Sage Cortez
After WrestleMania 7, it’s safe to say a lot of things changed in the WWF. It’s almost safe to say the entire promotion changed. Their first tapings after WrestleMania had all kinds of cool stuff. Of the things I’m not mentioning, they had the Berzerker show up, and Ricky Steamboat came back. They also brought Lanny Poffo back to do the Genius thing. I am super excited to see what happens here as this is my favorite period of WWF history.
– March 26th, 1991, from Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
Rick Martel vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth)
Pre-Match Thoughts: That’s right, they had Savage finish out his advertised bookings after he was put in a retirement match that he lost. He also had Elizabeth in his corner. Somehow this didn’t sell out the arena, but it was a good try. This was put on Coliseum Video, and of course it had to be explained. I know Savage wanted to go off the road, but it would have done such good business if he hadn’t.
Match Review: Martel attacks Savage from behind, which is quite the way to begin the match. He rams Savage hard into the buckle, but Savage comes back with a backdrop. He follows that with a clothesline, and heads up top for a double axehandle. Savage decides to continue, flying out to the floor with a big dive that misses. Wow! Martel hits him with a knee that drives him into the rail, and we have Elizabeth helping Savage up. After a while of Martel dishing out punishment, he tries to hit Elizabeth up. If the wrestlers had microphones, that would have gotten way more heat. Now he does it again, so Savage attacks him from behind. Savage then posts Martel, and it’s time for them to go back inside…or not. Martel knees him to keep him on the floor, and now it’s time. Okay, so Martel gives Savage a bodyslam and goes to a choke. Savage comes back with a cradle that gets 2, but Martel nails him with a clothesline for a 2 count of his own. Martel then tries a cross body from the second rope, and misses. Savage suplexes him for 2, and follows with an atomic drop. Savage then clotheslines Martel out of the ring, where Savage PILEDRIVES HIM. REST IN POWER. Savage then throws Martel back in the ring, FLYING ELBOW, and that’s a win after 6:01!
My Thoughts: The crowd hardly reacted to this, it was really strange to see. Like they didn’t know how to react to seeing him after a retirement match or something. I wouldn’t know how to either. They did a bit on Prime Time Wrestling where Savage and Elizabeth had a dance, and after that it was only announcing for him for quite some time. It’s also strange that they did this while Savage and Elizabeth were going to divorce about a year after this was over. ** for the match, the time spent on the outside took away from it. I liked the finish, given that piledriving somebody on the end is supposed to be the end of them. I bet Martel thought it was an acceptable way to job.
Sgt. Slaughter, Gen. Adnan, and the Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. The Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion) in a HANDICAP MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is the match they should have done at SummerSlam, although obviously they didn’t want to associate Taker with a bunch of losers. Still, this match was on Coliseum Video, so it did have similar effect. Hogan and Warrior teaming up should always be a bigger deal than this, as well. Slaughter looks really stupid playing this role without being champion. Taker got his own entrance to gauge reaction, and didn’t exactly get booed.
Match Review: Slaughter tried an attack, but Hogan threw him into the corner, where Sarge wanted to take his big bump, but Hogan misread the spot. That’s not a good sign. Sarge pinballs back and forth between Hogan and Warrior, and for some reason Adnan is in the wrong corner. Hogan and Warrior hit Sarge with a double big boot, and Warrior deals with the two heels on the outside by hitting them. Warrior hits Sarge with a clothesline, then gives Undertaker one too. Hogan tags back in, and puts his head down for a backdrop, so Sarge clotheslines him. Taker tags in there, and Hogan gets knocked to the floor. Taker brings Hogan right back in, and puts a choke on the Hulkster. Of course he does. Sarge gets back in there, and now he takes his big bump in the corner, flying out of the ring. Taker blocks a tag with an elbow drop, and Adnan makes his first tag in. He chokes Hogan for a while, and tags Sarge back in. Hogan fires off a clothesline, and now he makes his way out of there. Warrior comes in with quite the fury, and backdrops Sarge. He then clotheslines Sarge, and Taker makes a tag in. Taker headbutts Warrior, and follows that with his flying clothesline. I shouldn’t have watched this. Taker simply blocks Warrior from making a tag, using all the distracting tricks in the book. Sarge then tags in and slams Warrior, and heads up top. He comes down with a big splash, and it misses, so Hogan tags in. Hogan clotheslines Sarge, and hits him with a big boot. Taker breaks up the pin, so Sarge clotheslines Hogan. Sarge puts the CAMEL CLUTCH on Hogan, so Warrior comes in and breaks it. This is really not good at all. Warrior and Taker now start brawling, and to the back they go! Hogan now has to fight Adnan and Slaughter off, and Slaughter clotheslines Adnan on accident. Hogan atomic drops Slaughter to the outside, covers Adnan, and that’s a victory at 9:45.
