Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan provide commentary. This show was part of the Superstars taping in Pensacola, Florida which, according to thehistoryofwwe.com, took place on March 11. It aired on USA Network on Sunday, March 17.
Opening Non-Title Contest: Mr. Perfect (Intercontinental Champion) (6-1) beats Shawn Michaels (1-0) via disqualification when the Big Bossman interferes at 10:01 shown:
McMahon informs fans that Prime Time Wrestling is moving to Tuesday nights starting next week, a chance necessitated by USA Network choosing to air the World League of American Football on Monday nights. A wild spot starts the match when Michaels does a plancha, but he misses Perfect and takes out a ringside technician, who does not sell it. After Perfect stun guns Michaels across a guardrail, Marty Jannetty comes out to lend encouragement to his partner. That leads to an inevitable confrontation between Perfect and Jannetty, causing Heenan to come to ringside in the match’s closing stages. With Jannetty distracted by Heenan, Perfect knees him in the back and Jannetty goes into the ring post. However, in the ring Michaels regains the advantage and nearly pins Perfect after a pair of atomic drops and a clothesline. A superkick nets another near-fall. Heenan tries to trip Michaels when he goes to the top rope, creating a distraction that allows Perfect to hit the Perfectplex, but the Big Bossman runs in and breaks up the fall to create a disqualification. This was a great back-and-forth match that foreshadowed the success Michaels would have later in his career. And Michaels not eating a clean loss was another signal that the WWF was high on his potential. Rating: ***½
After the match, Perfect flees to the locker room after taking a token shot from Jannetty. When the Bossman heads back to the locker room, Andre the Giant greets him. The Bossman is not sure if the Giant is friend or foe, but Andre offers his hand in friendship and the Bossman accepts.
A video package recaps the Ultimate Warrior-Randy Savage feud. We go to the ring for a contract signing, mediated by WWF President Jack Tunney and Gene Okerlund. Savage tells the Warrior that he is going to drive him out of the company. Curiously, Sensational Sherri has to sign the contract too. The Warrior, who spends much of the segment pacing the ring, yells at Savage that he will leave WrestleMania with only memories. After the Warrior signs, the Undertaker and Paul Bearer interrupt but only get in the ring to stand there as the Warrior beats his chest and screams.
The British Bulldog (8-0) pins Jim Corbett with the running powerslam at 1:33:
Winston makes his first appearance for a Bulldog match here. The Bulldog traps Corbett in a full nelson, but Corbett gets to the ropes to break. That only stops the punishment temporarily, though, as the Bulldog wears him down with a vertical suplex and running powerslam.
A video package recaps the Jake Roberts-Rick Martel feud.
Blindfold Match: Rick Martel (6-0) beats Koko B. Ware (1-3) via submission to the Boston Crab at 4:23:
Like Jake Roberts’ appearance earlier in the week on Prime Time Wrestling, this rematch from WrestleMania VI is meant to teach the concept of what a blindfold match will look like. Ware and Martel brawl before the blindfolds are put on, with Ware forcing Martel to take a powder. In a nice piece of heeling, Martel feigns putting on his blindfold and attacks when Ware has his secured. This allows Martel to destroy Ware for a few minutes before finally donning his own blindfold. After being unable to locate Ware for a minute, Martel seizes Ware’s legs and locks in the Boston Crab. This was not a great demonstration of the concept because there was hardly any wrestling once both men were blindfolded. It also failed to teach the crowd that they could help the babyface by pointing him in the right direction. However, it did tease Martel not following the rules at WrestleMania. The only reason this was not a DUD is all of the stuff before Martel put on the blindfold was fun. Rating: *
An injured Roddy Piper gets on the interview podium to talk with Ted DiBiase. As expected, they do not get along as Piper questions how DiBiase feels about not having Virgil to boss around anymore. DiBiase argues that Piper is doing Virgil a disservice by filling him with hope that he can win at WrestleMania. According to DiBiase, this is going to lead to Virgil being slaughtered. After DiBiase runs down Virgil some more, Piper has Virgil come out. With Virgil in front of him, DiBiase is unwilling to insult him and Virgil tells DiBiase that he is going to kick his butt at WrestleMania. It was a good call to pair Piper with Virgil because Virgil is awful on the mic, so Piper was needed to build heat for the match.
