Saturday Night's Main Event (05/10/85)

Saturday Night's Main Event
05/10/85 (Taped 03/10/85)
East Rutherford, New Jersey


Ahead of the WWF Heavyweight Title bout, challenger Nikolai Volkoff said he'd have "no problem taking the title back to Russia and pressing the missile button". Imagine a foreign heel saying that today. In response champion Hulk Hogan told Mean Gene he was not happy about Volkoff singing the national anthem, but waving the Soviet Union flag in the ring was the last straw... Hogan pinned Volkoff in a decent brawl with good heat. After the match Hogan spat on the Soviet flag and used it to shine his boot... Uncle Elmer, on his wedding night, defeated Jerry Valiant in a record six seconds. This beat the pretend eight second record set by King Kong Bundy at Wrestlemania... An in-ring edition of "The Body Shop" followed as Jesse Ventura interviewed Bobby Heenan. Heenan said there was now a $50,000 bounty on Paul Orndorff's head... Orndorff had an intense brawl with Rowdy Roddy Piper that went to a double count out. The battle went backstage where Piper locked himself in his dressing room to get away from Orndorff...

Uncle Elmer legitimately married his bride Joyce Stazko in the ring with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Hillbilly Jim, Lou Albano and others present. Gene Okerlund supposedly played the organ. An object thrown from the crowd hilariously hit the bride during the vows. Jesse Ventura's mocking commentary made this bearable. Roddy Piper came out to protest but the ceremony continued... Andre the Giant & Tony Atlas defeated Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy by disqualification. After the bell Hogan came out to the aid of Andre to a huge pop... A pre-taped segment saw Okerlund (in safari outfit) at Detroit Zoo looking for George "The Animal" Steele, because that's where he lived I guess... The Dream Team beat Tony Garea & Lanny Poffo in a decent enhancement match... Uncle Elmer's wedding reception was backstage, complete with farm animals running around. Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura joined Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff at a table. Okerlund tapped a glass and smashed it which I found quite funny. Poffo recited a poem (didn't he just wrestle?) and Hillbilly Jim made a toast. Musician Tiny Tim made an appearance before Ventura read a mocking poem but got tripped up into the wedding cake by Hillbilly Jim. Two cake finishes in a row!

Results
Hulk Hogan (c) pinned Nikolai Volkoff to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (5:17) **1/2
Uncle Elmer pinned Jerry Valiant (0:06) SQ
Roddy Piper fought Paul Orndorff to a double count out (4:04) **1/2
Andre the Giant & Tony Atlas def Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy by disqualification (4:26) 1/2
The Dream Team (c) def Tony Garea & Lanny Poffo by submission to retain the World Tag Team Title (3:35) *3/4

WWF Wrestlemania VII

 

WWF Wrestlemania VII

Venue: Los Angeles, California

Date: 24/3/91

Attendance: 16,158

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan (Jim Duggan & Lord Alfred Hayes)

 

"The stars of the World Wrestling Federation are on their way to join the over 100,000 screaming fans in what will be the biggest Wrestlemania extravaganza ever!" - Vince McMahon

The Vince McMahon voiced Wrestlemania VII advert showed his grand vision for the event; the WWF were looking to smash their own (disputed) attendance record set at Wrestlemania III by attracting over 100,000 to the outdoor Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It didn't happen of course, in fact they were nowhere close. The official reason given as to why the event was switched to the much smaller Los Angeles Sports Arena was concern for Sgt Slaughter's safety having apparently received death threats for his portrayal of an Iraqi sympathiser during the time of the Gulf War. While I have no doubt Slaughter's well being was a factor, the real reason which WWE have finally admitted in recent years was poor ticket sales. By February 1991 only approximately 20,000 seats had been sold meaning the WWF had no choice but to abandon their grand plan late in the day and head across the street to the Sports Arena with their tail between their legs. Why were the ticket sales so poor? Many reasons. There was a lot of bad press surrounding the WWF at the time as government investigations into steroid abuse were gathering pace, and perhaps even worse from a PR perspective was the hugely negative reaction to the company's exploitation of the Gulf War. The Sgt Slaughter versus Hulk Hogan main event just did not attract fans like Hogan's previous main events against Andre the Giant, Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior. The original plan was in fact for Hogan/Warrior II to be the main event but McMahon had already decided to pull the plug on Warrior's failing title reign in favour of a sure fire xenophobic cash-in. It would prove to be a big mistake. This would be the start of a downward slide for the WWF which would eventually, coupled with the ascension of WCW, put the company in real danger of going out of business. It may not have been on the scale that McMahon had envisioned but there was a great atmosphere inside the Sports Arena for Wrestlemania VII with red, white and blue plastered all over for a very patriotic feel. The show would go on.

Review

The Rockers delivered a quality performance for the second consecutive pay-per-view defeating The Barbarian& Haku in the opening bout of the show. The future Faces Of Fear certainly played their part but this was another example of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty's ability to have a great match with just about any team. Michaels scored the winning fall with a high cross body block on Haku. Hacksaw Jim Duggan covered for Bobby Heenan on commentary for this match and I felt he did a decent job… The Texas Tornado scored a fairly easy win over Dino Bravo in a short match up with the Tornado/Discus Punch. Nothing much doing here... The British Bulldog power slammed and pinned The Warlord in a good power house match. These two would meet in the ring quite a lot during 1991 and usually produced good results due to their chemistry. This was their best televised match…

The Nasty Boys became WWF Tag Team Champions by defeating the Hart Foundation in one of their final few matches before Bret Hart's overdue singles run began. While different to the opener this was another tremendous tag team battle and was a great way for the Harts to go out. The Nasty Boys stole victory after using Jimmy Hart's motorcycle helmet on Jim Neidhart. The Los Angeles crowd seemed genuinely stunned at the result… Jake Roberts and Rick Martel's feud came to an end with a "Blindfold Match" which came about after Martel had temporarily blinded Roberts by spraying his cologne "Arrogance" into his eyes. Yes the gimmick match was a bit silly but they did the best they could under the restrictions before Roberts DDT'd Martel for the victory. Roberts deserves credit for ensuring the fans in the arena were involved throughout…

The Undertaker began what would years later be known as "The Streak" by beating Jimmy Snuka in what was essentially an extended squash. The match was fine for what it was and achieved the goal it was meant to, making Undertaker look strong. I particularly liked the suplex he delivered on Snuka from the ring apron. In the end the Tombstone Piledriver spelled the end for the WWF's original "Phenom"… The "Career Ending Match" between the Ultimate Warrior and Macho King Randy Savage was the culmination of a great four month feud which included Savage costing Warrior the WWF Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble. This was without question Warrior's finest match but the real praise must go to Savage for a super performance in which he put Warrior over as strong as possible. Warrior survived five Big Elbows before eventually pinning Savage with one boot on his chest (Savage's idea) to become the decisive winner and send the Macho King into retirement... for eight months (actually six days if you count the WWF/SWS Tokyo Dome show on 30/3/91). After Warrior took his bow in victory Sherri attacked Savage for his failings until Elizabeth made her return (she was shown on camera in the crowd before the bout) throwing Sherri from the ring. Randy and Liz then reunited and left together to a standing ovation. It was a truly memorable moment and tears flowed from many in the crowd. How could anyone possibly follow all of that?! Well, they couldn't…

Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao appeared on the show as part of the WWF's deal with the aforementioned SWS (Super World of Sports) who were a short-lived Japanese promotion. They defeated Demolition Mk2 who were all but finished as a team. The problem here is that most WWF fans wouldn't have known who Tenryu and Kitao were and had not been given any reason to care about Demolition in months be it positively or negatively. All in all this was pointless and the match was rubbish… The Big Boss Man challenged Mr Perfect for the Intercontinental Title in a logical climax to Boss Man's feud with the Heenan Family. The match was good enough but really should have been a lot better considering both men were at their peak as workers around this time. The finish was lame as Haku & The Barbarian ran in for a disqualification in Boss Man's favour meaning Perfect retained the title. In a nice moment Andre the Giant made his return during the match to prevent further interference from Bobby Heenan. Lord Alfred Hayes filled in on commentary for this one… Earthquake pinned Greg Valentine in a filler match that was short and meant very little. Following a distraction from Jimmy Hart 'Quake took the win with an Earthquake Splash. Earthquake would struggle now his big feud with Hogan had finished. He would find himself in the tag team ranks very soon…

