WWF Wrestling Challenge November 1st, 1987

November 1, 1987

From the Veterans Memorial Arena in Green Bay, WI

Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon

Tonight, Hulk Hogan will make an appearance. Plus, The New Dream Team & Johnny V. take on the Killer Bees and Koko B. Ware. Also, the Honky Tonk Man will face Brutus Beefcake in a non-title match. Others in action include the Bolsheviks and Killer Khan.

Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake

Beefcake takes off his coat to reveal his new t-shirt. Honky taunts Beefcake, who responds by strutting around. We get an insert promo from Danny Davis, saying he is keeping an eye on the referee as he allows Beefcake to cut hair after his matches. Beefcake hits Honky with three consecutive atomic drops before taking him down with a forearm smash. Honky ducks outside and Beefcake follows him to hit another atomic drop. Hart runs over but gets scared off as the action heads back inside. Beefcake gets two off of a sunset flip but misses a charge in the corner. Honky hits a slam but gets caught coming off of the middle rope. Beefcake softens Honky up then puts on the sleeper so Hart runs in with megaphone for the DQ (2:04). Beefcake goes after Hart as the crowd goes nuts. He grabs his scissors and starts cutting his hair until Davis runs and attacks him from behind. Davis and Hart run away then Honky tries a sneak attack but runs away when that fails.

Thoughts: Solid segment. They have finally moved Beefcake away from the Dream Team feud and can now have him going up against Davis, to presumably set up a feud against the Honky Tonk Man. Beefcake was really over here too.

The replay of the “Special Report” running down the Jim Duggan/Harley Race confrontation from last week.

Bolsheviks w/ Slick vs. S.D. Jones & “Leaping” Lanny Poffo

Match starts with Zhukov getting worked over by both guys. He gets away from Poffo and tags Volkoff, who is now getting is arm worked on by Jones. We get an insert promo from the British Bulldogs about facing the Bolsheviks at the Survivor Series. I don’t believe what Dynamite said here was in English. Back to the match as the Bolsheviks are in control while the crowd starts a “USA” chant. S.D. comes back with a headbutt then tags Poffo, who dropkicks both guys until Volkoff hits him with a double underhook suplex then tags Zhukov who gets the win with a flying shoulder tackle (2:41).

Thoughts: The action here was awful and Zhukov just sucked as a performer. This team never amounted to much and its not hard to figure out why.

Gene Okerlund is with the British Bulldogs and Matilda, who talk about their match at the Survivor Series. Dynamite claims Matilda has been giving them good advice. That was about all that happened here.

Rick Renslow vs. Sam Houston

Houston takes down Renslow as we get an insert promo from him telling us he is going to be “hotter than a two-dollar pistol.” Holy shit was that line awful. Back to the match as Houston gets two with a crossbody. Renslow backs him nito the corner but Houston fights back then hits the bulldog for the win (2:12).

Thoughts: Poor Sam Houston. They gave him a gimmick that was essentially a 10 year old kid playing a cowboy. And that two-step they made him do was embarrassing. The guy was a talented worker but the gimmick was a kiss of death and he was a lower card guy his entire run. He looked impressive in the ring here.

Okerlund is with Randy Savage, who tells us that he feels like Knute Rockne the way in which he is motivating his Survivor Series team. Pretty tame compared to most of Savage’s promos.

Sensational Sherri talks to us about the “Survival Series” She will prove to us how she is better than Moolah.

Chris Curtis vs. Killer Khan w/ Mr. Fuji

Khan beats the crap out of Curtis as Heenan wants everyone to stop the rumors about himself and Sherri. Khan then continues to beat the crap out of Curtis before taking him down with a thrust kick. Khan then uses the mist before hitting the flying knee drop for the win (2:08).

Thoughts: Status quo for Khan, who would be gone from the company before the end of the month.

Craig DeGeorge is on the interview platform with Hulk Hogan. The fans are out of their minds. Hogan says he is fighting for all of the youngsters while Andre is fighting for all of the greed. Hogan tells Heenan that he has been staying thirsty and that is the key to surviving. Hogan then talks about his team and how they are all fighting for the same common goals. Hogan barely put over his team and just talked about himself and Andre as they are obviously setting up the way for Andre/Hogan II down the road.

WWF Special Report with Craig DeGeorge. Bobby Heenan is with Rick Rude as he talks about Paul Orndorff, saying he has embarrassed him for the last time. Heenan also says Orndorff is jealous of Rude’s physique. We then are shown a clips of each guy interrupting each others matches by posing on the platform.

Jimmy Hart is with the Glamour Girls. Holy shit did Judy Martin half-ass this promo. She also looked as uncomfortable as anyone I have seen delivering a promo.

New Dream Team & Johnny V. vs. Killer Bees & Koko B. Ware

Koko also comes out wearing a Killer Bees mask. Sadly, they take them off before the match begins. Blair and Bravo start off the match with Blair getting the upper hand. We see an insert of Koko’s article in the latest edition of “WWF Magazine.” Koko is now in the ring with Valentine and loses that battle as the New Dream Team take turns beating on Koko. Johnny V. tags in but Valentine accidentally hits him and Koko makes the tag to Brunzell. Johnny V’s doo rag gets knocked off as the fans cheer then Koko puts him away with a missile dropkick (3:32). After the match, the New Dream Team beat down Koko as Valentine locks on the figure four until the Bees finally fight back and clear the ring.

Thoughts: The match itself was dull and now it appears that Koko has been dragged into this wonderful Killer Bees/New Dream Team feud.

Okerlund is with Brutus Beefcake, who talks about the Survivor Series then turns on his clippers as he shows us his new t-shirt. He leaves as Strike Force comes out as Tito states they have been appointed as the leaders of their Survivor Series team before tripping all over the rest of his promo.

Next week, we will get highlights of the Strike Force vs. Hart Foundation title match from “Superstars of Wrestling.” Also in action will be Superstar Billy Graham, King Kong Bundy and the featured bout of Ted DiBiase vs. George Steele.

Final Thoughts: These shows really did a fine job at building up the Survivor Series. We also had a few new potential feuds take place and some new talent featured. The WWF was starting to get better in terms of storylines.