A new wrestler makes his debut and several feuds heat up as the WWF enters the month of June in 1988.
WWF World Championship Scene: (currently held by Randy Savage)
DiBiase’s quest to win the WWF World Championship continued throughout the month of June. DiBiase managed to get the upper hand on Savage by weakening Savage during a segment at a Superstars taping on June 21st. Andre the Giant distracted Savage during a interview segment to allow DiBiase to attack Savage. DiBiase would beat Savage while Virgil forced Elizabeth to watch the beating.
During the same taping, Savage issued a challenge to Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant to a tag team match. Savage didn’t have a partner by this point. DiBiase accepted the challenge to wrestle in the tag team match.
DiBiase would continue to lose house show title matches against Savage. They did have a notable steel cage match at a MSG show on June 25th. Savage retained the title, as usual, by managing to escape the cage.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Scene: (currently held by Honky Tonk Man)
There wasn’t any new developments for Honky’s feud with Brutus Beefcake. They had several house show matches throughout the month with Honky winning the majority of the bouts by pin fall after hitting Beefcake with a foreign object. Their feud was seemingly on its last legs.
WWF World Tag Team Championship Scene: (currently held by Demolition)
Demolition continued to fight off former WWF World Tag Team Champions Strike Force until Rick Martel suffered a knee injury that would cause him to miss eight months of action. Demolition would beat Strike Force by count-out as the injury occurred during a match at the June 1st WWF Superstars taping, but aired on Primetime Wrestling later on in July.
Throughout the rest of the month, Demolition would lose several non-title matches against the Powers of Pain on the house show market. Demolition also competed against the British Bulldogs and the Rougeau Brothers a few times. Demolition did not have an angle heading into July.
Other Happenings:
- The feud between Greg Valentine and Don Muraco began to heat up during the month. After winning a squash match on the June 1st Superstars taping, Valentine refused to let go of a figure four leg lock on a jobber. Superstar Billy Graham and Don Muraco came out to pull Valentine off. Muraco ended up chasing Jimmy Hart to the backstage area. That allowed Valentine to attack Graham and put Graham in the figure four leg lock. Graham was carried out on a stretcher once Valentine let go of the hold. Muraco got a little bit of revenge after attacking Valentine at the June 22nd Wrestling Challenge taping as Valentine attempted to put Tito Santana in the figure four leg lock. The feud continued when at the MSG show on June 25th Valentine attacked Billy Graham (who was on commentary) kicking Graham’s leg while Muraco had a match. Valentine had the upper hand in the feud as they continued to feud into July.
- Big Bossman made his debut during the June 1st taping of Superstars. Bossman defeated several jobbers throughout the month showing that he is a force to be reckoned with in the WWF. On a few occasions, Bossman would handcuff his opponent to the ropes and beat them senseless with his nightstick.
- Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty (soon known as The Rockers) made their debuts on television at the June 1st taping of Superstars. They would win several jobber matches throughout the month.
- Bobby Heenan revealed his new king since Harley Race was injured back in March during a bout with Hulk Hogan. Heenan’s new king ended being Haku. Haku would now go by the fitting name, King Haku.
- Despite the Hart Foundation not wanting Jimmy Hart as their manager, Jimmy Hart refused to leave the tag team. Jimmy Hart made it clear that he owns the contracts of Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart. Thus, he would stick by them no matter how much they didn’t want him around.
- Rick Rude continued to talk about Jake Roberts wife, Cheryl. Rude made comments about Cheryl while on the Brother Love talk show during the June 22nd Wrestling Challenge taping. Roberts would be on the Brother Love show during the same taping and got physical with Brother Love as the host began to insult Cheryl as well. Throughout the month, Roberts and Rude would wrestle to several double disqualifications. They were also involved in tag matches where Roberts would team with Jim Duggan against Rude and Andre the Giant. Both teams would trade wins with the outcome usually involving either Roberts or Rude being pinned.
- The Ultimate Warrior continued his feud with Hercules and won all those contests. Warrior also competed in several weasel suit matches against Bobby Heenan. Warrior won all of those contests as well.
Bob's Reaction:
The angle involving Greg Valentine and Don Muraco was rather entertaining and effective to give Valentine a push in a heel role. I had never been a big Valentine fan, but the angle fit him well and he did a good job of maintaining heat attached to it, I thought.
Big Bossman's debut is much needed to beef up the heel side of the card, I thought. At the time, Bossman wasn't in good condition as he was a fat cop. Over the year, he would greatly improve his condition. His rise of the card is fun to watch, as well.
The angle involving DiBiase/Savage was still going well and it looked like WWF was trying to find a way to present DiBiase as a contender to the WWF World Championship. The cage match between the two was rather good for house show standards. It seemed rather obvious that Hogan would be Randy's partner for the big tag team showdown.
Lastly, Rick Rude's angle with Jake Roberts is really good and Rude is just excellent at being a heel. These two just seemed to have a good chemistry.
Feel free to share any memories on what is going on in the WWF at this time.
Also, check out my Wrestling Recaps. My blog filled with wrestling reviews from all the major companies.
