February 9th, 1991
From the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper
This week’s featured match is Tugboat vs. Earthquake. Also, Sgt. Slaughter will be the guest on the “Brother Love Show.” Others in action include Ted DiBiase and Jake Roberts.
Earthquake w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Tugboat
Both men try to knock each other and that ends with Earthquake hitting a clothesline. Earthquake chokes out Tugboat with his foot as Piper puts over how hard the super heavyweights can hit people. Earthquake takes Tugboat down with another clothesline but Tugboat reverses an Irish whip and hits a corner splash. Earthquake gets clotheslined in the ropes but Hart provides a distraction and tosses his megaphone into the ring. Earthquake then whacks Tugboat for the DQ (3:23) 1/2*. After the match, Earthquake hits a sit-down splash.
Thoughts: They closed the chapter on the Earthquake/Tugboat stuff here. And Tugboat was a dud of a character that never belonged near the top of the card but since he had size they were able to find a new role for him in a couple of months.
The Nasty Boys defeat Reno Riggins & Mike Williams in a match first shown on the 2/4 edition of “Prime Time Wrestling.”
WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. This week, Okerlund confirmed last week’s rumor of the Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho King Randy Savage having a career vs. career match at WrestleMania VII. We then hear from Savage & Sherri as Savage calls himself a champion forever while Warrior’s career is below his and he looks down upon all of the Warriors. Savage cut a great promo. Now, we hear from Warrior as he tells Savage to go back and find what he once had and search for the madness he once controlled because he will end his career. Since the Royal Rumble they’ve done a brilliant job hyping up this feud. And the second match from the top on the WrestleMania card is all set. After what we saw at the Royal Rumble the stipulation makes sense and sure is intriguing even though at the time it was well known in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter” that Savage would be losing and going to the announcing booth.
The Warlord w/ Slick vs. Tom King
Vince does not understand while Warrior and Savage are putting their careers on the line because they are in the primes. Warlord destroys King as we see an insert of a “WWF Magazine” article on the Warlord and Davey Boy Smith then Warlord uses the full nelson for the win (1:08).
Thoughts: The announcers put over the importance of the career vs. career stipulation in the Warrior/Savage match while hyping up the Warlord/Davey Boy Smith feud.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Tony Burton
Vince puts over how Jake has become more aggressive. Jake works the arm then knocks Burton down with a punch. Jake goes back to the arm then hits a DDT for the win as Vince says there is speculation Jake has already signed his “WrestleMania Contract” (1:49). After the match, Jake dumps Damien on top of Burton
Thoughts: The story here is finding out about Jake’s WrestleMania match. The crowd still goes nuts for him hitting the DDT.
Ad for WrestleMania VII airs. No mention of it taking place at the Los Angeles Coliseum but they are still hyping it as the “biggest celebration ever.”
Brother Love Show with guests Sgt. Slaughter and Gen. Adnan. We first hear Adnan put over Slaughter as champion then Slaughter speaks. Slaughter said he followed through on his pledge to become the World Heavyweight Champion. Slaughter also said it does not matter how he became champion then talks about people thinking his ways are unconventional and cruel but we are playing by his rules. Slaughter then calls out Hulk Hogan and puts him next on his list while calling him “immortal slime.” Slaugther closes by saying he’ll be champion for life.
WrestleMania VII Report with Gene Okerlund. We see footage of Hogan on his USO tour then hear from Hogan himself. Hogan tells Slaughter when he got hit with the steel chair at Main Event it was like a scud missile that misfired. Hogan then talks about heading to the Persian Gulf where he will launch the “Hulkamissile” right after becoming the champion. Okerlund also tells us that Rick Martel signed a contract to face Jake Roberts but did not read the fine print because its a “Blindfold Match.” We hear from an angry Martel about the match being unfair because Jake has been blind for a while. Other matches are Jimmy Snuka vs. The Undertaker, Big Bossman vs. Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Title, and Davey Boy Smith vs. Warlord. Okerlund also tells us there will be an instant replay debate and that Willie Nelson is singing “America the Beautiful.”
“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase vs. Lynn Wagner
DiBiase sidesteps a sneak attack then beats the crap out of Wagner before putting him away with the Million Dollar Dream (0:43). Vince notes that DiBiase is not signed for a WrestleMania match as Piper said he can change that as he laughs.
Thoughts: Based off of Piper’s laugh and how he is credited with helping Virgil stick up to DiBiase its pretty easy to see where this is going.
Next week, we will have a Tag Team Battle Royal with the winners facing the Hart Foundation for the titles at WrestleMania. We then hear from the champs as Bret says there are the “best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be.”
Final Thoughts: The big news here is that they are starting to name the rest of the WrestleMania card and confirmed the rumor of the career vs. career match between Savage and Warrior. We also learned that Jake vs. Martel will be a “Blindfold Match” and set up a reason to tune in next week with the #1 contender Tag Team battle royal. Since the Rumble these shows have become more interesting and broke away from the stale formula that had been hampering the weekly programming.
Here is my schedule for the next several days:
Thursday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 2/10/91
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 2/16/91
Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 6/9/83
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 2/17/91
Monday: WWF Prime Time Wrestling 2/18/91
Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 2/23/91
Wednesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 2/24/91