Sage Cortez
To start the build to WrestleMania off, it turned out that Superstar Billy Graham had a hell of a lot to say about steroids. A story ran on NBC about his body falling apart due to his steroid use. He also said that the WWF did not even remotely care if guys were using them. After that, Superstar and Bruno Sammartino went on Entertainment Tonight and said that 90% of the wrestlers were doing them. At that point, Superstar hadn’t said anything about whether or not Vince McMahon was forcing anybody to take them. As everyone knows, this story exploded the longer time went on. Anyway, the MSG card from this month had some cool stuff, and I’ll be watching a bunch of that here. Let’s get to it.
HUNKA HUNKA HONKY LOVE
On the March 3rd episode of Superstars, they debuted some super cool new music for the Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine. This was a nice way to lead in for what happened to those guys at WrestleMania. Also on that episode, the Orient Express made their debut. The original team wasn’t as good as the second edition, I think.
– March 6th, 1990, from Arco Arena in Sacramento, California
Akeem & Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil and Slick) vs. Jake Roberts & the Ultimate Warrior (WWF Intercontinental Champion) with the BIG BOSS MAN AS SPECIAL REFEREE
Pre-Match Thoughts: This match was taped for WrestleFest 1990, and it sounds really awesome. Not in the sense of it being a good match, but the matchup. It’s wacky to the point where I actually wanted to watch it. Doesn’t seem fair to have a special referee though, but at least Boss Man had his sick music. DiBiase had music too! About time! A very large portion of this video was taken up by entrances, so this doesn’t seem like much of a match.
Match Review: Roberts and DiBiase go after each other, which gets things on the move. DiBiase hits Roberts on the back of the neck, which was surgically repaired. Roberts comes back with punches, and DiBiase ducks out of the ring before the DDT. He gets back in and gets thrown into the corner, then Roberts puts a hammerlock on him. Once again DiBiase blocks the DDT, and he uses an arm drag. Akeem makes his way in and misses an elbow drop, then Roberts brings in THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR. He runs into Akeem with a flying shoulderblock, and nails Akeem with a big boot and clothesline. Roberts tags back in only for Akeem to backdrop him, as Roberts now appears to be reliant on teasing the DDT as his biggest spot. That bothers me a little. Akeem sends him into the corner and stands on his neck, and Boss Man has to pull Akeem away. DiBiase tags in for a double team shot from the top, and Warrior wants in, but can’t do it. DiBiase drops a knee on Roberts, then drops him with a piledriver for 2. That move really lost its impact over the years. Akeem tags in, and uses a leapfrog body guillotine. It’s funny that none of the commentators name that move, and it got stuck with that long, overblown name. DiBiase tags back in for a chinlock, but Roberts quickly reaches his feet and uses a jawbreaker to get out of it. He follows with an inverted atomic drop, and a pair of clotheslines. Why didn’t he tag out? That made no sense. DiBiase runs Roberts into the corner with his shoulder, and now Roberts has to make a tag. Warrior comes in with clotheslines and a bodyslam for Akeem, as the crowd is going INSANE. He hits DiBiase with the flying shoulderblock, and follows that with a big splash for the victory at 6:46!
Roberts gets triple teamed after the match and Boss Man took a clothesline over the top, but he gets back in and nails Virgil with his nightstick. To cap things off, Virgil takes the DDT and Roberts puts Damien on him. That’s messed up.
My Thoughts: I’ve reviewed a lot of the matches from this Coliseum Video, it seems. This was just fine, nothing wrong with it at all. The spots when Warrior was in had the crowd absolutely on fire. If that was even more justification for Vince to put the title on him, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. **, was worth a look if nothing else. The finish was really fan friendly as well, no doubt they made people happy with that one.
– Taped to air March 10th, 1990, on Superstars, from the Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona
Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart and Earthquake) vs. Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion)
Pre-Match Thoughts: It’s a bit disturbing that the first match was so bad that it had to be retaped. Also, when I went to Tucson, I thought it was much closer to Phoenix than it actually is. Now I know differently. This was supposed to be the last big WrestleMania angle until Warrior and Hogan squared off at the contract signing. Non-title match, of course. The outcome is in doubt now to some degree.
