Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are doing commentary and they are taped from Glen Falls, New York.
Opening Contest: Jake Roberts (8-1) defeats Sonny Austin with the DDT at 2:39:
Austin’s offense is terrible after a Roberts blind charge, laying in a few weak blows to the back and working a very loose, soft headlock. Roberts suplexes out of that and goes through his finishing sequence as he tells fans in the split screen where he rambles about fears one cannot overcome. These recent bits appear to be foreshadowing a heel turn. After the bell, Roberts dumps Damien on Austin.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment puts over Hulk Hogan vitamins. He recaps Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri’s beatdown of Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire on last week’s show.
The Warlord (w/Slick) (2-0) pins Jimmy Long after a running powerslam at 1:30:
In the split screen, Slick says that the Warlord is on a mission of destruction. The Warlord works a nice vertical suplex into his arsenal, pinning Long after a running powerslam to remain undefeated in singles competition.
The Genius, who has been sporting a new fluffy hairdo, gets on the interview podium to read a poem about how Brutus Beefcake’s barbershop will be closing soon.
The Bushwhackers (9-0) beat Scott Colantonio & Dale Wolfe when Butch pins Colantonio after a double stomachbreaker at 2:13:
Before the match, the Bushwhackers do an insert promo that says that Rhythm & Blues have bitten off more than they can chew. That causes McMahon to laugh. The Bushwhackers beat up each opponent and finish off Colantonio with a Battering Ram and double stomachbreaker.
Mr. Perfect’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling airs.
McMahon reveals the pairings for the Intercontinental Championship Tournament. The tournament will feature eight men in a single elimination format. The matchups are Tito Santana vs. Akeem, Brutus Beefcake vs. Dino Bravo, Jimmy Snuka vs. Mr. Perfect, and Roddy Piper vs. Rick Martel. So much for WWF President Jack Tunney telling Gorilla Monsoon that the tournament would feature sixteen men.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan is a guest on this week’s Brother Love Show. Love gets Duggan’s last name wrong and rubs in the Earthquake beating Duggan down at WrestleMania VI. Duggan agrees that the Earthquake Splash was devastating but it was not a fair fight because he was attacked from behind. He promises that if he faces the Earthquake in the future, he will chop him down to size with his 2×4.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Demolition (Champions) (8-0) beat the Bolsheviks (3-3) when Ax pins Boris Zhukov after Demolition Decapitation at 4:19:
Although Demolition are babyfaces they display some heelish tendencies by enticing Nikolai Volkoff into the ring so they can double team Boris Zhukov and switch out without tagging. Volkoff also appears disinterested, spending only a few seconds in the ring when he gets a tag before tagging in the more damaged Zhukov. There is not much of a hot tag as all four men brawl in the ring out of nowhere and then Demolition finish Zhukov after that. These teams are not a good matchup for each other. Rating: ½*
After the match, the Bolsheviks argue with each other to build off of a statement McMahon made during the match that they have not been getting along lately.
Rick Rude, along with Bobby Heenan, are doing more training. Rude works over a punching bag with the Ultimate Warrior’s face on it, promising to take the Warrior’s title the next time they meet up.
The Big Bossman’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
In taped promos for next week’s show Akeem and Slick say Tito Santana is bad to the bone, so when Akeem beats him, it will put fear into the heart’s of other competitors. Santana confirms that he is bad to the bone and promises to regain the Intercontinental Championship.
Tune in next week to see Tito Santana face Akeem in the first round of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament! Also, Tugboat, Dino Bravo, the Hart Foundation, and Earthquake will be in action! And Hulk Hogan will appear on the Brother Love Show!
The Last Word: This was a perfectly acceptable hour of television even though the feature match was poor because more angles developed. The Intercontinental Championship Tournament will allow more feature matches to occur on Superstars and Brutus Beefcake and Mr. Perfect are the favorites on their respective sides of the draw. The Bolsheviks should split up as the geopolitical reason for the team is eroding and the company is teasing heel turns for Demolition and Jake Roberts.
For this project I was unable to secure footage for the April 22 edition of Wrestling Challenge. However, here are the results of the show, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com. Commentary for the show featured Gorilla Monsoon replacing Vince McMahon as the play-by-play announcer:
-Rick Martel (8-1) defeated Mario Mancini via submission to the Boston Crab at 1:55
-The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) (6-0) beat Mark Thomas & Ben Allen when Sato pinned Allen with a sitout powerbomb at 2:41
-The Hart Foundation (7-0) beat Black Bart & Al Polic when Bret pinned Polic after the Hart Attack at 2:18
-Akeem (4-1) pinned Mike Williams with a splash at 1:51
After The Wrestling Summit the WWF resumed doing stateside house shows. Here were the results of some of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Detroit, Michigan – Joe Louis Arena – April 21, 1990 (3,700): Al Perez pinned Mark Young…Hillbilly Jim beat Bob Bradley…Dino Bravo pinned Pez Whatley…The Big Bossman defeated Ted DiBiase…The Rockers beat the Orient Express via count out…The Barbarian pinned Jimmy Snuka…Hulk Hogan beat Earthquake via disqualification after Jimmy Hart interfered.
Richmond, Virginia – Richmond Coliseum – April 21, 1990: Koko B. Ware beat Buddy Rose…Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeated Akeem…Brutus Beefcake beat the Genius…Rick Martel defeated Jim Brunzell…Paul Roma beat the Brooklyn Brawler…WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition wrestled the Hart Foundation to a double disqualification…Sensational Sherri beat Sapphire…Roddy Piper (substituting for Dusty Rhodes) pinned Randy Savage.
Providence, Rhode Island – Providence Civic Center – April 21, 1990 (4,700): Hercules beat Pete Doherty via submission…Tugboat pinned Black Bart…Rhythm & Blues beat the Bushwhackers via disqualification when Luke hit Greg Valentine with a guitar…Jake Roberts pinned Bad News Brown with the DDT…The Warlord pinned Tito Santana…Paul Diamond pinned Jim Powers…WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior beat Mr. Perfect at 7:46.
Backstage News*: WWF officials are disappointed that the Ultimate Warrior’s first run as champion drew less than 5,000 fans to Providence, Rhode Island but some think it could be the usual dip in business after WrestleMania. The WWF is reporting 852,000 buys for WrestleMania VI, but the actual numbers appear closer to 495,000 buys so the show was nowhere close to company expectations. Some pay-per-view providers offered the show at a $24.95 price point because they believed that the WWF’s price point of $29.95 was too high. The poor return on WrestleMania might mean that there will not be a rematch between the Warrior and Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII and there are some rumors that the Warrior might drop the belt back to Hogan at SummerSlam.
*Referee John Bello was arrested after offering an undercover cop $5,000 to murder his wife.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 30.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for April 23!