WWF Superstars of Wrestling May 2nd,1987

May 2, 1987

From the Centrum in Worcester, MA

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon

This week's featured match is Brutus Beefcake vs. Johnny Valiant. Also in action will be Randy Savage, Can-Am Connection, and Adrian Adonis. Plus, the debate between Ken Patera and Bobby Heenan and much more.





S.D. Jones vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth

Before the match, Savage takes the mic and goes nuts on ring announcer Mel Phillips for referring to him as the "former Intercontinental Champion" then goes nuts on the crowd until S.D. headbutts him from behind. S.D. hits a slam and a clothesline as Savage still has his robe on while the crowd goes nuts. Savage rolls outside where S.D. follows him out and roughs him up until the referee reprimands him, which allows Savage to knee him into the post. Savage sends him into the railing then rolls S.D. back in where he finishes him off with the flying elbow smash (1:40). After the match, Savage attacks S.D. before leaving with Elizabeth as Vince plugs his Lumberjack Match against George Steele on tonight's "Saturday Night's Main Event."

Thoughts: Savage was being portrayed as a complete lunatic after losing the IC Title and he was great in this role. S.D. could barely move at this point so Savage did everything in the match but man, Savage was money here.



WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week's subject is Billy Jack Haynes and how he got stitches from Hercules' chain from their WrestleMania III match. We are then shown Haynes ranting about Hercules to set up a series of chain matches at house shows. Their feud is starting to run out of steam a bit.



Johnny V. vs. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

This was the first time Beefcake was called "The Barber" on TV as he sported a coat and carried a pair of scissors. He got a good response from the fans here. Johnny attacks Beefcake from behind a lands a few shots but gets caught and slammed. Beefcake knocks Johnny to the floor then back inside he gets attacked briefly until he catches Johnny with a sleeper for the win as Jesse thinks it was a choke hold (1:42). After the match, Beefcake retrieves his coat then pulls out a pair of clippers as he shaves off part of Johnny's hair to the delight of the crowd.

Thoughts: Well, give the WWF credit as their face turn of Brutus with the barber gimmick was a success in it's debut. The crowd went nuts when he cut Johnny's hair.



Gene Okerlund is with Jake Roberts, who will be facing Honky Tonk Man tonight in the Boston Garden. He says he is only going to Boston to take care of the Honky Tonk Man, who he calls a liar and an imitator. Good interview from Jake as his feud with Honky continues to heat up.



Killer Khan w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Nelson Veilleux

Khan's WWF return after a five year absence. He beats on Veilleux to start as we get an insert showing Khan making all sorts of goofy faces as Fuji tells us that he likes to make people suffer. Khan then hits a backbreaker before putting Veilleux away with a kneedrop from the middle rope (1:27).

Thoughts: Khan was pretty crappy in the ring and was dated in general. This was a 70's act. Somewhat similar to the Missing Link coming in two years earlier in that they were old news. The crowd didn't react all that much to him but he would get pushed anyway as the weeks progressed.



Okerlund is with Bobby Heenan and King Harley Race as they face Hulk Hogan in the Boston Garden. Nothing memorable here but Race sure did look goofy with that crown strapped to his head.



Outback Jack plugs the WWF Ice Cream Bars.



Kamala and Sika are eating live lobsters, ripping them apart like savages. This was hilarious by the way.



Rocky Stone & Dusty Wolfe vs. Can-Am Connection

Stone yanks Martel down by the hair as they fight over a key lock. Wolfe comes in for a cheapshot but Martel takes them both down with a monkey flip as the match breaks down. The Can-Ams hit some poor excuse of a double dropkick in a completely fucked up spot. Zenk has Stone in a Boston Crab then Wolfe runs in and clotheslines him down. Man, the work in this match is really bad by the way. Zenk ducks a double clothesline and takes down both men with a dropkick. Martel tags and runs wild until he puts Wolfe away with a slingshot splash (3:01).

Thoughts: The Can-Ams were over a lot here. The actual match was surprisingly terrible though. Nothing looked good and almost everything was mistimed. Vince was pushing the Can-Ams hard on commentary.



DeGeorge is with Blackjack Mulligan, who warns Bass to leave "Billie Jo" around despite of her looks. The continued the running gag of not knowing what she looked like here as well.



A recap of the "Ken Patera Story" saga in preparation for his debate against Bobby Heenan.



In the ring, Okerlund moderates the debate between Patera and Heenan, who each have a podium. Heenan starts by calling Patera an "ex-con" as Patera is proud of living in the USA because he can pay his debt to society. Heenan then pulls out a piece of paper and speaks but it is censored as the scroll running at the bottom tells us was "too heinous" for television. The censorship ends with Heenan telling us Patera should be kept in prison for being a "vicious and violent animal." Patera repeats himself then calls Heenan a weasel as he speaks about not getting moral support from him while in prison, completely abandoning him. Heenan screams about not caring about his kids or family then after giving their closing comments, which were nothing that hasnt been said before here, Heenan attacks Patera with a belt. Patera turns the tide and puts the belt around Heenan's neck as he yanks him down, snapping his neck. The crowd was into Heenan getting his ass kicked but other than that this was pretty bad. Patera was never meant to be a babyface in this role and was weak on the microphone, frequently repeating himself.



Back from break, Heenan is being taken out on a stretcher.



Replay of Adrian Adonis' head getting shaved at WrestleMania III



Jake Milliman vs. "Adorable" Adrian Adonis w/ Jimmy Hart

Milliman grabs a headlock then rubs Adonis's head, which pisses him off. Adonis then beats the shit out of Milliman as Hart is shown in an insert promo promising that anyone laughing at Adonis will get destroyed. Adonis continues the assault until he puts him in the Good Night Irene for the win (1:10).

Thoughts: The only TV match for Adonis post-WrestleMania III. He was actually fired a few days before this show aired and that was too bad as they seemingly had big plans for a Beefcake/Adonis feud.



Okerlund is with Hulk Hogan, who will be facing King Harley Race in Boston tonight. Hogan said that god created Hulkamania on the 8th day as he runs down the entire Heenan family.



Next week's featured bout will be Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith. Also in action will be Ricky Steamboat, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff & Butch Reed, Jake Roberts, and Killer Bees & Koko B. Ware. We are then shown promos from both the Hart Foundation and the British Bulldogs hyping up the match.



Final Thoughts: Solid show this week. The barber gimmick for Beefcake was a success in its debut and Savage going mental at not being the Intercontinental Title was great. Sure, the Patera/Heenan debate was not good but the end was intriguing as Heenan got stretchered out. Khan's return was nothing special though. Besides that, they are pushing the Can-Ams, who were insanely popular and the Jake/Honky feud was heating up, making this a good show overall.



Here is my schedule for the next several days:


Tuesday: WWF Boston Garden 5/2/87
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Bruno Sammartino
Friday: WWF Saturday Night's Main Event 5/2/87
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 5/3/87