Prime Time Wrestling 3/21/88
Hey loyal readers, I was trying my hardest to do these shows in order, but unfortunately I came to realize the set I have is missing 2/29, 3/7, and 3/14 from 1988. I waited a while to see if I could get the missing episodes, they do exist, but it’s been a while and I don’t want to leave you guys hanging. So I’ll pick up here with March 21st edition from Atlantic City. It’s the final Prime Time episode before WrestleMania IV. I WILL have the missing episodes and I will fill those in when they arrive, but for right now I just wanted to keep going with the content. So away we go!
– Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan kick things off from Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, the sight of WrestleMania IV. As the show begins we seen Gorilla stepping out of his limo and checking into the hotel. Monsoon is wondering where Bobby Heenan is. We cut to inside the hotel at the front desk, Bobby Heenan is attempting to check in but his name isn’t on the reservations. Heenan with some funny banter with the lady at the desk. Heenan’s secretary Miss Betty seems to have screwed up Bobby’s reservations. Gorilla runs into Bobby while checking in and the two begin their usual arguing. We randomly cut to the first match.[spacer height=”20px”]
Match #1: The Killer Bees v. The Conquistadors. From Winston-Salem, NC 3/9/88 “Superstars” Tapings in the Coliseum. Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes on audio inserted commentary. The announcers spend some time discussing the WrestleMania IV Battle Royal, but Vince makes sure to put over the match as needed. The Bees with some good 1980’s high spots early in the match, a double backdrop by the Bees and Blair flaps his “wings” before coming off the second rope. I HATE THAT WING FALPPING SHIT! Blair tries an abdominal stretch, but the Conquistadors with some shenanigans and the masked team takes control. Lots of quick offense from the Conquistadors until Brian Blair clotheslines one out of the ring. The Conquistadors do a switch on the floor behind the official and they remain in control. Brunzell gets lured in and another switch by the masked heel team. Blair is tossed to the floor, and now this time it’s the Bees who put on their masks. Now it’s the Bees turn to make some illegal switches which please the fans. Brunzell hits the big dropkick, but the fall is broken up. Brunzell covers again, and again broken up and Jim is hurt. The Conquistador covers Brunzell, but Blair comes off the middle rope with an elbow to the back of the legal Conquistador. Brunzell rolls out of the ring and Blair covers to get the win in 6:50. The match wasn’t bad, the Bees sold more than I would have expected, but they had a good line of offense early, the Conquistadors did okay on their end, they knew how to work the heat. Lots of false finishes at the end kept it fun. **
– Gorilla and Bobby enter their hotel suite. Heenan alludes to stealing some of the hotel room merchandise, Gorilla forbids him. Back to the matches.
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Match #2: Special Delivery Jones v. Steve Lombardi. From Boston Garden 3/5/88. Gorilla Monsoon & Alfred Hayes on commentary. A surprise spot in the match, a small screen pops up in the bottom corner with Heenan and Gorilla making a bet from Trump Plaza. Heenan wins a coin toss and gets to pick a winner for this match. Heenan chooses SD Jones to win this match. The winner of the bet will make the loser do something. Normally I’d assume SD was winning this match, but with Bobby picking him to win, I’m not so sure anymore. Back to the match, Hayes makes mentions of recent wins from Lombardi, Gorilla responds “I must have missed those”. Hayes says the wins happened on the “B circuit” where Gorilla never is. I found it amusing anyway. SD with some offense early, Lombardi takes over with a reverse chinlock, then some choking, followed by some stomping. Classic stuff here, but not really. Gorilla rips on Lombardi’s haircut. Lombardi drives SD into the corner buckle but Jones of course no sells because he’s black and that’s just the rule of the times. Jones fight back with a series of punches and attempts a sunset flip, but Lombardi sits on him for 2. Jones counters into a sunset flip for 2. SD whips Lombardi into the ropes for a backdrop but Steve counters with a small package in 8:02. I was disappointed, not a single mention of the Terry Garvin school of self defense. This wasn’t good, but I expected even worse. So for that it gets 1/4*
– Inside their hotel suite, Gorilla and Bobby talk about Heenan losing the bet they made during the previous match. As the winner, Monsoon hasn’t figured out what he’s going to do to Heenan yet.[spacer height=”20px”]
– WrestleMania IV Update with Craig DeGeorge. Craig sells the PPV and the Closed Crcuit routes of watching the show. Tournament brackets are shown, we hear from Dino Bravo and Frenchy, Don Muraco, Jake Roberts, and Rick Rude. Robin Leech does a short promo.[spacer height=”20px”]
– Craig DeGeorge Interviews Hulk Hogan from the 3/8/88 Superstars TV Taping. Jesse and McMahon on commentary. Jesse loves that DeGeorge couldn’t announce Hogan as the WWF Champion. I sort of enjoyed that too. It’s your usual Hogan gaga, he bashes Andre and Ted DiBiase, completely ignoring everyone else in the tournament. What-cha gonna do, brother?[spacer height=”20px”]
