Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are tonight’s hosts. Monsoon tells Heenan that he does not appreciate how he left last week’s show. He says that he has seen Hogan and he is okay but could be doing better.
The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) pins Pez Whatley after a flying clothesline at 4:31:
In the lead-in to the match, Monsoon hypes the Barbarian as “Heenan’s antlered wonder.” The squash goes too long, made worse by the Barbarian’s methodical offense. The crowd does not react to Whatley’s token flourish at the end.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the Hulk Hogan letter writing campaign. Monsoon reminds fans that they should wear their Hogan friendship bracelets until Hogan comes back.
Shane Douglas defeats Bob Bradley after a slingshot back suplex at 3:46:
Douglas was a Dominic DeNucci trainee who started wrestling in 1982. He worked as an enhancement talent under his real name Troy Martin in 1986 before jumping over to Bill Watts’ Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). It was there that he adopted the Shane Douglas name. He won the UWF’s Television Championship before signing with WCW in 1989, forming a tag team called the Dynamic Dudes with Johnny Ace. The pair feuded with the Midnight Express and broke up in March 1990 when Ace decided to wrestle for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Douglas then reportedly left WCW because the company wanted him to job to Mean Mark’s heart punch, a finisher that he thought was silly.
This match comes from Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on May 27. Douglas is positioned as a babyface and he does not have a gimmick, simply working as a rookie with potential. He bumps well and moves well, stunning Bradley with a slingshot side suplex to win his first match. No rating is provided because of Bradley’s low status on the card but this was perfectly fine television fare, especially for a house show match.
The Bushwhackers (13-0) defeat Bill Garlets & Dale Wolfe when Luke pins Garlets after a double stomachbreaker at 3:00:
In a cringeworthy segment, Sean Mooney asks a doctor in the split screen whether the Bushwhacker arm swing is good for you and the doctor makes specious claims that it is. The Rochester, New York crowd is silent for much of the match, mimicking the treatment that they gave the Barbarian earlier in the show. A sloppy double stomachbreaker that folds up Garlets like an accordion keeps the Bushwhackers undefeated streak for the year intact.
Heenan claims that a lot of people look up to him, but Monsoon says that the only people that do are little people like Sky Low Low.
The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) (11-0) defeat Jim McPherson & Jim Powers when Sato pins McPherson after a sitout powerbomb at 1:38:
Instead of talking about the Rockers feud with the Express, Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes prefer to talk about the Wrestling Spotlight magazine that will have Ted DiBiase on the cover. The Express do not do a lot in this squash, but Sato gives the bigger McPherson an impressive sitout powerbomb to finish it.
Monsoon says that the Express’ lack of size will work against them if they go after Demolition’s tag team titles.
Promo time with Mooney! Hillbilly Jim encourages kids to come to WWF shows in the summer now that they are out of school. He adds that they should take someone with them when they swim and be careful in whatever they do. Haku and Heenan call out the tough guys in the WWF like the Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, Paul Roma, and the Red Rooster.
The Big Bossman’s squash from Superstars airs.
The Rosati Sisters, who are WWF superfans, visit the program. The three are dressed in Hulk Hogan gear and hand Monsoon a set of letters so that they can get to the former WWF champion. They also bring
Hacksaw Jim Duggan (17-1-1) pins Duane Gill after the three-point stance clothesline at 1:36:
Gill, whose hairline was beginning to recede, was a Larry Sharpe trainee who was in the midst of his rookie year. When he was not doing television jobs, he worked in the Mid-Atlantic area as part of a masked tag team with Barry Hardy called the Lords of Darkness. Modern fans best know him as the Goldberg comedy ripoff character Gillberg during the Attitude Era.
In the split screen, Duggan shows off his 2×4, which is covered in Hogan friendship bracelets. He promises to chase Earthquake and Jimmy Hart across the country to get revenge for his friend. Duggan works his usual formula and wins his twelfth straight match.
