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WWF Superstars of Wrestling August 8th, 1987

I do not have the 8/2 or 8/9 editions of Wrestling Challenge so we will be skipping over them.

August 8, 1987

From the Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon

In action this week will be Jake Roberts, Demolition, Hart Foundation, George Steele, and the One Man Gang.




Jesse Ventura is backstage with Jimmy Hart in a segment titled "The Battle for Bam Bam." Jesse wants him to tell us the news as a nervous Hart tells us that Bam Bam Bigelow has rejected him as a manager but that he still manages two champions.



Joe Mirto & Don Muraco & Cowboy Bob Orton vs. Hillbilly Jim & Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog

Match starts off with a brawl between everyone except JYD, who stands off to the side. The match settles down as Jim overpowers Mirto before tagging out. JYD hits Muraco with some crawling headbutts as the crowd barely responds to that. Muraco ducks out for a breather and argues with Orton before tagging out. Orton and Santana fight over a lockup then Orton takes control and tries for a tombstone piledriver but Santana breaks the hold. Muraco tags and now tries the superplex but Orton pushes Santana on top as Muraco gets pinned (3:02). After the match, Orton and Muraco argue. Orton then slaps Muraco as that triggers a brawl that ends up outside and then into the crowd.

Thoughts: The Muraco/Orton split seems to be final here. The crowd didnt react much to this but they clearly made Orton out to be the instigator here.



WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week's subject is Superstar Billy Graham and how he got attacked by Butch Reed during their posedown from last week. They focused on Reed attacking Graham's surgically repaired hip and Graham fighting back. We then see Slick and Reed, who promises to send Graham back into retirement.



Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Sivi Afi & Brady Boone

Ax beats down Afi to start. We then see an insert promo of Fuji telling us he will sign Bam Bam. Boone tags in as Smash destroys him. Boone slingshots in with a dropkick and does a few flips but gets caught with a backbreaker. Boone fights back with a kneelift but gets caught with a stungun then Demolition puts him away with the decapitation (2:52).

Thoughts: Another impressive showing for Demolition and more confusion about who will actually manage Bam Bam.



Gene Okerlund is with Jim Brunzell. He reminds him how Blair and himself have beaten the Hart Foundation twice in a row as Brunzell proceeds to cut a painfully dull interview that leads to nothing. This was a counterproductive segment as it made the Bees out to be the dullest team of all-time instead of title contenders.



A clip of the Million Dollar Man giving a lady in the crowd $100 to wipe the sweat off of him as a voiceover tells us we will all do what he asks as everyone has their price.



George "The Animal" Steele vs. Dusty Wolfe

Wolfe's mullet was tremendous tonight. Steele stands outside of the ring as he is introduced. He immediately attacks Wolfe and tosses him to the floor. Back inside, Steele bites open a turnbuckle then grounds Wolfe with a hammerlock then puts him away with the flying hammerlock (1:48). After the match, George scares off the referee while Vince cackles like an idiot.

Thoughts: The crowd loved Steele's antics and this was the best use of him.



Okerlund is with Bobby Heenan and King Harley Race, who says he put the gold around his waist. Heenan then tells Hogan that his days are numbered. I dont think people were buying Race as a threat here.



Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis vs. Paul Roma & Jim Powers

Before the match, Howard Finkel introduces Mr. T as the special enforcer for this match as the fans go nuts. They teased a confrontation between Mr. T and Danny Davis here too. Match starts with the Hart Foundation working the back of Powers. We get an insert promo from Davis, who tells us that the officiating in the WWF stinks. Vince puts over Roma & Powers and notes their improvement. Powers sidesteps a charging Hart and tags Roma, who runs wild. The fans get into this a bit s Roma looks good out there. Hart blocks a monkey flip then rolls him up while putting his feet on the ropes and gets the pin.  However, Mr. T comes into the ring and tells the referee what happened then Finkel informs us that the decision has been reversed as Powers & Roma have won the match (2:56). Powers & Roma then clear the Hart Foundation from the ring with dropkicks as they stand tall with Mr. T.

