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WWF Wrestling Challenge April 5th, 1987

April 5, 1987

From the Ohio Center in Columbus, OH

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

In action tonight are The Islanders, Kamala, Honky Tonk Man, and Billy Jack Haynes.




Al Navarro & Iron Mike Sharpe vs. The Islanders

Heenan lets us know that the names Haku and Tama mean "Dumb and Stupid." Haku catches Sharpe with a slam as we are shown the Islanders in an insert promo telling everyone that they can beat the Hart Foundation. Back to the match as the Islanders maintain control of the match. They now beat on Navarro using a lot of quick tags and double-team moves as Heenan continues to make fun of them for being stupid on commentary. Haku kills Navarro with a chop then takes him down with an enziguiri before he allows him to tag Sharpe. He catches Tama with a forearm smash then tags Navarro, who gets slammed then shortly after that the Islanders put him away with a suplex/top rop splash combo (3:53).

Thoughts: A showcase for the Islanders, who were being tossed into the list of teams to take on the Hart Foundation for the belts. Fun fact: Iron Mike Sharpe was fired by the WWF in 1984 for refusing to put over Tama, who was going by the Tonga Kid at the time.



Craig DeGeorge is with an irate Randy Savage, who says "no more Mr. Nice Guy" as everyone will see the difference when they step into the ring with him. They are portraying Savage as a lunatic out for revenge.



A replay of Part One of the Ken Patera story. Only difference here is that Heenan getting flustered that this is happening then in disbelief over the preview for Part Two.


Sivi Afi vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart

Honky brings a guitar with him to the ring for the match. Afi starts off the match in control with a chop and a slam as we get an insert promo from Honky stating that if Jake Roberts can birng a snake to the ring with him then he can bring a guitar. Honky comes back with a clothesline the goes to work on Afi as Heenan puts over his singing abilities. The crowd chants for Jake Roberts as Afi makes a brief comeback until Honky blocks a monkey flip out of the corner then he puts Afi away with the Shake, Rattle, and Roll (2:47).

Thoughts: Honky was starting to get over well as a heel as all of his taunts and even bringing the guitar into the ring threatening to sing all worked in getting him heat.



Gene Okerlund is with Outback Jack, who states that he has been working with Hulk Hogan because he was a "little chubby" when he first arrived. Not too much to this interview.



The Gladiator vs. Billy Jack Haynes

Match starts with the Gladiator attacking Haynes, who then no-sells the offense before beating the crap out of him. We then get an insert promo from Butch Reed, who tells Haynes that he lacks natural ability. The announcers talk about how the WWF Magazine will now be issued monthly as Haynes puts the Gladiator away with the full nelson (1:44).

Thoughts: No real mention of Hercules here as they appear to be moving Hercules into a feud with Reed.



Okerlund is now with Paul Roma, who he hails as a future star. Okerlund even proclaims that Roma will be a champion one day before putting over his physique. After cooling off his brief push and feud with Lombardi they are giving him another chance to get over a bit.



Sam Cody vs. Kamala w/ Mr. Fuji & Kimchee

This is Fuji's debut as Kamala's manager. Also, Kamala is sporting green and yellow face paint here. Match starts with Kamala backing Cody into the corner where he destroys him. Kamal then tosses him around a few times before putting him away with the top rope splash (0:56). After the match, Kimchee prevents Kamala from hitting another splash as Fuji stands there and does nothing.

Thoughts: New manager same results for Kamala. Beyond the minute-long squashes and stretcher jobs, Kamala's act didnt offer a whole lot of anything else. Its easy to see why he always bounced from territory to territory. The act doesnt have a long shelf-life in one place.



Snake Pit with guest Blackjack Mulligan, who comes out eating a WWF Ice Cream Bar. He then pulls out a few more bars as Mulligan tells them that they taste great as Roberts tells him that they are kids but then has one himself as this turns into a complete schill for the Ice Cream bars, from Blackjack Mulligan of all people. A total waste of time. Blackjack even talked about putting BB sauce and jalapenos on the ice cream.



"The Outlaw" Ron Bass vs. Joe Mirto

The announcers put over the feud between Bass and Mulligan, a feud that ended as quickly as it started due to Mulligan leaving the company. Match starts with Bass taking Mirto down with a hiptoss then beating on him for a minute, mixing in illegal heel tactics, before putting him away with a jumping back elbow smash (2:32).

Thoughts: A boring squash that the fans didnt seem to care about. This was to set up Bass for his feud with Mulligan but Blackjack was just about gone from the company by the time this match aired.



Okerlund runs down the results from WrestleMania III.



Another vignette of Outback Jack trying and failing to adapt to American customs as a cop prevents him from jumping into the water as Jack wanted to cool himself off after a walk. This was a very, very lame Crocodile Dundee knockoff segment.



Jerry Allen vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/  Johnny V. & Dino Bravo

Valentine chops the piss out of Allen as Brutu Beefcake is shown in an insert promo calling out his former friends, declaring that their nightmare is about to begin. Allen takes control after Valentine misses an elbow drop. He gets a nearfall off of a monkey flip then hammers away in the corner. He nearly botches a snapmare then gets caught with an inverted atomic drop and shortly after that Valentine makes Allen submit to the Figure Four (2:45).

