WWF Prime Time Wrestling (August 4, 1986)

Original Airdate: August 4, 1986

Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan from the studio

Jake Roberts v Sivi Afi: From July 27 1986 in Toronto Ontario Canada. Jake comes out in street clothes, refusing to wrestle until he gets Ricky Steamboat in ‘the kind of match he wants.’ Afi takes his forfeit, but as he celebrates, Roberts decides to attack, and kill him with the DDT just for fun. Good angle here, better than an actual match between the two would have been.

Hercules Hernandez v Scott McGhee: From July 27 1986 in Toronto Ontario Canada. Weird ring here, as they have the normal WWF logo turnbuckle pads on the top and middle, but then a bright yellow WCW-ish one on the bottom. The production was still all over the place at this point, though it became a lot more streamlined not long after this. Hercules uses power early on, but Scott catches him with a few dropkicks, and Hercules ends up on the ramp to regroup. Inside, McGhee works a standing headlock, but Hercules throws him into the corner to escape, and he clotheslines him. Oddly, Gorilla suggests Hercules has ‘24 inch biceps,’ which was something they usually were really careful about. Even at the height of Ultimate Warrior’s run, they always made sure to call them ‘23 inches,’ never 24 or more. Hercules works him over, and an elbowdrop gets Hernandez two. Snapmare sets up a chinlock, but Scott fights free, so Hercules clotheslines him again for two. Hercules with a bodyslam to set up a dive, but Scott slams him off the top before he can leap, and McGhee makes a comeback. Irish whip, but Hercules reverses, and hooks him in a torture rack at 6:47. This was okay. *

Ken Resnick catches up with WWF Women’s Champion Fabulous Moolah, and apparently wants to know about her sex life. Who is he, Vince Russo?

The American Express v Hoss Funk and Jimmy Jack Funk: From July 27 1986 in Toronto Ontario Canada. The Funks attack before the bell, but get fought off, and the Express clear the ring. What was up with ‘Express’ being the go-to for every team name in the 80s? Barry Windham and Hoss start once the dust settles, but Hoss takes a cheap shot at Mike Rotundo to goad him in. Mike takes the bait, and manages to dominate the resulting exchanges, until Hoss bails. Inside, Mark works a headlock, then passes to Barry to do the same. The Express take turns wrenching Hoss with the headlock for a bit, but Jimmy catches a tag, though Barry manages to fight off the attempted double team. Mike tags in and works a hammerlock, and frankly, I’m shocked he can even hold it, considering Jimmy may be the only guy I’ve ever seen sweat more profusely than Rotundo. The Express dominate Jimmy with quick tags, but Hoss catches a tag, so Rotundo hits him with a bodypress for two. That draws Jimmy in without a tag, but Mike bodyslams him, and both heels bail. Mike works an armbar, until Hoss forces a criss cross, allowing Jimmy to take a cheap shot from the apron. That’s enough to allow Hoss to dump him to the outside, and Jimmy sends him into the guardrail to officially turn the tide. The Funks go to work on Rotundo, until Mike reverses a suplex from Hoss, and Windham gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Bodyslam on Hoss sets up a legdrop for two, and a cross corner clothesline leads to a bulldog, but Jimmy catches him with a clothesline coming out of the corner, and Hoss hooks the leg at 17:13. This was a very solid old school tag match, coupled with a good finish. ** ¼ 

Resnick catches up with Cowboy Lang, and talks down to him

On Tuesday Night Titans, Bobby Heenan introduces ‘Kim Chee,’ who is obviously Big John Studd under a mask, which is Heenan’s answer to the Machines. Interesting that Bobby puts him over as ‘Korean’ …, was the later Kim Chee (Kamala’s handler) meant to be Korean? This is the type of stupid detail that will keep me from sleeping tonight

Iron Sheik v Billy Jack Haynes: From July 27 1986 in Toronto Ontario Canada. Sheik attacks before the bell, and unloads on him, but Billy fights him off during a criss cross, and unloads back. Billy works a standing side-headlock, so Sheik tries to criss cross again, but Haynes is ready with an atomic drop. Billy with a hiptoss, and it’s back to the headlock, but Sheik side suplexes his way out. Sheik throws a clothesline, and he hooks an abdominal stretch, but Billy hiptosses out. Sheik responds with a gutwrench suplex for two, and he catches Haynes with a straddling ropechoke for two. Billy fires back with a vertical suplex for two, and a backelbow sets up a legdrop for two. Full nelson looks to finish, but Nikolai Volkoff heads out, and the distraction allows Sheik to escape. Volkoff looks to attack, but ends up hitting Sheik by accident, and Billy covers at 5:31. This wasn’t good by any means, but it certainly could have been worse. ½*

SD Jones v Rusty Brooks: From the January 26 1986 episode of All American Wrestling (taped December 17 1985) in Poughkeepsie New York. Brooks is looking like 1996 Yokozuna, and I’m shocked to learn that he was still active until 2013! Even Gorilla is dunking on him, making cracks about how hard it would be to hold his shoulders down. Brooks tries an avalanche, but Jones dodges, and uses a sunset flip at 2:23. DUD

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers v The Moondogs: From July 27 1986 in Toronto Ontario Canada. Raymond Rougeau starts with Rex, and they feel each other out. Ray with a dropkick and a drop-toehold into an armbar, and apparently Gorilla can’t tell the Brothers apart. I’m surprised, that usually only trips him up when the workers aren’t white. Tags all around, and Jacques Rougeau works a headlock on Spot. Ray comes in to corner whip him, and he works the arm. Back to Jacques for a suplex, and he works the arm as well. Bodypress gets him two, but a monkeyflip ends badly when Rex takes a cheap shot from the apron to help Spot block. That’s enough to turn the tide, and the Moondogs go to work on Jacques. Jacques manages to match fists with Rex in the corner long enough to slip away for the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Sitdown splash on Spot gets two when Rex saves, so Ray throws a bodypress at him, and both guys go tumbling over the top. That distracts Spot, and Jacques capitalizes with a schoolboy at 11:39. * ½ 

Dynamite Kid v Brutus Beefcake: From New York City on April 22 1986. Kid wins a pair of criss crosses to start, ending in Beefcake on the outside. Beefcake stalls to break the momentum, and calls for a test-of-strength on the way back in, which Kid accepts. Brutus manages to win by turning it into a wristlock, but Kid does some hustling, and suplexes his way out, and into an armbar. Beefcake makes the ropes, and does some more stalling from there. Kid grabs a headlock as they engage, but Beefcake is ready with a side suplex to escape, and he adds a headbutt drop to the groin. Beefcake with a 2nd rope stomp, and a hanging vertical suplex gets him two. Kid fights back out of the corner, and a well executed snap suplex sets up a headbutt drop. Kid makes a comeback, but a charge misses, and Kid takes a bump to the outside. Kid scrambles to get back in, but Beefcake greets him with a foreign object loaded punch. Suplex, but Kid slips away, and hooks a rollup at 8:29. The execution was really good here (mostly due to Kid), but the match didn’t really tell much of a story. * ¼ 

BUExperience: This wasn’t a bad episode, but it felt like wrestling for wrestling's sake, with nothing in the way of major angles or storylines.