Greg Valentine (3-1-1) defeats Scott Allen via submission to the figure-four leglock at 2:59:
Allen is able to get in a few ax handle blows when Valentine puts his head down too early on an Irish whip, but Valentine counters them with a kneebreaker and applies the figure-four to build a small winning streak going into WrestleMania.
WWF Champion Sergeant Slaughter and General Adnan, clad in Iraqi military uniforms, hype Adnan going on a reconnaissance mission to test Hulk Hogan’s strengths and weaknesses in tonight’s match. Slaughter argues that the Gulf War is still going on.
Hogan says he will employ the same strategy that he is going to use against Slaughter at WrestleMania: Seek and destroy.
Hulk Hogan beats General Adnan via disqualification when Sergeant Slaughter interferes at 1:03:
Adnan, a high school classmate of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, was a former WWF tag team champion. After spending the late 1980s in the AWA as Sheik Adnan El Kaissey, he came to the WWF in September 1990 to help Slaughter wage his campaign of aggression.
The match barely gets going as Adnan blitzes Hogan and then Hogan starts to annihilate him a few seconds later, prompting Slaughter to hit Hogan in the back of the head with the WWF Championship and getting his manager disqualified.
After the bell, Slaughter whips Hogan with a riding crop and beats him with an Iraqi flag. Slaughter then puts Hogan in the Camel Clutch as Adnan taunts Hogan with the WWF Championship Belt. WWF officials pour into the ring, with Rene Goulet taking a blow to the gut with the flag, and Slaughter drapes the Iraqi flag over Hogan before leaving the ring. This was a good beatdown that fits Slaughter’s recent run of beating opponents without mercy.
Okerlund interviews Slaughter and Adnan. Slaughter says he is out for Hogan’s unconditional surrender at WrestleMania.
A replay of the tag team battle royal last month on Superstars airs.
The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart tell Bret Hart that he is in for trouble for his match tonight with Brian Knobbs. Knobbs promises to hit Hart everywhere it hurts so that he is in nasty shape for WrestleMania.
Bret Hart (w/Jim Neidhart) beats Brian Knobbs (w/Jimmy Hart & Jerry Sags) with a falling clothesline at 9:31:
This is easily the best singles match of Knobbs’ career as Bret dominates and keeps a lot of the action moving. That is not to say Knobbs does nothing, as he more than holds his own by taking a nice bump to the floor from a Bret elbow early in the match. After Bret scores near-falls from what would later be his “moves of doom,” Sags throws Neidhart into the guardrail and trips Bret, setting up a Knobbs piledriver for a near-fall. Sags grabs Bret on the apron, but Neidhart recovers in time to pull Sags off, allowing Bret to hit a charging Knobbs with a falling clothesline and win. Although the crowd noise was sweetened, fans were visibly invested in how Bret did here. Coupled with his singles performances near the end of 1990, along with his run in the Survivor Series, he was now too good for tags and was ready for a sustained singles push. Rating: **½
Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan, who says that although U.S. troops are returning from the Persian Gulf, the war is still going on because Saddam Hussein is still in power and Sergeant Slaughter holds the WWF Championship. He dedicates the WrestleMania main event to all of the soldiers in the Persian Gulf, all of the “real Americans” that stuck with him, and all who died in the actual war.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (9-0) defeats Tugboat (5-1) with a flying elbow drop at 3:29:
It seemed like these two were going to be a collision course at the beginning of the year since announcers wondered how the Undertaker would handle someone of Tugboat’s size, but the Undertaker was plugged into a match with Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania instead. This is the first feature match test of the Undertaker’s career and he annihilates Tugboat, who posted an undefeated mark the year prior. For example, Tugboat fails to slam the Undertaker twice and has the life choked out of him. The Undertaker does not sell Tugboat’s corner avalanche and after avoiding a second one, the Undertaker finishes with with an awkward flying elbow drop. After the match, the Undertaker sprinkles dirt on Tugboat, a character who no longer matters. Rating: ½*
A video package hypes the Hulk Hogan-Sergeant Slaughter match for WrestleMania, using the same video techniques and music as the Hulk Hogan-Earthquake hype for SummerSlam used the year before.
