Sage Cortez
Wow, it’s time once again for more WWF watching! This is where things start to heat up for the end of the year. Little did anyone know that Vince McMahon had big plans to counter the NWA’s annual Starrcade offering. On this business front, they were heading into the unknown. This was direct competition, and it was a war. I’ll be sure to sprinkle in some news from the time throughout this article. Let’s get to the action!
– Taped to air August 1st, 1987, on Superstars of Wrestling, from the Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York
Hercules, King Harley Race, & A MYSTERY PARTNER (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Jerry Allen, Ricky Hunter, & Mario Mancini
The mystery partner’s entrance is delayed, and Heenan makes the announcement that he is here! Vince’s reactions to new wrestlers are always interesting and this was no exception. IT’S RICK RUDE! He goes into full blown shtick immediately, and it’s amazing as ever.
Ventura pointing out the women taking pictures was an excellent line. I was eating a Wheat Thin, and it flew right out of my mouth. Rude starts the match and works over one of the jobbers, giving him a powerslam. Race tags in, gives that jobber a bodyslam, and now it’s Hercules turn. He gives that jobber an even bigger bodyslam, and the jobber tags out. Hercules clotheslines him, tags in Rude, and Rude gives the poor sap a SLINGSHOT SUPLEX. And it’s over at 1:38. Rude is obviously impressive, and it isn’t the first time I’ve seen him. I like his character a lot, but as a singles wrestler in 1987 and 1988, I’ve found him lacking. Let’s see if that’s any different watching his matches in this manner.
– Taped to air August 8th, 1987, from the same taping…
Don Muraco, Joe Mirto, & Bob Orton Jr. vs. Tito Santana, the Junkyard Dog, & Hillbilly Jim
Pre-Match Thoughts: This guy Joe Mirto must be amazing. Look at him, in a team with two veterans like Muraco and Orton. Seriously though, this guy has good luck to be in this match at all with the other five guys who are involved.
Match Review: To start it off, all six guys brawl! Mirto tries to run over Jim, but that’s a foolish mistake. Jim hits him with a big boot, and Mirto tags in Muraco. JYD also tags in, and headbutts Muraco a couple of times to no crowd reaction whatsoever. I wonder if this was before or after his match against the Hart Foundation, which was also on this taping. Orton and Muraco argue outside the ring, then Orton enters to fight with Santana. Orton is given a bodyslam, but comes back with a really hard punch. Orton picks Santana up, and gives him Muraco’s finisher…THE TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER…or not. Santana breaks free, and Muraco tags in. He goes over to the corner to give Santana the superplex, which is Orton’s move. Orton pushes Santana on top of Muraco, which leads to a 3 count at 3:02. Hm.
After the match, Orton and Muraco are super pissed at each other, presumably for trying to use each other’s finishers. The babyface team vacates the ring, and eventually an argument between Orton and Muraco turns into a brawl. One of the kids in the front row really enjoyed that. They tumble over the top rope, and Muraco eventually backdrops Orton on the floor. They head over the guardrail, and brawl through the crowd. This was actually kind of cool.
Luckily, at the end of that video, we get a clip of SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM talking. That’s always ***** promo material. Poor Superstar got attacked by Butch Reed. This is so messed up. Fortunately, he gets up and clears Reed out of the ring. I wonder what they had planned for Graham if he could stay healthy and durable.
My Thoughts: This was a case of two egomaniacs who couldn’t get along, so I don’t know how Muraco came out of this a babyface, or why anyone would want to see them face each other. Who would get a babyface reaction, anyway? MAYBE I’LL HAVE TO FIND OUT! * for the match, the post-match was very cool, and it takes up 7 minutes of the linked video. Check it out. Check out the other 3 minutes too.
The Hart Foundation (WWF Tag Team Champions, w/Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis) vs. The Young Stallions
Pre-Match Thoughts: This was a non-title match, so in typical WWF fashion I expect shenanigans. First time seeing the Young Stallions here. They are Jim Powers and Paul Roma. These guys are the most typical babyfaces that I’ve ever seen. Sadly, Finkel has an announcement to make, and it’s FUCKING MR. T in his enforcer’s role. If he’s not talking about his mom, I don’t want to see him. This is no exception. Danny Davis and Mr. T do a mini-staredown before the match, then T leaves.
