We keep rolling on with the Prime Time Wrestling video reviews. The Royal Rumble is in the books, and we’re 4 days out from “The Main Event” on NBC featuring the World Title match between the Hulkster and the Giant.
Prime Time Wrestling 2/1/88
– Funny how Gorilla mentioned Ventura should replace Bobby on this show, because it’s Monsoon who is replaced this week by Vince McMahon. It’s Bobby & Vinnie Mac for this week. Vince wastes little time going into discussion of the upcoming Hogan/Andre match. I suspect we’ll hear a lot of that throughout the show.
Match #1: “The Rock” Don Muraco v. Sika (w/Mr. Fuji): From MSG, 10/16/87, your commentators are Gorilla & Nick Bockwinkel. We’re going back in time a few months so Sika is still being managed by Fuji. Muraco has just recently made the baby face turn after splitting with Bob Orton. Sika opens the show for what I believe is the third week in a row. Muraco is just ridiculously gassed up here, his veins look like they’re ready to explode. Sika starts off with some solid chops on Muraco, but The Rock ground the Samoan and works on his leg. Don’t forget Fuji used to be the long time manager of Muraco. Sika fights back and knocks Muraco to the floor by the feet of Fuji. Fuji shouts a bunch of things but doesn’t attack his former charge. Sika refuses to let Muraco back in the ring for some time. Finally, Don fights his way back in and Sika misses a charge in the corner. Muraco goes to the top rope, grabs Sika by the hair, and rides his knee down into the face of Sika as the crash to the mat. Really nice move for the finish after 8:20. Great finisher, too bad that was the only thing good about the match. Super slow and almost no actual wrestling. DUD
– Vince refers to Muraco’s veins as “hoses”, and reminds everyone that WrestleMania IV is coming.
Match #2: Koko B. Ware v. “The King” Harley Race. From Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, 9/20/87 with Gorilla & Bobby on commentary. Koko with a surprise cross body early for 2, and a nice dropkick soon follows. Race eventually knocks Ware to the floor. Harley tries to suplex Koko back in but Ware shifts his weight and lands on top for2. Koko & Race trade headbutts and neither sell. Koko goes with a headbutt to the nose of King, and Race is forced to sell! Race takes back over and hits a Belly to Belly Suplex for 2. Double Underhook Suplex, and Race gets 2 again. Harley with a piledriver, and again Koko kicks out at 2. The King applies a chinlock but Koko breaks free, so Harley pitches him onto the ramp. Race misses a headbutt drop on the ramp. Ware slam Race on the ramp and fires up the crowd. Harley fights back with a Brainbuster on the ramp (Koko takes his own Ghostbuster)! The crowd is fairly dead except when Koko hits a move. Race waits for Koko in the ring and Ware sunset flips his way back inside for 2. Both men crack heads and Race goes down in slow motion.
Commercial time, and Bobby Heenan is on the phone placing horse bets! Back to the match, Race hits a swinging neckbreaker and a headbutt drop from the second rope MISSES! Koko with some dancing and some nice jab work, but Race fights back and sends Koko back to the floor. Harley rams Koko into the ring bell for great sound effect. Ware fights back and posts Harley. Race finds himself teetering on the second rope like a seesaw, and Koko hits him with some fun shots. Race finally gets back in the ring and drops Koko with a vertical suplex and elbow for 2. Harley locks in the Camel Clutch on the Birdman, but Ware slides out from behind. Nice back suplex from Harley gets 2. Koko makes a small comeback but east a clothesline from Race. Ware counters a slam with a small package for 2. Now Race with a small package for 2. Koko is knocked back to the floor by Bobby Heenan and weasel chants begin. Race sneaks a microphone shot to the throat of Ware. Ware finally fights his way back in the ring but the bell randomly sounds at 22:36. The result is announced as a draw, I assume this was meant to be 25:00. You know, if you read this match blow for blow, you’d think this was a pretty good match, but when you watch it and realize that there’s 20 seconds of nothing in between almost every move in the match it doesn’t sound so hot. It was like watching a heel Randy Orton vs. heel Randy Orton. Long periods of nothing in between each move. This match was better though because of the variety of moves being done. Still, this was a * at best.
