Video Review: WWF Prime Time Wrestling 1/12/88

I is back this weekend with more Prime Time Wrestling, as we continue on with the year 1988.

Prime Time Wrestling 1/12/88

– It’s Gorilla & Bobby ready to roll. The Warrior will be in action… And we already get some fun banter.

Gorilla: He’s (the Warrior) THREE Rick Rude’s put together. Warrior is very thick, Ravishing is very thin.
Bobby: Well, racehorses aren’t that big you know?
Gorilla: Why don’t you race him at Belmont then?
Bobby: Cuz he’s not a nag…

– As they run down today’s lineup we learn there will be more news on the Royal Rumble. The very first Royal Rumble event is rapidly approaching, only 12 days away, we’ll have a lot more on that event today. We not go to the first match of the show.

Match #1: Bret “Hitman” Hart v. Paul Roma (w/Jimmy Powers): This match is from Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, taped back on 12/29/87. Commentators for this match are the Gorilla & tricky Nick Bockwinkel. Hart jumps Roma to get things going, wining up with Roma taking a clothesline over the top and out to the floor. For some reason Jimmy Powers is playing second to Roma, even though Neidhart isn’t at ringside. I guess Powers is there to counteract Jimmy Hart. Well that may be so, except for one thing… Jimmy Hart isn’t at ringside either, so it makes no sense. Roma fights his way back in with a slingshot dropkick. Bret attempts to regroup but Roma remains on top and works the arm of the Hitman. Bret eventually breaks free and methodically picks Paul apart, excellently executing several calculated moves before relying on a chinlock. Roma attempts to fight free on two occasions, but ultimately fails. Hart nails Roma on a sunset flip attempt and taunted Jimmy Powers in order to sneak in a choke on Roma. Bret dumps Roma to the floor, but Powers comes right to his aid. After an extended period on the floor, Roma reenters, but Hart is right back on the offense with a legdrop and standing dropkick for 2. Roma reverses a vertical suplex and then catches Hart with a punch as Bret comes off the middle rope to set up his comeback. Roma fires up, a dropkick, atomic drop, clothesline combo gets him 2. Roma comes off the middle rope a la King Lawler with the fist drop, again for 2. Roma with a rolling cradle for 2. Bret has enough, catches Roma rushing at him with a backbreaker and en elbow from the middle rope for the win in 13:24. Bret the heel receives mainly cheers from the fans. That went on WAY to long. The definition of stretching out time. 1/2* and all of that was for Bret’s crisp moves. They dragged this out TOO LONG. Roma barely did anything, though he had a nice flying fist drop. Jimmy Powers was worthless at ringside.

Match #2: The Ultimate Warrior vs. Steve Lombardi: Again from Copps Coliseum, 12/29/87. Referee is Terry Yorkston for you old schoolers. Let the “School of Self Defense” jokes begin. Lombardi is complete jobber here, he’s a year out from the Brooklyn Brawler character. The Warrior is new to the scene, and makes his way to the ring to Jimmy Hart’s “Crank It Up” theme. And there we go, the Terry Garvin “School of Self Defense” joke is made. Gorilla then says Lombardi patterns himself after Pat Patterson, and there ya go! Warrior overpowers Lombardi and knocks the shit out of him with a tree trunk clothesline. STIFF. Lombardi wants a handshake, and the Warrior squeezes his hand. Lombardi tries a cheap shot, but Warrior catches his foot and atomic drops him into the corner. Warrior chops the shit out of Lombardi and slaps on a bear hug. Lombardi goes to the eyes and goes on the offense for about 5 second. Warrior reverses an Irish whip but misses a charge in the corner. Lombardi is actually in control of the Warrior, choking him on the ropes. Steve works on the Warrior and covers but doesn’t even get a 1. Lombardi works a chinlock and the Warrior powers up. UW escapes but misses an elbow and Steve goes back to the chinlock. Warrior breaks free a second time, but Steve goes to his eyes. Warrior no sells a clothesline, didn’t even move. Warrior grabs Lombardi by the throat and picks him up in the air, then tosses Steve down. Warrior with a powerslam, but picks Lombardi up on 2. Warrior picks Steve up in a Gorilla Press and drops Lombardi behind him. UW does a squat thrust for absolutely no reason, then looks like he’s going to lay down and cover, but then just places his foot on the chest of Lombardi for the win in 6:42. An extended squash again, but somehow Lombardi got far more offense than Powers. Warrior was VERY rough around the edges here, dare I say Steve carried him to a degree. Still, not much more than tolerable.

