WWF at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (December 17, 1988)

 

Original Airdate: December 17, 1988

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Rod Trongard and Superstar Billy Graham

Opening Match: Boris Zhukov v Lanny Poffo: Poffo is subbing for Blue Blazer here, and he reads a poem to antagonize Zhukov, so Boris charges to kick start the match. Boris unloads in the corner, but an avalanche misses, and Poffo dives on him with mounted punches until Boris bails. Inside, Lanny works a side-headlock, and he pulls on Zhukov’s beard until Boris bails again. Inside, Boris wants a test-of-strength, and he dominates it, but Poffo’s speed allows him to get into the ropes. Zhukov tries a headlock, but Poffo forces a criss cross, and uses a drop-toehold to take Zhukov to the canvas. Poffo wrenches on the leg until Zhukov gets away, and he tries to hide in the ropes, but Lanny stays on the leg. Boris fights free and cracks him with a brutal chop, putting Lanny on the outside. Boris keeps him there with a headbutt, but Poffo sweeps the leg from the floor, and bashes the knee into the post. That allows Lanny to climb back in, and he puts the boots to the leg. Poffo with a backdrop, and a monkey flip follows. Another one, but Boris counters with an inverted atomic drop, though it aggravates his bad knee. Good selling from Zhukov there. Boris uses a bodyslam and a 2nd rope clothesline from there, gutting it out for the pin at 12:07. Competent, just dull. I appreciated Zhukov’s dedication to selling the leg, though. *

Greg Valentine v Tito Santana: Lots of posturing and feeling each other out to start, with Santana mostly dominating. Tito starts targeting the leg, so Valentine goes to the eyes to shake him off, and the Hammer takes control. Valentine with a trio of elbowdrops for two, so Tito tries getting fired up for a comeback, but Greg quickly cuts that off with elbowsmashes. Santana ends up on the outside, but beats the count, so Greg pulverizes him with a series of elbowdrops and a fistdrop for two. Valentine goes upstairs with a flying axehandle, Greg with a shoulderbreaker for two, but Tito gets fired up, throwing fists, and getting on the comeback trail. Tito goes after the leg, but Valentine blocks the figure four. That allows Greg to work on Tito’s leg some, and he goes for his own figure four, but Santana hooks a cradle for two. Greg responds by blasting him with a knee, and he tries for the hold again, but Tito shoves him into the corner to block. Greg stays on him with a stomachbreaker for two, and he tries a side suplex next, but Santana throws rights to block. Tito with a vertical suplex for two, but Valentine blocks a 2nd rope axehandle. That allows him to try for the figure four again, but Tito keeps blocking, and they end up slugging it out on the mat. They fight to a vertical base, and Greg tries an atomic drop, but Tito blocks. That allows Santana to sweep the leg into the figure four, but time expires at 19:43, just as he gets the hold on! This was solid action, just a little dry for my taste. * ½ 

Bad News Brown v Jim Powers: Brown tries a sneak attack, but Powers has it scouted, and fights him off with an atomic drop. Bad News bails and threatens walking out before climbing back in, with Powers greeting him with an inside cradle for two. A dropkick sends Brown back to the outside, and he tries suckering Powers into accepting a handshake as he comes back in, but Powers is too smart for him. Unfortunately for Jim, a corner charge ends badly, and Bad News takes control. Powers manages to duck a clothesline and throw a bodypress for two, but Brown quickly clobbers him to keep control, and he dumps Jim to the outside. Brown follows for a bodyslam on the floor, and he keeps pounding on Powers on the way back in. Cross corner whip, but Jim reverses, and manages a monkey flip. Backdrop, but Bad News clobbers him to block, and he chokes Powers down. Jim fights to a vertical base and charges, but Bad News sidesteps, and Powers goes crashing into the turnbuckles. That allows Brown to keep hammering the man, and a bodyslam sets up a splash, but Jim gets his knees up. That allows him to make a comeback, and he lands a dropkick for two. A vertical suplex gets another two, but a criss cross ends badly when Brown catches him with an enzuigiri at 10:52. This failed to be adequately engaging, but I appreciated how they kept the action going back and forth. And then afterwards, the Powers of Pain come out to kick Jim’s ass as well, just in case you were worried he wasn’t enough of a jobber already. Good of them to clarify. ¾*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Demolition v The Powers of Pain: They don’t wait for the bell, getting into a big slugfest right away. The champs clean house, and then isolate Barbarian as the dust settles on Ax in there with him. Ax gets a side-headlock on, so Barbarian whips him into the ropes, but no one moves as they collide. Ax goes to the eyes to allow him a successful clothesline, and it’s over to Smash for a backelbow. A snapmare allows Smash a headvice, and boy, the crowd is into this one. Clearly that double turn at Survivor Series was a great booking move. Barbarian fights free and knocks Smash into the heel corner, then passes to Warlord to club on the champion. Smash slips away and tags Ax for some double teaming, and Ax gets Warlord in a chinlock. Barbarian comes in to break it up, but Ax retains control, so Mr. Fuji whacks him with the cane to properly turn the tide. The Powers work Ax over, until Warlord runs into an elbow on an avalanche, and Smash gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Fuji comes in with the cane, but Ax cuts him off, and uses the cane himself - the referee calling a double disqualification at 6:05. The work was super basic, but the match was short enough to avoid being boring, and the crowd was into it. ½*

