April 28, 1990
From the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY
Your hosts are Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Vince McMahon
Tonight, the Intercontinental Title Tournament kicks off with Tito Santana vs. Akeem. Also in action are Earthquake, Hart Foundation, Dino Bravo, and Tugboat. Plus, “Brother Love Show” with guest Hulk Hogan and more!
Hart Foundation vs. Bob Bradley & Pez Whatley in a match first aired on the 4/23/90 edition of “Prime Time Wrestling.”
WWF Update with Gene Okerlund, who continues to shill the Hulk Hogan vitamins. This week’s focus is on last week’s interview with Bad News Brown on “Wrestling Challenge” where Jake Roberts apparently gave a gift for Okerlund to give Bad News and that ended up being a rubber snake as Bad News became scared then irate. We then hear from Jake as he talks about trying to put a smile on Bad News’ face for his birthday and hopes he enjoyed it.
Mitch Ryder vs. Dino Bravo w/ Jimmy Hart
Bravo beats on Ryder to start. He follows with a backdrop and stays in control as we hear from Brutus Beefcake, his opponent in the IC Title Tournament, who will put all of his efforts into kicking Bravo’s “butt.” Bravo stays in control of the match until he puts Ryder away with a side slam (1:34).
Thoughts: An easy win to give Bravo a little momentum heading into his IC Title Tournament match against Beefcake.
Rick Rude is at the gym with Bobby Heenan, who tells the Ultimate Warrior his days are numbered. Rude tells Warrior he can read him like a book and will beat him again for the World Heavyweight Title.
WWF Intercontinental Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Akeem w/ Slick vs. Tito Santana
Akeem backs Tito into the corner but Tito fights back. Akeem rolls outside for a breather then returns where Tito works over his arm. Jesse swears to Vince that Tito’s name is “Chico” as Akeem fights back. Tito avoids a charge then knocks down Akeem after a pair of dropkicks. Akeem blocks a figure four attempt but Tito ducks a clothesline and hits the flying forearm that knocks Akeem to the floor. Slick frantically tries to get Akeem up but he is unable to beat the ten count as Tito advances in the tournament (4:05) *.
Thoughts: Not much of a match and the finish felt a bit cheap but I guess you can call it a mild upset with Tito beating his much larger opponent.
Rick Martel defeats Paul Roma in a match first shown on the 4/23/90 edition of “Prime Time Wrestling.”
Brother Love Show with guest Hulk Hogan. Brother Love tells us that Hogan has lost all of his powers and is all battered. Hogan gets a great reactions as he enters then he poses to show us all he is fine and that he has not lost any Hulkamaniacs. Brother Love then asks him about the Earthquake and calls him the reason he lost at WrestleMania VI as Hogan tells us that Hulkamania will never die. Hogan then says he felt the earthquake but it was really just a tremor and tells us he will prove that at the end of the day, Hulkamania will be the strongest force. The point of this was to remind everyone that despite losing the Title he is still a major force in the WWF.
Earthquake defeats Paul Perez in a match first aired on the 4/23/90 edition of “Prime Time Wrestling.”
Clips of The Rockers vs. Orient Express from WrestleMania VI.
Tugboat vs. Joe Champ
Vince is cackling like a moron over Tugboat’s antics. Tugboat runs over Champ a few times then we hear from him in an insert promo as he talks about making the biggest “splash” in WWF history. Tugboat then busts out a standing dropkick before hitting an avalanche then a splash for the win (1:18).
Thoughts: These promos were so ungodly lame and I still have no idea who the character is supposed to appeal to as even kids would find it too childish to care about.
Vince tells us that the Ultimate Warrior will defend the World Heavyweight Title and Hulk Hogan faces off against Mr. Perfect this weekend, which happened on “Saturday Night’s Main Event.” Warrior then tells Haku he’ll fall to the powers of the Warrior. After that, Hogan talks about ruining Mr. Perfect’s perfect record.
Next Week, Mr. Perfect faces Jimmy Snuka in the IC Title Tournament as Perfect calls out Snuka to close out the show.
Final Thoughts: The IC Title Tournament did not exactly get off on a great start as that is the focus on TV. We had the Hogan interview too as his appearances are usually meaningful. Other than that they touched upon a few other midcard feuds and hyped the SNME top matches.
Here is my schedule for the next several days:
Wednesday: EVOLVE 90 8/11/17
Thursday: Kayfabe Commentaries Timeline Series: 1990 WCW as told by Jim Cornette
Friday: WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event 4/28/90
Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 12/16/82
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 4/29/90
Monday: WWF Madison Square Garden 4/30/90
Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 5/5/90