Paid Members air_raid Posted February 12, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) On 2/4/2022 at 12:19 PM, air_raid said: Here's your first half of my dissection of 1987 on the road. Here comes my second half of 1987. I'd appreciate feedback from any of you that are frequenting the thread and found this interesting, especially if you think I'm going too deep compared to my 1997 post. It's bound to be wordier considering there's usually 3 shows a day, 4-5 at weekends compared to 1-2 in 97, but if it's a chore to read then I can scale things back from 1988 onwards. July is an interesting month, especially when you look at Macho Man. On TV, he's just endorsed Honky as the new Intercontinental Champ and been very vocal about focusing on Hogan. When you look at his house shows, he's having a few shots at Honky and wrestling other heels too, almost 50/50 with his bookings against babyfaces, and its apparent that they're testing the waters and deciding if those cheers he's started getting could be translated into a proper babyface drawing card. I watched one of his Superstars matches from July and even though there are some fans chanting Hogan's name, they pop big when Randy comes out and they're on their feet when he goes up for the elbow. The turn was inevitable at this point. 3rd July in Salt Lake City (near 8000) we're off to the races with Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage. 4th at LA Sports (near 9000) too, although the Jumping Bomb Angels go on last beating the Glamour Girls by count-out, over 14,000 on the 5th in Oakland, near 16,000 in Tacoma on 6th, then Hulkster beats Killer Khan in St Paul on the 8th and Omaha on the 10th, and Harley Race in St Louis on 11th and Kansas City on 12th where near 9000 see a pretty dire card apart from the main, although the Jumping Bomb Angels curtain jerking probably made up for it. Hogan vs Savage again main events Glens Falls on 15th after TVs along with Honky vs Jake with special ringside enforcer Mr T... why the fuck wasn't that on TV?? Of note on the same show, Dan Kroffat (Phil LaFon) had a tryout with Lombardi. The night after we have Hogan & Patera against Harley and Herc in Lake Placid, NY. Hogan vs Savage sells out Halifax on 18th and draws near 7000 to Denver on 19th where Savage wins by count-out to build a rematch, near 9000 to Albuquerque, 4500 to Oklahoma City on 21st, a sell out near 4000 in Bristol TN on 25th (Hogan working a no name town??) and near 8000 in Wichita on 26th, but Hulk finishes his month 31st in Landover, MD with Killer Khan, losing by count-out and getting an eye injury (green mist) to set up THEIR rematch. Of note on the undercard, Superstar Billy Graham tags with Ken Patera to beat Herc and Bundy. 1st sees a B+ in Newmarket Ontario with Harts against the Bees and Honky against Bruno, and Harts on top with the Bees without Honky 2nd in San Diego. 1st also has a B- show in Spokane with Savage against Butch Reed and a main of Patera and Billy Jack vs Herc and Mr Wonderful, and a C show at Jaffa Mosque (yes, MOSQUE) in Altoona PA with Bulldogs v Demolition and Koko v Kamala. The same B string runs 2nd In Portland (Billy Jack's hometown), gets upgraded via Hogan on the 3rd, those shows also featuring Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels, with the same C card going on 2nd in New Castle PA but getting an upgrade with a Can-Ams vs Islanders main event 3rd in Calgary - the Harts miss that show as they're in Victoria (BC) with the Bees, Bulldogs vs Demolition underneath. Harts vs Bees with Bulldogs v Demolition is on tap in Regina on 4th too. Fresno on 7th has Savage and Reed plus the Billy Jack tag plus Womens tag titles again. On the 9th in Hartford we're loaded with Honky Tonk vs Savage, Tito vs the Natural, Can-Ams vs the Islanders, the Barber vs Dino and Demolition vs the Young Stallions. Some of those guys really should have been at the Meadowlands, you'll read below. 10th in Houston is B+ again with Honky/Savage and the Harts dropping a count-out to Jim Brunzell & Tito. Boston Garden on 11th gets Honky vs Bruno, Portland on the 12th gets Honky vs Tito, 13th in Manchester NH its Honky vs Tito, the same nights in Tampa and Miami have the Harts defending against the Rougeaus and 13th in Syracuse is B+ with the Harts dropping a DQ to Brunzell and Pedro, with Savage winning a battle royal on top. 14th we twist again with Honky v Tito in Lowell and Savage vs Harley Race in Watertown NY, 17th has Harts vs Rougeaus at the Nassau Coliseum and Honky vs Beefcake in Richfield, 18th has Harts vs Brunzell/JYD at Maple Leaf Gardens and Honky vs Bruno draws 5000 to the Philadelphia Spectrum. 