Sorry I’ve been gone so long but I’ve had a busy few weeks and my laptops breaking didn’t help. Anyhoo expect some fresh reviews from me soon but until then enjoy this repost back when my review style was pretty much a direct rip off of Scott Keith as opposed to the slight rip off it is now.
WWF Royal Rumble 89 is coming soon, consider yourselves warned
We are in East Rutherford, New Jersey and the infamous Meadowlands. Your commentators are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura (Who’s pretty damn over)
Brain Busters w/ Bobby Heenan Vs The Hart Foundation
Great pop for The Foundation, Bret especially. No music for the Busters. They were the champions at the time and this is non-title. Blanchard and Bret start. Lock up and a feeling out process. Bret gets the better of an exchange and goes after the arm. Arn comes in and gets a side headlock for his troubles. Bret keeps him on the mat and works the arm. Anvil comes in and continues to work the arm. Arn gets to his feet and fights out with some knees but can’t get the tag. The Foundation works Arn over for a while. Arn gets hammered but is able to tag out leaving Tully in with Bret again. Now Tully has his arm worked over and takes a beating. Tully is able to crawl over to the corner but gets dragged back. Tully makes the mistake of chopping Anvil and gets destroyed for his troubles. Bret and Tully do a nice wrestling sequence and Bret bridges out of move and gets a double arm drag. Very nice spot there. The Busters are getting taught a wrestling lesson here. Arn jumps Bret from behind and goes for a Vader bomb but gets knees. Busters bail and have a team talk. Back inside Bret continues the beating on Tully. Arn comes in but gets decked by Bret. The Foundation mess up a double team in the corner allowing The Busters to work Anvil over in their corner. The Busters give Anvil a beating but can’t keep him down. Anvil mounts a come back and we have a double KO. The fans are into a chase to see who tags but Anvil gets pulled back. They go down and the race is on again. Bret comes in from the hot tag and his a house on fire. He takes the Busters on by himself and gets the second rope elbow on Blanchard and then a vertical suplex for two. Bret and Tully collide and Arn gets knocked outside. Inverted Atomic Drop from Bret on Tully inside and Arn and Anvil fight outside. Anvil gets sling shotted into Tully. Bret gets slammed onto Tully but Arn comes off the second rope onto Bret and drapes Tully over for the win
WINNERS – THE BRAIN BUSTERS
****1/4 – Quality tag team action there. Great technical wrestling and some good double-teaming.
Mean Gene is backstage with Dusty who proceeds to cut a rambling mess of promo while wearing a policemen’s hat.
Dusty Rhodes Vs Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart
Oh dear. I like Honky but I can’t stand Mr. Polka Dots. I’m not too optimistic still I’ll give them a chance. Honky does a little jig before the match with prompts Dusty to dance and shake his fat behind. Picture the noise Sideshow Bob makes when he thinks of having sex with Selma. Well needless to say we have a stall fest as one of these guys in from Memphis and the other is Dusty Rhodes. Dusty messes with Honky’s hair. Now you’re going to get it. Dusty beats on Honky with some generic offence and Honky is kind enough to sell it. Dusty puts Honky in a leg submission which involves him holding Honky’s leg in the air. Hart distracts Dusty long enough for Honky to use the megaphone to the gut. You can’t hurt Dusty by hitting him in the stomach. It’s like trying to break a window with a wet piece of tissue. We hit the chin lock on Dusty which gives Dusty a chance to sit on his knees and look like he’s asleep. Dusty fights up and gets an elbow but Honky floors him and locks in another chin lock. Even the hot crowd is falling asleep with this one. Dusty is able to fight to his knees and then get to a vertical base and slams Honky but misses a bionic elbow. We have our THIRD chin lock. What have they done in this match to need three rest holds? Dusty bags Honky in the corner and no sells some on Honky’s punches and lays off some of his own. Dusty gets some jabs in a double shot. Man Dusty Rhodes offence SUCKS. Ref gets bumped. Dusty ducks a guitar shot and Honky takes one from Hart. Dusty picks the scraps and gets a three count.
WINNER – DUSTY RHODES
This match gets nothing and likes it.
Honky cuts a pretty funny promo afterward asking where the stage is. You see he’s knocked loopy. Got to love subtle WWF humour.
