Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper are in the booth and they are still in Providence, Rhode Island.
Opening Contest: The Bushwhackers (17-0) defeat Duane Gill & Barry Hardy when Luke pins Gill after a double stomachbreaker at 3:03:
Hardy has a weird hairdo where the top is blonde and the sides are black, so Piper calls him a skunk. The Bushwhackers might be undefeated but they are far outside of the tag team title picture. McMahon hypes a new program with the Orient Express, and Mr. Fuji and his team appear in the split screen, vowing to exterminate their unusual opponents. The Bushwhackers roll through their opponents and lick referee Joey Marella after the bell.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps the results of SummerSlam, highlight the Texas Tornado’s Intercontinental title win, Ted DiBiase being revealed as Sapphire’s benefactor, and the Hart Foundation winning the WWF Tag Team Championship.
The Warlord (w/Slick) (12-0) pins Scott Colantonio after the running powerslam at 2:12:
The Warlord’s power offense looks good throughout the match but he has little heat, owing to how he has not been programmed into a feud since breaking out as a single.
Tugboat is shown tying up a ship by the docks. He tells Earthquake and Dino Bravo that he is back and ready to get revenge.
Jimmy Snuka (11-2) defeats Barry O after the Superfly Splash at 2:45:
Piper acknowledges his past feud with Snuka, saying that while Snuka might be “dumb as a ring post” he is a fierce competitor. Snuka has updated his look to include a goatee and wears yellow tights, a departure from the brown ones he wore. Barry O wrestles at half speed so Snuka can keep up, eventually succumbing to a suplex and Superfly Splash. After the bell, Snuka glares menacingly at the camera, making one wonder why the WWF did not push him as a heel.
Sergeant Slaughter defeats Sonny Blaze via submission to a noogie at 2:37:
This was Slaughter’s first match in the WWF since 1984 as he left the company over a licensing dispute when the WWF did not want him to be part of the G.I. Joe toy brand. A trainee of Verne Gagne, Slaughter made his debut in 1972 and worked as Super Destroyer Mark II in the AWA with Lord Alfred Hayes and Bobby Heenan as his managers. He then had a run in the WWF from 1980-1981, having a notable feud with Pat Patterson, and then went to the NWA, working a hot program with partner Don Kernodle against Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Just prior to returning to the WWF, Slaughter worked for the AWA again, holding the company’s America’s Heavyweight Championship and feuding with AWA Champion Larry Zbyszko in 1990. One of the interesting things about the Slaughter character is that even though he was billed as a Vietnam War veteran, he was never in the military.
In the split screen, Nikolai Volkoff says he fights for freedom while Slaughter fights for hate and he vows to fight for America. The squash is not impressive, with Slaughter spamming chokes and weak clotheslines, all of which just make Slaughter look old and outdated. And his finish is awful, putting Blaze into a seated position and giving him a noogie on the side of the head to win via submission.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan (23-1-1) pins Chris Duffy after the three-point stance clothesline at 1:42:
Duffy bumps well for Duggan, flying over the top rope from a clothesline and then flying over the top again when Duggan counters an attempt to flip him in via the top rope. It appears that the WWF is not going to make the Duggan-Volkoff pairing from SummerSlam permanent, preferring to use them as a one-two punch against Slaughter at some point.
Brother Love hosts Rick Martel, who puts over the power of Arrogance. He also showcases a new product called Model Vision, which are a small pair of binoculars, because according to Martel, “Vision is everything.”
The Legion of Doom (4-0) beat DK Brauch & Paul Perez when Hawk pins Brauch after the Doomsday Device at 1:29:
As the Legion work over each of the jobbers, a furious Demolition scream about how they are going to find out how tough the Legion are in future matches. The crowd loves the Legion’s destruction, popping big for the Doomsday Device.
The Genius, still wearing a big blonde wig, reads a poem about how kids returning to school will never be as smart as him. After a commercial break, Piper tells fans that the Genius was a “Q” student.
Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart & Dino Bravo) (20-2) pins Ron Cumberland after the Earthquake Splash at 2:09:
McMahon and Piper emphasize that the feud between Hulk Hogan and Earthquake is far from over as SummerSlam did not resolve anything. In the split screen, the Big Bossman hypes a future match with Earthquake. Another split screen promo follows, where Bobby Heenan calls the Bossman’s mother “trash.” Earthquake looks good in another squash and sends the jobber out on a stretcher after doing his finisher two more times.
Tune in next week to see Power & Glory, Nikolai Volkoff, Rhythm & Blues, Jake Roberts, and the Big Bossman in action! Also, Sensational Sherri will be a guest on the Brother Love Show!
The Last Word: The WWF has some new programs brewing in the late summer with the Bushwhackers and the Orient Express and the Big Bossman against the Heenan Family, but neither look intriguing. A program with the Legion of Doom and Demolition holds more promise but the use of Crush waters it down, along with how the Ultimate Warrior is getting programmed into those matches as a sixth man.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for September 2!