What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – July 14, 1991

Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Jim Neidhart are calling the action which originates again from Fresno, California. Heenan starts in on a bit about how the Randy Savage-Elizabeth wedding is a “match made in hell.”

Opening Contest: The Rockers (12-1) defeat Louie Spicolli & Billy Gatlin when Marty Jannetty pins Gatlin after Shawn Michael press slams him on top of Gatlin at 2:54:

The Rockers are wearing some ugly lime green hats that have their team logo on it, all part of a ploy to get more merchandise money. Heenan’s hot run on the mic today continues as he insists that the Savage wedding is no big deal because he had a chance to be with Elizabeth and it is nothing special. Although the Rockers had a hot start to the year, they are directionless now, far outside of the tag team title picture. They go through the motions and with an uninspired squash.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report hypes SummerSlam. Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior hype how they are ready for hell against Sergeant Slaughter and his allies. Hogan says that if the special guest referee crosses them that whomever it is will be the first casualty of the bout.

Sergeant Slaughter (w/Colonel Mustafa & General Adnan) (11-3) beats Scott Bazo via submission to the Camel Clutch at 2:22:

Slaughter stretches Bazo’s face and screams into the camera that similar punishment awaits Hogan at SummerSlam. The match allows the commentators to talk about the SummerSlam main event and speculate on who the guest referee might be. Since Sid Justice has been getting a ton of play on WWF television for a month, it seems silly for the announcers to never bring him up as a possibility. After stomping the back, Slaughter applies the Camel Clutch and wins his seventh-straight singles match. When the bell rings, Mustafa gets in the ring and stomps Bazo. Then, Slaughter gets a chair his Bazo, with Mustafa showing no regard for Bazo’s health in taking the chair and recklessly throwing it down on his back. The punishment continues when Slaughter and Adnan whip Bazo with their belts and Slaughter chokes Bazo so he can scream into the camera about Hogan. Hopefully Bazo got extra pay to handle this beating.

Roddy Piper says he knows nothing about Sid Justice, but he wants to see where he aligns himself with the locker room. Irwin R. Schyster suggests that Sid could be his tax collector.

Jake Roberts (15-1) pins Gary Key after the DDT at 2:44:

Wrestling as Gary Keyes, Key did a couple of jobs for the Herb Abrams UWF in 1990.

Roberts, who sports a blue and yellow color scheme, is checked out on the match, putting Key in a long armbar before finishing with the DDT. After teasing the crowd with a walkout, Roberts unleashes Lucifer and places it on Key.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (22-0) pins Jim Gorman after the Tombstone at 1:42:

Monsoon and Heenan have a funny bit where Heenan claims to be investigating what is in the urn and Monsoon chiding that what that means is no one will ever find out. The crowd facing the hard camera gives the Undertaker babyface reactions as he methodically dismantles Gorman. After the bout, the Undertaker and Bearer stuff Gorman in a body bag and the Undertaker stomps it.

Gene Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report. Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect and Coach tell Bret Hart that he is far from perfect. Ted DiBiase and Sensational Sherri promise that Virgil is living on a fantasy island if he thinks he is walking out of Madison Square Garden with the Million Dollar Championship.

The Beverly Brothers (w/Coach) (3-0) beat Mike Allen & Bob Stone when Beau pins Stone after an elevated mat slam at 3:14:

Even though the Beverlys have made a handful of appearances so far there has been no effort by the WWF to explain their origin, why the Coach is with them, or why the crowd should hate them. Allen takes most of the punishment, but Stone takes the finish, doing a nice sell for the elevated mat slam. The crowd was dead for the entire match.

Virgil is a guest on the Barber Shop. He says beating Ted DiBiase would be like winning the lottery with his fists as winning the Million Dollar Championship would immediately make him a millionaire. Having Virgil threaten to pawn the title belt after winning it would have been a nice twist on this storyline.

