WWF Superstars of Wrestling October 31st, 1987

October 31, 1987

From the Mecca Arena in Milwaukee, WI

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

Tonight, we will see Danny Davis make his singles debut against Sam Houston, who is making his WWF debut. Also in action will be Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage, and the 10 Man Battle Royal.

Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Brady Boone & Scott Casey

Match stats with Smash destroying Boone. Casey tags and hits a dropkick but misses his second attempt as Vince informs us that Boone is the cousin of Billy Jack Haynes, who is now shown in an insert promo putting over Boone for his training and says that he loves him as Jesse laughs about the fact Boone was trained by Haynes and Ken Patera. Casey finally makes the tag to Boone, who runs wild. He hits a few dropkicks and a back elbow smash. Boone goes nuts but gets caught trying a hurricarana and gets dumped on the top rope then after that, Demolition hits the Decapitation for the win (3:34). After the match, Fuji orders Demolition to hit the move again and they hit it twice. Billy Jack Haynes runs out for the save until he gets outnumbered and eventually hit with the Decapitation himself. Ken Patera runs out for the save and hammers away until he also gets outnumbered. Ax then beats on Patera’s injured arm with Fuji’s cane until they leave as Jesse puts over how Demolition destroyed everyone. After a replay, we see Boone getting put on a stretcher

Thoughts: Solid squash match as Boone, a very talented worker, got a chance to shine. The big story was what took place afterwards as Demolition looked even more unstoppable by beating down four men and now have themselves an actual feud. Good segment.

WWF Special Report with Craig DeGeorge. This is about King Harley Race and his confrontation with Jim Duggan from last week and how Duggan ending up taking the king’s robe and crown. At the end, we see an insert of Heenan telling Duggan that he will never be the king.

Danny Davis w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Sam Houston

This is Houston’s WWF TV debut. He had been wrestling at house shows for several weeks. He comes out to “Midnight Rider” by the Allman Brothers and does his two-step in the ring, which was the kiss of death for his character, really. Houston takes Davis down with a pair of hiptosses then works the arm. Houston sidesteps a backdrop attempt with a cartwheel then hits a dropkick as we get an insert promo from Davis, questioning the audacity of those thinking he will lose this match. Davis is now in control but gets caught with a powerslam and Houston gets the pin, even though Davis’ foot was on the bottom rope (2:14). After the match, Davis and Hart take off as Houston is left to dance like a dipshit in the ring to his entrance music.

Thoughts: Houston looked really good in the ring here but the two-stepping routine was fucking pathetic. No wonder he had a drinking problem. The bit with Davis taking off after the match seems to be leading to something.

Gene Okerlund is with Jimmy Hart and the Honky Tonk Man. Honky will be facing Randy Savage at the Boston Garden next Saturday and assures us he will win and not sign any autographs.

“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil vs. Sivi Afi

DiBiase beats on Afi in the corner as Jesse states the fans boo DiBiase because they are jealous of his money. Afi comes back with a crossbody and a pair of dropkicks that send DiBiase bailing outside. Afi now leads the crowd in clapping as we get an insert promo from Koko B. Ware, who tells DiBiase that he is not better than everyone else because of his money and challenges him to a match. That leads to Jesse telling us that Koko his jealous because his father, Buckwheat, never got his residual checks from “Our Gang” so they grew up poor as a result. Back to the match as DiBiase regains control. DiBiase walks into a dropkick but Afi misses a second attempt then DiBiase hits a powerslam before putting Afi away with the Scorpion Death Lock (3:19).

Thoughts: Decent action. DiBiase did an okay job with the Scorpion Death Lock as a finisher too. No one else on the roster was using that, or even the Boston Crab. Although it was understandable he switched things up.

Okerlund is with Jake Roberts, who puts over the Survivor Series. After that we get a scroll of all the places you can watch the show in the area on Closed Circuit.

Mr. Fuji is with Killer Khan. He tells us all he thought Khan how to make people suffer and to cripple others.

Vince McMahon tells us due to “popular demand” that we will see the music video for “Piledriver” as that airs.

Craig DeGeorge is on the interview platform with Jimmy Hart and the Honky Tonk Man as they hype their team at the Survivor Series.

10 Man Battle Royal: Junkyard Dog, Cowboy Bob Orton, One Man Gang, Ultimate Warrior, Hercules, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Outback Jack, and the Bolsheviks

This is the TV debut of Boris Zhukov. Outback Jack replaced Hillbilly Jim for this match as well. The match starts off with Gang and Bigelow staring each other down. Everyone goes at it then JYD eliminates One Man Gang in a shocker. Outback Jack gets tossed by Hercules, who is now double-teamed by Bigelow and the Ultimate Warrior. JYD eliminates Volkoff then gets tossed out himself by Orton. Hercules and Orton toss out Muraco. Warrior eliminates Zhukov by dropping him on the ropes on a press slam attempt then immediately gets tossed by Orton. Hercules and Orton now double-team Bigelow as they are the last three left in the match. Bigelow rolls away from them but gets caught then hit with a double-clothesline. Bigelow tries to fight back but gets stomped in the corner. They try to eliminate him but Bigelow fights them off then backdrops both of them over the top rope for the win (3:47). The crowd popped huge for the finish.

Thoughts: Weak, even by battle royal standards, but it was used to put over the right guy. Having JYD toss Gang like garbage over the ring within seconds was an odd booking choice. This was Orton’s last WWF TV appearance as he was fired after an incident in early November at the airport in Calgary that led to him getting arrested.

Shadow #2 vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth

For those unaware, Shadow #2 is Jose Luis Rivera. No Shadow #1 tonight as he was gone from the company at this point. Savage ducks a swing and attempts to yank off the mask of the Shadow. Savage hits a clothesline after blocking a kick then hits the flying double axe handle. Savage then hits a slam before putting the Shadow away with the flying elbow drop (1:41).

Thoughts: The crowd loved Savage and really into all of his offense. On a smaller note, this was Rivera’s final appearance as a Shadow. He would go on to team with Jose Estrada as Los Conquistadors. Randy Culley quitting led to the Conquistadors. Who knew.

Okerlund is with Strike Force, who will be facing the Islanders in Boston in a match featuring two referees. They briefly talk about that then leave as Brutus Beefcake enters to talk about his opponent in Boston, Greg Valentine. He talks about putting away what started at WrestleMania III. Brutus also tells us that he in fact as a barber’s license. After Beefcake leaves, Bobby Heenan comes in with the Islanders, upset that Santana hit them at the Spanish announce table when they just “paid him a visit.” Haku is pissed they have two referees because they do everything fair.

Next week, the Tag Team titles will be on the line as Strike Force goes up against the champions, the Hart Foundation. Also in action will be Jake Roberts, Butch Reed, and Ken Patera & Billy Jack Haynes. Plus, the “Honky Tonk Man” music video. After that we get comments from both teams involved in next week’s title match.

Final Thoughts: Solid show this week. They started a new tag feud, had another wrestler make their debut, and put over talents like Savage, DiBiase, and Bigelow. They are building up some momentum heading into Survivor Series as well.