Mean Gene is with Demolition and Jim Duggan they promise to kick their opponents teeth in.
Mr. Perfect Vs Red Rooster
Ah it’s the little bitch Terry Taylor dressed as a chicken. Tony calls it a tremendous year for the Rooster. HA. Perfect was undefeated here. Perfect gets the upper hand in a wrestling sequence and takes Rooster apart here. Perfect mocks Roosters chicken walk. Rooster gets a leap frog and wriggles out of a slam but gets nailed for two. Perfect continues to smack his bitch up with stomps and a standing dropkick. Rooster gets an eye rake and sends Perfect outside where Perfect gets the upper hand. You see Rooster couldn’t win a wrestling match so he tries to brawl but can’t even win that. Back inside Perfect ends the massacre with a Perfect Plex.
WINNER – MR PERFECT
*1/2 – I loved the Perfect gimmick as he was promoted as a guy who was an awesome wrestler and he just beat people because he was so good and that got him over. He didn’t need anything else as the fact he beat pretty much everyone on account of being talented got him over as a mega heel. It’s a crime he was never WWF Champion, as he would have made a great heel champion.
Mean Gene is with Rick Rude who cuts a pretty damn good heel promo on Ultimate Warrior ahead of his match. Rude says he’s going to break the rules if need be to win
Rockers and Tito Santana Vs Fabulous Rougeaus and Rick Martel w/ Jimmy Hart and Slick
Oh yeah this is going to be good. All American Boys is one of the catchiest wrestling themes ever. All 6 of these guys were great at this point. Tito and Jacques start us off and Tito refuses to be tricked into a handshake. Lock up and we quickly move into a crazy number of spots as the faces clear the ring and the fans really like that. Finally Jacques gets back in and squares off with Marty. Marty reverses an Irish whip and gets an advantage but Raymond comes in and kills Marty with a thrust kick. Now a triple team on Marty in the corner. Martel beats on Marty with some offence buts gets cocky and takes a dropkick. Marty tags in Tito but Martel bails as he was feuding with Tito at the time. Raymond and Tito get it on inside and Tito gets the better of him with a lariat for two and locks in a headlock. The Rougeaus do some cheating and double team him. Tito could be our face in peril. Martel comes in and drops Tito on the top rope. Martel gets some cheap shots in and tags out to Jacques. Tito gets worked over by the heels and fights back but can’t make the tag. We go into the heel corner for more triple teaming. Tito gets his ribs worked over by Martel but gets the Jerry Lynn pin reversal in the corner for two but then gets choked by Martel. Raymond locks in the Quebec Crab. Jacques drives a knee into Tito’s back for two. We have an abdominal stretch with illegal use of Martel for extra leverage. Fans get behind Tito and he fights out but Martel stops him tagging. Tito brawls up to a vertical base but gets jumped from behind by Jacques. The Rockers run in but the heels bail. Tito gets beaten on some more in the corner and gets a sunset flip out of nowhere for two. Now we have a chin lock. Heel mistake allows Tito to crawl to his corner and the fans are going ape shit and Michaels tags in. Michaels kills everyone and gets a suplex on Martel and goes up top with a fist drop. Marty comes in for some double teaming and all 6 guys come in. Martel takes a forearm from Tito but rolls outside. Jimmy Hart gets bumped and Marty takes a cheap shot from Martel and gets pinned
WINNERS – ROGEAUS AND MARTEL
**** – Hot finish and I’m a fan of all 6 guys
Video to hype the upcoming Warrior Vs Rude match
Warrior cuts a bizarre promo. Nothing new there then
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Champion – Rick Rude Vs Ultimate Warrior
