WWF Wrestling Challenge October 12th, 1986

October 12, 1986

From the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in Salisbury, MD

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

Tonight's featured match will be Randy Savage vs. Billy Jack Haynes in a non-title match. Also in action are the Hart Foundation, Killer Bees, Tito Santana & Pedro Morales, and Tama vs Moondog Spot. Plus, the "Snake Pit" with guest Hulk Hogan and more.




Billy Jack Haynes vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth

We are shown an insert promo from Elizabeth before the match in which she says that Savage is nice to her but does not like when she talks to other guys then gets interrupted by Savage, who is screaming at her for talking. Match starts with Haynes catching Savage with an armdrag. Haynes comes back with a crossbody and a press slam, both for nearfalls. Savage ducks outside for a breather and when he comes back, he pulls up on the ropes when Haynes attempts a dropkick. Savage flattens him with a clothesline then Haynes reverses an Irish whip and hits one of his own. Haynes hits a suplex then drops an elbow from the second rope. Savage boots Haynes when he ducks his head but Haynes comes back and locks on the full nelson. Savage put his foot on the rope but Haynes dragged him back to the center of the ring. Savage then booted the referee down until referee Danny Davis runs in and breaks up the hold. He signals for the bell and declares Savage the winner via disqualification (4:21).

Thoughts: Good action while it lasted. These two seemed like they would have had good matches against each other and Haynes said they were close on the road too so maybe the chemistry was there. They also highlighted Davis as an evil referee even more so than usual with his involvement.


Wrestler's Rebuttal with Ricky Steamboat. He calls out heels who have managers just so they can get an advantage in their matches. If this was from today, it would be dismissed as whiny.


Bob Orton and Don Muraco, dressed in a kilt, are laughing about destroying Piper a few weeks ago. We are shown clips of the attack again as Orton tells Piper that he is still no longer the man he used to be because he will have that limp for the rest of his life. Muraco then cuts a good promo about how Piper will remember the both of them for the rest of his life.


Ken Resnick is with Super & Big Machine. The Machines put over all of the top teams in the WWF and how they came to the U.S. to represent Japan. Luckily, the Machines angle would be finished shortly.


Butch Cooper & Barry O. vs. The Killer Bees

The Bees came to the ring in their masks. Blair grounds Cooper to start. Brunzell tags and they hit Cooper with a double backdrop as we get an insert promo from the Bees, who are holding their masks and talking about causing "mask confusion." Barry tags and Brunzell takes him down with a flyingg headscissors as Monsoon makes fun of Barry for gaining weight. Barry catches Brunzell with an inverted atomic drop then tags Cooper but Blair catches him with a powerslam. Barry runs in and gets sent outside with an elbow smash then Brunzell tags and gets the win with a dropkick (2:31).

Thoughts: The Bees were solid and again they were putting over the mask confusion gimmick with the insert promo. Its really the only thing that made them stand out from a team like the Rougeau's or the U.S. Express.


Resnick is with King Harley Race. He cuts a good promo but clearly looks uncomfortable wearing the king get up. Race said he was put on Earth to wrestle then calls out Hogan.


Mario Mancini & Nick Kiniski vs. The Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart

Kiniski hits a crossbody and a sunset flip for nearfalls to start as Gorilla points out that Danny Davis is the referee for the match. We are shown an insert promo from the Hart Foundation as they talk about how they get along outside of the ring. Kiniski and Neidhart work a rough sequence as Kiniski fell down after getting backdropped then took down Neidhart with an armdrag. Mancini tags in but Neidhart tosses him halfway across the ring then they finish him off with the Hart Attack (2:00). After the match, the Hart's destroy Mancini until Kiniski runs them off.

Thoughts: Neidhart was really fun to watch here as he was by far and away the personality of the team. The Hart's were on a roll as a team at this time.


The Snake Pit with guest Hulk Hogan. Jake asks Hogan what he thinks about his python. Hogan notices that he has two 24 inch pythons as they go back and forth about their "pythons" as Hogan flexes in front of Jake. He then asks Hogan if he would turn his back on a man he was afraid of and he said no, then turned around as the segment ended. Looks to be setting up for a potential feud between these two, which lasted about two matches as the fans kept cheering for Jake.


Tito Santana & Pedro Morales vs. Ken Glover & Steve Lombardi

Heenan jokes about how he thought Santana & Morales were named "Jala" and "Peno." Tito & Pedro then are shown in an insert promo speaking Spanish, which infuriates Heenan. Santana catches Lombardi with a dropkick then tags Pedro. Glover tags too as the faces use quick tags to isolate him. Glover lands a few shots but Tito backdrops him. Pedro tags then puts Glover away with a backbreaker (2:25).

Thoughts: The fans still dug Tito but he was going nowhere with Pedro as a partner.


Moondog Spot vs. Toma 

Tama was billed as "Toma" for a few weeks until the switch. Toma chops down Spot after an Irish whip sequence. He misses an elbow drop as we get an insert promo from Superstar Billy Graham, who says he will be back again soon. Toma fights back with a headbutt but Moondog Rex runs in for the attack as the match is ruled a DQ (1:24). Haku then runs in for the save as the Islanders clean house.

Thoughts: The beginning of a lower card tag team feud was started here. The Islanders didn't show much personality as a team until the heel turn but getting stuck feuding with the Moondogs is not a good sign as they were TV jobbers at this point.


Resnick is with The Wizard and Sika. He cuts another screaming promo about both Sika and Kamala. God, he was awful. Sika was in the background making crazy faces and biting on his hand as the camera zoomed in on him. The Wizard promos were just the worst.


Next week in action will be King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd (They weren't), Hillbilly Jim (Neither was he), Paul Orndorff, and Koko B Ware.


Final Thoughts: Well, they focused a lot on Danny Davis on this show. They continued the Piper feud with Muraco and Orton as Adonis was suspended at this time. Also, they teased a program between Hogan and Jake and the Haynes vs. Savage match was good while it lasted so a decent show all around here.




And my schedule for the rest of the week

Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 10/18/86
Thursday: DOI Wrestling Shoot Interview with Kevin Kelly
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 10/19/86
Saturday: RoH Final Battle 12/28/02
Sunday: WWF Houston Summit 10/19/86