Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Andre the Giant (and other Dream Matches!)

Andre, a total asshole, takes the WWF Title and raises it high above his head in the post-match.

WWF AT THE LOS ANGELES SPORTS ARENA:
(Aug. 13th 1988)
* It’s time for more Dream Matches! With this one, I’m going back to the LA Coliseum shows, as these produce some fun match-ups. In particular, this one is main evented by MACHO MAN vs. ANDRE THE GIANT, a colossal match-up that didn’t actually end up on TV very much. I’ve heard that Andre was notoriously rough and non-giving with Savage (allegedly because he didn’t like how Randy treated Elizabeth, which is hearsay to the point of “obvious bullshit”), and 1988 Andre is always a questionable watch in the ring, but I’ve come around on his work a lot over the years and was curious about it. And we also have other amazing matches lined up, including a masked OWEN HART showing up pre-Blue Blazer to take on Barry Horowitz (for FIFTEEN MINUTES!), Sam Houston vs. Black Jack, “Ravishing” Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts, the Powers of Pain vs. the Bolsheviks and Curt Hennig vs. SD Jones! For… oh god that one’s a long one, too.

Parts of this show honestly feel like “tryouts” for Owen & Curt to work their gimmicks and styles out, or figure out their pluses and minuses in LONG matches against job guys.

SAM HOUSTON vs. BLACK JACK:
* And we amazingly start with a JOBBER MATCH! Jack has a weirdly broad back and is so TV-unfriendly he keeps his back to the hard cameras for like 3 solid minutes before the bell sounds. AMATEUR HOUR! He has a great jobber look- broad back but a nothign physique and black tights pulled up past his belly-button, making him look 50 years old. This is Jack Armstrong, a 25-year veteran by this point, so he just might be! Classic Assassin-type mask- black & red. Houston does a goofy line-dance quick-step all the way around the ring to start, looking like a total goober, and as soon as the piped-in music cuts out you can hear Graham burying his physique on commentary, complaining about how “If he wants to continue is progress in the WWF brotha, he’s got to get into the gym PUMP BIG-TIME IRON, to put some body weight on that lean body of his!”. Monsoon is the voice of reason, pointing out that someone so young might have a hard time gaining weight.

Black Jack stalls a bit, then we get into some awkwardness as Houston runs into him on a hiptoss sequence and Jack starts scooting all over the ring so strangely that both commentators talk about how “unorthodox” and “jerky” he is. He takes a bump out of a hammerlock with almost no motion from Houston, then Houston keeps going to a loose headlock and weird pins where he hooks the leg strangely. Jack starts selling so jankily I think it’s fucking Houston up, as he keeps having to stall to wait for more punches & a dropkick. Oh god and Jack goes for a bodyslam and Houston isn’t posting himself at all so his long-ass gangly frame causes Jack to nearly drop him. He misses an elbow, grazing Houston, who gets up and hits a shitty Steer-Buster (bulldog) for the win (5:47) catching Monsoon & Graham by surprise, as they were filling the boring headlock-filled match with shooting the shit about tactics, why they retired, and the disadvantages of wearing a mask. This was terrible- Black Jack appeared to be calling spots, but he was all jerky and it was messing up Houston, who couldn’t get on the same page with him. Then they filled 3 minutes with headlock spots and messed up a few more moves until they thankfully went home.

Rating: DUD (almost fascinatingly bad in a way that teaches the viewer more about how wrestling is SUPPOSED to work by showing what happens when two guys aren’t simpatico)

THE BLUE ANGEL vs. BARRY HOROWITZ:
* Oh, AMAZING. The Blue Angel is obviously Owen Hart under the mask, and they’re evidently workshopping the “Blue Blazer” persona. The blue singlet with the stars is something he wore a lot of until his “Bretslayer” run. Horowitz is in neon green trunks with suspenders.

