WWF Wrestling Challenge – September 3rd, 1989

September 3, 1989

From the Fresno Convention Center in Fresno, CA

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon

In action this week are Demolition, Honky Tonk Man, Powers of Pain, Red Rooster, and the Rockers. Plus, a special report on the new Intercontinental Champion, the Ultimate Warrior.

Demolition vs. The Intruder & Tim Patterson

For those wondering, The Intruder is veteran wrestler Jesse Cortez under a mask. Demolition beats on Patterson to start as Bobby Heenan & The Brainbusters mock Demolition for losing the Tag Team Titles while calling themselves the “cream of the crop.” The Intruder tags as Smash no-sells his punches as Demolition beats him down until the Decapitation gets the win (3:01).

Thoughts: Quick win for Demolition, whose feud with the Brainbusters continues.

WWF Special Report with Lord Alfred Hayes. We see Andre the Giant attacking the Ultimate Warrior from behind after Bobby Heenan provided a distraction from the 8/26 edition of “Superstars of Wrestling.” We then hear from Bobby & Andre the Giant as they promise to choke out Warrior once and for all. Warrior then tells Andre he will fall before him.

Louie Spicolli vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart

They start off by trading arm wringers until Honky rakes the eyes. Honky roughs up Spicolli as Hart talks non-stop into the megaphone. We hear from Jimmy Snuka in an insert promo as he says Honky will be singing a different tune soon enough as Honky drops an elbow. Honky drops Spicolli with a back suplex then gets the win with a Shake, Rattle, and Roll (3:17).

Thoughts: More hype for the Honky/Snuka feud, which has really cooled off due to the fact it was put on the backburner as both guys were in separate matches at SummerSlam.

Sean Mooney is in the Event Center to plug the Nashville show that aired this night.

Red Rooster vs. Barry Horowitz

They start off by trading moves until Rooster takes Horowitz down. Horowitz retreats in the corner then we hear from The Genius as he tells the kids its time to return to school and compared to himself, there teacher is a fool. Horowitz takes over and mocks Rooster’s strut. He gets a nearfall with a double underhook suplex but Rooster comes back with an inverted atomic drop and shortly after that uses the elevated chicken wing for the win (3:00).

Thoughts: A win for Rooster but after getting annihilated at SummerSlam, the future does not appear to bright for him.

Another Event Center segment to hype the Nashville show.

Powers of Pain w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Don Stevens & Mike Lucca

Lucca tries to attack the Warlord but that fails as he ends up getting destroyed. We hear from the Bushwhackers in an insert promo as they refer to the Powers of Pain as “muscle-bound idiots” then go on about Fuji as Warlord takes Stevens down with a flying shoulder tackle. The Powers of Pain then put Stevens away as Warlord lifts him while Barbarian hits a top rope clothesline (2:35).

Thoughts: The Bushwhackers insert promo was a bit amusing but the Powers of Pain/Bushwhackers feud is not really something I want to see. And, its being built up with the Bushwhackers being billed as too unpredictable to prepare for and the powerhouse team of the Powers of Pain just do not have any heat at all.

Koko B. Ware is with Frankie to plug the WWF Ice Cream bars.

Gene Okerlund welcomes Dusty Rhodes to the interview platform. Dusty comes out with the stuff he stole from the Big Bossman. Dusty tells us that Bossman & Slick will face “Americana justice” and if he sees them interrogating the American public he will interrogate them back. This ends with Dusty & Gene dancing on the platform.

The Widowmaker vs. David Bertoch

We hear from The Widowmaker in an insert promo as he always gets what he sets out to do while he beats on Bertoch. Windham then places Bertoch up top and hits the superplex for the win (1:08).

Thoughts: More of the same from The Widowmaker, meaning another insert promo about getting what he wants.

Jake Roberts asks what brought him back to the WWF. He said it was not modern medicine or luck but rather a million dollar obsession and DiBiase will be the only one to make him feel better. And the Roberts/DiBiase feud continues.

The Rockers vs. Brooklyn Brawler & Steve Vega

The Rockers work over Brawler to start as we hear from the Fabulous Rougeaus & Jimmy Hart in an insert promo as they talk about being better than the Rockers. Funny moment as Gorilla refers to Brawler as “Lombardi” then quickly corrects himself as the Rockers now work over Vega until they put him away with a double flying fist drop (4:23).

Thoughts: More hype for the Rougeaus vs. Rockers feud here.

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Jerry Monti

Valentine beats on Monti as we hear him in an insert promo promising to finally end Ronnie Garvin’s wrestling career. The announcers put over the Valentine/Garvin feud as Valentine turns around his shinguard and puts Monti away with a figure four (2:32).

Thoughts: They’ve done a good job painting Garvin and Valentine as two guys who want to kill each other anyway but the problem was the fans did not seem to care at all.

Mooney is back in the Event Center with more hype for the Nashville show.

In action next week are the Bushwhackers, Dino Bravo, Jimmy Snuka, Brainbusters, and Dusty Rhodes.

Final Thoughts: If you saw “Superstars of Wrestling” you did not really see anything new happen here. The midcard feuds before SummerSlam started are continuing for the most part and the Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude have moved on to new feuds that were already in play before the PPV.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/9/89

Wednesday: EVOLVE 78 2/24/17

Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with George Steele

Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/10/89

Sunday: Mid-South Wrestling 7/1/82

Sunday: WWF Prime Time Wrestling 9/11/89

Monday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/16/89