WWF at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (August 13, 1988)

Original Airdate: August 13, 1988

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Superstar Billy Graham

Opening Match: Sam Houston v Black Jack: Jack is subbing for Iron Sheik here. Some posturing to start, dominated by Sam. Jack tries a corner charge, but misses, and Sam covers for two. Houston works a side-headlock from there, and a dropkick finds the mark, but he just goes back to the headlock instead of keeping it going. Even Graham criticizes him for it. Jack fights free with a knee, and he delivers a bodyslam, but misses an elbowdrop. That allows Houston to go back to the headlock, but Jack slugs free, so Sam just drops him with the bulldog at 5:47. Not the most exciting of openers, and Jack looked legitimately terrible, flubbing even the most basic of stuff. ¼*

Blue Angel v Barry Horowitz: This was still pretty early in Owen Hart’s WWF run here, and one of his last appearances as the Angel before switching to the more familiar Blue Blazer moniker. They feel each other out to start, as Gorilla and Billy get into a legitimately interesting exchange about the pros and cons of wrestling in a mask. Angel dominates with armbars for a while, until Horowitz catches him with a knee, and that turns the tide. Horowitz snaps his throat under the bottom rope with a catapult, and a clothesline sets up a legdrop for two. Barry with a cross corner whip and a cradle for two, followed by a butterfly suplex for two. Horowitz works a chinlock from there, until Angel forces a criss cross, but Barry blasts him with a knee for two. Horowitz hooks a backslide for two, but Angel blocks a corner whip with a 2nd rope bodypress for two. Horowitz hammers him with rights to keep control of things, and he snaps Angel’s throat across the top rope. Angel tries a sunset flip for two, but gets cut off again, and Barry uses an abdominal cradle for two. Barry with a Russian legsweep to set up a dive, but Angel kips up, and slams him off the top. Angel climbs for a flying dropkick, and a vertical suplex sets up a 2nd rope kneedrop for two. Angel delivers a backbreaker for two, and a slam allows him a flying moonsault at 14:34. A bit too long for what it was, but not bad by any means, and Angel was doing some cool stuff for the promotion during this period. * ¼ 

The Powers of Pain v The Bolsheviks: The Powers run in to cut off the anthem, and clean house to kick start things. The dust settles on Barbarian and Nikolai Volkoff, and Superstar is, of course, all about the Powers of Pain. He’s very excited! Posturing, until Boris Zhukov tags in, and promptly takes a powerslam for two. Both guys tag out, and Nikolai actually has the balls to challenge Warlord to a test-of-strength. Even the announcers are wondering if he was dropped on his head as a child, or something. Warlord dominates, so Boris tries a cheap shot, but it backfires. Tag to Barbarian to hit Volkoff with a dive off the middle rope, and the Powers work the arm, as Billy wonders why they wear the face paint, to which Gorilla suggests might be to hide their identity. If that were the case, I’d imagine we should be openly wondering whether or not the two of them were dropped on their heads. Or maybe if Gorilla was. Nikolai dodges a corner charge from Warlord to allow a tag to Boris, and the heels work him over with cheap shots and double teams, though Warlord never looks to be in any particular danger, if we’re being completely honest. Warlord fights off a double team in pretty short order, and Barbarian gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Running powerslam/flying headbutt drop combo finishes Boris at 10:48. This was competent enough, but not interesting enough. ½*

SD Jones v Curt Hennig: Really early into Hennig’s run here, this is only his fourth match, and he hadn’t even appeared on TV yet. Jesse Ventura joins us for commentary on this one, and is immediately complaining about the writer’s strike in Hollywood. Posturing to start, as they cautiously feel each other out. Jones gets control with a headlock, so Curt forces a criss cross, and uses a drop-toehold to set up a headlock of his own. Jones counters to a keylock, but Curt gets into the corner, and throws rights - only for Jones to return the favor. Curt ends up on the outside after overselling a punch, but manages a cheap shot on the way back in, and he hammers SD down. Hennig works a reverse chinlock, but Jones fights, so Curt switches to a Boston crab - along with the ropes for leverage. Jesse, of course, thinks there’s nothing wrong with that, so long as the referee doesn’t notice. Curt with an abdominal stretch, but Jones fights free, so Hennig uses a backbreaker for two. Kick to the face gets another two, and Curt does some aimless pounding for a while. Back to the reverse chinlock, and a bodyslam gets him two. Turnbuckle smash, but Jones no-sells, and makes a comeback. Headbutt drop gets Jones two, and a powerslam is worth another two. Curt randomly cuts him off by pounding him back down, and he starts working the leg. A series of punches gets Curt two, but Jones fights him off with a headbutt, and makes another comeback. Just get to the damn fireworks factory already. Jones with a cross corner whip, but Curt rebounds with a clothesline for the pin at 13:044. Really dull stuff. ½*

