Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Jim Neidhart do another round of commentary for the tapings in Reno, Nevada.
Opening Contest: Jake Roberts (8-0) pins Barry O after the DDT at 1:17:
Monsoon has great advice for dealing with snakes: “If they bite you, they bite you. If they are poisonous, you’ll die and if they aren’t you’ll live!” In the split screen, Roberts says that Earthquake needs to show he and Damien something to back up his rhetoric. Barry starts with an offensive flurry but Roberts cuts it off with a short-arm clothesline and quickly finishes with the DDT.
Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report recaps the growing Ultimate Warrior-Undertaker feud.
The Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji) (6-0) defeats Randy Taylor via count out at 2:27:
Taylor also went by the name Randy Tyler and had appeared on WWF television in 1988, losing to the Ultimate Warrior. In the 1970s he worked for NWA St. Louis and in Memphis for the CWA.
Despite Taylor’s male pattern baldness, Monsoon refers to him as a “youngster.” In the split screen, Fuji laughs as the Berzerker screams “Hus!” The Berzerker wears down Taylor with powerslams and throws him over the top rope to win via count out. After the match, the Berzerker jumps onto Taylor on the floor. Judging by crowd reactions, no one cared about this.
Bret Hart (2-0) beats the Genius (0-2) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:52:
Neidhart comes alive on commentary, doing what he can to get Bret over as a heartthrob and technical genius. After some struggles against Barry O last week on Superstars, Bret has no trouble going through the Genius. After the bell, Bret initially refuses to break the hold but does so before he is disqualified.
Irwin R. Schyster’s new vignette sees him talk about how a woman cannot take a child deduction for this year because she had the child at the wrong time. He stamps other tax forms for an audit because they claim too many deductions or do not donate to the presidential election candidate fund.
Tugboat (6-2) pins Jim Kolhep after a splash at 1:07:
Tugboat does an insert promo that hypes his chances against other WWF superstars. He works quickly, avalanching Kolhep against the buckles and finishing with a splash off the ropes.
Footage of Roddy Piper throwing away his crutch on Superstars is shown.
Brutus Beefcake’s Barber Shop welcomes WWF Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart as his guests. They put themselves over as the biggest, baddest, and nasties team in the company. Beefcake welcomes the Legion of Doom, angering the Nasties. The Legion say it is a matter of time before they win the titles. Both teams tease a showdown but the Nasties retreat, claiming that they have a pedicure scheduled.
The Big Bossman (13-0-1) beats Matthew Burn with the Bossman Slam in 59 seconds:
The Bossman beats Burn down as the Mountie repeats his claim in the split screen to have more power because he has global jurisdiction. Right when the Mountie’s promo finishes, the Bossman finishes Burn, handcuffs him to the ropes, and runs to the locker room.
Berry De Mey hypes his calf muscles and urges people to buy the first WBF pay-per-view from the Taj Mahal.
Non-Title Match: Mr. Perfect (Intercontinental Champion w/Bobby Heenan) (9-2) defeats Jerry Stevens with the Perfectplex at 2:01:
The British Bulldog does a split screen promo, vowing to catch Perfect and eat him up. Perfect talks trash as he chokes Stevens in the ropes and rolls to a third straight win with the Perfectplex.
Rick Martel warns the Ultimate Warrior that he is prepared to beat the Warrior before the Undertaker can get a hold of him. The Warrior does a weak rebuttal promo about how Martel does not have enough internal spirit to beat him.
Tune in next week to see the Ultimate Warrior face Rick Martel! Also, Dragon, the British Bulldog, and Ted DiBiase will be in action!
The Last Word: This show kept up the usual pattern of building up midcard feuds and giving exposure to opening acts at house shows. The Nasties are being made to look scared of the Legion of Doom, befitting of their gimmick as bullies that retreat when someone stands up to them. The Ultimate Warrior facing Rick Martel is a big match for next week’s show as both men have received strong pushes over the last few years.
Here is a recap of the WWF’s house show circuit for the middle of the month, with results courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Normal, Illinois – Red Bird Arena – April 18, 1991 (1,500): Irwin R. Schyster pinned Jimmy Snuka…The Dragon beat Haku…The Rockers defeated the Orient Express…Earthquake beat Jake Roberts via disqualification…The Legion of Doom beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys via count out…Ted DiBiase pinned Virgil…Sergeant Slaughter pinned Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a bootcamp match.
Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Garden- April 20, 1991: Bret Hart wrestled the Barbarian to a draw…The Dragon beat Haku…Ted DiBiase defeated Roddy Piper when the referee stopped the match due to injury…The Texas Tornado wrestled the Warlord (substituting for Rick Martel) to a double count out…Sergeant Slaughter beat WWF Champion Hulk Hogan via disqualification…The Berzerker beat Tugboat…Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect defeated the British Bulldog…The Rockers defeated the Orient Express.
Landover, Maryland – The Capital Centre – April 20, 1991: Koko B. Ware pinned Bob Bradley (substituting for the Warlord)…Irwin R. Schyster beat Jimmy Snuka…Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeated Colonel Mustafa…Luke beat Paul Roma. The match was originally supposed to be the Bushwhackers vs. Power & Glory but Butch was announced as injured. Late in the match, Snuka came to ringside to counter Hercules’ interference…The Mountie pinned the Big Bossman after using his cattle prod as a weapon…Earthquake defeated Jake Roberts via disqualification…The Ultimate Warrior beat the Undertaker via disqualification…The Legion of Doom defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys via count out.
Backstage News*: The reason that the WWF abandoned Brutus Beefcake returning to the ring under a mask is that Beefcake got injured during his various run-ins, so the risk was deemed too high to put him back in regular matches.
*Fans are not liking Ricky Steamboat’s new gimmick, booing him at the Saturday Night’s Main Event television taping when he failed to do his fire trick well.
*The WWF has sent Demolition over to Japan to work with SWS. Tito Santana has also been sent there for work, as is Randy Savage, who will be touring for the company until the end of May.
*In talent relations news, the WWF recently gave a tryout at its Wrestling Challenge taping to former AWA tag team titleholders Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos. The duo lost to Buck Zumhofe & Koko B. Ware. Konnan is set to start in a month and a half and will have a gimmick where he wears a suit that shoots lasers, streamers, and flares.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 29.
Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for April 23!