Graham immediately starts wondering what’s the deal with all these masks (“Are they owing child support?”), with Monsoon theorizing he’s a pro who just wants to hide his identity for a bit, perhaps in order to avoid having some losses on his record. After a short bit the Angel immediately Owens out with the “hold hands, leap to the top rope, then backflip off of it” to some applause (Monsoon: “I don’t ever remember you doing that in your career”). Monsoon & Graham mark out for Owen’s skills as he works hammerlocks, drops knees, etc., always keeping a hold on, Horowitz taking the occasional potshot but mostly flinging around for stuff. Compare this to the last match and it’s night and day. And then OUTTA NOWHERE Barry pulls out a great reverse thrust kick that smashes the Angel flat. Great timing and bumping there.

Barry works the throat while Monsoon completely buries his chances (“I don’t think if he broke every rule he knows, and all the rules WE know, that he could get by the Blue Angel”), and Blue Angel takes the Bret Bump into the corner… and backwards rolls on the bump! Barry three-quarter nelsons him into a rollup, then hits a butterfly suplex as commentary is like “He’s used up everything he knows!”. He wears him down with a front facelock, but pops in with a surprise knee for two. Barry hits a backslide as Monsoon buries the execution (“He’s not driving with the legs!”), but Angel gets a crossbody out of the corner. Barry recovers and necks him on the top rope, then tries some amateur-style pins, then hits a Russian legsweep and goes up- the Blue Angel kips up, Flair Tosses him off, then hits a missile dropkick, kipping up on the landing! Vertical suplex & kneedrop off the second rope… for two! Barry gets put over for his intestinal fortitude after eating a backbreaker, but runs into a knee- he does a great “dizzy spin” and gets set up so the Angel can Moonsault him for the pin (14:36). Angel finishes a LONG one!

Actually a shockingly solid, LONG match for these kinds of shows. Barry showed some good thinking with his stalling to pad for time- repeated taunts, stalling, acting proud of himself, etc., but spread apart so it wasn’t too boring, and shaking up the moves and pin attempts with different stuff, with a few hope spots. The chemistry here compared to the last match was obvious- Barry was a great bumper and a pretty good seller, and Owen’s stuff was precise. Very “Bret-Style” at this point- the suplex & backbreaker, then a second-rope drop, and preceding all that the front-first bump into the corner? Too bad Monsoon wrote off Barry’s chances so many times, haha.

Rating: **3/4 (way more than a simple squash, this was a great example of in-ring chemistry and both guys getting their shit in while the other sold)

THE POWERS OF PAIN (Warlord & Barbarian) vs. THE BOLSHEVIKS (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov):
* Oh man, three of the worst dudes in the company in one match, lol. No Slick for the Bolsheviks, and during Nikolai’s singing of the Soviet national anthem, the Powers attack from behind!

Volkoff wastes time posing at Barbarian, complains about getting shoved, then takes a single punch and bails- Zhukov’s stuff is ignored and he backwards rolls off a shoulderblock and gets powerslamed, Nikolai saving him. Nikolai goes with the Warlord next, doing a test of strength (that’d be more even in real life than you’d think- Nikolai was a pro weightlifter in his youth), failing but Boris successfully sneaks in with an axehandle. Nikolai gloats, but Warlord isn’t reacting much at all so I don’t think the fans are gonna react much to it- he fights up, and when Boris tries the same move, he dodges and Nikolai takes it. Still Warlord isn’t really doing much or even laughing, gloating, whatever, but the Powers manage to work Nikolai’s arm. He fires back on Barbarian but runs into a boot. He finally fires back on the Warlord and dodges a charge, and the Bolsheviks start double-teaming and fighting dirty. Pity that Warlord still can’t sell so this is pretty boring. He manages a double-clothesline and tags out, Barbarian firing up and knocking both guys around. Man they’re so clunky but Nikolai is trying hard. He finally gets Boris thrown into him and he hits the floor, and the Powerslam/Flying Headbutt pins Boris at (9:12).

