WWF Superstars of Wrestling – November 19th, 1988

November 19, 1988

From the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD

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

This week’s featured bout will be Brutus Beefcake vs. Honky Tonk Man. Also, Randy Savage will be the guest on the “Brother Love Show.” Plus Ted DiBiase and the Rockers are in action plus a whole lot more!

The Rockers vs. Gene Ligons & George South

The “Saturday Night’s Main Event” banner is still on the ring as this taping held the 10/29/88 edition of that show. South lands a few shots but Michaels makes a blind tag and assists Jannetty with a hurricarana. Michaels works over South as the announcers put over the Rockers for trying new moves. Ligons tags as Jannetty works the arm as the Rockers stay in control. The match breaks down as they clear South from the ring and put away Ligons with a super kick/bridging back suplex combo (2:34).

Thoughts: They put over the Rockers as being a fresh and exciting team here. Now that their gimmick has been established for the most part, its time for them to develop a feud.

WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. This is about the Survivor Series as we hear from fans and how they will be watching the show on PPV.

Scott Hudson vs. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil

Virgil drops money on the ground then Hudson tries to pick it up but DiBiase cuts him off with a knee smash. We hear from Hercules in an insert promo as he tells DiBiase about never giving up. Back to the match as DiBiase stays in control while the announcers put over the Survivor Series then DiBiase gets the win with the Million Dollar Dream (2:11).

Thoughts: Basic squash match here. They also pushed the DiBiase/Hercules feud as well as the Survivor Series main event.

Sean Mooney is in the Event Center. We hear from Mr. Perfect as he talks about being a major part of the Survivor Series and puts over his team for being perfect. No wonder Mr. Perfect did not get over at first. He was a total cornball here. Quick note, Brian Blair was mentioned as part of the opposing team but in reality he was fired for refusing to do the job at the TV Tapings on 11/15/88.

Tito Santana vs. Steve Lombardi

Tito works the arm to start as the announcers talk about Harley Race’s return and wonder if he will try to reclaim his role as king. Tito pulls up on a leapfrog and decks Lombardi before hitting a slam. Tito fires away and hits a backdrop before getting the win with a flying forearm (2:11).

Thoughts: Most of the focus here was on Harley Race’s return and if he will try to reclaim the king gimmick. Tito was really in limbo at this point until Martel returned from injury.

Rusty Riddle vs. Red Rooster w/ Bobby Heenan

Rooster takes control to start as we hear him in an insert promo talking about Heenan helping him and how he will help out his team at the Survivor Series. Riddle comes back with a hip toss as Rooster ducks out and gets yelled at by Heenan. Rooster heads back inside and decks Riddle as Heenan orders him to finish off Riddle as Rooster gets the win with the Cock of the Walk (1:33).

Thoughts: Taylor continues to come off as a dipshit in this role. Its tough to take him seriously here when his gimmick is a mediocre talent who Heenan is trying to turn into a reclamation project.

Mooney is back in the Event Center as we hear from the Survivor Series team led co-captained by Dino Bravo & Andre the Giant, without Harley Race, before hearing from the opposing team led by Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Jake Roberts. More basic Survivor Series hype.

An ad for the Acclaim VCR WrestleMania game airs. I had this as a kid.

Hart Foundation vs. Larry Stevens & Johnny Zeigler

Jesse points out that the Rougeaus are getting paid for this match as the story is that Jimmy Hart gave them 25% of the Hart Foundation’s contract. Neidhart beats down both men as we hear from the Rougeau Brothers and Jimmy Hart in an insert promo as they promise to teach the Hart Foundation a lesson in survival. Back to the match as the Hart Foundation stay in control until getting the win with the Hart Attack (2:46).

Thoughts: They focused on the Rougeaus/Hart Foundation feud for this match.

Brother Love Show with guests Elizabeth & Randy Savage. Brother Love tells Savage he bit off more than he can chew because his opponents at the Survivor Series are better and that his co-captain will learn another lesson about control from the Big Bossman. Savage then grabs the mic from Brother Love and threatens him to listen. Savage wants Brother Love to listen to the sound when he introduces Hulk Hogan. Brother Love flees as the crowd goes nuts for Hogan, who shakes hands with Savage. Hogan then puts over the Megapowers and how they will survive at the Survivor Series. One last push by the top act to sell the PPV.

Survivor Series Report with Gene Okerlund.

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

These two fight over a lockup until Honky lands a few clubbing forearms to the back. Beefcake catches Honky with a high knee. Beefcake fires away in the corner then moves away from a kick. Honky takes control after a kick in the corner but gets caught with a punch to the gut coming off of the top then Beefcake applies a sleeper. The crowd goes crazy as Beefcake is about to put Honky away but Ron Bass runs out for the save as the match is ruled a DQ (1:58). They get Beefcake down until Blue Blazer, Sam Houston, and Jim Brunzell run out for the save. The rest of the competitors run out as we get a brawl until the good guys are left standing in the ring.

Thoughts: The match itself was not good but the end was fun as it got the crowd going crazy for the brawl.

Mooney is back in the Event Center. He runs down the card for the Survivor Series one final time.

Next week we will see the Ultimate Warrior, Big Bossman, and Mr. Perfect. Plus, the featured bout between Hercules and King Haku.

Final Thoughts: They tried hard to hype up Survivor Series here. The main problem is there are not really any hot feuds going on at the moment. Bossman and Hogan is the closest they have. As a show, this edition of Superstars was fine. However, the PPV does not feel like that big of a deal and boasts a far less impressive show on paper than the previous year.

Wednesday: WrestleCon 2016 Supershow 4/2/16

Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Swoggle

Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 11/20/88

Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 2/18/82

Sunday: WWF Survivor Series 11/24/88

Monday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 11/26/88

Tuesday: WWF Madison Square Garden 11/26/88