WWF Superstars of Wrestling – September 24th, 1988

September 24, 1988

From the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI

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

In action this week will be Jake Roberts, King Haku, Powers of Pain, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Antonio Chapotlin

Before we match, we get an insert promo from Dino Bravo and Frenchy Martin, who are mocking Duggan’s patriotism. Duggan is in control when Bravo and Frenchy, holding his “USA is not OK” sign come out ringside and distract him. Duggan leads the crowd in a USA chant then clotheslines Chapotlin before hitting the Three Point Stance for the win (2:09).

Thoughts: An easy win for the crowd favorite Duggan as they continue to push his feud against Dino Bravo.

WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. We see Okerlund standing in a rough neighborhood with rundown buildings in the background as he is waiting for Slick, who told him he was going to bring him to “deepest, darkest Africa.” Slick sneaks up from behind dancing as he holds a boombox playing his theme music. Slick then tells Okerlund he will bring Africa to him as Okerlund wants to know how that can happen. Slick laughs as he has the ceremony begin as we see African tribal dancers with Slick getting funky in the background. Slick tells us this transformation will shock the world of wrestling as the fire puffs and out comes Akeem, who was the One Man Gang. Slick tells us that Akeem has a new intensity then gets pissed when Okerlund calls him the One Man Gang as Akeem tries to talk like Slick, who tells us he is now revitalized. If you have never seen this segment, do yourself a favor and look it up online as it needs to seen to be believed.

Tony Ulysses vs. Tito Santana

Tito ducks an attack in the corner as Jesse refers to him as “Chico.” Tito takes control and slams Ulysses before putting him away with a flying forearm (1:54).

Thoughts: Tito had a bunch of squash match victories since declaring he was back in singles competition but it never amounted to anything.

Tony Sober & Scott Colontonio vs. The Bolsheviks w/ Slick

The Bolsheviks beat on Sober as we see them in an insert promo, telling the Powers of Pain how they will beat them. Colontonio tags and surprises Volkoff with a dropkick. Volkoff gets up and beats him down, even hitting his backbreaker. He then holds up Colontonio as Zhukov comes off of the top with a forearm smash for the win (2:12).

Thoughts: The Powers of Pain/Bolsheviks feud is starting to finally wind down. The PoP’s have easily won each encounter.

Sean Mooney is in the Event Center. We hear from Demolition as they issue an open challenge to the tag team division, inviting them to their violent world. After that, we hear the same promo the Ultimate Warrior cut on the 9/18/88 edition of “Wrestling Challenge.”

Martin Leroy vs. King Haku w/ Bobby Heenan

Haku destroys Leroy as we get an insert promo from Haku and Heenan, who claim people bow to Haku everywhere they go. Haku starts biting Leroy then destroys the poor guy with a clothesline before putting him away with a thrust kick (2:11).

Thoughts: The King Haku gimmick continues to struggle and is barely even drawing any boos from the crowd, despite Heenan’s efforts.

Mooney is back in the Event Center. We get the same Hart Foundation promo from 9/18/88 “Wrestling Challenge” with the Hart Foundation flipping out promising to destroy the Rougeau Brothers. After that, Rick Rude calls out Jake Roberts for attacking him from behind and that he has his wife’s face all over his wardrobe and will wear it as he pleases. Rude then promises that Jake’s wife will leave with him.

Bad News Brown plugs his article in “WWF Magazine” that states he deserves a title shot.

Powers of Pain w/ The Baron vs. Bob Emery & Chance McQuaid

The Powers of pain destroy these guys as Barbarian drills McQuaid with a super kick. We get an insert promo with the Baron as he promises to rise the Powers of Pain to a new height. Barbarian catches Emery in midair and drops him for three straight backbreakers then the Powers of Pain pick up the win with a powerslam/diving headbutt combo (2:17).

Thoughts: So far, the Baron character has done nothing at all for the Powers of Pain. You forgot he is even ringside with the team during the matches.

Craig DeGeorge welcomes Ron Bass to the interview platform. Bass tells Brutus Beefcake that it was his turn when he cut him with his spurs before saying he is not afraid of anything that moves. Bass hopes that Beefcake is man enough to take him on and it will be mean, nasty and fun for him. I always loved Bass on interviews and this was no exception. Also, this was the final appearance of Craig DeGeorge in the WWF.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. George South

The announcers have a bizarre conversation about dietary habits and Akeem as Jake works a hammerlock. We hear from Jake as he says he got a laugh from pulling Rude’s trunks off but will not be satisfied until he hits him with the DDT. South lands some punches but Jake tosses him back in the corner and fires away. He then hits South with a short-armed clothesline as the crowd goes nuts in anticipation of the DDT then Jake hits that for the win (3:00). After the match, Jake dumps Damien on top of South.

Thoughts: A bit long for a TV squash as they are continuing the Jake/Rude feud but the real bizarre thing was the conversation at the beginning of the match.

Fabulous Rougeau Brothers w/ Jimmy Hart vs. “Leaping” Lanny Poffo & Bert Centeno

Poffo’s pre-match poem calls the Rougeaus “nerds.” Raymond uses the referee as leverage to flip out of an arm wringer. Poffo doesnt fall for a handshake then slams Raymond before hitting a springboard senton. Both men tag out as we get an insert promo from the Hart Foundation, who tell off the Rougeaus as they are pissed about the Rougeaus getting part of their money, per the rules of Jimmy Hart still holding their contracts. Jacques starts doing kip-ups for no reason then tells Centeno to do them as he almost rolls him up for the win. The Rougeaus double-team Centeno for a bit until putting him away with the Rougeau Bomb (3:22).

Thoughts: The Rougeau Brothers were just great here. They are going with the idea Jimmy Hart is taking the Rougeaus under his wing in order to ruin any chance the Hart Foundation have at reclaiming the Tag Team Titles.

Mooney is back in the Event Center. We get a repeat promo from Valentine, where he refers to Muraco as a “pebble” before Brutus Beefcake promises to do a lot of cutting and strutting when he faces off against Ron Bass.

Next week in action will be Brutus Beefcake, Koko B. Ware, and Greg Valentine. We then hear from Ted DiBiase, who promises that we will see his possession, which is the dream of every man to own.

Final Thoughts: Besides the Akeem segment, nothing else noteworthy happened here. We got continuation of the current TV feuds and the characters they are trying to push as well.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Wednesday: PWG Prince 5/20/16

Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Bryan Danielson

Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/25/88

Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 1/14/82

Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 10/1/88

Monday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 10/2/88

Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 10/8/88

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