken out of the arena on a stretcher. HERCULES challenges any man to try to escape the full nelson. Billy Jack Haynes accepts the challenge but Bobby Heenan panics and distracts him before the hold is applied, and Hercules sneak-attacks him. KILLER BEES vs. DAVID VANCE & BARRY O PIPER’S PIT Jack Tunney presents a trophy to Andre the Giant, congratulating him on being undefeated for 15 years. Subtle problems, though, are that Tunney’s speech for André is much shorter, and the trophy is smaller than Hulk’s. Just as André is about to accept the honor Hogan himself interrupts André to basically deliver the speech for him. André leaves in a huff. HONKY TONK MAN VISITS MEMPHIS JACQUES ROUGEAU vs. MAGNIFICENT MURACO RICKY STEAMBOAT vs. TIGER CHUNG LEE Steamboat returns to the ring, fully recovered from the injury he suffered at the hands of Randy Savage. January 31 KOKO B. WARE vs. KING HARLEY RACE Referee Danny Davis costs Koko the match, and Junkyard Dog is so annoyed he shows up just to throw Davis completely across the ring. HERCULES vs. DON DRIGGERS Hercules & Billy Jack Haynes have a staredown after the match. BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK See above. CAN-AM CONNECTION discusses all the restaurants where they’ve eaten dinner, while watching each other work out. What? ADRIAN ADONIS & HART FOUNDATION vs. JIM PARKS, PAUL ROMA & TONY GAREA PIPER’S PIT with guest Jesse Ventura, who speculates that Hulk got a trophy made of gold, while André’s is made of painted lead. Piper & Ventura agree to get Hogan & the Giant to appear on the Pit to settle the argument once and for all. ISLANDERS vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & IRON SHEIK February 7 KOKO B. WARE vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK THE PONTIAC SILVERDOME is announced as the venue for Wrestlemania III. TAG TEAM TITLES: BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. HART FOUNDATION Dynamite Kid is KO’ed by Jimmy Hart’s megaphone right after the opening bell, and every time Davey Boy gets the advantage, Danny Davis leaves the ring to yell at Dynamite for not standing on the apron, so the Harts can run in and give Davey Boy a 2-on-1 beating. This keeps up until Davey is unconscious, and the Harts win the belts. JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. DAVID GOLD DEMOLITION vs. SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES & DON DRIGGERS PIPER’S PIT with guests Jesse Ventura, Hulk Hogan, and André the Giant, who surprises everybody by bringing mortal enemy Bobby Heenan with him, and challenging Hogan to a World Title match. (BTW, the sudden switch to monochrome isn’t a tape flaw. Sky Sports goes to black & white because Hulk has a trickle of blood on his chest after Andre accidentally ran a fingernail across it. Are you kidding me?) ADRIAN ADONIS vs. MARIO MANCINI CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE & STEVE LOMBARDI February 14 HILLBILLY JIM & ROUGEAU BROTHERS vs. DREAM TEAM & JOHNNY V JACK TUNNEY FIRES DANNY DAVIS! RANDY SAVAGE vs. JERRY ALLEN KING HARLEY RACE vs. MOONDOG SPOT PIPER’S PIT Hulk accepts André’s challenge. BILLY JACK HAYNES VS. TIGER CHUNG LEE KILLER BEES vs. RED DEMON & GLADIATOR February 21 RICKY STEAMBOAT vs. CHICK DONOVAN JUNKYARD DOG vs. BARRY O ROWDY RODDY PIPER vs. ADORABLE ADRIAN ADONIS from Saturday Night’s Main Event. COWBOY BOB ORTON & MAGNIFICENT MURACO v. DAVID STOUDIMIERE & SALVATORE BELLAMO SNAKE PIT with guest Honky Tonk Man, who attacks Jake with a guitar. Jake is legitimately injured and actually hasn’t fully recovered from this blow. (A blow we don’t see, by the way, because Sky Sports throws in stock footage of cheering fans in place of the too-violent attack.) GEORGE “THE ANIMAL” STEELE vs. BUTCH REED SIX HOURS WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, February-April 