The SmarK 24/7 Rant for Prime Time Wrestling – August 11 1987
– I didn’t wanna do this one, but then I saw British Bulldogs v. Hart Foundation in the preview and just couldn’t stay away, like a moth to the flame.
– Hosted by Gorilla & Bobby.
Randy Savage v. Brady Boone. The face pop for Macho is getting more noticeable by the day at this point, although Boone is typically a babyface jobber. Boone grabs a headlock off a hiptoss by Savage, and evades a blind charge. Sadly, he has no follow-through, choosing to showboat by backflipping away from Savage, and Macho bails. Back in, Savage overpowers him, but Boone catches him with a rana (!!) and Savage takes a walk again. So obviously he’s still trying to work heel despite the star reactions. Another rana attempt by Boone, but Savage counters with a powerbomb two years before the move was introduced to North America. Savage necksnaps him and drops the knee, now with things fully back in control again, and tosses Boone for some classic Macho Man action on the floor. Back in, Boone comes back with a leg lariat and spinkick to put Savage down, but a moonsault press misses and Savage nails him with the lariat. Holy crap, the fans had no clue what they were watching here. Back out goes Boone and Savage clobbers him with the double axehandle, and it’s back in for the powerslam and flying elbow to finish at 4:17. Seriously, find this on YouTube and check it out, this was like 5 years before its time. **1/2
Hillbilly Jim v. Butch Reed. Speaking of technical exhibitions five years before their time, this isn’t one. Posedown to start and Reed gives Jim a clean break on the ropes, then grabs a headlock. Reed can’t put Jim down, and Jim slugs him down but gets caught with his head down. Reed’s kneedrop misses, however, and Jim works on the leg a bit, sending Reed out. Jim offers some wry commentary on Reed’s “natural” hair color while he gets back in the ring, and it’s time for the test of strength while we take a break. Back with Jim winning that battle until Reed cheats to take over. Jim fights back with knees to the gut and then stomps on Reed’s fingers, sending him out of the ring again. Geez, when you’re getting outsmarted by Hillbilly Jim, you know you’re not long for the promotion. Reed has finally had enough and nails Jim from behind and starts kicking the crap out of him, following with a back elbow to put Jim down. Choking follows and Reed slams him for two. Jim comes back with clotheslines , but Reed hits him with a high knee and goes up to finish with the flying clothesline at 11:56. Well, it was a wrestling match. *1/2
– Jake Roberts has a few words for Honky Tonk Man.
– UPDATE! WITH CRAIG DEGEORGE! Apparently this Ted Dibiase fellow is a bad person and makes people kiss his feet in exchange for money. We’ve gotta be getting close to Rob Van Dam doing pushups for him. Or was that the basketball one?
– SPECIAL REPORT! WITH CRAIG DEGEORGE! Geez, enough with Craig already. Superstar Billy Graham is coming BACK. More roided than ever!
– And now, history, as Rick Martel does an interview with, who else, Craig DeGeorge, and they totally bury Tom Zenk, who apparently up and quit because he couldn’t handle the competition, thus destroying the Can-Am Connection. He’s a coward and a sissy boy! Trust us! Martel is looking for a new partner to take on the Islanders.
WWF Women’s tag team titles: Judy Martin & Leilani Kai v. The Jumping Bomb Angels. The champs still aren’t being billed as The Glamour Girls yet. Your commentary team: Craig DeGeorge and Lanny Poffo?!? That’s gotta be right up there with the worst ideas ever. The Angels double-team Martin to start and dump her, and Tateno rolls up Kai for two. Bodypress gets two. Yamazaki with a gut wrench for two, but she gets brought into the heel corner and worked over. Martin with a snapmare, but the Angels use the speed to dominate again and the champs back off. Poffo’s commentary style is…unique, I’ll give him that. He knows the names and nuances, but he sounds like someone doing a Shakespeare recital. Kai tries a big boot on Yamazaki, but the Angels double-team and it’s the old double figure-four as the fans actually get into the match. They actually hold the moves for a long time before Martin is able to make the ropes, but Kai remains stuck in it. Tateno drops the leg on her for good measure, while Yamazaki holds the move. The Angels work on the leg in their corner and Yamazaki wraps her up with a bow-and-arrow, forcing Martin to save. Tateno uses a bodyscissors and we take a break. Back with Kai slamming Tateno for two, but she bridges out of the pin and Kai runs away. Over to Martin, who slugs Tateno down and follows with a back elbow for two. Martin drops Tateno from a fireman’s carry onto Kai’s knee, and Kai chokes her down. Tateno comes back with a rollup on Martin for two, but gets dragged back to the corner and worked over. Kai comes off the middle rope with an axehandle, but hits Martin by mistake and it’s hot tag Yamazaki. She bodypresses both women at once and gives Kai a pair of atomic drops directly onto the mat, and Tateno comes off the top with a kneedrop, into a Yamazaki high cross for two. Wow. Martin sneaks in with a powerbomb, however, and Kai pins Yamazaki at 11:20 to retain. Man, TWO powerbombs on a 1987 TV show? Another one well worth checking out. ***1/2 This was total state-of-the-art stuff for the time and the audience.