19th we have Honky vs JYD in Dayton and in Buffalo we have another of the tag tournament gimmick with the New Dream Team beating Demolition (heel vs heel?), Rick Martel & The Animal then the Bulldogs, to get a shot at the Harts (heel vs heel????) and actually beat them by DQ. Exactly the same the night after, Honky in Springfield and Harts in Hershey. Honky's with Dog again 21st in Fort Wayne and 23rd in Peterborough, Ontario. 22nd we're back to Harts vs Bulldogs in Lansing, MI. Randy is with Race again 22nd in Kitchener, Ontario and 23rd in Flint. Harts are with Brunzell & Koko (that could have been great) in Detroit on 24th. Same night in Houston is really eventful as Savage beats Honky by DQ refereed by MR T, and Sherri unseats Moolah to win the Womens title! Demolition vs Bulldogs and Dingo Warrior squashing Barry Horowitz underneath. MSG on 25th has Honky against a lesser-spotted Dragon with a non-finish setting up next month's lumberjack match, and Harts vs Bulldogs taped for Prime Time, leaving Baltimore weak... as you'll read below. Steamboats back and fighting Honky again 26th at LA Sports Arena, Harts dropping a DQ to Brunzell and Hillbilly Jim underneath. A third B+ in a row has Honky v Savage and Harts vs Brunzell/Hillbilly 27th in Phoenix and then again 28th in Tucson, 29th in Sacramento, 30th in Tacoma and 31st in Vegas. A Koko, Kamala and Billy Jack roster (strongest match Can-Ams vs Islanders) runs Vancouver on 4th and Niagara Falls on 5th with added Brutus vs Valentine. The Rosemont has a strangely low key card with Demolition vs Tito/JYD probably the most star-laden match underneath a battle royal won by the Dog - Rick Rude makes what I believe is his first house show appearance here. Waterloo IA on 6th has Kamala/Animal main and Bees against Demolition, Davenport (Rollins country) the night after has the same except Jim Brunzell & Tony Garea against Demolition because Blair's injured. Dingo Warrior is on these too working Lombardi. 7th and 8th we get another group in Hagerstown MD and Wheeling WV with Beefcake vs Bravo and Can-Ams vs Islanders on top. 9th we've got the Patera tag splitting into Billy Jack v Herc and Patera v Orndorff in Hammond IN, and the rosters so spread thin that the Meadowlands is loaded with JTTS guys and closes with Brunzell/JYD vs Kamala & Sika, then the Animal and Danny Davis in a cage. THE MEADOWLANDS. What an insult. On the 13th in Binghamton and 14th in Utica, the Patera/Hercules match that was supporting the Harts gets to be the main event. 21st in Johnstown PA we have another C show where the Can-Ams, Islanders, Rougeaus and New Dream Team all work singles then Bruno wins a battle royal. Zenk quits around this time so 22nd at the Belmont Ice Arena (!) in Kittanning PA, so your main is Rick Martel v Tama and the same in Wilkes-Barre on 23rd and Nashville on 24th though Beefcake vs Valentine goes on last there. Baltimore on 25th has the Animal vs Danny Davis on last and the Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels but the biggest star on the show is... MR T, who is a ringside ref but ends up counting the pin for Ken Patera over Mr Wonderful. WTF. Same match main events New Haven on 26th, and for a second month in a row Bulldogs vs Demolition are getting mains at the end of the month, 27th in Allentown, 28th in Wildwood NJ, 29th in Asbury Park, and at the same time there is a run through Florida where there are cards with Brutus v Valentine, the Animal vs Danny Davis and the Jumping Bomb Angels vs The Glamour Girls. Paying the price for those B+ shows. August is another really interesting month, the Savage babyface turn rolls on, we'll say goodbye to the first Intercontinental champ AND the greatest WWWF Champion ever, have a phantom title change and see Mr T go on the road. To start out Hulk is defending against Killer Khan. For a guy with a fearsome reputation having “broken Andre the Giants leg” a few years back, you’ll rarely find a less imposing challenger during Hogans first reign. Guy looks like Mr Fuji had a baby with the Missing Link, or if Takashi Iizuka had a soft little brother a la Kevin and Dave Sullivan. 