– The hard sell for WrestleMania IV continues. A promo with Mean Gene and Bob Uecker. Bob asks what a Battle Royal is, Gene explains and Uecker makes the jokes.[spacer height=”20px”]
Match #3: Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan v. Scott Casey. From the 3/8/88 Viking Hall “Wrestling Challenge” tapings, in Bristol, TN. Vince and Alfred Hayes on commentary. We get the typical feeling out process. Hercules tosses Casey out of the ring, but Scott skins the cat back inside and hits a head scissors that send both men to the floor. Scott slams Herc into the steps and back inside with what Vince calls a side suplex for 2 when Herc gets his foot on the bottom rope. Hercules goes to the throat of Casey to take over. Hercules takes Casey down and this time Scott gets his foot on the ropes to stop a pin. Bearhug time for Hercules. Casey sells for a while, the referee Joey Marella checks his arm and Scott fights his way free but runs into a clothesline from Herc. Hercules follows up with a suplex and his signature series of jabs, but Casey starts trading punches and goes for his big bulldog but Hercules throws Casey off in mid-air and picks him up for the Torture Rack submission after 7:12. It was a TV match, Casey with a couple of good spots, but would have liked to seen more offense from Scott here. *1/4
– Heenan and Gorilla at the casino. Heenan is tipping people with hotel room mints. Gorilla is playing Blackjack.[spacer height=”20px”]
Match #4: Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart) v. Lanny Poffo. From Winston-Salem, NC 3/9/88 “Superstars” Tapings in the Coliseum. Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes on audio inserted commentary. Poffo tosses Frisbees and recites a short poem about Valentine getting a Beefcake haircut. Valentine attacks and away we go. Greg surprises everyone by going to the top rope but he’s met with a punch by Lanny. Poffo with a dropkick and works Greg into the corner. The two men trade some shots with Greg on the winning end. Poffo is tossed outside where Greg sends him into the rail. Back in the ring, Valentine does his lazy man’s suplex on Poffo where the wrestler falls but Greg doesn’t. Some nasty chops from the Hammer, Lanny fights back, but Valentine cuts him off with a stomach breacker and a screwed up Russian legsweep, though props for trying. Lanny reverses an Irish whip but misses a dropkick in the corner. Valentine off the top rope with a forearm, and then the Figure Four and it’s all over after 3:52. It was short, but these guys were just go-go-go, and for Valentine that says a lot. Lanny looked to be fighting for his life in there, he didn’t take no crap or give Valentine any liberties. It was actually an entertaining squash, and I liked seeing Valentine go out of his element a few times. I’ll go * just for the unique arsenal for the Hammer in this one, and the fact that Lanny wasn’t taking no shit in the match.[spacer height=”20px”]
Match #5: Intercontinental Champion Honky Tonk Man (w/ Jimmy Hart) v. Jim Evans. From Winston-Salem, NC 3/9/88 “Superstars” Tapings in the Coliseum. Vince and Jesse doing the commentary. Comments from Brutus Beefcake in the corner of the screen. Honky has his jump suit removed, and he dances, all after the bell has already sounded. HTM knocks Evans off his feet, then hits the sit down clothesline, followed by the Shake, Rattle, and Roll neckbreaker picks up the fast win after 1:30. An obvious DUD, but I’m so happy it didn’t go any longer. Honky had some of the worst squashes.
Honky’s music doesn’t play after the match, and he’s upset. Brutus Beefcake comes out to the interview stage and says he cut Honky’s music off. Brutus then says he will win the IC Title AND cut Honky’s hair at WrestleMania. Spoiler alert, neither thing happens. Brutus is a liar. If you don’t believe me, watch his delusional WWF 1989 Timeline from Kayfabe Commentaries.[spacer height=”20px”]
Match #6: The Junkyard Dog v. George Petraski. From the 3/8/88 Viking Hall “Wrestling Challenge” tapings, in Bristol, TN. Vince and Hayes on commentary. Petraski would end up doing the Russian Brute gimmick in the final year of the AWA in 1990. But here, he needs to trim down immensely as he looks to be 50 pounds overweight. JYD with the usual punching and headbutts down on all fours. Petraski rolls out of the ring. Take two, George returns, and more headbutts from JYD and a big punch sends Petraski back to the floor. Take three, George comes back for more, he goes to Dog’s eyes and tries to slam JYD. Happen, not gonna. Dog rings Petraski’s bell, plays with him for a minute, Dog misses a headbutt and Petraski tries another slam attempt but again fails. JYD comes back with a big clothesline before finishing him with the “Thump” in 3:59. Another actually entertaining squash. 1/4*
– We’ve got Mean Gene interviewing Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant up on stage at a TV Taping. Unlike Hogan, DiBiase acknowledges there are other wrestlers in the tournament, most specifically his 1st round opponent Jim Duggan. Ted spends a minute on Duggan before moving on to trash Hogan. Andre finishes the interview up by saying Hogan will not advance in the tournament. Notice Andre never claims he himself would advance!
