WWF Wrestling Challenge (November 23, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: November 23, 1986 (taped October 29)

From Glens Falls, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan

The Moondogs v The Hart Foundation: The Foundation attack before the bell, but the Moondogs fight them off, and they isolate Bret Hart, going to work on the Hitman. Rex tries a bodyslam, so Jim Neidhart sweeps his leg from the outside, and Bret topples him. That allows Bret a pointed elbowdrop, and he passes to Neidhart to pound on Rex. The Foundation work Rex over, until Anvil misses an avalanche, and Spot gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door. The the chaos, the Foundation catch Rex with a Hart Attack at 3:53. ½*

Wrestlers’ Rebuttal is the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, who are tired of the Hart Foundation going around claiming to be the top team

The Can-Am Connection v Barry O and Gladiator: Good pop for the Connection here. They were a fun babyface team, and I wish it lasted longer. It was a better pairing than Strike Force. Though, both teams had awesome names. They split screen in, and they don’t like the Foundation either. Tom Zenk with a slingshot splash at 3:20. ¼*

Ken Resnick catches up with Junkyard Dog, who is looking to deal with some ‘fools’

Heenan introduces a ‘tribute’ to Captain Lou Albano, which is a clip of King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd beating the Machines

Sika v Paul Roma: Heenan is still laughing about his ‘tribute,’ which Monsoon found ‘disgusting.’ It wasn’t that offensive. Calm down, you snowflake. Sika with a Samoan drop at 1:34. Sika does nothing for me. He’s just such a generic Samoan heel, and he never does anything notable. DUD

Resnick catches up with WWF Tag Team Champions The British Bulldogs, and them pretty much saying their dog is more formidable than Albano feels like a bigger insult than whatever Heenan did

Dino Bravo v Mario Mancini: Heenan notes that Bravo is getting so big that he can barely get his entrance jacket off. Yeah, I wonder what would cause a guy to grow so quickly that he can barely fit into clothes he likely just bought. Hmm. It’s a mystery. More fun with 80s Heenan, as he notes that Mancini should have stuck to ‘delivering pizzas,’ because he’s getting killed against Bravo. What a different time 1986 was. Bravo with a side suplex at 2:34. This wasn’t actually very long, but it felt endless. DUD

Jake Roberts hosts the Snake Pit with guest WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, who has some advice for Jake: shut up. Not much here

Dick Slater v Iron Mike Sharpe: Slater is leaning really hard into the whole dixie thing for a guy trying to be a babyface in a promotion based in the northeast. No wonder this run was a big nothing. Bless Heenan for making a point out of it. Slater with a flying elbowsmash at 3:19. Some decent back-and-forth here, at least. ¼*

Outback Jack vignette

The Killer Bees v Don Muraco and Bob Orton: Muraco and Orton come out to Roddy Piper’s music, complete with kilts. Jim Brunzell and Orton start, and Bob pounds him into the ropes, but Brunzell avoids getting trapped. Tag to B. Brian Blair, and he tries a wristlock, but can’t hold Bob, and Don tags in while Orton is still in the hold. Really looking like a star there, Blair. Don hammers him into the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Blair armdrags him. Tag back to Brunzell for a double backelbow, but referee Danny Davis refuses to count until Blair is out of the ring, and Muraco is out at two. Hey, he’s not wrong. Just because the other referee’s are idiots doesn’t mean he needs to ignore the rule book. A cheap shot from Orton puts Brunzell down, and the heels work him over. Blair gets the hot tag, and runs wild. A hip attack on Don looks to finish, but Davis is too busy dealing with Orton to count. Again, Orton was in the ring, Davis is not wrong. Brunzell tags in, and gets Don in a sleeper, but Orton saves, and knocks Brunzell silly. Don covers, but Blair comes in for the save. He shoves Davis out of the way (and pretty blatantly so) as he does, however, and that’s a DQ at 4:34. Really basic from a work perspective, but there was a lot of storytelling at play, and it was a good watch. *

Resnick catches up with Slick, who says that, after months of trying, he’s managed to secure a title shot for Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. And then Butch Reed joins them, and they’re really excited about his hair color

BUExperience: I don’t think it was the express purpose of this episode, but this did a great job of highlighting just how strong the tag division was during this period.