WWF Superstars of Wrestling September 5th, 1987

September 5, 1987

From the Selland Arena in Fresno, CA

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse “The Body” Ventura, and class=”StrictlyAutoTagAnchor” href=”http://blogofdoom.com/index.php/tag/class=”StrictlyAutoTagAnchor” href=”http://blogofdoom.com/index.php/tag/vince/” title=”View all articles about vince here”>vince–mcmahon/” title=”View all articles about Vince McMahon here”>Vince McMahon

In action this week will be Jake Roberts, Hart Foundation & Danny Davis, Killer Khan, and Randy Savage.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Dusty Wolfe

Wolfe takes Roberts down with a hiptoss and seems quite proud of himself. He whips Roberts into the corner but gets goaded into charging after him and knocked down. Roberts works the knee as the crowdchants for the DDT. He title=”View all articles about continues here”>continues to work on the knee until slamming Wolfe’s face off of the mat then sets up for the DDT and the win (3:34). After the match, Roberts puts Damien around the throat of Wolfe.

Thoughts: They announcers all put Roberts over strong here. The crowd also is really into the DDT.

Craig DeGeorge welcomes Slick and Nikolai Volkoff to the interview platform as they await the debut of Bam Bam Bigelow. Slick comes out and gloats over the fact that he has signed Bam Bam and welcomes him out. However, Oliver Humperdink comes out and grabs the mic as he alerts us that he is here to introduce Bam Bam, who now comes out to the platform. Bam Bam backs up Slick and screams at him about how he will never be his manager and that his “commie” friend better leave too. Volkoff gets in Bam Bam’s face but ends up getting decked as Bam Bam introduces Humperdink as his new manager. The crowd seemed to really dig Bigelow, who made a good first impression with them.

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

Davis struts around as we get an insert promo from Jimmy Hart telling us how excited he is for Danny Davis, putting over his song on the “Piledriver” album. Davis takes down Powers and drops an elbow. He tags Hart, who misses an elbow as Powers tags out. Roma misses a crossbody as Hart goes on the attack. The heels neutralize Roma in their corner until he breaks up a bearhug and makes the tag to Boone, who runs wild on Davis. The match then breaks down as Davis puts Boone in a Boston Crab, getting the win by submission (3:13).

Thoughts: The finish was designed to get Davis over as a threat but I dont think that worked here.

Gene Okerlund is with Oliver Humperdink and asks him about Paul Orndorff’s match against King Kong Bundy. Humperdink said he put Orndorff in Ken Patera’s place as Orndorff himself comes out and says that you have to be mean to win and promises to beat Bundy in their match at the Meadowlands on September 11th. According to Meltzer in the Observer at this time, Bigelow had transportation issues and missed the taping in which Orndorff fired Heenan so they had Humperdink come out with Orndorff as a way to introduce him. Meltzer also said that Orndorff was going to turn face soon regardless.

We get a promo from Ken Patera, who is out with injury. He promises the Heenan family that he will come after them when he returns.

Don Muraco vs. Tim Patterson

Muraco got some cheers here. Vince calls Muraco “The Rock” and puts over his weight. Muraco fires away and even hits a standing dropkick. He tosses Patterson to the floor then suplexes him back into the ring from the apron. We get an insert promo from Bob Orton as he says Muraco will “run out of gas” when they face off as Muraco hits a powerslam before getting the win with the tombstone (2:05).

Thoughts: This was the beginning of Muraco transforming into the “Rock” character. It was also the end of his run as a meaningful wrestler in the company.

WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week’s subject is Paul Orndorff and how he fired Bobby Heenan as we get a clip of him doing so two weeks ago. We then get a clip from Heenan and rick–rude/” title=”View all articles about Rick Rude here”>Rick Rude as they promise to make Orndorff pay.

The British Bulldogs let us know the importance of taking your dog to the vet and getting it a tag. Lord knows what those two were doing to that dog on the road.

Killer Khan w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Mike Starr

Khan beats on Starr in the corner. He lands a few more kicks and chops then blows mist in Starr’s face while Fuji distracts the referee. Khan then climbs up top and hits the knee drop for the win (1:43).

Thoughts: All of Khan’s squash matches were the same. The crowd didnt seem to care here either.

Okerlund is with HulkHogan, who will be facing the One Man Gang at Madison Square Garden. Hogan starts by flexing in front of the camera then proceeds to cut a whacked-out promo about oxygen masks to help Gang after he is choked out.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Tiger Chung Lee

The fans are really into Savage. Once again, Ventura calls Savage “soft” for allowing Elizabeth to walk in front of him. Match starts with both guys trading arm wringers until Savage gets the advantage. We then get an insert promo from Elizabeth, who disagrees with the Honky Tonk Man proclaiming himself as the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time. Ventura calls her an “airhead” after that. Back to the match as Lee lands a few shots while Ventura calls out the other announcers for cheering on Savage after years of disagreeing with his antics. Savage regains control then gets the win with a flying elbow drop (2:44).

Thoughts: The announcers certainly drove home the point that you should be cheering Savage, who was easily the most over person on the show.

Jimmy Hart and the Honky Tonk Man are cutting a promo. Honky tells us that after claiming to be the greatest IC Champion of all-time, former champions are upset, namely Savage. Honky then tells Savage he cannot wrestle, sing, and dance better than himself. And the feud with Savage is even closer to happening.

Rick Derringer is talking about the “Piledriver” album and puts it over for being a great album.

style=”color: #000000;”>Killer Bees vs. Steve Lombardi & Iron Mike Sharpe

No masks for the Bees. Match starts with the Bees working the leg of Sharpe as Ventura keeps on referencing how the Bees do not have their masks anymore. The announcers now talk about Bam Bam Bigelow challenging Nikolai Volkoff for a match as Brunzell gets a nearfall with a crossbody. The heelswork over Brunzell in the corner but he escapes and tags out as Blair runs wild until he holds up Sharpe while Brunzell hits a dropkick for the win (3:59).

Thoughts: The commentators made it clear that the Bees were not going to use the masks anymore, which was the only thing that made them the slightest bit interesting. They would start to slide down the depth chart of the WWF Tag Team Division at this point.

Okerlund is with Savage, who will be facing Kamala at the Nassau Coliseum. Savage promises Kamala will go down as he talks about going wild. Fairly tame promo by Savage as he never yelled at Okerlund or bragged about himself. He just talked about beating the monster heel in Kamala.

Next week we will see Nikolai Volkoff vs. Bam Bam Bigelow. Also in action will be rick–rude/” title=”View all articles about Rick Rude here”>Rick Rude, Honky Tonk Man, and Strike Force.

Final Thoughts: A fairly eventful show this week. Bam Bam made his debut and were teasing the Savage even more than last week as is feud with Honky moves closer to beginning. Not everything was great but they are starting to get some traction as far as maineventfeuds.

Here is my schedule for the rest of the week:

Saturday: RoH Main Event Spectacles

Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/6/87

Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/12/87

Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD

Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/13/87