Goody Bag 93: The Goody Bag You Thought You'd Never See!

 

Hulk Hogan and Ricky Steamboat v Randy Savage and Honky Tonk Man: From East Rutherford New Jersey on January 5 1987, in a TV taping dark match. Hulk is World champion, Savage is Intercontinental champion, all is right with the world. But, Honky is still in the suspenders phase, so maybe not all. Steamboat forces Honky in to get things rolling, and he gets killed. Steamboat tries to force him to tag to Macho, but Savage ain’t having it, so Ricky hits Honky with a bodypress for two instead. Over to Hulk, and he wants Randy as well. He manages to force him in for Steamboat to go after, but Randy immediately bails, and it’s back to Honky. The babyfaces pinball Honky, and Steamboat snapmares him into a chinlock, as Macho fumes from a safe distance. Honky rakes Hogan’s eyes, allowing him to corner him for a ten-punch count, but Hulk fights it off with an inverted atomic drop. Hulk with a cross corner clothesline before passing back to Steamboat, and Honky ends up trapped in a sleeper. Honky throws him into the ropes to escape, and Randy is right there with a cheap shot to turn the tide. The heels go to work on Steamboat, until Hulk gets the hot tag, and you know he’s running wild. Randy takes the big boot, and Hogan passes to Steamboat to finish the job. Ricky unloads a bit, but goes to the well once too often with dives, and Honky shoves him off the ropes. That draws Hulk over, and Roseanne Barr the door. In the chaos, Savage grabs the ring bell, but Hulk prevents him from using it, and Steamboat goes to town. Savage bails to the dressing room, leaving Honky and Jimmy Hart alone to get killed, as the referee calls a DQ on Savage for shoving him at 11:28. This was really fun, and a masterclass in baiting a crowd. *

Rick Martel v Ron Garvin: From a house show in Toronto Ontario Canada on May 27 1990. Martel kickstarts things during the patdown, and pounds Ron down. Martel misses a charge in the corner, allowing Ron a schoolboy for two, and that turns the tide. Garvin’s red/yellow gear doesn’t work as a look for him. Garvin with a ten-punch, and a somersault cradle gets him two. Some turnbuckle smashes and punches get two, and a crucifix cradle is worth two. Garvin holds on to the crucifix for a bit, but Martel manages to cradle for two. Rick goes low to buy time, and he’s able to hammer away, gaining control. Martel works him over, but Garvin fights back with a piledriver attempt. Martel counters with a backdrop, but Ron hangs on into a sunset flip for two, before Martel cuts him off with a knee. Backslide, but Garvin reverses for two, so Martel starts slugging at him. Irish whip, but Ron reverses, and grabs a sleeper on the rebound. Martel fades, but Garvin lets off before he can get the win, opting to give him the clock of stomps instead. That sets up a sharpshooter, but Rick goes to the eyes to block. Martel looks for a follow up, but both guys collide coming out of the ropes, and we have a double knockout spot. Garvin is up first, and uses a rollup for two - only for Martel to reverse for three at 8:21. This was a very solid, energetic match, and didn’t get bogged down in the usual resthold exhibition that a lot of these house show matches do, nor did it overstay its welcome. * ¾ 

Jake Roberts v Bad News Brown: From Toronto Ontario Canada on May 27 1990. Brown stalls early on, frustrating Roberts. That allows Brown to get control, but a 2nd rope fistdrop misses. Jake capitalizes by going for the DDT, but Brown blocks, and bails again. Jake is sick of it, and chases, but ends up losing the high ground, and getting nailed. Brown goes to work, and he lands the enzuigiri, but Roberts falls out of the ring before he can cover. Brown gets tired of waiting for the countout, and decides to mess with the snake bag in the meantime, ending up hiding it underneath the ring. Brown forces a still downed Jake back in, but instead of covering, he just unloads. Brown grabs the microphone to taunt Roberts as he beats on him, but keeps neglecting going for the win. That just drags on and on and on, until, finally, Jake is able to snap off a DDT out of nowhere for three at 17:22. Long and dull. They understood storytelling, but their in-ring work couldn’t sustain the runtime. ¼*

WWF Title Match: Ultimate Warrior v Rick Rude: From Toronto Ontario Canada on May 27 1990. Rude is in plain black tights here, which is a weird look for him in this era. Posturing to start, and Warrior delivers a powerslam, leading to Rude bailing and fuming. Rude manages to pound Warrior down after withstanding another barrage, and the challenger uses a bodyslam to set up a forearm drop for one. Warrior fights him off, and he goes to the top, but Bobby Heenan shakes the ropes, and the champion takes a spill. Rude goes low with a headbutt drop to the groin, and Warrior falls out of the ring in agony. Warrior beats the count in, so Rude knocks him right back out with a clothesline, and this time Rick follows to ram him into the guardrail. Inside, Rude delivers a pair of piledrivers for two, and he sets up the neckbreaker, but Warrior blocks. Clothesline, but Rude ducks, and uses the momentum to turn it into the neckbreaker for two. Rude stays on him with a headvice, but Warrior powers out, and goes on the comeback trail. Warrior with a splash for the clean pin at 9:54. And then Warrior casually beats him up some more after the bell, too. Gosh, no wonder no one took him seriously as a threat at SummerSlam. ½*