WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 17, 1989

July 17, 1989

Your host is Gorilla Monsoon

The show starts off with Gorilla telling us that Bobby Heenan is gone as a host of the show as we get a replay of Heenan leaving and telling us he got his own show. We then return and Gorilla welcomes his new co-host, Roddy Piper, who starts sniffing around and says he smells a weasel as he tosses Heenan’s old chair and lays across the desk. Well, Piper appears to be in rare form tonight.

Dennis Allen vs. The Widowmaker

This match would also be shown on the 7/23 edition of “Wrestling Callenge.” Ronnie Garvin is the referee. They are no longer referring to Windham by his name or at least they didn’t here. The Widowmaker toys with Allen before overpowering him. He hits a back suplex then places Allen on top and hits a superplex for the win (1:58).

Thoughts: Quick win for The Widowmaker as they are trying to establish him as an act. The fans have not been receptive in his first few matches.

Back to the studio as Piper is still laying across the desk then tells Gorilla they need some women in the studio as he continues to act bizarre. Piper then has a director’s chair on set and finally sits down.

Curt Hennig defeats Dave Paradise from the 7/16/89 edition of “Wrestling Challenge” where Bobby Heenan quit his role as analyst.

Back in the studio, Piper asks Gorilla if he misses “Bobsy” as Gorilla tells us Heenan will be in Studio B tonight for his own show and will check in periodically. Piper was something else here.

We take a look at Heenan in the makeup chair as he does his usual routine then cut back to the main studio where Piper is wearing a Frankenstein mask.

Paul Roma vs. Sandy Beach match from the 7/10/89 Nassau Coliseum house show. Thankfully, they clipped it to about five minutes long. It still sucked but not as torturous as it was in its entirety.

We now get comments from both Randy Savage & Zeus and Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake to hype up their match at SummerSlam.

Boris Zhukov vs. Tito Santana

This match would also be shown on the 7/23 edition of “Wrestling Challenge.” Santana takes control early as we hear from Rick Martel in an insert promo as he calls himself a natural who does not have to work as hard as him. Zhukov takes a breather in the corner then ends up biting and lands a few punches. Tito fights back and hammers away but ends up eating boot on a charge. Zhukov misses a charge as Santana fires away. Santana hits a backdrop then puts Zhukov away with a flying forearm, or as Lord Alfred calls it the “Mexican Hammer” (3:34).

Thoughts: The Tito/Martel feud continues as does Zhukov’s new role as TV enhancement talent.

Replay of The Genius on the “Brother Love Show” from the 7/15 edition of “Superstars of Wrestling.” After that, Piper rags on Brother Love in the studio. It was a bit funny.

Tony Schiavone hosts “Coliseum Corner” as we get some of the Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan match from WrestleMania IV.

Heenan is in his studio telling us his show will be on shortly and calls it the greatest show in the history of television.

The Curt Hennig vs. Hercules match from the 7/10 Nassau Coliseum show.

Piper is howling while spraying the set and is now howling like a dog as he tells us “weasels hate dogs.”

Bobby Heenan Show

Lord Alfred Hayes introduces us to Heenan, sitting at his own desk. Heenan tells us about having the top guests unlike the “ham-and-eggers” you see on Carson, Arsenio, and Regis & Kathy. He brings out his three “Oinkettes” as they are large, older women who is does not allow to sit down on the couch. He makes fun of them for a bit then we go to break.

His first guest is Jameson Weiner, a nerdy looking sweaty man in a suit. They look at his shoes as the bottom is falling off his right shoe. Heenan then asks him about being a rocket scientist and an Astronaut but Jameson said that was never the case. Jameson says he never worked with NASA but lives in Nassau. Jameson tells us he has a room in his step-cousin’s house after a couple of minutes when Heenan made fun of him. Heenan’s comedic timing was really good but it got a bit repetitive towards the end. They come back from break and we get more of the same. Jameson even dances but Heenan ends up telling him he has to leave out despite Jameson’s plea to stay.

Lord Alfred now welcomes us to a mother & daughter comedy act, Coco & Penny. They are older and ugly with buck teeth as Jameson is now sitting on the couch next to Heenan as he is apparently staying. The duo perform their act, which is awful, as Heenan and Jameson are bored in the background.

Next week’s guests are an 84 year old stripper and a man who whistles through his nose.

Final Thoughts: Well, the big news here was the debut of Heenan’s show and that Roddy Piper is back as the new co-host of Prime Time. Other than that it was pretty much all recycled clips without any exclusive matches. Heenan’s comedic timing was great as usual but his show got repetitive at the end and a little tiresome to be honest. Piper was out of his mind even more than when he was on “Tuesday Night Titans” if you ask me and that’s saying something. I’d check this show out for historical purposes but you can fast-forward through all of the matches.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Monday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 7/22/89

Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 7/23/89

Wednesday: Revolution Pro Wrestling High Stakes 1/21/17

Thursday: Highspots Shoot Interview with Lex Luger

Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 7/29/89

Sunday: Mid-South Wrestling 6/3/82

Sunday: WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event 7/29/89