The Legion of Doom crushed Power & Glory in less than a minute. LOD were booked exactly the same way as the Hart Foundation the previous year; a squash win at Wrestlemania followed by a title win at Summerslam… Next was Virgil's showdown with Ted Dibiase. Or was it Roddy Piper's showdown with Dibiase? Piper trained Virgil for the match and was in his corner having persuaded him to finally turn on Dibiase at the Royal Rumble. During the bout Dibiase took some cheap shots at Piper who was on crutches after a "motorcycle accident" (a cover story for Piper's hip replacement surgery) but was so preoccupied with him he managed to get himself counted out. After the match, which was ok, Sherri made her way down to distract Piper allowing Dibiase to viciously attack Piper's already injured knee. Piper sold the agony very well and in a fit of rage actually launched one of his crutches right into the crotch of referee Danny Davis. Virgil would have to wait until Summerslam for his big moment in the ring with Dibiase… The Mountie's win over Tito Santana achieved nothing. It certainly didn't help Mountie in getting over. Santana beat up Mountie for about a minute before getting shocked with a cattle prod out of the referee's view. The 'match' lasted about a minute and a half and was a waste of time… Finally Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt Slaughter to become the first ever three time WWF Heavyweight Champion in a good main event. Slaughter took a pounding in the beginning (which was his strength) before using underhanded tactics to gain control while Hogan played on the sympathy of the crowd, something he did better than most. Hogan also bled from the forehead during the match, a rare sight in the WWF back then. In the end Hogan made his patented comeback to win the match and the 'war' (which had already ended in the Middle East) for America. Hooray! A post match angle after the show (which aired on Superstars) saw Slaughter throw fire in Hogan's face ensuring the feud would continue throughout the summer.

Overall

Putting aside the exploitation of a war, this was a good Wrestlemania from an in-ring perspective. It would have been rated a lot higher had the show been three hours instead of four with the worthless filler matches removed. Incidentally this would be the last four hour edition of the event until Wrestlemania 2000. The Savage/Warrior match was an excellent encounter that really stole the show but it wasn't alone in delivering the goods. The Rockers versus Barbarian & Haku was a cracker, the tag team championship bout was equally good and even Hogan/Slaughter was much better than expected despite the negativity surrounding the feud. The outrage could have been much worse had Slaughter agreed to burn the American flag. Thankfully he refused. Wrestlemania VII drew a somewhat disappointing 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results
1 The Rockers def Haku & The Barbarian (10:41) ***1/2

2 Texas Tornado pinned Dino Bravo (3:11) *

3 The British Bulldog pinned Warlord (8:15) **3/4

4 The Nasty Boys def The Hart Foundation (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Title (12:10) ***1/2

5 Jake Roberts pinned Rick Martel in a "Blindfold Match" (8:34) *1/4

6 The Undertaker pinned Jimmy Snuka (4:20) *3/4

7 The Ultimate Warrior pinned Randy Savage in a "Career Ending Match" (20:47) ****1/2

8 Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao def Demolition by pinfall (4:44) 1/2

9 The Big Boss Man def WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect (c) by disqualification (10:47) **3/4

10 Earthquake pinned Greg Valentine (3:14) *

11 The Legion of Doom def Power & Glory by pinfall (0:59) SQ

12 Virgil def Ted Dibiase by count out (7:41) **1/4

13 The Mountie pinned Tito Santana (1:21) DUD

14 Hulk Hogan pinned Sgt Slaughter (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (20:26) **3/4

 

Rating

27.5/70 = 39.29%

 

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

 

 

 

 

WWF Wrestlemania VI

 

 

 

WWF Wrestlemania VI

Venue: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Date: 1/4/90

Attendance: 67,678

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

"Upon the examination of the galaxies of space, images begin to appear… Images of strange and powerful forces… But of all the forces in the universe, the two most powerful; Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior prepare to explode... Champion versus champion... Title for title... IT'S THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE!! IT'S WRESTLEMANIA!!"

You've got to love Vince McMahon's intros for the old pay-per-view events. That one was my personal favourite. As was the case with Wrestlemania V the original video release of this event saw virtually every match edited down to fit on a three hour tape, the exception being the main event. Fortunately I'll be reviewing the full version which can either be found on the Wrestlemania Anthology DVD series or the WWE Network. The only down side with the full version is that some of the entrance music has been dubbed over to save on paying royalties. Sadly they include the theme music for Dusty Rhodes, Demolition and Slick. On another note, this was Jesse Ventura’s final WWF pay-per-view as colour commentator.

Review
Rick Martel and Koko B Ware kicked things off with a short, passable contest. Martel won by submission with a Boston Crab... Demolition regained the tag team title from The Colossal Connection in a okay bout, which would be Andre The Giant's last due to his failing health. For this reason Haku fought almost the entire match by himself, although Andre did get one last hurrah as he turned on Haku and manager Bobby Heenan after the bout. Demolition were massively over and the result brought the house down...

