The SmarK Rant for WWF Live Event – Marshfield WI 10.28.90
By Scott Keith on 15 May 2024
The SmarK Rant for WWF in Marshfield, WI – 10.28.90
OK, so check this out: A longtime fan posted a retrospective of a very minor WWF house show at a Wisconsin Fieldhouse, filmed by a fan on a pretty good looking VHS camcorder. Like, it’s filmed from what looks like a press box and it’s only standard def, but the quality of the picture and sound is pretty high and crystal clear most of the time. This would get an EX quality rating on a tape trading site. The intro notes that the show is so obscure that it didn’t even warrant a listing on the History of WWE site. This would be EXACTLY the kind of thing I’d be all over in my tape trading days, probably buying a copy off John McAdam’s website, so let’s give it a look.
Also, if you’re looking for more of this sort of thing, check out Richard Land’s Fish and Chips Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=110961841&utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan
Taped from Marshfield, WI
First up, we get the requisite banter from the local radio host to warm up the crowd, with a reminder from the ring announcer that there is NO SMOKING and no soft drinks in cans.
As a note, the footage is only about an hour long and not shot continuously, but gives a good summation of the show.
Black Bart v. Shane Douglas
I always forget about Bart’s brief WWF run around this time. Better days would be ahead as the Desperados! Or maybe not. Mostly Shane getting the shine here and slugging away in the corner before taking him down with a flying headscissors for an appreciative crowd of kids, but another headscissors is blocked with a drop on the top rope. Bart chokes him out to take over and follows with a backbreaker before going to a chinlock. Bart holds that for a while, but Shane fights back with the dreaded 10 turnbuckle smashes and a high knee for two. Sunset flip out of the corner gets the pin about 9:00. A pretty decent opener. **1/2. I think that Shane become a teacher or a Target store manager or something.
The Warlord v. Tom “Rocky” Stone
I can see why this one didn’t even warrant a listing now. Stone tries for a headlock and gets nowhere with that, and Warlord hits him with a short clothesline to take over. Warlord with the shoulderblock while barely leaving his feet, really giving this capacity high school gym crowd their $9 worth. Warlord clubbers away on Stone and then puts him away with the running powerslam at 4:05. It is what it is. DUD
Sgt. Slaughter v. Nikolai Volkoff
This was early in Slaughter’s Iraqi turncoat period and the heat for him is NUCLEAR as Adnan waves the flag. Sarge of course clobbers Volkoff from behind and clotheslines him to set up some choking right away before putting the boots to him. I should note that at this point Volkoff had abandoned his communist home nation and embraced the American way of life, and where did that get him? Flat broke and begging Ted Dibiase for money just a couple of years later. Makes a pretty good case for the communist regimes, if we’re being honest with ourselves. Sarge drops elbows on him and quickly finishes with the camel clutch at 2:07. Well obviously he wasn’t getting paid by the hour out there. DUD. And this wasn’t even the saddest denouement to Volkoff’s career!
