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WWF Wrestling Challenge April 19th, 1987

April 19, 1987

From the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, AZ

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

In action this week will be Koko B. Ware, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Honky Tonk Man, and Jake Roberts. Plus, comments from Randy Savage regarding his loss to Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III and more.




Bill Howard vs. Koko B. Ware

Koko takes Howard down with a hip toss as Danny Davis is shown in an insert promo promising to shut Koko up and even shove Frankie down his throat as Heenan laughs on commentary. The action is at a snails pace as Howard lands a few shots but ducks his head and gets punched in the face. Koko takes control and hits a back elbow smash. He dodges a charging attack from Howard and hits a missile dropkick before getting the win with the Ghostbuster (2:34).

Thoughts: Looks like they are starting the Koko/Davis feud now. Sucks to be Koko.



Jim Powers & Paul Roma vs. The New Dream Team w/ Johnny V.

Powers & Roma have matching tights but are not yet referred as the Young Stallions. However, they are shown in an insert promo stating that they will give 100% and are ready for any team in the WWF. Sleep-inducing mic work from those two. They work over the arm of Bravo until he hits Roma with an inverted atomic drop. Roma comes back with a reverse rollup but Valentine tagged himself in and takes control. Bravo misses an elbow drop then Roma tags out as Powers cleans house until Valentine knees him from the apron then Bravo hits a side slam. Roma breaks that up then get tossed outside by Bravo as Valentine slaps Powers in the figure-four and gets the win by submission (2:38).

Thoughts: This is the first time they have established Roma & Powers as a team. They were on offense most of the time and looked solid but its tough to look that good with a slug like Bravo in the ring. And they now have a feud for Roma & Powers too.



Gene Okerlund is with the British Bulldogs, who do not care who they have to face in order to get the belts back from the Hart Foundation. This was the best I have ever seen Dynamite on the mic. Davey was pretty bad here. The end focused on Matilda as the camera zooms in with Okerlund asking goofy questions about the dog.



Terry Gibbs vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Duggan runs into the ring with his 2x4 like a house of fire. He knocks down Gibbs a few times as we get an insert promo from Duggan, Sheik, and Slick, who calls Duggan "monkey head" as he warns Duggan that he will not stop Volkoff from signing the Russian National Anthem. Heenan is hilarious as he rags on Duggan by the way. Duggan hits a suplex as the fans are chanting along with him. He works a chinlock for a bit until he catches Gibbs with a powerslam before putting him away with a running clothesline (3:00).

Thoughts: The crowd was into Duggan's antics big-time. I wonder what would have happened had not he got busted with the Iron Sheik because he was getting a mega-push here.



Okerlund is with Demolition and Mr. Fuji. This is the first televised promo from them with Mr. Fuji. Ax promises they will play "Demolition Derby" in the ring as Mr. Fuji will guide them to the titles. A solid job from Ax.



Jerry Allen vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart

Allen reverses an Irish whip then catches him with a shot to the gut. He hits a poor excuse of a dropkick before Honky decks him then takes control of the match. Jimmy Hart is shown in an insert promo stating that Honky is not afraid of the DDT but the move should be banned because it is dangerous. Honky Drops Allen throat-first on top of the guardrail then taunts the fans in the ring. Allen is back in as Honky knocks him down and roughs him up for a bit until he hits the Shake, Rattle, and Roll (2:31).

Thoughts: Total domination of Honky as this furthered along the "Ban the DDT" angle.



They replayed the interview segments between Elizabeth, Randy Savage, and the Bonnie & Ricky Steamboat announcement of the upcoming birth of their child. The gist of this is Savage has gone completely off the deep end since losing to Steamboat.



Blackjack Mulligan cuts a promo on Ron Bass saying that he has never ran from anyone except for the time his wife got drunk and chased him around with a meat cleaver.