Andre The Giant has finally had enough of Bobby Heenan

Earthquake scored a fairly straightforward win over Hercules as his big push continued. As had
become customary, Quake gave Hercules an "Aftershock" following the bout to further force home his dominance. The match was about as basic as it gets... Mr Perfect finally lost his 'Perfect Record' as he fell to Brutus Beefcake by pin fall in an average match. Perfect did at least avoid getting a haircut from "The Barber", The Genius was not so lucky... Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fought to a double count out in a so-so brawl. Piper and Brown fought all the way back to the locker room just as they did at the Royal Rumble...

Macho King Randy Savage with Sensational Queen Sherri

The Hart Foundation crushed The Bolsheviks in 19 seconds after back jumping them during Nikolai Volkoff's singing of the Russian national anthem. This didn't do a lot for the Harts who were soon to be in line for a tag team title shot. The nature of their victory made you feel bad for the heels, which is not the idea of course... Tito Santana put over The Barbarian in a dull encounter. On the plus side, Barbarian's top rope clothesline finisher looked awesome thanks to a great sell by the reliable Santana... In one of the feature matches of the under card, Macho King Randy Savage teamed with Sensational Queen Sherri to battle Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire in a mildly entertaining mixed tag team bout. Elizabeth made her return in the corner of Rhodes and Sapphire and was instrumental in their victory as Sapphire pinned Sherri with a roll up. As was evident here Sapphire clearly did not belong in the ring...

The Rockers prior to their bout with The Orient Express

The Rockers and The Orient Express contested a decent enough match up that was still some way below what they were actually capable of producing. The Express took the win via a disappointing count out... Hacksaw Jim Duggan scored a popular win over Dino Bravo in a poor match up after nailing Bravo with his 2x4. Duggan was made to pay for this though as Earthquake crushed him in the aftermath... Another big feature match on the card was the battle between "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase and Jake "The Snake" Roberts for the Million Dollar belt. While perfectly acceptable, the match fell well short of the red hot grudge match many were expecting. Dibiase triumphed by count out following the same ring post spot they used at the Royal Rumble. Roberts DDT'd Dibiase after the bout and gave away some of his money to the crowd but even that couldn't mask the anticlimax here...

Jimmy Snuka leapfrogs Ravishing Rick Rude

The Big Boss Man easily beat his former tag team partner Akeem in less than two minutes despite being attacked by Ted Dibiase right before the bout. Now that's what you call a burial; Akeem was finished after this... Ravishing Rick Rude cleanly defeated "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka by pin fall after a Rude Awakening in match not unlike the opening bout. Rude was being prepared for a run in the main events over the summer...

Hulk Hogan applies a rear chinlock on The Ultimate Warrior

The match that everybody came to see was of course Hulk Hogan versus The Ultimate Warrior in a super main event with both the WWF World Heavyweight and WWF Intercontinental Titles on the line. This was the first time a main event of this magnitude would be contested by the two top babyfaces in the company but as greatly anticipated as it was, not much was expected in terms of match quality. Hogan was capable of having good matches with the right opponents but Warrior's limitations meant he usually had short matches unless he was in the ring with a super worker like Rick Rude or Randy Savage. This meant Hogan was in the unfamiliar role of carrying the match (usually the heels job) and building for his opponent’s comebacks but to the surprise of many Hogan performed the role admirably on the night. Warrior also played his part well in what was a great rollercoaster ride of a match in which you really could not tell who was going to win. As it turned out Warrior went over in what was Hogan's only clean loss of his famous second run in the WWF which was supposed to usher in a new era with the Ultimate Warrior as the top star in the company. The atmosphere was really special as the crowd was red hot throughout the match and it appeared to be a perfect 50/50 split. It's also worth noting there was no booing from either section of the support, something that just would not happen these days. The match is still very fondly remembered today as one of the great Wrestlemania main events.

Hogan presents the WWF Heavyweight Title to the Warrior

Overall

Wrestlemania VI as a whole was a letdown as everything aside from Hogan/Warrior was bang average, or worse in some cases. The setting of Sky Dome however was fantastic, a massive step up from the previous two years at Trump Plaza. The stars really aligned for the main event which was booked and executed to perfection avoiding hurting either man as Warrior got the accolades in victory and Hogan got sympathy in defeat. It was arguably Hogan's best performance of his 1983-93 WWF run and only Randy Savage would get a better match out of the Ultimate Warrior in his entire career. The even split in the crowd reactions and constant cheering was a huge bonus as it's always a risk that someone will receive boos in an all-babyface clash. The match was a massive success and saved what was otherwise a very much below par Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania VI drew 550,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results
1 Rick Martel def Koko B Ware by submission (3:51) *3/4

