August 30, 1987
From the LaCrosse Center in LaCrosse, WI
Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon
In action this week will be Koko B. Ware, George Steele, Butch Reed, Killer Khan, and Jake Roberts.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Steve Lombardi
Roberts runs into a knee as Lombardi takes control. Roberts fights back and works the arm until hitting a short-armed clothesline. Roberts works an armbar on the mat as Heenan gloats about Rick Rude and the fact he is still in the running for Bam Bam Bigelow (This past Superstars he was eliminated). Roberts wins a slugfest then goes back to the arm. Lombardi uses an eye rake and hammers away against Jake, who blocks the attack and comes back with a knee lift. Roberts slams Lombardi off of the mat then signals for the DDT as he hits that for the win (4:34). After the match, Roberts dumps Damien on top of Lombardi then uses him to chase away the referee.
Thoughts: Long for a squash match. Jake has all but move on from his feud with Honky and is in need of a new opponent.
Craig DeGeorge tells us about Rick Martel & Tito Santana forming a new team called “Strike Force” as they promise to take care of the Islanders. Heenan and the Islanders are shown now as Heenan tells Martel he should have quit when he had the chance. This feud continues and it gave us great matches to close out the decade.
We see a clip of Jesse Ventura telling Mr. Fuji that he is out of the running to manage Bam Bam Bigelow.
Killer Khan vs. Jack Milliman
Yes, Milliman is AWA jobber Jake Milliman. Khan start the match by beating on Milliman before choking him out on the bottom rope. Khan connects with a thrust kick then sprays Milliman with the mist. Khan then hits a backbreaker before going up top and hitting a knee drop for the win (1:54).
Thoughts: Another dominating performance for Khan to keep him looking strong in his house show matches against Hogan.
Gene Okerlund is with Jimmy Hart, who boasts about managing the Tag Team and the Intercontinental Champions. The Honky Tonk Man comes out and boasts that he is the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time.
We see a clip of Don Muraco saying that he does not need a partner or a manager before warning Bob Orton that you do not leave a “stone” alone while talking about a rock dropping into the water. This was when Muraco first started referring to himself as “The Rock.”
Brady Boone vs. “The Natural” Butch Reed w/ Slick & Nikolai Volkoff
Before the match, Volkoff sings the Russian National anthem at the request of Reed. Both guys trade arm wringers as we get an insert promo from Slick as he talks about signing Bam Bam Bigelow. Back to the match as Reed is beating on Boone. He hits a swinging neckbreaker but pulls Boone up before the three count to administer more punishment. Dropkick gets two but Reed misses an elbow in the corner as Boone does a pair of backflips in a row before hitting a dropkick of his own. Boone fires away but Reed slams him in the corner then flattens him with a clothesline that Boone uses a 360 to sell. Reed then picks Boone up for the press slam and gets the win (3:54).
Thoughts: Not a whole lot of mention about Reed’s feud with Superstar Billy Graham, which has not exactly set the world on fire on anything.
Okerlund is with Billy Jack Haynes to talk about injuries. Haynes says he has been injured for a few weeks due to Hercules attacking his knee. Haynes then screams psychotically about being sick and tired of the Heenan Family. He came off as scary as humanly possible in these photos. No way would I fuck with this guy.
More pet care tips from the British Bulldogs as they us to make sure your dog has plenty of water. Thrilling stuff.
Rick Ganter vs. George “The Animal” Steele
Steele beats on Gantner as Heenan gets pissed and leaves after Monsoon tells us we will see footage from last weeks episode of “Superstars of Wrestling.” Steele then puts Gantner away with the flying hammerlock (1:59).
Thoughts: Just a quick excuse to trot out Steele, who is merely a side attraction at this point as he is not engaged in any feuds.
Replay of Paul Orndorff firing Bobby Heenan and introducing Oliver Humperdink as his new manager from the 8/22 edition of “Superstars of Wrestling.”
King Harley Race & Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Jim Powers & Paul Roma
Johnny V. has replaced Heenan on commentary. Race & Hercules try to attack Powers & Roma before the bell but that fails. Race then hits Powers with a belly-to-belly suplex as the announcers talk about the battle for Bam Bam. Powers fights back then tags Roma, who cleans house and looks good in the process. Race breaks up a sunset flip attempt as the match breaks down. The ref orders Powers on the apron as Roma puts Hercules in the airplane spin but gets dizzy then Race slams Roma against the turnbuckle behind the referee’s back and Hercules covers to get the pin (3:25).
Thoughts: The finish of this match sucked. It was incredibly lame to begin with but the execution was still poor. After two weeks of fluke wins over name teams, Roma & Powers now lose by cheating.
Koko B. Ware vs. Dave Wagner
Johnny V is still on commentary here as Heenan remains absent. The match starts with a criss-cross that ends with Koko hitting a hiptoss. He hits a few armdrags and a dropkick as Monsoon plugs the “Piledriver” album then we see Koko and Frankie in an insert promo talking about how he sang the title track of the album. Back to the match as Koko hits a missile dropkick the finishes Wagner off with the Ghostbuster (1:36).
Thoughts: Koko is getting a small push as the guy singing the title song from the “Piledriver” album but that is all.
Okerlund is with Mr. Fuji and asks him about Demolition. Fuji puts over his team for being smart and tough as Demolition come out and tell us about a lot of people are scared to get into the ring with them. Ax continues his joke about calling Okerlund “Howard” then says he found out his real name is “Harvey” before saying they will not let Mr. Fuji down as they will take down any team that stands in their way of the titles. Fuji closes by saying he is a six-time WWF Tag Team Champion and has passed on his psychology to Demolition.
In action next week will be Hillbilly Jim (never happened), Strike Force, The Honky Tonk Man, and more.
Final Thoughts: Not much to see here this week. Superstars of Wrestling was clearly the “A” show and this was major proof of that as nothing of significance happened.
Here is my schedule for the rest of the week:
Thursday: KC Timeline Series: 1994 WCW as told by Eric Bischoff
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/5/87
Saturday: RoH Main Event Spectacles 11/1/03
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/6/87
Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/12/87