Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper, and Randy Savage are in the booth, starting a new taping cycle in Worcester, Massachusetts. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on July 29 and drew a heavily papered crowd of 14,221.
Jake Roberts tells the Ultimate Warrior that he needs to enter a dark room, where Lucifer awaits him in a coffin. The Warrior goes inside, and Roberts locks the door behind him, turning the lights on to reveal snakes all over the floor. The Warrior cautiously gets to the coffin and opens it. When he does, Lucifer bites him in the face. The Warrior begs Roberts to open the door as the snake’s poison takes effect, but Roberts refuses, laughing at how the Warrior is affected just like any common man. Roberts welcomes a “man in black” to see his work, which is revealed to be the Undertaker, and Roberts tells the Warrior never to trust a snake as the Warrior loses consciousness. Like all the segments to this point, Roberts knocked this one out of the park and his heel turn was shocking for many young fans that had only known him as a babyface. According to Roberts, the Warrior was bitten several times by snakes when they filmed this segment because he did not shuffle his feet and kicked and antagonized the snakes he was working with.
Opening Contest: The Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji) (18-0) defeats Dave Millison via count out at 2:12:
McMahon explains that the Warrior was rushed to a hospital after the last segment and received an anti-venom, putting him on the road to recovery. After blasting Millison with a few big boots, the Berzerker picks his opponent up and dumps him to the floor to extend his unbeaten streak.
The Texas Tornado (24-0) pins Pete Doherty after the discus punch at 2:49:
Doherty was a longtime WWF undercard talent, working for the McMahon’s father when the company was the WWWF in the late 1970s. In the late 1980s he sometimes appeared as a color commentator for WWF arena shows in the Northeast, largely those that originated from the Boston Garden.
The squash goes through its usual Tornado awkwardness until he traps Doherty in the Claw. Then, the Tornado comes off the ropes with the discus punch and connects, allowing the commentators to declare that the Tornado is ready for SummerSlam.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps Bobby Heenan’s announcement last week that Ric Flair might be coming into the WWF. Heenan has new words this week, holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship Belt and reminding WWF Champion Hulk Hogan that he better be scared that Flair is coming into the company.
Skinner pins Mario Mancini with an inverted DDT at 1:43:
Mancini began working for the WWF in 1984 and made appearances from that point all the way through 1991 as an enhancement talent.
Skinner was Steve Keirn, better known as one-half of the Fabulous Ones tag team with Stan Lane in the 1980s. The duo won titles in Memphis, Florida, and Southwest Championship Wrestling. Before coming to the WWF, Keirn was wrestling for the USWA, where he and Lane had a feud with Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler.
In the split screen, Skinner talks about smashing the head of a bird and laughing about it. He tosses Mancini to the floor a couple of times and finishes with an inverted DDT. That move was later called the Gatorbreaker, but it is not called as such in this squash by the announce team. This was decent debut to get over the basics of the character.
The Legion of Doom’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, who already looks less juiced because of the recent steroid testing mandates, promises that he and the Ultimate Warrior will show that they are the most powerful force in the universe in the “Match Made in Hell.” Sergeant Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan promise that Hogan and Warrior will quickly regret signing up for the match. Ted DiBiase and Senational Sherri claims that Virgil has gotten a black limousine to take him to SummerSlam but promises that he will make Virgil leave in a yellow cab. Virgil rebuts that he is taking a train to SummerSlam and it will be DiBiase and Sherri leaving in a cab. The Mountie and Jimmy Hart promise that the Big Bossman’s “running days” will end at SummerSlam when he is tossed in jail. The Bossman fires back that the Mountie has exhausted his stays of execution.
Jimmy Snuka’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling airs.
Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
Tune in next week to see the Natural Disasters, Bret Hart, and Sergeant Slaughter in action! There will also be a special interview with Sid Justice!
The Last Word: The big news coming out of the show was Jake Roberts’ heel turn, a switch that provides some much-needed firepower to the heel side of the roster that has been hurting for much of the year. The filmed segments with Roberts and the Warrior were a welcome departure from the safe, sanitized image of the WWF and previewed the type of characters that fans during the 1990s would gravitate to. Their program is immediately the most anticipated in the company, overshadowing Hulk Hogan’s stale feud with Sergeant Slaughter.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for August 18!