LOL, MORE GREAT STUFF FROM THE BRAIN & GORILLA!!!!! They discuss the Warrior vs. Lombardi match. Bobby says how Lombardi should have grabbed the Warrior by the head or hair on the way down from the press, it would have forced the Warrior down to.

Gorilla: But Lombardi was placed in a very compromising position before he went up there (in the press).
Bobby: Lombardi has been placed in A LOT of compromising positions.
Gorilla: Yes he has been put in a lot of compromising positions since he’s come to the WWF.

Bobby’s delivery of his line was THE BEST.

– Clip from SNME. Hogan pins King Kong Bundy. Andre steps up to Hogan, and Hulk calls the Giant out. Andre eventually backs down, but as Hogan poses, Andre attacks and chokes the life out of the Hulkster. Here comes the Bulldogs! Dynamite & Davey Boy try to pull the Giant off, but Andre sends them flying out of the ring. Next up, Strike Force, Jake the Snake, and the JYD hit the ring to try and stop Andre from choking the Hulk to no avail. Here comes JIM DUGGAN with a 2X4. Duggan whacks Andre twice with the 2X4, which was supposed to break, but didn’t. Duggan slams the board down and THEN it breaks. lol. Andre finally, releases Hogan. Andre looks like a monster. I love it! Great angle. This sets up their upcoming title match on NBC’s “The Main Event”.

– Craig DeGeorge Interviews “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase on the stage. DiBiase is upset that Hogan turned down his offer to buy the WWF Championship. Ted introduces Andre the Giant & Bobby Heenan. DiBiase announces that Andre has agreed to deliver the WWF Title to the Million $ Man. Heenan thanks DiBiase for the money, he says he’s set for life. Andre reiterates that he will beat Hogan for the WWF Title and hand it over to DiBiase.

– Back in Prime Time Studios, Gorilla wants to know why Heenan would throw away the opportunity to manage the WWF Champion. Most people would be stuck for an answer, but Bobby knows what he’s doing. Heenan explains he only wanted to manage the Champion for the money it would bring, and DiBiase already gave him that money. Heenan says now he doesn’t have to travel the world and deal with the crap that goes with being champion, he can sit back and relax. Gorilla wants to know why Bobby is even here then. Heenan, again quick on his wit, says he’s here to rub salt into the wounds of Hogan.

Match #3: Koko B. Ware vs. “Iron” Mike Sharpe. Back to Copps Coliseum, 12/29/87. In progress, thank God. Sharpe works over the Birdman, lots of yelling. This is Sharpe’s hometown, so he has a few fans around ringside. Koko comes back with a cross body, and counters a piledriver with a backdrop on Sharpe. Iron Mike gets caught in the ropes and Ware hits a running headbutt. Koko telegraphs a backdrop and Sharpe cracks him with the forearm pad. Sharpe whips Ware into the corner but misses a charge. Ware starts flapping his wings and makes a comeback with some big forearm shots. Koko fakes a reverse bodyblock, Sharpe ducks and Koko goes up and hits the flying dropkick! Ware finishes things off with the Ghostbuster for the 3 count in 4:28 shown of a 6:00 match. Well, it was short enough that it didn’t stink. Best match thus far, but that’s not saying anything. 1/2*

– WWF Update: The Matilda Saga continues. It’s been 2 weeks since Bobby Heenan & The Islanders stole Matilda from the British Bulldogs. We go back in time and watch the dog napping on tape. Jack Tunney responds this week, after giving Heenan a week to give up the location of Matilda. Since Heenan hasn’t given Tunney any information, the WWF President suspends the Islanders without pay, effective immediately. Tunney will only lift the suspension once the whereabouts of Matilda are know. Back in the studio, Heenan swears he doesn’t know where the dog is.