15,000 turn up 1st at the Meadowlands for the Hulkster and it’s definitely not on faith in “the brand” after the last show there (see previous post). New Dream beat the Rougeaus underneath to earn a title shot on the return, also Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels. 4th it’s Hogan v Savage dark at Madison TVs (7500) and with Khan again 5th at LaCrosse TVs (6500) then 7th they’re back in St Paul for a loaded show with Honky vs JYD, Glamour Girls defending and Brunzell & Davey Boy (the Killer Bulldogs??) against Muraco & Orton. Nearly 15,000 flock to the Rosemont for Hogan v Savage on the 8th, near 8000 see Hogan beat Sika (huh?) at an afternoon show at Milwaukee State Fair next day then the rest of the card minus him do their exact same matches later that day in South Bend. An 8,302 sell out in Springfield the afternoon of 15th for Hogan/Savage is followed by 9,716 in Fort Wayne in the evening… fucking hot ticket. Near 7,000 come to Denver the night after for the rematch set up last month, (6974 up from 6796) and so does Mr T to ref it again. Sherri defends against Velvet McIntyre on the undercard. On the 20th Hogan wrestles Khan again in Louisville as part of a small card at the Kentucky State Fair with similar circumstances on 21st in first Birmingham at the Jefferson Civic then Indianapolis at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. 22nd, 15,000 come to Landover for the match set up last month, the Hogan/Khan “Mongolian Stretcher Match” (a gimmick gave life during the Andre feud) supported by the Harts vs Kamala & Sika - the Harts did tons of heel vs heel matches on the road! 23rd in Nashville 8000 turn up for the Hulk against the Million Dollar Man…. they didn’t fuck around there did they?? 25th at the Cow Palace they get 13,200 paid for TVs, Hogan beats Khan dark by count-out (huh?) then the next day Fresno TVs draw 9000 sell out for Hogan vs One Man Gang. He’s with Gang again 27th in Ventura, 28th for a 12,000 sellout in Houston, then another 12,000 sell out Baltimore for Hogan & Bruno vs Gang & Bundy - this is Bruno’s last match! Hogans last match in August is on the 30th when 16,000 come to the Maple Leaf Gardens to see him defend against the Gang. The “B+” shows follow on from July, 1st in St Louis opens with the Hart Foundation vs Jim Brunzell & Hillbilly Jim on first and Honky Tonk Man vs Randy Savage on last. 2nd in Springfield (MO) Honky is with JYD, the Harts with the Rougeaus. On the 3rd it’s Harts vs Rougeaus in Cedar Rapids and with Savage elsewhere engaged and Honky off, a decent 5000 in Winnipeg see Beefcake v Valentine and Bulldogs v Demolition with a show closing battle royal won by Davey Boy (not his last) by eliminating both of the New Dream Team. Honky defends against JYD 8th in Jackson MS, then Jake 13th in Columbus and 14th in Topeka, then 15th at the Boston Garden 7000 see a monster eliminator where Bruno, Jake and Tito go over Honky and the Harts, Bruno sole survivor after pinning the Intercontinental champ. Honky is back with Jake 16th in Tampa, 18th in West Palm, then does double duty on 21st with Jake supporting the Hulk at Indiana State Fairgrounds then in the evening a B+ in Richfield gets Honky vs Randy Savage and Harts vs JYD and the Animal. On 22nd 18,000 pack MSG for a Honky vs Steamboat rematch in a lumberjack match on a storyline loaded show, with Superstar vs Butch Reed, Sherri defending against Velvet McIntyre and Tito coming to Rick Martels aid against the Islanders, effectively forming Strike Force. It’s Honky v Savage again 23rd in Springfield and Honky vs Jake 24th in New Haven with Savage losing to Reed by count-out underneath then 28th in El Paso, 29th in Buffalo and 30th in Wheeling (B+ shows with Tito and the Bees beating the Harts and Danny Davis plus Macho Man underneath). As for the Harts headlining… 10th August 1987 at the Montreal Forum, one of the most notorious house shows of all time. The Rougeau Brothers had beaten the Hart Foundation back in February in Quebec City, and here they’d get a much-promoted title shot. Lo and behold the Rougeaus beat the Harts to win the tag team titles prompting wild celebrations and getting coverage in local papers and newscasts… until WWF TV in the Quebec area reveals that it’s been voided due to Jacques using Jimmy Harts megaphone on Bret for the pin. A ploy to draw a big gate and avoid a subsequent riot, the switch was never acknowledged on TV outside Canada. But you can see it here ;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzGQ1o4P4Hw 11th in Rochester and 12th in Binghamton the Foundation are with the Killer Bulldogs but B Brian is back in the ring 14th in Dayton. 