June 20, 1987
From the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, NY
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon
In action this week will be the Can-Am Connection, George Steele, Killer Khan, and the featured match between the Killer Bees and the Hart Foundation
Killer Bees vs. Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis
This is a non-title match. Blair starts the match by working over the arm of Neidhart. He gets a quick rollup for two then tags Brunzell, who also works the arm. Bret tags in and Brunzell takes him down and works the arm briefly until he gets caught with a knee. The Hart Foundation neutralize Brunzell in their corner for a minute. Brunzell tries a comeback then Davis yanks Blair off of the apron as the referee orders Davis to the dressing room and as that happens, the Bees sneak underneath the ring and put on their masks as Blair is now in the ring. He cleans house then as Bret attempted to block a sunset flip, Neidhart came in trying to help him out but the ref ordered him back then Brunzell pushed Bret down as Blair gets the win with the sunset flip as Jesse flips out on commentary (4:18).
Thoughts: Fun match. It also ensures that the Bees will get a title shot in the future as they are still trying to determine the #1 contenders.
WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week's subject is the Honky Tonk Man as they show a clip of him beating Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental Title last week and the celebration in the heel locker room. DeGeorge is then shown interviewing Honky in the locker room as Honky thanks the fans and gloats about always being the champion.
Al Navarro vs. George "The Animal" Steele
Steele immediately attacks Navarro then chases off the referee. He then bites open a turnbuckle and throws the stuffing at the referee as he waits for Navarro to re-enter the ring. We get an insert promo from Davis talking trash about the referee's for tossing him from the ring as Steele puts Navarro away with the flying hammerlock (1:18). After the match, Steele takes down the ref then raises his hand before biting open another turnbuckle.
Thoughts: This crowd loved Steele, who was used perfectly in the WWF at this time in short squash matches and wins over lesser talent at house shows to get good crowd reaction.
Gene Okerlund is with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who hypes his match against Greg Valentine at the July Boston Garden show.
We now get a brief clip of the Jumping Bomb Angels in action as Vince tells us that we will be seeing them soon in the WWF. The clip didnt show much at all to be honest but the team was way ahead of its time.
Rick Renslow & Dave Wagner vs. Can-Am Connection
Zenk gets attacked by Wagner as Renslow distracts the referee. He comes back with a monkey flip then tags Martel, who hits a jumping back elbow smash off of Zenk's back. We get an insert promo from Bobby Heenan and the Islanders as they laugh at the Can-Am Connection, who are in full control of this match. Zenk then gets briefly trapped in the corner but dodges an attack then makes the tag to Martel, who cleans house. Martel then tags Zenk before holding up Renslow as Zenk comes off of the top with a missile dropkick and gets the win (2:52).
Thoughts: Good action from the Can-Ams as their feud against the Islanders was heavily pushed here.
Okerlund is with Jake Roberts, who tells us that he is essentially stalking the Honky Tonk Man and will get a rematch and promises he will hit him with the DDT. Really good promo from Jake.
Killer Khan w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Brian Costello
Khan kneels down to pray before the match as Jesse tells us he does not believe Hogan can beat Khan. The match finally starts as Khan beats down Costello. He then hits a backbreaker and bows to Fuji before climbing up top and getting the win with a knee drop (1:42).
Thoughts: They certainly put Khan over as a title contender here. His finisher was cool but that was about it from him.
Snake Pit with guests Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Savage congratulates the Honky Tonk Man for winning the IC title then rubs it in Jake's face. Jake then questions Savage for previously saying he wanted to make sure that he beats Steamboat to get back his belt. Savage switches focus to Hogan and how he wants to go after him then guarantees he will take down Hulkamania because Hogan is number two while he is number one as Jake keeps telling Savage he does not think he can get the job done. Good promo from Savage, who dodges all questions about not getting the IC Title from Steamboat, like he promised. Keep that in mind over the next few months.
WWF Special Report with Craig DeGeorge. We get another update on Superstar Billy Graham as he continues to rehab from surgery. These segments were all overly long and to push a star that was relatively unknown to the younger audience.
And missing from my copy are Billy Jack Haynes defeating Steve Lombardi and Hercules & King Harley Race & King Kong Bundy & Paul Orndorff vs. Jim Powers & Paul Roma & Mario Mancini & Don Driggers.
Final Thoughts: Not too bad from what I saw. The action was entertaining for the most part and we had excellent interviews between Roberts and Savage, as they are now positioned as the top two contenders for the IC Title.
Here is the rest of my schedule for the next several days:
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/21/87
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/28/87
Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 7/4/87
Saturday: RoH Beating the Odds 9/6/03
From the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, NY
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon
In action this week will be the Can-Am Connection, George Steele, Killer Khan, and the featured match between the Killer Bees and the Hart Foundation
Killer Bees vs. Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis
This is a non-title match. Blair starts the match by working over the arm of Neidhart. He gets a quick rollup for two then tags Brunzell, who also works the arm. Bret tags in and Brunzell takes him down and works the arm briefly until he gets caught with a knee. The Hart Foundation neutralize Brunzell in their corner for a minute. Brunzell tries a comeback then Davis yanks Blair off of the apron as the referee orders Davis to the dressing room and as that happens, the Bees sneak underneath the ring and put on their masks as Blair is now in the ring. He cleans house then as Bret attempted to block a sunset flip, Neidhart came in trying to help him out but the ref ordered him back then Brunzell pushed Bret down as Blair gets the win with the sunset flip as Jesse flips out on commentary (4:18).
