Superstars of Wrestling 2/27/1988

I’m back on the horse. Another day, another review, this time with  Superstars of Wrestling from February 27, 1988.

We begin with Sammartino, McMahon, and Ventura announcing the evening’s events, which include an interview with Hogan.

Match: WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force vs. Tom Stone and Dusty Wolfe

Stone and Santana started off against each other, each grappling for some sort of ground, which Santana was able to quickly get and pass off to Martel. Stone was able to make a couple moves against Martel before passing it off to Wolfe. However, Martel and Santana were able to tag and double team Wolfe and get some control back until Wolf and Stone returned the favor. Stone gained some steam until another Strike Force tag.

Winners: Strike Force by submission

This was a good match to open the card with. It went back and forth with Stone and Wolfe providing good opposition. 3/5

And now for an update for the upcoming WrestleMania IV.  Recap of the Savage-Honky Tonk Man match, which turned into a promo of how Savage would win to claim the open WWF Championship at WrestleMania IV.

Match: Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Lance Allen

Allen was able to drop Valentine once before losing all control. Valentine proceeded to dominate the match.

Winner: Greg “The Hammer” Valentine    

It wasn’t that bad of a match, but nothing of real note. It was ok, not great, but not terrible. 2/5     

Don Muraco had an interview where he said he’d beat Dino Bravo, who replied saying no one would stop him.

Then where was a Brutus Beefcake promo, also saying he’d win the tournament

Match: Pete Sanchez vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Roberts immediately gained control and proceeded to dominate until Sanchez found a slight opening. He was able to get some great hits in until Roberts countered and took the dominance back.

Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Another good match. I really like the way Roberts regained control. 3/5

Match:  Outlaw Ron Bass vs. Gary Jackson

The match started immediately with Bass having complete control over Jackson. There was an opening where Jackson was able to get a few strikes in, but Bass was able to turn it around fast.

Winner: Outlaw Ron Bass

That was another ok match. It wasn’t completely one-sided though, since Jackson was able to retaliate a couple times. 2/5

Now for another interview, this time with the British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware about their six man tag team match at WrestleMania.

Match: John Stewart vs. Ted DiBiase (with Virgil)

DiBiase dominated the match, not letting Stewart take any openings. He whipped him hard enough to fling him over the turnbuckle at one point.

Winner: Ted DiBiase

This was also a one-sided fast paced match, but it was better than the previous because of the energy. 3/5

Interview segment with Hulk Hogan, saying he’s glad the tournament is the way it is so he can beat Andre the Giant and that the championship would be his again.

Another WrestleMania IV update, this time with Donald Trump saying it’s a great honor to host the event at the Trump Plaza.

Ultimate Warrior then screamed about beating Hercules, then Demolition and Strike Force both said they’d win their match.

Match: The Hart Foundation and Intercontinental Champion Honkytonk Man (with Jimmy Hart) vs. Jerry Allen, Omar Atlas, and Leaping Lanny Poffo

Type: Six Man Tag

Neidhart started off slamming Allen immediately, who tagged Atlas. He was dragged off to the other corner and double teamed. Honkytonk came in to soften him up for the Foundation. Bret Hart continued wailing. The three were brutal against Atlas until the end.

Winners: Honkytonk Man and Hart Foundation

Another good match, though kind of fast. It was extremely one sided, but it did well in showing how heelish Honkytonk and the Harts were. 3/5

It was a pretty good night, earning 3/5. My favorite match of the night was either the opening match because of how good it was, or the DiBiase match for the energy.

That’s it for this post. Up next, Saturday Night’s Main Event #14

Superstars of Wrestling 1/10/1987

What’s up everyone? It’s time to bring you a review of yet another vintage wrestling show.

Today, we get an episode of Superstars of Wrestling from January 10, 1987.

The Junkyard Dog, George “The Animal” Steele and Billy Jack Haynes vs. Frenchy Martin, Mike Lucca and Tim Patterson

Type: Six Man Tag

Haynes and Martin started off, with Martin trying to gain the upper hand, but Haynes swiftly took it. Steele was tagged in, taking over for Haynes and slamming Patterson repeatedly. Dog came in and continued.

Winners: Junkyard Dog, George “The Animal” Steele and Billy Jack Haynes.

For a six man tag match, that was quite slow. Not a very good way to open the card either. It was ok, lots of slams from everyone. I do like how it began. 2/5

Mr. Wonderful gave a promo, where he said he loved snapping men’s necks…

Honkytonk Man and Jimmy Hart visit Graceland.

The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff (with Slick) vs. The British Bulldogs (with Matilda the Bulldog)

Smith started off strong against Volkof, who quickly turned it around with along with Sheik. Volkoff came back in and continued to work on Smith, who found an opening when Sheik came back in and tagged Kid. Kid controlled the match until Slick hit him with his cane. Kid proceeded to take Matilda and chase him through the arena. The referee only saw the second part.