WWF World Championship Scene: (currently held by Randy Savage)
DiBiase’s quest to win the WWF World Championship continued throughout the month of June. DiBiase managed to get the upper hand on Savage by weakening Savage during a segment at a Superstars taping on June 21st. Andre the Giant distracted Savage during a interview segment to allow DiBiase to attack Savage. DiBiase would beat Savage while Virgil forced Elizabeth to watch the beating.
During the same taping, Savage issued a challenge to Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant to a tag team match. Savage didn’t have a partner by this point. DiBiase accepted the challenge to wrestle in the tag team match.
DiBiase would continue to lose house show title matches against Savage. They did have a notable steel cage match at a MSG show on June 25th. Savage retained the title, as usual, by managing to escape the cage.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Scene: (currently held by Honky Tonk Man)
There wasn’t any new developments for Honky’s feud with Brutus Beefcake. They had several house show matches throughout the month with Honky winning the majority of the bouts by pin fall after hitting Beefcake with a foreign object. Their feud was seemingly on its last legs.
WWF World Tag Team Championship Scene: (currently held by Demolition)
Demolition continued to fight off former WWF World Tag Team Champions Strike Force until Rick Martel suffered a knee injury that would cause him to miss eight months of action. Demolition would beat Strike Force by count-out as the injury occurred during a match at the June 1st WWF Superstars taping, but aired on Primetime Wrestling later on in July.
Throughout the rest of the month, Demolition would lose several non-title matches against the Powers of Pain on the house show market. Demolition also competed against the British Bulldogs and the Rougeau Brothers a few times. Demolition did not have an angle heading into July.
Other Happenings:
- The feud between Greg Valentine and Don Muraco began to heat up during the month. After winning a squash match on the June 1st Superstars taping, Valentine refused to let go of a figure four leg lock on a jobber. Superstar Billy Graham and Don Muraco came out to pull Valentine off. Muraco ended up chasing Jimmy Hart to the backstage area. That allowed Valentine to attack Graham and put Graham in the figure four leg lock. Graham was carried out on a stretcher once Valentine let go of the hold. Muraco got a little bit of revenge after attacking Valentine at the June 22nd Wrestling Challenge taping as Valentine attempted to put Tito Santana in the figure four leg lock. The feud continued when at the MSG show on June 25th Valentine attacked Billy Graham (who was on commentary) kicking Graham’s leg while Muraco had a match. Valentine had the upper hand in the feud as they continued to feud into July.
- Big Bossman made his debut during the June 1st taping of Superstars. Bossman defeated several jobbers throughout the month showing that he is a force to be reckoned with in the WWF. On a few occasions, Bossman would handcuff his opponent to the ropes and beat them senseless with his nightstick.
- Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty (soon known as The Rockers) made their debuts on television at the June 1st taping of Superstars. They would win several jobber matches throughout the month.
- Bobby Heenan revealed his new king since Harley Race was injured back in March during a bout with Hulk Hogan. Heenan’s new king ended being Haku. Haku would now go by the fitting name, King Haku.
- Despite the Hart Foundation not wanting Jimmy Hart as their manager, Jimmy Hart refused to leave the tag team. Jimmy Hart made it clear that he owns the contracts of Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart. Thus, he would stick by them no matter how much they didn’t want him around.
- Rick Rude continued to talk about Jake Roberts wife, Cheryl. Rude made comments about Cheryl while on the Brother Love talk show during the June 22nd Wrestling Challenge taping. Roberts would be on the Brother Love show during the same taping and got physical with Brother Love as the host began to insult Cheryl as well. Throughout the month, Roberts and Rude would wrestle to several double disqualifications. They were also involved in tag matches where Roberts would team with Jim Duggan against Rude and Andre the Giant. Both teams would trade wins with the outcome usually involving either Roberts or Rude being pinned.
- The Ultimate Warrior continued his feud with Hercules and won all those contests. Warrior also competed in several weasel suit matches against Bobby Heenan. Warrior won all of those contests as well.
Bob's Reaction:
The angle involving Greg Valentine and Don Muraco was rather entertaining and effective to give Valentine a push in a heel role. I had never been a big Valentine fan, but the angle fit him well and he did a good job of maintaining heat attached to it, I thought.
Big Bossman's debut is much needed to beef up the heel side of the card, I thought. At the time, Bossman wasn't in good condition as he was a fat cop. Over the year, he would greatly improve his condition. His rise of the card is fun to watch, as well.
The angle involving DiBiase/Savage was still going well and it looked like WWF was trying to find a way to present DiBiase as a contender to the WWF World Championship. The cage match between the two was rather good for house show standards. It seemed rather obvious that Hogan would be Randy's partner for the big tag team showdown.
Lastly, Rick Rude's angle with Jake Roberts is really good and Rude is just excellent at being a heel. These two just seemed to have a good chemistry.
Feel free to share any memories on what is going on in the WWF at this time.
Also, check out my Wrestling Recaps. My blog filled with wrestling reviews from all the major companies.
Bossman was my favorite as a kid watching. Amazing how good he got both in terms of ringwork and conditioning. Still cant believe he didnt win the IC belt from Perfect.
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