What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – December 29, 1990

Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper, and the Honky Tonk Man are doing commentary, beginning a new television taping cycle in Tampa, Florida. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on December 11 and drew a crowd of 11,500.

The opening match is Mr. Perfect’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling.

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps last week’s interview on the Brother Love Show with Dusty & Dustin Rhodes. Afterward, Ted DiBiase is shown getting a massage from Virgil in the locker room. He says cash is a bigger bond than blood and he knows that he and Virgil will win because Virgil will do whatever he tells him to do. To illustrate this point, DiBiase has Virgil clean his toes. Virgil’s face shows that he is not happy.

Tugboat (28-0) pins Bob Bradley after a splash at 1:30:

Trying to avoid a fourth loss to Tugboat to his year, Bradley attacks the big man before the bell. That works for a while until Tugboat squashes Bradley against the buckles. In the split screen, Tugboat says that the Royal Rumble will be every man for himself and that means he will have to go after Hulk Hogan. As the match concludes, McMahon tells fans that Andre the Giant will not be in the Royal Rumble because of an injury sustained in Japan.

The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) defeat Jim Evans & Sonny Blaze when Jerry Sags pins Blaze after the Trip to Nastyville at 2:44:

The Nasty Boys, composed of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, were childhood friends who started wrestling in 1985 for the AWA and began teaming up in 1986. After stints in Memphis and Florida in the late 1980s they joined WCW, where their feud with the Steiner Brothers over the United States Tag Team Championship culminated in a great bout at Halloween Havoc ’90. WCW offered them a long-term contract shortly thereafter, but the Nasties rejected it to join the WWF.

McMahon messes up Sags’ name, calling him “Skags” until the Honky Tonk Man corrects him. In the split screen, the Nasties put themselves over as tough and uncontrollable. The Nasties look good in their debut, working quickly and devastating the jobbers with power moves. They finish with the Trip to Nastyville where Knobbs performs a running powerslam and Sags flies off the top rope with an elbow drop. It is surprising that the WWF allowed them to do that finish because of the overlap with Randy Savage.

Jake Roberts’ squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.

Gene Okerlund interviews Sergeant Slaughter and General Adnan. Slaughter opens a gift that he says is from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which contains new ring boots with a tipped point. Somehow Hussein has access to USA Today as that is what the gift is wrapped in. Slaughter says that he will wear the boots with pride and take the WWF Championship at The Royal Rumble. Since there were U.S. forces in the Middle East preparing to fight Iraq, this was a very risky angle to run but Slaughter is doing a good job playing it to the hilt in these promos.

The Big Bossman’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling airs.

Okerlund does The Royal Rumble Report. WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior promises to make Sergeant Slaughter a believer in the power he commands among his warriors. A montage of Rumble promos follows. Hawk says he could end up fighting Animal, Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri promises that royalty will prevail, and Hulk Hogan claims that he will fight for his Hulkamaniacs whether he is number one or number thirty.

The Undertaker (w/Brother Love) (2-0) pins Terry Davis after the Tombstone at 2:26:

The “Kane” name has been scrapped, never to be mentioned against until 1997. As the Undertaker chokes away, he promises in the split screen to bury lots of opponents in 1991. The squash showcases the Undertaker’s agility as he does a dropkick, a flying clothesline off the ropes, and uses his ropewalk spot to set up the Tombstone.

Honky Tonk Man puts over the Bodybuilding Lifestyles magazine, which the WWF was advertising as a side project in the run up to the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) years later.

Tune in next week to see Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the Orient Express, the Texas Tornado, and Sergeant Slaughter! And Hulk Hogan will appear on the Brother Love Show!

The Last Word: The Nasty Boys are a welcome addition to the tag team division which has felt stale since SummerSlam. Aside from that, the push for The Royal Rumble continues but there is not a lot of intrigue right now about the Rumble match. No one looks like a big threat to Hulk Hogan.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for December 30!