The Repo Depot: WWF Survivor Series Showdown Special ’90 (1990)

Archive

– Salutations to all. Sorry about the long absence inbetween reviews. Basically, being sick and total laziness are the two faults. Life really does stink sometimes. I’m currently in my first year of teaching, and it really is a rough world out there.

– But first, let’s dip into the mailbag. First from Randy:
“Hey, I liked your review of the Ultimate Warrior VHS. At first I was thinking about getting it when I heard that the Warrior v. Savage was on there in a title for title match, but I changed my mind when you swayed me in the right direction by letting me know that there was nothing special on there. Now on to my e-mail. First of all, I would like to know where do you purchase your tape’s besides the obvious sites like
Ebay and Amazon? I am a huge mark for Coliseum Video nostalgia, because I feel like that their good retrospective pieces on some of the important things that happened in WWF history, even though most of the matches are pretty mediocre and you have to put up
with dull commentary from Superstar Billy Grahm,
McGuirk, Pritchard, Bockwinkle, Lord Alfred Haye’s andSean Mooney. I don’t know whether you accept recommendations or not, because I just started reading you, but if you do, I recommend you reviewing the following three tape’s in the near future, on YOUR TIME OF COURSE.

Wrestlefest 90: Features a great Piper/Savage match, a good title defense featuring the Warrior battling Bravo for the IC title, a superb match from MSG featuring Hogan and Mr. Perfect with VINTAGE Henning bumping in rare form, and a **** tag match from a Wrestling Challenge taping involving the Hart Foundation battling the Rockers.

Supertape 2: I think that to be able to watch this
tape and to have fun, you’ll have to find some way to ignore the inane commentary by Hilbilly Jim, who does guest commentary alongside one of the greatest PBPM of all time, Gorilla Monsoon. Its almost impossible for me to listen to any match from MSG during late 1989 to
early 1990 without having to put up with the inane and nonsensical banter from Hilbilly Jim. I prefer Lord Alfred Haye’s and Monsoon. This tapes starts out with a decent match between Savage and Duggan for the crown from SNME, which is not good, but at the same time isn’t really bad. Another hilight of this tape
features the Rockers CARRYING THE POWERS OF PAIN to prehaps the greatest POPs match ever seen. There’s also a very underrated match between the Rockers and Dino Bravo & Greg Valentine. From there we go to Madison Square Garden where we get matches from the 12/28/89, 3/15/90, and 2/23/90 MSG houseshows. THIS IS CLEARLY THE CREAM OF THE CROP if you can ignore the squash match between Demolition and the Orient Express. Bret Hart and Rick Martel have a great match, but its cut short thanks to a cheap ending, and then
from there Roddy Piper battle’s Rick Rude in a Steel Cage match. In my personal opinion, its one of the greatest cage matches ever, as its total non-stop action from start to finish. The tape concludes with a pretty good comedy match between Brutus Beefcake/Hulk Hogan and Mr. Perfect and the Genius. One of the hilights of this match features Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan’s commentary, which is very refreshing,
but WE STILL HAVE TO PUT UP WITH HILBILLY JIM ON THE MIC. What did the WWF see in him to make him a
commentator?

Peace man….keep up the good work.”

Where do I buy them besides eBay and Amazon? Actually, Most of them are old Blockbuster “Previously Viewed” tapes from when it still carried old tapes, and from when they were selling them after that “We’re getting rid of the old tapes” crap. However, I found Alfred
Hayes hilarious on commentary, just because he was so damn awful at it.

– I also want to say, I’ve noticed that our tape reviews aren’t in any section of Inside Pulse’s wrestling section. Hey guys, show us some love, ok? Now, on with the review!

– It’s late November 1990 here, and the WWF is in a major downslide. The Warrior was boring the shit out of the fans, and Hogan was stuck in a feud that should’ve ended at SummerSlam with Earthquake. The USA network would show specials like this for every P.P.V. every year except for the Royal Rumble. This was I belive, the last time in a year or two that every matched was taped on the same night. After this, old recycled stuff was mixed with new stuff for a bit in the Prime Time Wrestling specials.

– Yup, the Prime Time wrestling special, Survivor Series Showdown, on USA Network. Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, so that means the commentary will rock.

