Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary, wrapping up the tapings in Portland, Maine. Jim Neidhart’s awful run in the booth is over. It is hard to notice a change in his absence since he said very little when calling matches.
Opening Contest: The Natural Disasters (w/Jimmy Hart) (8-0) defeat Sonny Blaze & Bill Pierce when Typhoon pins Pierce after the Tidal Wave at 2:54:
Heenan argues that Jake Roberts and the Undertaker are going to go after Sid Justice after he saved Randy Savage and Elizabeth at their wedding reception. The jobbers never get to tag as the Disasters destroy Pierce and take the liberty of tossing Blaze in the ring so they can beat him up to. While the crowd is tired after a long taping, they still give a noticeable “Ooohhh!” after Pierce is squashed by both big man finishers.
Okerlund recaps all the events during and after SummerSlam.
Koko B. Ware (5-7) pins Pete Doherty with the Ghostbuster at 1:57:
Ware got the dark match slot at SummerSlam, defeating Kato with a missile dropkick. Doherty slugs away with reckless abandon on Ware in the corner but Ware shrugs off the blows and goes to work. The highlight of the squash is Heenan wishing that Jake Roberts would set Lucifer on Frankie.
Get your copy of Bodybuilding Lifestyles, which has Mike Christian on the cover!
Skinner (1-0) pins Larry Williams after an inverted DDT at 2:08:
In the split screen, Skinner compares himself to the boogeyman and laughs. Heenan is a fan of the Skinner character, laughing at the creative ways he bends Williams up in the ropes and sets up the inverted DDT.
Mr. Perfect (17-4) beats Mark Thomas after an amateur wrestling takedown in 17 seconds:
Perfect ushers ring announcer Mike McGuirk out of the ring so he can quickly take Thomas down and pin him after an amateur wrestling takedown. Afterward, Perfect yells into the camera about how he is coming after Bret Hart to get back what belongs to him. That would take a while as this was Perfect’s last match for more than a year because of his back injury, a reason that this match so short. What was also noticeable about this bout was the absence of Coach, something Heenan ascribes to a falling out with Perfect after SummerSlam.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan (18-0-2) pins Dick Wernick after the three-point stance clothesline at 2:06:
Wernick has a hard time getting off the canvas quick enough to feed into Duggan’s clotheslines. After being taken to the ring post and corner turnbuckle, Wernick is finished off with the three-point stance clothesline.
Million Dollar Champion Virgil is a guest on the Barber Shop. Heenan makes a funny quip that Virgil is so elated after winning at SummerSlam that he is going to have the belt bronzed. Virgil puts over that hard work pays off and he is proud to be a rich, common man.
Jimmy Snuka (9-3) defeats Paul Perez after a knee drop at 2:40:
After methodically working over Perez, Snuka gets to double digit wins on the year after delivering a knee drop. That was probably Snuka telegraphing how little he cared about his usage in the company by this time.
The Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji) (19-0) defeats Ray Garcia via count out at 2:50:
The Berzerker acts nuts by jumping up and down and doing weird things with his hands as he demolishes Garcia.
Tune in next week to see the Irwin R. Schyster, the Dragon, and the Big Bossman will be in action! Also, Ted DiBiase will be on the Barber Shop!
The Last Word: This was a weird show because many of the superstars that won would either not appear for a while in the ring (Mr. Perfect) or were barely featured as regulars on WWF programming anymore (Jimmy Snuka and Koko B. Ware). Even the most significant revelation on the show, that Perfect and Coach parted ways, did not mean anything because Perfect was kept out of action by his back injury.
As August wrapped up, here is a sampling of the WWF’s house show cards, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:
Sacramento, California – Arco Arena – August 31, 1991 (5,500 – matinee): The Texas Tornado pinned the Berzerker after lifting his shoulder to avoid a double pin situation at 6:55…The Dragon wrestled Skinner to a 20-minute time-limit draw at 17:04…The Beverly Brothers defeated the Bushwhackers…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart beat the Warlord (substituting for Mr. Perfect) at 15:13…Sid Justice (substituting for the Ultimate Warrior) defeated the Undertaker in a body bag match…Irwin R. Schyster beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan via disqualification when Duggan used the 2×4…Ted DiBiase beat Million Dollar Champion Virgil via count out at 7:43…WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom defeated the Nasty Boys at 7:14.