– Bobby Heenan is forced to work out on an exercise bike for the duration of the prior JYD match, and he’s exhausted.
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Match #7: Ken Patera v. Tom Stone. From Winston-Salem, NC 3/9/88 “Superstars” Tapings in the Coliseum. Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes on audio inserted commentary. Patera takes Stone down and grinds on him. Irish whip and a clothesline takes Stone out of the ring. Back inside more methodical beating by Patera, 3 elbow drops and a Full Nelson finishes this squash in 3:42. Unlike the other squashes on the show, this was very slow and plodding, no surprise given who was involved. By 1988, Patera didn’t seem to care anymore. DUD
– Mean Gene with the WrestleMania IV report. Hercules talks Ultimate Warrior, and then the Warrior responds in his usual Warrior ways! Battle Royal talk time, we hear from JYD, Harley Race, and the Bolsheviks with Slick.
– Bobby Heenan continues his workout in preparation for his 6-Man at WrestleMania IV. Heenan is jobbing on the beach before he’s stopped by Gorilla. They discuss the 6-man and more typical Heenan commentary.[spacer height=”20px”]
Match #8: The Ultimate Warrior vs. “King” Harley Race. From Boston Gardens 3/5/88. Gorilla and Lord Alfred on commentary. Race can’t phase Warrior early and ends up taking a big clothesline and then a backwards bump out of the ring off an Irish whip in the corner. Harley takes a funny bump as he slides down the steps head first on his back. They cut to a commercial only a couple minutes in, and then return with Race climbing back inside. The two men butt heads and Warrior takes a bump, Race then inadvertently lands a falling headbutt into the balls of the Warrior. Race tries to take over, but Warrior chops the shit out of him and Harley takes a back flip bump over the ropes and out of the ring. Back inside, Race takes over with a Piledriver that gets a 2 count. Harley tosses Warrior out of the ring. Race tries to suplex Warrior back inside, but Ultimate slides behind the King and performs a reverse rolling cradle for the win after 4:54.Wow, holy shit, Warrior with a rolling cradle, and he didn’t even screw it up. More proof he had some idea of what he was doing out there, contrary to the usual bull stories. Not a whole lot to this match, but everything they did was good. *
– Mean Gene interviews Strike Force about their upcoming Title match against Demolition at WM4. Arriba, and all that good stuff.
– We find out what Gorilla has chosen for Bobby Heenan’s betting loss earlier. Bobby is forced to push Gorilla around Atlantic City in a sight seeing cart. Ultimate humiliation. All of this was thanks to SD Jones! To think SD had such an impact in 1988.[spacer height=”20px”]
Final Thoughts: Well we get the final hype before WrestleMania from Prime Time. They found a way to work WrestleMania IV into everything on the show from the Gorilla/Bobby vignettes to the actual announcing from Vince and Alfred Hayes. I thought I’d be sick of hearing about “Mania” by the end of this show but they honestly handled everything in a way that even though they were ramming it down our throats, it didn’t feel that way. It was like a subliminal message. So I liked that they entertained us with all these little fun matches in between selling the big event. I’m sure the weekend syndicated shows drove the point home to get the show. The Bobby and Gorilla in Atlantic City theme may have been the first of it’s kind. The two would make more “on the road” trips in the coming months/years. We got our big interviews from Hulk, DiBiase, Andre. We got the WrestleMania Update and Report. Every match at the PPV was touched on in some shape or form. I found it odd no mention or play for “Macho Man” Randy Savage at all on the show, but maybe it was planned that way. This was a good PPV lead in show for a Prime Time episode.
Match of the Night: This was a tough one for me because while nothing stood out, overall most of the matches were better than other recent episodes. I guess for overall match you could say the Bees v. Conquistadors match was the “best match”. For talent you have to go to Warrior vs. Race in a okay match for TV. But I think I’d personally to with the match I’d want to see again, and that’s the Greg Valentine squash. The Hammer went outside his usual box of weapons and came up with some stuff I hadn’t seen him use before, plus he went to the top rope TWICE in the same match. A lot of the matches are a coin flip this week, which is ironic based on the casino theme, but it’s true. Any of the matches I just mentioned could be considered the match of the night based on your personal taste.
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