Match Review: These two big men lock up, and Bravo shows his strength by shoving Hogan into the corner. Hogan returns the favor, and backdrops Bravo as well. He follows that with a back elbow in the corner, and pounds away with punches. Hogan gets tripped by Hart, which allows Bravo to go on the attack. Earthquake chokes Hogan behind the back of the official, then Bravo gives Hogan the SIDE SUPLEX. Over for the cover, and of course, Hogan kicks out of it. He drops Bravo with the big boot, drops the leg on Bravo, and that’s the end after 3:10. Earthquake then runs in to attack Hogan, in typical fashion. Hogan gets up and throws Bravo over the top, but Earthquake is all over him. He drops an elbow on Hogan, then another, and goes for the BUTT SPLASH. He lands that splash, and out comes the Ultimate Warrior! He clotheslines Earthquake to clear the ring, and Hogan isn’t pleased about it at all. Warrior teases clotheslining Hogan, but he doesn’t, and runs to the back instead.
My Thoughts: That was interesting if nothing else. They wanted to make sure Warrior remained a babyface, and this was how they had to go about it. In the end, it worked. The match was terrible, much worse than the Warrior/Bravo match. I’d give it 1/4*. Between this and the Warrior match, they basically killed Dino Bravo off as a legitimate threat. EXCEPT they then went on to put Bravo in tag team matches with Earthquake, Hogan, and Tugboat. So, what exactly was the point?
– March 19th, 1990, from Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York
The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Demolition
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a chance to watch the Orient Express have a match with decent length, and there’s no way I’m going to pass on it. I’m not sure they’re a great matchup for Demolition, but that’s never stopped me before. Fuji had to have a team to manage with the Powers of Pain breaking up. On this version of the show, Demolition’s theme was dubbed over. That’s funny.
Match Review: Tanaka and Smash lock up, and Tanaka gets thrown back into the corner. Smash shoulderblocks him when he runs out of it, and he follows that with a clothesline that Tanaka sells with a somersault. I love that. Ax and Smash then hit Tanaka with a double clothesline, and Smash tags out. Ax puts Tanaka in a neck vice, and Tanaka makes an exit as well. Sato gets taken down with a headlock, and a hip toss follows that. Ax then blocks a rush with his elbow, and Sato ducks out for a little bit. He gets back in and Ax runs the ropes, until Tanaka knees him from behind. Tanaka tags in, and Ax rams him into Smash’s boot. Smash switches in for a backbreaker that gets 2, then he clutches onto an armbar. They exchange tags, culminating in a Demolition double backdrop, and Tanaka has to get out of there. They double team Smash for a little bit, and Smash gives Sato a hip toss to get out of it. Tanaka flies in with something off the top we can’t see, and that allows them to gain complete control. Smash gets thrown to the outside for a shot from Fuji’s cane, and the Express continues with double teams back in the ring. Tanaka hits Smash in the throat and covers for 2, then Sato tags in for a boot to the gut. Where are the good spots? This is boring as shit. Tanaka tags in and gets clotheslined, so Smash makes an exit. Ax comes in with a lot of right hands, and there’s a backdrop as well. He rams Tanaka’s head into the buckle 10 times, and gives him a powerslam for 2. All four guys wind up in the ring, and Sato gets disposed of quickly. Fuji hits Ax with his cane to prevent a finish, but Ax gets the cane now and leaves the ring to hit Fuji with it. Before he can, Sato throws salt in the eyes of Ax, and Demolition gets counted out at 10:58.
My Thoughts: This really sucked, there were no high spots of any value and Demolition gave Sato and Tanaka absolutely nothing. That was obscenely boring, I almost scrapped watching the match by the halfway point. It takes something with little redeeming value for me to feel that way. 1/2*, that was for Tanaka’s two somersault sells. The finish was decent for getting the Orient Express over, I guess. Not that anything was done with them.
Rick Martel vs. Bret Hart
Pre-Match Thoughts: This has the makings of something that could be highly entertaining. These guys were two of the best workers in the company, after all. I hope they rotate through some of Bret’s better spots, and intermix some stuff with Martel’s new ARROGANCE SPRAY. Before the match, Bret Hart had a promo! So did Martel! Martel then grabbed the house microphone and said that everyone in the crowd stinks, so he has to spray some ARROGANCE. YES!
