Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper, and Randy Savage are doing commentary, starting a new set of television tapings from Wheeling, West Virginia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these tapings took place on September 30 and drew a crowd of 7,500.
Opening Contest: Jake Roberts (18-1) pins Bill Pierce after the DDT at 1:28:
Roberts theme music has been given a tweak as there is a voiceover of Roberts saying “Trust me” before the music plays. Roberts also keeps his black glove on for the squash, mowing down Pierce with a short-arm clothesline and DDT. After the squash, Roberts gets out the cobra and feigns going after Pierce as McMahon puts over the cobra as Roberts’ most poisonous snake. Savage begs to be reinstated, saying he will take the chance of being bitten.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment announces new matches for Survivor Series. One team match announced is Sid Justice, the Big Bossman, and the Legion of Doom against Jake Roberts, Irwin R. Schyster, and the Natural Disasters. Roberts must be a forgiving man to get over the Earthquake killing Damien earlier in the year. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan discusses how he had a dream of Hulkamaniacs walking to a grave the size of a football field, making him realize that his match with the Undertaker is for the safety of all his fans. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer rebut that they have a special casket for Hogan and plan to make all Hulkamaniacs suffer for an eternity.
The Texas Tornado (29-0) pins the Brooklyn Brawler after the discus punch at 1:25:
These two last faced off on Superstars on June 1. The Brawler still has not figured the Tornado out, taking a lot of blows before eating a discus punch. The Tornado has the best win-loss record in the company but all he is doing is appearing on calendars.
A final Tito Santana vignette airs. This time he steps into the bullfighting ring in Toreo de Tijuana on a Sunday. He “successfully” faces the bull, even though the camera cuts do not disguise that Santana is not actually doing the bullfighting.
Handicap Match: The Natural Disasters (w/Jimmy Hart) defeat Duane Gill, Barry Hardy & Jim Arnon when Typhoon pins Arnon after the Tidal Wave at 3:08:
A funny part of the squash is Earthquake flexing for the camera and Savage hyping him as a future WBF competitor as an incredulous McMahon quickly shoots down the idea. The Disasters whip all three jobbers against each other in the corner and avalanche them together, with the jobbers falling out of the corner like bowling pins. Arnon takes the honor of getting finished with an Earthquake powerslam and each Disaster finisher.
Ric Flair (1-0) beats Ron Cumberledge via submission to the figure-four leglock at 1:19:
Flair’s theme music has been changed from “Also Sprach Zarathustra” to an in-house theme that is not as good. Flair works Cumberledge’s knee and gets the submission with the figure-four, a move McMahon puts over as more powerful than any other figure-four variation.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan is a guest on the Funeral Parlor. Paul Bearer shows off a special casket that has been put together for Hulk Hogan. It has lots of Hogan decals on the outside and a Hogan poster on the inside. Duggan tells Bearer that he does not think the Undertaker can get Hogan in the casket at Survivor Series. He adds that if the Undertaker gets in his way, he is going to board him to death.
The next match is scheduled to be Sid Justice against El Diablo. Before the match begins, the Undertaker and Bearer come to the ring and Bearer hands Diablo a briefcase full of money so that the Undertaker can replace him in the bout. After a stare down, both men choke each other until Diablo comes back into the ring, unmasking as Jake Roberts. Roberts chokes Sid out with his gi strap and gives him a DDT as Bearer wheels a casket to ringside. The Undertaker and Roberts tie Sid in the ropes and Roberts open the briefcase to reveal a glove and snake bag. Roberts gets out a king cobra but before damage is done, Duggan runs to ringside, tips over the casket, and gets Sid out of the ropes. If Hulk Hogan made the save, the crowd pop at the end of the segment would have been bigger, but Duggan has been such a protected babyface act that he can still get a good reaction. Roberts and the Undertaker made a great team, making one wish that the WWF put them in the tag division to feud with the Legion of Doom.
The Rockers (17-1) defeat Vito Krus & Al Coleman when Marty Jannetty pins Krus after Shawn Michaels press slams him on top of Krus at 2:22:
Krus was trained by WWF Hall of Famer Johnny Rodz, starting his career in 1990. He would go onto fame later in WCW as Big Vito.
The Rockers work a toned-down squash by their standards, giving Coleman a double superkick and finishing Krus after Michaels gives him an elbow off the ropes.
Sergeant Slaughter speaks in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial, wondering how he could have turned his back on the United States. He wishes to stand with valor again and get his country back.
Tune in next week to see Ted DiBiase, El Matador, the Undertaker, and Roddy Piper in action!
The Last Word: The big angle on this show was one of those that would get kids talking at school on Monday, arguing about why Hulk Hogan did not make the save or what might have happened if Sid had gotten bitten by the king cobra. It was a great way to put over Jake Roberts and the Undertaker as dastardly, cunning heels and make Sid Justice show some vulnerability. Unfortunately, Sid’s injury wrecked the momentum that he was building in this early run with the company.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for October 20!