Match Review: The Foundation double team attacks the Stallions to start the match off, and Bret gives Powers a backbreaker. Neidhart tags in, and hits Powers with a big clothesline. He drops Powers throat-first on the top rope, as Danny Davis talks during an insert promo. His talking ability is terrible, but the guy has a lot of heat. The Foundation gives Powers their backbreaker-elbow drop combination, and Bret gives Powers a excellently executed suplex. Neidhart swaps back in, and gives Powers a hard bodyslam. Back over to Bret we go, and he gets thrown full speed into the turnbuckle by Powers. Roma tags in, and Bret bumps big for him off an elbow and dropkick. Neidhart and Bret collide, and Roma focuses his attention on Bret, who cradles him up, places his feet on the ropes, and gets the pinfall at 2:56.
Mr. T then leaves his ringside position, and uses his role as ENFORCER OF THE WWF to get the referee to reverse the decision. Yikes.
My Thoughts: That was horrid. I understand that Mr. T was there to draw the company some money, but I don’t know how this role was EVER supposed to draw money. To think it would is to be completely out of touch. Really now, imagine raking in the dollars from a Mr. T vs. Danny Davis feud. That sounds impossible. If you can’t tell, I really didn’t like that. This was basically a squash match, so no rating.
– August 15th, 1987, from Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
The Hart Foundation (WWF Tag Team Champions) & Honky Tonk Man (WWF IC Champion, w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Jake Roberts, Bruno Sammartino, & Tito Santana in an Elimination Match
Pre-Match Thoughts: I always like elimination matches, or at the very least the concept. This was a great idea for an elimination match. Bruno still had some appeal, even late into 1987. Sadly, it appears that Lord Alfred Hayes and Johnny V are the commentators. That’s a brutal team. Glad to see Jake back in action, though.
Match Review: At the start, the babyfaces clear the ring, with Jake using Damien to do it. That’s evil. HTM didn’t want to start the match against Bruno, so Santana and Bret Hart will start. Bret tries driving him back into the corner, which he does, but then he misses a charge. Roberts tags in, and goes to work on Bret’s left arm. He also gives Bret a hip toss, and tries a DDT, but Bret leaves the ring. Neidhart makes his entrance, and tests his strength against Roberts. He gets the better of it, but Roberts breaks free…only for Bret to tag in and beat him up. Now HTM tags in, and gives Roberts his usual super boring offense. Guy knows how to get heat though, I’ll give him that. Roberts comes back with a knee lift, and then HTM misses a charge to the corner. Roberts doesn’t take the change to tag out, and gives HTM a short clothesline instead. He now signals for the DDT, but winds up colliding with HTM instead. Roberts tumbles down to the floor, and starts chasing Jimmy Hart around the ring. HTM sneaks over towards him and hits Roberts with the megaphone, which gets Jake counted out at 7:04. OH NO!
So with Roberts out, Bruno takes his place in the ring against HTM. Bruno gets trapped in his opponents corner, and Santana has to come over to save him. Sadly, the referee ushers Santana out of the way, and the Foundation gangs up on Bruno. Neidhart continues the punishment legally, then they choke Bruno illegally. Bret and HTM take their turn as well, then Neidhart takes a charge at Bruno and misses. Santana tags in, gives Bret a flying bodypress, but that only gets 2. Bruno clears HTM out of the ring, but it winds up that the Foundation is teamed up against Santana. Bruno trips Neidhart, Santana gives Bret the FLYING FOREARM, and pins Bret at 10:11.
With Bret eliminated, these two teams are pretty weird. There’s a small dead period before the match continues, with Santana and Neidhart as the two guys in the ring. There’s a further dead period after that, after which Neidhart gains control of the match. HTM tags in, and prevents Santana from making any sort of tag. Neidhart comes back in, and gives his opponent a bodyslam. Then Neidhart misses an elbow drop, and is given a bodyslam. Santana runs the ropes, Jimmy Hart trips him, and Neidhart covers for the elimination at 12:19.