Bret Hart (12-0-3) defeats Tim Patterson via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:35:

Heenan takes Bret’s chances at SummerSlam seriously, telling viewers that Bret is the first opponent Perfect has had that can match him move-for-move. That was a signal that Bret did have a great chance of walking out of SummerSlam with the title because Heenan rarely gave that praise to a babyface. This match is a break for Bret, who has won three straight feature matches coming into this show. He gives the larger Patterson a backbreaker, drops his trademark elbow off the second rope, and gets a submission win via the Sharpshooter.

A new Skinner vignette talks about skinning parts of squirrels, releasing them, and then skinning them again in the future. These vignettes are silly, but one must applaud Steve Keirn for going all-in with the character.

Tune in next week to see the Mountie, the British Bulldog, and the Natural Disasters in action! Also, Sergeant Slaughter will appear for a special interview! And Randy Savage will be a guest on the Barber Shop!

The Last Word: Although the squashes were dull, this was one of those episodes where the banter between Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan was top notch and that made the hour pass by quickly.

Here were the results of the WWF’s house show circuit for this early week in July, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – Winnipeg Arena – July 12, 1991 (5,500): The Dragon beat the Brooklyn Brawler…The Berzerker beat Jimmy Snuka…The Rockers defeated the Beverly Brothers…Animal beat Brian Knobbs…Bret Hart wrestled Irwin R. Schyster to a draw…Virgil defeated Ted DiBiase…The Ultimate Warrior defeated the Undertaker via disqualification.

Tampa, Florida – The SunDome – July 13, 1991 (4,600): Koko B. Ware beat Tanaka…Animal defeated Brian Knobbs…Greg Valentine beat Colonel Mustafa vis disqualification…The Rockers beat Power & Glory…The Big Bossman pinned the Mountie…The Texas Tornado wrestled the Warlord to a double count out…WWF Champion Hulk Hogan beat Sergeant Slaughter in a Desert Storm match.

St. Louis, Missouri – Busch Stadium – July 14, 1991 (19,000; 14,500 paid): This card was promoted as WrestleFest ’91. Colonel Mustafa pinned Jimmy Snuka (substituting for Hacksaw Jim Duggan)…The Dragon pinned Tanaka…The Texas Tornado wrestled the Warlord to a double count out…Bret Hart & Virgil defeated Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster when Bret pinned DiBiase…The British Bulldog defeated Typhoon (substituting for Mr. Perfect) via count out…The Big Bossman & Animal beat the Nasty Boys & the Mountie in a handicap match…Hacksaw Jim Duggan (substituting for Jake Roberts) (w/Andre the Giant) pinned Earthquake…The Ultimate Warrior beat the Undertaker in a casket match…WWF Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Sergeant Slaughter after guest referee Randy Savage came off the top rope onto Slaughter when Slaughter had Hogan trapped in the Camel Clutch. Moments before, Slaughter had tossed Savage to the floor and General Adnan threw powder in Hogan’s face. After the match, Hogan and Savage celebrated together.

Backstage News*: The steroid issue is becoming a bigger problem for the WWF because of former NFL player Lyle Alzado claiming that steroid use caused his inoperable brain tumor. This is causing sponsors to become skittish about working with the WWF because its product is oriented towards children. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan is also under fire in the media for not testifying at the trial of Dr. George Zahorian and it is having an impact on his film career as Suburban Commando has been pushed from an August to October release. The WWF is trying to calm things down by promising a rigorous testing program that will be the “toughest in the world.

*On another legal front, the WWF reached an agreement with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) whereby the Mountie character will not be shown on Canadian television and will not appear on shows in Canada. The RCMP claims that the agreement will also see the WWF “phase out” the character.

*Attendance for the Busch Stadium card in St. Louis fell short of expectations. Much of the card had to be reshuffled because of injuries as Mr. Perfect has a back injury, Jake Roberts is suffering from a neck injury, Hawk is still banged up, and Roddy Piper missed because he is filming a movie in Los Angeles. The original show was going to feature Bret Hart against Ricky Steamboat.

*In talent relations news, Sid is already unhappy with his WWF contract and allegedly tried to reach out to WCW before he was calmed down. The WWF recently gave a tryout to Canadian wrestler Biff Wellington at its Superstars taping in Edmonton on July 9.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for July 22.

Up Next: Prime Time Wrestling for July 15!