Match Review: Martel is looking massively roided up, like he was trying extra hard to get a push. Anyway, the match begins, and Martel doesn’t want to deal with the smelly Canadian. Even though he’s Canadian too. These two fight over a hammerlock, with Martel flipping out and having a cradle blocked. Each time Bret tries something, Martel shows how arrogant he is by ducking away and mocking the Hitman. He beats up Bret in the corner, and dodges a charge only for Bret to nail him with a clothesline. Bret follows that with a small package, it got 2. He then kips up out of a wristlock, and Martel misses a charge to the corner shortly after. Lots of speed and athleticism on display here. Bret goes back to the hammerlock, then bars the arm until Martel gets free and tries a hip toss that Bret reverses to a backslide for 2. Bret arm drags him immediately after the count, and gets raked in the eyes to break the armbar. Martel slams Bret, then misses an elbow drop and Bret goes back to the arm drag. Bret then rams Martel into the buckle, and headbutts him for a 2 count. Back to the arm again, even pulling Martel back in from the apron and leg dropping the arm. Martel gets up and this time he throws Bret out of the ring, that was a smart move. One of the kids in the front row is in full blown Bret Hart gear, what a fan. Martel hits Bret with a double axehandle from the apron, and rams Bret’s back into the apron for good measure. Martel suplexes Bret back in for 2, and launches him into the buckle as well. Martel goes to an abdominal stretch, and is forced to break the hold after being caught cheating. Martel’s reaction was very amusing. He misses a charge to the corner, and Bret rolls him up for 2. Martel comes back with the Boston crab, or not, as Bret rolls through to avoid it. Martel elbow drops Bret’s back, and follows that with a backbreaker. Martel tries a slingshot splash, but Bret got his knees up to stop it. So, is it time for his comeback? Not quite yet, as they collide. Afterward, it probably will be. They get up and trade bombs with Martel getting the better of them, but Bret gives him an inverted atomic drop. He follows that with a suplex, and an elbow gets 2. Bret slams Martel too, and hits him with an elbow from the second rope for 2. A Russian leg sweep follows that for yet another 2 count, and Martel bails to the outside. Bret follows to bring him back in, and gives him a backbreaker for another near fall. Martel tries to leave for a second time, and Bret prevents it of course. Back in they go, for a dropkick by Bret Hart. Now he kicks Martel down low for 2, and Martel still wants to leave. This makes a whole lot of sense. Bret rams him into the apron, and gives him an atomic drop, as the bell rings when Bret gets back in the ring. What for? Apparently, it’s a time limit draw after 21:36 of action. BOO.
Martel then attacks from behind, and Bret reverses a whip to send Martel into the corner and backdrop him. To finish things off, he clotheslines Martel out of the ring.
My Thoughts: I liked this match quite a bit, they showed more effort than most did during 20 minute draws. If only they had done a sprint between these two at WrestleMania instead of what they did with the two talents. It’s too bad that they planted the idea in my head, I never would have had it otherwise. The match actually could have been even better, but they were working to fill time and did exactly what was necessary to have a **3/4 match.
Mr. Perfect vs. The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: With WrestleMania being close and the need for two singles title defenses on a big show as would usually be the case, one may think that Perfect could win the title. Although how you do that without Warrior looking bad…you can’t. I am interested to see the bumps that Perfect takes for Warrior, then. I bet he’s going to pull them all out. Howard Finkel’s announcement of the next card featured him saying that Earthquake will face Hulk Hogan. I’m going to watch that, but the reaction from the crowd to hear that announcement was so tepid. The ticket sales were very similar. It didn’t draw shit.
