April 5, 1987
From the Ohio Center in Columbus, OH
Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon
In action tonight are The Islanders, Kamala, Honky Tonk Man, and Billy Jack Haynes.
Al Navarro & Iron Mike Sharpe vs. The Islanders
Heenan lets us know that the names Haku and Tama mean “Dumb and Stupid.” Haku catches Sharpe with a slam as we are shown the Islanders in an insert promo telling everyone that they can beat the Hart Foundation. Back to the match as the Islanders maintain control of the match. They now beat on Navarro using a lot of quick tags and double-team moves as Heenan continues to make fun of them for being stupid on commentary. Haku kills Navarro with a chop then takes him down with an enziguiri before he allows him to tag Sharpe. He catches Tama with a forearm smash then tags Navarro, who gets slammed then shortly after that the Islanders put him away with a suplex/top rop splash combo (3:53).
Thoughts: A showcase for the Islanders, who were being tossed into the list of teams to take on the Hart Foundation for the belts. Fun fact: Iron Mike Sharpe was fired by the WWF in 1984 for refusing to put over Tama, who was going by the Tonga Kid at the time.
Craig DeGeorge is with an irate Randy Savage, who says “no more Mr. Nice Guy” as everyone will see the difference when they step into the ring with him. They are portraying Savage as a lunatic out for revenge.
A replay of Part One of the Ken Patera story. Only difference here is that Heenan getting flustered that this is happening then in disbelief over the preview for Part Two.
Sivi Afi vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart
Honky brings a guitar with him to the ring for the match. Afi starts off the match in control with a chop and a slam as we get an insert promo from Honky stating that if Jake Roberts can birng a snake to the ring with him then he can bring a guitar. Honky comes back with a clothesline the goes to work on Afi as Heenan puts over his singing abilities. The crowd chants for Jake Roberts as Afi makes a brief comeback until Honky blocks a monkey flip out of the corner then he puts Afi away with the Shake, Rattle, and Roll (2:47).
Thoughts: Honky was starting to get over well as a heel as all of his taunts and even bringing the guitar into the ring threatening to sing all worked in getting him heat.
Gene Okerlund is with Outback Jack, who states that he has been working with Hulk Hogan because he was a “little chubby” when he first arrived. Not too much to this interview.
The Gladiator vs. Billy Jack Haynes
Match starts with the Gladiator attacking Haynes, who then no-sells the offense before beating the crap out of him. We then get an insert promo from Butch Reed, who tells Haynes that he lacks natural ability. The announcers talk about how the WWF Magazine will now be issued monthly as Haynes puts the Gladiator away with the full nelson (1:44).
Thoughts: No real mention of Hercules here as they appear to be moving Hercules into a feud with Reed.
Okerlund is now with Paul Roma, who he hails as a future star. Okerlund even proclaims that Roma will be a champion one day before putting over his physique. After cooling off his brief push and feud with Lombardi they are giving him another chance to get over a bit.
Sam Cody vs. Kamala w/ Mr. Fuji & Kimchee
This is Fuji’s debut as Kamala’s manager. Also, Kamala is sporting green and yellow face paint here. Match starts with Kamala backing Cody into the corner where he destroys him. Kamal then tosses him around a few times before putting him away with the top rope splash (0:56). After the match, Kimchee prevents Kamala from hitting another splash as Fuji stands there and does nothing.
Thoughts: New manager same results for Kamala. Beyond the minute-long squashes and stretcher jobs, Kamala’s act didnt offer a whole lot of anything else. Its easy to see why he always bounced from territory to territory. The act doesnt have a long shelf-life in one place.
Snake Pit with guest Blackjack Mulligan, who comes out eating a WWF Ice Cream Bar. He then pulls out a few more bars as Mulligan tells them that they taste great as Roberts tells him that they are kids but then has one himself as this turns into a complete schill for the Ice Cream bars, from Blackjack Mulligan of all people. A total waste of time. Blackjack even talked about putting BB sauce and jalapenos on the ice cream.
“The Outlaw” Ron Bass vs. Joe Mirto
The announcers put over the feud between Bass and Mulligan, a feud that ended as quickly as it started due to Mulligan leaving the company. Match starts with Bass taking Mirto down with a hiptoss then beating on him for a minute, mixing in illegal heel tactics, before putting him away with a jumping back elbow smash (2:32).
Thoughts: A boring squash that the fans didnt seem to care about. This was to set up Bass for his feud with Mulligan but Blackjack was just about gone from the company by the time this match aired.
Okerlund runs down the results from WrestleMania III.
Another vignette of Outback Jack trying and failing to adapt to American customs as a cop prevents him from jumping into the water as Jack wanted to cool himself off after a walk. This was a very, very lame Crocodile Dundee knockoff segment.
Jerry Allen vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/ Johnny V. & Dino Bravo
Valentine chops the piss out of Allen as Brutu Beefcake is shown in an insert promo calling out his former friends, declaring that their nightmare is about to begin. Allen takes control after Valentine misses an elbow drop. He gets a nearfall off of a monkey flip then hammers away in the corner. He nearly botches a snapmare then gets caught with an inverted atomic drop and shortly after that Valentine makes Allen submit to the Figure Four (2:45).
Thoughts: Allen looked bad here but the main purpose of this was to push a feud between Beefcake and his former pals.
Okerlund is now with Jimmy Hart. He messes up Hart’s name then Danny Davis comes out and says he was glad that the WWF fired him as a referee because he can now take on anybody in the WWF. He calls out Koko B. Ware, saying he will be first of the many that he will run through in the company.
Next week in action will be Demolition, Butch Reed, and highlights from the Iron Sheik vs. Jim Duggan match that took place on the 4/4/87 edition of Superstars.
Final Thoughts: This show did not offer a whole lot. They pushed some minor new feuds that were not particularly exciting and combined with unmemorable promos and vignettes it made for a dull show.
Here is my schedule for the next several days:
Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 4/11/87
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Curt Hawkins
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 4/12/87
Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 4/18/87