2 Demolition def The Colossal Connection (c) by pinfall to win the WWF Tag Team Title (9:30) **

3 Earthquake pinned Hercules (4:52) 3/4

4 Brutus Beefcake pinned Mr Perfect (7:48) **1/4

5 Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fought to a double count out (6:48) **

6 The Hart Foundation def The Bolsheviks by pinfall (0:19) SQ

7 The Barbarian pinned Tito Santana (4:33) *1/2

8 Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire def Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri by pinfall (7:31) **

9 The Orient Express def The Rockers by count out (7:38) **1/2

10 Hacksaw Jim Duggan pinned Dino Bravo (4:15) *

11 Ted Dibiase def Jake Roberts by count out (11:50) **1/2

12 The Big Boss Man pinned Akeem (1:49) 1/2

13 Ravishing Rick Rude pinned Jimmy Snuka (3:59) *3/4

14 WWF Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior (c) pinned Hulk Hogan (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (22:51) ****

Rating

24.5/70 = 35%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Royal Rumble 1990

WWF Royal Rumble 1990

Venue: Orlando, Florida

Date: 21/01/90

Attendance: 16,000

Commentators: Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura

The second annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event took place in Orlando, Florida and helped set the scene for Wrestlemania VI. Tony Schiavone was on pay-per-view commentary duties for the second and last time in the WWF alongside Jesse "The Body" Ventura who himself would leave the Federation in 1990.

 

Ronnie Garvin manages to reverse Greg Valentine's figure four leg lock

Review

The Bushwackers defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers in an extended version of the usual Bushwacker match which in fairness was ever so slightly better than normal, but still bad. Luke pinned Jacques after the Battering Ram, which by the way is one of the worst finishers of all time... Whatever match went on next couldn't lose, right? Wrong. The match between Brutus Beefcake and The Genius was dreadful and went to a double disqualification just to make matters worse. With the referee down Beefcake decided to give The Genius a haircut and despite facing the aisle somehow failed to see Mr Perfect running down and climbing in the ring to attack him. Perfect's chair assisted assault on "The Barber" at least set up their clash at Wrestlemania and prevented this match from being a complete waste of time...

 

Randy Savage nails Jake Roberts who is being held by Ted Dibiase

The Greg Valentine/Ronnie Garvin feud came to a head in a near 17-minute Submission Match won by Garvin with a Scorpion Deathlock/Sharpshooter (or "Reverse Figure Four" according to Tony Schiavone). This was a good, stiff grudge match that felt like it came straight out of Jim Crockett Promotions. On the flip side it was a bit sluggish in places and the repeated pin fall attempts made the participants look a bit stupid... Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat The Big Boss Man by disqualification in an acceptable brawl albeit with a cheap finish. Boss Man was much leaner at this point in his career and his performances were getting better and better. He was about to split from Slick and Akeem to become a popular babyface, while Duggan continued to be a one dimensional brawler yet still very popular himself. Boss Man nailed Duggan with his knight stick to signal the end of this one...

 

The Ultimate Warrior is about to level Haku

After an uninspiring undercard the Royal Rumble match itself was thankfully very good. In the most notable happenings... After managing to purchase the number thirty slot in the previous year's event, Ted Dibiase this time drew number one. That's karma I supposed. Dibiase saw off a couple of guys before Jake Roberts made his way down to a great ovation to face his arch enemy. Dibiase applied the Million Dollar Dream on the outside of the ring only for Roberts to counter it by ramming Dibiase (and himself) into the ringpost. Amazingly, this would also be their finish for their upcoming Wrestlemania grudge match... Randy Savage surprisingly didn't enjoy a long stay in the match as he was eliminated by Dusty Rhodes, with whom he was feuding... Rowdy Roddy Piper eliminated Bad News Brown only for Brown to then eliminate Piper and spark a brawl between the two in the aisle way...

 

Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior face off for the first time

Demolition and the Colossal Connection clashed ahead of their Wrestlemania title match... The Ultimate Warrior brought the house down by eliminating the Royal Rumble's first marathon man, Ted Dibiase... Hulk Hogan entered the match to a huge pop and it wasn't long before he and the Warrior were alone standing face-to-face in the ring. This was their first confrontation and it was wisely kept to a minimum leaving the fans wanting more. After a Hogan/Warrior stalemate, The Barbarian and Rick Rude attempted to dump Hogan but Warrior came to his aid. The heels then turned their attention to Warrior and had in him trouble before Hogan attempted to eliminate them both from behind but actually ended up only eliminating Warrior... In the end Hogan overcame Rick Rude and lastly Mr Perfect to win the match and send the fans home happy. Royal Rumble 1990 drew a disappointing 260,000 buys on pay-per-view.

