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WWF Wrestling Challenge September 28th, 1986

September 28, 1986

From the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in Salisbury, MD

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, marking the first time these two have done commentary on Wrestling Challenge

Tonight, the featured match up is the British Bulldogs vs. Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff in a non-title match. Plus, the debut of the Honky Tonk Man, the "Snake Pit" with guests the Hart Foundation, and more.



The Gladiator vs. Koko B. Ware

Frankie makes his debut with Koko here. These two work a few awful looking sequences to start. Koko then hits an armdrag and goes to work on the arm. Koko fires up the crowd then hits a swinging neckbreaker before getting the win with a brainbuster (2:51).

Thoughts: The match itself was horrible as both guys were off in the ring but Koko at least demonstrated some ability to get the crowd into his matches.


Slick does a "Wrestler's Rebuttal" talking about how everyone is jealous of him. Sheik & Volkoff then run down America. Not a whole lot to this segment.


Luscous Brown vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff w/ Bobby Heenan

Brown would later go on to become Virgil. He is slimmer than I remember. Johnny V takes Heenan's place on commentary here. The crowd pisses off Orndorff with "Paula" chants. Orndorff catches Brown with a stungun then stomps away. Orndorff follows Brown outside and rams him into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Orndorff hits a clothesline as the fans chant for Hogan. Heenan then signals to Orndorff, who responds by hitting a piledriver for the win (2:03).

Thoughts: The fans were all over Orndorff, who remains the top heel in the promotion.


Ken Resnick is with Ricky Steamboat, who will be facing Jake Roberts. Steamboat talks about wanting to be a champion then says that Roberts might be the one who has his head rammed against the concrete floor when they meet up again. They got 5 solid months out of this feud.


Terry Gibbs vs. Honkytonk Man

Heenan is back on commentary. Honky hits a atomic drop and grabs a headlock as we get an insert promo from Hogan, who gives Honky is full endorsement. Honky hits a slam then gets two with an elbow drop. Honky slams Gibbs off of the top then gets another slam before getting the win with a fist drop (2:36).

Thoughts: The fans were not digging Honky at all. Weird to see him as a babyface in the WWE and it failed so bad that even Hogan's endorsement failed to work.


Resnick is with Lanny Poffo, who talks about meeting fans and then reads a poem he wrote for the Special Olympics. A short segment designed to show how the WWF helps and cares for charities.


Mike Kelly vs. "The Natural" Butch Reed w/ Slick

Before the match, we get an insert promo from Reed who says he is the natural athlete and man then warns Hogan that he is coming is way. Reed overpowers Kelly to start. He hits a vertical suplex then toys around with him for a bit until he finishes him off with a gutbuster (1:46).

Thoughts: Reed looked good as he destroyed the future Shane Douglas in the ring. I will say that Reed and Slick showed little chemistry together though.


The Snake Pit with guests the Hart Foundation and Jimmy Hart. The Hart's keep on asking Jake if a snake could eat "Bees, Frogs, or Bulldogs." Snake then calls Bret the quiet one and Bret cuts a pretty awful promo about that. Neidhart really carried this team personality wise by the way and saved the promo by acting like his lunatic self. But it is clear that the Hart Foundation are getting pushed more than ever at this point.


We now get a video of the Wizard and Sika in Samoa. The Wizard babbles on as Sika is eating a fish in the background. They then switch to the jungle as Sika is chewing on plants. Sika almost made this watchable just by looking like a lunatic savage but this went on for way too long and the Wizard's voice was far too grating to make this segment good.


Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff w/ Slick & Freddie Blassie vs. British Bulldogs

The Bulldogs are shown in an insert promo before the match calling Sheik & Volkoff among the best teams in the WWF. The crowd starts up with "USA" chants as Sheik takes down Davey with a fireman's carry. Davey comes back with a shoulderblock and a slam then tags Dynamite, who works the arm. Dynamite gets booted in the face after ducking his head on a backdrop attempt then Volkoff tags and chokes out Dynamite. Volkoff catches Dynamite with a knee smash as Heenan makes fun of English people for being ugly. Sheik tags and gets a nearfall with a gutwrench suplex. He tries another suplex but Dynamite blocks it and hits one of his own then makes the tag to Davey. He beats on the Sheik and hits a running powerslam that Volkoff breaks up. Sheik rakes the eyes of Dynamite and they both spill outside. Dynamite then tries to suplex Sheik back into the ring but Slick trips him up mid-move and Sheik falls on top and gets the win (4:54).

Thoughts: The match was fine as they were setting up Sheik & Volkoff for the titles but that would be scrapped as Dynamite refused to drop the belts to anyone but the Hart Foundation.


Resnick is with Sheik & Volkoff and Slick, who says that they are treated unfairly. Volkoff & Sheik talk about how they make more money and are better with Slick in their corner. Sheik calls Slick an "honest black man" and points out all of the prejudice in America before posing for the camera.


Next week in action will be Dick Slater, King Harley Race, and the featured match of Junkyard Dog vs. Jimmy Jack Funk.


Final Thoughts: The commentary was much improved with Heenan replacing Ladd and Valiant. The tag match was solid but other than that, nothing else of note besides Honky bombing in his debut.


Here is my schedule for the next several days

Wednesday: RoH All Star Extravaganza 11/9/02
Thursday: RF Video "On the Road" with Raven, Disc One
Friday: RF Video "On the Road" with Raven, Disc Two
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 10/4/86
Saturday: RoH Scramble Madness 11/16/02
Sunday: WWF Saturday Night's Main Event 10/4/86
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 10/5/85








Comments

  1. He got a better reaction on Superstars and not wearing the Elvis suit simply being Wayne Ferris: The Honky Tonk Man.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JYD vs Jimmy Jack Funk?!?!?
    Take my money.

    ReplyDelete

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