Oof- nine minutes of POP/Bolsheviks- the Russians are big clunky dudes and Warlord couldn’t really do offense OR sell in “face in peril” position, so this was a tough one. Though actually VOLKOFF was the match MVP, as he was the only one actually really playing up being a CHARACTER- boasting, flexing, complaining to the ref, etc.- he even sold pretty well, flailing around and taking bumps. I mean, the match was fine timing-wise, with the typical “heel is humiliated; babyfaces take the lead; heels cheat to come back; babyface comeback & victory” thing, but almost everything was so poorly done (the POP were almost noticeably bored or stiff), leaving Volkoff- not exactly Prime Flair here, to shoulder the entire load.

Rating: *1/2 (not like… actively an atrocity like the opener but a boring, pretty lazy bout aside from Volkoff)

CURT HENNIG vs. S.D. “SPECIAL DELIVERY” JONES:
* Yes, regular “Curt Hennig”- not “Mr. Perfect” yet. They hired him away from the AWA and he had recently debuted- he hasn’t made “official” TV quite yet, doing so in September, and he adopts the gimmick name shortly thereafter. It’s weird to see him in short trunks (black with some white design on top), looking bored and/or drunk. Jones is a bit trim and roided. Both guys are in the ring to start the intros, and don’t get any reaction. Jesse Ventura shows up for this one.

Ventura immediately namedrops Larry “The Ax” Hennig and Monsoon talks about that, but immediately asks Jesse about his acting career, leading to Ventura talking about the writer’s strike and “It’s a good thing the WRESTLERS don’t go on strike!”, haha. They grapple to no reaction and Jones controls with a headlock as Monsoon puts over his weight-loss adding extra speed from when he was 300 lbs. Hennig bumps a ton for this jobber, backrolling off a shove and flinging himself over the top rope off a single punch. He comes back with a cheap shot, then enters a series of plodding submissions, making sure to hold the ropes or the tights, then manages a shitty backbreaker that Monsoon calls out (“He didn’t get the execution he wanted on that- not gonna get ’em!”), and they start talking about Jones giving Hennig too much of a good match and Hennig coming in overconfident. They keep cracking jokes about Watts, LA and how tough it is (Superstar calls out the huge scar in SD’s back and Monsoon jokes “that was from his first walk through Watts”), then get into Jesse’s hunt for leading ladies (Kim Basinger is brought up) and how greedy Monsoon is at the dinner table (“You’d let her have some food? Better than you did ME last time you bought me dinner”, cracking up Gorilla). Yeah you know the match is boring when it turns into a Shriners routine.

SD, open-mouthed and panting, manages a big left that flattens Hennig, who then tries to go into Andre Position- both guys try and botch it (Jesse covers, saying Hennig is too smart and keeping them apart). Someone shouts “boring!” and Hennig does his upside-down bumps off some thigh-kicks, then SD, blown-up to shit, throws some short jabs and a weak snapmare/headbutt for two. Man this ref is so awkward- trying to give them shit about hanging out in the ropes but randomly pushing and poking at them so it looks really off-putting and intrusive. Hennig does a light savate kick (!!) that Monsoon calls out “not a lot of oomph behind it” but charges into a powerslam for two. Hennig takes him down and starts working the back and leg (NOW you have focus?). SD flings him off of a pin and goes to work with a biel & punches, but Hennig suddenly lashes out with a clothesline to the top of the head for the PIN at (13:05). Lol did they mistake this for the Survivor Series or something? Jesse actually points out this was “The Ax”- his dad’s finisher.

Mother of GOD- 13 minutes for an SD Jones match. Just dreadful for both guys- sloppy, slow, and plodding, with Jones noticeably blown up for the back half of it and both guys just fucking around to fill time. Hennig kinda/sorta went into “Bumping Mode” but scaled down for such a low-level match, only doing his kick-flips and a couple good flat-backs- other times he seemed to botch other bumps (like when he’s launched off a pin, he just hits the ropes and doesn’t shitcan). Then you get some very poor offense from both and Hennig wins with a clothesline of all things, coming out of nowhere and not being built to at all.