Winners: The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff via disqualification.

Good match, I like the balance of power and an interesting ending. 3/5

Randy Savage was Piper’s guest in Piper’s Pit.

Savage said Piper didn’t have the guts to take someone out of professional wrestling like he did to Steamboat. After giving Piper a Randy Savage action figure, Piper returned the favor by giving him a ringside ticket to Steamboat’s return match. Great comeback.

Alex Knight vs. Hercules (with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan)

And Hercules dominates the match.

Winner: Hercules

It may have been a one side domination, but Hercules has been built up to be that powerful. 3/5

Savage promo, who prided himself on making Steamboat almost choke on his own tongue

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Billy Anderson

Roberts had the edge in the early match. Though Anderson tried to take it, Roberts wouldn’t let go of his grasp.

Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Pretty good match. Anderson did have a good attempt at trying to take the match away. 3/5

Steamboat Promo, who thanked his fans for all their concern and that he wasn't responsible for what would happen if his opponent was thrown out of the ring during his Lumberjack Match at The Garden

Jack Kruger and Kevin Collins vs. The Rougeau Brothers

The Rougeau’s began the match acting in sync to take out Collins. Though Kruger tried to turn the match around, Rougeau got out of the way and ended the match.

Winners: The Rougeau Brothers

Great match, especially in the way Kruger tried in vain to turn the match around. It was a great ending as well. 4/5

Outback Jack Promo. Looked interesting, but could barely understand it.

The Natural Butch Reed (with Slick) vs. Reggie Parks

The early match had a struggle to see any sort of control, but Reed was able to gain the advantage. From then on, Parks had a moment where he almost turned it around, but Reed denied him.

Winner: Butch Reed

The match was great. It was very energetic, with Parks almost turning it around. 4/5

It was a pretty good night, earning a 3.2/5

That’s it for today, coming up Wednesday, it looks like another Superstars of Wrestling

Superstars of Wrestling 11/13/1986

Rundown of Superstars of Wrestling for 12/13/1986. I don’t enjoy this any more than you.

Six Man Tag Match: Pedro Morales, Hillbilly Jim, and Tito Santana vs. Moondog Spot, Barry O. and The Raider

Winners: Pedro Morales, Hillbilly Jim, and Tito Santana

“Adorable” Adrian Adonis (with Jimmy Hart) vs. Mario Mancini

Winner: Adrian Adonis

Jimmy Jack Funk and Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Rick Martel and Tom Zenk

Winners: Rick Martel and Tom Zenk

Kamala (with The Wizard and Kimchee) vs. Jack Kruger

Winner: Kamala

Dick Slater vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Winner: Jake Roberts

3/5

Saturday Night's Main Event 11/29/1986

So today, I bring you another edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event. I’m a little out of order as I thought this aired November 15, but it actually aired November 29. But I said I would review this airing today, so let’s get to it, from the Los Angeles Sports Arena

We start off with the wrestlers having various intros. I think they can speak for themselves better than I this time

So before any match, Gene Okerlund interviews Jake Roberts, who says no one wants to shake his hand a second time because of the snake. He also says people are content with life passing them by. He’s not and no one will stop him, especially not Randy Savage. Yeah sure.

Now a rebuttal from Savage, who claimed he was going to skin Roberts and make a belt out of him.

Match: Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Randy “Macho Man” Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) for the Intercontinental Championship

Before the bell, Jake used Damien to intimidate both Elizabeth and Savage, who used her as a human shield.

The ref restores order, the bell rings… and Savage doesn’t go out the ring. He does keep stopping short of hitting Roberts at first. But when he does go for him, Roberts has a bit of an edge on him at first. Before he could pull off the DDT, Savage finally went out of the ring. Upon coming back in, Savage was able to make use of a second wind. Eventually, Roberts came back and the match remained pretty much even until the end, when they both pushed the referee.

Winner: Double Disqualification

So this was the perfect match to open the card. Both men were great and their abilities where evenly portrayed. Some great moments were when Savage left and hid Damien, causing Roberts to leave and get him back. Roberts also threatened Elizabeth at a couple times and it showed his sadistic side. It was a great match, but when Roberts shoved the referee, that was the only bad point as it looked forced.4/5

Okerlund interviewed Bobby Heenan, who spouted how he had all this pull in Hollywood. Probably a load of bull. Hernandez claimed he loved Heenan as a manager and that he would  become the champion.

An interview with Hulk Hogan, where he said Hercules is stronger and that he’s trained like he would be facing a powerful god… Um, how do you even do that?