Bruno somehow has to beat two guys, and he’s going to try his best. He beats up both heels, but HTM eventually trips him and chokes him. Neidhart shortly leaves the ring, but also shortly tags in after HTM dishes out his weak offense to Bruno. This is supremely boring. Fortunately, Jimmy Hart accidentally hits Neidhart with the megaphone, and Bruno pins Neidhart at 14:02.
Bruno and HTM are our two competitors remaining, and HTM sneak attacks Bruno from behind. He sets Bruno up for 10 punches in the corner, gives them to him, and taunts him. Bruno and HTM then do a criss-cross, Bruno hits HTM with a knee to the face, and wins the match at 15:05.
My Thoughts: The snowflakes tumbled off of that match like you wouldn’t believe. It become exceedingly boring the longer it went, and by the time it was over I wanted to stop watching it. I nearly quit! *, it wasn’t horrible, but in the end it did not appeal to me as much as I expected. Bruno’s offense also looks very much out of place in the more hard-hitting 80’s.
– August 1987, on Superstars of Wrestling
Ted DiBiase dishes out some cash…
Let’s compile these together. If you can’t watch the video, this is Ted DiBiase paying a young Rob Van Dam to kiss his foot. Poor Virgil having to unlace DiBiase’s wrestling boots. Hey, as a teenager, what’s the least amount of money anyone here would take to do that?
This one is Ted DiBiase paying a woman who looks like Linda McMahon to bark like a dog. I don’t believe for one second that Vince would put his wife in this position, just to get that out of the way. DiBiase was getting some cheers prior to this, but this skit went towards putting a stop to that. DiBiase derides the crowd as being poor people, and everyone raises their hands when he asks who wants to make $300 tonight. The lady comes out, gets on her hands and knees, and barks for him. That’s messed up. He didn’t even give her the money for doing it!
Ted DiBiase has a match…
Or does he? I don’t have a link for this one, but this is supposed to be Ted DiBiase against a jobber named Chris Curtis. Instead, he HIRES SOMEBODY TO WRESTLE FOR HIM. There are some racist connotations here but I don’t know if I want to mention them. Oh wait, I will. First, DiBiase calls the black wrestler who takes his place “boy.” Secondly, he has Virgil hand money to the guy. Now I know that’s a shtick, but…nah. I’m just trolling with that second one. Curtis wins the match, which pisses off the Million Dollar Man. So, he and Virgil beat up Mr. Washington, and take their money back.
– August 22nd and 29th, 1987, on Superstars of Wrestling, from Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin
The formation of STRIKE FORCE
Let’s cover another angle here. Rick Martel was facing Barry Horwitz. For whatever reason, the Islanders were pissed off at Martel. So, after Martel pinned Horowitz, the Islanders appeared at ringside and attacked him. That’s messed up. So, to put a stop to it, TITO SANTANA rushes into the ring and clears those Islanders OUTTA THERE. He saved Martel!
Next week, after an Islanders squash match, Santana and Martel are interviewed. During that interview, the STRIKE FORCE NAME IS BORN. Then, the week after, the new STRIKE FORCE team, sans entrance music, faced Steve Lombardi & Tiger Chung Lee. Of course, Strike Force won. Martel as a babyface tag team worker was a mistake, but it isn’t like they knew he would be a great heel. He didn’t have the look to be one, either. Bruno liked their performance in the match.
Paul Orndorff & Bobby Heenan…
This is from the 22nd. Heenan had been pumping up Rick Rude and saying that Rude had a better physique than the returning Orndorff. Well, he did, but as pointed out in a WON from this period, Heenan also manages Hercules, who has a better physique than both of these guys. Heenan managed both Rude and Orndorff, so this was a problem for Mr. Wonderful. He decides to fix that problem by firing Bobby Heenan and introducing his new manager, Oliver Humperdink! Never got the appeal of that guy. Other than a very small minority of babyface managers, I don’t get the appeal. It isn’t just Humperdink. That is what it is, I mean…the only reason they were keeping Orndorff around at this point was to hoard him and have him do a few jobs. They had no intention of pushing him.