Rating: * (just an awful bore in-ring- thank god commentary was so good)

WWF WORLD TITLE:
“MACHO MAN” RANDY SAVAGE (w/ Miss Elizabeth) vs. ANDRE THE GIANT (w/ Bobby Heenan):
* And here’s why I wanted to watch this in the first place- I HAD to see how these two handled a TV market match. I mean, this isn’t a “PPV Effort” sort of situation, and not a “SNME” one either. But its’ better than a house show! And Savage often used these to figure out the match templates he wanted to use. Plus I’ve heard Andre was very un-giving with Savage (allegedly due to how he treated Elizabeth, though that’s often Andre cronies saying that). Andre’s physical condition, the market for the match, etc., all make me really curious what the effort level is gonna look like. Macho’s in red trunks and totally dwarfed, despite looking like a million bucks.

They stall before the bell, Heenan harassing Elizabeth and thus provoking Savage… and the referee EJECTS him from ringside! Fans erupt at this, haha. Heenan throws an absolute visual shitfit at this, vibrating and yammering like a maniac to really sell it to the cheap seats (this is why he’s a GOAT manager). Andre is beside himself and openly questions why Elizabeth is allowed to stay as Heenan is counted down, less Andre be disqualified. Savage gloats at this (even getting an “OHHHH YEAH!” into the house mic), but Andre is perfection, just spitting into each hand and slapping them together before lumbering at Savage and missing him in the corner. A+ stuff. Savage keeps ducking the lunges, but Andre finally shoves him back and catches him with a headbutt. Savage bails, selling two strikes like he’s just been through a marathon of offense, and Andre switches to just throttling him in a blatant choke. He switches to a nervehold, then quietly strings his shoulder-strap around Savage’s throat, using his sheer bulk to block it (lol 7 feet and 500 lbs. and he’s CHEATING). Savage, per usual, does little micro-comebacks, but Andre’s quick to just throw a headbutt or something to stun him. Another headbutt sees Savage bail again, and Andre starts ramming him into the corner… but he rams right into Randy’s knee! haha I love the psychology of Andre matches- protect the hell out of him and even make it so YOU can’t hurt him- you have to make him hurt HIMSELF.

Andre hunches over writhing in pain and holding his neck, allowing Savage to come off with an axehandle from Bret’s rope, Andre selling it as a stun. But Savage starts punching away and Andre levels him with another headbutt. Savage is flattened but Andre is still stunned, blinking to put over the pain. He manages a bearhug, but Savage quckly claps out, dodging a boot and lands a weak clothesline… but Andre’s in Andre Position! And the crowd pops for it, so that simple stuff is working! Savage takes a minute to recover and then just points at the Giant, diving in with kicks and face-gouging while he’s helpless, putting over his savagery (… hah) and desperation. He keeps at it because Hebner can’t free Andre, who looks miserable… but as soon as he’s free, attrition wears down the Macho Man and he’s flung into the corner with a shot, then chopped to a pulp. Andre just mauls him like a grizzly bear, choking the life out of Savage and pulling the turnbuckle pad off and flings him into it. Andre does it again and again, Hebner missing it all, but of course goes for his big headbutt… and BLAMMO! Butts the metal bolt! His reaction is perfect, just lurching forward and collapsing into the corner like a dying gorilla. Savage is just merciless, smashing him into it over and over again. Andre tries to fight at him but it’s all clumsy like King Kong’s final moments… and he takes a perfectly safe bump to the mat that has the fans erupting! Like everyone is standing! Flying Elbow… for two!! Oh shit, that ALWAYS scored pins, never mind how hard Andre flung him off three feet. Savage goes for a desperation kneedrop but Andre bails to regroup on the floor, only for a merciless Savage to ram him into the steps… but Elizabeth hits the apron and Andre grabs her by the ankle! She collapses from it (unconvincingly) and Savage goes to save her, but both are Counted Out at (10:22). Hey Savage JUST went out there you dink! Andre grabs the belt and holds it high like a total asshole while Savage tends to Elizabeth, showing the necessary warmth and concern a babyface champion needs to.

