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WWF Wrestling Challenge April 26th, 1987

April 26, 1987

From the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, AZ

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

Tonight's featured bout is the rare babyface vs. babyface between the Islanders and the Rougeau Brothers. Also in action will be George Steele, Billy Jack Haynes, Can-Am Connection, and the Hart Foundation.




Steve Lombardi & Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Can-Am Connection

Martel starts off getting the best of Lombardi. He then gets backed into the opposite corner and worked over briefly until he ducks an attack from Sharpe that nails Lombardi. Zenk then tags and flies halfway across the ring with a missile dropkick that gets two as we get an insert promo from Mr. Fuji telling the Can-Ams that Kamala & Sika are coming after them. Sharpe works over Zenk in the corner until he misses a charge. Lombardi then yanks Zenk by the hair as the heels regain control of the match. Sharpe and Zenk collide then Martel gets the hot-tag as he runs wild on both guys then puts Lombardi away with a slingshot splash after a powerslam from Zenk (3:11).

Thoughts: Good action from the very popular Can-Am Connection. The main goal here was to start a program with Kamala & Sika, which would progress as the show continued.




We get a repeat of the "Wrestler's Rebuttal" by Brutus Beefcake from this past episode of "Superstars of Wrestling" in which he promises to go after Adrian Adonis. Oddly enough, Adonis was fired the day after this show aired at a house show in London, Ontario to what Dave Meltzer described as frequent dress code violations and being a slob in general.



Billy Jack Haynes vs. Tiger Chung Lee

Lee sidesteps a crossbody then roughs up Haynes as we get an insert promo from Hercules promising to use his chain on Haynes, who is now in control of the match. He backdrops Lee, who is too lazy to take the move correctly, then hits a suplex before using the full nelson for the win (1:56).

Thoughts: The Haynes/Hercules feud continues. That is really all I have to say here.



Gene Okerlund is with Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart, who is holding the "Ban the DDT" sign as they talk about that throughout the promo as Honky tells us everyone in the WWE wants him to sing and ask his fans for support in getting the DDT banned. Honky was truly great in this role.



Hillbilly Jim and Outback Jack are talking about the different animals they are accustom to in their homelands. Look likes they were trying to make a team here but these two were pretty low on the card and unable to be saved at this point anyway so making them a team wouldn't have been the worst idea in the world.



Nick Kiniski & Joe Mirto vs. Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis

Danny Davis is shown in an insert promo saying that he is at ringside to make sure the officials are doing there job. Kiniski gets the best of the Anvil then tags Mirto, who immediately gets slammed. Bret tags and beats on Mirto as the Hart Foundation are in full control of the match then put Mirto away with the Hart Attack (2:29). After the match, they let Danny Davis clear the ring of Kiniski and Mirto as they were already down on the mat.

Thoughts: Most of the focus here was on Davis as they further establish him as a chickenshit heel.



Okerlund is with Koko B. Ware and Frankie. Koko, wearing shades and an Adidas track suit, cuts a preacher-like promo on Danny Davis. He seemed coked out of his mind here. There feud seemingly lasted forever too and it was not good. The beginning of the end for Koko here as he became a curtain-jerker as the result of this feud.



The Islanders vs. Rougeau Brothers

Haku and Raymond start off the match with Raymond getting the upper hand. Jacques tags and grabs a headlock. Haku gets two off of a sunset flip then tags Tama, who goes to work on the arm. Jacques comes back with a monkey flip that saw Tama fly through the air as both guys tag out. Good action so far in this match by the way. Tama tags back in and works over the arm of Raymond as the Islanders are getting a bit more aggressive. Tama breaks up a sleeper by Raymond with a double axe handle then tags in as he hits a side slam. The Islanders get even more aggressive as Tama yanks Raymond down by the hair and goes for the cover but Jacques breaks it up. He then tags as he hammers away on Tama before catching him in an abdominal stretch. Haku breaks that up with a throat thrust then all four guys are inside as the action spills outside as they brawl until the match is ruled a double countout (6:10) **1/2. The teams fight until a few referees break up the melee.