Hercules v. Billy Jack Haynes. Joined in progress from MSG. We pick things up with Herc on the floor, and Billy slingshots him into the ring and hits a backbreaker, but misses an elbow off the middle rope. Haynes rolls out to regroup and Herc pounds on the back and whips him into the railing. Back in, Hercules with the kneelift and he whips Haynes into the corner, softening up the neck for the full-nelson. He stomps Haynes down and chokes him out in the corner, then it’s another backbreaker for two. Billy Jack fights back with chops from his knees, but Herc suplexes him for two. He uses the wrist tape to choke Billy out on the ropes, and we hit the chinlock with Hercules using the tape to make it a more interesting move. And at that point, we take a break. Back with the referee finally noticing the loose tape and getting rid of it, which allows Billy Jack to fight back with a knee to the jaw. Herc keeps pounding the back, moving into a bearhug, but Haynes claps the ears to break free quickly. Mule kick out of the corner as Haynes is really doing a great job of selling the damage and fighting like a desperate man, and Herc keeps throwing knees in the corner to put him down again. Press slam follows and he sets up for the full-nelson, but can’t lock the fingers. Despite that, he folds Haynes over by sheer power, but Haynes fights up with more sheer power. Herc goes back to the back to soften him up more before another try at it. Haynes ducks a clothesline and just levels Herc with his own clothesline, then uses the wrist tape against Herc himself. Ah, karma. Kneelift and backdrop set up a sideslam, and he drops an elbow for two. Herc goes low to stop the comeback and they slug it out in the corner as it turns into a boxing match. Really interesting sequence sees them throwing punches from a clinch position until they fight into the corner, where Haynes chops away on the ropes and elbows Herc down. Herc yanks him out of the ring and follows for the brawl, but both guys beat the count. They continue throwing down in the ring, but Haynes misses a headbutt and Hercules comes off the middle rope with a forearm. They slug it out again and it’s the obvious time limit draw at 20:32 aired. This was apparently a 30 minute draw according to the announcers. The slower pace near the end really gave the finish away, but they were just giving it out there for 20 minutes and I was digging it. Another one well worth checking out for a good example of a power match between guys with years of chemistry. ***1/2
WWF World tag team titles: The Hart Foundation v. The British Bulldogs. The Harts quickly cheat and choke out Davey Boy in the corner, but Bret collides with Neidhart and Dynamite comes in to bail out his partner and clean house. Snap suplex on Bret gets two. Davey Boy headbutts Bret down for two, and hits the chinlock. Crucifix gets two and he rams Bret into Kid’s extended foot, and Kid comes in with a vicious clothesline for two. Kid pounds away in the corner and the Bulldogs put Bret down with a double headbutt, into a fisherman’s suplex for two. DK comes in and loses a boxing match to Bret, allowing Anvil to pound the Kid down as we take a break. Back with Anvil choking him out in the corner and Bret yanking him to the floor for some punishment out there. Back in, Anvil lays in the boots and they hit a Demolition Decapitation for two. Bret throws forearms, but Kid falls back on a slam attempt and gets two. Neidhart comes in with an ill-advised headbutt on the Kid, but luckily Bret cuts off the tag and holds Kid in the Hart corner. The Harts try the double-whip, but it misses and it’s hot tag Davey Boy. He slingshots in with a clothesline on Bret, into a monkey flip out of the corner, and a kneedrop off the middle gets two. Vertical suplex gets two. Running powerslam gets two as the crowd goes mental. Bret comes back with a sleeper, but Kid headbutts him to break it up. Davey presses Bret onto the top rope and suplexes him back in, but Anvil hooks the leg and Bret gets the pin to retain at 10:59. A great finish to a great show this week. ***1/2
