WWF Superstars of Wrestling (November 28, 1987)

 

Original Airdate: November 28, 1987 (taped November 17)

From Des Moines, Iowa; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Bruno Sammartino, and Jesse Ventura

Backstage, Jesse catches up with Greg Valentine, who introduces Jimmy Hart as his new manager

Greg Valentine v Brutus Beefcake: Greg attacks from behind to kickstart the match, but Beefcake wins a slugfest, and corner whips him to set up a clothesline on the rebound. Beefcake with a bodyslam, and a turnbuckle smash staggers him for Beefcake to chop down. Another bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Greg dodges, and blasts him with an elbowsmash. Hammer with a backbreaker, and he goes to the top, but Brutus slams him off before he can dive. Brutus with a ten-punch count, and he drops an elbow to the groin, but telegraphs a backdrop, and gets clobbered. That allows Greg some mounted punches, but Beefcake blocks the figure four. He tries an axehandle, but Greg blocks. He goes back to the figure four, but Beefcake blocks again, so Jimmy Hart distracts him, allowing Valentine to put Beefcake down again. Figure four, but Beefcake blocks again, so Greg starts cracking him with chops. That triggers a slugfest, and the referee gets caught in the crossfire, so there’s no one to check for a submission as Beefcake gets the sleeper on. That allows Hart to come in with the shears, but Beefcake blocks him, only to get clobbered by Valentine. Hammer gets the figure four on, but there’s still no referee. Beefcake gets hold of the shears and scares his way out of the hold, as the referee recovers and calls a double disqualification at 8:12. This was a solid TV match. I always dug how the WWF presented star/star matches on TV, basically condensed versions of house show matches that cut right to the chase, and lots of angle. Like, I’m sure these two could have had a technically ‘better’ match with twenty minutes, but sometimes you just want to be entertained, and see a story play out in the ring, as opposed to pure workrate. * ¼ 

Craig DeGeorge brings Ted DiBiase out for a podium interview, so that Ted can relive his favorite moments in embarrassing fans. And, for his next trick, he’s going to prove that even Hulk Hogan has a price - which he’ll prove by purchasing the WWF Title off of him

Slammy Awards ad

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Koko B. Ware, Paul Roma, and Jim Powers v Barry Horowitz, Terry Gibbs, and Dusty Wolfe: Koko with a gorgeous missile dropkick and a brainbuster at 2:25. ¼* 

DeGeorge catches up with WWF Intercontinental Champion Honky Tonk Man, who is trying to calm Jimmy Hart’s nerves about getting into a suspended shark cage when Honky faces Randy Savage. Honky then introduces his girlfriend, Peggy Sue, who we’re pretending isn’t Sensational Sherri in a blonde wig

Harley Race v Scott Casey: Bobby Heenan split screens in here, washing his hands of responsibility for anything Race does to that punk thief Jim Duggan. Race with a cradle suplex at 1:51. DUD

Gene Okerlund catches up with Jim Duggan, who isn’t hiding from Harley

Okerlund catches up with Bam Bam Bigelow, who is going to beat King Kong Bundy, just as he did at Survivor Series 

Jake Roberts v Rick Renslow: Jesse estimates that 40-50% of Jake’s wins should be credited to the snake, since it changes the psychology of the match so much. Jake with the DDT at 2:11. DUD

DeGeorge is in the studio for Update, giving us a look at the upcoming Slammy Awards

One Man Gang and Butch Reed want a Slammy

Don Muraco v Brian Costello: Muraco with a tombstone at 0:53. DUD

Backstage, DeGeorge catches up with Beefcake, who is fuming about earlier, and promising revenge on Valentine 

The Hart Foundation v Lanny Poffo and Jerry Allen: The Foundation put this away with the Hart Attack combo at 1:48. DUD

Okerlund catches up with The Bolsheviks, to discuss geo politics

Okerlund catches up with Reed, who has shifted from Superstar Billy Graham to the guy who replaced him at Survivor Series: Muraco

 

Randy Savage is ready to use Bret Hart as a messenger for Honky Tonk Man at Saturday Night's Main Event

BUExperience: Good episode, though they didn’t even mention Survivor Series in passing. I get that this was taped before, but not even on commentary or the Update segments, or whatever. So odd to someone who grew up in the later era.