Power & Glory v. The Rockers
Roma and Herc were a cool heel team for a cup of coffee, but it’s kind of weird that they’ve kind of been elevated to a much higher tier than they probably deserve because of teams like FTR paying tribute to them years later. I mean, I liked them as a team too, but it’s not like the PowerPlex was some kind of business-altering finisher. Roma quickly beats on Marty in the corner, but the babyfaces double-team Roma to get some shine as Shawn hits him with an atomic drop. Shawn superkicks both guys and puts Roma on the floor, but Paul trips him up and Hercules gets the cheapshot to take over. Herc puts the boots to him and follows with an atomic drop, and they go to work on Shawn’s previously injured knee. Man the Rockers have some HEAT here. Shawn’s going full Ricky Morton for the girls in the crowd and they’re eating it up. Shawn fights back with a diving punch on Roma, but Paul puts him down with his own shot to the knee and they control in the corner again. Roma puts him down and gets two, and then antagonizes Marty to draw him in for some more double-teaming behind the ref’s back. To be fair, Marty is pretty dumb, history has shown. Herc with the spinning toehold, but Shawn kicks him into the corner and makes the HOT TAG, as the crowd goes apeshit for Marty’s comeback. He blocks a Roma charge in the corner and shoulderblocks him for two, but Herc makes the save and it’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA. But then Shawn trips up Hercules while Marty hits Roma with a flying bodypress, and that gets the pin at 9:00 as the crowd loses their minds. By 1990 C-Show standards this was an AEW main event banger and is absolutely worth watching this show to see. ***1/2
Boris Zhukov v. Koko B. Ware
See, instead of having Volkoff go babyface, they should have had Zhukov renounce Russia and return to being PRIVATE JIM NELSON in order to wage war on Sgt. Slaughter. Probably would have saved Wrestlemania VII if we’re looking at things objectively. Boris wins the lockup battle and gets some forearms, but Koko comes back with a headbutt and Boris does the comedy sell of that, which gets two. Koko misses a blind charge. Meanwhile the guy recording has to listen to a couple of kids chiding him for recording the show, which is ILLEGAL. Boris controls with a chinlock and backrakes, but Koko gets a sunset flip for two. So Boris goes to the Vulcan nerve pinch as the crowd really wants us to know what country they live in, and Boris switches to the chinlock. Boris puts the boots to him in the corner, but Koko makes the comeback with a missile dropkick for the pin at 7:28. Koko is exactly the kind of guy who was perfect for these kid-filled shows and this was totally fine. *1/2
Mr. Perfect v. Texas Tornado
I forget who was actually Intercontinental champion at this point because this is the nebulous period around the time of Perfect winning it back and the title change actually airing. I think Tornado was still carrying the belt around at the house shows, though. They fight on the floor right away, and Tornado works the arm back in the ring and Perfect bumps around the ring for him. Perfect comes back with a sleeper out of the corner, but Tornado fights free and they slug it out. Perfect chokes him out in the corner and goes to an armbar as Kerry does not seem particularly motivated out there tonight. But he fights back with a forearm and Perfect goes flying off that, but then comes back with a dropkick of his own to put Tornado on the floor. They fight out there and Perfect necks him on the way in and takes over with a clothesline. And NOW YOU’RE GONNA SEE A PERFECTPLEX, but it only gets two. Perfect runs him into the corner and pulls off the turnbuckle for another shot, but Kerry fights back and sends him into the exposed steel for a double flip somersault sell from Perfect that gets two. And then the Tornado punch finishes with another somersault from Perfect as the capper, for the pin at 9:50. Perfect was HURLING his body all over the ring trying to get anything out of Von Erich he could, but Kerry was phoning it in again. **
Main Event: Earthquake v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
They fight for the lockup and Quake wins that because he’s a natural disaster and such. Duggan fires back with a clothesline out of the corner and slugs away on Quake, but Quake tosses him for a fight on the floor. Quake runs him into the post to take over and Jimmy Hart gets some abuse as well, and I’m pretty surprised they actually had Jimmy come in for this nothing show. Back in the ring, Quake with the bearhug and he works Duggan over in the corner with the power of his natural dis-ass-ter, but Hacksaw fights back and immediately gets clobbered again. Back to the bearhug, but Quake misses a blind charge and Duggan makes the comeback off that. Duggan with shoulderblocks as Quake milks the sell before going down for a clothesline that gets two. Quake’s foot is on the ropes so Duggan gets the moral victory but not the pin, I guess. And then he chases Jimmy around the ring, which allows Quake to try another Avalanche…but it misses and gives Duggan the rollup for the pin at 7:50?! Holy crap, I did not see Quake doing a clean job for JIM DUGGAN coming. A very fun match with tremendous heat and an absolutely mammoth pop for the shocking finish. ***. But hey, it’s a house show in nowhere, WI, guys can do jobs and it’s no big deal in the grand scheme.
Man, what a great find this was. Thanks to Chris George for sending me the link, and the guy who posted it to YouTube. This is exactly the kind of stuff that I wish was on the WWE Network, just fun oddities from a down time with a hot crowd and a couple of hours of easy wrestling.