Match: Hercules Hernandez (with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. Hulk Hogan for the World Championship

I haven’t seen Hogan for a while and at least he’s not yelling about how the championship is an All-American institution and that he’s going to keep it away from the dirty Reds.

Anyway, Hogan started off… losing? Interesting. Hernandez had the main edge at the beginning, but Hogan eventually found his steam. However, Hogan got cocky and tried to pull off one of his signature moves, which Hercules turned around to his advantage. At one point, Hernandez thought he had beat Hogan by submission to a backbreaker. The referee didn’t hear though, so it didn’t happen. Hogan was able to go into God Mode from there.

Winner: Hulk Hogan to retain the Championship

Not that much of a surprise, but it was a good surprise to see him almost beaten. I do think it’s time that the Reign of Hogan ended though.4/5

Ventura interviewed Cowboy Bob Orton, who claimed Piper used him when they were partners, hiding behind him. Tonight, he said Piper had no friends.

Okerlund interviewed Piper, who said he picked Orton out of the gutter. That, plus other indecipherable blabber. Classic Piper.

Match: Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. Cowboy Bob Orton (with Jimmy Hart and the Magnificent Muraco)

Muraco started off being a distraction to Piper, but he was taken back and Piper started wailing on Orton. For most of the match, Piper had the edge on Orton, who was eventually able to get some offense in until he missed. From then, Orton never had a chance

Winner: Rowdy Roddy Piper

Great match. Both were very energetic, and I liked how Orton got some offense in, but then got too proud of himself. 3/5

Okerlund interviewed the Hart Foundation who said he was going to clip the wings of the Killer Bees.

The Hart Foundation (with Jimmy Hart) vs. The Killer Bees for the Tag Team Championship

Brunzel and Hart started off, with Hart an unclear edge until the Bees found it. During the match, an interview was shown with the Bees with their masks on fooling Okerlund. Due to some dirty fighting, The Harts were able to turn the match over in their favor. Near the end, the Bees doned their masks and were able to regain offense

Winners: The Killer Bees to retain the championship

This was an ok match. The ending is what killed it for me. The masks are cool, but they should have gone into the match with them. Putting them on mid-match and acting as a lucky feather sort of thing makes it seem like a forced win. Especially when the Harts were obviously dominating. 2/5

Koko B. Ware had an interview with Okerlund, who took the reins of making fun of Russia from Hogan. That doesn’t work.

Ventura interviewed Slick and Volkoff. Slick kept talking about money and that Koko should beware. Volkoff called Slick an honest man, unlike most Americans. Yay propaganda.

Nikolai Volkoff (with Slick) vs. Koko B. Ware

Nikolai started beating Koko down before the bell rang, though he was able to find an opening and start returning the favor. Volkoff had a midmatch second wind, but it wasn’t enough, eventually giving Koko another opening.

Winner: Koko B. Ware

Short but good match. No real complaints 3/5

Match: The Magnificent Don Muraco (with Mr. Fuji) vs. Dick Slater

I don’t remember Slater ever winning, so this is pretty much a foregone conclusion

Yeah, Muraco decimated Slater, who only got in a couple hits and got taken out by Fuji.

Winner: The Magnificent Don Muraco

This wasn’t that good of a match and wasn’t really needed. That’s all I have to say. 2/5

So it was a pretty great night, with the final score coming out to 3/5

I’d say my favorite match was one of the first two. They were great ways to open the card, but unfortunately the show got weaker as the night went on. Also, like I said, the last match was unnecessary and not even that good.

Coming up Monday: Superstars of Wrestling from 11/15/1986

Superstars of Wrestling 10/25/1986

Well it’s that time again… Superstars of Wrestling from October 25, 1986.

But I can only seem to find one match out of the whole night’s card…

So I guess I go to the standby of average ratings.

Match: Koko B. Ware vs. Moondog Spot

Winner: Koko B. Ware

3/5

Match: The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff (with Slick) vs. Tito Santana and Pedro Morales

Winners: The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff

3/5

Match: The Islanders vs. Steve Lombardi and Barry O.

Winners: The Islanders

3/5

Match Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Mike Kelly

This was actually the only match on the card I could find.

The match started with the camera focusing on the snake bag, but also with Roberts dominating Kelly. Kelly was able to get the beginnings of some offense in there every now and then, but Roberts extinguished any of those hopes.  For the second half of the match, Roberts went uncontested, performing a DDT to end it.

 

Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts

This was a great match. Kelly actually did something to where he was able to try to get some offense, but Roberts’ ruthlessness quickly took it away. I guess it would have been a perfect match had it looked like Kelly would have won. But no other complaints. 4/5

The Rougeau Brothers vs. Steve Regal and Jimmy Jack Funk

Winners: The Rougeau Brothers

3/5

Paul Orndorff (with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. Lanny Poffo

Winner: Paul Orndorff

3/5

Unfortunately, I can’t exposit on a favorite match of the night, though with the absent matches. The night earns an uneventful 3.2

It does look like this will continue for about another week, but hopefully it will lighten up somewhere. Bare bones card on Monday: Superstars of Wrestling from November 1.