My Thoughts: This was a total mess, as can happen when people who don’t work regularly in certain situations work together. Anyway, I’d rather never talk about it again, and I can’t imagine that this match with the Iron Sheik in place of the Undertaker could be any good. It sounds absolutely terrifying. DUD.
– Taped to air March 30th, 1991, on Superstars, from the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida
COL. MUSTAFA DEBUT/RETURN
This was taped before WrestleMania, but Slaughter didn’t bring the belt with him. The fans not knowing what happened with Slaughter would ensure that this had the heat the WWF desired. I don’t hear anyone acknowledging that this is the Iron Sheik. His gut was enormous. Poor jobber.
– March 30th, 1991, from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan
Legion of Doom vs. Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion) & Genichiro Tenryu
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m obligated to mention that this show did less attendance than WCW’s Japan venture. Of course it did and nobody should be surprised by that. They had the better international stars. This is a really big match, though. I think Hogan was playing heel given the way he kicked the TV camera. I remember liking this match a lot the first time I saw it.
Match Review: The match starts with Animal shoving Tenryu into the corner, then to the mat. Hogan tags in as a result, and shoves Animal into the corner. All four guys wind up in the ring, and LOD press slams both of their opponents. Wow! Animal misses an elbow drop, and misses a charge to the corner as well. Hogan hits both Animal and Hawk with clotheslines, and enzuigiris from Tenryu send LOD to the outside. Hawk gets back in there to lock up with Tenryu, and he dropkicks Tenryu. That was nice. Animal then press slams Hawk onto Tenryu for 2, and the match breaks down again. Animal and Tenryu are in the ring, and Animal powerslams Tenryu, as Hawk and Hogan fight into the crowd. It’s hilarious seeing Hogan try to work. He’s pretty good at adapting for the proper audience. Animal blasts Tenryu with a chair, and puts a chinlock on him as the other two guys keep fighting in the crowd. This is great. Hogan has been busted open by Hawk, and it looks like Hawk may have been as well. He’s actually bleeding a lot. Hawk hits Tenryu with a big shoulderblock, and Tenryu responds with some huge chops. This is awfully fun. Hogan tags in there, and hits Hawk with the big AXE BOMBER. He follows that with a backbreaker that gets 2, and puts a chinlock on Hawk. Hawk uses his power to break it, but Hogan scratches Hawk’s back. Animal tags in, and drops Hogan with a shoulderblock that gets 2. He puts a chinlock on Hogan, and Hogan gets out, only for them to clothesline each other. Hawk gets in there, and powerslams Hogan. After a fist drop, he puts a chinlock of his own on the Hulkster. Animal tags in for a weak double back elbow that gets 2, and Animal goes to the arm. Tenryu tags in for some chops, and clotheslines Animal for 2. Hawk slams Tenryu on the floor as Animal went out there on the kickout, and Hogan runs over with a chair to clobber Hawk. Now Animal throws Tenryu into the front row, and Hawk picks up a table that he hits Hogan with. This is fucking hilarious. Animal brings Tenryu back in there for a belly to belly that gets 2, and Tenryu comes back with a back suplex. Animal stops the tag, but Tenryu comes back with a POWERBOMB of Hawk! Before the cover, Animal clotheslines Tenryu, who then makes a tag out. Hogan hits Animal with a big boot, and bodyslams him. Hogan DROPS THE LEG, but Hawk breaks the cover. Hawk then throws Hogan out of the ring, and signals for the DOOMSDAY DEVICE. They give it to Tenryu, and Hogan enters the ring with a chair that he hits Animal with. Hogan throws Animal out of the ring, Hawk and Tenryu are out there too, and that’s going to be a count-out at 14:03. Legion of Doom wins, I guess. The crowd was non-plussed by the weak finish.