1987 February 28 HART FOUNDATION vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO & SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES CONTRACT SIGNING for the Hulk vs. André main event at Wrestlemania III. This is accidentally a very funny segment. KING HARLEY RACE vs. MARIO MANCINI KOKO B. WARE vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. JIM POWERS SNAKE PIT with Hercules & Bobby Heenan BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF The Living Legend’s last ever TV match. Volkoff & Sheik give Bruno a 2-on-1 beating until the Killer Bees make the save. March 7 CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. GLADIATOR & JIMMY JACK FUNK ADORABLE ADRIAN ADONIS vs. DON DRIGGERS TITO SANTANA vs. BARRY O Slick attacks Tito from behind after the match. KAMALA vs. JERRY MONTI SNAKE PIT with guest Hillbilly Jim & his midget friends. HONKY TONK MAN vs. DAVID STOUDIMIERE March 14 BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. MOONDOG SPOT DINO BRAVO & DREAM TEAM vs. MIKE LUCA, PAUL ROMA, & SALVATORE BELLOMO JUNKYARD DOG vs. RICK RENSLOW DEMOLITION vs. TOM SHARPE & SIVI AFI SNAKE PIT with guest André the Giant. RICKY STEAMBOAT vs. PETE DOUGHERTY March 21 HART FOUNDATION vs. YOUNG STALLIONS KOKO B. WARE vs. JOHNNY K-9 KING KONG BUNDY vs. MARIO MANCINI CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. TERRY GIBB & IRON MIKE SHARPE SNAKE PIT with guest Hulk Hogan. HERCULES vs. JIMMY YOUNG March 28 TITO SANTANA vs. GREG “THE HAMMER” VALENTINE KING HARLEY RACE vs. RICK HUNTER ROUGEAU BROTHERS vs. DAVE WAGNER & RICK RENSLOW CORPORAL KIRCHNER vs. ADORABLE ADRIAN ADONIS Kirchner’s last TV match. SNAKE PIT Jake offers some final threatening words for Honky Tonk Man. RICKY STEAMBOAT vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK April 4 ISLANDERS vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE & AL NAVARRO “THE KEN PATERA STORY” PART 1 The opening chapter of a series of vignettes chronicling Patera’s meteoric rise to main event superstar, and sudden fall to a two-year sentence in prison for getting the Big Mac Attack from hell. HONKY TONK MAN vs. SIVI AFI BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. GLADIATOR KAMALA vs. SAM CODY Wizard Iukaea is replaced by Mr. Fuji, thank God. Not that Fuji is a great manager but I only have two tapes with the Wizard on them and I’m sick of him already. SNAKE PIT with guest Blackjack Mulligan, who helps Jake shill new WWF ice cream bars. OUTLAW RON BASS vs. JOE MIRTO GREG “THE HAMMER” VALENTINE vs. JERRY ALLEN April 11 TITO SANTANA & BRITISH BULLSOGS vs. BARRY O, GLADIATOR, JIMMY JACK FUNK BUTCH REED vs. SIVI AFI KILLER BEES vs. DAVID WAGNER & RICK RENSLOW “THE KEN PATERA STORY” PART 2 KING HARLEY RACE vs. JIM YOUNG SNAKE PIT with Outlaw Ron Bass. DEMOLITION vs. LANNY POFFO & BILLY ANDERSON Fuji is now managing the Demos, and Barry Darsow is now Smash. April 18 KOKO B. WARE vs. BILL HOWARD NEW DREAM TEAM vs. YOUNG STALLIONS HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. TERRY GIBB HONKY TONK MAN vs. JERRY ALLEN JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. DUSTY WOLF “THE KEN PATERA STORY” PART 3 HERCULES vs. TOM SHARPE SIX HOURS WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, APRIL-JUNE 1987 April 25 CAN-AM CONNECTION s. IRON MIKE SHARPE & STEVE LOMBARDI BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. TIGER CHUNG LEE HART FOUNDATION vs. NICK KINISKI & JOE MIRTO ISLANDERS vs. ROUGEAU BROTHERS SNAKE PIT with Hacksaw Jim Duggan KAMALA & SIKA vs. ALEX KNIGHT & SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES “THE KEN PATERA STORY” PART 4 GEORGE “THE ANIMAL” STEELE vs. JESSE CORTEZ May 2 RICKY “THE DRAGON” STEAMBOAT vs. TERRY GIBB BUTCH REED, NIKOLAI VOLKOFF, IRON SHIEK vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO, MARIO MANCINI, SIVI AFI KING HARLEY RACE vs. NELSON VEILLEUX BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. RICK GANTER & LUCKY STONE SNAKE PIT with Danny Davis CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. KAMALA & SIKA OUTLAW RON BASS vs. RICK HUNTER May 9 RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. NICK KINISKI ROUGEAU BROTHERS vs. DEMOLITION BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. JOHNNY V Bruti debuts the new “Barber” gimmick and his sleeperhold finish. He gives Johnny V a Mohawk after the match. TITO SANTANA & YOUNG STALLIONS vs. TIGER CHUNG LEE, COWBOY BOB ORTON, MAGNIFICENT MURACO THE KEN PATERA-BOBBY HEENAN DEBATE Ends with a fight with a belt that Sky Sports completely removes. Heenan takes off his belt, clutches it in his hand, we cut to the crowd cheering, we return to Heenan unconscious on the mat twitching. GEORGE “THE ANIMAL” STEELE vs. HONKY TONK MAN May 16 (Note: This episode is missing a match with Outback Jack vs. Killer Khan because, believe it or not, Sky Sports felt it was too violent.) RICKY “THE DRAGON” STEAMBOAT vs. BUTCH REED The Natural One wipes the floor with Steamboat, who actually comes out of this non-title match looking really bad. This was all done to groom Reed for winning the I-C title, after Steamboat asked for a week off and Vince had a mood swing. HART FOUNDATION vs. JOE MIRTO & JACK MILLER KOKO B. WARE vs. DAVE WAGNER SNAKE PIT with New Dream Team. KILLER BEES vs. ISLANDERS Haku & Tama turn heel. BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE May 23 BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. DINO BRAVO RICKY “THE DRAGON” STEAMBOAT vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE KING HARLEY RACE vs. JERRY MONTI HILLBILLY JIM, TITO SANTANA, & BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. DAVE BARBIE, CARL SCHMIDT, & TERRY GIBB SIKA & KAMALA vs. RICK HUNTER & LEAPING LANNY POFFO SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM injury report. HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. STEVE LOMBARDI May 30 KOKO B. WARE vs. DUSTY WOLF ONE MAN GANG vs. MARIO MANCINI The Gang’s WWF debut. KEN PATERA vs. TIM PATTERSON Patera’s first match following his release from prison; the crowd gives him a standing ovation! SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM discusses his recovery. DEMOLITION vs. TWO UNNAMED JOBBERS KILLER BEES vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK & GLADIATOR NIKOLAI VOLKOFF, IRON SHEIK, & “THE NATURAL” BUTCH REED vs. JOE MIRTO, SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES, & BRAD RHENGINS June 6 HONKY TONK MAN vs. JERRY ALLEN CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. ISLANDERS The Islanders cement their heel turn by revealing Bobby Heenan as their new manager. HERCULES vs. JERRY MONTI GEORGE “THE ANIMAL” STEELE vs. RUDY RIDER JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS cuts an anti-drug promo. Seriously. NEW DREAM TEAM vs. YOUNG STALLIONS SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM announces he will return to wrestling. RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. BILL ANDERSON June 13 KAMALA & SIKA vs. MARIO MANCINI & DON DRIGGERS BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. DUSTY WOLFE KILLER KHAN vs. ERIC COOPER JUNKYARD DOG vs. STEVE LOMBARDI SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM is profiled in another video. INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: RICKY “THE DRAGON” STEAMBOAT vs. HONKY TONK MAN Butch Reed no-shows on the night of his scheduled I-C title win, so Vince instead gives the belt to the first heel in the locker room to volunteer; Honky takes the ball and runs with it, clinging to the belt for 14 