Superstars of Wrestling 9/20/1986

Vintage Wrestling Reviews starts of a new week, this time with another episode of Superstars of Wrestling, aired on September 20, 1986.

Opening

We start off with… nothing.

This is the unfortunate thing, my dear readers. Going through a weekly show that aired for such a long time, such as Superstars of Wrestling, there’s bound to be some episodes that just can’t be found. All I can really do is give what my information says, just the match pairings. I said with matches I can’t find that I’d just give a 3/5, so with entire missing airings, I’ll just have to assume it was average.

Match: Mike Rotundo and Dan Spivey vs. Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny Valentine)

Winners: Mike Rotundo and Dan Spivey with a disqualification           

Match: George "The Animal" Steele (with Capt. Lou Albano) and the Junkyard Dog vs. Steve Lombardi and Tony Nardo

Winners: George Steele and the Junkyard Dog

Match: The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and Hercules (with Classy Freddie Blassie and Slick) vs. Billy Jack Haynes, Nick Kiniski, and Mario Mancini

Winners: The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff and Hercules

Match: Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Tony Garea

Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Match: B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell vs. Joe Mirto and Jack Kruger

Winners: B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell

Match: Magnificent Don Muraco (with Mr. Fuji) vs. Lanny Pofo

Winner: Magnificent Don Muraco

That was the entire night. I wish I could report on what happened in the matches, but this happens sometimes. Hopefully entire missing airings won’t happen all that much.

On Wednesday, we get another airing of Saturday Night’s Main Event

Saturday Night's Main Event 5/8/1986

So we leave behind the terrible WrestleMania 2 for another edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event aired on May 5 held in the Providence, Rhode Island Civic Center.

Mactch: Hulk Hogan and Junkyard Dog (with the Haiti Kid) vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (with Jimmy Hart)

The match started with the Funks trying to get in preemptive strikes, but were shut down by Hogan and Dog. Soon enough, Dog and Dory started off as the legal men, with Dog in control. At one point, the Funks were able to swing the match into their favor, but Hogan put a stop to it.

After the match, the Funks and Hart tried to brand Haiti Kid, who was saved by Hogan.

Winners: Hulk Hogan and Junkyard Dog

To start the card off, this was quite a good match. The energy was there as well as good control by Hogan and JYD until the Funks started double teaming. 3/5

Might I say that Bobby Heenan on commentary is nothing short of amazing?

Match: King Kong Bundy vs. Uncle Elmer

Branded as “Battle of the Big Boys,” with Bundy being 468 lbs and Elmer being 430 lbs. 

Anyway, no one had any control over the beginning of the match, it being the human version of immovable object meets irresistible force. However, Bundy was able to bring Elmer to his knees and, despite a slight second wind, dominate the match.

Winner: King Kong Bundy

Well, this match was ok, but it wasn’t that good. I’ve seen much better “Giants Matches,” that had better pacing. This match should have gone on longer and Elmer should have gotten some better steam before starting to lose again. 2/5

Match: Paul Orndorff vs. Adrian Adonis.

Winner: Adrian Adonis 3/5

(couldn’t find the whole match)

Match: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
From what I had on my information, I really wanted to see this match, but couldn’t find it.

No Contest 3/5

Match: The British Bulldogs (with Capt. Lou Albano) vs. Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik (with Classy Freddy Blassie) in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match for the Tag Team Championship.

Davey Boy Smith and Volkoff started off in the ring with Smith providing the main offensive. But when Sheik came in, he executed the Camel Clutch for the first fall. After that Volkoff and Sheik started to dominate Smith. Eventually, Smith was able to turn it around for the second fall. In the final leg of the match, Sheik and Volkoff continued to have control over Smith and Dynamite Kid until Smith illegally came in.

Winners: The British Bulldogs to retain the championship

This was a great match. Sheik and Volkoff were very good challengers, giving the Bulldogs a run for their money. The match was rife with amazing tension that had points where it would seem the titles would change hands, but though the ending was fluid, it didn’t seem like a good way for faces to win a match. 4/5

Tonight’s show was better than WrestleMania 2, receiving 3/5. It might have been better had I been able to find those two matches, but we’ll never know. I would have to say my favorite match today was the Tag Team Championship match at the end, even if I didn’t like the ending that much.

That sums up this week. And unfortunately, for the next two weeks, I'll be unable to watch, write and update, so the next post will be August 27th, when we begin Superstars of Wrestling.