It’s a special Friday edition of the Prime Time Wrestling review. Not just Friday in real time, but this specific episode aired on a Friday as well.
Prime Time Wrestling 2/19/88
– Gorilla Monsoon and “the host” Bobby Heenan open the show with the news that the “gag order” has been lifted. They can now discuss the championship match from the 2/5/88 Main Event special featuring Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. They also talk about the feature match this week, the Bulldogs vs. The King & Hercules. Heenan makes some sinister comments about Matilda, and we go to our first match, Hulk & Andre.
Match #1: WWF Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan v. Andre the Giant (w/ Ted DiBiase & Virgil): From “The Main Event” 2/5/88 in Indianapolis, Indiana’s Market Square Arena. Commentators are Vince McMahon & The Body. The referee is “Dave” Hebner, you’ll want to remember that for later. Crowd starts off hot as Hogan goes to town on both Virgil and DiBiase. Hulk drags them both in the ring, roughs them up, and sends them flying back to the floor. Hogan then rocks Andre with some big right hands, chops, a running elbow, clothesline, you name it. Virgil gets knocked off the apron, Hogan stomps the hand of DiBiase on the apron and money goes flying. A real hot opening, really good so far. Hogan catches Andre with a clothesline in the corner, but he can’t seem to take the Giant off his feet. What the hell is this? HOGAN ON THE TOP ROPE?????? Andre slams him off the ropes, but misses a headbutt. Hogan tries to cover the Giant, but Andre chokes him over and over again to get the advantage. Andre slams the Hulkster and kicks the crap out of him while he’s down. Andre hits Hogan with a big boot, but loses his balance and falls as well. Hulk rolls outside, but Virgil rolls him back in to prevent a count out because DIBIASE WANTS THAT TITLE! Andre chokes Hogan with his singlet strap. Andre tries a choke, or nerve hold, or some shit, but Hogan powers out to the fans delight. HULK HOGAN COMES FLYING OFF THE SECOND ROPE WITH A CLOTHESLINE. The giant goes down! Hulk off the ropes for a legdrop, but Virgil grabs his leg! Hulk off the ropes again, this time NAILS THE LEGDROP, but referee “DAVE” Hebner misses the count by dealing with Virgil. Hogan confronts Hebner, but Andre sneaks up behind with some headbutts and a shitty suplex looking thingy. Andre covers! 1….. Hogan gets his shoulder up in plain sight of the referee, but Hebner keeps counting! 2….3!
Oh my God! Andre the Giant has won the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 9:02! Hebner raises Andre’s hand as Virgil & DiBiase join in the celebration. Hogan is arguing with Hebner as the referee grabs the WWF Title and hands it to the Giant. The Fink finalizes it by proclaiming Andre the “newwww” WWF Champion. Hogan’s four year reign as champion has come to an end! Believe me, you won’t miss anything of importance.
Like a UFC fight, Mean Gene interviews Andre in the ring immediately following the match. The Giant presents Ted DiBiase with the belt. The Million Dollar Man gets the belt strapped around his waist as Hogan runs the heels out of the ring.
While Hogan is busy jaw jacking with the heels, he fails to realize what’s going on in the ring behind him. What is this? TWO DAVE HEBNERS? Finally, Hulk turns to see double vision. Hogan knows something fishy has went down and now he wants some answers. Hogan doesn’t know which ref is the real Dave Hebner. Hogan grabs both Hebners and shakes them up. The Hebners get into another argument about who the real Dave Hebner is, when suddenly the evil Hebner nails the other one and kicks him out of the ring. Hogan realizes the aggressive Hebner is the imposter, and before the imposter can flee, Hulk grabs him and presses him into the air. Hulk flings the evil Hebner out of the ring towards DiBiase & Virgil, but Hebner overshoots them by about a foot and almost clears them before they all take a bump to the floor. (This was Earl Hebner’s WWF debut after leaving the NWA)
Okay, it’s hard to rate this as a match, because there was so much more to this thing. If I was just rating the stuff with Hogan against DiBiase & Virgil it may fair better, but the stuff with the immobile Andre here keeps this match at no better than 1/2*. However, I will give the WWF props for the way they played this entire angle out on LIVE TV. Remember, it wasn’t like WWF was on live TV on a weekly basis back then, especially running an angle that required so much precision of guys expressions and all being in the right place at the right time (that includes director/camera men). The match gets 1/2*, but the entire thing, angle and aftermath included is another ***, so if you go off the whole mess, ***1/2. You can skip the match after the initial Hogan/DiBiase stuff at the beginning and fast forward to the finishing moments.
