WWF Superstars of Wrestling November 21st, 1987

November 21, 1987

From the Onondaga County War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, NY

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

In action this week will be the One Man Gang, British Bulldogs, Rick Rude, Jim Duggan, and the featured bout as the Honky Tonk Man defends the Intercontinental Title against Ricky Steamboat

British Bulldogs vs. The Gladiator & Dusty Wolfe

Match starts with the Bulldogs beating on The Gladiator as we get an insert promo from the Bolsheviks and Slick, who tells the Bulldogs that they are going down. Dynamite hits Wolfe with a double underhook suplex then Davey tags and works a headlock. Vince is in all his glory as the camera pans on Matilda then Davey hits a running powerslam then tags Dynamite and launches him at Wolfe for a diving headbutt and the win (3:22). After the match, Vince puts over Matilda, prompting Jesse to ask him what did she do to get the win.

Thoughts: At this point, the focus was more on Matilda than the Bulldogs themselves.

WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This week, he lets us know that Superstar Billy Graham’s career might be over due to last week’s attack by Butch Reed and the One Man Gang as they show clips of that. DeGeorge then lets us know that Graham will not be able to compete at the Survivor Series and will be replaced by Don Muraco, who is then shown in a taped promo, with a tie-dye shirt draped over his shoulder, talking about how he has the “power” while channeling Graham. Having Muraco act like Graham was not the way to go.

We get more clips of fans talking about the Survivor Series. Not much happened.

Gary Starr vs. “Ravishing” Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan

Rude shows off his physique before the match after he berates the fans. Match starts with Rude hammering away. He hits a snap suplex as Bruno thinks the oil Rude put on his body should be illegal. Rude flexes as we get an insert of Paul Orndorff’s article in “WWF Magazine” as he talks about why he fired Heenan. Back to the match as Rude slams Starr before submitting him to the backbreaker (1:31).

Thoughts: Rude’s heel act continues to get hotter as the fans are really starting to hate the guy.

DeGeorge is backstage as he runs down the December 12th Boston Garden show. Jimmy Hart comes about and whines about being held in a cage above the ring as the Honky Tonk Man defends his IC Title against Randy Savage. Honky comes out to tell us his girl, Peggy Sue, will be there and make sure Elizabeth does not try to kiss and caress him. Honky tells the fans to not touch Peggy Sue as DeGeorge laughs while saying its Sensational Sherri who will be ringside. The deal is that Honky tries to pretend its “Peggy Sue” but everyone knows its Sherri.

Ted DiBiase is with Virgil, talking about the Survivor Series. He talks about having what it takes to survive as Virgil holds up a fan of $100 bills

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Iron Mike Sharpe

Duggan comes out to generic instrumental music that I have never heard before. Duggan then does his schtick as we get an insert promo from Harley Race, who calls Duggan a peasant. Back to the match as Duggan hits a clothesline and beats on Sharpe, with the crowd chanting along with him. Sharpe reverses a whip and sends Duggan into the corner where he lands a few shots. Duggan fights back but it fails as Sharpe is putting the boots to him. Duggan ducks a clothesline and comes back with a shoulderblock then hits a slam while Jesse has no doubts that Duggan hears voices in his head as Duggan gets the win with his Three Point Stance (3:03).

Thoughts: The crowd, as usual, is into Duggan’s act. His feud with Race has been off to a good start.

Gene Okerlund is backstage with Andre the Giant and his Survivor Series Team, sans King Kong Bundy. Another generic promo hyping up the Survivor Series.

One Man Gang w/ Slick vs. Dick Flanagan

Gang beats the crap out of Flanagan in the corner as Jesse taunts Bruno for being old. Slick is shown in an insert promo hyping up Gang, who then gets the win with a splash (1:31).

Thoughts: Quick win for Gang to further put him over as a monster.

DeGeorge is on the interview with Hulk Hogan and his Survivor Series team. Hogan came out separately to his own music, which predictably gets a huge pop. Hogan then compliments his team and they all chant about how they will survive. The have already done enough hype for this show.

The Islanders w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Bill Wood & Leo Morgan

Match starts with Tama beating on Wood as the Islanders and Heenan are shown in an insert promo, promising that “good times” will fall on them. Morgan tags and gets his ass kicked for a bit until Tama puts him away with a top rope splash (3:39).

Thoughts: The Islanders looked impressive in victory. This team was also one of the most underrated in WWF history.

Honky Tonk Man is shown with Hart, tuning his guitar as Hart laughs like a maniac as he states Steamboat will be twisted like a pretzel.

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Honky Tonk Man (c) w/ Jimmy Hart

Honky has his Survivor Series team follow him to the ring and that causes Steamboat to head out back and bring out his teammates. Match starts with Steamboat hammering away in the corner. He chops Honky down and stays on the attack until dropping his head on a backdrop attempt. Honky hits a clothesline and tosses Steamboat over the top rope but Steamboat skins-the-cat and comes back in to dropkick Honky to the floor. Steamboat gets a few nearfalls after that as the crowd is on the edge of their seats. Honky dodges an attack then takes control of the match. Steamboat manages to get a small package but eats an elbow smash after that. Honky tries for the Shake, Rattle, and Roll but gets distracted by Jake Roberts and that allows Davis to sneak attack Steamboat as the match is ruled a double DQ (3:42). A 10 man brawl immediately breaks out as the good guys clear the ring as the crowd goes nuts.

Thoughts: Fun action that was designed to really put over the Survivor Series teams. The crowd really exploded during the 10-man brawl.

DeGeorge is with Randy Savage, as they show the same promo they did on last week’s show to hype up his match at the Boston Garden.

In action next week will be Brutus Beefcake vs. Greg Valentine as we get words from both guys. Also in action will be Don Muraco, Jake Roberts, Harley Race, and the Hart Foundation plus the “Jive Soul Bro” music video.

Final Thoughts: At this point, I think everyone who was watching on a weekly basis was more than ready for the Survivor Series to take place. They’ve hyped up the show as much as they could have.