months. HILLBILLY JIM, SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES, & BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE, COWBOY BOB ORTON, & MAGIFICENT MURACO There’s trouble brewing between Orton & Muraco. SIX HOURS WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, JUNE-AUGUST 1987 June 20 (Due to a tape fault, this episode is missing a Honky Tonk Man squash) KEN PATERA vs. RICK RENSLOW ISLANDERS vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO & SCOTT CASEY KOKO B. WARE vs. JOHNNY K-9 SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM RECOVERY UPDATE ONE MAN GANG vs. BRIAN COSTELLO DEMOLITION vs. JERRY ALLEN & JIM POWERS June 27 RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. DAVID STOUDIMIERE Mr. T takes a bow before the match. RAYMOND ROUGEAU vs. GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE TED DIBIASE makes his debut in a brilliant segment where he cuts his finger on a $100 bill and then bribes his way into a doctor’s office, just to show that he can. CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK & TERRY GIBB GEORGE STEELE VISITS THE WWF ICE CREAM BAR FACTORY “Mr. Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF, HERCULES & KING HARLEY RACE vs. JIM POWERS & TWO OTHERS Mister Wonderful returns after a five-month injury hiatus. RON BASS vs. FRANKIE LANE HART FOUNDATION vs. KILLER BEES July 4 JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. TONY LEONE TED DIBIASE hypes his debut in another segment, bullying his way to a table at a full restaurant. HONKY TONK MAN vs. JIM POWERS BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. RICK DEFALCO SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM DEMOLITION vs. SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES & PAUL ROMA KEN PATERA vs. FRANKIE LANE from “Superstars of Wrestling.” The Heenan Family runs in and attacks KILLER KHAN vs. MIKE RICHARDS July 11 KAMALA & SIKA vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO & SONNY ROGERS “THE DANNY DAVIS STORY” HONKY TONK MAN vs. SCOTT CASEY TED DIBIASE buys a public pool and forces all the kids to leave. CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. SHADOWS NEW DREAM TEAM vs. JIM POWERS & JERRY ALLEN JAKE “TheSnake” ROBERTS vs. DUSTY WOLFE RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. SIVI AFI July 18 KEN PATERA vs. AL NAVARRO SPECIAL REPORT Tom Zenk quits the WWF! This is a total burial, as they don’t even identify Zenk by name in the announcement, they just call him “Rick Martel’s partner.” DEMOLITION vs. SCOTT CASEY & STEVE DOUGLAS RICK RUDE debuts in a brief interview. TED DIBIASE hypes his debut in another great segment. GEORGE “The Animal” STEELE vs. GLADIATOR KILLER KHAN vs. DAVID STOUDIMIERE SNAKE PIT YOUNG STALLIONS vs. STEVE LOMBARDI & BARRY HOROWITZ ONE MAN GANG vs. ERIC COOPER July 25 RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. BRADY BOON SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM returns to wrestling following his surgery. JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. RICK RENSLOW HART FOUNDATION vs. SIVI AFI & SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES WOMEN’S TITLE: FABULOUS MOOLAH vs. SHERRI MARTELL Brief clips of Martell winning the title. KOKO B. WARE vs. TERRY GIBB HERCULES vs. JERRY ALLEN JUNKYARD DOG & KILLER BEES vs. TIGER CHUNG LEE, JOE MIRTO, DAVE WAGNER August 8 ISLANDERS vs. OMAR ATLAS & RICK HUNTER TED DIBIASE HILLBILLY JIM & TITO SANTANA vs. JOE MIRTO & BARRY HOROWITZ HONKY TONK MAN vs. DAVID STOUDIMIERE BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE & ROUGEAU BROTHERS vs. MARIO MANCINI, IRON MIKE SHARPE, & DUSTY WOLF SUPERSTAR GRAHAM/BUTCH REED FEUD RECAP RAVISHING RICK RUDE vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO August 15 SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM vs. BARRY HOROWITZ ONE MAN GANG vs. BILLY COLEMAN KOKO B. WARE vs. BRIAN COSTELLO YOUNG STALLIONS vs. HART FOUNDATION TED DIBIASE RAVISHING RICK RUDE vs. SONNY ROGERS KAMALA & SIKA vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO & ??? SIX HOURS WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, AUGUST-OCTOBER 1987 August 22 (Due to a tape fault, this episode is missing a Ted DiBiase squash) JUNKYARD DOG vs. RICK HUNTER NEW DREAM TEAM vs. SIVI AFI & ??? PET CARE TIPS with British Bulldogs. RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. SCOTT CASEY Savage, a heel, gets an incredible face pop. BRUTUS “The Snake” BEEFCAKE vs. TOM STONE D.D.T. music video DEMOLITION vs. PETE SANCHEZ & OMAR ATLAS August 29 JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. STEVE LOMBARDI RICK MARTEL & TITO SANTANA announce the formation of Strike Force. KILLER KHAN vs. JAKE MILLIMAN DON MURACO announces that he’s “going solo.” “The Natural” BUTCH REED vs. BRADY BOON Nikolai Volkoff sings the Soviet anthem before the match. Why? PET CARE TIPS with the British Bulldogs GEORGE “The Animal” STEELE vs. RICK GARDNER PAUL ORNDORFF is so annoyed when Bobby Heenan asks him to say Rick Rude has the best body in wrestling, he fires Heenan and introduces his new manager, the debuting Oliver Humperdink. YOUNG STALLIONS vs. HERCULES & KING HARLEY RACE PILEDRIVER: THE WRESTLING ALBUM II is hyped in a brief segment. KOKO B. WARE vs. DAVE WAGNER September 5 HONKY TONK MAN vs. JERRY MONTI STRIKE FORCE vs. STEVE LOMBARDI & TERRY GIBB ONE MAN GANG vs. BILLY ANDERSON PAUL ORNDORFF vs. REX FARMER ANDRÉ THE GIANT returns to the WWF and gets booed out of the arena. BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE vs. MIKE STARR ISLANDERS vs. STEVE GATORWOLF & JESSE CORTEZ September 12 SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM vs. TIM PATTERSON DEMOLITION vs. RICK ATARI & PETE KETCHUM JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE “Million Dollar Man” TED DIBIASE vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO SLICK introduces Bam-Bam Bigelow as his newest charge, but Bam-Bam reveals that he’s going to be managed by Oliver Humperdink instead. BAM-BAM BIGELOW vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF Slick Nik is squashed! PET CARE TIPS with the British Bulldogs HART FOUNDATION & DANNY DAVIS vs. SIVI AFI, SCOTT CASEY & KIT CURTIS Six months after debuting at WrestleMania III, Dangerous Danny finally wrestles a TV match. September 19 KILLER BEES vs. SHADOWS KILLER KHAN vs. DARRELL NICKEL MAGNIFICENT MURACO vs. TIGER CHUNG LEE HEENAN FAMILY vs. SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES, BRADY BOON, DUSTY WOLF, RUDY RIDER SPECIAL REPORT Randy Savage turns face! Enraged by Honky Tonk Man’s claims to be the greatest IC champ of all time, Savage storms into his dressing room when Honky’s not there and threatens Jimmy Hart RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. OMAR ATLAS “The Natural” BUTCH REED vs. JERRY ALLEN September 26 DEMOLITION vs. SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES & OUTBACK JACK BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE takes a hairstyling class from world hairstyling champion (yes, there is such a title) Sal Fedora. “Mr. Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs. BRIAN COSTELLO ONE MAN GANG vs. VAN VAN-HORNE SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM & IVAN PUTSKI vs. ROCKY STONE & JOE MIRTO The Miracle Geritol Connection wins in seconds with simultaneous bearhugs. RAVISHING RICK RUDE vs. SIVI AFI SENSATIONAL SHERRI vs. VELVET MCINTYRE October 3 YOUNG STALLIONS vs. DAVE WAGNER & RICK RENSLOW RANDY SAVAGE cements his face turn by challenging Honky Tonk Man to a title match. KING KONG BUNDY, HERCULES, & KING HARLEY RACE vs. BRADY BOON, SCOTT CASEY, & ??? PET CARE TIPS with the British Bulldogs BAM-BAM BIGELOW vs. SHADOW #1 “Million Dollar Man” TED DIBIASE vs. BARRY HOROWITZ HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN & ROUGEAU BROS. vs. DANNY DAVIS & HART FOUNDATION October 10 STRIKE FORCE vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE & TERRY GIBB “The Natural” BUTCH REED vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO BAM-BAM BIGELOW vs. SHADOW #2 ISLANDERS vs. ??? & ??? INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: HONKY TONK MAN vs. RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE from Saturday Night’s Main Event. Honky and the Hart Foundation gang up on Savage until Hulk Hogan makes the save. KILLER KHAN vs. CHRIS ZARANZA SIX HOURS WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1987 October 17 BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. “CRIPPLER” RIP OLIVER & BRIAN COSTELLO ONE MAN GANG vs. RICK GANTNER “PILEDRIVER” music video HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. BARRY HOROWITZ HERCULES & RAVISHING RICK RUDE vs. JIM EVANS & SCOTT CASEY October 24 RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. VAN VAN HORNE “MILLION DOLLAR MAN” TED DIBIASE vs. TONY PARKS STRIKE FORCE vs. STEVE LOMBARDI & TOM STONE ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. TERRY GIBBS Da Woy-yah’s WWF debut. “GIRLS IN CARS” music video. Tito & Rick are so into pretty girls that Jim Johnston just had to write the song for them! DEMOLITION vs. CHRIS ZARNA & SONNY ROGERS October 31 BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. HONKY TONK MAN BOLSHEVIKS vs. S.D. JONES & LEAPING LANNY POFFO Boris Zhukov makes his first WWF appearance. SAM HOUSTON vs. RICK RENSLOW KILLER KHAN vs. CHRIS CURTIS KOKO B. WARE & KILLER BEES vs. NEW DREAM TEAM & JOHNNY V November 7 BAM-BAM BIGELOW vs. TERRY GIBBS ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. BARRY HOROWITZ BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. NEW DREAM TEAM ISLANDERS vs. JERRY ALLEN & S.D. JONES “JIVE SOUL BRO” music video “THE NATURAL” BUTCH REED vs. OMAR ATLAS
“STAND BACK” music video RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE vs. RIP “THE CRIPPLER” OLIVER November 21 STRIKE FORCE vs. BARRY HOROWITZ & TERRY GIBBS UPDATE Following the attack from One Man Gang & Butch Reed, Billy Graham is retiring from wrestling and will be replaced by Don Muraco at the Survivor Series. ONE MAN GANG vs. CARMINE SURACE DEMOLITION vs. OMAR ATLAS & PETE LUSEK BAM-BAM BIGELOW vs. JOSE ESTRADA BOLSHEVIKS vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO & VAN-VAN HORNE BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. DANNY DAVIS November 28 BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. CONQUISTADORS “MILLION DOLLAR MAN” TED DIBIASE vs. SONNY ROGERS HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. BARRY HOROWITZ KILLER KHAN vs. MIKE RICHARDS “HONKY TONK MAN” music video ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. BRIAN COSTELLO KEN PATERA & BILLY JACK HAYNES vs. RICK RENSLOW & DAVE WAGNER December 5 RAVISHING RICK RUDE vs. OMAR ATLAS JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. BARRY HOROWITZ BRUTUS “THE BARBER” BEEFCAKE vs. GREG “THE HAMMER” VALENTINE Greg injures Brutus’s leg, setting up a big push to keep him from jumping to the NWA. KING HARLEY RACE vs. JERRY ALLEN SAM HOUSTON & DANNY DAVIS have a face-off that turns into a brawl. “THE ROCK” DON MURACO vs. PETE SANCHEZ “DEMOLITION” music video
FIRST ROUND: CORPORAL KIRSCHNER vs. ADRIAN ADONIS Adrian wins with a really cool suplex-counter, which I’m surprised nobody has used since. Download 498.77 Kb. Share with your friends:
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