Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the studio for another episode. Heenan says he cannot wear his suits anymore because he never knows when the Big Bossman is coming after him.
The British Bulldog’s debut from Superstars is shown.
A replay of Ted DiBiase’s promo about how Dustin Rhodes would not last ten minutes against him airs.
Dustin Rhodes defeats Paul Diamond (1-13) after an elbow drop at 7:08 shown:
Rhodes, trained by his father, Dusty, and Steve Keirn, had been wrestling for a couple of years, making his debut in September 1988 for Florida-based CWF against Bob Cook. By May of the following year, he became the NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion, winning the title from Al Perez. Rhodes also had brief runs in WCW, All Japan, and the USWA before signing with the WWF in late 1990.
This match comes from Madison Square Garden on September 21. The young Rhodes shows potential but the crowd does not like the slow pace of the match. Rhodes does not help his cause by doing some botches, ramming into Diamond head-first when Diamond lowers his head for a back drop spot and blowing a dropkick. After that, Diamond is hesitant to do much, doing a slow Flair pin sequence that is stopped by the referee. Eventually, Rhodes hits a lariat and finishes Diamond with an elbow drop. Rating: ½*
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report segments recaps WWF President Jack Tunney’s announcement of Rick Rude’s indefinite suspension. The Big Bossman says that he is going to make Heenan suffer. After that, Heenan screams that he is sorry but Monsoon says Heenan deserves no sympathy because he has been making jokes about the Bossman’s mother for more than a month.
The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) (22-1) defeat Koko B. Ware & Battle Kat when Tanaka pins Ware after Sato hits Ware with Fuji’s cane at 7:44:
This bout took place at the recent Wrestling Challenge taping in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Battle Kat is now Bob Bradley, replacing the smaller and more agile Brady Boone who did not like wearing a mask. The booking shows that the WWF is giving up on the Kat gimmick in record time, not that it is any great loss because the new Kat moves slowly. Bradley keeps his awful springboard elbow spot too, which should immediately expose who is under the mask to long-time fans. The flow of the match is awkward since Ware and Kat dominate and Ware and Tanaka have some botches on a blind charge sequence and an O’Connor roll spot. Ware catches Tanaka with a missile dropkick, but Sato breaks up the pin. He then blasts Ware with Fuji’s cane when Ware traps Tanaka in a small package so the Express win their fifth-straight match. It was shocking how bad Ware was here. Rating: *
Heenan puts on a Big Bossman hat to get on the Bossman’s good side. Monsoon says he will be surprised if Heenan shows up to Survivor Series.
Promo time with Sean Mooney! The Warriors call out their Survivor Series opponents in turn, promising that they will survive.
Saba Simba (4-0) pins Bob Bradley after the Lion’s Roar at 3:43:
Bradley is in another bad match, getting knocked out of the ring on several occasions by the larger Simba. He still busts out the awful springboard elbow spot, which you think the WWF would have him stop doing once he took on the Battle Kat gimmick. A missed clothesline by Bradley leads to the Lion’s Roar.
Monsoon runs through all the house show dates that Heenan will have to make against the Big Bossman.
Gene Okerlund does the Survivor Series Report.
Footage of the Hulk Hogan & Tugboat-Rhythm & Blues match from Saturday Night’s Main Event is shown, along with Tugboat’s save of Hogan at the end of the match from an Earthquake beatdown.
A replay of the Brother Love Show from Superstars where Jake Roberts made an appearance.
Monsoon gets the Big Bossman on the phone. Heenan quickly grabs it to apologize but the Bossman does not say anything in response.
The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) (19-0) defeats Shane Douglas (5-0-1) after the flying clothesline at 6:01:
This is another match from the recent Wrestling Challenge taping and it is the Barbarian’s first feature match since defeating Tito Santana at WrestleMania VI. It is a decent speed vs. power matchup where Douglas tries to use his agility to avoid the Barbarian but gets grabbed in a long bearhug. Douglas fights out, but a flying body press misses and the Barbarian hands the WWF rookie his first defeat with the flying clothesline. Rating: *½
Jimmy Snuka (16-2) beats Haku (5-6-3) after rolling through a reverse flying body press off the second rope at 5:12:
These two faced off on the July 9 edition of Prime Time Wrestling and Snuka won after Bobby Heenan interfered. This bout took place at the Superstars taping in Springfield, Illinois on October 9. It is a poor match where Haku moves slowly and Snuka is not much better, going over the top rope seconds after taking a Haku clothesline. The bout is brought to a close when Snuka hits a reverse flying body press and both men roll on the canvas several times before Snuka gets the three count. Rating: ½*
Okerlund’s interview with Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri on Wrestling Challenge is shown.
The Rockers squash from Superstars airs.
More promo time with Mooney! The Natural Disasters scream about how they are going to end the careers of the Hulkamaniacs. Dino Bravo forgets that Hacksaw Jim Duggan is one of their opponents, so Earthquake has to throw his name into the promo.
Mr. Perfect (w/Bobby Heenan) (30-3) pins Randy Jackson after the Perfectplex at 1:07:
In the split screen, Demolition hype themselves as the perfect partners for Mr. Perfect at Survivor Series. Perfect does his formulaic squash where he takes out Jackson’s knee and hits the Perfectplex shortly thereafter. After the match, Heenan helps Jackson to his feet so Perfect can dropkick him out of the ring.
Tune in next week to see Tito Santana against the Barbarian!
The Last Word: It was nice seeing Gorilla Monsoon putting the screws to Bobby Heenan and this episode saw twice as many feature matches as usual. Unfortunately, all of those matches were not good.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for November 3!