Oakland, California – Oakland Coliseum – August 31, 1991 (7,800 paid): Jerry Sags pinned Butch with a schoolboy roll up after Jimmy Hart distracted Butch at 8:19…The Texas Tornado pinned Skinner after lifting his shoulder to avoid a double pin situation at 7:53…WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom beat the Beverly Brothers when Animal pinned Blake after a flying clothesline from Hawk at 10:37. After the bout, the Nasty Boys attacked the Legion of Doom, bashing Animal’s knee with one of the tag team title belts as the Beverlys prevented Hawk from helping his partner…Sid Justice (substituting for the Ultimate Warrior) beat the Undertaker in a body bag match after hitting the Undertaker with the urn at 16:39…Million Dollar Champion Virgil beat Irwin R. Schyster via disqualification when Ted DiBiase interfered at 8:31…Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart beat Ted DiBiase via count out after Virgil interfered and tossed DiBiase into the ring post at 14:56…The Warlord won an 18-man battle royal, last eliminating the Dragon. Other participants were the Legion of Doom, Virgil, Skinner, the Nasty Boys, Bret Hart, the Bushwhackers, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the Beverly Brothers, Ted DiBiase, the Texas Tornado, Irwin R. Schyster, and the Berzerker.
Backstage News*: The Ultimate Warrior is still under contract but was fired when he came through the curtain following the SummerSlam main event. Reports were that the Warrior wanted the same money and treatment as Hulk Hogan, something Vince McMahon was not willing to provide. It has also been reported that the Warrior wanted $1 million guaranteed from McMahon, who does not give guaranteed contracts. Since the WWF is not releasing the Warrior from his existing contract, do not expect to see him appear in any other promotions. However, his suspension will screw up booking plans for the fall because he was supposed to wrap up his feud with the Undertaker in September and fight Jake Roberts in October. Plans had also called for the Undertaker to then wrestle Randy Savage but now that is going to be switched over to Savage facing Roberts and Sid facing the Undertaker. Rumors are that people inside the WWF think it is too soon to run Sid against the Undertaker, which could be a big money program later. Fans have taken to Sid-Undertaker on house shows, though, and are not disappointed that the Warrior is gone. Savage told McMahon that he did not want to return as a full-time competitor, but McMahon threatened to remove him from television if he did not return to the ring. It is unclear whether Savage will work house shows, so B-towns in October might be headlined by Sid against Roberts instead. There were some reports that Savage had given notice to leave the company, but many are putting no stock in those rumors. In Dave Meltzer’s opinion, all the booking changes make it a certainty that Hulk Hogan will face Ric Flair in the WrestleMania VIII main event.
*In terms of SummerSlam, many fans left after the main event match and did not stick around for the Savage-Elizabeth wedding.
*Despite winning the tag team titles, the Legion of Doom are unhappy with their payoffs and want to go to New Japan next year. They want to make more money there for fewer shows and avoid drug testing.
*Koko B. Ware is making appearances in Memphis for the USWA because he is not being used much on house shows and the WWF is letting talent who they are not using on their house show circuits make money elsewhere so long as it is not for WCW or Herb Abrams’ UWF.
*Jim Neidhart will be returning to the ring after his run as a commentator on Wrestling Challenge did not work out.
*In injury news, the WWF expects Curt Hennig (Mr. Perfect) to be out for three months with his back injury, but some think Hennig will be out longer because he has a Lloyds of London insurance policy that will pay him $25,000 per month.
*In talent relations news, look for Mr. Fuji to be released soon. The company is also parting ways with John Tolos (Coach).
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 2 and 9.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for September 7!