– Andre the Giant & Ted DiBiase as WWF Champion cut a promo. So cool seeing DiBiase wear the belt, even if it didn’t last very long. In great heel fashion, DiBiase claims that Hogan paid for an imposter Dave Hebner to come to ringside after the match and claim to be the real one.
– In one of the classic interviews of all time, we go back to “The Main Event” with Mean Gene interviewing Hogan after the match. “How Much Money? How much money did they spend on the plastic surgery man?”.
– WWF President Jack Tunney talks about this situation going down in “infamy”. Tunney says the referee’s decision is final. But what if the referee wasn’t the real referee? That means that Hulk Hogan is no longer champion. However, the rule book states to be a champion you must pin a champion or make him submit. Therefore, Ted DiBiase is also NOT the WWF Champion. AND, since Andre presented the belt to DiBiase, he forfeited the championship, so he is also NOT the champion. For the first time in history, the championship is deemed VACANT, and on March 27, 1988 a tournament will be held at WrestleMania IV to determine the undisputed WWF Heavyweight Champion! In fairness of the last two champions, Hogan and Andre, they will receive a BYE in the first round and face each other in the opening match of the Quarter Final round.
I always found it interested that when the WrestleMania IV tournament bracket was first introduced, the brackets were different from what actually took place at the PPV. For instance the winner of Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts was originally supposed to meet Don Muraco vs. Dino Bravo (and then from that go on to meet Hogan or Andre in the semis). Steamboat vs. Valentine remained the same with the winner meeting the winner of Randy Savage vs. Butch Reed. And then at the bottom of the brackets it was Bam Bam Bigelow vs. One Man Gang, with the winner scheduled to meet the winner of Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan. Of course, the tournament would be tweaked fairly quickly and the matches would be flipped around.
– Wow, that was a hell of a 20 minutes of TV! We finally return to PTW studios with Gorilla & The Brain. They discuss the decision made by Tunney going into the break and coming back. Heenan talks about Hogan paying off a fake Hebner, Gorilla thinks it was DiBiase that paid someone off.
Match #2: “Leaping” Lanny Poffo & Scott Casey v. Steve Lombardi & Barry Horowitz: From the 1/26/88 Hershey Park Arena “Superstars” tapings, in Hershey, PA. Commentators are Vince & Bruno. A poem from Poffo about the Mega Powers, and then from Frisbee tossing to the crowd. Casey & Lombardi have a go, and then Horowitz & Poffo take their turn in the ring. Poffo & Casey wind up working the arm of Lombardi. The future Brooklyn Brawl forces Casey into the wrong corner and Horowitz steps in with a double underhook suplex for 2. Casey battles back with a backbreaker, but Horowitz is able to make the tag back to Lombardi. Casey battles back again, hitting a side backbreaker on Lombardi for 2. Tag to Poffo, somersault senton on Lombardi for 2. The referee becomes distracted, and as Poffo comes off the ropes he gets hit in the back by a knee from Horowitz. Lanny stumbles forwards into a clothesline from Lombardi, and the slow ass referee finally makes the 3 count after 5:04. Nothing really going on here, I’ll go 1/4* just because of the different flavor of the match with some of the underneath guys getting time to shine.
– Bobby Heenan flips through the 1988 WWF Calendar. Heenan laughs about the picture of Hogan with the belt. Monsoon mentions that Andre is now the shortest reigning WWF Champion of all time, surpassing Stan Stasiak’s record. Heenan thinks everything worked out great, he got paid by DiBiase, and now Rick Rude has a shot at being WWF Champion. Andre is still serving Ted DiBiase, so Heenan plays up Rude as his only Family member in the tournament. They discuss the tournament brackets and potential matches, of course it’s pointless since the brackets would change.
