WWF Prime Time Wrestling (July 14, 1986)

Original Airdate: July 14, 1986

Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan from the studio

The American Express v Tiger Chung Lee and Les Thornton: From Boston Massachusetts on June 27 1986. Mike Rotundo and Thornton start, and Mike gets the better of it, so Lee helps with a double team. Rotundo manages a blind tag to Dan Spivey, and he dominates Lee on the mat with a side-headlock. Tag to Les, and he manages a snapmare to put Spivey in a chinlock. The heels work Dan over, but Tiger gets slammed off the top while trying a dive, and Rotundo gets the hot tag. He runs wild for a bit, but runs into trouble in the wrong part of town, and the heels get control again. They cut the ring in half on Mike, until Tiger telegraphs a backdrop, and gets clobbered. That allows the tag to Dan, and he runs wild on Lee. Dropkick knocks Tiger to the outside, but Spivey brings him back in the hard way. Tag to Rotundo for a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop for two, and my gosh, Rotundo is sweating an incredible amount. A scary amount, really. If you thought it was just the office clothes that were the culprit, look no further. Dan with a bulldog on Les for the pin at 12:58. Why in the world were these two jobbers getting this kind of shine against a star team? ¾*

Pedro Morales v Moondog Spot: From Boston Massachusetts on June 27 1986. The announcers discuss that there are rumors that the Boston Garden will be replaced with another arena in the near future, but that clearly that isn’t going to happen, because people respect history. Yeah, get back to me on that one in a few years, guys. Also, you work for a wrestling company. You really want to talk about ‘respecting history?’ Spot gets control, and uses a suplex for two, then grounds Morales in a chinlock. Spot with a bodyslam for two, so Morales fires back with a small package for two. Spot tries cutting that off with a firemans carry, but Pedo counters with a rollup at 7:22. ½*

Ken Resnick is with Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, who clarify that they never actually lost the belts, they were stolen from them. So the British Bulldogs are holding stolen property

From Tuesday Night Titans, Gene Okerlund hosts the Dating Game with bachelor Jim Neidhart, and Fabulous Moolah as one of the girls. These skits aren’t funny on their own, but because the workers during this era were such characters they made everything work. Imagine the current roster doing a remake from this exact script

Tony Atlas v Harley Race: From Boston Massachusetts on June 27 1986. Gorilla notes that, while he’s new to the WWF, Harley ‘has some credentials’ in the world of wrestling. Race is dressed like he’s auditioning to manage the American Express this week, which is not a good look for him at all. Atlas works a standing headlock to start, until Race side suplexes him to escape. Elbowdrop, but Tony dodges, and Atlas goes back to the headlock, as the announcers joke about how much Tony likes to talk. One thing I really like about this era of commentary is how they’d casually get stuff like that in/over, just talking like a couple of guys over drinks, instead of robots, or over the top hype men. To the outside, Race manages to send Atlas into the barricade to turn the tide, and a vertical suplex gets him two on the way back in. Another suplex, but Tony reverses this time. He tries adding an elbowdrop, but takes too long, and Race dodges. Race with a pair of kneedrops for two, and a neckbreaker gets another two. Harley with a pair of elbowdrops for two, so Tony makes a halfhearted attempt at a comeback, but Race puts him away with a sunset flip at 8:27. *

Resnick is with King Tonga, who is still waiting on his money from Bobby Heenan for bodyslamming Big John Studd. I don’t think they ever did, but wouldn’t it be awesome if they worked that into the backstory of how Haku ended up in the Heenan Family? Like, that Bobby finally made a deal with him to pay the money in exchange for his services, and Tonga figured it was better than getting nothing

Billy Jack Haynes v Moondog Rex: From Boston Massachusetts on June 27 1986. Haynes dominates a few criss crosses early on, and he grabs a side-headlock. Elbowdrop gets him two, and a snapmare sets up a chinlock. Rex fights free with a clothesline, and a corner whip leads to a backbreaker for two. Snapmare sets up a kneedrop for one, and a hiptoss sets up an elbowdrop, but Haynes rolls out of the way. That allows Haynes to recover enough to reverse a turnbuckle smash, and Billy makes a comeback. Rex takes a bump over the top, and Haynes tries a dropkick on the way back in, but Rex dodges. That allows Rex a few bootrakes, but he loses a criss cross, and Haynes gets the full nelson on at 5:33. This was energetic enough. *

King Tonga v Pete Doherty: From Boston Massachusetts on June 27 1986. Pete charges to kick start the match, but Tonga fights him off in short order. Hammerlock, but Pete is in the ropes right away. Pete gets a side-headlock on, but Tonga powers out, so Pete goes to the eyes. Pete does some stalling to annoy Tonga, and manages a corner whip, but the charge doesn’t go well for him. That allows Tonga to unload, and a dropkick finds the mark. Pete tries another corner whip, but then telegraphs a backdrop, and Tonga delivers one of his own. Superkick sets up a headbutt drop at 4:20. ¼*

Okerlund is on assignment in Japan, learning more about these mysterious Machines

The Moondogs v Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff: From the July 12 1986 episode of Championship Wrestling (taped June 24) in Poughkeepsie New York. There’s a disco ball hanging over the ring! Moondog Spot starts with Hulk, and takes a bodyslam after a shoulderblock fails. Tag to Moondog Rex, and Hulk bodyslams him as well. Tag to Orndorff for a forearm, and he delivers a bodyslam of his own. Spot tags back in, but Orndorff is ready with a pair of armdrags, so Spot tags right back out. Rex tries a cross corner whip, but Paul reverses, and puts him in a headlock. Rex manages to tag while in the hold, but Spot ends up in the same position. The Moondogs keep tagging in and out while in holds, so Hulk asks to tag in, but Orndorff wants to handle it himself. Paul catches Rex with a bodypress for two, and he bashes their heads together. Criss cross with Rex ends in Spot taking a cheap shot from the apron, and Rex capitalizes with a vertical suplex. The heels work on Orndorff, but a miscommunication allows Paul to hit Rex with a piledriver at 3:51. Not a ton to it, but fun for what it was, with a hot crowd. Plus, some slow burn dissension, with Orndorff not wanting to tag Hulk in. ¾*

BUExperience: A Moondog heavy episode is not a good episode. Hey, I don’t make the rules.