Warriors pop is very impressive to say the least. This was back when Warrior was actually still motivated and before he started dogging it. I’ve loved the gimmick ever since I was a kid. Rude is very pensive to start and gets a kick which Warrior no sells. Rude tries some punches which do nothing either. Rude tries a sunset flip and that fails too. Rude gets pressed to the outside and gets nailed with the IC Title outside the ring which causes Jesse to blow a gasket crying for Warrior to be disqualified. Warrior sends Rude inside and then outside again. Rude gets slammed outside and generally beaten. Warrior goes up top?!?! And gets an axe handle smash from the top for two. He’s got his working boots on tonight. Warrior continues to kill Rude without any mercy or compassion targeting the back especially. Warrior hits a vertical suplex, which I guess is transition move of the night. Warrior goes up top again but Rude knocks him off and it’s time for the heel heat segment. Rude works the back mostly with a vertical suplex. Why is everyone doing that in this show? We have a camel clutch in the ring. Rude keeps going for the back but Warrior is able to power out of The Rude Awakening. Rude then slaps on a sleeper and takes a free piggy back ride around the ring courtesy of Warrior. Double shoulder block and the ref gets bumped in the collision. Rude gets up first and Warrior gets up to his feet and he starts no selling Rude offence. He’s Warrioring up. Warrior gets 3 clotheslines and a power slam but the ref is still down. Warrior gets a piledriver but the ref is STILL down. Finally the ref wakes up and we have a two count. Running Power Slam by Warrior but Rude gets his knees up on a splash. Rude gets a nasty looking piledriver that amazingly only gets two. Rude goes up top and gets the jumping fist drop for two. Roddy Piper walks down to ringside and moons Rude. The distraction is enough for Warrior to get a German Suplex. Warrior flattens Rude with a shoulder block. The fans are going mental here. I swear Warrior is going to blow a blood vessel. Gorilla Press followed by a splash and Warrior is your NEW Intercontinental Champion and the arena is shaking.
WINNER – ULTIMATE WARRIOR
***1/2 – One of the best Warrior matches I’ve ever seen and it was something to behold to hear the reactions of the fans when Warrior got the win. No wonder he won the big belt 7 months later. Rude was his usual great self.
We have a host of promos now
Mr Perfect
Roddy Piper cuts a crazy promo. He’s either drunk or on drugs. Maybe both
Even Ronnie Garvin gets promo time. He has a special assignment tonight
Now Bobby Heenan and Rick Rude get some promo time
Now we get a video to hype the feud between Hulk Hogan and Zeus. It includes all the stuff that made tonight’s main event of Hogan and Beefcake Vs Savage and Zeus
Akeem, Big Boss Man and Andre The Giant w/ Slick and Bobby Heenan Vs Demolition and King Duggan
Well I like Demolition but these other 4 don’t exactly float my boat. I was singing Demolitions music earlier today. The appeal here is it’s 6 guys and they’re REALLY big. Um that’s the story really. Duggan and Akeem start. They punch each other and Axe gets tagged in and he does some punching. Smash comes in and we have more punching. It’s the nature of the beast with Demolition. Eye rake by Akeem but Axe gets an elbow to the face. Boss Man comes in and gets hammered by Axe. Smash comes in and does some more pounding. Boss Man gets the advantage in the corner. Smash tags in Duggan who works on the arm of the Boss Man. Axe gets a headlock but gets dragged into the heel corner and gets sat on by Andre. Man Andre was falling apart here. He starts choking Axe with his boot. Boss Man goes after the neck as does Akeem. Axe is able to tag in Smash who gets a slam on Boss Man and a slam on Akeem. However, Andre floors him and the momentum swings again. Axe and Boss Man fight outside. Akeem goes up top but gets nailed with the 2 X 4. Smash covers for the 3
WINNERS – TEAM DEMOLITION
* – It was basically just punching but hey I liked it.
Mean Gene is with Million Dollar Man. He cuts his usual brilliant promo ahead of his match with Jimmy Snuka
Greg Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart Vs Hercules
Ronnie Garvin is the guest ring announcer. He was feuding with Valentine so he insults him on his way down to the ring. Hercules nails Valentine to start and flattens Valentine with an elbow for two. Slam from Hercules gets another two. Valentine rolls outside and turns his back on Hercules to argue with Garvin leaving him open for a roll up. Valentine drops some elbows and works the knee. Snap mare followed by an axe handle smash. Hercules fires off rights hands but walks into a running forearm. Vertical Suplex from Hercules. How many is that tonight? Valentine gets a pin with his feet on the ropes
WINNER – GREG VALENTINE
* – Meh
Valentine nails Garvin prompting Garvin to knock him outside the ring.
