Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the studio for tonight’s show.
Opening Contest: Mr. Perfect (13-2) pins Jim Brunzell after the Perfectplex at 5:03:
After playing football alongside Greg Gagne at the University of Minnesota, Brunzell broke into the wrestling business in 1972 after being trained by Verne Gagne. His training class included other notable stars such as Ric Flair, Ken Patera, and the Iron Sheik. After spending the 1970s in NWA Central States, Mid-Atlantic, and the AWA, Brunzell jumped to the WWF and formed the Killer Bees with Florida star Brian Blair. The team cam close to winning the tag team titles on several occasions but never did it and after the summer of 1988 the team broke up off-screen. After that, Brunzell was used as a talent to make other stars look good on house shows and television.
Brunzell is wearing his Killer Bees tights and Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes put over his size and dropkick. Perfect gives a lot of offense to his fellow Minnesotan as Brunzell clotheslines him over the top rope and works over his left knee. Perfect responds in kind and that pays off when Brunzell cannot capitalize after landing a dropkick. A double KO spot results and Perfect comes out the better for wear, flattening Brunzell with a forearm and quickly hooking the Perfectplex to win. The bout was technically sound, but the crowd never gave Brunzell a chance and was not into it. Rating: **
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the Big Bossman-Ted DiBiase feud.
The Genius’ squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.
Heenan insists that he gave WWF President Jack Tunney a big list of names to put one of his guys into the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, but Tunney refused to pick any of them.
Hercules & Paul Roma (1-0) defeat Buddy Rose & Ken Johnson when Roma pins Johnson after a suplex-flying body press combination at 7:22:
This is the second outing for the Hercules and Roma team, who last competed on Prime Time Wrestling on March 12. It is not as good of a showcase as that bout since it goes on too long to fill television time. The match also flows awkwardly as Roma spends time in peril but Hercules tags him in several times after getting the hot tag to wear out Johnson. The highlight is the finish, with the crowd popping for Hercules hoisting Johnson up for a suplex and Roma coming off the top with a flying body press.
The Roddy Piper-Rick Martel Intercontinental Championship Tournament first round match from Wrestling Challenge is shown.
Event Center promos with Sean Mooney! Bad News Brown says he will be coming after the Ultimate Warrior’s WWF Championship just as soon as the Warrior gives him a title shot. Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire warn Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri that pain awaits them.
A replay of Rick Rude’s training vignette where he jumps rope in a gym and works on his punches with Heenan is shown.
The Bushwhackers (11-0) defeat the Brooklyn Brawler & Mark Ming when Luke pins Ming after a double stomachbreaker at 3:43:
The jobbers try to jump their opponents but get knocked out of the ring in turn. In the split screen, the Bushwhackers promise to break up Rhythm & Blues when they meet them in the ring. This is the Bushwhackers best squash of the year as they keep moving and work in some fun spots like Butch grabbing Ming and using him for a Battering Ram on the Brawler, sending the Brawler out of the ring. The Bushwhackers follow up by laying out Ming with a Battering Ram and finish him off with the double stomachbreaker.
Heenan insists that the Bolsheviks do not have any problems because fights are part of any relationship. Monsoon argues that the team cannot work any longer because Russia is not getting along with Lithuania, driving a wedge between Boris Zhukov and Nikolai Volkoff.
Earthquake’s squash of Jerry Monti from Superstars airs, along with Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s fight with Earthquake after the match. Heenan gets confused after the bout, saying that Earthquake beat “a mountie.” Monsoon blasts Heenan as “a mountain of misinformation.”
Brutus Beefcake’s match against Dino Bravo from the Intercontinental Championship Tournament on Superstars is shown.
More Event Center promos! Earthquake and Jimmy Hart recap his path of devastation across the WWF, arguing that no one in the WWF can survive an earthquake. The Bushwhackers say they want to take care of Rhythm & Blues for their “Bushwhackeroo” fans, who were in tears when the Blues beat them up before WrestleMania VI.
A replay of Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire’s appearance on the Brother Love Show on Superstars is shown.
Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) (11-1) wrestles Shawn Michaels (w/Marty Jannetty) (0-0-1) to a double disqualification at 12:31 shown:
This bout took place at the recent Wrestling Challenge taping in San Antonio, Texas, Michaels’ hometown. Michaels uses a lot of headlocks and referee Joey Marella shows an anti-DiBiase bias by rolling Michaels back into control when DiBiase tries to twist Michaels into a pinning combination. The action picks up after the commercial break and Michaels scores a lot of near-falls, nearly winning with a flying body press. Virgil trips Michaels after that and Jannetty chases him around the ring, getting clotheslined by DiBiase when the chase gets into the ring. When Virgil tries to interfere again moments later, Jannetty intercepts him in the ring and a four-way brawl triggers a double disqualification, which ring announcer Mike McGuirk botches when she tells the crowd there has been a double count out. DiBiase going to a draw with Michaels shows that the WWF had high hopes for Michaels as a singles and the quality of this match shows he had a future in that role. Rating: ***
After the bell, the Rockers clear the ring and try to do their double flying fist drop finisher to Virgil, but DiBiase knocks Jannetty off the top rope to break it up.
Tune in next week to see the Red Rooster face Dino Bravo!
The Last Word: Most of the new matches on this show were good, especially the feature match. Having Mr. Perfect struggle with Jim Brunzell made for a good opener, but since Perfect is about to wrestle in the finals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament and was working at the top of house show programs with the Ultimate Warrior, he needed to look stronger. The WWF continues to flirt with making Hercules and Paul Roma a permanent team, but it is tough to see where they would fit into the tag team hierarchy without a more defined gimmick or look.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for May 19!