Match Review: Warrior hits the ring at his usual full speed, and Perfect engages him in a criss-cross that culminates in Perfect taking an amazing bump over the top rope after a chop! The crowd lost it for that. Warrior decides to stalk Perfect around the ring now, and Perfect is using subtle stalling tactics so Warrior can get his wind back. That’s how you have to work with this guy. They lock up, and Warrior flings Perfect back into the corner, causing him to leave the ring again. Warrior stalks once more, and when they’re back in there, Warrior knocks Perfect out of the ring with a shoulderblock. Haha. He pulls Perfect back into the ring by his hair, and drags him all the way across it. He then rams Perfect’s face into the mat, and flings him across the ring all the way back into the post. That was a little fake looking. Then, Warrior clotheslines Perfect over the top rope. Warrior then chops Perfect inside out, and back in they go. Perfect tries some kicks, but he gets thrown into the corner and given a flapjack. Warrior goes for the big splash, but Perfect gets the knees up just in time. Perfect punts Warrior out of the ring, and hits him with chops when he gets back in. Perfect takes Warrior down with a drop toe-hold, and sends Warrior back to the outside. For some reason Perfect follows, and continues to hammer away with kicks. Warrior comes back in with a sunset flip that gets 2, I didn’t see that move coming at all. After that, Perfect gives him a standing dropkick for 2. He still had control, after all. Perfect grabs hold of a chinlock, and of course, Warrior does power out of it, but it did take quite a while. Once Warrior reaches the ropes, he starts shaking them, and turns into a no-selling machine. Warrior nails Perfect with clotheslines, a flying shoulderblock, and it’s time for a GORILLA PRESS SLAM! Warrior follows with the big splash, and gets the pinfall victory at 10:02. That’s the first time Perfect lost in any sort of televised match.
My Thoughts: I think WWF fans were tired of the no-selling act, to be honest. The finish of this match was actually a good exhibit of that. The people didn’t pop for the no-selling portion AT ALL. I think people needed the finish of main event matches to be more varied than they were at the time. They weren’t varied up at all, really. The match was fine besides that. I thought Perfect took some great bumps, some where a bit overboard, but they were all in good fun. **1/4, Perfect showing what he was capable of is always a fun watch.
– Taped to air March 24th, 1990, on Superstars, from Arco Arena in Sacramento, California
Roddy Piper WrestleMania Promo
Piper painting himself at WrestleMania could hardly be construed as a surprise based on this interview. That interview was stupid, too. I don’t see what the point of this was at all. I didn’t know that he did the half-face thing before Mania either. Also, according to a shoot Bad News did, he really didn’t like it at all.
Rhythm & Blues and the Bushwhackers
Once again, something leading up to WrestleMania. After Rhythm and Blues finished a squash match with Greg Valentine looking particularly hilarious, the Bushwhackers made their way out to the ring for their match. They were crashing Rhythm and Blues efforts to have a concert, too. Jimmy Hart was mad about that and got on the ring apron, so Butch attacked him. That allowed Valentine to get in the ring and crack Butch with his guitar. Haha. HTM then nails Luke with the guitar, too. So, what happened at WrestleMania was not unrequited after all. I did not know that either.
– Taped to air March 25th, 1990, on THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, from the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California
THE MACHO KING (w/Queen Sherri) vs. Dusty Rhodes (w/Sapphire)
Pre-Match Thoughts: This match is one of many between the two, and I hope to not watch very many of them. This feud went on far too long as it was. I don’t think Randy Savage deserved to have to carry Dusty Rhodes to passable matches. It severely downgraded his star power, I think. I like that the show was hosted from the CN Tower in Toronto. Very involved feel for this WrestleMania, seems like they were promoting it very hard locally for a week or so. This was presented as being a main event anywhere in the world. I guess that’s how Vince saw it.
Match Review: Dusty attacks Savage as he’s standing on the apron, then he threatens Sherri. Doing so allows Savage to attack Dusty from behind, then Sapphire gets cornered. She ducks away and Dusty hits Savage with an elbow, which allows her to get away. Dusty then lands a bunch of elbows, and Sherri gets on the apron. Dusty tries to throw Savage at her, but instead he throws Savage over the top. Savage then posts Dusty from behind as Dusty is distracted by Sherri, and he follows that with a double axehandle from the top that gets 2. Savage goes to a sleeper, but Dusty fights out…only to be hit with a knee to the gut. Sherri slaps Dusty after that, and Savage goes to the outside with the intention of stomping on Dusty. Instead, Dusty throws Savage into the apron, and Sherri runs by with a loaded purse shot to Dusty. Eventually, Dusty gets tired of being clawed in the face, and pushes Sherri down! Jesse Ventura’s indignation was hilarious, but Vince thinks pushing her down was justified. It may have been. Savage knee drops Dusty for 2, and Dusty heads outside for a break only to take BOMBS AWAY from the Macho King. Savage brings Dusty in for a 2 count, and now he grabs the bell! He hits Dusty from behind with it, which wasn’t quite what he did the last time he attacked somebody with a bell. It only got a 2 count anyway. Dusty isn’t going to take anymore of Savage’s shit, and he nails him with a back elbow. He hits Savage with his double shot, and Savage has to go to the eyes. He tries a body press from the top, but Dusty catches him. Now Sherri gets on the apron, and Sapphire tries to pull her off. That leads to Sapphire getting knocked out. So Sapphire does the same to Sherri! Hilarious how loud the crowd is reacting to this. Savage grabs Sapphire and teases hitting her, but Dusty comes out there for an elbow. Sherri then attacks Dusty from behind and tries to hold him in place, but Savage hits her with an accidental running knee! Dusty brings Savage back in for yet another elbow, and Sherri gets in the ring, climbing on Dusty’s back for a DQ at 7:30.
