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WWF Wrestling Challenge January 11th, 1987

January 11, 1987

From the Community Center in Tucson, AZ

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

In action tonight will be Randy Savage, Tito Santana, Kamala, and the featured match of the Killer Bees vs. Don Muraco & Bob Orton




Steve Gatorwolf vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth

Gatorwolf works the arm but Savage knees him after reaching the ropes and takes control. He hits him with a knee drop after a snapmare before hitting a suplex. Gatorwolf manages to fight back and does a tribal dance that does not excite the crowd. Savage fights back and tosses Gatorwolf to the floor then flies out and hits him with a double axe handle. Savage then rolls Gatorwolf back inside and slams him down before putting him away with the flying elbow smash, covering him with one foot (2:16).

Thoughts: The announcers didn't talk all that much about the Savage/Steamboat feud here but rather they put over Savage for being a fighting champion.



We get another Outback Jack vignette of him with the Aborigines.



Jimmy Jack Funk vs. Tito Santana

Tito and Funk battle over a lockup as we get an insert promo from Tito wishing us a Happy New Year. Tito takes control then clotheslines him to the floor. Back in the ring, Funk breaks up an arm wringer with an inverted atomic drop. Funk follows that with a belly-to-belly suplex then gets a nearfall with a fist drop from the middle rope. The fans chant for Tito as both men fight over a backslide in a weird spot as it took Tito forever to get Funk's shoulders to the mat and the move looked awkward. Tito fires away and hits Funk with a backdrop and a slam. Funk calls for a timeout but Tito stomps him then slams his face off of the mat. Tito softens up Funk a bit more befor getting the win with a flying forearm (4:19).

Thoughts: Nice to see Tito get a singles match. The crowd loved him still,despite being buried in the midcard. Tito was damn good in the ring here too, unlike his opponent.



Ken Resnick is with Slick and Butch Reed. Slick warns us that anyone who messes with him in 1987 will have to deal with Reed, who says that he will take down the top competition.



Jesse Cortez vs. Kamala w/ Kimchee

Before the match we get an insert promo from Jack Tunney talking about banning Kamala's top rope splash but it was interrupted by Heenan, accusing Tunney of leaking the story of Andre's suspension and knows it wasn't Andre. They dropped a lot more hints than I remembered. Anyway, match starts with Kamala tossing Cortez around until he splashes him then finally puts him away with a top rope splash (1:00).

Thoughts: Same old Kamala squash match. No Wizard for this match. He wasn't gone from the company yet though. That would happen in a couple of months



Resnick is with Koko B. Ware and Frankie. Koko tells us that Frankie has a girlfriend named Lucille and knows that they are not related because he asked Frankie himself. Koko the Bird Whisperer! This ends with Koko doing the bird. Vince did love the bird on commentary so I am sure he personally put this segment in because it was completely pointless.



Jerry Monti vs. King Harley Race w/ Bobby Heenan

Heenan cuts off ring announcer Mel Phillips so he can do it himself. He also orders the crowd to stand. Johnny V. has replaced Heenan on commentary. The Junkyard Dog is shown in an insert promo talking about how Race is not a king. Race starts the match by decking Monti. He hits him with a swinging neckbreaker and roughs him up for a bit. Race pulls Monti up after hitting him with a powerslam then bores the crowd with his offense until hitting the cradle suplex for the win (1:58).

Thoughts: Race's gimmick was so bad that Heenan couldn't even get him heat from the crowd. No one cared when he wrestled here.



Snake Pit with guests Butch Reed and Slick. Reed declares himself a natural man then calls the crowd "morons" as he says he is in the WWF to go straight to the top. Boring stuff from Reed, who really struggled to get over.



We are now shown a video highlight package of the Ricky Steamboat/Randy Savage feud.



Another Blackjack Mulligan vignette. This time he talks about his honey wagon.



Don Muraco & Bob Orton w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Killer Bees

Blair gets the best of Orton to begin the match. Muraco tags and beats on Blair in the corner. Blair comes back and appears to have messed up as he went for a dropkick but just landed on his feet after jumping and got two with a small package. Brunzell tags and gets two with a slam. Blair tags back in but Muraco takes him down with a Samoan Drop then tags Orton, who slugs away. Blair avoids a clothesline and tags Brunzell as the Bees regain control of the match. Orton hits Blair from behind as he had Muraco in an abdominal stretch then tags and hits a neckbreaker. Gorilla goes off on referee Danny Davis, who is frequently yelling at Brunzell on the apron. Davis did not see the tag from Blair and yells at Brunzell some more as the heels double-team Blair. Both Bees get sent to the floor then they put on their masks. Blair hits Muraco then slingshots back in the ring with a sunset flip and has him on the mat forever but Davis comes over and rings the bell as he has disqualified the Bees for putting on their masks as the Bees thought they had the match won (5:39).

Thoughts: The match was fine but this was more about the Danny Davis angle than the guys wrestling, who had nothing going on at the time.



Resnick is with the Junkyard Dog, who loves the holiday season. He says that in 1987 he is going to do things right because in 1986 he was coming in late, problems with his ex-wife and getting fined and that was because he "got a lot of money and the new wife stuff." Judging by this promo, I'd say he still had the "white stuff." Blackjack Mulligan comes out and is pissed that his wife got him a Timex instead of a Rolex watch. He then tells us his wife gained 15lbs before wishing us a Happy New Year as JYD is bobbing around in the background. I wonder how many people watching this caught on how JYD was cutting a promo about how he was not going to fuck around and get high and stay straight? Below is the link to the promo:





Next week in action will be Blackjack Mulligan, Honky Tonk Man, and George Steele



Final Thoughts: The tag match was decent and JYD cut somewhat of a shoot promo but other than that, this was a skippable show. Minimal angle advancement took place as well.




Comments

  1. I think JYD said "New wife stuff". At least that's what Mulligan referenced to when he chimed in. Still, a bizarre promo by JYD.

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  2. He could have. JYD was not the easiest guy to understand. Either way, he was coked out of his mind here.

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  3. That's one of the craziest promos I've ever hear.

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  4. JYD was twitching so much towards the end of that promo that even Randy Savage would have told him to cut back on the coke.

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  5. Yeah, JYD can be marble mouthed sometimes. That said, I definitely enjoy your SuperStars/Challenge reviews.

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