WWF at Maple Leaf Gardens (November 6, 1988)

 

Original Airdate: November 6, 1988

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Sean Mooney

Opening Match: B. Brian Blair v Iron Mike Sharpe: Mike does some stalling early on, as Blair dominates him. Blair gets a wristlock on, but Sharpe escapes, only to lose a criss cross when Blair uses a monkey flip. Mike bails to do more stalling, and manages to clobber him on the way back in to take control. A clothesline gets Sharpe two, and a backdrop gets another two. Goes to the well again, but Blair is ready with a sunset flip this time, getting two. A criss cross ends in Blair falling out of the ring, like a loser, and Mike keeps working him over. Finally, Blair starts making a comeback, but a splash hits the knees. That allows Mike to try for a slam, but Blair counters to a Russian legsweep at 10:20. Right on par with their match from the October Toronto card. Not particularly exciting stuff for an opener. ½*

Koko B Ware v Steve Lombardi: Lombardi attacks from behind, and a cross corner whip rebounds Koko into a backelbow. Turnbuckle smash, but Koko no-sells, and then returns the favor. Koko adds a standing dropkick to send Steve to the outside, and Lombardi takes the opportunity to regroup. Back in, Ware grabs a standing headlock, so Lombardi tries to criss cross, but a monkey flip gets blocked with a headbutt drop. Another dropkick sends Steve back to the outside, but Koko chases this time, and gets clobbered. Inside, Lombardi puts the boots to him for two, and he works a nervehold from there. Koko fights free, so Lombardi throws a knee to put him back down, and he ropechokes him for good measure. Steve with a bodyslam for two, and another bodyslam sets up a dive, but he takes too long getting up there, and Koko slams him off. Ware makes a comeback, and a missile dropkick puts it away at 7:08. Nothing special, and very little in the way of high spots,  but competent. *

The Brain Busters v The Young Stallions: Arn Anderson and Jim Powers start, and Arn schools him on the mat to start. Arn pounds him into the heel corner, but Powers fights off the attempted double team, and Paul Roma rushes in to back him up, the Stallions cleaning house. The dust settles on Tully Blanchard and Powers, and Blanchard tries taking him to the canvas as well, but Jim is too quick for him. Tag to Roma, but Blanchard slips out of a double team. Tully tries an Irish whip, but Roma reverses, and throws a dropkick, so Arn tags back in. Arn with a hammerlock, but Roma reverses, and schoolboys for two. Roma argues the count, allowing Anderson a cheap shot, but Paul fights him off with another dropkick. Blanchard charges in, but eats a dropkick as well, and the heels bail. The dust settles on Blanchard and Roma, and Paul sweeps the leg, then tags to Powers for a wishbone. Blanchard bails to regroup, so Roma forces him back in, and the Stallions take turns working the leg. Roma tries a headscissor takedown, but Arn clobbers him with a cheap shot, and uses a rotating spinebuster for two. The heels cut the ring in half on Roma (call it a Horsemen gang initiation. If you must), and not even poor Arn is immune to Gorilla’s critiques of an abdominal stretch. Paul manages to reverses a suplex on Tully to allow the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! The heels manage to get Powers with a double team while the referee is trying to restore order, and that’s enough for the pin at 12:08. Solid formula tag wrestling here, and didn’t overstay its welcome. ** ¼  

Blue Blazer v Danny Davis: Davis stalls at the bell, as Gorilla addresses a rumor that the Blazer is Lanny Poffo under a mask (and a wig). Thankfully, he doesn’t give that one much oxygen. They trade wristlocks, dominated by Blazer, so Davis tries a criss cross, but eats a pointed elbowdrop, and he bails. Inside, Blazer with a short-chop, and a leg-feed enzuigiri sends Davis back to the outside. Blazer with a snapmare to set up a legdrop once Danny is back in the ring, and Davis begs off in the corner, but Blazer puts the boots to him. Dropkick, but Davis manages to dodge, and Danny returns the favor by putting the boots back to him. Davis with a ropechoke for two, and a bodyslam leads to a flying axehandle, but Blazer blocks. That allows Blazer a standing dropkick, and a sloppy overhead belly-to-belly suplex follows. Blazer adds a backbreaker and a vertical suplex to set up a flying splash at 5:42. Blazer looked out of sorts here, to the point where even the announcers couldn’t stop talking about it. *

