WWF Prime Time Wrestling (November 11, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: November 11, 1986 

Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan from the studio

Iron Sheik v Jacques Rougeau: From New York City on October 20 1986. Sheik attacks before the bell, and goes to work. Rougeau manages a 2nd rope bodypress for two, and he hits a sitdown splash for two, so Sheik bails. Back in, Rougeau delivers a dropkick and a hiptoss, and he goes to a headlock, but Sheik escapes. Rougeau responds with an atomic drop, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Backdrop, but Sheik kicks him in the kisser to block, and Rougeau ends up on the outside. Inside, Sheik gets an abdominal stretch, and Gorilla is immediately on him about not applying it correctly, to which Gene Okerlund agrees is ‘all catty wampus.’ Good thing they’re not in a courtroom. Sheik with a gutwrench suplex for two, but a vertical suplex gets reversed for two. Sheik dumps him to the outside to buy time, but Rougeau turns it around on him by flying back in with a slingshot sunset flip for the pin at 7:31. Solid action. *

Mike Rotundo v Jim Brunzell: From New York City on October 20 1986, and previously aired on All American Wrestling on October 26 1986. Joined in progress, with both guys trading off in babyface exchanges. Hard to tell how far along we are, as Rotundo is already covered in sweat, but that’s par for the course for him ten seconds after the bell, so who knows. Jim with a few cradles for two, but Mike blocks a figure four, and nails him with an uppercut. Backdrop, so Jim uses a sunset flip, but Rotundo blocks with a punch, officially taking on the heel role for the evening. Rotundo with a bodyslam for two, but Jim counters another one with a small package for two. Jim with a pair of uppercuts and an abdominal stretch, and once again Gorilla has a problem with it. It’s not ‘catty wampus’ this time, though, for those keeping track. Rotundo reverses, and Gorilla actually compliments the execution, though Gene criticizes it. It’s bizarro world! Both guys collide for a double knockout, and Brunzell is up first with a sleeper. Rotundo quickly escapes, but Jim counters a suplex with an atomic drop. Bodypress, but Rotundo catches him, and both guys end up tumbling out of the ring for a double countout at 5:05 of 9:10. This was fine. *

Davey Boy Smith v Greg Valentine: From New York City on October 20 1986. They feel each other out a bit to start, dominated by Davey. Greg manages a backbreaker for two, and a series of axehandles to the lower back is worth two. Bearhug, but Bulldog reverses, so Greg pops him in the eye with an elbowsmash. Chop puts Davey down for a headbutt drop to the groin for two, and he works a double-knucklelock, but Davey reverses. Valentine throws kicks to escape, and he dumps Davey to the outside, but Bulldog beats the count to the apron, so Greg welcomes him with a forearm across the chest. Valentine with a shoulderbreaker for two, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Figure Four, but Bulldog counters with a cradle for two, so Valentine goes after the leg, pounding it. He works a few variations of a toehold, but Smith manages a leg-feed enzuigiri to flop the Hammer. Smith with his own headbutt drop to the groin, and he actually locks on a sharpshooter, well before Bret Hart was ever associated with the move. Valentine makes the ropes, so Bulldog gives him a hanging vertical suplex for two, and it's Running Powerslam time, but Greg is in the ropes to break the count. He bails, but Bulldog is on his tail, chasing him around ringside. Greg rolls in and suckers him into chasing, and the Hammer puts the boots to him to grab control. Snapmare sets up a pair of elbowdrops, and it's back to the Figure Four, but Smith won't quit. He manages to grab the bottom rope to force a break (with Valentine milking it for as long as he can, complete with great selling from Davey), and Greg keeps mercilessly pounding on the leg. Bulldog catches a second wind and tackles Valentine for mounted punches, however, then adds a dropkick. Piledriver, but Greg counters to a cradle - using the ropes for leverage at 12:36. Fun match here. ** ½

Ken Resnick catches up with the Hart Foundation, who want to talk about ‘bitches.’ They’re reading passages from Bret’s autobiography? 

Moondog Spot v SD Jones: From New York City on October 20 1986. The announcers make a point of discussing just how big Jones is. But, not ‘so big you have to see him in person to appreciate how big,’ so I guess not that big. Jones dominates early on, so Spot slaps him, and then nails him when Jones takes the bait for a chase. Spot with a dive off the middle for two, and he grounds Jones in a chinlock. Spot tries a suplex, but Jones reverses, so Spot starts punching him again. Cross corner whip, but Jones reverses, only for Spot to block a headbutt by going low. A criss cross ends in both men looking up at the lights, and Spot tries a 2nd rope elbowdrop, but misses. That allows Jones to deliver a headbutt for three at 9:34, though Spot makes sure to kick out right at three. Dull stuff here. ¼*

Nikolai Volkoff v Haku: From New York City on October 20 1986. Haku attacks with a dropkick during the anthem singing, and Volkoff has a fit on the outside. Back in, Volkoff manages to pound him down, and a kneedrop gets him two, but Haku fights him off as they get vertical. Haku bashes his leg into the post and delivers a headbutt drop to the groin, so Volkoff tries a turnbuckle smash, but that promptly gets no-sold. Volkoff responds by pulling out a weapon, and that gets him some traction. Volkoff with a rollup for two, but an avalanche misses, and Haku schoolboys at 4:54. DUD

Moondog Rex v Tama: From New York City on October 20 1986. Rex gets a headlock on right away, but Tama forces a criss cross, and wins it with a knife-edge chop. Rex tries a turnbuckle smash, but gets no-sold, and Tama throws a headbutt, then a turnbuckle smash of his own. A snapmare leads to a chinlock, but Rex escapes, and throws some rights. Tama responds in kind, however, and Rex loses that exchange. A big charge misses, though, and Tama takes a bump to the outside. Rex pounces on him as Tama scrambles to get back into the ring, and a suplex in from the apron gets him two. Rex with a series of knees on the mat, and he gets a bearhug on. Tama fights free, however, and a flying bodypress puts it away at 9:00. DUD

Dynamite Kid v Jim Neidhart: From New York City on October 20 1986. Posturing to start, with Kid using speed to dominate, but eventually the big Anvil nails him, and that’s the end of the pep in Kid’s step. To the outside, Neidhart bodyslams him on the floor, and Jim continues hammering him on the way into the ring. Neidhart misses a 2nd rope splash, allowing Kid to dive off the top with a flying dropkick. Kid adds a clothesline, so Neidhart tries tossing him to the outside, but Kid hangs on, and hooks a rollup at 5:47. Better energy than the last few matches, but not much to it, really. ½*

King Kong Bundy v Super Machine: From New York City on October 20 1986. Posturing to start, and Machine delivers a bodypress for two, after dodging the avalanche. Bundy responds with some forearm shots, and a backelbow sets up an elbowdrop, but Machine dodges. Bundy tries a backdrop, but gets nailed. Machine tries another bodypress, but gets caught, and slammed. That allows Bundy an axehandle for two, so Machine tries a corner whip, but gets reversed, and Bundy lands the avalanche at 3:18. I did not at all expect that to be over so quickly. DUD

BUExperience: What was the deal with the house show they pulled these matches from? It was literally all tag wrestlers in single matches, and headlined by a tag team battle royal. And this drew, with some 13,000 in the Garden! Just shows how hot the product was at that point. But, hey, at least they avoided the lazy cliche of having tag matches as singles, instead mixing the pairings up. 

Not the best episode, though.