– Tito Santana vs. Sgt. Slaughter (W. General Adnan)
Ehh…Slaughter stalls to start. Lockup, and Gorilla and Bobby keep plugging the end of the Survivor Series: Where the winners will face off. Slaughter misses a punch, and talks with Adnan. Lockup, and wristlock by Tito. Slaughter then starts bitching about HAIR PULLING!? Yeah, maybe 10 years ago, buddy. Lockup, and the Sarge starts kicking Tito in the gut. More kicks, and an elbow to the gut by Sarge. Snapmare and stomps. Stomach Breaker for 2. Punches to the stomach, and Slaughter sends Tito to the turnbuckle. He puts him on the top buckle and elbows Tito numerous times. Sarge with punches to the stomach, and Santana tries to fight back. Slaughter no-sells and kicks Tito. He then hits a sweet stungun on the bottom rope. Slaughter continues his kicks to the gut. Sunset flip by Tito gets 2. Slaughter with punches, and Santana hits Slaughter in the stomach to turn the tide. Slaughter takes a cool bump to the buckle outside, and Tito chases. Santana stomps and nails on Slaughter some more. Tito goes to the top and connects a punch. Kneedrop gets 2. Tito starts a headlock, which turns into a sleeper. Slaughter hits a backbreaker and nails a suplex, out of nowhere. Slaughter heads up, and misses a top rope splash. Tito misses a dropkick, and Slaughter goes up again. He gets caught ala Flair and gets sent down hard. Tito nails the flying forearm, which sends Sarge out. Tito does the double noggin knocker, and tries to suplex Sarge back in from the outside. Adnan however, grabs Tito’s leg and Sarge falls on top of him and slaughter gets the pin at 11:30. **1/2. Holy crap, this was an amazingly decent outing from these two, who I didn’t think would mesh well together. Heenan claims that what Adnan did “Is ok in Iraq.”. Santana chases Slaughter back to the dressing room post match.

– Mooney with the Mercanaries. They bark threats at the Alliance. Imagine, Akeem was originally in Boris Zhukoff’s place. Atleast the match would’ve been funnier, since I’m an Akeem mark and all.

– Mean Gene with the Alliance. Why wasn’t Duggan in Tito’s place? They vow revenge.

– Flashback to When Roberts gets blind from the arrogance.

– Rick Martel vs. Marty Jannetty
Heenan is at his best, with blind jokes against poor Jake Roberts. Lockup, and Martel gets scared. Hiptoss, and the exact same thing happens three times. I mean, if it was Jake Roberts I could see where he was coming from, but it’s Marty freakin’ jobber Jannetty, come on man. Toughen up. Headlock, and then it’s broken up. Lockup, and kicks and a ram on the buckle by Martel. Snapmare and then a stungun on the ropes, emulating Sgt. Slaughter beforehand. Knees on the chest by Martel, and he sends Marty to the buckle. He misses a charge, and Marty with knees to the face. He starts jumping on his knee and hits a leghold. He slingshots Martel, as Heenan calls them the Doublemint Twins. WOW! Old gum! Jannetty with shoulderblocks and a hiptoss. Inverted atomic drop gets 2. Martel gets a headlock and kicks to the knee. Martel kicks him out, and rams him onto the apron. Slam, and elbows. Ram to the buckle, and Jannetty withpunches. Flying elbow, and more punches by Marty. Kneelift, and Jannetty kicks and hits a top rope face breaker for 2. Marty gets sent out, and tries to slingshot himself back in, but he misses and Martel clamly and easily covers for the 3 at 10:49. Dull stuff until the end. *1/2. I expected better from these two talented superstars, but I’m guesing both were not on their A-game.

– The worst team choice ever talks. Seriously, Roberts must have been on coke when he chose the Rockers and freakin’ Jimmy Snuka.

– The Visionaries also talk, mostly about Jake’s eyesight, and Warlord challengeing Jimmy Snuka. You know you’re tough when you challenge jobber Jimmy Snuka. All of the Viper’s run in and a brawl begins.

– Mean Gene talks to the Hulk-a-Maniac’s. The usual shit follows.

