The SmarK 24/7 Rant for Houston Show – November 26 1986

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The SmarK 24/7 Rant for Houston Show – November 26 1986

– So unfortunately the countdown to the end begins here, as Sasktel will be dropping WWE 24/7 after April, which means I’ll have to switch to the online version instead.

– Taped from Houston, TX. I guess this ties into Wrestlemania 25?

– Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Killer Ken Resnick. For a minute I was terrified it was gonna be another Duke Doherty show.

Moondog Spot v. Danny Spivey

Spivey catches Spot with his head down and puts him on the floor, then back in for a series of armdrags to control. Spivey stays on the arm as Gorilla notes that Spot used to be a tag champion himself. Well, he was a champion in the same sense that Crush was a champion with Demolition, in that he got added to the team and given the belt, but that’s close enough I suppose. Spivey stays on the arm, but misses a charge and Spot goes up with a FLYING CLUBBING FOREARM, and shockingly that only gets two. My god, taking the clubbing forearm to the TOP? You could kill a man that way! Spot goes to the chinlock and drops an elbow for two, then tosses Spivey. Spot’s shifty-eyed evil look to the camera is pretty impressive, actually. Back in and Spot goes up with a flying fistdrop for two, but Spivey slugs back and Spot gets tied in the ropes. Danny with a dropkick for two. Spivey yanks on the beard, which is pretty uncalled for, and hits a series of slams and a legdrop for two. That only works for one big blond guy. Spot comes back, but walks into a bulldog and Spivey gets the pin at 9:31. Did people really buy creepy-looking Spivey as a babyface? Spot was always good for a fun opener. **1/2

Butch Reed v. Steve Gatorwolf

I don’t see this one lasting long. Reed slugs away in the corner and stomps Jobberwolf down, and Slick joins us on commentary and makes racial slurs against poor Steve. Reed pounds Gatorwolf down and drops the leg for two. Well, he’s got the blond hair, but the skin is TOO dark. Reed goes to a chinlock and that goes on for as long as it takes Reed to dye his hair, but Gatorwolf comes back with chops. Reed shrugs those off like a minor irritant, and finishes with the flying clothesline at 5:44. I wouldn’t sell for Steve Gatorwolf either, so I can’t blame Reed. 1/2*

Jake Roberts v. Tito Santana

SWEET! Have we ever seen this match before? I think not. I’m so happy I could Liz. Jake starts on the headlocks and Tito complains about hair-pulling, and of course he’s not a guy to lie about it. Jake gets in his face and offers a free shot, but then backs off because he’s a dick. Tito waits for him to gloat and then gives him that free shot, so now Jake is all business. He slugs away on Tito and tosses him, but stops to argue with the fans again and Tito fires right back at him, and now Jake hits the floor. Back in, Jake bitches again, so Tito hits him with the flying forearm out of nowhere and gets two. You just can’t turn your back on Tito, kids. Jake tries for the snake, but Tito tackles him with a hammerlock to control on the mat, then switches to a headlock, but Jake escapes with a jawbreaker. He makes the comeback and slugs Tito down, but Tito fights up, only to run into a knee in the corner. Jake waves “bye bye”, but goes to a chinlock instead of trying for the finish. Well, he’s the expert, I guess. Jake then stomps the fingers and grinds his boot on them, which is just awesome. Tito fights back and Jake is all “Please may I have another?” so Tito fires away until Jake hits him with the kneelift. Jake goes with an arrogant cover and Tito reverses for two. They collide on a criss-cross for the double KO, and Tito recovers first for two. Tito works on the arm, but Jake slickly reverses into the short-arm clothesline, which gets two. If that didn’t lead to the finish, it’s going to the time limit. Jake tosses Tito and tries for his snake again, but the ref prevents him, so Jake pounds away on Tito on the apron. Jake finally calls for the DDT and the crowd goes about as crazy as they’ve been tonight (which isn’t much), but Tito tries a sunset flip back in, forcing Jake to block. And we go back to the chinlock, as Jake seems to not give a shit at all here. They play a game of “Did he use the ropes or not” with the crowd, and it turns into a slugfest, which Tito wins. Jake tries the DDT, but Tito backdrops out and hooks the figure-four, but time expires at 17:17, or 20 minutes in WWF world. As usual Tito was trying like crazy to get the crowd going but Jake was bored or stoned or something here. **1/2