The final two in the Royal Rumble: Hulk Hogan and Mr Perfect

Overall

After the first two Royal Rumbles were won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Big John Studd respectively I believe it was the right decision to have the WWF's top star win the 1990 match to legitimise the event as an important one. Considering the star power in the Rumble match, Hogan's victory only reaffirmed his status as number one in the fans' minds which would only make Warrior's upcoming victory at Wrestlemania look even more impressive. The rumble match also did a great job of furthering other feuds leading into Wrestlemania such as Dibiase/Roberts, Rhodes/Savage, Colossal Connection/Demolition and not forgetting Perfect/Beefcake from the undercard. If you've never seen this event then the Garvin/Valentine bout and the Royal Rumble match are worth your time, the rest is not.

Results

1 The Bushwackers def The Fabulous Rougeaus by pinfall (13:35) *

2 Brutus Beefcake fought The Genius to a double disqualification (11:07) 1/2

3 Ronnie Garvin def Greg Valentine in a submission match (16:55) **3/4

4 Jim Duggan def The Big Boss Man by disqualification (10:26) *3/4

5 Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble match (58:46) ***1/2

Rating

9.50/25 = 38% Rating

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Summerslam 1989

 

WWF Summerslam 1989

Venue: East Rutherford, New Jersey

Date: 28/08/89

Attendance: 20,000

Commentators: Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura

In a bid to further the hype for WWF financed movie No Holds Barred starring Hulk Hogan and Tiny Lister, Lister's character Zeus was brought into the World Wrestling Federation to be a short term monster heel and face Hogan in a "real life confrontation". Meanwhile Randy Savage who had lost the WWF Heavyweight Championship to Hogan at Wrestlemania and had spent the summer unsuccessfully trying to regain the title, teamed up with Zeus to attempt to take out 'The Hulkster' once and for all. Hogan's best friend Brutus Beefcake, who was also targeted by Zeus, would team with Hogan to face Zeus and Savage in the big main event at Summerslam. This was the first of two WWF pay-per-views that featured Tony Schiavone as lead announcer.

Review

Recently crowned tag team champions The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard) defeated The Hart Foundation in a quality non-title opening bout. The Harts were dominant for most of the contest, so much so that the Busters looked almost inferior to their opponents. Although Anderson and Blanchard went over in the end they should have been afforded more offense in order to legitimise their status as champions... Dusty Rhodes beat The Honky Tonk Man in a slow and boring contest. Rhodes took the win after Jimmy Hart accidently crashed a guitar over Honky's head. The real highlight though was Honky's post match interview where the effects of the guitar shot caused him to believe he was Elvis Presley...

 

Mr Perfect lands a standing dropkick on The Red Rooster.

Mr Perfect continued his unbeaten streak as he made short work of The Red Rooster (Terry Taylor). Taylor actually suffered a knee injury during the bout so perhaps the match was shorter than intended but as that wasn't obvious to those watching Rooster just came across as a jobber here... Next up was a very good six-man tag team match where Rick Martel and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers defeated Tito Santana and The Rockers. Santana was desperate for revenge after Martel turned his back on him at Wrestlemania but Martel played the cowardly heel brilliantly, only entering the fray when his former partner was in trouble. Martel scored the win for his team pinning Marty Jannetty amidst the confusion at the end of the bout...

 

Santana executes a sunset flip out of the corner on former partner Martel.

Ravishing Rick Rude managed to surpass his herculean efforts at Wrestlemania to pull an even better match out of the bag with The Ultimate Warrior for the Intercontinental Title. It must be said that Warrior and Rude always worked well together but this was probably their best encounter. Warrior regained the title he lost in Atlantic City thanks in part to a distraction from Rowdy Roddy Piper which allowed Rude to avoid taking a clean loss and moved him seamlessly onto his next feud... Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Demolition beat Andre the Giant and The Twin Towers in a six man tag that was light years in quality behind the one earlier on the card. Duggan once again cheated to win in a typical for the time big man brawl... The Hercules/Greg Valentine match existed only to further the feud between Valentine and Ronnie Garvin, who was guest ring announcer. Garvin insulted Valentine at length on the house mic before the bout. Valentine pinned Hercules in short order only for Garvin to announce Hercules as the winner. Valentine nailed Garvin for his trouble before Garvin climbed back into the ring and hit "The Hammer" with a terrible looking punch made worse by Valentine's sell, or lack there of...

 

Andre crushes Axe as Akeem looks on. Notice how Bobby Heenan is still distraught
following Rude's IC Title loss. Selling is important for managers too you know.

