WWF Superstars of Wrestling January 30th, 1988

January 30, 1988

From the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL

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

In action this week will be the Honky Tonk Man, Jake Roberts, The Islanders, and the Ultimate Warrior. Plus, the debut of Bad News Brown and an interview with Hulk Hogan regarding his title match against Andre the Giant Friday night on NBC.

Omar Atlas vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart & Peggy Sue

Honky stalls in the corner then on the apron as the fans boo. Honky gets back in as we get an insert promo from Randy Savage, hyping his match against the Honky Tonk Man this Friday Night on NBC. Vince also lets us know that Strike Force will face the Hart Foundation for the Tag Team Titles as we finally learn of the other two matches on the card. Back to the match as Honky took control and put Atlas away with the Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1:58). After the match, Honky dances with Peggy Sue.

Thoughts: Quick segment to hype the fact Honky will be facing Randy Savage next Friday night on the NBC special. There feud was nearing the end.

WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge. This is on the NBC Friday Night special as he runs down the card, which will have all three titles defended and we get video packages to hype them up. We also get an interview from Andre the Giant and Ted DiBiase, who reminds Hogan that he always gets what he wants as Andre tells Hogan he just wants to make DiBiase happy and will do so by squeezing him until he gets the title. Being the final episode of Superstars before the Friday Night special, they went all out in promoting it throughout this show.

Vince does a voiceover to tell us that WrestleMania IV will take place at Trump Plaza on March 27th. This is the first mention of WrestleMania IV on WWF TV.

Ultimate Warrior vs. Terry Gibbs

Gibbs hammers away right after the bell. Warrior fights back and takes Gibbs down with a clothesline then almost kills Gibbs with a stungun that missed the ropes. Warrior chops Gibbs in the corner as we get an insert promo from Hercules, who wonders if Warrior has the guts to face him. Warrior then hits Gibbs with a press slam for the win (1:18).

Thoughts: They now seem to be wanting a Warrior/Hercules feud as that was teased for the first time here. Poor Gibbs, Warrior was quite reckless in this match.

Dino Bravo w/ Frenchy Martin vs. S.D. Jones

Bravo is now billed as “Canada’s Strongest Man.” That happened after the incredibly dull bench press segment from the Royal Rumble show. Bravo slams S.D. as the announcers put over his strength. We get an insert promo from Frenchy, which is in French, that Jesse interprets for us as Bravo is the strongest man in wrestling and will walk over any wrestler that stands in his way. Back to the match as Bravo is in control and puts S.D. away with a side slam (2:19).

Thoughts: The Bravo/Frenchy pairing is dreadful and trying to get heat by having Frenchy only speak in French is failing. On commentary, all three announcers were putting over Bravo’s strength.

Craig DeGeorge is with Don Muraco and the Ultimate Warrior, who is screaming like a complete lunatic about their opponents, One Man Gang & Butch Reed. Warrior keeps screaming as Muraco paces around and tells us Warrior can bench press a “condominium” as the Warrior beats his chest. One of the most bizarre promos I have ever seen, which is saying something.

The British Bulldogs tell us that Matilda feels better whenever she receives a card, even wags her tail when that happens. Absolutely ridiculous. As that ends, Vince gives us the address to send Matilda a get-well card. Yeah, this story seemed even too ridiculous for kids at this point.

The Islanders w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Scott Casey & “Leaping” Lanny Poffo

Poffo’s pre match poem was when he said Matilda is prettier than Tama & Haku. Heenan is holding the dog leash as Haku beats on Casey. Poffo tags and doesnt fare any better and gets put away with a top rope splash courtesy of Tama (2:35).

Thoughts: They devoted a lot of TV time to the Bulldogs/Islanders feud, which all revolved around a mascot.

Okerlund is with Virgil, Andre the Giant, and Ted DiBiase. Andre & DiBiase will be facing Hulk Hogan & Bam Bam Bigelow at the Boston Garden. DiBiase tells us after Friday night, Hogan will be crying asking himself why didnt he take the money as DiBiase will have the gold around his waist. Giant then dares Hogan to show up in Boston. I will be reviewing that show as well.

Bad News Brown vs. Brady Boone

Brown starts by beating on Boone as Vince tells us that Harlem, where Brown is billed from, is “geographically beautiful.” We now get an insert promo from Brown, who tells us that he learned on the streets of Harlem is you take no prisoners and take no mercy. Brown continues to beat on Boone until putting him away with a clothesline (1:35). After the match, Brown yells at Boone before tossing him over the top rope.

Thoughts: Not much reaction for Bad News, which is to be expected on a debut with just a few of weeks hype. The clothesline finisher was really weak though. Luckily he would change that going forward.

DeGeorge is on the interview platform with Hulk Hogan. He asks Hogan about his match Friday night as Hogan tells us that if you know what Hulkamania is all about, you would know that he’d never sell out. He then says that the controversial nearfall from WrestleMania III makes him want the rematch almost as much as Andre. DiBiase then says that short-term investments can leave your burned and he should spread the wealth, like Donald Trump. Hogan then promises he will retain his title.

Another plug for WrestleMania IV airs.

Demolition vs. Outback Jack & Jerry Allen

Jack lands a few shots on Smash but gets caught with a clothesline. Ax tags and destroys Jack then yells “gimme the boot” to Smash. Demolition stays in control as they now beat on Allen until putting him away with the Decapitation (2:04).

Thoughts: Demolition looked great as the announcers talked them up as being unstoppable.

Once again, the address to send get well cards to Matilda appears on the screen.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Dusty Wolfe

Both guys trade wristlocks until Roberts catches Wolfe and puts him in the tree-of-woe and lands a few kicks. Roberts uses a leg sweep the goes to work on the leg as the crowd chants for the DDT. The announcers run down the Friday night NBC show as Roberts hits a knee lift then signals for the DDT and hits that for the win as the crowd goes nuts (2:43). After the match, he dumps Damien on top of Wolfe.

Thoughts: I thought this was really fun. The crowd wanted the DDT the second the bell rang so Roberts works the leg until he signals for the DDT at the end, to which the crowd went batshit crazy. Roberts was over like rover.

DeGeorge is with the Islanders. Haku said they took Matilda away because she tries to bite everyone so they put it backstage and left it there. Tama calls the Bulldogs another stepping-stone for them en route to the tag team titles as they hype their match at the February 6th Boston Garden show.

We get another promo from Andre and DiBiase, who tells us that he offered Hogan a “king’s ransom” but got turned down so he will have Andre get what he wants, the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Andre tells us all he will beat Hogan while DiBiase laughs.

Next week in action we will see Bam Bam Bigelow, Ron Bass, and the featured bout of Paul Orndorff vs. Rick Rude (this never took place as Orndorff was gone from the company and replaced by Ricky Steamboat). Plus, highlights from Dino Bravo’s bench press segment and the Women’s Tag Team Title match at the Royal Rumble.

Thoughts: Most of this show was to hype the Friday night Primetime Special, better known as “The Main Event,” and it worked. Plus, the news of two additional title matches added to the show make it even more of a “can’t miss” event. The Matilda stuff is getting ridiculous though and judging by how quick his match was, they seem to have some sort of plans for Bad News Brown.