– August 22nd, 1987, from Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York
Ricky Steamboat vs. Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) in a LUMBERJACK MATCH for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: About time I get to watch a rematch. Steamboat was on sabbatical due to the birth of his child, but he came back for this match. The lumberjacks are: Lanny Poffo, Jose Estrada, the Islanders, Tito Santana, the Junkyard Dog, Scott Casey, and George Steele. Oddly enough, that’s it. Pete Doherty joins Lord Alfred and Gorilla on commentary. Damn, that guy is annoying.
Match Review: The match starts with HTM stalling, but he can’t leave the ring because he’d get thrown back into it. HTM tries to throw Steamboat out of the ring, but she skins the cat and dropkicks HTM over the top. Back in, HTM gets thrown out of the ring again, and Steamboat tries to follow him to beat him up, only to be thrown back in the ring. Steamboat rams HTM’s face into the mat, and stomps on him as Jimmy Hart joins the commentary team for some whiny comments. HTM tries to leave the ring to get away from the Dragon, but gets shoved back in, then Steamboat hits him with a back elbow for a 2 count. Steamboat repeatedly rams HTM into the turnbuckle, then does it into another turnbuckle and Steamboat covers for a 2 count. The crowd is really buying into Steamboat winning his title back here. The Islanders trip Steamboat as he runs the ropes, then when HTM runs them, Steele trips him! Steamboat cradles HTM up for 2, and gives him a bodyslam as well for another 2 count. Steamboat follows with a back suplex, for the closest 2 count of the match. HTM should be kicking out later in the count. Steamboat tries a monkey flip, but HTM shoves him down to the canvas, pretty much on his neck. Honky then bodyslams him and heads up to the second rope, and jumps off of it with a fist drop that gets 2. HTM sets Steamboat up for punches in the corner, and the Dragon gives him an inverted atomic drop. Steamboat gets tossed over the top rope, and HTM follows him out there with a double axehandle. Eventually, both guys get deposited back into the ring, and HTM puts Steamboat in a neck vice. Haven’t seen that move used much! Steamboat quickly breaks free, and lands a flying bodypress on HTM for a 2 count. HTM goes up to the second rope, but gets hit in the gut on the way down, and Steamboat is now making his big babyface comeback. Steamboat slingshots HTM into the turnbuckle, and bodyslams him. Now the Dragon heads up to the top rope, and lands a flying chop. Jimmy Hart distracts the referee to prevent a cover, and quite awesomely, George Steele runs into the ring and gives his version of a three count! While Steele and Steamboat celebrate, Jimmy Hart comes into the ring, and Steamboat eventually attacks him. The referee has to get Steele out of there, so HTM takes the opportunity to hit Steamboat with the MEGAPHONE, and pin him for the victory at 11:06.
Once the match is over, everyone gets in the ring and fights. This was the worst lumberjack brawl ever.
My Thoughts: That was a really good bout. It started out like an excellent match, but the longer it went, it lost some steam. Regardless, Steamboat sold very well for HTM, and Honky was made to appear as if he had more dangerous offense. The match also had a pinfall finish, which is definitely a bonus. ***1/4. This may be one of Honky’s best matches in the WWF, which is to be expected given a 11 minute match with a great worker like Steamboat.
Butch Reed (w/Slick) vs. Superstar Billy Graham
Pre-Match Thoughts: I have absolutely no expectations for this match, BUT THIS IS THE ONE WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. The reason I’m watching it is for the trainwreck factor. There’s no way this can be a good match.
Match Review: Superstar attacks Reed to begin the match, then turns his attention to Slick, and knocks him over the top rope. Superstar puts Reed in a SLEEPER and when the referee isn’t paying attention, Slick passes Reed an object that he then hits Superstar with. Reed rips Superstar’s shirt off, and chokes him with it to a minimal crowd reaction. How sad. Reed stomps on Superstar’s bad hip, look at that psychology. With the ref distracted, Slick hits him in the hip with his cane. Now Reed chokes Superstar, and once again Slick attacks Superstar, this time with a cane assisted choke. Superstar sells his hip like a champion, and can’t get any offense going because of it. Reed puts him in a chinlock, which Graham keeps trying to reverse, but he cannot. This match is super boring, but at the same time, I’m getting a lot of unintentional entertainment out of it. If I wasn’t writing about it, there’s no way I’d be watching it though. Superstar has a backdrop attempt blocked, then they exchange eye gouges. Superstar beats up Reed in the corner, then causes Reed to miss a charge to the opposite corner. Superstar throws Reed into another corner, and after that, Superstar gives Reed THE BEAR HUG. Slick heads in, whacks Superstar from behind with his cane, and that gets Reed disqualified at about 10:00.