Ted Dibiase squared off with Jimmy Snuka in a nothing match which Dibiase won by count out. The action was lacklustre and the finish was lousy. Dibiase's comments towards Snuka in his pre-match interview bordered on being racist as did Jesse Ventura's commentary during the match. WWE must have thought the same as Dibiase's comments have been edited out of the DVD release of this event, although Ventura's remain... In the main event Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake beat Randy Savage and Zeus in an enjoyable tag bout. Zeus (actor Tiny Lister) was brought in to be a monster heel who was impervious to pain. His ability to perform in the ring was limited to say the least so Savage had to work extra hard to compensate for him but what he did do was acceptable. Hogan pinned Zeus after nailing him with a loaded purse, which had previously been used in the match by Savage. After the match Beefcake and Miss Elizabeth chopped off Sensational Sherri's long hair (which I suspect was extensions) with a pair of shears.

 

Zeus and the Macho Man before the main event

Overall

Summerslam 1989 can be considered a good show thanks to three very good matches and a decent main event. Unfortunately the show's overall rating is dragged down by the remaining five bouts which were poor and nothing more than filler in truth. The best matches were also the ones that mattered most and that made this show worthwhile. Summerslam 1989 drew 625,000 buys on pay-per-view, an excellent number.

 

Hogan, Beefcake and Miss Elizabeth celebrate victory

 

Results

1 The Brain Busters def The Hart Foundation by pinfall (16:23) ***3/4

2 Dusty Rhodes pinned The Honky Tonk Man (9:36) 3/4

3 Mr Perfect pinned The Red Rooster (3:21) *

4 The Fabulous Rougeaus & Rick Martel def The Rockers & Tito Santana by pinfall (14:58) ***1/2

5 The Ultimate Warrior pinned Rick Rude (c) to win the Intercontinental Title (16:02) ***3/4

6 Demolition & Jim Duggan def The Twin Towers & Andre the Giant by pinfall (7:23) *

7 Greg Valentine pinned Hercules (3:08) 1/2

8 Ted Dibiase def Jimmy Snuka by count out (6:27) *1/4

9 Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake def Randy Savage & Zeus by pinfall (15:04) ***

Rating

18.50/45 = 41.11% Rating

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

 

 

 

 

WWF Survivor Series 1988

WWF Survivor Series 1988

Venue: Richfield, Ohio

Date: 24/11/88

Attendance: 13,500

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

As with the inaugural event, the second annual Survivor Series took place at the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio and was comprised completely of tag team elimination matches. This year there was no clash with Starrcade which had been moved to December.

Review

The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus The Barber Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Sam Houston & Jim Brunzell vs The Honky Tonk Man, Greg The Hammer Valentine, Bad News Brown, Ron Bass & Danny Davis

Eliminations: Beefcake beat Davis; Brown pinned Brunzell; Brown was counted out; Bass pinned Houston; Valentine beat Blazer; Beefcake and Honky were counted out; Warrior pinned Bass; Warrior pinned Valentine. The Ultimate Warrior was the survivor.

Notes

Originally on the face team, Don Muraco left the WWF prior to the event and was replaced by Jim Brunzell... Danny Davis was eliminated in short order by Brutus Beefcake's sleeper hold... Bad News Brown was struck accidently by Greg Valentine during the match and took a walk eliminating himself... Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior was massively over here but his participation is kept to a minimum to help conceal his limitations. Warrior was left alone to face Valentine and Ron Bass but he disposed of them both rather quickly with a running double axe handle. Fortunately he didn't use that as his finisher for long, it was rubbish... Good opening match overall.

Bad News Brown drops a leg on Sam Houston as his teammates look on

---

The Powers of Pain, The Rockers, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation & The Young Stallions vs Demolition, The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, The Bolsheviks & Los Conquistadores

Eliminations: Bret Hart pinned Raymond Rougeau; Boris Zhukov pinned Jim Powers; Marty Jannetty pinned Boris Zhukov; Tully Blanchard pinned Bret Hart; The Rockers and The Brain Busters were counted out; Smash pinned The Dynamite Kid; Smash was counted out; The Barbarian pinned Uno. The Powers of Pain were the survivors.