Hogan and Tenryu then slap Hawk around for a while, and throw him out of the ring. Animal comes in with a chair, starts beating down the young lions, and Hogan has to leave with his partner.
My Thoughts: As pointed out in the Wrestling Observer, these finishes were bad for business in Japan. This could be one of the best Road Warriors matches, though. I thought it was great, those guys went crazy with the brawling, and the blood was a good touch as well. Obviously, neither man wanted to take the fall in the match, despite them needing to. It was strange to see Hogan taking press slams and showing ass, that’s something he’d never do in the United States. He and Hawk were throwing tables at each other to get the match over, and it worked. The crowd was reacting to almost everything they did, and if there was a legitimate finish, I’d rate it even higher than ***3/4.
– April 1st, 1991, from the Coliseum in Kobe, Japan
Earthquake vs. Koji Kitao
This match is rather infamous. Quake was over on the Japanese tour as a babyface and getting cheered loudly. Kitao on the other hand had a very bad reputation, in large part due to being kicked out of sumo wrestling. John Tenta was also at one point a sumo wrestler, hence them having matches on the tour. It was booked for him to win the first match and lose the second. Instead, it was changed for Kitao to lose both the matches. He wasn’t exactly happy with that. As such, he had no interest in having a match with Earthquake. Shoots aren’t always interesting and that statement definitely applies to this one. Kitao just didn’t want to work. Eventually he and Quake started trying to grab each other, and that was the most interesting part of the whole deal. Not like Quake was going to leave the ring, and allegedly he could have handled himself very well in a real fight. He starts balling his fist up, and Kitao kicks him. Kitao also kicks the referee for some reason. The best part isn’t shown on the video, but Kitao then grabbed the microphone and said that pro wrestling was fake. Of course, they fired him.
– Taped to air in April 1991
IRS VIGNETTES
I don’t know when this is from. Really glad to see this great American hero show up. I needed him to show up. He was a good promo in this role, and despite how bad his matches were, he was probably more entertaining here than at any other point in his career. I liked him saying that some little kid was going to grow up to be a tax cheat.
– Taped to air April 13th, 1991, on Superstars, from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
The Funeral Parlor with the Ultimate Warrior
The Funeral Parlor was a fantastic idea, and quite a lot of important things happened on it for how long it lasted. Warrior as a guest should lead to something. Paul Bearer revealed a casket with Warrior’s logo plastered all over it, and when Warrior grabs Bearer, finally the Undertaker walks out of a coffin in the background! He beats up Warrior with THE URN, and it seems Bearer has an endless supply. Taker then puts Warrior in the casket, with Savage cheering him on. Haha. The casket gets shut, and LOCKED. Eventually, some officials come out to help Warrior, BECAUSE HE CAN’T BREATHE. Eventually they break into the casket, and Warrior’s playing dead. Earl Hebner gives him CPR, and HE COMES BACK TO LIFE, THE POWER OF THE WARRIORS. Never really paid attention to this feud before.
– April 22nd, 1991, from Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York
The Mountie vs. Big Boss Man
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a nice precursor to their later match that had the interesting gimmick attached to it. Of course, this is a battle to see which police officer stands tall, and all of that. Oh no, Jim Neidhart is on commentary. That’s not what I want to see or hear. Before the match, Lord Alfred Hayes asked the Mountie if he had any lawful authority in the US. Mountie then called Boss Man a hick cop.
Match Review: These two square off with their respective weapons, and Boss Man gets rid of his. Mountie tries to attack him with the shock stick, but Boss Man kicks him in the face. Now the shock stick is out of the equation, and the Mountie attacks Boss Man. Boss Man comes back with a SPINEBUSTER, and starts slapping the Mountie around. He even uses a palm strike! Back in they go, and Boss Man uses a leapfrog body guillotine on poor Mountie. Boss Man beats him up for a while, but misses a charge to the corner and flies over the top, hitting the steps with his face on the way down. Mountie gets him back in the ring, and ties Boss Man’s foot up in the ropes so he can kick him relentlessly. Boss Man selling like his leg is broken is entertaining. Far more so than this match. Mountie wants the microphone, and he says that “he’s going to show people who the boss is.” Haha. Boss Man makes a comeback, drops Mountie with the BOSS MAN SLAM, and that’s a victory at 7:56.
