Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, still broadcasting from San Antonio, Texas. In a funny opening bit, Heenan thinks Monsoon is talking about Tito Santana when Monsoon references former Mexican general Santa Anna.
The Bushwhackers squash match from Prime Time Wrestling opens the show.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report recaps the Earthquake-Hacksaw Jim Duggan feud.
The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) (6-0) defeats Ray Majori after a flying clothesline at 2:39:
Monsoon commemorates the match by himself because Heenan is at ringside. In the split screen, Heenan says that the Barbarian cannot be defeated by anyone in the WWF. After some methodical work, the Barbarian lives up to that hype with a flying clothesline.
Tugboat (8-0) pins Bob Bradley after a splash at 2:15:
After the opening bell, Hulk Hogan hypes Tugboat in the split screen, making a wild comment about how he and Tugboat hung out on the deck of the RMS Titanic. Hogan also watches some of the squash by peeking his head out of the backstage curtains. There is a big pop for a Tugboat avalanche, but the pop is for Hogan, who walks to ringside to raise Tugboat’s hand after he wins with a squash. Tugboat marks out for that.
Akeem (w/Slick) (5-3) pins Stephen DeLeon after a splash at 2:26:
It would take four DeLeon’s to make one Akeem, so there is a big size disparity. Monsoon explains that DeLeon may not have known he was going to face Akeem since he may have signed an open contract and got this match as a result. Akeem destroys DeLeon with a few elbow drops and wins with a splash.
Gene Okerlund interviews the Big Bossman. It is a short one, with the Bossman saying that the WWF is his legal jurisdiction and he does not fear scum like Ted DiBiase.
The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) (8-0) defeats Bobby Perez & Jim Brunzell when Sato pins Perez after a sitout powerbomb at 3:10:
Monsoon and Heenan have complimentary words for Brunzell, with Heenan saying that Brunzell was the best part of any tag team he was a part of. Brunzell does a few arm drags and tags in Perez, who takes a beating from each member of the Express. A Tanaka forearm sets up Sato’s sitout powerbomb. The crowd likes both of those moves, but the Express still need some good double team moves as they are the company’s worst tag team in that regard.
A replay of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament final match from Superstars is shown.
The Last Word: This was a generic wrestling episode with some squashes and a recap of a feature match on a bigger show. Since the Tugboat gimmick was not getting over, the WWF is hoping Hulk Hogan can rescue it.
Here is a recap of the action on the WWF house show circuit during this week in its history, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Hartford, Connecticut – The Hartford Civic Center – May 17, 1990 (6,000): Hillbilly Jim defeated the Brooklyn Brawler…Brutus Beefcake beat the Genius…The Bushwhackers defeated Rhythm & Blues via disqualification…The Barbarian beat Jimmy Snuka…The Big Bossman pinned Ted DiBiase…Dino Bravo beat the Red Rooster…Jim Powers pinned Pez Whatley…WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior defeated Mr. Perfect.
Sacramento, California – The Arco Arena – May 18, 1990 (4,000): Koko B. Ware pinned Boris Zhukov…Hercules pinned Haku…The Warlord beat Tito Santana…Rick Martel defeated Ronnie Garvin…Earthquake pinned Hacksaw Jim Duggan…WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition wrestled the Hart Foundation to a double disqualification…The Big Bossman pinned Ted DiBiase with a small package.
Minneapolis, Minnesota – The Met Center – May 20, 1990 (2,000): Hillbilly Jim pinned the Brooklyn Brawler…Jim Powers beat Pez Whatley…The Barbarian defeated Jimmy Snuka…The Bushwhachers beat Rhythm & Blues via disqualification…Sensational Sherri beat Sapphire…Dusty Rhodes pinned Randy Savage.
Backstage News*: The WWF is hoping that the Ultimate Warrior-Rick Rude program does good business over the summer because there are no other good heels to pair with the Warrior at this point.
*Dusty Rhodes lobbied backstage for Tugboat’s recent push. Tugboat is Rhodes’ brother-in-law.
*The Road Warriors are expected to debut in August and will be called the Legion of Doom. They will be programmed against Demolition in a feud expected to run until WrestleMania where the losing team will be forced to remove their face paint.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 28.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for May 21!