The Last Word: Although it seemed like the WWF was trying to steer the WrestleManiamain event away from the Persian Gulf War the last few weeks, they dived right back into it with this telecast as Hulk Hogan and Sergeant Slaughter made allusions to the conflict and the final video package went all-in with the patriotism card. It reeks of desperation to get heat on a matchup that failed to sell out the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and does not make the company look good. Despite that, this show gave a clue into the WWF’s future as Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and the Undertaker were all presented strongly and the WWF continued to hype a possible Ultimate Warrior-Undertaker feud after WrestleMania.
Here is what the WWF house shows looked like a week prior to WrestleMania. Results are courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – Winnipeg Arena – March 14, 1991 (10,500): Jimmy Snuka beat the Brooklyn Brawler (substituting for Hercules)…The Nasty Boys beat the Bushwhackers…Paul Roma defeated Greg Valentine…The Legion of Doom beat Demolition…Jake Roberts beat Rick Martel…The Big Bossman defeated the Viking (substituting for Mr. Perfect)…WWF Champion Sergeant Slaughter defeated the Ultimate Warrior in a steel cage match.
New York City, New York – Madison Square Garden – March 15, 1991 (14,500): Marty Jannetty pinned Pat Tanaka after reversing a tombstone piledriver into his own at 10:52…The Mountie pinned Koko B. Ware with a two-handed chokeslam at 4:43. After the match, the Mountie handcuffed Ware to the bottom rope and shocked him with a cattle prod…The British Bulldog beat the Warlord with a roll up after a blind charge at 10:34. After the match, the Warlord put the Bulldog in the full nelson until WWF officials intervened…The Undertaker pinned Tugboat with a flying elbow drop at 3:23…WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation beat Earthquake & Dino Bravo when Bret pinned Bravo after Neidhart powerslammed Bret on top of Bravo at 10:24. After the match, Earthquake hit the Earthquake Splash on Bret until Neidhart cleared the ring with a chair…The Barbarian pinned Jim Brunzell with a Mafia kick at 7:13…The Texas Tornado (w/Virgil) pinned Ted DiBiase after Virgil tripped DiBiase at 4:50…Kato pinned Shawn Michaels with a backslide after Tanaka hit Michaels with Mr. Fuji’s cane while Marty Jannetty inadvertently distracted the referee at 12:50…Hacksaw Jim Duggan (w/Hulk Hogan) beat WWF Champion Sergeant Slaughter via disqualification in a flag match when General Adnan interfered at 14:12. After the match, Adnan attacked Hogan and Duggan with Duggan’s 2×4 and the Iraqi flag until WWF referees flooded the ring. However, when Adnan went to retrieve the WWF Championship Belt he was beaten down by Hogan and Duggan.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The Philadelphia Spectrum – March 16, 1991 (14,000): The Barbarian pinned Koko B. Ware…Hercules pinned Marty Jannetty…Shawn Michaels wrestled Paul Roma to a draw…The British Bulldog pinned the Warlord…The Undertaker pinned Tugboat…The Texas Tornado beat Ted DiBiase…Greg Valentine defeated Dino Bravo…WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation defeated Demolition…Hulk Hogan beat Earthquake in a stretcher match.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Pittsburgh Civic Arena – March 16, 1991 (9,000): Tito Santana pinned the Brooklyn Brawler…The Orient Express beat the Bushwhackers…The Mountie defeated Jimmy Snuka…WWF Champion Sergeant Slaughter beat the Ultimate Warrior in a steel cage match when the Warrior slammed Slaughter’s head into the cage as both men tried to climb of the top, causing Slaughter to fall to the arena floor…Hacksaw Jim Duggan pinned Haku…Jake Roberts & the Big Bossman defeated Mr. Perfect & Rick Martel.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 23!