The SmarK Rant for WWF in Paris – 10.13.89
By Scott Keith on 31 August 2025
The SmarK Rant for WWF in Paris – 10.13.89
Originally written 08.30.25
Missed this drop on the WWE Vault while I was out of town earlier this week. So we’ll knock this one out first and then get to GCW in the Omni.
But first, a word from a reader.
Hey Scott, hope all is well with you. I wanted to ask for a huge favor. I know on occasion you’ve shared things like this with the blog, but my family and I are in desperate need of help to avoid eviction, due to my health issues causing me to miss work more frequently , and I may end up having to go on medical leave . Meanwhile the expenses are piling up . If you could please share the GoFundMe link neglow it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again
Best of luck.
Anyway, this is a show in Paris, posted by the Vault this week for obvious reasons, although it’s definitely not the “full event” as advertised. But hey, I’ll take what I can get. I do know that the main event was on the World Tour 90 video I reviewed many years back, but I haven’t seen the rest. I think it all ended up on Prime Time Wrestling. This appears to be from the Canal Plus broadcast, complete with OUTRAGEOUS FRENCH ANNOUNCERS. YouTube’s automatic closed captioning helpfully labels it as “FOREIGN”.
The Honky Tonk Man v. Bret Hart
From what I can tell, the announcer helpfully explains the origins of the Honky Tonk Man name, which was apparently taken as a tribute to the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman”. I’m learning things in strange foreign languages! Honky immediately tries to run away from a fight, which you’d think would make him a hero with the crowd, but Bret convinces him to return. Bret gets a hiptoss and slugs away and then follows with an atomic drop and runs him into the turnbuckles 10 times and sends him fleeing to the floor again. Back in, Bret works the arm and the crowd is all pumped up about it, but Honky tries a big boot and Bret SWEEPS THE LEG and gets the big stomp. Back to the arm and Honky fights out of that, so Bret hits a bodypress for two and sunset flip for two. OOH LA LA, notes the announcer. Honky with some cheapshots to take over and Jimmy Hart trips up Bret for good measure and Honky shows the French crowd some real dancing. I bet they never even saw Elvis in France and Honky just BLEW THEIR MINDS. Honky drops elbows and goes for the neckbreaker, but Bret backdrops out of it and makes the comeback. Honky begs for mercy, asking “Don’t be cruel!” but Bret is pretty cruel to him and continues the beating. Snap suplex and middle rope elbow get two. Bret with the sleeper and Jimmy tries to run in, but Bret slams him onto Honky and that’s apparently a DQ at 9:49. Decent little match, as Honky and Bret probably worked a million matches together in Calgary and had good chemistry. **3/4
Afterwards, Honky says what we’re all thinking, that no one wants to hear Bret Hart’s music because he’s a filthy and slimy greaseball Canadian, and Bret takes great offense to this for some reason and comes back to kick Honky’s ass some more and send him running.
Dino Bravo v. King Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Even the French crowd understands that DINO BRAVO IS THE WORST despite all his fleur-de-lis. That being said, French people kind of hate Quebecois French anyway. Duggan wins a pair of lockups and sends Bravo to the floor. Back in, they slug it out and Duggan clotheslines him back to the floor again, where he hopefully remains for the rest of the match. So Bravo decides to walk out of the match, doing us all a huge favor, but then trolls everyone by returning to wrestle again. Diabolical. The announcer brings up Eduardo Carpentier for some reason, which I can only assume is “Eduardo Carpentier told me that DINO BRAVO IS THE WORST” because otherwise why bring him up? Bravo chokes Duggan out on the ropes and goes to a chinlock, and then clubs Duggan down with a clothesline, if you want to call it that, for two. Back to the chinlock as Bravo has somehow blown himself up just working this match, and he tosses Duggan and then impresses me by raising his arms to taunt the crowd. I didn’t think he had that kind of range of motion in 1989, to be honest. He sends Duggan into the corner for one, but misses an elbow and that allows Duggan to make a comeback. He slugs away in the corner and we get a ref bump. In this economy? So Jimmy tries to hit Duggan with the megaphone but knocks out Bravo by mistake, and Duggan gets the pin at 8:34. This match was, as the French say, le diarrhea. Le DUD.
The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers v. The Rockers
Oh this is an interesting one. The Rockers clear the ring with a SUPERKICK PARTY to start, but the Rougeaus trap Shawn in the corner and work the arm. Rockers double-team Jacques and he tries to crawl away, but Marty hits him with a middle rope fistdrop for two. So Jacques retreats and it’s over to Raymond, but the Rockers double-team him and go after his leg. They switch off behind the ref’s back and he’s helpless to do anything about it, which is no doubt the worst refereeing job done by a Hebner in any match involving Shawn Michaels where the audience primarily speaks French. I feel confident in saying that. The Rockers keep switching off on the leg while Jacques goes nuts and yells at the audience in French. Finally he can take no more and yanks Shawn by the hair, allowing Ray to send him into the corner pretty violently for a Flair Flip to take over. Double team gutbuster on Shawn and they put the boots to him for two. Raymond with a savate kick to send Shawn to the floor, and back in they work on the back and cut off the ring. Shawn makes the tag and of course the ref doesn’t see it, allowing the Rougeaus to get more punishment, but heel miscommunication allows the real hot tag and Marty runs wild. Marty blocks a sunset flip and then backslides Jacques for two, but Ray trips him up from the floor and Jacques gets a piledriver for two. But Shawn sneaks in and piledrives Jacques while the ref deals with Raymond, and puts Marty on top for the pin at 13:52. Not as good as you’d be expecting, since they kept it super simple and basically did comedy schtick for most of it, but still pretty good. ***
WWF title: The Orange Gaslighting Son of a Bitch v. Randy Savage
Macho Man promises that he’s going to be beating Hogan ONE TWO THREE and dedicates it to the most beautiful woman in Paris, Sensational Sherri. And they team up and put the boots to Hogan as a team, showing that romance is still alive and well. But Hulk clears the ring and attacks Macho on the outside before punching him with a series of illegal closed fists in the ring and then threatening Sherri as well and then sexually harassing her by instructing her to kiss his ass. I don’t believe Sherri gave consent for that, you MONSTER. Sherri defends herself by scratching his back and Macho gets two before going to a chinlock. Hogan is obviously out cold but the referee clearly doesn’t understand the rules of American wrestling because he waits too long to test the arm and that allows Hulk a chance to do some PCP and revive himself. Savage necks him on the top rope and goes up with the double axehandle, but it only gets two and Hulk makes the comeback and tells Liz to slap her own husband! Sherri thankfully prevents that from happening, but Hulk drops the leg and pins him regardless at 6:45 to retain his ill-gotten title. Disgusting. *1/2
I dunno, I can safely call it “Not the worst use of an hour” without fear of contradiction but that’s about it.