WWF Philadelphia Spectrum September 18th, 1987

September 18, 1987

From the Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Dick Graham

Matches tonight include Randy Savage vs. King Harley Race, Rick Rude vs. Brutus Beefcake, Hart Foundation vs. Killer Bees for the WWF Tag Team Titles, and the main event featuring Killer Khan vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship

Barry Horowitz vs. “Leaping” Lanny Poffo

Poffo’s pre-match promo is about the U.S. Armed Forces. Gorilla talks up Horowitz as a “new generation” wrestler as he takes Poffo down with an armdrag. He follows that with a slam but Poffo comes back with the same sequence of moves before sending Horowitz to the floor with a dropkick. Horowitz re-enters and tries to stall but gets taken out of the corner with a hiptoss. Poffo botches a lying headscissors then grabs an armbar as the announcers talk about the “Piledriver” album. Poffo continues to work the arm as the crowd chants boring. Poffo hits a crossbody that looked messed up then follows with a headscissor takedown. Horowitz offers a handshake after retreating in the corner then just cheapshots Poffo. Horowitz takes him down and gets two with a leg drop. Horowitz now works a chinlock as the announcers try to entertain themselves as Gorilla talks about the most painful holds and moves he took in his career. Back to the match as Poffo catches Horowitz with a small package for a nearfall. They trade a few pinfalls then Horowitz hits a backbreaker for a nearfall. Horowitz heads up top but Poffo tosses him off then fires away in the corner. Poffo hits a monkey flip but Horowitz blocks a second attempt and hits an inverted atomic drop then gets the win with a side Russian leg sweep (12:34) **.

Thoughts: Horowitz was a really good worker and this match wasn’t bad. Poffo never had much skill in the ring and botched a few moves but for an opener consisting of two TV jobbers, it was entertaining.

Frenchy Martin vs. S.D. Jones

Match starts with both guys fighting over a lockup as the announcers note S.D.’s weight gain. S.D. works the arm as Martin grabs the ropes. Martin takes S.D. down with an elbow smash then grabs a chinlock but S.D. picks him up and places Martin on the top rope. Martin whacks S.D. after he turned his head and chokes him out on the mat. Martin comes back with a clothesline then works a nerve hold. Martin takes S.D. down with a kneelift then goes back to the side headlock after a few shots to the neck. Martin bails after S.D. fights back as a few in the crowd make it a point to let him know just how much he sucks, with one guy screaming “faggot” at him. Back inside, Martin tries to plead with S.D. but gets knocked down. S.D. picks Martin up by the ears but gets kneed in the gut as Martin is now roughing him up. S.D. no-sells a turnbuckle smash as Martin once again bails outside. He returns as S.D. hits a few headbutts then tries a small package but Martin reverses it and grabs the tights, getting the win (9:46) DUD.

Thoughts: These two did not even belong in the ring at this point and this match had no business going almost ten minutes long either.

King Harley Race vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth

No Heenan tonight as he at the show in Chicago, handcuffed to Ken Patera during the whipping match between Paul Orndorff and King Kong Bundy. The crowd is going nuts for Savage. Match starts with Savage hitting Race with a clothesline. Savage then catches Race with a sleeper before clotheslining him over the top rope. Savage brings Race back inside and stomps him for a bit but gets dumped to the floor. They brawl outside as Savage gets the upper hand. Race drags him back out but misses a falling headbutt and they end up back in the ring going back and forth. Race rakes Savage across the face as we get an insert of Elizabeth looking worried. Race gets nearfalls with a piledriver and a belly-to-belly but Savage is able to reverse a suplex and hit one of his own. Savage gets a kneedrop but Race hits him in the gut. Race hits a clothesline then connects with the falling headbutt for a nearfall. Savage blocks a few punches then fires away. He hits the double axe handle and goes for the pin but Race gets his foot on the ropes. Savage then tries for his flying elbow smash but Race rolls out of the way. Race tries a suplex but Savage floats over then hits a reverse rollup for the win (8:24) ***. After the match, Gorilla notes that Savage went from being one of the most hated to “turning things around.”