WWF Title Match: Randy Savage v Andre the Giant: Bobby Heenan gets bounced right away, for getting in Miss Elizabeth’s face. Randy tries sticking and moving, but Andre gets hold of him, and it goes downhill from there quite quickly. Andre with an extended choke, until Savage escapes, and starts throwing jabs, but Andre quickly puts a stop to that with a headbutt. Bearhug, but Randy fights free, and a clothesline knocks Andre into the ropes, the Giant tied up! That allows Macho to get some shots in without response, but Andre gets free, and it’s more choking. Andre pulls off a top turnbuckle pad to bash Macho into a few times, but a headbutt misses, and Andre eats the steel himself. That allows Savage to put him down, and he dives with the flying elbowdrop right away, but it only gets two. Andre bails to regroup, but Savage is on him, and sends the big guy into the steps. Andre decides to grab Elizabeth out there to goad Macho into giving up his attempt at picking up a countout win, and of course Randy takes the bait, resulting in a double countout at 10:25. This was total junk, with Andre just doing a chokehold for the duration. A complete waste of prime Savage. ¼*

The Hart Foundation v The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jim Neidhart and Raymond Rougeau start us off, and Ray tries getting in his head, but Jim dropkicks him, and Ray bails to regroup. Tags all around, and Jacques Rougeau wants a handshake, but Bret Hart is too wise, as the announcers put over the legend of the Dungeon. The way they did that in an offhand but insiderish manner for years really built it up in the mind of young fans like myself. They used to be really good at that sort of thing. Bret gets a side-headlock on, but Jacques forces a criss cross. He tries a monkeyflip, but Hart is ready with a pointed elbowdrop to block, so Raymond tags back in. Bret welcomes him with a backbreaker for two, and he grounds Ray in a chinlock. Ray fights to a vertical base, allowing Jacques to take a cheap shot, and that’s enough to turn the tide in favor of the heels. The Brothers work Bret over for what feels like forever, until Bret fights Ray off in the corner, and makes the hot tag to Anvil! Jim runs wild, and an axehandle looks to put Jacques away, but Raymond distracts the referee to delay the count. Tag to Bret for a combo, but Ray saves at two, and Roseanne Barr the door! Hart drills Jacques with a piledriver, but Ray dives off the middle with an axehandle drop to break the count, and Ray pins Bret at 17:28. This felt really long, even if the quality of the work itself was fine. *

Main Event: Rick Rude v Jake Roberts: Jake threatens to kick Rude’s ‘ass’ before the match starts, drawing a huge pop. I’m surprised they didn’t segue into the Attitude Era right then and there. Roberts runs wild to start, but Rude avoids the DDT, and bails. Back in, Rude triggers a slugfest, but the referee breaks it up, as Superstar complains that things were too conservative in his day, so he couldn’t wear cool tights like Rude does. Jake works a wristlock, and he hooks a cradle for two. Roberts wrenches a hammerlock on, but a short-clothesline misses, and Rude nails him with a clothesline of his own. That allows Rick to dump Roberts to the outside, and Rude follows to shove him into the post out there. Inside, Rick uses a cross corner whip, and he works a reverse chinlock. Jake escapes, and tries the DDT again, but Rude manages another block, and dumps Roberts over the top. Rude drags him back in for a slam, but Roberts topples him, and scores the pinfall at 13:27. Good selling from Rude, but not much else. Was there ever a better case of two guys who had a white hot feud but just had zero chemistry between the ropes? ½*

BUExperience: You can safely skip this one, though it is interesting seeing very early appearances from Owen Hart and Curt Hennig. 

DUD