WWF Prime Time Wrestling (September 30, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: September 30, 1986

Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan from the studio

Bob Orton v Cousin Luke: From Boston Massachusetts on September 6 1986. Orton manages a corner whip, but misses the charge in, and Luke slams in. Luke gets a bearhug on, so Bob goes to the eyes, and throws a clothesline to turn it around. Orton with a facebuster for two, but Luke fights him off in the corner, and manages a hiptoss. Luke unloads in another corner, but misses a charge, and Orton cradles at 4:02. Thankfully short. ¼*

From the September 27 episode of Superstars (taped September 16 in Baltimore Maryland), it’s Piper’s Pit v The Flower Shop. Adrian Adonis tries having Bob Orton on as the guest, but of course, Roddy responds in his usual level headed, non-hateful manner. Piper brings Don Muraco out as his guest, but Adonis complains that Piper’s set has no color, so Piper puts a pair of pink panties over his head. Muraco notes that this is a free country, and Piper shouldn’t mock Adonis. This, of course, makes Don the heel. And the crowd goes especially wild for Piper when he notes that he has kids, and ‘doesn’t want them watching someone like’ Adonis. That ends in Adonis, Orton, and Muraco all beating Piper with a chair as they destroy the Pit set, and all of that would make them massive babyfaces here in 2023, but in 1986, everyone boos them. Great segment, though

Sivi Afi v Pete Doherty: Also from September 6 in Boston. Pete with a pair of bodyslams to start, but he wastes time gloating, and Afi delivers a slam of his own. Sivi with a pair of armdrags, followed by a series of chops to drop the Duke. Sivi with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, and Sivi goes to a headvice. Pete whips him into the ropes, but loses the resulting criss cross to a dropkick, and Pete bails. Back in, Sivi uses a drop-toehold into an STF, but Pete fights to a vertical base, and breaks. He tries triggering a slugfest, but that ends badly for him, and Afi backdrops him to set up a headbutt drop for two. Back to the headvice for a bit, and Sivi rattles him with a few turnbuckle smashes, but a corner splash misses. That allows Pete to take control, and he delivers a clothesline to set up a legdrop. A charge in the corner misses, however, and Sivi makes a comeback. A somersault cradle gets him two, and a flying bodypress finishes at 6:59. Nothing of note, but competent enough, and didn’t overstay its welcome. *

Ken Resnick catches up with Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy, and shit, they are physically impressive. They threaten Monsoon if he doesn’t start playing nice with Bobby on the set

The American Express v The Hart Foundation: Also from September 6 in Boston. Mike Rotundo and Bret Hart start, and they do some posturing. A criss cross goes Rotundo’s way with a hiptoss, and an armdrag leaves Hart in an armbar. Bret tries a rollup, but Mike holds the ropes to block, and sends Hart into Dan Spivey’s boot with a catapult. Dan tags in to take Hart to the mat in a side-headlock, so Bret forces a criss cross, but botches a leapfrog. You don’t see that every day. Bret tags out, and Jim Neidhart gets into a measuring contest with Spivey. Dan gets the better of it, and he gets Jim in a toehold. Bret comes in illegally to try and save, but Dan keeps the hold on, and Rotundo makes his own illegal switch, holding Neidhart in a leglock once complete. The Express work on Jim, but the Foundation manage a cheap shot on Spivey to turn it around. Unfortunately, Jim collides with him on a criss cross, and Rotundo catches a tag. He comes in hot, delivering an atomic drop and a corner whip, but Jim dodges the charge. That allows Jim to smash his face into Bret’s knee, and the Foundation deliver a combo for two. The Foundation go to work on Mike, until Bret gets absolutely leveled by a knee while attempting an avalanche, and Dan gets the tag. The referee didn’t actually see it, but they’re just going with it. Dan lands a corner clothesline on the Hitman, leading to the bulldog, but time expires at 19:53. Bret was, as always, incredible at what he does, and Rotundo made a great face-in-peril. **

Pedro Morales v Rene Goulet: Also from September 6 in Boston. Pedro dominates with basic holds early on, frustrating Goulet until Goulet bails. Back in, Rene suckers him into making a mistake, and Morales takes a spill to the outside. That turns the tide, and Goulet works him over. Rene gets a nervehold on (which is apparently a finisher), but Pedro somehow manages to escape. ‘Somehow’ being a blatant eye gouge. Pedro makes a comeback, and he delivers a backdrop for two. An atomic drop gets two, and a rollup puts it away at 11:21. I have no idea why they’d feature this. The match was junk, and both guys were past their sell-by dates anyway. DUD

Resnick brings Jake Roberts in to congratulate him on the success of the Snake Pit segment on Wrestling Challenge

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The British Bulldogs v Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff: Also from September 6 in Boston. Davey Boy Smith and Sheik start, and they spend a while posturing. Davey gets an armbar, so Sheik forces a criss cross, but takes a hiptoss. Smith adds a bodyslam before passing to Dynamite Kid, and he hits Sheik with an atomic drop, followed by a bodyslam of his own. Backdrop, but Kid telegraphs it, and gets clobbered. That allows the tag to Volkoff, and the challengers cut the ring in half on Kid. Kid ducks a clothesline and makes the hot tag. Davey gets Volkoff in a bearhug, so Sheik comes in, but ends up hitting Nikolai by accident! Davey slaps the bearhug on Sheik, but Volkoff saves, and the heels have control back. Sheik gets Davey in a camel clutch, but Kid saves, and Roseanne Barr the door! Smith hooks a small package, so Volkoff turns it over, but Kid turns it back for the pin at 8:03. They had more time to work with here, but the match was right on par with the shorter version that aired on Challenge the day before this. * ¼ 

We close with Heenan presenting the surprise tape that he’d been hyping as something embarrassing for Monsoon throughout the episode, which ends up being clips of Hulk Hogan beating Bobby up at WrestleMania 2

BUExperience: The Piper/Adonis segment was awesome, though that was technically a replay, so we can’t really count it as a contribution of this show. The rest was fine, certainly watchable.