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WWF TV: August-September 1987:; Footage from Superstars, Challenge, PTW
Topic Started: Feb 24 2005, 07:59 AM (886 Views)
Scrooge McSuck
I'll get you next time, toilet!
[ *  *  * ]
WWF August-September 1987 Television Footage:

- This review I'm going to absolutely dread doing, mainly because the video quality is shit, and the audio is terrible. Since I'm a nice guy, I'm going to tough it out by muting the volume after the bell rings (thank God I guess, since there's a lot of Vince McMahon on this), and try and keep my head leveled enough to not get pissed off.

- Brady Boone vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth):
From the August 2nd episode of Wrestling Challenge. Savage with a go behind waistlock and he takes Boone down. Lockup #2 goes into the corner, with Boone applying a standing side headlock. Irish whip to the corner, and Savage misses a charge while Boone does some back flips, and he dropkicks Savage out of the ring. Lockup and Savage with a standing side headlock followed by a shoulder block. Boone with a hurricanrana and that sends Savage to the outside of the ring again. Lockup into the corner, and Boone with a side headlock followed by a shgoulder block. Hurricanrana attempt is blocked and Savage drives Boone into the ground with a Powerbomb. He clotheslines Boone across the top rope, and chokes him across it now. Snapmare by Savage and he connects with a jumping knee drop across the throat. Savage dumps Boone outside of the ring, and rams him into the ring apron. Back inside, and Savage rams him into the buckle, followed by an elbow. Boone fights back with a series of knees. Boone fakes a top rope moonsault, so Savage clotheslines him to hell, and drops him across the top rope. Savage goes up top, and comes down with an axehandle to the outside. Powerslam inside the ring, and Savage comes off the top rope with the elbow drop for the easy three count at 4:19. *1/4 Quite an energetic squash match, although Boone got in too much offense I believe, especially against Randy Savage of all people.

- Sivi Afi & "Special Delivery" Jones vs. The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart):
Also from the August 2nd episode of Challenge. The Foundation are the (then) current Tag Team Champions, but this is a non-title match for the obvious reasons. Afi and Hart start the match with a lockup. Hart with a clean break in the ropes to the surprise of everyone. Insert promo from Jimmy Hart as Afi refuses a handshake. Lockup, and Hart with a knee to the midsection followed by a series of blows to the back of Afi. Neidhart tags in and hammers away at Afi in the corner. Neidhart bites on the forehead of his opponent, and Hart tags in for more seasons beatings. Irish whip, and Bret with a boot to the midsection followed by an elbow to the back of the head. Neidhart tags in, and actually connects with a dropkick for an intentionally broken up two count. Neidhart with a series of shoulder blocks in the corner, and Hart chokes away on Afi behind the referees back. Inverted atomic drop by Hart, but he misses an elbow, and Jones tags in. He hammers away on Bret in the corner, and whips him across the ring. Jones with a headbutt, but he runs into a side back breaker from the Hitman. Neidhart tags in and the Hart Attack connects for three at 4:14. DUD Nothing much in terms of a squash match, as it just seemed too slow paced. Oh well, not like the matches are suppose to be good anyway.

- Tito Santana, The Junkyard Dog, Hillbilly Jim vs. The Magnificent Muraco, Bob Orton Jr., Joe Mirto:
From the August 8th episode of Superstars of Wrestling, and why is a Jobber teaming up with Muraco and Orton? Of course, Hillbilly Jim was being treated like a Jobber around this time, so I guess it equals out. The heels attack before the bell, but that is broken up mighty quickly. Mirto and Hilbilly start the match, with Hillbilly taking down Mirto with a big boot after two failed shoulderblocks. Muraco and the JYD tag in now for a lockup. JYD with a standing side headlock, followed by a series of rolling headbutts, sending him outside of the ring, where Orton gives him a "pep talk". Orton and Santana now tag in for their teams. Lockup into the corner, and the two exchange blows. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Santana catches Orton in the air with a slam followed by a series of rights. Irish whip, but Orton punches him in the face after a back drop attempt. Tombstone piledriver by Orton is blocked, with Santana kicking him in the head. Muraco tags in with a knee to the back. Orton prevents a super-plex attempt (his finishing move), allowing Santana to fall on top of Muraco for a lame three count at 3:02. DUD Nothing much of a match. After the match, Muraco and Orton brawl around the ring, and then go into the audience as the camera cuts away.