Superstar and Reed brawl after the match, and Superstar puts THE BEAR HUG back on Reed. LOOK AT THAT POWER. Referees hit the ring, and try to make Superstar break it up, but he won’t do it. Even Gorilla gets into the ring, and he elbows Slick to the biggest crowd reaction of this whole affair. For some reason, after the match, it is announced that both Superstar and Reed were disqualified. Alright.
My Thoughts: To call that a bad match would be quite the understatement. If it wasn’t possible to find any entertainment in it, it would have been pure torture. Graham shouldn’t have been wrestling, he could neither run nor take a bump. That being said, I wonder if they had an idea of what they would do if he could stick around for longer. Still though, it’s a good thing for viewers everywhere that he didn’t. Nobody could handle watching matches like that on a regular basis, but I’m going to watch…THE STEEL CAGE REMATCH. WHAT A SERIES THIS IS. Oh yeah, the rating. -*.
– August 26th, 1987, from Selland Arena in Fresno, California
The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. The Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis) for the WWF Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: Hard to believe that there was a TV taping in Fresno during this period. I don’t want to alienate anyone, but come on. That place is a dump. This should be a good match! Bruce Prichard and Mike McGuirk are the commentators. What a strange duo.
Match Review: Bret puts a headlock on Raymond to get this thing started, but Raymond gets out and gives him a hip toss and arm drag. Jacques tags in, dropkicks Bret from behind, Raymond slams Bret, and Jacques gives him a splash. Now that’s tag team wrestling, brother. Neidhart and Jacques collide, with Neidhart doing that “YOU CAN’T MOVE ME” thing. That’s an awesome shtick. Neidhart tries to run over Jacques, but Jacques moves and chops him. The Rougeaus then hit Neidhart with a double chop, and give Neidhart a double wishbone split. That shit would hurt. Jacques does a leaping sitdown splash on Neidhart for a 2 count, then kicks Neidhart in the balls. Haha. Raymond puts a Boston crab on Neidhart, but Bret rushes in to break it up. Bret makes a legal tag in, and uses some distraction techniques to allow Neidhart to choke Raymond. Bret dumps Raymond to the outside, then does a HILARIOUS thing where he dives like a soccer player in front of Jacques. The referee goes to admonish Jacques, at which point Neidhart rams Raymond into the ring apron. That’s a great distraction tactic, and not one I’ve seen used very much. Somewhat high concept. Back inside the ring, Bret gives Raymond a backbreaker, and tags in the Anvil, who tags right back out. The Foundation lands their backbreaker-elbow combination, getting a 2 count. Raymond dropkicks Bret over the top and down to the floor, but can’t make the tag, as Bret dives back into the ring and puts him in a front face-lock. Neidhart prevents the referee from seeing a legal tag, then dropkicks Bret on accident during a double team attempt.
Jacques tags in, and gives the Foundation a noggin-knocker. Bret misses a charge to the corner, which gets Jacques a 2 count…and now Danny Davis has distracted Raymond. Jacques drops a knee on Bret for 2, as Davis stomps a mudhole in Raymond. Jacques notices it, chases Davis back to the locker room, and I guess the Hart Foundation wins by count out at 9:33.
My Thoughts: I really liked that match. Not only because the Hart Foundation did their usual bits, but because the longer time has gone on they have continued to add to their act. The Rougeau Brothers also have their act. The two acts intersected extremely well on this day. That’s the value of having two long term tag teams who care about their work, and not just two guys who are thrown together. Would love to see these two teams go 20 minutes and have this type of match. The finish was a good way to ensure that a Danny Davis character who was losing heat got some back. **3/4.
