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WWF Wrestling Challenge March 15th, 1987

March 15, 1987

From the Civic Center in Springfield, MA

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

In action this week are Billy Jack Haynes, Ricky Steamboat, and the Junkyard Dog. Plus, another "WrestleMania III" report.




A clip of Haynes being attacked by King Kong Bundy and Hercules after his match a few weeks ago.



Billy Jack Haynes vs. Moondog Spot

Spot attacks Haynes to start. Haynes then comes back with a chop before sending him outside with a dropkick. Haynes is then shown cutting an insane promo on Hercules and Bobby Heenan. Spot rolls back inside and very shortly after that Haynes makes him submit to the full nelson (1:10).

Thoughts: Quick match to put over Haynes and his full nelson. They really did give the Hercules/Haynes feud a lot of time on TV.



Jesse Ventura is with a shirtless Bob Uecker telling him to flex as to show off all the training he has done. Fine for what it was.



A clip of Adrian Adonis accidentally cutting Brutus Beefcake's hair is shown.



Dino Bravo & Dream Team w/ Johnny V. vs. Mike Lucca & Paul Roma & "Italian Stallion" Salvatore Bellomo

I had no idea that Bellomo's Rocky-knockoff character even made it to TV. Beefcake is selling his accidental haircut by wearing a bandana. Match starts with Bravo and Roma going back and forth. Bellomo tags but immediately gets hit with an inverted atomic drop as we get an insert promo from the Rougeaus on Bravo. The Dream Team takes advantage of the match for a while until Roma hits Beefcake then yanks of his bandana to a slight round of cheers from the fans. Lucca tags and taunts Beefcake with the bandana but ends of getting his ass kicked until Bravo tags and gets the win with a back suplex (3:53).

Thoughts: They were portraying Beefcake as an angry lunatic since getting his accidental haircut from Adonis. It didnt really work out to well in this match though.



Gene Okerlund is with the Can-Am Connection as they talk about facing Don Muraco & Bob Orton at WrestleMania III and how they will be keeping an eye out for Mr. Fuji. Really basic promo from these two.



Another segment with Bob Uecker as he hypes up WrestleMania III. Great job by Uecker, who was quite enthusiastic here.



Junkyard Dog vs. Rick Renslow

Before the match we get an insert promo from Heenan and Harley Race as Heenan gives JYD a lesson on how to bow and put the crown onto the King's head. Match starts with JYD roughing up Renslow then taking him down with a headbutt. He then follows that with a clothesline before getting the win with a powerslam (1:02). After the match JYD dances with a few kids in the ring.

Thoughts: The JYD/Harley feud was not really clicking. The fans popped for JYD's entrance but were silent during the match and his deteriorating skills were not helping with that.



Okerlund is with Adonis, who is dressed in a regular polo shirt as he tells Piper he has to decide on how he will cut his hair. He leaves then Hercules and Heenan come in as they warn Haynes that his neck will get broken when he is gets locked in the full nelson. Heenan then tells us that he will be managing the World Heacyweight Champion after WrestleMania III as Okerlund teases him about making a bet on that as Heenan tells Okerlund he will end up a loser, just like Hogan. Decent interviews from both.



Demolition w/ Johnny V vs. Tommy Sharpe & Sivi Afi

Demolition toss their opponents to the floor before the match starts. They then beat the shit out of Sharpe for a bit as we get an insert promo from Aretha Franklin as the talks about performing "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania III and after that they put Sharpe away with the Decapitation (1:20).

Thoughts: Demolition looked like killers here and that was a good thing as Sheik & Volkoff were getting stale as the powerhouse heel team.



Snake Pit with guests Bobby Heenan and Andre the Giant. Jake as Andre why he turned on Hogan as Heenan tells us all that Hogan has used him. Jake asks Andre about losing respect of the fans as he just stares straight ahead as Heenan does the talking, proclaiming that Hulkamania will die at WrestleMania III. Nice segment that furthered portrayed Andre as a man who was completely turned his back on the fans.



The same "WrestleMania Report" from Superstars airs.



Pete Doherty vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

Steamboat works the arm as we are shown an insert promo from Randy Savage telling Steamboat that having George Steele in his corner will not help him one bit. Steamboat catches Doherty with a dropkick after an Irish whip sequence then goes back to the arm. Doherty misses a pair of elbow drops as Steamboat goes back to the arm as the announcers talk about the WrestleMania III card. Steamboat then hits a delayed vertical suplex before climbing up top and getting the win with a flying chop (4:53).

Thoughts: This was way too long for a squash match. The crowd still loved Steamboat though.



Okerlund is with Roddy Piper and asks him about Hollywood and the celebrities he will be meeting like Brian Dennehy and Pee Wee Herman. Piper then says that he is in the peak of his career at 32 years old and the only man that is in his class is Hogan, who comes out and tells us that all of the Hulksters will walk tall with pride and that he can live forever through Hulkamania as well. Not as crazy as their interview from a couple of weeks ago but still a bit out there.



Next week in action will be King Kong Bundy, Hart Foundation, and Hercules. Plus, highlights from the Battle Royal at "Saturday Night's Main Event" and more.



Final Thoughts: This show was just okay. Being the final show of the taping, the crowd was somewhat dead and nothing really memorable happened but it did a fine job of hyping WrestleMania III, which was the main purpose.


Here is my schedule for the next week:

Tuesday: WWF Frank Tunney Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament 3/15/87
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Blue Meanie & Jasmin St. Claire
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 3/21/87
Saturday: RoH Wrath of the Racket 8/9/03
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 3/22/87

Comments

  1. Looking at these reports it seems like Vince wanted to push Billy Jack Haynes but decided against it when he realize how batshit crazy he was.

    ReplyDelete
  2. YankeesHoganTripleHFanFebruary 8, 2015 at 6:35 PM

    It's Billy Jerk Haynes

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think so too. He liked Hercules a lot at this time but this all seemed geared for Haynes to win but it got scrapped and Herc won the feud as Haynes ended up getting saddled with Brady Boone as fodder for Demolition

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  4. Still just creeping up on my first episodes. A few more weeks to go.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Extant1979 - Mr. Cable AccessFebruary 8, 2015 at 7:00 PM

    "For the record, it is Billy JACK Haynes."

    /Okerlund

    ReplyDelete
  6. You spell wrestling, baby, A D O N I S

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's real simple: Just start the show with the main event and end the show with the 20 minute promo that would build up next week's main event.

    They've been doing it backwards for years, starting the show with the 20 minute promo that basically tells the audience that you're so disorganized that you don't even have a main event booked for the night. No other sport does that, it's not like you ever see Sunday Night Football start with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth saying "We have no idea what tonight's game is going to be but hopefully Roger Goddell will tell us within the next 20 minutes".

    ReplyDelete
  8. These feuds were just awesome. So much better psychology than today.

    Also, I don't think enough can be said about Demolition. I realize they were ripped off from the Road Warriors, but they were really an aggressive evolution of that concept. Darsow clearly learned from Eadie and their moveset just looked so damn brutal, and far more painful than the powerlifting stuff the Road Warriors did.

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  9. Depends - if the midcard matches were things like, for example, Cesaro v Ambrose, I'd be more inclined to tune in for those than the Main Event of Cena v Big Show, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Grandmaster Sexay disagrees.

    ReplyDelete

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