Mountie attacks Boss Man with the SHOCK STICK after the match, getting his heat back. He looks like a joke, though.
My Thoughts: Hilarious ending with Mountie getting pinned after saying something stupid, but this wasn’t a good match. No bumping, no effort. The only good thing about it was the finish. 1/2*. Hopefully the other two matches on this card I’m checking out are better.
Sgt. Slaughter (w/General Adnan) vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m writing this on the day Hogan’s racist comments were released. I may make jokes. I may not. If you aren’t cool with the possibility, don’t read this. Adnan’s routine made the crowd really angry.
Match Review: Adnan and Sarge attacks Hogan, but he clotheslines Adnan over the top and sends Slaughter to the outside off his big corner bump. Hogan then takes a TV cord and wraps it around Slaughter’s neck, and brings him back inside for a backdrop. Hogan clotheslines Slaughter, then throws him over the top onto the announce table. Poor guys. Neidhart is TERRIBLE on commentary. Hogan hits Slaughter with a microphone or something, and follows that with a chair shot. Back inside Sarge takes a big bump off another clothesline, which breaks his belt. Hogan drops some elbows on him, but puts his head down for a backdrop, so Slaughter rakes his eyes. He rams Hogan into his boot, and starts taunting the crowd in amusing fashion. Slaughter knocks Hogan to the outside, and Adnan clobbers him, busting him open. Well, Hogan’s really working this blood thing now. There’s a lot of it. Slaughter sends Hogan into the steps, then he clobbers Hogan with the title belt. He throws Hogan into the rail too, this part of the match is taking quite a long time. He even hits Hogan with the bell! Hogan finally gets back in the ring, only to be knocked down for a 2 count. Sarge continues the punishment and spits on Hogan, and in light of what happened…this is kind of like justice porn, you know. Sarge puts the CAMEL CLUTCH on Hogan, but Hogan sneaks out of it and throws Sarge to the outside! When Sarge gets back in there, they rake each others eyes until Hogan goes down. Never seen that bit. Sarge gives Hogan a backbreaker for 2, and heads up top ofr a stomp from the top. Sarge covers, but it only gets 2. HULK UP TIME. Three punches, and there’s the big boot. Hogan follows that with some punches, but Sarge throws him into the official. Hogan tries to wake the gut up, but Sarge hits him in the throat instead. Adnan throws his comrade a chair, and Sarge hits the referee a few times to keep him down. That’s nice of him. Now he goes after Hogan, who moves out of the way. Eventually Sarge hits himself in the face with it, so Hogan takes that chair and hits Adnan with it. He hits Slaughter with it too, and now the referee wakes up and sees the chair. He accuses Hogan of hitting him in the back, and disqualifies him at 16:00.
Adnan now has a lighter and paper, so it’s FIREBALL TIME. Hogan blocks it with the chair, and they leave before anything else happens, except Hogan catches Slaughter with the chair on his way out.
My Thoughts: This match just felt more natural than their WrestleMania match. That’s not to say it was better, but they had more effective spots. The match was also more violent than their WrestleMania match. What it wasn’t, was a better wrestling match. The wrestling here was lacking a bit, and this was more of a brawl. This isn’t even their best brawl. **3/4. I didn’t feel like making any jokes while watching this, nor do I feel dirty. You know what, as for Hogan’s comments, they are what they are. I don’t let that affect my opinions of somebody as a wrestler or wrestling character, otherwise I would have stopped being a wrestling fan a really long time ago.
Ted DiBiase (w/Sensational Sherri) vs. Roddy Piper
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m looking forward to this more than the other two matches. The reasons for that are very obvious, after all, it’s not like these guys had a huge match on television. These random Roddy Piper matches are often fun and hopefully this is no exception. It’s interesting that Virgil was teaming with the Rockers in the match before this. Sherri with DiBiase was a natural pairing, and might reap some quick dividends.