– Big Bossman vs. Earthquake (W. Jimmy Hart)
Kill me now… Stalling to begin. Lockup, and Quake shoves Bossman. Lockup, and another shove. Headlock by Bossman. Bossman nails punches. Another punch by the Bossman. Earthquake with a slam. He misses multiple elbows, and Bossman goes after Jimmy Hart. Bossman with punches, and Earthquake misses an avalanche, and Bossman rolls him up for 2. Bossman goes upstairs, and Quake catches him with a powerslam. Heenan leaves the booth and heads down to ringside…this doesn’t look good for the Bossman. Earthquake stomps him, and sends the Bossman to the turnbuckle. Butt squishing, coming up. Heenan sneaks some slaps in. Kicks by Quake. Bossman tries to fight back, but to no avail. Elbow for 2. Headbutt. Hour long bearhug= OH YEAH BABY!!! Headbutts and bites by Bossman, but to no avail once again as another week long bearhug by Earthquake ensues. Stomps by Quake. In a funny moment, Heenan takes the megaphone and starts using it to talk! Bossman powers up and continusly no-sells. Chopfest, and a knee by Quake. Bossman with AN ENZIGIURI! HOLY SHIT! I never knew Bossman had it in him. Automatic 1/4* there. It only gets 2, though. Clothesline city, and Quake is caught in the ropes. Slaps and a crossbody on the still stuck Quake. Bossman nails Jimmy and runs at Quake again, but he gets backdropped out by Quake. Heenan sneaks stomps, and Bossman chases Heenan and loses by count-out at 10:59. Wow, decent, coming from these two. Minus 1/4* for the ending, though. *.

– Mooney with the Disastors, who talk about random crap.

– Bret Hart vs. The Honky Tonk Man (W. Jimmy Hart)
Honky was almost gone anyway, so it’s pretty obvious who gets the win here. Heenan gloats about the Bossman while Bret gives away his glasses. They discuss the team’s mystery partner. Honky stalls. Lockup, which Bret wins. Lockup again, and an armhold by Honky. Bret reverses with punches, and Bobby calls Jimmy a runt, then covers it up by claiming he was clearing his throat. Armlocks and kneedrops by Bret Hart. Jimmy grabs the leg, but it has no effect as Bret has an armbar applied again. Knees to the buckle, and Honky comes back with punches. Honky then goes for an avalanche, but misses, and Bret nails him with headbutts and punches. Bret with an atomic drop and a kick to the stomach, but Honky puts a thumb in his eye and Bret gets rammed to the turnbuckle. Honky attempts the 10 count punches, but Bret hits an atomic drop instead. Bret misses an elbow, and Honky covers for 2. Headlock by Honky quickly turns into a sleeperhold. Shoulderblock by Bret, but Honky nails him. Elbow for 2, and Honky goes back to the headlock. Honky heads upstairs, but Bret catches him with a punch to the stomach going down. Kicks and punches by Bret, and Honky’s had enough so he begs for mercy. Bret doesn’t care, and nails headbutts and a snapmare. Legdrop gets 2. Suplex gets 2. Backbreaker gets 2. Jimmy Hart jumps up to distract Bret, which gives Honky the advantage, but Bret pushes Honky into Hart and rolls up Honky for the 3 at 10:24. Good match. ***. Bret gave Honky a lot of offense, oddly enough, as I expected Bret to dominate this match. A sign of things to come four days later in the Survivor Series.

– Mooney is with the Million Dollar Team, except of course for the mystery partner.

– Mean Gene on the other hand, interviews The Dream Team, with Dusty, The Hart’s, and Koko. Watch Gene’s face when Koko sings. Funny stuff.

– Gorilla and Bobby talk as Smash enters the ring, and Gene is now with the Warrior’s, who ramble a lot.

– Texas Tornado vs. Smash
Why has Smash left the mask on? Non-title match here. Lockup, and a shovefest ensues. Punches by Kerry. Early, Kerry goes for the Claw, but Smash keeps blocking it. Lockup, and kicks by Smash. Slugfest after that. Snapmare, and Smash pounds. Smash gets nailed however, and thrown out. Punches by Tornado on the outside, and he slams Smash on the mat. We go back inside, and Kerry with an armlock. Smash gets up and immeditally starts punching Kerry. Kerry gets pissed, and another slugfest ensues. Smash is sent to the turnbuckle, and Kerry hits a hiptoss. Armdrag, and Kerry sends smash to the buckle, but he misses a charge. Smash chokes and works on the arm. Shoulderbreaker gets 2. Tornado gets up and hits the Claw, but Smash rakes the eyes, in fear of losing by submission. Clothesline and punches by Smash. Mr. Perfect runs in, but he gets nailed. Perfect runs in, and Smash and Perfect double team. The rest of Demolition run in and the ref finally calls the DQ win for Tornado at 7:44. Decapatition by Ax and Smash! The L.O.D. run in to help the Tornado, and so does the WWF World Champion: The Ultimate Warrior. 8 man brawl ensues! All of the heels finally run back and call it quits. Slow as hell suckfest of a match. 1/2*. All of the faces pose.

– Mooney now interviews the very angry Perfect team, who want revenge. Crush: “Why don’t you shut up? Nobody wants to hear about what you say anyways!”. Crush is the man.

– Gorilla and Bobby plug the show and line-up, again, and they both say goodbye.