Notes

Demolition were the tag team champions and were in the midst of a big feud with the Powers of Pain. The climax of this match saw a double turn as Mr Fuji turned on Demolition causing them to be eliminated. Demolition then gave Fuji a hiding and after they had left ringside the Powers of Pain took pity on Fuji bringing him into their corner. The Powers went on to win the match and celebrated by lifting Fuji on their shoulders with half the crowd still cheering and the other half confused... The Rougeau Brothers and the British Bulldogs were involved in a legitimate feud at the time. According to Bret Hart, Jacques Rougeau had sucker punched the Dynamite Kid knocking his teeth out in response to Dynamite's constant bullying. Rumour has it Vince McMahon found out about a plan by the Bulldogs to attack the Rougeaus after the match so he booked the Rougeaus to be eliminated early on and ensured they had left the building before the Bulldogs were eliminated. The Bulldogs left the WWF after this event. Davey Boy Smith would be back in about two years but Dynamite would never return... The match was very good although it did drag slightly towards the end. The Conquistadors were a strange choice to go the distance for the heel team especially with other more accomplished teams in the match. They survived far too much punishment, especially from the Powers of Pain, to be believable for a lower card team. The match is most remembered for the big double turn at the end.

 

Bret Hart defeats Raymond Rougeau with a small package

 

---

Jake The Snake Roberts, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey vs Andre the Giant, Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr Perfect, Dino Bravo & Harley Race

Eliminations: Rude pinned Patera; Bravo pinned Casey; Santana pinned Race; Andre pinned Santana; Duggan was disqualified; Roberts pinned Rude; Andre was disqualified; Perfect pinned Roberts. Mr Perfect and Dino Bravo were the survivors.

Notes

The Junkyard Dog was originally on the face team but left the WWF prior to the event so was replaced by B. Brian Blair. However, Blair also left the company before the event and had to be replaced by Scott Casey... The match was centred around Jake Roberts' feud with Andre the Giant. Roberts' team was down to two versus four when Jim Duggan got himself disqualified leaving "The Snake" alone. Duggan came across as an imbecile in doing so. Roberts fought against the odds bravely as a babyface should and eliminated Rick Rude with a DDT before Andre entered the ring and choked Roberts out. Andre was disqualified for refusing the release the choke but the damage was done and Mr Perfect picked up an easy pinfall victory for himself and Dino Bravo. Decent enough match.



Jake Roberts nails Mr Perfect with a short clothesline

 

---

Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B Ware vs The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted Dibiase, Haku & The Red Rooster

Eliminations: Savage pinned Rooster; Akeem pinned Hillbilly; Boss Man pinned Koko; Dibiase pinned Hercules; Savage pinned Dibiase; Boss Man was counted out; Akeem was disqualified; Hogan pinned Haku. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were the survivors.

Notes

The Mega Powers (Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan) versus the Twin Towers (Big Boss Man & Akeem) was the top feud in the WWF at the time... The Red Rooster was berated by his manager Bobby Heenan after being crushed by Savage and Hogan early on. It would lead to a feud between the two... The faces toppled leaving Savage and Hogan against four. Savage pinned Dibiase before Hogan was handcuffed outside of the ring by the Big Boss Man leaving Savage alone. The Boss Man was counted out but returned to the ring to help Akeem attack Savage which led to Akeem being disqualified. Eventually Hogan clobbered Slick on the outside allowing Elizabeth to steal the keys to release him. Savage manages to tag Hogan who finishes off Haku to win the match for the Mega Powers. During the celebration Hogan hugs Elizabeth as he did at Summerslam, only this time Savage is more visibly angered while Hogan remain oblivious to it. After the show Jesse Ventura tries to stir the pot in an interview with the "Macho Man" but Savage denies there are any problems between he and Hogan. Good main event.

The Mega Powers survive but trouble is on the horizon

Overall

While not as strong as the original event the second annual Survivor Series was still a very good show with not a single bad match on the card. After giving us the smallest of hints at Summerslam, the WWF were a little less subtle in showing us there could be trouble ahead for the Mega Powers duo. The build to the "explosion" at Wrestlemania was being worked slowly and expertly and this was the first real step in that direction. The big tag team elimination bout was the match of the night and while not quite at the level of the 1987 version, it is perhaps more memorable because of the double turn at the end. Survivor Series 1988 drew 310,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results

1 The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Jim Brunzell & Sam Houston def The Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Greg Valentine, Ron Bass & Danny Davis (17:50) ***

2 The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Rockers, The Powers of Pain & The Young Stallions def Demolition, The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeaus, The Bolsheviks & The Conquistadors (42:12) ***3/4

3 Andre the Giant, Mr Perfect, Rick Rude, Dino Bravo & Harley Race def Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey (30:03) **1/2

4 Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B Ware def The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted Dibiase, Haku & The Red Rooster (29:10) ***

Rating

12.25/20 = 61.25%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)