Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper are doing commentary, still in Macon, Georgia.
Opening Contest: The Big Bossman (6-0) pins Alan Martin after a spinebuster at 1:08:
Undersized, Martin goes after the Bossman but he celebrates after a leapfrogged and eats a dropkick. The Mountie and Jimmy Hart pop up in the split screen and foreshadow a future program, arguing that Mr. Perfect is going to beat the Bossman at WrestleMania and that will leave the Mountie as the WWF’s lone law enforcement officer.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment announces that the Legion of Doom will face Power & Glory at WrestleMania. After showing footage of the end of last week’s tag team battle royal, Power & Glory warn the Legion that their problems are just beginning. The Legion rebut they are going to make Power & Glory pay for costing them a tag team title shot.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (5-0) beats Tommy Angel after the Tombstone at 2:03:
Angel was a former paratrooper and trainee of Nelson Royal and Gene Anderson that worked as an enhancement talent for Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s. He did more than ten enhancement matches for the WWF in 1988.
In the split screen, the Undertaker and Bearer tell Jimmy Snuka that he should be prepared to bite the dust at WrestleMania. The Bearer character lacked his high-pitched voice at this point, so some of these early promos are strange to watch. The Undertaker adds greater spectacle to the old school ropewalk, posing for the hard camera and looking to the sky before doing the maneuver. Even the Tombstone still looks vicious since the Undertaker puts an emphasis on going forward and driving his opponents head directly into the canvas rather than his knees. After the bout, Bearer hands the Undertaker some dirt to spread on Angel. That is better than rose pedals but it is a weak post-match routine when compared to others like the Big Bossman and Jake Roberts.
Bushwhacker Butch freaks out in Toys R Us with Okerlund because he cannot find a Squirt Head of Luke. Luke bursts out of a shelf to reunite with his tag partner and craziness ensues. The Bushwhackers were great for these toy bits.
Sean Mooney provides promos for WrestleMania. The Texas Tornado says he has a fire inside of him that will help him beat Dino Bravo. The Warlord and Slick put over the power of the full nelson.
Virgil (w/Roddy Piper) pins Haku (w/Bobby Heenan & Ted DiBiase) (0-1) with a schoolboy roll up at 3:38:
Virgil gets a good reaction, popping the crowd when he clotheslines Haku and forces the former tag team champion to bail. Haku turns the tide after throwing Virgil out of the ring and starts to work him over, but Piper hops on the apron and provides a timely distraction, allowing Virgil to roll up Haku and win his first singles match. More angle than match but this had a good rhythm to it before the distraction roll up finish. Rating: *
After the match, DiBiase is irate but does not take Piper and Virgil up on their offer to fight in the ring.
More WrestleMania promos with Mooney! The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart promise to be nasty and take the tag team titles. WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation rebut say that just because the Nasties have Hart, their former manager, means nothing because Hart lacks the knowledge to adequately train the Nasties to beat them.
The British Bulldog (4-0) defeats Mike Wallace after the running powerslam at 1:31:
McMahon says that the Bulldog has fallen out of favor with the Queen of England, promising more on this story in the weeks ahead. McMahon also puts over the Bulldog’s physique, hyping an article about him in Bodybuilding Lifestyles. This is a better squash for the Bulldog because he just runs through his power offense without slowing it down.
Brother Love hosts Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri. Savage promises to take the Ultimate Warrior’s career and the Warrior will never find out how good he could have been. Sherri says that the Undertaker, Paul Bearer, and Love will join she and Savage in burying the Warrior’s career. The continual messages about the Undertaker appear to be laying the foundation for a post-WrestleMania program between the Undertaker and Warrior.
Okerlund provides the WrestleMania Report. New matches signed are Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao vs. Demolition and Tito Santana vs. the Mountie. That brings the card to fourteen in total. Hulk Hogan says his pythons can snap scud missiles in half and he will stand for the U.S.A. in taking the WWF Championship from Sergeant Slaughter. Rick Martel argues that the biggest crime about the blindfold match is that he has to cover his beautiful face. Jake Roberts rebuts that he will have fun when the blind lead the blind. The Ultimate Warrior puts over the match with Randy Savage as bigger than last year’s Ultimate Challenge bout against Hulk Hogan.
Ricky Steamboat is coming! Or at least the Dragon is because that is what McMahon is preferring to call him.
Non-Title Match: Sergeant Slaughter (WWF Champion w/General Adnan) (3-1) beats Dale Wolfe via submission to the Camel Clutch at 1:27:
McMahon talks about how Slaughter’s goal over the next few weeks will be to expose WWF fans to “Slaughter rules” that will now govern the WWF. Slaughter quickly runs through most of his offense and after the match he picks up a chair and wears Wolfe out with it. When paramedics come to help Wolfe, Slaughter attacks one of them, which is a nice twist on a WWF trope.
There is one more set of WrestleMania promos with Mooney. Earthquake and Jimmy Hart talk about how Greg Valentine hurt Hart’s pride and Earthquake is coming to avenge it. The Rockers promise to rock Haku and the Barbarian.
Tune in next week to see Earthquake, the Rockers, the Viking, Jake Roberts, and Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect! Also, the Ultimate Warrior will be a guest on the Brother Love Show!
The Last Word: As next week’s preview attests, the WWF is existing sweep’s month so there will not be a lot of feature matches on Superstars going forward. WrestleMania VII is a month away and the WWF has set the entire card, although capping it at ten matches would have been better than running with fourteen since that will probably lead to several bouts getting less time than they need. The aggressive push for Sergeant Slaughter is the right idea since it presents him as someone who will use any means necessary to defeat Hulk Hogan. One wonders if the WWF should make the main event a no disqualification match to reflect this.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for February 23!