Monsoon goes nuts on Heenan when the manager argues that Hogan got what he deserved on the Brother Love for bullying people. He fines him $2,000 and tells him that if he does not like it, he can hit the road and take his Hasbro toys with him.
Rhythm & Blues (w/Jimmy Hart) (15-0-1) defeat Jimmy Snuka & Koko B. Ware when Greg Valentine pins Ware with a clothesline at 7:22:
This bout took place as part of the Wrestling Challenge tapings in Rochester, New York on June 5 and true to form with other bouts from that show this evening, the crowd barely reacts to the action. One would expect a Snuka-Ware team to be aerial focused, but they stay grounded for much of the bout. Snuka is placed in peril and the Blues’ lack of interesting offense is exposed as they punch and kick away. Ware gets a visual pin on the Honky Tonk Man with an O’Connor roll after a hot tag, but the referee is tied up with Snuka and Valentine blasts Ware with a clothesline for the victory. Everyone except Ware was sleeping through this and it was a disappointment. Rating: *
A replay of the Brother Love Show from Superstars, where Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri made an appearance, airs.
Brutus Beefcake (13-0-2) beats Mike Durham via submission to the sleeper hold at 3:22:
As the match starts, Beefcake does an insert promo where he says he would love to whittle down Mr. Perfect’s ego “to a short, flattop.” Beefcake takes his time beating up the future Johnny Grunge, winning his fifth straight match with the sleeper. Afterward, he gives Durham a trim.
The Genius, wearing a big blonde wig, puts on two blindfolds and quickly recites the names of America’s presidents. He claims to break a world record of thirteen seconds when he is done but when he pulls off the blindfolds he nearly takes his wig with them.
Monsoon apologizes to the audience for losing his cool and knocking over the Hasbro figures earlier. Heenan hilariously forgives Monsoon, who tells Heenan that he is not apologizing to him.
Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart) (16-3-2) pins Tony Ulysses with a sidewalk slam at 1:34
It would not be an episode of Prime Time Wrestling without a Bravo match. Bravo tells Tugboat in the split screen that he is going to take a Hulk Hogan friendship bracelet and strangle him with it. Ulysses gets no offense on Bravo, who mows over him with a falling clothesline to setup the sidewalk slam.
More promos with Mooney! Koko B. Ware promises to have a good time with fans when he visits their town, stealing Hulk Hogan’s gimmick by saying “brother” a lot during his bit. Akeem and Slick argue that a lot of men do not want to face him. Slick says that Akeem is going down in the WWF record book as the greatest African competitor to grace the company’s squared circle.
The Rockers squash from Superstars is shown.
Rick Martel (12-1-1) pins Hercules (10-2) after blocking a sunset flip with the ropes and using them for leverage at 6:45:
This feature match took place at the June 6 Superstars taping in Binghamton, New York. The match inverts the usual babyface-heel flow as Martel takes the fight to Hercules at the beginning, only to have a blind charge into the ring post put Hercules in command and work over Martel’s left arm. After getting knocked to the floor from a double KO spot, Hercules tries to sunset flip into the ring, but Martel uses the ring ropes to block it, pin his bigger opponent, and end Hercules’ five-match winning streak. These guys had good chemistry and Martel has shown great fire in recent feature bouts. Rating: **
After the match, referee almost convinces referee Mike Chioda to reverse the decision. In lieu of that, he tosses Martel back into the ring and beats him up until Martel sprays Arrogance in Hercules’ eyes. Before Martel can do any damage, Paul Roma rushes into the ring and drives him off.
Tune in next week to see Jake Roberts face Akeem! Also, Rick Rude, Dusty Rhodes, and Koko B. Ware will be in action!
The Last Word: The show had a fun feature match and its post-match activities continue the on-screen alliance between Hercules and Paul Roma, which should lead into a permanent pairing in the tag division. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan have been on fire in their exchanges in recent weeks although Monsoon is going overboard on the Hulk Hogan love.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for June 23!