Man, the psychology of Andre’s matches at this point was exceptional- guys could take a couple shots and sell them they’d been through a devastating 10-minute match, and that sets off the whole story of Andre being invincible until you managed to get him to hurt himself- stuff like putting your knee in the way of his shoulder-thrust or get him to headbutt something steel- like an invincible Video Game Boss you need to trick to defeat. Absolutely fantastic match considering Andre’s limits, and you get to see how good he is at selling- despite being the ultimate protected Monster Heel who barely budges, he’s tremendous at “acting surprised” by pain, floundering around, desperately grasping for the ropes hoping to not topple, blinking his eyes to sell being dazed, etc. All the little things that separate him from lesser giants like the Big Show, who would sell every punch with the same overdramatic body motion, flinging back his arms. And Savage was just ON HIM, looking like a merciless killer who was taking every chance he had to bring the giant down. Even when Andre was throttling him Savage would give those little desperation strikes before getting clobbered, always making it look like he was fighting. Savage is in many ways an ideal opponent for Andre- his desperation, mania and speed cover Andre’s weaknesses very well- there’s no way Hogan or Jake are coming at him that fast.

Rating: ***1/2 (fuck it- I love the psychology of Monster Heel Andre matches, and Savage was a perfect opponent for him- a smaller, frenetic guy to contrast the slow giant. Great selling from both throughout)

Backstage! An interview with Ravishing Rick Rude, where Monsoon (apparently on a lower level as he looks shorter than Rude, which he is NOT) challenges him over the LA Sports Arena show last month (ah, so these have continuity!). Monsoon chides him for going after Jake’s snake, then compares Heenan to a snake, then when Rude starts talking about Cheryl Roberts, Jake’s wife, Monsoon tears into him. Fascinating stuff- most wrestling commentators aren’t constantly challenging and confronting guys like this, and here’s Monsoon telling him “I think you were outta gas! I think you trimmed down so much to make your body so beautiful that you didn’t have any stamina left!” and isn’t called out for it. Dangerously close to burying him- I can’t wait to ignore it because it might hurt my “Monsoon was awesome and everyone who dislikes him is a fart-sac” narrative!

Now it’s Monsoon with the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, who are waving tiny flags with little smirks on their faces, “claiming” to be huge fans of the USA. Monsoon repeatedly challenges them on this while Jacques has a super cartoony scrunched-up face about it, looking as disingenuous as possible. OK their riser must be HUGE because Monsoon is dwarfed by both guys.

THE HART FOUNDATION (Bret “Hitman” Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) vs. THE FABULOUS ROUGEAU BROTHERS (Jacques & Raymond Rougeau):
* The Harts/Rougeaus feud continues in our “Workrate Match” of the evening! The Rougeaus get a good bit during the announcements, demanding the dude announce “Soon to be from the United States of America” (Monsoon: “Oh, PLEASE!”). Solid response for the Harts, but without theme music, both acts are just not at full strength, haha. Monsoon drops his “Main event in any arena in the world” line for this one- SEE? PUTTING OVER THE TALENT! MONSOON RULES!