More WrestleMania IV talk. Bobby says he knows Donald Trump and says “we’re like that” as he puts two fingers together to represent how close he is with Trump.
Vince: You’re like what?
Bobby: Like that (holds his fingers together)
Vince: What is that?
Bobby: That’s Donald Trump (as he points to the bottom finger)
Vince: Why is Donald on the bottom?
Bobby: Cuz I’m Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
– More on this Friday night’s NBC Special. Craig DeGeorge with Update. Craig struggles, looking down at the desk for his notes WAY too much. He was terrible. Craig runs down “The Main Event” card with Strike Force defending against the Harts, Honky Tonk vs. The Macho Man, and Hulk vs. Andre. An interview with Ted DiBiase & Andre follows. Ted says he’s shown the world they all have a price for him, and now he will own the WWF Title. Andre promises to deliver the belt to the Million Dollar Man.
In the studio Vince & Bobby discuss “The Main Event” card. Heenan picks all the heels to win, Vince picks all the faces. Pretty cut and dry, but Bobby manages to make the segment funny. Bobby refers to Strike Force as “Lucky Pierre and La Bamba”.
– The fans speak out on who they think will win the matches on the NBC Special.
Match #3: Billy Jack Haynes v. “The Outlaw” Ron Bass: Maple Leaf Gardens, 6/28/87 with Heenan & Gorilla on commentary. Referee John Bonello. I’m not sure what the deal is with all the old matches on this show. They keep digging further and further back. Match is joined in progress with Haynes holding a side headlock on Bass. I believe the fans are chanting “Basshole”. LOL, that’s hilarious. Billy moves to the arm of the Outlaw. Haynes shoots Bass into the corner, but Ron comes back out with a clothesline and takes control. With a straight face, Gorilla Monsoon says “this is an important match in the careers of both men”. Match goes outside and Bass rams Billy into the steel railing. Back inside Billy comes to life, he goes for the Full Nelson but Bass escapes. Ron grabs his bullwhip “Miss Betsy” and chokes Haynes with it. Bass tosses the referee and the DQ is called. This match was around 10:00. Haynes wins via DQ and fights the Outlaw off after the match. This was really nothing. 1/4*
– Bobby wants to discuss Bad News Brown Bobby thinks Brown needs a manager, hinting at himself.
Match #4: Bad News Brown v. Brady Boone: From the WWF Superstars taping on 1/5/88 in Huntsville, AL from the Von Braun Civic Center. This is the Bad News character’s WWF debut. After a successful run in Stampede, Brown makes it to the big time. Bad News works over Boone. Vince notes that his father was born in Harlem. Brown cuts a promo in the corner of the screen during the match. Bad News just about takes Brady’s head off with a clothesline for the win in 1:32. No Ghetto Blaster yet. Brown pitches Brady out of the ring following the match. For people who like weird facts, Brown is wearing black kneepads with white trim in his debut. Funny seeing Brown where white.
– Craig DeGeorge standing by on the interview stage for an interview with WWF Champ Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster with last minute words before his match with the Giant on NBC. Hulk says Andre’s always been a sellout. He sold out to Heenan last year, and DiBiase now. Hogan brings up the controversial count at Mania 3 and says it makes him want this rematch just as bad as Andre. Hulk says DiBiase shouldn’t put all his money on Andre. Less than stellar interview from Hogan, but still got his point across. Still better than the average guy.
– Special Report – The Bulldogs update us on the condition of Matilda. She’s getting better. Goody. The Bulldogs want us to believe they read every single card the fans sent in for Matilda. Send a postcard to “Get Well Matilda”. Bobby’s response to the people who have sent in letters, “What a bunch of morons”. Exactly, Bobby.
