WWF Superstars of Wrestling – June 3rd, 1989

June 3, 1989

From the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in Duluth, MN

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

In action this week will be Brutus Beefcake, The Brainbusters, and King Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Plus, the Jimmy Snuka vs. Boris Zhukov match from “Saturday Night’s Main Event” and a special report on “No Holds Barred.”

Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake vs. Tom Stone

We hear from Beefcake in an insert promo as he tells both Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri to watch very closely as they will both end up bald. Beefcake gets in a little bit of trouble in the corner but quickly fights out. He backdrops Stone then puts him away with the sleeper (1:59). After the match, Beefcake gives Stone a haircut.

Thoughts: Quick match for Beefcake to put over his feud against Savage & Sherri.

WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. This has Okerlund inside of a theatre as he asks two kids leaving “No Holds Barred” their thoughts on the film. More fans then tells us how much they loved the film and how Hulk Hogan beat Zeus. We will hear a lot more about Hogan and Zeus in this show.

Eddie Slater & Tom Stock vs. The Brainbusters w/ Bobby Heenan

The Brainbusters beat on Stock in the corner as Jesse puts over his own performance in “No Holds Barred.” We hear from the Bushwhackers in an insert promo as they babble on about going “weasel hunting” as Slater is in and getting destroyed. The Brainbusters then hit Slater with an assisted brainbuster before putting him away with a spike piledriver behind the referee’s back (2:57).

Thoughts: Great heel work by the Brainbusters as their feud against the Bushwhackers is being pushed.

Sean Mooney is in the Event Center. Jimmy Hart tells the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers how they are the best tag team in the world. The Rougeaus then make fun of the Rockers singing and attire, calling them “ballet dancers.” Next, the Red Rooster cackles like a fucking idiot as he tells us about his flying chicken wing will take him to the top of the WWF. This gimmick is even worse in retrospect. It had loser written all over it and I dont think anyone could have made it work to be honest. Not even the person we would see later on in his debut vignette.

A clip of Zeus beating the crap out of people in “No Holds Barred.” They are putting him over like a monster.

The Jimmy Snuka vs. Boris Zhukov match from “Saturday Night’s Main Event” is shown were Snuka won in just over one minute.

Before his match, Tony Schiavone meets Greg Valentine in the aisle. Valentine brags about all of the people he put out of wrestling then proceeds to dedicate the match to Ronnie Garvin.

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Chris Zarna

The match starts off with Valentine chopping Zarna down as we hear from Garvin in an insert as he talks about being pissed off over Valentine’s comments and warns him to keep his mouth shut. Valentine then drops a few elbows on Zarna and continues to rough him up until he gets the win with a figure-four leg lock (2:43).

Thoughts: Despite Garvin being “retired” due to losing a match against Valentine, they are still pushing their feud as it appears Garvin will be reinstated at one point for a match.

Mooney is back in the Event Center. Bret Hart talks about the changes in the WWF and one change is Rick Rude being the Intercontinental Championship as that is something he wants as he has already been a Tag Team Champion. He then says the people are behind him and he will roll over everyone. They really seemed to be keen on giving Bret a singles push at this point. Mr. Fuji is with the Barbarian and tells us all how he will make people suffer. The Barbarian warns anyone who steps in the ring with him that they will get destroyed.

A plug for the “No Holds Barred” magazine.

Tito Santana vs. Jake Milliman

Garvin is the referee here. We hear from Rick Martel in an insert promo as he accuses Tito of being bitter due to his ability and confidence as Tito is in control of the match. He grabs an armbar as Milliman yells “my arm hurts.” The announcers put over the size of Zeus as Jesse says if he was that tall (Zeus is billed as 6’8) he’d be in the NBA then Tito puts Milliman away with a flying forearm (2:24). After the match, Milliman shoves Garvin but gets punched out as a result.

Thoughts: The Tito/Martel feud continues to heat up here as the former partners now have hatred towards each other.

Brother Love Show with guest Slick. He asks Slick if the rumors are true about him trying to sign Zeus, the man who last week attacked Hogan on “Saturday Night’s Main Event,” to a contract. Slick laughs then says he will talk about that before gloating over last week’s attack, which is then shown. Slick refuses to answer Brother Love’s questions then talks about how he is on his way to the theater in order to check out the real star of “No Holds Barred.” They once again put over Zeus strong and played off of his attack on Hogan from SNME as they hinted Slick might have been behind it and trying to sign him to a contract.

The Barbarian w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Lance Allen

The Barbarian destroys Allen as we hear from Fuji & Barbarian in an insert promo as Fuji puts over his client as a monster. Fuji tells the Barbarian to beat down Allen some more and he does until putting him away with a flying clothesline (1:54).

Thoughts: Dominating performance by the Barbarian, who is sadly just stuck in neutral as a singles act.

Now, we are shown a buggy with an American flag in the front pulling up to a house. It turns out to be Dusty Rhodes as he is delivering pizzas. Dusty talks about his love for Pigs Feet pizza with extra snout on the side. He continues to sing-and-dance until he delivers the pizza then at the end, the woman says “wait, aren’t you…..” as we get a freeze frame on Dusty’s face with a graphic that says “The American Dream” is coming soon. This was filled with Vince’s humor but Dusty took this goofy persona and really owned it here.

Dave Wagner vs. King Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Jesse jokes how Duggan is the ugliest king he has ever seen in his life, comparing him to the lion from “Wizard of Oz.” The Genius is then shown in an insert promo as he tells us Duggan is a moron. The match starts with Duggan hitting a clothesline then he puts him away with the Three Point Stance (1:49). After the match, Bobby Heenan runs out and distracts Duggan, allowing Haku to attack from behind. Duggan fights back but Andre the Giant heads in and they double-team Duggan until Big John Studd makes the save. Andre and Studd then slug it out with Studd getting the upper hand. A referee then steps inside as Andre comes back in but Studd takes him down with a clothesline. Studd clotheslines Andre down again as Studd’s theme continues to play.

Thoughts: This was to lead to a tag team match between the four but Studd ended up leaving the company when this aired. The crowd did pop when Andre got taken off of his feet twice and it was a solid angle to close the show, even if the Andre/Studd stuff has been a flop.

Mooney is once again in the Event Center. Ted DiBiase is with Virgil and talks about how Jack Tunney cannot stop him and that every wrestler in the WWF wants a shot at his Million Dollar Belt because it is worth one million dollars. Demolition then calls out the teams in the WWF and how they are fighting champions.

In action next week will be the Twin Towers, Hercules, The Rockers, and Randy Savage. The show ends with Hogan telling us all of the Hulakmaniacs told him they want to see the movie every day this week and how its going to set box office records.

Thoughts: Well, the focus of the show was “No Holds Barred” with a specific focus on Zeus and how he is a monster. They really beat us all over the head here with the fact Zeus and Hogan will face off in the ring at some point in the near future. We also got a decent angle to end the show and the news of Dusty Rhodes coming to the WWF. It was a fun show.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 5/13/82

Sunday: WWF Boston Garden 6/3/89

Monday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/4/89

Tuesday: WWF Prime Time Wrestling 6/5/89

Wednesday: EVOLVE 74

Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD

Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 6/10/89