WWF Wrestling Challenge (October 12, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: October 12, 1986 (taped September 17)

From Salisbury, Maryland; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan

Randy Savage v Billy Jack Haynes: The WWF Intercontinental title is not on the line here. Miss Elizabeth split screens in to tell us that Randy is actually not so bad, but is immediately interrupted by Savage showing up and yelling at her. Haynes with a an armdrag to start, and he grabs a standing headlock, so Savage forces a criss cross, but Haynes is ready with a bodypress for two. Haynes adds a press-slam for two, and Savage bails. Macho stalls from there, and suckers Billy into another criss cross, then dodges Haynes’ attempt at a dropkick, covering for two. Macho adds a flying axehandle for two, and a hangman clothesline gets him another two. Irish whip, but Haynes reverses, and catches Savage with a hangman clothesline of his own. Billy fires off a big chop, and a vertical suplex sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Haynes with a kneeling facebuster, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Macho blocks. Bodyslam, but Haynes counters to the full nelson, and Savage fails to grab the ropes while he’s close. Randy instead kicks the referee to bump him, and Haynes lets off the hold to go revive him. That draws a second official out, but the new referee is Danny Davis, and he immediately disqualifies Haynes at 4:22, blaming him for the bump. A pretty fun match for the four minutes it lasted. * ¼ 

Wrestlers’ Rebuttal is Ricky Steamboat telling us that he thinks wrestlers needing a manager is bullshit. Well, maybe that’s why he ended up broke compared to a lot of the other guys

Don Muraco and Bob Orton reminisce about how much fun they had beating Roddy Piper up a few weeks ago. Muraco wearing (and not fitting into) Piper’s gear is a sight

Ken Resnick catches up with the Machines, who are still totally, 100% Japanese

The Killer Bees v Barry O and Butch Cooper: I never got why the Bees would come out wearing masks, and then remove them for the match. Like, what’s the point? And then the Bees split screen in to talk about the masks, which are apparently an ‘equalizer’ against cheating managers. Okay, but why not keep them on the whole time, then? Couldn’t they at least work in a throwaway line about how it hurts their peripheral vision, so they don’t want to wear them more than absolutely necessary? Jim Brunzell hits Cooper with a dropkick at 2:36. DUD

Resnick catches up with Harley Race, who tells us he wants to hurt people. In the dullest manner possible. The telling, not the hurting

The Hart Foundation v Mario Mancini and Nick Kiniski: It feels so odd to hear Heenan praising Bret Hart while knocking Honky Tonk Man. It just feels… wrong. Monsoon still sings Bret’s praises, though, heel or babyface. I always appreciated how Gorilla and Jesse Ventura would have their favorites, regardless of heel/face. Nick looks like a cross between Greg Valentine and Terry Taylor, and he probably would have gotten a look if he came along at a time when the roster was thinner. But this was not that time. The Hart Attack finishes Mario at 1:55. DUD

Jake Roberts hosts the Snake Pit with guest WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, who stops by th compares his pythons with Jake’s. Great bit here, where Jake asks him if he’d ever turn his back on a man he’s afraid of, and Hulk casually goes “nope,” then turns his back and walks away

Pedro Morales and Tito Santana v Steve Lombardi and Ken Glover: Pedro and Tito split screen in to cut a promo in Spanish. Getting a team with Rick Martel was a big upgrade for Tito. Not that Pedro wasn’t a huge star once upon a time, but during this period he was more of an anchor for a guy like Santana. Though, you could argue that Tito had already peaked by this point. Morales pins Glover at 2:24. DUD

Moondog Spot v Tama: Tama wins a criss cross, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Spot dodges. Spot with a backbreaker, as Superstar Billy Graham split screens in, apparently still lost in the desert somewhere. Someone should help him out. Spot with a vertical suplex, but a 2nd rope fistdrop misses, and Tama throws a few headbutts. That draws Moondog Rex in, and the referee calls for the DQ at 1:24. This was too short to be anyway. Afterwards, the Moondogs look to do some damage, but Haku makes the save. ½*

Resnick brings Sika and Wizard in so Wizard can do his usual shouting. Makes sense that they’d program Hulk Hogan with someone going around calling himself the ‘grand wizard’

BUExperience: This show continues to be loads of fun.