– Highlights from the Hulk Hogan/Andre Contract Signing from the Royal Rumble is shown. Just plug the hell out of that show. Duhhh, is there a NBC Special ob Friday? I would have never known.
Match #5: WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) v. Ricky Steamboat in a “Lumberjack Match”. From MSG, 8/22/87, commentary includes Gorilla, Alfred Hayes and Pete Doherty, oh no. For those that keep score, your Lumberjacks included Tito Santana, JYD, George Steele, Ron Bass, The Islanders, Jose Estrada, Lanny Poffo & Scott Casey. Honky gets the first shot in and tosses Ricky out, but Steamboat skins the cat back in and dropkicks Honky out on the baby face side, and then the heel side. Honky repeatedly ends up near the apron and is pushed back inside. Steamboat rams Honky into the turnbuckle a good 20 or more times and rolls him up for a near fall. Honky takes over and shoots Ricky into the ropes where Tama trips up Steamboat. The faces answer by tripping up Honky! Good spot there. Steamboat battles back with some near falls. Steamboat goes for a monkey flip and I don’t know WTF happens. Somebody blew something because Steamboat just takes a bump and Honky takes control. Doherty on commentary is so annoying. Honky with the Fistdrop off the second rope for 2. And a second commercial break now. Honky mounts Steamer in the corner but Dragon counters with an atomic drop. Ricky tries a whip in the corner but Honky reverses and the Dragon goes flying over the ropes to the floor on the baby face side. Steamboat comes back with a body block and a slingshot catapult on Honky into the corner. Steamboat hits a flying chop from the top rope, but the referee is with Jimmy Hart. Dragon covers and George Steele counts the 3. The referee gets Steele out of the ring, and Jimmy Hart sneaks in with the Megaphone. Steamboat catches Hart and hits the manager. Meanwhile from behind, Honky scoops up the Megaphone and cracks it over the head of Steamboat and makes the cover to steal the 1-2-3! Honky retains at 11:17. Like most Lumberjack matches, there really wasn’t much to this. 1/2*
– In the studio there’s more chatter about “The Main Event”. Heenan thinks Honky will retain the title over Macho AND take Elizabeth home with him.
– If you haven’t heard it enough, THERE’S AN NBC SPECIAL THIS FRIDAY! And the main event is Hulk vs. Andre! Here’s another interview with Ted DiBiase & Andre. Ted reminds us that he’s bought what he wanted. Andre promises to beat Hogan and declare DiBiase the World Champion! DiBiase says it’s his. Evil laugh follows, BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
So long everyone!
Final Thoughts: Well, it was obvious what this show was built around. When there wasn’t action in the ring, they sold the NBC special hard. Looking back on it 26 years later, it can be a bit irritating, but at the time it was the right thing to do and they did a good job with it. It was a far better job selling a free NBC event than they do now with their PPV’s. So while it became a little annoying for me in 2014, for 1988 it was on the money. They also upped their game this week as far as the quality of names in some of the matches. I’m not saying the matches were all that great, but I mean an IC Title rematch with Honky & the Dragon? You didn’t get that on TV very often, AND the Bad News debut all be it short, was cool to see. With the fallout of “The Main Event” coming, I worry about how much that will be dwelled upon over the next couple of weeks. The only thing missing on this show was Gorilla. This would have been a really good edition of PTW if we had Bobby & Monsoon doing their banter. Vince tried with Bobby and they did okay, but it was no Gorilla. Though, we still got to hear them on commentary in some of the matches. Still, this was a fair show.
Match of the Night: Harley Race vs. Koko B. Ware. They were given more time, so they executed more moves, that’s really the only reason it’s the frontrunner. I really expected so much more from these two, like a hidden gem of a classic.
That wraps it up. Next week I’ll return with PTW from 2/11/88 which aired following the NBC event. Get ready for WrestleMania build up folks.
Gorilla was off because he had a heart attack, it’s also the reason he missed the Rumble but it was never acknowledged on TV. Fortunately, it was only mild and he was back within the month.