Match Review: Piper attacks, so we’re starting this one quickly. He then whips DiBiase with his belt, and wraps it around DiBiase’s neck so he can ram him into the buckle. Piper’s being really funny in this one. He crotches DiBiase on the top rope, and DiBiase pulls Sherri into the ring by accident. Now Sherri climbs on Piper’s back, and Piper kisses her. Haha. The crowd was really into that, but it would be problematic now. DiBiase gets in some punches, but has his face smashed into the mat. Piper then has a charge to the corner blocked, and DiBiase takes control by placing him upside down in the corner. There’s a fight of some sort in the crowd, so this work is the perfect way to counter that. Sherri tosses her new man a chair, and that distraction allows DiBiase to hit Piper weakly with it for a 2 count. DiBiase then smashes Piper’s knee into the canvas, and into the post it goes. The wrong knee, that is. What the hell? DiBiase goes to a figure-four, but Piper kicks him into the corner. Sherri has a cup of water for some reason, and DiBiase gets hit on the way down from the second rope. Piper throws the soda in DiBiase’s eyes, and takes DiBiase to the canvas. When the referee breaks things up, Sherri tries to take a chair from Bobby Heenan, and they get in a little shoving match. WHOA. WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT? DiBiase hits Piper with the chair again, this time in the knee. DiBiase puts a FIGURE-FOUR on Piper, and the referee stops the match at 7:33, because Piper won’t give up himself. Not my favorite finish in the world, there. After the match, Piper attacks DiBiase, and gives he and Sherri both a noggin-knocker. That’s followed with a double clothesline that gets a few boos, and he beats DiBiase up with Sherri’s shoes. He trips her, then rips her dress off to nobody’s surprise.
My Thoughts: I didn’t like this match that much, it wasn’t quite as good as other Piper matches at MSG from this period. I also think they could have done a whole lot better than how this went. For whatever reason, it just didn’t come off or feel like a hot match. I’d give it **1/4, that’s as far as I’d go. Sherri was once again the best part of a match she was involved in. She bumped around really hard, worked hard, and really made people feel like the match was important.
– Taped to air April 27th, 1991, on Superstars, from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Jake Roberts
This match has quite the interesting finish. I believe everyone has seen it before. It is also interesting for this match to be on TV. Of course there’s a reason for that, but I would have thought this would happen after a squash match. Honestly, I don’t even care this much so I don’t know why I’m still going on.
Earthquake attacks to start this off, and Roberts hits him with a knee lift. He the clotheslines Quake, and brings Damien out of his bag to chase him from the ring. Quake teases leaving, but a referee won’t allow them to. Roberts puts the snake away, and the match restarts. Sounds like dirty language. The match grinds to a halt as Roberts keeps teasing using Damien, but he puts him under the ring. Well, that’s one way to switch bags. Quake attacks Roberts from behind, and grabs the bag. Oh boy. It looks like a big lump. He brings it in the ring, and ties Roberts up in the ropes. WHAT COULD HE DO??? Hebner eventually rings the bell at 4:24, in part because Jimmy Hart took him down to stop him from untying Roberts. Quake now signals for a BUTT SPLASH, AND SQUASHES THE SNAKE. It’s funny that they don’t show Earthquake killing it, and cut to Sean Mooney’s face instead. Quake does a second, and Sean Mooney sounds like somebody just killed his dog. This is one of the worst angles the WWF has done from a creative standpoint, but I think it was hilarious. When Roberts looks inside the bag, it sells the angle well.
That’s it for this time. There was a show called UK Rampage that was taped during this period, but it was apparently so bad that I didn’t watch it at all. In other news from this time, Rick Martel quit. Don’t exactly understand why as he was being pushed very strongly and there were probably plans for him. Next up for me, is the last SNME on NBC for 15 years. In some ways that’s the end of an era. Business was also massively on the down slide, and I’ll have more to say about that in the next few articles.
Best: LOD vs. Hogan and Tenryu. Definitely the best match, I thought it was great.
Worst: Earthquake smashing the snake with his ass. While this was the worst, in some ways this was also the best. Means I had fun watching this stuff.