Thoughts: Good match that was all action. The fans loved Savage and Gorilla made it clear on commentary that Savage was now a face.

Scott Casey vs. Iron Mike Sharpe

Sharpe stalls as Graham refers to Sharpe as “Iron Mark.” He did correct himself though. Casey grabs a side headlock then gets two with a crucifix. Sharpe bails after getting taken down with a pair of armdrags. Sharpe stalls for a bit then initiates a test-of-strength. They battle over that for a minute as Casey wins that as Sharpe bails outside and heads up the aisle. Sharpe heads back down and re-enters as he rakes Casey’s eyes then hammers away. Casey fights back and nails Sharpe with a piledriver for a nearfall but gets caught with a shot to the gut. Speaking of Casey’s gut, it grew considerably since he came over from World Class. Casey comes back with a monkey flip then uses European uppercuts on Sharpe in the corner. Sharpe is now in control as the match heads outside. Sharpe rams Casey into the guardrail then tries to hammer away on him as he jumps on the apron but that fails. Casey pokes Sharpe in the eye then grabs a sleeper. Sharpe catches Casey with a punch to the gut but misses a charge in the corner as Casey hits a bulldog for the win (9:01) *.

Thoughts: More boring than offensive. Sharpe’s offense sucked. The guy drew punches, forearms, and occasionally used eye rakes.

“Ravishing” Rick Rude vs. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake

Beefcake runs in the ring and starts firing away on Rude. This is the result of Rude interfering in one of Beefcake’s matches. Beefcake then slams him before tossing Rude outside. Rude takes a breather then re-enters and offers a handshake so Beefcake grabs his arm and clotheslines him down. Rude then grabs Beefcake’s tights and pulls him into the turnbuckle as he hits his right knee. Beefcake comes back with a suplex then puts Rude in a bearhug before hitting an inverted atomic drop. Beefcake fires away in the corner with the crowd solidly behind him. Rude gets his knees up on a charging Beefcake then starts going to work. He chokes out Beefcake then applies a nerve hold. Rude tosses Beefcake to the floor then poses inside. Rude stomps on Beefcake as he rolls inside then applies a chinlock. Beefcake tries to fight out but Rude hits him with an atomic drop. Rude knocks him back down with a kneelift before applying another chinlock as the crowd chants “faggot.” Beefcake is able to back Rude into the corner then takes him over with a backdrop. Beefcake fires away in the corner then catches Rude with the sleeper. Rude breaks free then tries for the backbreaker submission but almost drops him and makes it a shoudlerbreaker instead. Rude then puts Beefcake up in the backbreaker and drops him, thinking he had won but yells at the ref when the match was not over. Rude grabs Beefcake’s scissors and tries to use them but Beefcake blocks that and grabs Rude in a sleeper. The bell rings inadvertently then Race runs in as Beefcake grabs him with a sleeper as the match is ruled a DQ (12:45) **1/4.

Thoughts: The match wasn’t bad as it appears Beefcake and Rude are destined for a feud. The match was certainly passable and the crowd was all about Beefcake.

Ted DiBiase and Virgil are in the ring. Craig DeGeorge as replaced Gorilla on commentary for the rest of the show. DiBiase will offer his opponent $500 to take the night off. The Junkyard Dog comes out as DiBiase tells him to take the money and leave. JYD takes the cash as DiBiase tells us that everyone has a price but JYD ends up knocking him down as the match is now underway.