Thoughts: Good match that was all action. This also planted the seed for the Islanders eventual heel turn as they wrestled aggressively and were doing heel tactics such as breaking up pins and pulling hair as well. Tama in particular looked great in this match. Oddly enough, the Rougeaus would turn heel about a year later after wrestling the Killer Bees in a babyface match on TV.



Snake Pit with guest Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Jake asks Duggan about why he came to the WWF as Duggan said he saw Sheik & Volkoff putting down America and was sick of it as they do not know what America is all about. Duggan said he does not go to "discotheques to read Zodiac signs" before saying that as long as he is alive, Volkoff will not sing the Russian National Anthem in this country again. Another well-received patriotic promo from Duggan.



Alex Knight & S.D. Jones vs. Kamala & Sika w/ Mr. Fuji & Kimchee

S.D. works the arm of Sika then lands a few shots until Sika rakes his eyes. Kamala tags in and destroys Knight as the Can-Am Connection issue a challenge to Kamala & Sika for a match next week as Kamala puts Knight away with a splash (1:21).

Thoughts: Quick match to make the team of Kamala & Sika look dominant in preparation for a probable match against the Can-Am Connection. Smart idea to build up a



Jesse Cortez vs. George "The Animal" Steele

Steele immediately bites the arm of Cortez then beats him down until he gets the win with a flying hammerlock (0:50). After the match, Steele takes down the referee and calls him nice before getting up and eating a turnbuckle.

Thoughts: The fans still loved Steele and quick TV matches like this were a great use of his talents.



Okerlund is with Johnny V and his snazzy new tights. The New Dream Team then come out as they call Beefcake the "weak link" of the team as the refer to him as "Fruitcake." Bravo promises us that this is the most devastating team the WWF fans will ever see. Bravo was terrible here and in general when it came to wrestling.



Craig DeGeorge is in the locker room asking Mr. Fuji if he will accept the challenge from the Can-Am Connection and he does, saying that Kamala & Sika will rip off their faces. So our featured bout for next week is all set.



Next week's featured bout will be Kamala & Sika vs. Can-Am Connection. Plus, Ricky Steamboat, King Harley Race, and Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff.



Final Thoughts: Solid show. Most of the focus was on the tag team division as they had a good TV match and built up next week's featured bout well. The midcard was interesting at this time but unfortunately the top of the card as still murky post-WrestleMania III.



Schedule for the next several days:

Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 5/2/87
Tuesday: WWF Saturday Night's Main Event 5/2/87
Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 5/3/87



Comments

  1. Really? I thought a bunch of them were pretty damn great, with the Iron Man standing out.

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  2. Random Raw. Right before Rybaxel.

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  3. Oh I agree, but I'm referring also to the upcoming WM match. Could be fucking amazing. We don't know, but it feels really good to pretend we do.

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  4. Yeah, you're right. We should be more open-minded about it but sometimes, either you have it or you don't have it and it just doesn't look like Reigns has it as a singles worker but who really knows?

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  5. You realize I'm one of the biggest Reigns supporters here right?

    And yes calling out Scott for not liking present Reigns but thinking he could be a wasted opportunity is absolutely trolling.

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  6. Was Dino Bravo ever any good?

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  7. At 28? 27 was the year HHH got to look like the god king till the end of the match.

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  8. Right. But he could have been brought in on the plan litteraly the minute before the screw job and it would have worked fine

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  9. Not of what I saw of him. Always thought he sucked, even has a 6 year old.

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  10. Owen Hart didn't want to make it in wrestling. When he wanted to be he was better than Bret, but all he really wanted to do was make other wrestlers corpse and go home to his family. He was too good for this shitty industry.

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  11. Yup. And those Time Warner guys (Goldberg, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Steiner, Flair, Luger, Sting, etc.) weren't going to turn down the millions owed to them for less money to wrestle.

    DDP was the only one who did, and look how well that worked out for him.

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  12. I think people severely overestimate what Owen would have done from 99-however long he wrestled after that. I doubt he's more than a midcard guy who puts over people like Jericho, Angle and Benoit on their way up the card.