So, Sapphire grabs Sherri, throws her across the ring, and Dusty makes sure Sherri can’t leave. Yet. After another throw, she does make an exit. Hilarious WM buildup.
My Thoughts: This was close to being good, except that Dusty could hardly carry his end and as such there was little wrestling. Savage and Sherri made the whole thing, and Sapphire was good too. Dusty fills his role, not much more. As we know, he didn’t do a lot in the ring. He just had to be there and play his character for the show. It worked so well. **, I know the WrestleMania match isn’t this good, which makes me sad. Vince probably loved this stuff.
The Colossal Connection (WWF Tag Team Champions, w/Bobby Heenan) vs. The Rockers
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a non-title match. It’s also a really weird match. I didn’t know that Andre the Giant and Shawn Michaels ever had any real interaction in a singles or tag team setting. Now that I know they were in a match against each other, I hope the majority of the match features Andre clobbering Shawn and Shawn selling for him. This is a non-title match.
Match Review: The Connection attacks, so here we go. The Rockers get thrown into each other, but they fire off dropkicks as they seemed to be prepared for that. Andre gets hit with a double dropkick, and it’s Haku against Michaels now. Andre has been tied in the ropes for quite a while. Once he gets free, he and Haku take Michaels out. Haku puts a headlock on Michaels, but Marty makes a blind tag and they do an interesting sequence that features Haku clotheslining Michaels, catching Marty for a slam, and Michaels dropkicking Marty so he wound up on top of Haku for a 2 count. Interesting! Marty tries working the arm, and Andre makes a tag in. Oh boy. He wrecks Marty with a chop, and sits on him too. I wonder if those were punishment for the Rockers misbehavior in Colorado. Probably not. Haku tags in for a backbreaker, it got 2 for him. Marty then makes a tag, and Shawn rushes in for a double hip toss. They hit Haku with a double elbow drop, then kip up, and Andre grabs hold of Michaels to launch him over the top rope. That’s what I wanted to see! Andre then holds Marty in place, and Haku kicks him in the jaw. After more butt splashes by Andre, he throws Michaels back in and Demolition runs out to attack the Connection, leading to a DQ at 3:38. Haha.
My Thoughts: Look at the big men coming out to save the little guys. This was fun while it lasted, at least. The Rockers wanted to make the most of their time, as they generally did, and they made Andre and Haku look really good. *1/2 is fair, I suppose.
THE CONTRACT SIGNING
Of course I’d watch this. Warrior looks hilarious in street clothes, a pony tail, and face paint. Hogan cutting a promo at the table was just great. Warrior’s followed the style of the promo at the Main Event 3, as he’s completely changed it up from what he was doing coming up to this spot. He looked so silly. This was cool, but these need violence, even though that’s really typical. Warrior grabbing Hogan’s title should have elicited a reaction, too. WOULD NEVER LET A MAN GRAB MY BELT, BROTHER.
Now that the build is over, it’s time to see what happens. First, I have some news! Tony Schiavone was going to leave the WWF and head back over to Turner. That’s where he belonged, he was one of the voices of that company. In the WON, it said that the cost of living in Connecticut was too high, and that’s why he left for a similar offer. That makes a lot of sense! It was expected that WrestleMania VI would make a load of money, too. The estimate Dave Meltzer gave was $30 million dollars. With that, I think I’m going to hop right on over to watching WrestleMania VI. As in, right after I finish the last sentence of this.
Best: I think the overall package and build for matches that aren’t even that good takes the cake.
Worst: Roddy Piper’s promos. Really bad stuff.
