What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – March 10, 1991

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, kicking off a new television taping in Fort Myers, Florida. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, this taping took place on February 19.

Opening Contest: The Legion of Doom (3-0) beat Shinji & Alan Reynolds when Hawk pins Reynolds after the Doomsday Device at 2:52:

As the Legion do their usual beatdown they cut an insert promo repeating their vow to get revenge on Power & Glory for eliminating them from the tag team battle royal last month and costing them a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship. WrestleMania will tell the story as to whether the WWF plans for that to be a long or short program.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report segment recaps the Jake Roberts-Rick Martel feud. Martel repeats a promo from earlier in the week that he will find Roberts in the WrestleMania blindfold match by following Roberts’ smell.

The British Bulldog (5-0) beats Scott Allen with the running powerslam at 2:02:

As the Bulldog works the arm there is an insert promo from the Warlord and Slick about how the Bulldog will experience the worst beating of his life at WrestleMania. There is still a lot of talk about why Queen Elizabeth is not a supporter of the Bulldog, a storyline development that is unnecessary in this feud. The Bulldog remains undefeated after vanquishing Allen with the running powerslam.

The Viking (w/Mr. Fuji) (2-0) defeats Brian Costello via count out at 2:41:

It is not a good sign for the Viking’s future that he has been given Fuji as a manager since Fuji’s current acts – the Orient Express and Demolition – are floundering. Fuji appears in the split screen and talks about how he is going to set the wild Viking loose on the rest of the WWF. The Viking does an interesting move by putting Costello in the ropes and giving him a few big boots. Then he wins with a count out, further showing Fuji’s stupidity because any manager worth their weight would try to give this guy a pinfall or submission finisher so he could win a title and make more money.

Footage is shown from Superstars two weeks ago of the Ultimate Warrior destroying Brother Love. Gene Okerlund interviews the Warrior, who promises to end Randy Savage’s career. He also shifts to call out the Undertaker, arguing that he will dig two plots after WrestleMania. One will be for Savage and the other will be for the Undertaker and Paul Bearer.

Non-Title Match: Mr. Perfect (Intercontinental Champion) (5-1) pins Pat Armstrong with the Perfectplex at 2:23:

As per usual, Perfect lets Armstrong get a token hiptoss in before rallying and destroying the jobber. The Big Bossman does an insert promo that reminds the audience about Heenan’s jokes about his mother and how he will have the last laugh at WrestleMania when he wins the Intercontinental Championship.

Okerlund does the WrestleMania VII Report.

The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) (3-3) defeat Jim Powers & Frankie Lancaster when Tanaka pins Lancaster after a superkick-German suplex combination at 2:25:

Lancaster made his debut in 1982 and worked for all of the major 1980s territorial promotions on the East Coast. His biggest successes took place in Puerto Rico for Carlos Colon’s World Wrestling Council, winning the World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice in 1987. He also held the World Class Tag Team Championship with Eric Embry and Brian Adidas that same year.

The Express are not heading to WrestleMania after the Legion of Doom squashed them on television and around the house show circuit. That is a shame because the Kato-Tanaka pairing is much better than the original version from a workrate perspective. Powers is largely ineffective against Kato and then Lancaster is tagged in, only to be annihilated with the Express’ superkick-German suplex finisher.

Tune in next week to see the Mountie, the Rockers, the Barbarian & Haku, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan in action! Also, there will be a special interview with Sergeant Slaughter!

The Last Word: The Ultimate Warrior’s interview with Gene Okerlund is spoiling the ending of the WrestleMania career match by laying the foundation for the Warrior’s summer program against the Undertaker. Outside of the usual WrestleMania hype there was not much to see or take note of other than the Viking getting a manager.

Here is a sampling of the WWF’s house shows a few weeks out from WrestleMania, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Houston, Texas – The Summit – March 8, 1991 (7,300): The Mountie beat Dale Wolfe…The Rockers defeated the Orient Express…The British Bulldog pinned the Warlord…The Texas Tornado pinned Ted DiBiase…Jake Roberts beat Rick Martel…WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation beat Power & Glory…The Big Bossman beat Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect via count out…Hulk Hogan defeated Earthquake in a stretcher match.

San Francisco, California – The Cow Palace – March 9, 1991 (7,853): Greg Valentine pinned Dino Bravo…Jimmy Snuka pinned Koko B. Ware…Hacksaw Jim Duggan beat General Adnan…The Nasty Boys defeated the Bushwhackers…The Undertaker pinned Tugboat…The Legion of Doom beat Demolition…WWF Champion Sergeant Slaughter defeated the Ultimate Warrior in a non-title steel cage match in twenty-one minutes.

Backstage News*: The WWF hoped to secure Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold for WrestleMania but they were not able to come to an agreement.

*The planned supercard between the WWF and SWS in Japan is not selling well, with less than 10,000 tickets bought to this point. WrestleMania VII ringside seats are going for $450 from scalpers.

*After WrestleMania, Sensational Sherri will be moved to manage Ted DiBiase.

*The recent Prime Time Wrestling saw an increase in ratings but Vince McMahon is worried over the long-term. He has reportedly talked about bringing Jesse Ventura back.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for March 18.

Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for March 11!