WWF Prime Time Wrestling (February 11, 1988)

 

Original Airdate: February 11, 1988

Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan from the studio. There’s still an embargo on talking about The Main Event

One Man Gang v Hillbilly Jim: From Boston Massachusetts on August 15 1987. They do posturing, and the story of the match is Little Beaver hanging around to mess with Slick and Gang. “The little sea urchin,” notes Johnny Valiant. “The crowd here is yelling for Beaver,” notes Lord Alfred Hayes. Well, at least they’re trying to entertain me, because this match certainly isn’t. They finally spill to the outside, and Jim beats the count for the countout win at 10:50. This was terrible, and saddling Gang with the Little Beaver stuff was a terrible way to try and get him over as a top guy. DUD

George Steele v Wellington Wilkins: From Hershey Pennsylvania on January 26. Steele with an elevated hammerlock at 2:36. DUD

Craig DeGeorge is in the studio for Update, giving us a look at the date and venue for WrestleMania IV. Nothing as far as the card yet, just general information

Omar Atlas v Dusty Wolfe: From New York City on January 25. This main event is joined in progress, with Wolfe holding a hammerlock. Atlas with a rollup at 4:03 shown of 7:29. DUD

Ultimate Warrior v Hercules: From Wrestling Challenge on February 7 (taped January 27) in Salisbury Maryland. There’s still an embargo on discussing The Main Event. Pretty subdued entrance from Warrior, compared to his usual sprints and shakes. Hercules wants to do a tug of war with the chain, and of course takes a cheap shot once Warrior engages. Warrior ends up snapping the chain, so Hercules attacks him with the chain for the DQ at 1:57. Afterwards, Hercules chokes him down with the chain, drawing a bunch of enhancement guys and officials out to make the save. And there you go, we have a feud on our hands. DUD

Scott Casey v Jose Estrada: From New York City on January 25. Tons of empty seats in the first few rows here, which is a shame, look at the action they’re missing! The star power! Casey misses a bodypress, so Jose tries a neckbreaker, but Scott holds the top rope to block. That allows him a shoulderbreaker at 9:58. ½*

Gene Okerlund catches up with Demolition

Rick Rude v Jerry Allen: From New York City on July 25 1987, and already aired on the August 3 1987 episode of Prime Time. Lord Alfred Hayes actually has the chutzpah to try and compare jobber Jerry’s physique to Rude’s. Rick with a backbreaker rack at 7:55. Not exactly top form stuff from Rude. He was a strong worker, but had a long way to go before he evolved into an entertainer. DUD

DeGeorge is in the control center for Special Report, giving us lowlights from Royal Rumble. The bench press segment and the women’s match? Really going for the throat there

DeGeorge brings Dino Bravo and Jesse Ventura out for a podium interview to discuss the controversy around the bench press. Luckily, Jesse is here to cut a proper promo, because there’s no way Bravo and Frenchy Martin would get this over on their own

Junkyard Dog v Butch Reed: From Salisbury on January 27. Reed attacks from behind to kickstart things, but Dog fights off the blitz. Dog knocks him over the top with a right hand, and he follows, but Reed rakes the eyes. Reed tries sending him into the post, but Dog reverses, and throws headbutts on the way back inside. Dog holds a wristlock, but Reed gets the ropes, so Dog uses a takedown into an armbar at center ring. Reed fights to a vertical base, and throws a punch to break, but a criss cross results in both guys throwing clotheslines. Reed gets the better of it, and adds a fistdrop before Dog can recover. Reed hammers on him for a bit, before delivering a swinging neckbreaker for two. A pair of elbowdrops are worth two, and a piledriver gets two. Reed goes to the top to try and finish this up, but Dog blocks the dive, and makes a comeback. That draws Slick over for a distraction, and Reed attacks Dog with the cane. He beats him down, but Don Muraco runs in to save, though the referee sees it, and disqualifies JYD at 7:42. The crowd was totally asleep here. ½*

BUExperience: Bobby complaining about and trying to circumvent the embargo was fun. That’s it, though.