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  13. That's like saying we saw HHH/Austin already in 1996 at Buried Alive so no need to see them wrestle again later.

    Sure Taker and Cena had a match before in 2003. But Cena was at the midcard level. Now he's The guy.

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  14. I watched that with a big group, nothing like the changeover from groans when he started the roll to full on cheers in my buddy's living room when Benoit locked it back in/Triple H tapped

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  15. I think re: stopping the match with Orton after his shoulder hit the barricade? I haven't listened yet but that's what popped into my mind

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  16. Chavo taps out to a handshake from Stevie Ray to purposely get Uncle EDDIE in the ring. Fucking Brilliant.

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  17. It was perfect, and should have been the end to WM2000. Great from a business standpoint though popping 2 buyrates like that.

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  18. I mean, he's not going to write out qualifying sentences about his Roman Reigns opinion and the root issue being WWE's booking, and having the tools, etc in every single post, is that what you expect?

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  19. I'm behind on them. Just heard Part 2 with HBK and that was pretty good.

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  20. Yeah 28. It was 2 (arguably 4) part story...remember those?

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  21. Eh, I have to disagree. Part of my disagreement is ethical optimism sure, but pro wrestling has so many intangible factors (politics, looks, if the Booker's lunch was good that day) This isn't devil's advocate, this is an honest question...who thought Rocky Maivia or Mean Mark Calloway were going to be ANYTHING?

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  22. The Love-Matic Grampa!March 27, 2015 at 3:31 PM

    Oh, and Hogan vs. Nikita? Definitely a missed opportunity and probably would have netted the WWF that elusive 100,000 without papering.

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  23. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMarch 27, 2015 at 3:44 PM

    Yup, that whole sequence was marvelous, and when he finally tapped at the end I just lost my shit. It was great.

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  24. It's amazing how Dino Bravo got such a big push despite being such a heatless heel. Any heel who generated such little heat would have been depushed quickly yet the size of Bravo's push was always disproportionate to the lack of heat he generated.

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  25. Kurt Angle wins a ladder match on Smackdown via ankle lock submission.

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  26. Given the rumour that he smuggled cigarettes, maybe it was too much heat. YO HO HO

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  27. Some green bodybuilder type should use a handshake as a submission move.

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  28. They faced off in the 3 on 2 tag match. That was enough for me.


    I would have rather seen Hogan vs Jake Roberts on a big stage.

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  29. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-06-17/daniel-bryan-confronts-triple-h-backstage-26124420


    Bryan and Jericho both confirmed it was legit. Bryan said he was pissed HHH got the opportunity to finish a match with a torn quad, but stopped his match due to a stinger. Said it was a pride thing and he was probably in the wrong, but referenced finishing the Morishima match.

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  30. I think Bret was the best finish guy in wrestling history he could lose and come out better than the winner summerslam 92 wm10 or win and make the oponent look strong diesel survivor 95 austin survivor 96 austin wm13

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  31. If it was wm7 and not 8. But with hogan leaving and flair being champ it wouldn't have worked especially since the belt was vacated in November til the rumble and would have been vacated again

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  32. I think he could have easily found himself in the same space that were in, juuust short of main eventing WrestleMania like those guys did.

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  33. My eye,damn you Lawler,my eye!!!!!!

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  34. I legit thought that for about half s second.

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  35. That's pretty much what a main event heel is IMO.

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  36. The only plead out I've ever seen that made sense was Dean Ambrose begging Thumbtack Jack not to hit him in the face with a cinder block in CZW.
    CZW is pretty stupid ,but it made sense that he'd just ask to stop. Also.he was better as a guy who suddenly conveyed he was a little off mentally without a tone deaf parrot screeching in my ear,"THE LUNATIC FRINGE!!! DEAN AMBROSE THE UNSTABLE LUNATIC KING HES SO CRAZY"
    "He's a lunatic Maggle! He should be locked up,but dang it he's fun ta watch!!!"

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  37. Was that after the Owendriver? Because that's what sealed his main event fate. . .

