WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Supertape I (1990) (Version II)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Supertape I (1990)

Coliseum Video compilation. The front cover features Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake in a promotional shot for the No Holds Barred pay per view

Sean Mooney hosts from the studio

Mr. Perfect v Ron Garvin: TV taping dark match from Nashville Tennessee on December 12 1989. Posturing to start, and Garvin fights off an attack, sending Perfect to the outside to regroup. Back in, Perfect corners him, but Garvin turns the tables, and Perfect goes flying over the top off of some rights and lefts. Perfect manages to grab a headlock as they come back inside, and that wears Garvin down enough that Perfect can hammer him properly. Ron fights him off with a few headbutts, and a somersault cradle gets Garvin two. Backdrop, but Perfect counters with a sunset flip, so Garvin punches him to block. He delivers a splash for two, and the Garvin stomp connects. Sharpshooter, but Perfect goes to the eyes to block, and delivers a somersault necksnap. Trading chops wakes Garvin up, however, and Ron hooks a sleeper. Perfect fades, but Garvin lets off to try for the pin instead, and Perfect gets into the ropes at two. Garvin stays focused with a facebuster, and a series of punches get him two. Series of turnbuckle smashes really rattle Perfect, and Garvin schoolboys for two. Criss cross ends in both guys looking up at the lights, and Ron hooks an inside cradle as they get vertical - only for Perfect to reverse for three at 10:33. This was pretty boring, but got better as it went along. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Mooney introduces a Manager’s Profile on Bobby Heenan, which is basically just Heenan riffing on various workers for a few minutes. You could do worse

Gene Okerlund travels to the Australian Outback to visit the Bushwhackers, 

The Bolsheviks v The Bushwhackers: From a live event in New York City on December 30 1988, in the Bushwhackers' third WWF match. The Bushwhackers rush in to brawl right away, kickstarting the match. They clean house to hold the high ground, but then chase the heels to the outside to continue the attack. The dust settles on Boris Zhukov getting double teamed, so Nikolai Volkoff tries coming in, but ends up colliding with Boris, and they end up on the outside again. Volkoff manages to get Luke in a bearhug on the way back in, but Luke bites his way free, and throws a shoulderblock for two. The announcers don’t even know which Bushwhaker is which yet. Volkoff tries again, so Butch comes in to bite him to save. That draws Boris in to attack, and that’s enough to take some pep out of Luke’s step. Volkoff with a cross corner whip, and a pair of stomps give him a two count. The heels work Luke over, but Butch catches a tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! The heels try a double team, but end up colliding, and the Bushwhackers hit Boris with the battering ram, then follow with a tandem stomachbreaker at 9:24. The Bushwhakers were still working like crazy brawlers at this point, and hadn’t settled into the comedy team stuff yet. They weren’t bad in that way. Not good, either, but more better than the comedy goofs they morphed into not long after this. Not only did the announcers keep mixing Luke and Butch up, but the idiot also calls the Bolsheviks ‘former WWF tag team champions,’ which is a fireable offense, frankly. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Back in the Outback, Gene enjoys some BBQ with the Bushwhackers

The Bushwhackers v Bad News Brown and Brooklyn Brawler: From Prime Time Wrestling on June 5 1989 (taped May 17) in Duluth Minnesota, and the Bushwhackers are full on goofballs by this point. Interesting heel team here. Butch starts with Brawler, and lands a clothesline during a criss cross. Tag to Luke to hammer on Brawler, and he goes right to the ass biting. That was pretty risky business in general, but I feel like he was really taking his life in his hands trying to draw blood from Brawler’s ass. Butch tries some more goofiness with Bad News, but that goes badly, and the heels work him over. Butch fights Brawler off for the tag, but Luke ends up in the wrong corner, and the heels go to work on him now. Brawler misses an elbowdrop to allow the tag back to Butch, and the battering ram leads to the tandem stomachbreaker at 5:12. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

In the Outback, Gene is feeling that BBQ coming back, but he still wants more. Who hasn’t been there? But, it seems that the food is starting to make him twitchy in more ways than one

The Powers of Pain v The Bushwhackers: From Prime Time on January 22 1990 (taped October 8 1989) in Toronto Ontario Canada. Barbarian gets sick of the Bushwhackers dancing around, and attacks Butch to kick start the match. Butch fights him off and grabs a side-headlock, but Barbarian powers out, and they stop to play to the crowd for a while. Meanwhile, Gorilla Monsoon runs down all the big teams that were in the WWF at the time, and boy, it really was the golden age of tag team wrestling in those days. The Bushwhackers use a combo to trip Barbarian up, and the dust settles on Warlord and Luke, as Monsoon notes that the ‘Whackers are less interested in wins and losses than in just having fun. It’s not a children’s birthday party! Warlord works a bearhug as the Powers cut the ring in half on Luke, but he manages the tag to Butch… who quickly ends up on the outside to eat some post. The Powers go to work on Butch instead, until Barbarian misses a 2nd rope elbowdrop, and Luke gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Battering rams put both Powers down, so Mr. Fuji comes in with the cane, and there’s your DQ at 9:16. Really boring stuff, and with a bad finish to boot. -¼* (Original rating: -*)

In the Outback, Gene has been eating buzzard long enough that he’s become one of the Bushwhackers to pay off the gag

Call of the Action with Lord Alfred Hayes! We get a thrilling breakdown of some of the most impressive, complex, and cutting edge moves of the era - stuff like ‘leapfrog’ and ‘clothesline’