“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil vs. Junkyard Dog

JYD knocks DiBiase outside then takes the money and gives it away to the fans. Back inside, JYD hammers away but DiBiase ducks outside and stalls for a bit as this commentary team of Craig DeGeorge and Dick Graham are just fucking terrible here. DiBiase is now begging for mercy in the corner as we are shown Virgil in an insert watching the match. JYD hits him with an atomic drop then works the arm. DiBiase slides outside again and is met with an “asshole” chant by several fans in the front row, who are also flipping him off. DiBiase dodges a headbutt then takes JYD down with a snapmare. DiBiase hits some mounted punches. JYD gets his fist up on a top rope dive by DiBiase then goes to work. He clotheslines DiBiase and hits a headbutt that landed as softly as a feather hitting a pillow. Virgil tries to interfere as JYD stops that but Virgil is able to trip up JYD then DiBiase gets a rollup for the win (8:49) 3/4*. After the match, JYD sense DiBiase to the floor.

Thoughts: The last few minutes of this match fell apart as JYD was completely blown up. Everything he did looked atrocious during that timespan.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Killer Bees vs. Hart Foundation (Champions)

Jimmy Hart is not here tonight as he was in Youngstown, OH managing the Honky Tonk Man in the main event against Jim Duggan. Neidhart and Blair start things out. Blair gets the upper hand as the Bees are now working over the legs of the Anvil. Hart tags in as Graham calls him “Jimmy Hart” and the Bees use frequent tags as they work over his legs. Blair puts on a figure-four but Neidhart breaks that up. Neidhart then tags in and chokes out Blair. Hart tags and is met with a “greaseball” chant. He tosses Blair to the floor then pretends that Brunzell cheapshotted him, allowing Neidhart to destroy Blair. Hart beats on Blair as the Hart Foundation continue to use illegal moves behind the referee’s back. Hart and Blair then clothesline each other as both men are down. Brunzell runs in to prevent Neidhart from interfering as Blair reverses a pinfall attempt after Neidhart kicked him down. Blair then dodges a charge by Bret and dumps Neidhart to the floor as the fans go nuts. Blair finally tags out as Brunzell runs wild. Hart locks on a sleeper as Blair breaks that up as all hell is breaking loose. Brunzell dropkicks Hart for a nearfall then as Brunzell tries to suplex Hart back into the ring, Neidhart trips him up and Hart falls on top for the win (13:28) **3/4.

Thoughts: Solid match. It dragged a bit in the middle but after the hot tag it was fun. The Bees would be phased out of the Tag Title picture shortly afterwards. They were far too dull anyway.

Tiger Chung Lee vs. Outback Jack

Lee cheapshots Jack, who is irate. Jack hits Lee back and my video cuts out and it returns as Jack hits Lee with the boomerang for the win.

Thoughts: Just filler before the main event. And bad filler at that.

WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Killer Khan w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Hulk Hogan (Champion)

The Hulkster does the mock karate pose as he enters the ring. Khan ends up attacking Hogan from behind then whips him with the World Title belt. The referee tries to help up Hogan, who drops down as Khan sprays his mist and blinds the referee. A backup ref comes in as Pat Patterson helps the other referee to the back while Fuji chokes out Hogan with his cane. Khan is now beating on Hogan in the corner. He chokes him out against the ropes as the fans chant for the Hulkster. Khan misses a kneedrop as Hogan hulks up and chops away. Hogan takes off his wrist tape and uses it to choke out Khan. The action heads outside as Hogan smashes a chair off of Khan’s back. They take it back inside where Khan knocks Hogan down then applies a nerve hold. Hogan is almost out on the mat but he fights out. He hits a pair of shoulder tackles but runs into an elbow smash. Khan slams Hogan then hits the top rope knee smash but Hogan kicks out of that and hulks up again. Khan tries to use the mist again but Hogan blocks it and rubs the mist into Khan’s eyes then hits the leg drop for the win (9:15) *1/2.

Thoughts: Not much of a match and it didn’t seem to have a lot of heat with the crowd. Khan would shoot back down the midcard where he belonged in a few weeks.

Final Thoughts: There were two good matches and a whole lot of filler. Pretty much the norm for a house show from this time period. Savage vs. Race was fun, especially since I never saw them wrestle before. And the less said about DeGeorge & Graham, the better. They showed no emotion or chemistry together. I can’t really recommend this show.