Thoughts: A huge win for Roma & Powers. This was supposed to lead to Mr. T being there manager but according to Roma in his shoot interview, Mr. T no-showed a bunch of dates and as a result, Mr. T was gone.



DeGeorge is at the podium with the Islanders and Bobby Heenan. They bring up how Zenk quit, without mentioning him by name, as Heenan says Martel should follow suit and go back to Canada and find a job shoveling snow or sweeping the street. The Islanders then declare themselves as the number one tag team.



Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Barry Horowitz

Horowitz backs Roberts into the corner but eats boot on a charge. Roberts uses a short-arm clothesline and roughs him up until he hits the DDT for the win (1:09).

Thoughts: Not much to this to be honest.



One Man Gang w/ Slick vs. David Stoudemire

Gang stomps on Stoudemire and slams him down as we get an insert promo from Slick saying he has signed Bam Bam. Gang then hits Stoudemire with the gordbuster for the win (0:58). Jesse notes how it will be interesting to see him face Hogan as Gang then shoves the ref and hits another gordbuster to Stoudemire then another to the referee. A few more referees come into the ring but Gang chases him off. Some of the jobbers run out to save Stoudemire but they also get hit with the move as Gang then taunts the crowd to a scattering of boos.

Thoughts: They put Gang over as a monster here to mixed crowd reaction. Then again, the crowd was flat for this show, which was the last of the taping. This was the beginning of Gang's push as he would soon be facing Hogan at house shows.



Okerlund is with Jimmy Hart and asks him about his plans. Hart brings out the newest copy of "WWF Magazine" that features the Honky Tonk Man on the cover. Honky finally comes out with his guitar as Okerlund runs down the list of competitors for his title. Honky then cuts a generic promo about how people want a lot of things but no one will get his IC title. Less entertaining than most of Honky's promos.



In action next week will be in-ring debut of the Million Dollar Man, Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, and more news on the "Battle for Bam Bam."



Final Thoughts: The show was okay this week. Next week with DiBiase making his debut as the Million Dollar Man should be fun. And Hart not being a manager for Bam Bam furthers that story along.



Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 8/15/17
Tuesday: WWF Boston Garden 8/15/87
Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 8/16/87



Comments

  1. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJune 26, 2015 at 2:15 PM

    BamBam could have been such a great Hogan opponent. Bigelow vs Macho during the Savage face run as well

    ReplyDelete
  2. "They focused on Reed attacking Graham's surgically repaired hip " don't get how anyone thinks constantly reminding the audience of a dude's hip surgery (typically old person repair) is going to make money. Didn't the NWO at one point expose Piper's hip during a beat down? It's hard enough to suspend disbelief in wrestling let alone when people are hobbling around on broken hips

    ReplyDelete
  3. Muraco and Orton were such afterthoughts at that point so why should anyone care about their breakup when we hardly saw them during most weeks. Also while both Killer Bees were good workers both of them were just horrible promos

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  4. Muraco was long past the point of caring too

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  5. He was also getting roided up the gills at this point.

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  6. Which is sad. Though they really shouldn't, they fit well together. I dug 'em.

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  7. Great review as always!

    Sorry if you've mentioned this before, but where did you get these shows? Did you tape them?

    ReplyDelete
  8. They should have had Bam Bam turn heel in '95 and win the belt from Nash, then go Bammer vs HBK at mania.

    Bret's title reign didn't do much for him anyhow and I simply hate that HBK/Hart mania match.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJune 26, 2015 at 9:33 PM

    If they would have gone full bore with Diesel as many monster heel, the story probably called for him to be the guy to put Michaels over at XII. Not sure what Bret would do though. Taker was a face. Maybe a Bulldog match?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Back then, as their target audience, I totally didn't link it with the surgery typically being for elderly people. They never made it seem that way at least. ( and certainly didn't mention Graham (his skeleton) falling apart because of steroid use. I thought it was great to see a former WWF chmapion back. (Since their wasn't any other then Hogan). I totally fell for that angle. Looking back now, it is just a bit sad.

    ReplyDelete
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    22

    ReplyDelete

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