– August 28th, 1987, from Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas
The One Man Gang (w/Slick) vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This show on Houston was Paul Boesch’s last show. He was the promoter of the Houston territory, and with One Man Gang being a UWF fixture, he was chosen to challenge Hogan on it. There were also many non-WWF workers on this show. Jim Duggan was also on the show, although he hadn’t earned his WWF job back yet. As we know, he did earn it back. Gang wasn’t one of Hogan’s common opponents, hence the inclusion of this match in the review.
Match Review: The reaction Hogan got for his entrance was immense. Gang and Hogan lock up, with Gang shoving Hogan into a corner as a result. Hogan comes back out of that corner and puts Gang in a headlock, then runs the ropes and collides with Gang. That doesn’t move the big man, in fact he knocks down Hogan. Hogan gives Gang a high knee for a 1 count, then tries a bodyslam which Gang blocks for a close 2 count. Gang punches Hogan to knock him out of the ring, and rams him into a table at ringside. Gang chokes Hogan, further making the crowd angry, and drops a knee on his throat. Hogan rams Gang’s head into a turnbuckle a bunch of times, then lands some big punches. Will he knock Gang down? Sort of. He knocks Gang back into the ropes with a clothesline, and pounds away on Gang, who was tied in the ropes. Hogan hits Gang with a big boot, then Slick grabs Hogan’s leg as he runs the ropes. Hogan pulls Slick into the ring and lifts him in the air, but Gang attacks Hogan from behind. Gang applies a nerve hold, which Hogan sells to a point where the heat on the match is bordering on ridiculous. The older people in the crowd are super into it. Hogan breaks free, but he gets knocked down with a big boot by Gang. Gang then tries an elbow drop, which he misses. Hogan tries to capitalize with an elbow drop of his own, but that fails as well. Gang bodyslams Hogan, then puts a BEAR HUG on him. Hogan won’t quit, so he fights his way out of it, only to be clotheslined. Gang goes for his SPLASH, lands it, covers, and Hogan throws Gang off of him like he was a sack of shit. THAT’S POWER, BROTHER. Hogan hits Gang with some punches, a clothesline in the corner, and a bodyslam. Hogan DROPS THE LEG, and wins via pinfall at 10:13.
Slick rushes the ring after the match, gets punched and takes one of the most ridiculous over the top bumps I’ve ever seen. FLAT BACK BUMP ONTO CONCRETE! Afterward, Hogan does his posing thing to make the people happy.
My Thoughts: THAT BUMP! There aren’t many words for how crazy that looked. As for the match, I’m slightly surprised that they never did a Gang vs. Hogan match on SNME. Maybe they didn’t want him to take a TV job. This was relatively good, although not different from the Hogan formula. The main difference is that Gang was actually a capable worker. Some other guys who Hogan faced, like Kamala, were not. **, some of that is for Slick taking a WrestleMania level bump for what couldn’t have been more than a small amount of money.
A few days later, some news dropped. First, Randy Savage won an irrelevant King of the Ring tournament. Secondly, the Survivor Series announcement dropped. That meant that both the NWA and WWF would be running PPV’s on Thanksgiving. At first, it was thought that Andre and Hogan would face each other in a rematch. As we know, that isn’t what happened. This was also the WWF’s first attempt to run a non-WrestleMania PPV since the Wrestling Classic. Now, one can assume that the Wrestling Classic didn’t do great business, or they would have had more PPV’s. It will be interesting to track where things are going headed into that day.
– Taped to air September 5th, 1987, on Superstars of Wrestling, from Selland Arena in Fresno, California
Bam Bam Bigelow debuts….
The thing here is that every manager claims that they’ve signed Bigelow. Slick winds up being the one most highly rumored to be Bigelow’s manager. So, at the interview podium, Bam Bam is there, and he tells Slick that he is not his manager. Bigelow’s new manager is Oliver Humperdink. Nice tumble that Slick takes off the podium when Volkoff gets punched by Bigelow. This guy’s bumps are too real. So, that leads to…
– Taped to air September 12th, 1987, on Superstars of Wrestling, from Selland Arena in Fresno, California
Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink)
Pre-Match Thoughts: The purpose of this was obviously to get Bigelow over. I’m cool with that!