Ted DiBiase v Hercules: Ted tries attacking before the bell, but Hercules quickly fights him off. Hercules with a backdrop, and a series of rights knocks DiBiase out of the ring. Virgil attempts a distraction, but Hercules dodges the sneak attack, and nails Ted with a backelbow. He adds an elbowdrop ahead of mounted punches, so Virgil hops onto the apron, allowing Ted to bail. He looks to stall, but Hercules chases, and gets tripped up by Virgil. That allows Ted an elbowdrop on the way back in, and he delivers a beating in the corner. Ted with a 2nd rope axehandle, followed by a clothesline for two. He goes to the eyes to shake off a comeback attempt, and an elbowdrop gets him two. DiBiase with a vertical suplex, followed by a backdrop for two. A gutwrench suplex gets two, and a bodyslam sets up a 2nd rope backelbow drop, but Hercules dodges. Ted desperately looks to keep control, but Hercules keeps dodging him, and goes on the comeback trail. The full nelson looks to finish, but DiBiase gets into the ropes, and the referee gets bumped. Hercules stays on him with a torture rack, but there’s no referee, and Virgil runs in to nail him with the chain. Ted crawls over with the cover, and the recovered official counts the pin at 8:39. *

Koko B Ware v Akeem: They spend the first two and a half minutes with Akeem just trying to corner Koko and Koko slipping away, before Ware starts boxing his ears. Koko keeps sticking and moving, but eventually gets caught in a bearhug. Akeem puts the squeeze on him, but Koko manages to slug free, though he’s too battered to follow up. That allows Akeem to keep hammering him, and he lands an avalanche. A second one misses, however, and Koko briefly tries to gear up a comeback, but quickly gets cut off, and splashed at 10:38. Really dull and uneventful. DUD

WWF Women's Title Match: Rockin' Robin v Sensational Sherri: Sherri is one of the greatest managers of all time, but I’ve never really appreciated her as a wrestler. Robin messes with her at the bell, but that annoys Sherri, and she viciously attacks. Robin reverses a turnbuckle smash, however, and the champion adds a series of them, taking Sherri on a tour of all four. Robin with a clothesline for two, but a second one misses, and Sherri bails. Robin gives chase, and Sherri is left hiding in the ropes once back inside. The challenger stalls for a bit, but ends up in a hammerlock. Sherri gets into the ropes, but loses a criss cross, and Robin goes back to the hammerlock. Robin tries a corner splash, but Sherri sidesteps, and that’s enough to turn the tide in favor of the challenger. Sherri grounds her in a reverse chinlock, then goes to a spinning toehold. A shoulderblock gets Sherri two, so she goes to a chinlock, then delivers a Russian legsweep for two. Robin sweeps the leg and drops a series of elbows on the knee, before putting Sherri in a Boston crab. Sherri escapes, triggering a pinfall reversal sequence, with Sherri getting the better of it. Robin tries a bodypress, but Sherri ducks it, and covers, but Robin is in the ropes. Sherri triggers a slugfest, but ends up on the losing end, and Robin tags her with a jumping backelbow for two. Robin takes her into the corner for chops, and a cross corner whip rebounds Sherri into a powerslam for two. Robin with a bodyslam, but a flying bodypress misses, and Sherri throws a clothesline for two. Backelbow, but Robin counters with a bulldog to retain at 10:13. This built into a pretty solid match. * ½ 

Main Event: Hulk Hogan v Big Boss Man: Boss Man uses the nightstick to block Hulk from getting in, so Hogan pulls him to the outside, and bashes him into the post a bunch of times, then nails him with a chair for good measure! Inside, Hulk with right hands, and he grabs the nightstick, but Slick comes in to prevent it. Slick ends up getting avalached by a recovering Boss Man, and Hulk cuffs him to the turnbuckle, and hits Boss Man with a side suplex. A clothesline allows Hulk some mounted punches, and man, the crowd is losing their minds for this. Not a single person has sat down since Hogan came through the curtain. Hulk goes back to the outside to abuse Slick, and Boss Man eats the axe bomber. Hogan with a cross corner clothesline, and a bodyslam sets up a pair of elbowdrops. Backdrop, but Hogan telegraphs it, and Boss Man drills him with a clothesline. Boss Man adds a spinebuster, buying him enough time to unlock Slick, and still hit Hulk with a straddling ropechoke. A piledriver gets two, but Hulk manages to backdrop him over the top to buy some time. Slick attacks, suckering Hulk into a chase, and Boss Man capitalizes with a scrapbuster. That allows him a splash for two, but it triggers the HULK UP!! The big boot knocks Boss Man to the outside, however, and Hulk gets sent into the post when chasing. Boss Man handcuffs him out there, but Hulk beats the count, and somehow the referee isn’t calling for a DQ, despite Hogan literally being handcuffed. I like how he questions Boss Man about it, as if maybe Hulk was just engaging in some light bondage with some woman in the crowd, or something. No wonder no one respects the damn referees. Boss Man tries an avalanche, but misses, and Hulk snaps the cuffs off before hitting the legdrop at 9:12. You can absolutely see why Hulk was such a massive star while watching this. He knew exactly how to play to the crowd, time his comebacks, and get out before overstaying his welcome. He was a master before his ego took over later. **

BUExperience: I didn’t really love this card (even on paper), and the matches didn’t deliver anything to overcome my initial hesitation, but a hot crowd helps everything, so it wasn’t unwatchable, even if not worth your time. 

DUD