Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in charge of commentary, beginning a new television taping in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, this taping took place on October 10.
Opening Contest: The Legion of Doom (10-0) defeat Tom Stone & Alan Reynolds when Hawk pins Reynolds after the Doomsday Device at 2:33:
As the Legion lay waste to Reynolds, Mr. Fuji appears in the split screen and tells the Legion that a big surprise is coming up and he is the only one that knows about it. This implies that Fuji is reuniting with Demolition because everyone knows that the Orient Express would stand no chance against the former AWA and NWA tag team champions.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report segment replays the announcement of WWF President Jack Tunney that Rick Rude has been indefinitely suspended due to comments about the Big Bossman’s mother.
The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) (18-0) pins Reno Riggins after the flying clothesline at 1:37:
The Barbarian inches closer to twenty wins after this squash, which is keeping him strong for an appearance at the Survivor Series. It seems likely that the Barbarian’s next program will be against the Big Bossman when the Bossman comes after Heenan.
Shane Douglas (4-0-1) pins Paul Diamond (1-12) after a flying body press at 1:25:
Heenan is not happy about having to face the Bossman, trying to downplay his prior comments as a joke that went too far. Douglas does an insert promo about how he wants to get to the top of the WWF as his generic babyface push continues. Diamond falls victim to several near-falls and gets caught with a belly-to-belly suplex and flying body press to lose his thirteenth-straight singles match.
Footage of the Hulk Hogan & Tugboat-Rhythm & Blues match from Saturday Night’s Main Event airs, along with Tugboat saving Hogan from an Earthquake Splash when the match was over.
The Texas Tornado’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
Gene Okerlund interviews Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri. Savage puts over how he is going to be the next WWF champion and Sherri dubs the Ultimate Warrior as “the Ultimate Loser.”
Hacksaw Jim Duggan (30-1-1) defeats Jeff Sword after the three-point stance clothesline at 1:38:
Sword started wrestling in 1980 and teamed with Doug Vines as the Devil’s Duo, winning the ICW tag team titles in 1981. He did some enhancement work for Jim Crockett Promotions in 1984 and 1985, as well as work for the AWA, and also spent 1990 losing on WCW programming.
Duggan edges ahead of Mr. Perfect for most singles wins in the company after this bout, slicing through Sword with the three-point stance clothesline.
Okerlund does the Survivor Series Report.
The Power & Glory squash from Prime Time Wrestling airs.
Tune in next week to see the Bushwhackers face Rhythm & Blues! Also, Nikolai Volkoff, Dino Bravo, the British Bulldog, and the Big Bossman will be in action!
The Last Word: The fact that there is going to be a feature match next week, even if it features the Bushwhackers, already makes that program must see television. Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri are doing decent promo work for the feud with the Ultimate Warrior, but the Warrior’s title reign is still plagued by a lack of exciting angles or on-screen happenings. Putting Brother Love in a dress and slamming Jim Brunzell’s head into a wall are not doing enough to energize him and sell house show tickets.
As the WWF neared the end of October, here is a sampling of its house show results. Results are courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Wheeling, West Virginia – Wheeling Civic Center – October 22, 1990 (1,200): Ronnie Garvin pinned Mike Sharpe with a roll up…Dustin Rhodes beat Black Bart with a bulldog…Sergeant Slaughter defeated Nikolai Volkoff via submission to the Camel Clutch…Battle Kat pinned Pez Whatley with a Lou Thesz press…Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat the Barbarian via count out…The Rockers defeated Power & Glory via disqualification when Hercules hit Marty Jannetty with his steel chain…The Bossman pinned Haku (substituting for Rick Rude) with the Bossman Slam.
East Rutherford, New Jersey – The Meadowlands – October 26, 1990 (10,000): Ronnie Garvin pinned Mike Sharpe with a sunset flip…Dustin Rhodes beat Black Bart…Tito Santana pinned the Black Demon with the flying forearm…Sergeant Slaughter defeated Nikolai Volkoff via submission to the Camel Clutch…The Rockers defeated Power & Glory via disqualification when Hercules hit Marty Jannetty with his steel chain…The Big Bossman beat the Barbarian (substituting for Rick Rude)…Randy Savage defeated WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior via count out.
Albany, New York – Knickerbocker Arena – October 26, 1990 (2,500): Battle Kat pinned the Genius…Saba Simba pinned the Black Demon (substituting for Buddy Rose)…Sergeant Slaughter defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan via count out…Mr. Perfect beat Intercontinental Champion the Texas Tornado via count out…Dino Bravo pinned Jimmy Snuka…Ted DiBiase pinned Dusty Rhodes…WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation defeated Rhythm & Blues.
Greensboro, North Carolina – Greensboro Coliseum – October 28, 1990 (1,700; 800 paid): Last WWF show in Greensboro for the next seven years. The British Bulldog pinned Haku…Ronnie Garvin defeated Jerry Price…Tito Santana beat the Brooklyn Brawler…The Big Bossman pinned the Barbarian…WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation beat Rhythm & Blues…Dusty Rhodes pinned Ted DiBiase after heel miscommunicated. After the match, DiBiase and Virgil argued, with Virgil choking DiBiase out with a towel…WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior pinned Randy Savage.
Backstage News*: With Jim Neidhart being reassigned, the plan is for the Hart Foundation to drop the tag team titles to the Rockers at the next Saturday Night’s Main Event taping in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
*The WWF will be doing a Tokyo Dome show with SWS next year. The WWF held meetings with All Japan out of respect for Giant Baba but never really considered working with them. New Japan refused to do the show because they did not agree with WWF’s demands. It did not help that when the two sides discussed exchanging talent the big act that Vince McMahon wanted to send was the Bushwhackers.
*Even though the WWF did not draw well in Greensboro, they still drew more than WCW house shows that featured Sting vs. the Black Scorpion on top.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for November 6.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for October 29!