Raymond starts with Anvil, hilariously using Hebner as a base to backflip out of a top wristlock. He showboats and stalls a bunch with basic stuff, but when he hits a dropkick, Anvil soon lands his OWN, sending Ray running. Bret’s in to a good reaction while Monsoon puts over “The Master of Execution” and how hard it was to survive the Dungeon in Calgary, and he makes a big show of wiping off his hands to shake Jacques’s, countering a whip (Monsoon points out he’s no dummy and had this scouted), then wins an International by elbowing out of a reverse monkey flip, requiring Raymond to try and take care of him and bother the ref. They blow like 7 minutes on very slow, basic stuff, which is both smart AND ensures this goes long, lol. Bret suckers Raymond in and Anvil lays waste, then the Harts do heel spots like faking tags and doing cheap shots behind Hebner’s back. haha I love them cheating against heels. Monsoon marks out for Bret’s fantastic backbreaker, but Ray is like “hey look at Anvil!” allowing Jacques to trip up Bret (Ray immediately just LAUGHS, swinging his head back in a great bit). haha and as they work over Bret, they do a false tag and are like “YEAH WE TOTALLY TAGGED!” asking the fans for support as if they’re gonna back them up. What fuckin’ dicks. Bret gets double-teamed repeatedly (Ray holds him up so Jacques can dropkick his back, then spinebusters him down into a Jacques splash) and they’ll repeatedly switch in for a chinlock to save cardio, breaking it up periodically. The ref doesn’t see an Anvil tag (“He could have asked him! He asked the Rougeaus earlier and he believed them!”- I love Monsoon).

Jacques holds the tights on an abdominal stretch (Gorilla STILL complains about the application of it lol), then Ray pulls his arm. Anvil yanks them off of a pin, and Bret makes great mini-comebacks, firing off a forearm in the corner so hard he lands on his ass, but the Rougeaus stay on him as this drags on a tad with an extra chinlock. I notice Anvil isn’t really “working” on the apron- he’s mostly just standing there blankly- not great, especially for a crazy roughhouse guy. Bret makes repeated attempts at offense (a cross-body that’s WAY too low to the ground; a small package where Jacques sits on his ass and Bret has to save it), but he FINALLY manages the hot tag after reversing a monkey flip to an inverted atomic drop. Sadly Anvil’s not very good at the “house afire” thing, kind of awkwardly running into guys like he’s not sure what move to do until he makes contact, then the ref misses a pin. The Harts hid Demolition Decapitation (!), but Ray pulls Bret off! Bret, incensed, stalks Raymond, but ducks a punch at the last second and swings an atomic drop as Anvil batters Raymond down! Bret stuffs Jacques with a VICIOUS piledriver, but as the ref takes Anvil outta the ring, Ray axehandles Bret off the second rope and Ray puts himself on top like a total asshole, the Rougeaus cheating their asses off and tricking Hebner 8 or 9 times to steal one at (17:44). huh- I figured this’d go 20 minutes judging by how long it looked on the YouTube slider. The fans pelt the heels with garbage as Raymond celebrates all the way down the aisle.

Actually a really good little match, albeit going a tad long with a few too many time-killer spots- they broke up all the chinlocks like good workers should, but that’s still a LOT of them. Anvil also is oddly bad at being an “apron-worker” and hot tag guy (something he should excel at) and they were starting to mistime stuff near the end (Bret was probably blown up, having done like 15 of these 18 minutes). But so much of it was great fun- the Rougeaus being gigantic assholes, cheating constantly and doing fake tags while Anvil keeps getting caught, then the ref missing a final bit of cheating. They pulled off every trick in the book, and mostly kept it interesting the whole time right until the end.