Thoughts: Allen looked bad here but the main purpose of this was to push a feud between Beefcake and his former pals.



Okerlund is now with Jimmy Hart. He messes up Hart's name then Danny Davis comes out and says he was glad that the WWF fired him as a referee because he can now take on anybody in the WWF. He calls out Koko B. Ware, saying he will be first of the many that he will run through in the company.



Next week in action will be Demolition, Butch Reed, and highlights from the Iron Sheik vs. Jim Duggan match that took place on the 4/4/87 edition of Superstars.



Final Thoughts: This show did not offer a whole lot. They pushed some minor new feuds that were not particularly exciting and combined with unmemorable promos and vignettes it made for a dull show.



Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 4/11/87
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Curt Hawkins
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 4/12/87
Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 4/18/87


Comments

  1. I don't comment every recap, but the one thing I love about your reviews is the little tidbits you throw in about certain workers, like the Iron Mike Sharpe/Tama bit. Stuff I never knew of and probably never would've looked up on my own.

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  2. I'll second that.


    Was Sharpe more than just a jobber in 1984, or was Tonga Kid so bad than even jobbers felt it was demeaning to lose to him?

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  3. Ah, the Honky Tonk Man and his gi-tar.

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  4. From what I recall, Sharpe was working opening match spots and losing fairly regularly, so he wasn't pushed as anything meaningful. Like a heel version of "SD Jones", I guess.

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  5. Pre-1984 Iron Mike Sharpe was more of a midcarder than a jobber. The Tama incident and the eventual rehiring may have been the point he became just a jobber.

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  6. Mike Sharpe actually had a title shot against Bob Backlund in 1983 and was briefly managed by Captain Lou Albano.

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  7. Brian - just want to thank you for your hard work to keep us entertained here on the BOD. Your wife is in our prayers #grateful

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  8. What happened to Brian's wife?!?

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  9. She is better now,thank you. She had issues with her gallbladder.

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  10. Tonga kid was only 18 or 19 at the time and like Sharpe here as a TV loner or sorts but once they started to push Tonga, Sharpe refused to job

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  11. That's great man, glad to hear she's better

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  12. Did she have attacks? My wife had to have hers removed. Said the pain was comparable to childbirth.

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  13. It wasn't contracting correctly I guess but she didn't have any stones.

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  14. Brian, do you (or anyone on here) know what the thinking was behind putting Mulligan under the Big Machine hood? Obviously, once the Machines angle dissolved, Mulligan was just kind of floating in limbo, but he seems such an odd choice to have put in the team to begin with. I mean, Eadie had been working masked the majority of his career, so he at least makes sense in the Super role.

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  15. I have no insight, but here's what my take has always been.


    They needed a guy.

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  16. Yeah, and specifically they needed a guy who was larger than Eadie and smaller than Andre. Eadie's a big dude so that limits the options quite a bit.

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  17. And Jack Victory was under contract elsewhere.

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  18. This is a pretty fair point. It just seems like they could've found some big stiff just as easily who didn't already have an established persona (and thus come cheaper). Like an Angel of Death or Jeep Swenson type. But yes, the middle ground of size is pretty limiting and Mulligan had worked with Andre for years.

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  19. I don't but figured they just needed a big guy under a mask

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  20. Thank you. Glad you enjoy these recaps

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  21. I feel like this has maybe never come up on this blog, but Tama was fucking dope.

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  22. Yeah, he was pretty cool, wasn't he? Just never got his due (that I know of).

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  23. Awesome fiery babyface and a great cocky heel but was his own worst enemy. Should have been a lot bigger star than he was.

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  24. "Ween" Dean AndrewsMarch 9, 2015 at 5:04 AM

    Fuck the Sheik, they should have pushed Mike as the guy to take Backlund's title. The Iron Sharpe. Add an 'i' to his name, call him The Iron Sharpie, have him do lots of promos like "Backlund says he's gonna CUT me down, well, I'll show him the PEN is mightier than the sword!"


    Now that's money.

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  25. "Ween" Dean AndrewsMarch 9, 2015 at 5:08 AM

    Watching WM25. Not heard Kid Rock much before. On the one hand, I'm thrilled to hear the hook from Werewolves In London. On the other, it's got some skeevy talentless twat doing a shitty Axl Rose impression over the top.


    The day he dies, I imagine for a lot of people it will be that 'We got Osama!' feeling.


    I'm not a fan.

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  26. AverageJoeEverymanMarch 9, 2015 at 7:17 AM

    WOW, the gall of that bladder!! I never!!

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  27. Verne paid Sheiky $100K to give him that arm injury that never healed.

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  28. According to wrestlingdata.com, Mr. Victory was in Fort Worth, Texas that day, wrestling Red River Jack, which was Bruiser Brody under a mask.

    (Speaking of big dudes working under a mask, too bad Brody didn't get a run in WWF...)

    I'm sure JV gave the fans their money's worth. Crazy as it sounds, no matter how many crappy repackages he went through, I was always a mark for Jack Victory. He always seemed, underneath, like a big goof who didn't take himself too seriously.

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