Match #4: Dan Spivey vs. “Leaping” Lanny Poffo. Our final Copps Coliseum match of the week. Again, in progress, Spivey has a bear hug applied on Poffo. Many people either don’t know about or forget about this short sting in the WWF that Spivey had as a heel. Dan originally came in as a baby face and later on worked with Mike Rotunda before suffering a knee injury and sitting out some time. When Spivey returned near the end of 1987, he had undergone a transformation from “The Golden Boy”, into the bug eyed, spike haired, heel that we’d all become familiar with in the NWA. Lanny breaks free, but Spivey nails him with a lariat. Lanny slides behind a slam attempt and a reverse cradle for 2. Spivey tosses Poffo to the floor. Spivey telegraphs a backdrop and Poffo makes a comeback, hitting a Moonsault for a 1 count. Lanny misses a dropkick, and Spivey follows up with the Hangman’s Neckbreaker for the win in 3:04 shown of a 8:00 match. There really wasn’t anything here. It was okay for what it was. 1/4*

– Mean Gene interviews Ricky Steamboat about his match with Rick Rude at the “Rumble Royal”. Yes, he’s screwing up the name again. Steamboat cuts a generic baby face promo. Steamboat says he’s going to toast some buns… because he’s a Dragon… get it?

Bobby Heenan mocks Gene Okerlund for continuing to call it the “Rumble Royal”. Heenan correct Gene and says it’s the ROYAL Rumble because “King” Harley Race is in it. As Gorilla & Heenan run down the list of participants in the Rumble match, one of the names mentioned is Bam Bam Bigelow. Only Bigelow didn’t work the show. Hmm, makes you wonder if he was ever penned in as the winner, given his push at the time.

Match #5: Cowboy Lang vs. Lord Littlebrook. From Paris, France, 10/23/87. Cowboy Lang enters to “Crank It Up”. I wonder if Warrior knew he was sharing his theme with a midget? Bobby & Gorilla on voiceover commentary. Littlebrook gets the laughs going soon, missing a charge and falling out of the ring, then tripping on the way back in. Lord shouts “aye aye aye” throughout the entire match in a very high-pitched voice. Lang stomps Lord’s hands, but Littlebrook back with some heel work. Littlebrook struts and poses for some fun. Lang applies a Full Nelson, but the Lord breaks it and struts some more to get over with the crowd. During the match there’s a commercial break, Bobby’s on the phone. Heenan puts the phone aside and asks Gorilla if “the midgets are over yet?”. Monsoon explains no, and Heenan goes back to his phone call with disinterest. lol. Match continues, Littlebrook escapes the Full Nelson again. Littlebrook lets Lang put him in the Full Nelson a third time, and this time Lord can’t break. Lang turns it into a roll up for 2. Crowd is really enjoying the show. Littlebrook is a great entertainer. The Lord keeps biting Lang’s fingers, to Lang retaliates by biting his ass. Comedy spot as the referee pulls Lang off by the ankles and Lang bites the ref’s ass. Littlebrook does some hilarious selling, and then they go into the pinfall spot where the referee keeps throwing Lang back on top of Littlebrook for the count. Finally, Lord gets up and the entire crowd cheers in appreciation. This applause really feels 10 years ahead of it’s time, like the fans are simply applauding the show being put on, and not so much the wrestling itself. Lord gives the referee shit for throwing Lang on him, so when the situation is reversed, instead of the ref throwing Littlebrook back on top, he throws him to the side. I’ve seen it before, but it’s still funny to me. Littlebrook hits a Big Little Boot. Lang catches a second boot and threatens to kick Lord in the junk. Atomic drop by Lang, but Lord blocks a Kiwi Roll. Lang goes off the ropes, Littlebrook drops down, Lang puts on the breaks and hooks his feet under the arms of Brook and rolls him over into a pin for the win in 11:45. This match was a lot of classic midget spots, but done right. Littlebrook deserves so much more respect than he gets as a worker. He may have been small, but that guy had “IT”. He understood every aspect of the job and entertained the fans here, and me as well. That’s why this match gets a whole *, yes a midget match has been the best thing on the show this week, wrestling wise.