Tito Santana v Rick Rude: From a live event in Boston Massachusetts on February 11 1989. Tito outsmarts him on a test-of-strength to start, and Rude hides out in the corner after getting stomped down. Rude manages to apply a standing side-headlock as they engage again, until Tito escapes, and cross corner whips him a few times. Rude, of course, is magnificent at selling that sort of thing. Santana stays on the back with a reverse chinlock, but Rude gets the knees up when Tito is trying to drive down on the back, and Rick delivers an inverted atomic drop. Rude works a chinlock, until Tito manages to slug free in the corner, but a charge hits Rude’s knee. Rick dives with a flying axehandle, but a backdrop is countered with a facebuster. Santana looks to add a splash, but Rude lifts his knees to block, then throws a knee after whipping Tito into the ropes. That gets Rick a two count, but Santana reverses a vertical suplex. Rude tries staying on him with a bodyslam, but his back is still messed up, and he can’t execute it. Santana capitalizes with an inverted atomic drop, and he unloads turnbuckle smashes, as he goes on the comeback trail. Figure four looks to finish (in a weird choice, considering how hard Rude is selling the back), but it doesn’t matter anyway, as Rick has the ropes. Rude bails, but Tito rolls him right back in, and follows with a slingshot sunset flip - only for Rude to counter with a leveraged cradle at 16:42. A surprisingly slow and dull contest, but it was competent enough. * (Original rating: ½*)

Ted DiBiase v Jake Roberts: From a live event in New York City on April 24 1989. This is just at the start of their feud, a full year before the WrestleMania blowoff, but just before Roberts took about four months off to deal with back issues. Posturing to start, and Jake gets control, working the arm. DiBiase ends up on the outside, so Jake chases to bash his head into Virgil’s, and, of course, DiBiase is quick to chew Virgil out over it. Virgil manages a distraction to allow DiBiase an elbowdrop on the way back in, and Ted goes to work. In dull fashion. Chinlock eats up some time, and he goes for the Million Dollar Dream to put it away. Jake fades, but lands in the ropes to save himself. He’s still out cold, however, and Ted drags him to center ring to cover, but Roberts gets a shoulder up at two. Jake makes a comeback, but Ted blocks the DDT. Virgil interferes to allow DiBiase to gain control again, but he wastes time gloating, and Jake schoolboys at 16:10. This was really boring stuff. And it’s not like they were just turning the volume down because it was a house show, their WrestleMania match was sleepy as well. Kind of amazing that they feuded for a year, and never managed to have any chemistry. The same could be said for Roberts in his feud with Rick Rude. Jake is quite overrated as a worker, honestly. DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

Tony Schiavone interviews some fans at the arena about who their favorite wrestler is. I dig the one guy talking about how Ultimate Warrior is the future in such a dead serious tone that it sounds like he’s diagnosing Hulk Hogan with cancer

Tugboat Thomas v Iron Mike Sharpe: From Superstars on January 27 1990 (taped January 3) in Birmingham Alabama. This is Tugboat's TV debut, and it’s all about how big he is here. Some things never change. Tugboat with a splash at 2:25. Weird choice to feature, usually these tapes had a total aversion to squash matches. DUD (Original rating: ¼ )

Cage Match: Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake v Randy Savage and Zeus: From No Holds Barred The Match/The Movie on December 31 1989 (taped December 12) in Nashville Tennessee. Sensational Sherri slams the door on Hulk as he’s stepping through the door, allowing the heels to double up on Beefcake. Sherri chains the door shut to keep Hulk out, but Hogan is actually smart enough to notice that, you know, there’s no roof on the cage, and he just climbs in. Well, points for effort, I suppose. Randy bumps all over the place, of course, and Zeus eats the cage. Hulk whips Randy into a backdrop from Beefcake, and Savage takes a bump into the cage. Beefcake whips Zeus into a big boot from Hogan next, and then Randy gets the same treatment. They pinball Macho around for a bit, but Zeus recovers, and starts wrecking everyone. That allows Macho to try and escape, but Brutus manages to pull him back in, so Sherri climbs up, but it backfires, and Macho takes a spill down to the mat. Beefcake dives on Zeus with a sleeper, but Savage saves, and the heels manage to get control of things, chucking guys into the cage at will. Hulk manages a side suplex on Zeus, and everyone collides for a quadruple knockout. Cue Sherri cutting the lock off of the door, and she passes the chain to Savage. Randy dives off the top of the cage with the weapon, but Beefcake hits him in the gut to block, and he nails Macho with the chain. Meanwhile, Hulk tries a bodyslam on Zeus, but gets toppled. He gloats, but Hogan comes to life, as Beefcake and Savage race up the side of the cage, with Beefcake escaping. Meanwhile, Hogan is running wild on Zeus, as Savage makes it out the door. Hulk with a bodyslam to set up the legdrop, and Hulk adds another two to make sure. Cover, count, and Zeus is vanquished at 9:33. This wasn’t as good as the SummerSlam match, but it was okay, mostly thanks to Savage bumping around like a madman to make it better. This was also the last of Zeus’s three WWF matches, all of which were on pay per view. Less is more. A lesson they should have remembered when they were booking Giant Gonzalez a few years later. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

Mooney signs off, hyping WrestleMania VI on VHS. The way it was meant to be seen!

BUExperience: A really terrible tape, with some long, boring matches, a Bushwhackers showcase, and even a squash match. Back in the day, I could see this being worth tracking down for the final blowoff of the Hogan/Zeus feud, but that’s literally all this has going for it.

Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection