What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – March 4, 1991

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are the hosts. McMahon’s workout gear this week is black, grey, and gold, and makes him look like a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins. As the show kicks off, a recap of Heenan’s humiliations the last two weeks air. McMahon says he went through Heenan’s bag and found some Patriot defense condoms in “weasel size.”

Opening Contest: The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) (1-2) wrestles Greg Valentine (2-1) to a double count out at 6:35:

This match comes from a Superstars taping in Orlando, Florida on February 18. Even though he is a babyface, Valentine still wants to incorporate old parts his act like the Flair flop and those no longer fit his new alignment. A strikefest is the order of the day for the match and Valentine gets most of the offense, nearly trapping the Barbarian in the figure-four a couple of times. Eventually, Valentine backdrops the Barbarian over the top rope and the two brawl on the floor for a predictable double count out. Rating: *½

After the match, the battle spills back into the ring where Valentine tries to lock the figure-four leglock in one last time but the Barbarian wiggles out.

A replay of the Queen Elizabeth impersonator urging fans to support the Warlord at WrestleMania VII airs. When Heenan argues that the impersonator is the actual Queen Elizabeth, McMahon argues that Heenan is wrong even though Heenan “Has known some queens in his day.” Heenan argues that he will produce Queen Elizabeth on next week’s show.

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps how WWF Champion Sergeant Slaughter is playing by a different set of rules.

The British Bulldog makes an appearance in the studio. The Bulldog tells the Warlord that the running powerslam will put him down when he fails to get the full nelson on him. Heenan is asked to put the Bulldog in a full nelson and when Heenan does so, the Bulldog easily breaks it. If Gorilla Monsoon was here, he would

The Warlord (w/Slick) (4-1) defeats Koko B. Ware (1-2) with a running powerslam at 3:30 shown:

The match, which took place at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Fort Myers, Florida on February 19, is joined in progress. Ware scores some jobberific near-falls with a sunset flip and schoolboy roll up and excites the crowd with a near-fall from a missile dropkick. However, he makes his usual fatal error of stun gunning himself on the ropes and the Warlord finishes him off with the running powerslam. This is Ware’s third straight loss, evidence for why he is not appearing at WrestleMania. Rating: *

The Bulldog reappears in the studio, this time with a bulldog named Winston. The Bulldog says that Winston will be with him at WrestleMania and will neutralize Slick just like Matilda once did with the British Bulldogs. Throughout the segment, Heenan makes fun of the dog. There was a missed opportunity here to remind fans of Heenan and the Islanders dognapping Matilda in the build to WrestleMania IV.

The ”Pick the Brain” segment sees Heenan asked about how a father than talk to his son about “the facts of life,” what his astrological sign is, what kind of dog he has, why he talks behind people’s backs and changes his behavior later, why as a blonde he is not having more fun, why he let Andre the Giant push him around last week, and what his IQ is. This segment allows Heenan to get in a few good jokes but it is not something that wrestling fans are going to want to watch.

Okerlund does the WrestleMania VII Report.

McMahon announces that Marla Maples will be a guest at WrestleMania VII. Maples says that she looks forward to being in Los Angeles.

The Rockers squash from Superstars is shown.

The Bushwhackers (3-0) defeat Max Nelson & Jesse Knight when Luke pins Knight after the double stomachbreaker at 3:28:

As a studio lead-in, McMahon leads the studio audience in a Bushwhacker arm swing. The Bushwhackers take their time wearing down the jobbers in turn. They eventually flatten Knight with the Battering Ram and win with the double stomachbreaker.

Paul Bearer comes into the studio to show off embalming techniques. This is where more parts of the Bearer character started to come together as Bearer now has eye makeup. Even though the dummy cannot be cut open, Bearer goes under the top layer to remove organs. Heenan is squeamish throughout, playing well off of Bearer’s enthusiasm throughout. This could have been a stupid segment but Bearer hit it out of the park, showing why the character had such a long run.

After a commercial break, Bearer returns to do a makeup demonstration on Lord Alfred Hayes. It seems like the goal of McMahon and Heenan is to do everything they can to make Hayes laugh. At the end, McMahon and Heenan take the sheet off of Hayes to expose him in his underwear.

Non-Title Match: Mr. Perfect (Intercontinental Champion w/Bobby Heenan) (4-1) beats Jimmy Snuka (2-0) after the Perfectplex at 5:17:

This match also took place at the Fort Myers taping. Snuka’s “wild man” look of having his hair grown out and wearing a goatee is jarring for fans that are used to his 1980s appearance and if it was used today it would foreshadow a heel turn. This is Snuka’s best match in a long while as Perfect keeps him moving. Perfect kicks out of a piledriver, O’Connor roll, and then rolls through a reverse flying body press attempt. Snuka then ducks his head too quickly after an Irish whip and Perfect capitalizes to hit the Perfectplex. Rating: **½

Ted DiBiase’s squash, featuring Virgil’s involvement, on Wrestling Challenge is shown.

Gene Okerlund’s latest trip to Toys R Us sees him trigger the Legion of Doom by using words like perfect, sensational, weasel, smash, and crush.

An old Arrogance ad with Rick Martel on the tennis court airs.

Jake Roberts’ squash from Wrestling Challenge a few weeks ago is shown.

“Closet Cam” footage prior to the show reveals that Heenan is still making jokes about the Big Bossman’s mother. The Big Bossman comes into the studio as a surprise guest and tries to get at Heenan, who flees into the audience. The Bossman says he will be the next Intercontinental champion after WrestleMania. McMahon argues at the end of the segment that the Bossman might have some trouble with the Mountie in the future.

The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) (5-0) defeats Buddy Burke via submission to a nerve hold at 2:00:

In the split screen, Tito Santana promises to deliver justice to the Mountie in his own style at WrestleMania. A chokeslam off the ropes sets up the lame nerve hold that the Mountie continues to use as a finisher. After the bell, the Mountie puts Burke in handcuffs and shocks him with a cattle prod. He continues to interrogate Burke afterward and paintbrushes him for good measure.

Heenan makes the mistake in the studio of saying that the Mountie was “raised properly,” so the Bossman comes after him and puts him in handcuffs. He gets in Heenan’s face and tells him that he will destroy Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania and come after him. The Bossman promises to bring someone out that has something to tell Heenan.

After the commercial break, the Bossman brings out his mother, who beats on Heenan with her purse.

Tune in next week to see Jake Roberts and Randy Savage! Also, Queen Elizabeth will make an appearance!

The Last Word: The payoff at the end with the Big Bossman’s mother was a nice touch and a good use of the studio format. After a dreadful start, this new variation of Prime Time is starting to find its footing but depends on the personalities that the WWF chooses to utilize. The Bushwhackers and Paul Bearer thrive in this environment but an act like the British Bulldog, who is not a great interview, makes for a bad set of segments. The Mr. Perfect-Jimmy Snuka match was a nice addition to this show, with Snuka putting in more work than usual.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 9!