WWF Superstars of Wrestling September 12th, 1987

September 12, 1987

From the Fresno Convention Center in Fresno, CA

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

In action this week will be Strike Force, The Honky Tonk Man, Koko B. Ware & Rougeau Brothers. Plus, the featured match of Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Nikolai Volkoff

Nikolai Volkoff w/ Slick vs. Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Oliver Humperdink

The crowd is really into Bigelow. Volkoff tries to attack him from behind but that fails as he gets knocked over the top rope. Bigelow busts out a cartwheel as Volkoff re-enters but fails to budge Bigelow and gets run over. Bigelow fires away as Slick shouts out words of encouragement to Volkoff. Bigelow continues the assault until Volkoff kicks him in the gut. Volkoff rakes the eyes but Bigelow knocks him down with a headbutt then takes him over the top rope with a standing dropkick. Volkoff took a pathetic bump on that one. Back inside, Volkoff tries to fight back but Bigelow rolls underneath a clothesline then hits a flying headbutt for the win (4:00).

Thoughts: Bigelow showed off a lot of agility but Volkoff was a bad choice for a first opponent in the sense that he takes terrible bumps. Someone who could bump better would have gotten Bigelow over more. Still, it was a fairly solid debut for Bigelow.

Craig DeGeorge is on the interview platform with the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and Virgil. DiBiase tells the crowd they are poor, as they are from the fruit-picking capital of the U.S., and that he is rich, thus better than him. He invites a kid up to the stage and offers him $300 to do ten push-ups. The kid cant make it past eight as DiBiase does not give him the money, telling him that doing your best is not good enough. He then chastises the crowd for being poor and “suckers” as he laughs his way off of the stage. DiBiase was great here. I could watch this stuff all day long.

Koko B. Ware & Rougeau Brothers vs. Billy Anderson & Leroy Malion & Rudy Ryder

The jobbers try a sneak attack but that fails. Anderson gets triple-teamed as we get an insert promo from the Rougeaus, stating its an honor to team with Koko as he is not only a great wrestler but a great singer as well. Malion now gets triple dropkicked before Koko puts him away with the Ghostbuster (2:17).

Thoughts: Quick match desgined so they could put over Koko as singer of the title track on the “Piledriver” album. Koko got pushed heavily on TV for that fact but it didn’t last too long.

Gene Okerlund is with Hulk Hogan, who is facing Killer Khan tonight at the Boston Garden. Hogan talks about the Titanic and Pearl Harbor then make fun of Khan’s haircut until the interview ends.

We get comments from Bobby Heenan, putting over the fact that he is on the cover of the newest edition of “WWF Magazine.”

“Ravishing” Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan & King Harley Race & King Kong Bundy & Hercules vs. Jerry Monti

Before the match, Heenan brings out Andre, demanding that the crowd show him respect. Andre comes out and gets booed as he stands next to the rest of the Heenan Family. Match starts with Rude slamming Monti before stopping to flex. Rude then picks up Monti and puts him in the backbreaker for the win (0:25).

Thoughts: Quick win for Rude but the real story was Andre returning to TV, standing tall with the Heenan Family.

We now get comments from Larry Klien, producer of the show “American Bandstand.” He assures us this album is not a novelty but rather a great album.

Now, we are shown footage of Randy Savage entering the locker room after his match last week as he grabs a hold of Jimmy Hart, demanding that he bring him the Honky Tonk Man. Savage then goes off looking for Savage as we see Hart freaking out, promising Savage that he will be sorry. This is all due to Honky calling himself the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time and it would lead to Savage’s face turn. Solid start to this feud.

Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Steve Gatorwolf

The announcers talk about Savage as Honky keeps retreating to the corner. Honky kicks Gatorwolf in the gut then hammers away. Honky dances briefly then stays in control of the match until he puts Gatorwolf away with the Shake, Rattle, and Roll (2:11).

Thoughts: The announcers kept putting over the recent conflict between Savage and Honky, who amped up his heel antics after the match.

“The Natural” Butch Reed w/ Slick vs. Sivi Afi

Reed stalls for a bit then catches Afi with a right hand. Reed hits a kneelift as Vince puts over Bigelow. Reed is now choking out Afi with his boot then goes back to his methodical offense. Afi fights back with a clubbing forearm and a few chops but gets caught with a powerslam. Reed then climbs up top and hits Afi with a clothesline for the win (3:02). Funny moment as Jesse asked Vince if he liked Slick’s song “Jive Soul Bro” as Vince claimed it was a little “too funky” for him.

Thoughts: A really boring match. The announcers did not do a whole lot to put over the Reed/Graham feud, which was a bit surprising considering the next segment.

WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week’s subject is Superstar Billy Graham and how he has returned to the ring. We get clips of his rehabilitation, something we have seen constantly on TV during the past few months, then a clip of his return TV match and the attack by Butch Reed. A really long update segment.

Strike Force vs. The Shadows

Martel takes down #1 with a flying headscissors before tagging out. Santana uses a hiptoss and a dropkick as Strike Force is in control of the match. We get an insert promo from Billy Jack Haynes, putting over Strike Force and their new theme song “Girls in Cars.” Santana rolls away from #1 then makes the tag to Martel, who runs wild. Santana tags back in and gets the win with the flying forearm (3:23).

Thoughts: The Strike Force push was really strong but Santana did not fit in with what they were going for to be honest. The team was solid in the ring but they needed someone with a youthful appearance to replace Zenk for the act to work.

Okerlund is with Mr. Fuji, who tells us that Killer Khan will beat Hogan for the title. Okerlund then clarifies if he will use the green mist as Fuji says he loves to see Hogan in pain while Khan comes out and stands silently with his arms folded. Okerlund tries to talk to Khan, who does not move an inch, as Fuji laughs.

Next week in action will be Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Ted DiBiase, Brutus Beefcake, and the One Man Gang.

Final Thoughts: They are starting to put in a lot of things in motion in terms of the main event scene. Andre returned and the Savage/Honky feud began. The newer acts like Rude and DiBiase are starting to get some heel heat on them as well. The WWF is starting to turn the corner after the post-WrestleMania III lull.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Saturday: Brickhouse TV Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4

Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/13/87

Tuesday: WWF Philadelphia Spectrum 9/18/87

Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD

Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/19/87