Hulk Hogan v Big Boss Man: Hulk has ditched the fist helmet, thankfully. Boss Man tries attacking during the entrances, but Hulk fights him off, and sends him to the outside with an atomic drop. His music never even stopped playing, so I guess even the sound guy didn’t think Boss Man had it in him. The dust settles, and Boss Man tries to slug it out, but that ends badly as well, so Slick distracts the Hulkster, and that finally allows Boss Man to get control. Avalanche, but Hulk blocks. He tries a bodyslam, but Boss Man topples him for two, and delivers a straddling ropechoke. Boss Man with a bodyslam of his own (successful), but a splash (not successful) allows Hulk to pop up and unload. Slick trips him up to cut off a comeback, however, and Hulk stupidly chases him, allowing Boss Man to clobber. Boss Man with a spinebuster for two, and he hooks a bearhug on. Hulk fights free, but a charge ends badly when Boss Man catches him with a scrapbuster. Cover, count, HULK UP!! Big Boot! Bodyslam! Elbowdrop! Bootrake! Cross Corner Clothesline! But then Boss Man goes to the eyes to put an end to this extended hulk-up, and he grabs the handcuffs, but it gets reversed on him. With Boss Man shackled to the top rope, Hulk clotheslines him over the top, and the idiot referee actually counts Boss Man out at 9:37. While the man is handcuffed?! What was he expecting, a 127 Hours situation?! This was mostly decent, but the finish was really goofy. ¾*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Demolition v The British Bulldogs: Ax and Davey Boy Smith start, and Ax pounds him down. A bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Davey dodges, and pounds Ax down. Tag to Smash, and he gets Smith in an armbar right away, leveraging Davey into the ropes to hammer on. Hiptoss, but Davey rolls through, and hooks an armbar of his own. Tag to Dynamite Kid, and he hooks a side-headlock on, then delivers a backdrop ahead of a headbutt drop. A small package gets him two, and he passes to Smith for another armbar. Smash uses a handful of hair to get into the heel corner for a tag, but Ax gets caught in an armbar as well. He fights free and tags, but Davey is ready for Smash with a drop-toehold, and Kid gets a tag for stereo shoulderblocks for two. Smash hammers Kid down to cut that off, and he passes to Ax for a double team in the corner. Well, geese and ganders, and that. The champs cut the ring in half on Kid, as the announcers pass the time by coming up with opponents Mooney could beat if he ever got into the ring. Apparently Howard Finkel and the sound guy are on deck. Kid blocks a corner charge to allow the hot tag to Davey, and Roseanne Barr the door! Davey lands a clothesline on Ax for two, and a bodypress gets another two. Backdrop, but Ax blocks, and Smash comes over for an elbowdrop, but misses. That allows Kid to snap suplex him for two, but he stupidly tries an abdominal stretch in the middle of a brawl, and rightly gets clobbered/pinned at 9:54. Solid match, though a little sleepy. And this was pretty much it for the Bulldogs, as they worked one more house show against Demolition, then Survivor Series, before exiting the promotion before the month was out. * ½ 

Jim Duggan v Dino Bravo: Idiot Duggan is running around with a nail sticking out of his 2x4, which is just insane, really. Posturing to start, and Duggan manages a backdrop as they criss cross, so Dino bails. A distraction from Frenchy Martin allows Bravo to attack from behind, turning the tide. Dino capitalizes with a chinlock, but a backdrop is countered when Duggan busts out a sunset flip for two! Well, there’s something you don’t see every day. Bravo cuts him off and delivers an elbowdrop for two, and he goes to a chinlock, but Jim slugs free. Backdrop, but Bravo blocks, and covers for two. Back to the chinlock, but a corner charge gets blocked, and Hacksaw makes a comeback. Three-point stance, but Frenchy trips him up, and Bravo clobbers him for the pin at 6:35. Junk, but it was short, and generally energetic, so it wasn’t a drag. ¼*

Main Event: WWF Intercontinental Title No Disqualification, No Countout Match: Ultimate Warrior v Honky Tonk Man: Warrior runs in and nails Honky with a jumping shoulderblock right away, then takes Jimmy Hart out to the ramp, and chucks him off it. Inside, Warrior unloads with mounted punches, and an elbowdrop follows. Splash, but Honky lifts his knees to block, and he fires off a series of axehandles to try and gain control, but Warrior mostly ignores them. A cheap shot from Hart allows Honky to get control, and he keeping pounding on the champion, in between shots from Jimmy when the referee isn’t looking. Why? It’s no DQ! Honky tries choking him with one of Warrior’s own tassels, but Warrior starts no-selling again, and he goes on the comeback trail. He lands a jumping shoulderblock, but Hart comes in with the megaphone to save the challenger from a press-drop. It works, but then Warrior presses Jimmy into Honky, and covers at 4:27. And, yes, that was the shortest match of the night. DUD

BUExperience: Fun card on paper, and while the action wasn’t anything special, it was all pretty much watchable, and the show breezed by. 

**