Dino Bravo v. Dick Slater

Bravo gets a slam off the lockup, but Slater slams him right back. That’s why he’s the Rebel. Fun fact: I now have a Boston Terrier named Rebel, but he’s not named after Slater. Although Slater tries a Boston crab, so there’s some serendipity there, I guess. So Slater works the leg as obviously this show is just a distraction for everyone before they hit the strip joints, and the crowd seems to know it. Bravo breaks free and clubs away in the corner, then tosses Slater and stomps him on the way back in. And we’re back in for the bearhug. Slater tries to escape with an atomic drop, but Bravo gets a sleeper. Some kid is literally laying down on three of the front row seats and having a NAP. What more needs to be said? I could also note that the entire arena past the first two rows is blacked out, so it can’t be a very big crowd anyway. Slater comes back and tosses Bravo, then back in for a figure-four which Bravo easily escapes from. And at least the kid in the front row is awake now as Slater makes his comeback. Rollup gets two, but Bravo gets a side slam and goes for the figure-four himself. Slater reverses for the pin at 10:00, however. Really? Even the announcers are skeptical about Slater actually WINNING, but yes, it happened. *1/2

WWF tag titles: The British Bulldogs v. Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff

This is well after Dynamite’s back injury so chances are good it’s gonna be junk. The pre-match shenanigans drag on forever, with the highlight being the announcer requesting that fans don’t chant “USA” because Slick finds it “irritating”. I don’t know why that’s so funny, but it is. Volkoff goes with the cheapshot on Davey to start, but Smith elbows him down. Or to be more accurate, he holds up his elbow and Nikolai goes down when he’s within a foot of the general area. The Bulldogs double-team and work the arm, and we get some heel miscommunication off that. Volkoff clubs Davey down and then Kid comes in and plays face in peril as they work the back. Volkoff with a bearhug that goes on for a long time, but Kid reverses to a sunset flip for two. Sheik comes in with an abdominal stretch, but releases and gets a gut wrench suplex to setup the camel clutch. Dynamite’s taking a lot of back bumps for a guy with a bad back. Perhaps that’s why he can’t walk today. Kid comes back with a snap suplex and it’s hot tag Davey. Hiptoss on the Sheik gets two. Backdrop gets two. Sleeper, but Volkoff breaks it up. Small package gets two. Powerslam gets two as Volkoff makes his FIFTH save in a row. To quote Monsoon, C’MON REF! Nikolai comes in legally with an atomic drop and the press slam backbreaker for two, but now Kid makes the save. Volkoff tries a slam, but Kid dropkicks them over and Smith gets the pin to retain at 12:44. OK, I got into this one despite my reservations, as they did the standard good guy-bad guy formula tag match and it worked. ***

Moondog Rex v. Mike Rotundo

Lockup in the corner to start and Rotundo puts him on the floor with a kneelift. Back in, Rex actually gets the ref to check if Rotundo’s shoelaces are untied, allowing him to take over with a cheapshot and work the arm. Rotundo rams him into the turnbuckles and goes to the headlock, holding that for a while and then dropping Rex on his face when he goes to the ropes. Rex bails and regroups, and back in Rotundo drops an elbow for two and goes back to the headlock again. They slug it out and Rotundo gets a dropkick for two, but puts his head down and gets caught. Rex with a sloppy neckbreaker for two. And it’s over to a chinlock. Rex pounds him down, but a splash hits knee and Mike makes the comeback. Rex misses a blind charge and the airplane spin finishes at 9:34. Nothing terribly exciting here. **

Intercontinental title: Randy Savage v. Junkyard Dog

Dog headbutts Savage out of the ring as it’s stall-o-rama ’86 and Macho gets in Gorilla’s face for daring to talk to Elizabeth. Dog finally attacks while Savage jaws with Gorilla, and Savage runs away again. In and out and Dog gets a slam and some headbutts for two. They do a chase outside and Savage wins by countout at 6:29. I don’t know if they were working an angle that got out of hand or what, but Savage kept lipping off at Gorilla and Gorilla sounded REALLY off his game on commentary, as the bell rang and he didn’t even know what was going on. Savage got rushed back to the dressing room by security afterwards, as it looked like they went home early or something. What a mess. 1/4*

I guess they just picked a random show from Houston to fit with the Wrestlemania site this year, because there’s nothing memorable here in the least.