– The Honky Tonk Man & Jimmy Hart promo. Honky brags about STILL being the IC Champion after his match with the Macho Man on The Main Event. Honky reminds us he’s the greatest IC Champ of all time!
Match #3: Hillbilly Jim v. “Outlaw” Ron Bass: 1/25/88 from MSG. Announcers are Vince & Alfred Hayes. Bass attacks Jim to start, but that’s short lived. Hillbilly with a big boot and a splash for 2 right out of the gate! Bass rolls outside and goes for his bullwhip “Miss Betsy”, but realizes that Jim has it. After a commercial break, Bass allows Hillbilly to put a headlock on, and the Outlaw can’t seem to escape. Bass finally rams Jim into the corner to take over. Outlaw chokes Hillbilly across the ropes and drops an elbow for 2. Big Jim starts to no sell Ron’s offense, and then it happens. Hillbilly Jim… Drops the Strap! Channeling his Memphis days, Jim pays homage to Jerry Lawler, by dropping his overall strap! Jim drops Bass but misses a splash, or something. Bass capitalizes with his pedigree like facebuster for the win after 5:22. They actually took a commercial break in this 5 minute match of nothing, seriously, like it needed one? Nothing really happened DUD
– The British Bulldogs have an update on Matilda. She’s gaining her weight back and she’ll be back at ringside soon!
Match #4: Dino Bravo (w/ Frenchy Martin) v. Special Delivery Jones: 1/9/88 from the Philadelphia Spectrum. Dick Graham & Craig DeGeorge on commentary, Dusty Feldbaumer is the referee. I dread even thinking about this match. Bravo works a rest hold to START the match. Jones finally breaks off and works the leg of Dino. Bravo finally takes back over with a trifecta of heel tactics, the trunk pull, the eye gouge, and the ever popular choke. Dino with a chinlock on SD. That a boy, don’t bother to perform one wrestling move. SD powers his way up. but Bravo maintains control and sends Jones to the floor for Frenchy to get in his cheap shots. SD starts to chase Frenchy around ringside, but Bravo with a sneak attack and the dreaded front facelock! Jones ducks a clothesline and fights back with punches and headbutts, but he telegraphs the backdrop and Bravo cuts him off and finishes things with the Side Suplex, or as DeGeorge calls it “the back slam”, for the win after 8:58. Rest hold, leg hold, rest hold, side suplex, that pretty much sums this up. DUD
– Mean Gene Okerlund interviews “Macho Man” Randy Savage about the WrestleMania IV Title tournament. Savage has respect for his opponent Butch Reed, but the Macho Man is going to win it all. No, seriously, he is. Savage has some words for Ted DiBiase in a foreshadow moment, and doesn’t want to admit or deny rumors of the formation of the “Mega Powers”, even though his brother Leaping Lanny recited a poem about it earlier.
Match #5: The Conquistadors v. Brady Boone & Omar Atlas. From the Salisbury, MD 1/27/88 “Wrestling Challenge” Tapings in the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. “From Somewhere in Latin America” is one of my favorite hometowns in wrestling. Boone & Atlas are looking good early on while working the arm of Conquistador Uno. Dos pulls the top rope down and Boon goes flying to the outside. The Conquistadors take over on Boone in their corner with some nice double team stuff. Uno (Jose Estrada) walks the ropes and lands a double axe handle on Brady. Boone continues his weekly blown spot, but trying something that resembled a springboard back elbow off the second rope, but nobody was there. I mean literally, nobody was EVER there. I have no idea who or what the hell he was aiming for. Even Monsoon & Heenan rip it apart on their voice over commentary. Boone finally catches a Conquistador with a kneelift and makes the tag to Atlas. Omar with a big backdrop but runs right into a spike slam. The Conquistadors finish Atlas off with a slingshot into a flying clothesline off the top for the win in 6:19. Not a bad little match, but nothing special, more job guys getting time to show what they got. It shows you just how good Estrada & Rivera were in their Conquistadors roll. 3/4*
– Now we’re going to get responses from Hogan, DiBiase & Andre about the recent decision made by President Jack Tunney in regards to the WWF Title. Mean Gene is with Andre the Giant and a livid Ted DiBiase, who blames Hogan for buying off a look-alike referee. Can someone explain to me why nobody told DiBiase he couldn’t buy the title to begin with after the weeks and weeks he talked about buying it going into the Hulk v. Andre match? Andre promises the belt will still end up in DiBiase’s hands!