Match #6: Demolition (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Billy Jack Haynes & Brady Boone. Feature match time from the Sam Houston Coliseum 12/11/87 in Houston, TX. Your referee is Houston mainstay Nick Kozak, and your commentators are the clusterf*ck trio of Bruce Prichard, Pete Doherty, and Mike McGuirk. Whoever put that group together was ribbing somebody. Match starts off fast with all four men, the Demos try to get the jump, but Haynes presses his “cousin” Brady Boone onto Smash for a surprise 2 count to get things going. Boone & Haynes work the arm of Smash. Smash finally lays in a stuff forearm to Haynes and tags to Ax. Ax ends up in the same armbar predicament. For as terrible as Doherty is, McGuirk is absolutely atrocious. She makes Doherty sound like Gordon Solie. The Demos get the upper hand on Haynes and pitch him to the floor. Fuji nails Haynes with his cane behind the back of the referee. Big clothesline by Smash back in the ring, and Ax follows with axe handles. Demolition get Haynes in their corner and work him over. Haynes somehow manages to make it to his corner for a hot tag to Boone. Brady rushes in with a knee lift on Ax, but Ax puts an end to that with a big shot to the chest. Now the Demos work over Boone. Ax tosses him outside, but Haynes is there to make sure nothing happens. Boone surprises Ax with a sunset flip, but fails to notice Smash has tagged in. Smash lays Boone out for 2. Smash with a neck vice on Brady but telegraphs a backdrop. Boone leaps over Smah and hot tags to Billy Jack! Haynes takes care of both Demolition. Running powerslam by Haynes on Smash, but Axe breaks it up. Boone rejoins the fight. Boone & Haynes hit a double clothesline on Ax, and then Smash. Boone tries to climb to the top rope but he’s having all sorts of trouble with the loose rope. Smash meets him in the corner and they sort of both just fall to the mat. I guess it was supposed to be a cross body by the way Smash took the bump but it looked terrible. I assumed the original plan was for Smash to catch him and hit the Hot Shot across the top rope. And yup, I’d be right. After blowing the original spot, Smash shoots Boone off and grabs him for the HOT SHOT for the win after 10:38. Well that was disappointing. I wasn’t expecting a 5 star match, but I thought these 4 had a chance to get a higher rating than the midget match. Between Boone’s many screwups, Haynes barely getting any offense in (Haynes would be gone within a week or to of this program), and Demolition having no interest in putting much effort in tonight, this match was just there. 3/4*

And THAT will conclude another edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling.

Final Thoughts: A lot of the matches on PTW are hit or miss, but this week, I don’t need to tell you that they were scraping the barrel. When only one of your matches reaches one star, and your highest rated match is a midget match, that’s not going down in the record books as a good week. I’m not knocking Littlebrook & Lang, but a midget comedy match is for novelty, not for great action. But if you look for the light in this episode, there was a very early Warrior match, a rare bit of Dan Spivey working heel in the WWF, and the only thing that could be salvaged from this show were the Hogan/Andre, and Bulldogs/Islander segments, neither of which featured wrestling. If you ever come across this episode, I’d advise you to pass it up unless you’re a huge Warrior fan or want to catch the storyline pieces involving the Hulkster and Matilda.

Match of the Night: The Midget Match, though that was hardly “wrestling”.

Things can only get better from here… Hopefully!