Thoughts: Fun match. It also ensures that the Bees will get a title shot in the future as they are still trying to determine the #1 contenders.
WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week's subject is the Honky Tonk Man as they show a clip of him beating Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental Title last week and the celebration in the heel locker room. DeGeorge is then shown interviewing Honky in the locker room as Honky thanks the fans and gloats about always being the champion.
Al Navarro vs. George "The Animal" Steele
Steele immediately attacks Navarro then chases off the referee. He then bites open a turnbuckle and throws the stuffing at the referee as he waits for Navarro to re-enter the ring. We get an insert promo from Davis talking trash about the referee's for tossing him from the ring as Steele puts Navarro away with the flying hammerlock (1:18). After the match, Steele takes down the ref then raises his hand before biting open another turnbuckle.
Thoughts: This crowd loved Steele, who was used perfectly in the WWF at this time in short squash matches and wins over lesser talent at house shows to get good crowd reaction.
Gene Okerlund is with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who hypes his match against Greg Valentine at the July Boston Garden show.
We now get a brief clip of the Jumping Bomb Angels in action as Vince tells us that we will be seeing them soon in the WWF. The clip didnt show much at all to be honest but the team was way ahead of its time.
Rick Renslow & Dave Wagner vs. Can-Am Connection
Zenk gets attacked by Wagner as Renslow distracts the referee. He comes back with a monkey flip then tags Martel, who hits a jumping back elbow smash off of Zenk's back. We get an insert promo from Bobby Heenan and the Islanders as they laugh at the Can-Am Connection, who are in full control of this match. Zenk then gets briefly trapped in the corner but dodges an attack then makes the tag to Martel, who cleans house. Martel then tags Zenk before holding up Renslow as Zenk comes off of the top with a missile dropkick and gets the win (2:52).
Thoughts: Good action from the Can-Ams as their feud against the Islanders was heavily pushed here.
Okerlund is with Jake Roberts, who tells us that he is essentially stalking the Honky Tonk Man and will get a rematch and promises he will hit him with the DDT. Really good promo from Jake.
Killer Khan w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Brian Costello
Khan kneels down to pray before the match as Jesse tells us he does not believe Hogan can beat Khan. The match finally starts as Khan beats down Costello. He then hits a backbreaker and bows to Fuji before climbing up top and getting the win with a knee drop (1:42).
Thoughts: They certainly put Khan over as a title contender here. His finisher was cool but that was about it from him.
Snake Pit with guests Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Savage congratulates the Honky Tonk Man for winning the IC title then rubs it in Jake's face. Jake then questions Savage for previously saying he wanted to make sure that he beats Steamboat to get back his belt. Savage switches focus to Hogan and how he wants to go after him then guarantees he will take down Hulkamania because Hogan is number two while he is number one as Jake keeps telling Savage he does not think he can get the job done. Good promo from Savage, who dodges all questions about not getting the IC Title from Steamboat, like he promised. Keep that in mind over the next few months.
WWF Special Report with Craig DeGeorge. We get another update on Superstar Billy Graham as he continues to rehab from surgery. These segments were all overly long and to push a star that was relatively unknown to the younger audience.
And missing from my copy are Billy Jack Haynes defeating Steve Lombardi and Hercules & King Harley Race & King Kong Bundy & Paul Orndorff vs. Jim Powers & Paul Roma & Mario Mancini & Don Driggers.
Final Thoughts: Not too bad from what I saw. The action was entertaining for the most part and we had excellent interviews between Roberts and Savage, as they are now positioned as the top two contenders for the IC Title.
Here is the rest of my schedule for the next several days:
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/21/87
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/28/87
Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 7/4/87
Saturday: RoH Beating the Odds 9/6/03
Nice review once again. You mention how Graham was relatively unknown to the audience. It reminds me of a big difference between then and now. I remember that in few months, after his retirement or the attack by One Man Gang, they showed clips about his career and of his title win over Sammartino. It looked ancient! The arena, the ring, Graham himself, the title belt. A completely different era, only 10 years earlier. These days, when someone from 10 years ago shows up, nothing looks different. They show clips or something and it all basically looks the same. Don't know what my point exactly is, but just an observation. Keep up the good work, love these reviews from my early days as a fan!
ReplyDeleteHuh, I didn't know WWF did shows at The Aud. When I started watching they were doing all their shows at the Niagara Falls convention center, which is now a casino. I always wondered why there, but now that I think about it it's probably because businesses was in the toilet at the time. WCW used to do Illio DePaulio tribute show every year there though. Once we got our new arena WWF used that though.
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"This week's subject is the Honky Tonk Man as they show a clip of him beating Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental Title last week and the celebration in the heel locker room"
ReplyDeleteSimple stuff like this is something we don't see anymore.
I saw there are a couple of 'booking' shoots out there with Greg Gagne. The guy pretty much knew how the business worked during the mid-lates 80s. Got me thinking - if Verne Gagne had gave Greg the book, would the AWA survived longer? And during that same period - did Crockett or Vince reach out to Greg to work for them? Gagne would have made a fine mid carder and a tag team guy, especially with his old running buddy Jim Brunzell after Brian Blair left. Just what if thoughts...
ReplyDeleteThe production values between improved tremendously in 1986 from the level it was previously. Even the Championship Wrestling episodes from 1986 looked like it was from a different decade from the Superstars of Wrestling episodes from 1987.
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ReplyDeleteYeah, back then we also could watch NWA wrestling. The production of that really looked second rate compared
ReplyDeleteTo WWF.