Match Review: Volkoff starts the match by attacking Bigelow as he enters the ring, which was a foolish idea. Bigelow knocks Volkoff out of the ring with some punches, then Volkoff gets back in and tries to run over an apparently unmovable Bigelow. Bigelow runs over Volkoff, then headbutts him repeatedly. Volkoff sells those nicely. Bigelow gives Volkoff a leaping headbutt to some nice cheers, then hits him with a clothesline. Volkoff tries a comeback via biting, but gets hit with a dropkick to knock him over the top rope. Bigelow’s use of headbutts instead of punches is quite excellent, by the way. Bam Bam evades a clothesline with a forward roll, then hits Volkoff with another 3 count to get the pinfall win at 4:00.
My Thoughts: That did exactly what it was intended to. Bigelow got over, showed interesting offense, and showcased his agility. That’s exactly the kind of babyface that the WWF needed in their upper card, and while Bigelow wasn’t around very long, we’ll keep checking in on him. *1/2.
– September 12th, 1987, from Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
Sika & Mr. Fuji vs. The Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: I had thought of watching Hogan vs. Killer Khan from this show, but I realized that any enjoyment I’d get out of that would be minimal, so I’m skipping it. This is the last match of the review, and it’s an odd heel quartet. Who is supposed to be cheered here? I guess we’ll find out. Fuji and Sika are looking very bloated, and Jimmy Hart is not present at ringside with his team.
Match Review: Looks like the Hart Foundation will get cheered. Fuji has some salt in his hand, which he continues to hide from the referee. I hope he uses it. Neidhart attacks him from behind, which causes Sika to tag in. Neidhart and Sika trade bombs, then Bret makes his tag in and goes to work. Bret gets hit by Fuji as he runs the ropes, then Sika distracts the referee so that Sika can choke the Canadian. Sika stomps on the Hitman, and covers him for a 2 count. Fuji tags in, and hits Bret in the balls as he attempts a comeback. Sika tags in, bodyslams Bret, and covers again for another 2 count. Here comes Fuji, who misses a headbutt, and Neidhart tags in. Neidhart slams Fuji, and puts a bear hug on Fuji. Sika comes in to break it up, so Bret dropkicks him out of the ring. Fuji tries a bodyslam, Bret dropkicks Neidhart so that he falls on top of Fuji, and the Foundation wins via pinfall at 7:04.
Afer the match, the Hart Foundation gets beaten up.
Match Review: That match was very poor, and very boring. Obviously, this match wouldn’t inspire a lot of confidence in a babyface Hart Foundation, but considering the opponents, it was what it was. 1/4*.
– September 1987, on Superstars of Wrestling
Randy Savage changes his stripes…
I very nearly forgot to write about this. So, on various Superstars episodes, the WWF was building to Randy Savage turning babyface. This was the biggest thing they had done since the Spring, I’d say. Savage was pissed off about Honky Tonk Man saying that he was the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time. Honky also said that Savage wasn’t as good as him. So, in typical Savage fashion, he confronted Jimmy Hart backstage and had a message for Honky! SHUT HIM UP!
On September 26th, Honky was supposed to give 10 reasons that he’s the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time. Naturally, Savage has a massive problem with that, and interrupts him to huge cheers! Then, he asks Honky to have a match…right now! The crowd has exploded, and that’s a babyface turn on Savage’s part right there. This was obviously a great idea. HTM had so much heat that anyone going up against him was a babyface by default, and the WWF capitalized on that heat perfectly.
That’s two more months in the books! August and September were traditionally weak periods for the WWF before SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and subsequently the monthly PPV model came along. That was clear here in the quality of matches and angles kicking around. Hogan was facing heel of the month types. They ran some tag team formations and breakups, but nobody put serious investment into the tag team division at this point so that wasn’t a big deal. Their debuting guys had some nice skits too. They did have one huge thing, and that was to put momentum behind Savage for his challenge against Honky Tonk Man at SNME #12. And guess what? I’m reviewing that next!
Best: Savage turning babyface. This was a brilliant idea. Of course, Savage was great at playing both sides, so nothing could go wrong there.
Worst: Butch Reed vs. Superstar Billy Graham. Graham shouldn’t have returned to competition.