Dusty Wolfe vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Jake knocks down Wolfe before hitting a back suplex. He slams him down then tosses him through the ropes a few times where he slams Wolfe on the floor. Wolfe hits a few shots that Jake no-sells then we see Jake in an insert promo pissed about the "Ban the DDT" movement. Jake fires away and roughs him up until he puts him away with the DDT (4:00). The fans popped huge for the DDT. After the match Jake dumps Damien on Wolfe then wraps it around his neck.

Thoughts: Jake destroyed Wolfe in this match. The crowd went mental over the DDT and the snake too as they have successfully promoted the "Ban the DDT" angle throughout the show.



Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Tommy Sharpe

Johnny V. has replaced Heenan on commentary. Hercules beat the shit out of Wolfe as Billy Jack Haynes is shown in an insert promo begging Hercules to bring his chain with him in the ring. Man, Haynes cut some intense promos. Hercules drops an elbow as Johnny V. calls Monsoon "Monsignor." He seems tanked tonight as he is just rambling. Sharpe gets tossed to the floor as Hercules suplexes him back inside. He drops a knee then locks on the full nelson for the win (2:43).

Thoughts: Dominant performance by Hercules as his feud with Billy Jack continues.



Okerlund is with Jimmy Hart, Danny Davis, and the Hart Foundation. The Hart Foundation let us know that they have made Davis as part of the Foundation because he was unjustly fired as a referee. The Harts laugh at the list of teams Gene names off as Bret demands that Gene call them the best in the world. Funny stuff from the Hart Foundation, especially Neidhart.



Next week we will have an "unusual" matchup between the Islanders and the Rougeau Brothers. Plus, George "The Animal" Steele, Hart Foundation, Can-Am Connection, and Billy Jack Haynes.



Final Thoughts: Good show this week as they furthered along and created some potential new feuds as well. Really not much more to say other than that.


Here is my schedule for the rest of the week:

Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer), Disc One
Friday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer), Disc Two
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 4/25/87
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 4/26/87
Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 5/2/87



Comments

  1. Aired on my tenth birthday! Also the air date of the greatest ever episode of Bionic Six.

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  2. Johnny V replacing Heenan on commentary every week must have been some type of rib on Heenan since there was apparently some real life heat between the two.

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  3. Heenan said in his shoot that he was a disgusting human being.

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  4. There were rumors that the two were brothers, but Hennan denied it and like Bayless said Hennan does not like Valient and had some choice words for all the Valient brothers.

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  5. Danny Davis had the look and the persona. He was Bischoff before Bischoff with the jet black hair. If the guy had any work rate - he could have been as over as Ted Dibise. But I'm not sure politically how much you would push a "former referee" even if he had been good.

    But I liked Davis. He had the look. He had the promo skills. But his gimmick was doomed to fail, and he wasn't that good of a worker.

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  6. The only thing unusual about the Islanders at this point was that they hadn't turned heel yet. I think they could have gotten over as babyfaces if they had laughed non-stop in their promos.

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  7. Mr. Fuji cooking dogs disgusting or just a a standard piece of crap?

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  8. It was Guy Mitchell/Jerry Valiant who was supposedly Bobby's brother.

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  9. Tonga Kid was a charismatic guy. He should have ended up a lot bigger star than he was

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  10. I also think the rise of the Honky Tonk Man also had a lot to do with Danny Davis's failure. Honky played the annoying heel that people wanted to pay to get beaten a lot better than Davis did. HTM was a pure heat generator. Danny Davis couldn't compete with someone who played his role better than he did.

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  11. They were a great tag team, and yeah, Tama ruled.

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  12. It was weird to find out years later that he was powerfully built, since his attire concealed it and his status as a former ref made me inclined not to see him as such.

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  13. Great job with this and all your wrestling coverage, Brian. I really enjoy it.

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  14. Because back then refs couldn't be Ed Houchuli

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  15. So simple, and yet so effective: why haven't they had a heel try to ban a babyface's move recently? It gets great heat, and the pop is always big when the heel finally takes the move.

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