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  38. Bravo had a pretty good run in Mid-Atlantic in 1976 and 1977. He and Mr. Wrestling's victory over Gene & Ole Anderson for the NWA tag team titles is the first title change that I remember seeing on TV. He also had a pretty memorable TV match with Blackjack Mulligan in 1977.

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  39. Yes! That was absolutely amazing!

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  40. I think that may have been the hardest I ever cheered for a wrestler.

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  41. Best finish to a match was without a doubt Mountie's inside cradle win over Bret Hart to win the IC title. It was a match where Bret gave it everything he had, he hit all of his finishers, even Jim Neidhart ran down to do the Hart Attack finish on Mountie, but Mountie still kicked out and with Mountie's last bit of strength managed to win the match. The finish was only marred with Bret making excuses and saying that he had a flu. The only Bret was sick from that night was being sick of losing.

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  42. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogMarch 27, 2015 at 10:17 PM

    Hogan vs Savage happened at house shows, so the Megapowers didnt need to explode. :-\

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  43. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogMarch 27, 2015 at 10:30 PM

    Halloween Havoc 97: Rey counters splash mountain into a rana to end the best lucha match in WCW/WWF history.

    Souled Out 98: Raven passes out with a twisted, masochistic smile on his face in Benoits Crossface

    Warrior does the impossible and overcomes the Hogan Formula for the win

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  44. List is missing Tully vs Magnum from starcade, IMO

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  45. We did, at mania when Cena was as big as he got?

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  46. To add japan to the list, one of the things I always loved about the misawa vs kawada match from june of '94 was that whole finish from the point of Kawada being on the outside with Misawa being on the inside and them just giving each other that look, to Misawa having to pull out a move he said he'd never do because he was so desperate. Just an example of how you can put a guy over and still win the match.

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  47. I'd buy that...but house shows aren't televised...in my modern mind, they don't "count"

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  48. Then what's wrong with Cena v Orton?

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  49. That's a semantic. Would you want to see Cena v Orton again?

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  50. Nothing. I love a couple of those Cena/Orton matches. And like most of the others more than most.

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  51. It would have been better if the ending wasn't so telegraphed by Lawler and McMahon on commentary. Finkel emphasizing "BOTH FEET" while explaining the rules (it had always been "and onto the floor" in prior years), and all the references to "both feet" on commentary during the match. Perhaps the best example was when Murdoch eliminated himself while performing an airplane spin on Henry Godwinn...


    McMahon: He's still in it! The hog farmer's still in it! His feet DID-NOT-TOUCH!!
    Lawler: Well, maybe one of 'em did, but certainly not both of them! But, he's still in!

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  52. Virgil's Gimmick TableMarch 28, 2015 at 2:12 AM

    As someone who loves puro, this is my favorite comment because that shit pisses me off the most.

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  53. Virgil's Gimmick TableMarch 28, 2015 at 2:14 AM

    "Are you implying that I'm much smarter and better looking than the rest if family? Is that what you're trying to say?"

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  54. Virgil's Gimmick TableMarch 28, 2015 at 2:20 AM

    I'm so happy I was there live. And even if I hadn't been, that still would be one of my all time favorite matches.

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  56. Except Perfect submitted way too soon. I don't even think the hold was on and the bell was ringing.

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  57. Sting was out Feb to Jul 1990 with the torn patella tendon. I can't think of another time he actually missed time due to legit injury until maybe after Havoc 98 when Bret took him out but that may have been personal demons or contract dates.

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  58. I almost said "...apart from having someone other than Stevie Richards win the belt", but I feel the well is thoroughly spent on that trope by this point.

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  59. Thing is, I can kinda understand the thinking there, because the ending to 00 put HHH and Rock over even huger than if it had been a straight Rock victory. Add to this the mini-storyline with Hebner (and the Jericho phantom title win) that occurred between them, Austin not being able to return any sooner than Backlash (he was barely mobile enough to do his run-in the next month), the McMahon-Helmsley Empire being built...the win at Backlash was that much more meaningful.

    And yeah, you're right...the Backlash buy (1.65) is absolutely jaw-dropping in retrospect.

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