Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper are in the booth, starting off a new round of television tapings from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the tapings took place on September 9. McMahon tells fans that Randy Savage is supposed to join the broadcast but may not because WWF President Jack Tunney has placed him on probation.
Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart’s squash on Prime Time Wrestling is shown.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment shows the end of the “Match Made in Hell” at SummerSlamand features an interview with Sergeant Slaughter from Slaughter’s point of seclusion. Slaughter argues that he was willing to do anything to become WWF Champion, sacrificing his family, friends, and his country. He says that he does not expect anyone to feel sorry for him, but he wants his country back.
The Rockers squash from Prime Time Wrestling airs.
After replaying footage of the Randy Savage-Elizabeth wedding reception, Jake Roberts appears on the Funeral Parlor with a cobra. He tells children that when their parents tell them to eat their vitamins and grow up, it is all a lie because darkness lurks everywhere. Roberts explains that he will be wearing a black glove because he is carrying a cobra, who is likely to strike at any time. And as it concerns Sid Justice, Roberts questions who Sid thinks he is because he is like all the rest who can be bitten by a snake and cease to exist. He notes that he has a glove to protect him while Sid has nothing.
The Warlord (w/Slick) (20-2-2) defeats Sonny Blaze via submission to the full nelson at 2:21:
The Warlord manhandles another jobber to continue building him for Intercontinental title matches on house shows against Bret Hart.
A new Tito Santana vignette sees him being taught how to use a cape and how dangerous it is to be gored by a bull’s horns. This continues his evolution into El Matador.
The Natural Disasters squash from Prime Time Wrestling is shown. The difference is in commentary and how Randy Savage joins halfway through, angry that he arrived after Jake Roberts already appeared. McMahon reminds he and Piper that they are not to get physical involved as part of their contractual obligations.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling airs.
Ric Flair is supposed to make his in-ring debut in the next segment. On the way to the ring, he goes to the announce position and slaps Piper’s headset off. That triggers a confrontation between the two and Flair smacks Piper in the head with the NWA World Heavyweight championship Belt. Flair beats on a downed Piper as WWF officials pour out and Savage, because of his probation, is helpless to defend Piper from the attack. McMahon makes the mistake of getting between Piper and Flair and is accidentally smacked in the back with a wooden chair. Piper, stunned, cannot believe what he has done so Flair picks up the chair and waffles Piper with it before heading to the locker room.
After a commercial break, McMahon does a stretcher job while Piper crawls to the locker room as the crowd chants his name.
The Last Word: The last segment was amazing and was a sign of the chaos to come in storylines to end the year. Vince McMahon was rarely touched during his time as an announcer so to have him knocked out in a scrum was a big deal. And what made the segment great was the build to it as Ric Flair had been taunting Roddy Piper for weeks, McMahon has been reminding Piper that he could not get physically involved with Flair, and Randy Savage was on probation so he could not do anything when things got out of hand. Another big angle on the show was Sergeant Slaughter’s pivot to being a babyface again. His explanation for why he was seeing the light again made sense, but the WWF would have been better served keeping him off television longer to make the turn work. For example, having Slaughter save another babyface talent a few months down the road from an attack would have carried greater impact and then the WWF could have leaned into that. Overall, this was a great episode in terms of angle development even though most of the in-ring action had been seen earlier in the week on Prime Time.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for September 29!