- Mean Gene Okerlund interview with Slick and "The Natural" Butch Reed, who throw threats at Billy Jack Haynes. What wonderful matches those would be... thank God none of them surfaced on any tapes that I have.

- Paul Roma & Jim Powers vs. The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis):
Another non-title tag match featuring the Tag Team Champions. Also, Mr. T of all people is the outside official, acting as a special enforcer of the WWF. Powers and Roma are not yet named the Young Stallions... what a time in history when that happened. Bret hammers away on Powers to start, and connects with a back breaker. He gets rammed into the boot of Neidhart, and they nail a double team cothesline in the corner. Neidhart drops Powers across the top rope as we get an insert promo from Danny Davis. Hart comes off the top rope with the Demolition Decapitator elbow drop, and continues hammering away on Powers. Snap suplex connects, and he drops another elbow. Neidhart tags in and connects with a BIG slam, then applies a chinlock before tagging Bret back in for some stomp-stomp-stomping. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Bret does his over-sell. Roma gets the hot tag and hammers away on Bret. Irish whip, and he connects with a back elbow, followed by dropkicks to both men. Neidhart crashes into Bret, and gets sent out of the ring. Irish whip to the corner, but Bret blocks a hurricanrana with a slam and rolls Roma up (with use of the ropes) at 2:56, but Mr. T, the special outside enforcer has the decision reversed, giving Powers and Roma the cheap victory. * Good enough for such a short match, as they at least kept it at a quick pace for such a short match.

- Ted Dibiase video from some show, and we get the famous "fan kisses the sweaty feet of Ted Dibiase" video, where the fan happened to be a very young Rob Van Dam, future WWE Superstar. Virgil no selling being touched by the future RVD is kinda funny, as he plays the cold dick quite nicely.

- "Leaping" Lanny Poffo vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/ Bobby Heenan):
This has to be fairly early in Rick Rudes run in the WWF, and taken from the August 9th episode of Wrestling Challenge. Rudes tights are especially different looking here (Fruity rainbow colors) as the camera pans on a couple of girls. Rude hammers away on Poffo at the bell with forearms. Irish whip and Poffo bounces off the ropes, being caught with a powerslam for an intentionally broken two count. Rude poses and goes to the top rope, coming off with a fist drop for another intentionally broken count. Rude picks Poffo up, and connects with a slingshot suplex (a Tully Blanchard signature move) for the real three count at 1:05. DUD Well... at least Lanny bumped well for a guy who was pretty popular despite being a Jobber.

- Angie Minelli vs. The Sensational Sherri:
From the August 15th episode of Superstars. This match is kinda historic, as Sherri Martel dubs herself as "Sensational Sherri" before the match begins. She's also the womens champion, but this is a non-title match. Lockup and Sherri with an overhead wristlock. Minelli reverses with a go behind, but Sherri snapmares out of it. Sherri with another wristlock, and she takes Minelli over with a yank of the hair. She continues hammering away on Minelli with forearms and a boot to the face. Sherri rams her into the buckle and rakes the back, followed by a choke across the top rope. Sherri chokes Minelli in the corner, but she fights free, and whips Sherri to the corner, and takes her over with a monkey flip. Irish whip, and Minelli connects with a dropkick. Irish whip, and she misses a second attempt. Sherri with a vertical suplex, and she heads to the top rope, coming off with a splash for the victory at 2:33. DUD I hate womens wrestling, but this match probably could've been decent if it was longer than two minutes. Sherri was actually pretty good looking here, too.

- Jerry Allen vs. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil):
Also from the August 15th Superstars. Another somewhat historic match, as Dibiase is making his in-ring debut in this match, his first WWF match since 1979. Dibiase teases the audience by pretending to hand out money, before jerking his arm back and laughing. He throws a couple of bills into the crowd though, forcing people to pick them up... what losers. Dibiase attacks Allen from behind and rams him into the buckle. Chop by Dibiase, and he whips Allen across the ring followed by some stomping. Irish whip, and Dibiase connects with a back elbow, followed by a scoop slam and fist drop. Irish whip, and Dibiase takes Allen down with a back body drop followed by a stomp to the face. Irish whip, and Allen bounces off the ropes with a cross body press. Dibiae rakes the eyes, and rams Allen into the buckle. Irish whip and Dibiase catches Allen, dropping him across the top rope. Million Dollar Dream into a russian leg sweep wins it for Dibiase at 1:51. 1/2* Because I'm a mark for Dibiase, and it was his return. Also following this, Dibiase pays off a fan to lick the feet of his bodyguard, Virgil. This wasn't after the match, but it saves time pointing it out for a sentence.