Mean Gene is with Macho Man and Zeus. They promise to destroy Hogan and Beefcake
Ted Dibiase w/ Virgil Vs Jimmy Snuka
This is the return of Snuka after an absence from WWF. Snuka knocks Dibiase outside early with a head butt. Snuka takes control to begin with and sends Dibiase out again with an atomic drop. Dibiase comes in and they lock up. Snuka fights out of a headlock and they botch a leapfrog spot. Crowd is silent here. Dibiase goes low to start our heel heat segment. Snuka gets a back body drop causing Ted to beg off. Flapjack by Dibiase gets the momentum back. Dibiase gets a vertical suplex is it a special vertical suplex offer tonight or something? Dibiase misses a Vader Bomb and Snuka fights back up with head butts. Snuka comes off the middle rope with a head butt and he goes up top for the Super Fly but Virgil knocks him down. Snuka chases him round the ring. Dibiase follows and sends him in to the post. Snuka gets counted out giving Dibiase the win. Snuka gets his heat back with a Super Fly on Virgil
WINNER – TED DIBIASE
½* – Well that was wonderfully wretched
Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake cut a promo on Savage and Zeus. Hogan says he has a surprise for Savage. He’s putting him over? No I don’t think it’s that. It would surprise me though.
Randy Savage and Zeus w/ Sensational Sherri Vs Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake
It turns out that Hogan’s surprise is Miss Elizabeth. Beefcake gets a real superstar reaction. I swear if he hadn’t got injured he would have been a sure fire maineventer. I love The Barber gimmick and I think Brutus is criminally under rated as a worker. He looked the part and could work the crowd as well as anyone else. Hogan gets his usual earth shattering pop. We have a 2 on 2 brawl to start and Zeus no sells all of Hogan’s pumches and powers out of a body slam attempt. Brutus goes for a move from the top but gets caught in a bear hug. Zeus just stands around as Hogan tries to hit him and locks in a bear hug allowing Savage to get an axe handle. Savage nails Hogan with another axe handle to the back. Savage gets a lariat for two and locks in a chin lock. Hulk goes down to the mat but powers back up and breaks out. It’s shoulder blocks for Savage but Zeus gets a cheap shot and tags in. Zeus goes to the bear hug, which I assume is the only move he can do, and Hogan calls to crowd for help. Hogan sells the bear hug like death itself and goes down to his knees and on to his back. This is riveting I can tell you. Hogan finally fights back up but gets rammed into the heel corner. Savage finally tags in so we can have some good heel beating. Belly to back suplex by Savage gets two. Hogan dodges some Savage moves and gets the hot tag to Brutus who floors Savage with a high knee for two. Brutus signals for the sleeper and gets it and the crowd erupts. Savage rams Brutus into the turnbuckle and tags in Zeus. Brutus goes to the eyes and gets the sleeper. Savage nails him with the purse and tags in. Savage gets two on Brutus. Brutus is now face in peril. Zeus hits him with more laughable offence. Choking for Brutus from Zeus. Choke Lift into the corner and more choking. Get Zeus out of the ring PLEASE. Finally Savage tags in and he works on Brutus. We have a double KO and the race for the tag is on. Brutus gets the hot tag and gets the punches on Savage and an Irish whip. Big Boot on Savage send him stumbling to the floor and gets a vertical suplex back in. Savage Elbow which Hogan no sells. Yeah sure kill his finisher. Hogan and Zeus have a stand off. LET THE PUNCHING BEGIN!!! Hogan gets some Axe Bomber clotheslines and knocks Zeus down to his knees. Savage tries to use the purse but Hogan grabs it and nails Zeus. Body Slam and Leg Drop lead to the 3 count.
WINNER – MEGA MANIACS
It was *** when it was Savage and someone in the ring and it was crap whenever Zeus was in so I’ll give it *1/2. After the match Brutus cuts Sherri’s hair to a HUGE pop. Elizabeth nails her with the purse as well for fun.
The Inside Pulse
Well this is not a huge blow away show but there’s some great matches in here and the IC Title match is a great blow off to the Warrior/Rude feud
It won’t change your life but it’ll entertain you for 2 and a half hours and that’s all you can ask for really