Rating: *** (looking to hit ***1/2 territory except for some slow bits and Anvil’s weak rush into the ring)

Macho Man is back! He hits ringside to talk shit to one Andre the Giant, speaking with his usual gravelly outrage “SEVEN FOOT FIVE… five hundred and twenty pounds. And you hurt someone on the outside who is not a professional wrestler, and weighs only 103 pounds!”. “When Elizabeth is hurtin’… I’M hurtin’!” *crowd cheers* “Bobby Heenan…! I’ve signed an open contract! And that means… at ANY DAMN TIME…! That I get your man Andre the Giant in this squared circle… I’m gonna kick his ASS!”. God damn what a promo. Makes a rematch AND somehow manages to show empathy while also coming off as an enraged badass. Plus he drops “damn” and “ass”- words you almost only ever heard in the Attitude Era and later in the WWF. Never mind Savage looking like a huge badass for challenging a 7’4″ guy to a fight and threatening to beat the shit out of him in an act of glorious revenge. The two in fact wrestle here a month later, Savage winning by DQ- he’s off and on with Andre all year, also fighting Ted DiBiase, Dino Bravo and Bad News Brown.

hahahahahaha- a fan has his shirtless kid mimic Rude’s poses on the hard cam.

JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. RAVISHING RICK RUDE:
* The Brain “has been thrown out of the building from what I understand” as Rude & Roberts work their feud over Cheryl Roberts. Extra points for showing the woman knitting at ringside, lol. Plus a very “1988” MILF cheering him on while he takes his robe off. hahahahaaha and right on the hard cam some dad picks his shirtless kid up and the kid starts mimicking Rude’s flexing to rip on him. Rude, a classic piece of shit, has a picture of him & Cheryl kissing on his ass. Jake drops a “kick your ass!” line himself and gives chase, and we’re off!

Rude gets the better of Jake during the chase, but puts his head down so early it BADLY telegraphs the spot and gets kneed as a kid yells “Rude you suck!”. Jake keeps going for the DDT early and Rude bails, but frenetically comes back repeatedly as they keep the pace up before Jake starts working the wrist. Jake’s interesting because his offense is ass and boring but he’s so in character that his viciousness and desire for revenge bleeds through regardless. Rude at this point is mostly “cartoony over-selling”, but at least that keeps the fans mostly into Jake doing variations of armlocks. He briefly pulls the bag with Damien close and Hebner freaks on him. Jake misses the short-arm clothesline and Rude nails him with one, but further aggravates his shoulder and bails. Rude shoves him into the steel post on the floor. Rude stays on the back, Jake going to what I mostly remember from him- the “pleading” sell where he’s repeatedly grimacing and raising his arm while getting his ass beat. Jake gets a brief comeback and goes for the DDT thrice until he’s backdropped and dumped. Rude posts his back again and waits out the count, pouncing when Jake struggles to the apron… but Jake holds onto the ropes and leverages it into a flash-pin, pinning Rude at (13:26)! Jake wins! Rude pounces and beats on him after kicking out at 3.1, and this feud must continue.

Quite a bit different from other Jake matches, actually- most of the time I see him selling almost the entire thing. This time he controls with arm stuff. Said stuff wasn’t BAD, but it mostly never went anywhere, and then we were back to the expected “pleading” selling, haha. Weak finish, too- unsatisfying since Rude didn’t take much of a beating beforehand and got the best of Jake in the end. Jake at least keeps the feud running, beating Rude around the horn straight until December when he switches to an Andre feud. He even beats Rude in two months in this very arena!

Rating: *1/2 (typical bad Jake Roberts match)

Overall, a fantastic show! THREE good matches, with one of Andre’s best and a good Harts/Rougeaus matches with tons of good, down-home cheating. Two insanely long jobber matches, but the Blue Angel one was ALSO good (it dropped jaws at the time because Owen’s stuff- pedestrian today- was so state of the art). Terrible opener and finishing matches, though, and Hennig/SD Jones sucked, but 3 out of 6 is pretty good for this era of the WWF. Commentary was pretty bad- Superstar NEVER stopped talking, as if he couldn’t let a second’s silence go, and Monsoon mostly had to shoot the shit with him and try to add stuff where he could. He did the usual shitting on pins and weak offense, but also put over the GOOD stuff he saw, and his “casual conversation” stuff is always fun to me. Not exactly the best at producing outrage at this point- actually SUPERSTAR was better at that, but was still annoying doing it.