- George "The Animal" Steele vs. Bob Orton Jr.:
I have no idea from where this match is from, and I don't care, because I absolutely hate George Steele matches. Steele chases Orton a little bit, and kinda chokes him in the corner. Steele rams Orton face first into the turnbuckle, and goes for some biting, but Orton attacks from behind and takes Steele down with a back breaker. Orton goes to the top rope, and connects with the Vader Bomb type splash, but that only gets a two count. Irish whip, and Orton gets caught with a clothesline when Steele bits his arm. The action spills outside the ring, and Steele gets rammed into the time keepers table. Steele comes in with a chair, and blasts Orton with it, drawing a Disqualification at around the 4:00 mark, give or take, since I don't remember hearing an opening bell. DUD As bad of a match as you would expect here. Steele eats open one of the turnbuckles after the match and throws the stuffing all over the ring to the delight of the fans.

- The Young Stallions vs. The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart):
Powers and Roma had recently adopted the name the Young Stallions for this match. We are Joined in Progress for this match, and it's most likely from an episode of Primetime Wrestling around this time frame. Neidhart has Powers in a modified reverse chinlock, and drives the knee into the back for more pressure. Powers with a series of elbows to the midsection, he's knocked down. Bret comes in and drops Powers with a back elbow for a two count. Doing commentary is LANNY POFFO AND DON MURACO. Powers with a sunset flip, but Neidhart gets the tag and pounds on him. Neidhart chokes on Powers in the corner, and Bret does more of the same behind the referees back. Powers comes back with a roundhouse right, but Neidhart applies a front facelock. The Foundation double team on Powers more, and Hart comes in with a european uppercut. Irish whip is reversed, and Bret bounces off the ropes with a cross body press for a two count. Powers tags in Roma, and he unloads on everything walking. Dropkick to Neidhart, and he hammers away on Hart in the corner. Irish whip and Roma with a monkey flip for a two count. Irish whip and Roma with an abdominal stretch, but Neidhart comes in with an axehandle to the back. Irish whip is reversed, but Bret misses a dropkick, allowing Roma to apply the Boston Crab. Neidhart takes him down from behind, and Bret covers, but the referee disqualifies the Foundation, giving the Stallions the win at a clipped 3:36. *1/4 Once again, a decent, although usnpectacular short match with a screwy finish. The Stallions keep on winning... but will they become the Tag Team Champions? This reporter says... no.

- Mr. Washington (w/ Ted Dibiase & Virgil) vs. Chris Curtis:
From the August 23rd Wrestling Challenge. If you're wondering "what the hell is going on", Ted Dibiase was originally scheduled to compete, but decides not to, and pays off some Jobber (Washington) to do the match for him. I wish people did this more often, because it's kind of funny. Dibiase pays Washington $5,000 to take his place in the match, for those who care about that sort of thing. Curtis attacks Washington from behind and drops a knee across the back before applying a front facelock. Snapmare by Curtis, and he connects with another knee drop, followed by some choking. Front facelock applied again, and he continues beating Washington up, and chokes him across the middle rope. Irish whip, and a boot to the face knocks both men down. Back breaker connects, and it's over at 1:05. After the match, Dibiase and Virgil attack Washington, and steal back the $5,000 from inside his tights. 1/2* For the pre and post match actions from Dibiase, because he fucking ruled here.

- Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match:
Bruno Sammartino, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Tito Santana vs. The Honkytonk Man, Bret "Hitman" Hart, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart (w/ Jimmy Hart):