– Mean Gene is now with the Hulkster. Hogan talks about DiBiase paying for the plastic surgery to create an identitcal Dave Hebner, all the way down to the fingerprints. LOL. Had to laugh. Hogan was robbed, but he’s fine with his fair shake at WrestleMania IV and says he will weed through the trash and win the title back.
Match #6: The British Bulldogs v. “King” Harley Race & Hercules. From the 1/26/88 Hershey Park Arena tapings, in Hershey, PA. Gorilla sends us to the “chocolate capital of the world”, to which Heenan replies “Detroit?”. Was that a racist joke or am I reading too much into it? Voice over commentary by Gorilla & his Lordship. No Bobby Heenan at ringside as we get going. He’s still hiding from the Bulldogs after the Matilda mess. Joey Marella the referee. Dynamite & Race kick things off with Harley already taking some good bumps and the heels wind up on the floor. The Bulldogs control their foes early, Dynamite literally forces Hercules over with a snap suplex. Dynamite reverses a suplex on Race, then the two take turns headbutting each other until Dynamite bumps Race to the floor again. Davey Boy tags in, but Harley “inadvertently” winds up landing a headbutt into the nuts of Smith. Hercules works over Smith and throws him across the ring with a backdrop. With the Heenan Family now in control, Bobby Heenan makes his way to ringside with a invisible dog leash. We take a commercial break and gets some fun banter between Gorilla & Heenan. Back to the match and Heenan taunts Davey Boy with the leash from the floor. Herc & Race continue to work over Davey Boy. Smith counters a slam but jumping behind Herc for a cradle, bur Race breaks it up. Smith finally hot tag to Dynamite. Kid cleans house. PILEDRIVER on Herc! Kid lays both men out, then the Bulldogs chase Heenan to the locker room. The Bulldogs end up counted out as a result. The Bulldogs return to ringside with the leash and run off the the Race & Hercules, hitting Herc with the leash. The Heenan Family wins after 9:07. It was your typical competitive TV match, not an exciting amount of action but still some good things in between the slow stuff. The finish was kind of happened abruptly and it was a little stupid for my taste, but for TV this match I’ll go *1/2
– Next week, lots more on WrestleMania IV and Trump Plaza. Prime Time is going back to Monday nights next week, 2/22/88, so we’ll see you in 3 days!
Final Thoughts: This show evolved around the entire Hogan vs. Andre angle and the fallout that would build to the big tournament at WrestleMania. They still managed to fill in the holes with matches. Smart move plugging in matched with undercard talent so that it didn’t take away from all the WrestleMania IV jazz with Hulk/Andre/DiBiase. I like how they interviewed Savage as a way to get him involved and noticed as one of the many competitors in the tournament. One of the very if, if not only, Conquistadors squash was on this show so it had that going for it as well. I had watched this era on VHS tapes so much that I got sick of the entire angle for Mania 4, but with many years now past I actually enjoyed this show. They did a great job of including everything you needed to know everything that was going on, leaving no stones unturned. You got the match, the post match interviews, Jack Tunney’s decision with well written teleprompter explanation, the wrestlers’ thoughts on the fallout, the layout and discussion of the tournament, just a well built up job on a show that they don’t always spend the most time putting together.
Match of the Night: If you’re going with just MATCH, then Bulldogs vs. Heenan Family. But, I’d say the entire Hogan/Andre match and angle overshadowed everything else on the show.
How do you like that. I crammed two episodes in within a week as we continue to roll on towards WrestleMania IV. Things are starting to shape up. I cheated and looked ahead at the matches for the next episode and it looks like they’re starting mix things up a little, getting some guys on the show I haven’t reviewed yet so I have that to look forward to. I’ll be back soon with more Prime Time Wrestling.