From the Boston Garden, taped on August 15th, and aired on the August 31st episode of Primetime Wrestling. Weird combination of participants for the babyface team... Bruno, Roberts, and Santana... wow that's different. Santana and Hart start the match for their teams. Lockup, and Santana with a clean break in the ropes. Hart hammers away on Santana in the corner, but runs into the boots on a charge attempt. Roberts tags in and works the arm of Hart with a wristlock, and he turns it into an armbar. Irish whip, and Roberts reverses a hip toss with one of his own. Hart avoids a DDT attempt, and takes a breather on the outside. Neidhart tags in for a Greco-Roman Knucklelock, and he takes Roberts down to the canvas with it. Roberts fights free with boots to the midsection. Lockup, and Neidhart with a go behind waistlock. Hart tags in and connects with a headbutt followed by a forearm to the back of the head. Honky tags in for the first time and takes some easy shots in on an incapacitated Roberts. Snapmare by Honkytonk, and he connects with a fist drop. Honky with a modified surfboard submission, and he takes Roberts into the corner for more punishment. HTM continues hammering away on Roberts, and covers for a lame two count. Irish whip, and Roberts catches Honky with his head down, and connects a knee lift. Honky misses a charge into the corner, allowing Roberts to take over with a series of rights and lefts. Wristlock by Roberts, and he connects with a short-arm clothesline. Irish whip, and a shoulderblock sends Roberts out of the ring. He goes after Jimmy Hart, but Honky comes from behind and clobbers him with the Mega phone, knocking him out, which results in Jake Roberts being eliminated via Count-out at 7:04.

Bruno Sammartino and Honky are in the ring now, with Honky hiding in the corner. Bruno with a boot to the midsection, but Neidhart grabs him from behind, allowing for some triple teaming. The Foundation hammer away on Sammartino, and Neidhart comes in with a series of boots to the chest. Choking in the corner from the Foundation, as the referee is distracted by Tito Santana. Hart tags in and works over Bruno in the corner some more with a series of stomps to the midsection. Neidhart continues the punishment, but misses a charge to the corner, and Santana comes in to hammer away on Hart with roundhouse rights. Irish whip is reversed, and Santana with a cross body press for a two count. Irish whip, and Santana nails the Flying Forearm on Bret, and that gets the three count at 10:54.

Santana and Neidhart are in the ring now to continue the match. Santana cheap shots Honky on the apron, and we get a shit load of stalling from everyone. Neidhart with a wristlock, but Santana reverses until he gets nailed with a knee to the midsection. Santana gets rammed into the book of the HTM, and he tags in with some punches in the corner. Santana fights out of the corner, but gets caught by the leg and Neidhart tags in to pound away on him. Scoop slam by the Anvil, and he misses an elbow drop. Santana hammers away on Neidhart, and takes him down with an overhead slam. Santana bounces off the ropes, but Jimmy Hart trips him up, and Neidhart makes the cover for a three count at 13:48.

Sammartino is by himself now, and gets doubled up on the remaining opponents, but fights free and hammers away on both of them with rights. Neidhart drops Bruno with a clothesline and the duo choke away on him. Honky stomps away at the former WWWF Champion, and connects with an elbow across the face. Neidhart tags in and they continue the beatings on the old man. Neidhart with a rake of the eyes, and Honky tags back in with an axehandle to the lower back. Neidhart in once more as Honky chokes Bruno down with his knee. Jimmy tries a megaphone shot, but he nails Neidhart instead, and Bruno makes the cover, eliminating the Anvil at 16:35.

Honky attacks from behind with a running high knee, and pounds away on Sammartino in the corner. Mounted punches by Honkytonk, and he continues with a flury of roundhouse rights. Honky with a standing side headlock followed by some playing to the crowd. Knee drops to the chest of Sammartino, but he gets whipped to the ropes for a criss cross, and Bruno nails him in the head with a running knee, and makes the cover for the three count at 18:05, making him the sole survivor of the match. ** Decent, fun match, with some better eliminations than other types of matches like these from the time frame, but way too much punching and kicking to warrent anything better from me, Mister Bias.

- From the September 5th episode of Superstars of Wrestling. Special Podium interview with Craig DeGeorge. His guests at this time, are "The Doctor of Style" Slick, and evil Ruski Nikolai Volkoff. They claim to have Bam Bam Bigelow under contract with Slick as his manager, but Sir Oliver Humperdink (well known manager in Florida around this time) comes out, and introduces Bam Bam as his protege, which of course, sets up a match between Bam Bam and Volkoff. I wonder who will win THAT match.

- The Young Stallions & Brady Boone vs. The Hart Foundation & "Dangerous" Danny Davis (w/ Jimmy Hart):
From the same episode of Superstars as the above segment. Powers and Davis start the match off with a lockup as we get an insert promo from Jimmy Hart. Powers with a standing side headlock followed by a criss cross sequence. Davis with a knee to the midsection, followed by a scoop slam and elbow drop. Davis drops another elbow and takes Powers down with another slam. Hart misses an elbow drop, and Roma tags in with a series of roundhouse rights. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, but Roma misses a twisting cross body press, allowing Bret to rake over with elbow drops and a leg drop. Neidhart tags in and plants Roma with a big scoop slam. Davis tags back in and punches away at the midsection, but misses an elbow drop. Neidhart comes back in and applies a bearhug. Roma fights free and tags in Boone, who hammers away on Davis, and takes him down with a dropkick. Irish whip, and Boone connects with a diving back elbow for a two count. All hell breaks loose, and Davis applies the Boston Crab, and that gets the win (!) at 3:08. 1/2* I'm getting a little tired of seeing so many damn matches between the Foundation and Stallions.

- Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ Oliver Humperdink) vs. Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Slick):
From the September 12th episode of Superstars of Wrestling, and Bam Bam Bigelows debut match in the WWF (on television at least) if I'm not mistaken. Volkoff attacks before the bell, but Bigelow knocks him silly, sending him over the top to the floor, then does a cartwheel to show off his athleticism. Back inside the ring and Volkoff tries a shoulder block, which does nothing. He does it for a second time, and comes out with the same result. Bigelow with a shoulder block, and that floors Volkoff. Bam Bam hammers away on Volkoff near the ropes with forearms, and drops Nikolai with a headbutt, followed by another. Bigelow with a jumping headbutt to the arm of Volkoff. Irish whip, and he connects with a clothesline. Volkoff tries fighting back, then rakes the eyes and bites on Bigelow. He no sells everything, and continues the beatings. Standing dropkick by Bigelow knocks Volkoff out of the ring again. Lockup in the ring, and Bigelow with more punching. Headbutts in the corner by Bam Bam, and Volkoff goes outside of the ring again. This match just won't end! Volkoff fights back with rights to the midsection. Irish whip... Bigelow ducks a clothesline, and connects with a diving headbutt, which is good enough for the pinfall at 3:58. 1/4* Only because it was the first in-ring appearence of Bigelow in the WWF, otherwise, an overall worthless match.

- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
The Honkytonk Man © (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Tito Santana:

The final match of the tape, taken from the September 17th episode of Primetime Wrestling. Damn, is the Honkytonk Man over here. Honky runs away the second the bell rings, and repeats a few more times to the discuss of the crowd. Santana catches Honky coming in with several scoop slams, and once again, the Honkytonk Man runs outside of the ring, and falls on his face. Back inside the ring, and Honky applies a standing side headlock. Irish whip, and Honky takes him over with a hip toss, but he misses an elbow drop. Santana hammers away on Honky with a series of roundhouse rights, followed by a scoop slam, sending Honky outside of the ring again. Honky runs away down the aisle, but comes back eventually. He applies a wristlock to Santana and works over the arm with a series of elbows. Santana reverses out of it with his own wristlock, and then connects with an atomic drop, followed by ramming Honky into the turnbuckle several times. Santana stomps away at the face of the Honkytonk Man. Irish whip, and he takes him down with a back body drop, followed by a knee drop across the chest for a two count. Santana in the corner with punches, but the referee gets in the way, allowing Honkytonk to take Santana down with a shoulder block to the leg. Honky now works over Santana slowly while playing to the crowd. Honky continues to work over the leg, and connects with an axehandle across the midsection for a two count. Honky stomps away at the chest of Santana, but misses another double axehandle attempt. Santana fights back with a series of rights, but gets caught in the corner with boots. Irish whip, and Santana with a cross body press for a two count. Snapmare by Honky and he drops a fist drop, then mouths off to the referee, before covering for a two count. Irish whip, and Honky hooks Santana in the abdominal stretch. Shoulder blocks in the corner, but Honky then tries a charge, and of course posts himself around the ring. Santana punches some more on Honky, and floors him with a big right. Irish whip, and Santana with the Flying Forearm! He goes for the Figure Four, but Hart runs in and chases Santana out of the ring with the guitar, awarding the match to Santana by Disqualification at 8:44. 3/4* Not much of a match, as it was basically the normal performance of the Honkytonk Man when he was Intercontinental Champion. Stall for a while, cheat, stall, get counted out or disqualified.

Final Thoughts: This definitely wasn't a two hour tape for workrate... only one match broke the two-star barrier, and that was pretty much a generous rating. Everything else was either too short, or too boring to be worth anything. However, the stuff with Ted Dibiase was pretty cool, and I really need to get more of it to compile onto a single tape. However, everything else isn't worth looking for, unless you enjoy lots of squashes and stupid finishes.
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