16th the Harts are getting counted out against the Rougeaus in Portland, 17th disqualified against Tito/JYD in Manchester NH before beating them (another DQ) 18th in Warwick, Rhode Island and 19th-20th doing a couple of high school/convention hall shows in New Jersey with Kamala & Sika. They beat the Rougeaus 24th in Santa Cruz, 27th they’re with the Bees in Tucson (Dingo Warrior actually does a job for Nikolai there), that’s their last headline of the month. It’s another varied month for the Macho Man when he’s not challenging Hulk or Honky. 2nd August, Randy is drawing with One Man Gang in Battle Creek with Beefcake v Valentine on last. Savage is with Butch Reed in Odessa on the 6th and Little Rock on the 7th. 10th he has to sub for Ken Patera and work Hercules in Toledo. 18th in Utica he’s with Race, 19th in Syracuse and 20th in Erie back with the Gang. 27th in Tucson he’s actually losing to Mr Wonderful on a Harts/Bees card, with Reed as mentioned 28th in El Paso, working a time limit draw with Orndorff 29th on the aforementioned Buffalo show (loaded!) and with Herc in Wheeling on 30th. Randy is almost exclusively booked as a babyface if he isn’t wrestling Hogan at this point. Finally on the 31st at the Montreal Forum is one of the most loaded B+ shows I’ve come across yet. Demolition vs the Bees, DiBiase vs Koko, Sherri/Moolah rematch, Jake vs Bundy and even Honky vs Macho Man for the belt are just set up - local hero Pat Patterson wrestles his final match and of course goes out on his back putting over Brutus Beefcake, and ever the pro and willing sport, gets his hair cut by The Barber. C shows start strong 1st in Worcester with Ken Patera vs Paul Orndorff with the Brain handcuffed to Superstar Billy Graham at ringside supported by Bulldogs vs Demolition. The night after, with a B+ in Springfield MO, there’s a pretty strong C show in Springfield MA with Patera v Orndorff, Superstar actually wrestling Harley Race, Bulldogs v Demolition and Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels. The crews get shuffled on 3rd as Honky has a day off, and I think in fairness to Winnipeg your C show is actually a low key card at a high school stadium in Rochelle, IL which actually gets Randy Savage on last with the Gang, not far from where Randy went to school in Downers Grove. 6th in Green Bay, 7th in Omaha, 8th in Duluth and 9th in South Bend all have Superstar and Herc on last in whipping matches with the Brain handcuffed to the Crusher. 9th in Lafayette a Texas alumni heavy crew has JYD v DiBiase on last. 11th in Youngstown and 12th in Monaca Bruno subs in to work Herc. Another crew in the North East does shows around Koko v Gang, Martel doing singles with an Islander and Tito v Danny Davis, Bam Bam is on board at this point and at the Rockland County Fair on 12th Tito works a draw with Ravishing Rick who otherwise has been wrestling JTTS. Nassau Coliseum on 14th has Superstar with Orndorff and Brutus v Bravo underneath, 21st in Detroit it’s Billy Jack v Bundy, Superstar v Reed and DiBiase with Davey Boy underneath, and 22nd at the Omni, after a card featuring Jake vs Bundy and a suddenly-babyface Paul Orndorff going over Harley with help from Ken Patera - I’m baffled writing this one - Mr T is the guest ref for the last match of the night, the titanic collision between Koko B Ware and Danny Davis. I’m not making this up. They sent T on the road and here he's counting a pin for Koko. 23rd in Phoenix, 24th in San Diego, 27th in Sacramento, 28th in Salt Lake City and 29th at the LA Sports Arena, we’re back to Superstar v Race with Bundy v Kamala underneath on the first two (what a sight that must have been) - those Hogan matches seem a long time ago for Kamala, 30th in Toronto and 3rd September in Halifax will be his last bookings when he sustains an injury. 30th in Seattle and 31st in Portland we wrap with Graham swapping wins with Harley (Bobby Heenan has spent the whole month handcuffed to various babyfaces) and underneath is Killer Khan against George Steele - a worse match, I can’t imagine. September starts odd for the Hogan towns, he misses Vancouver on 1st but Macho Man subs, pinning One Man Gang. 6th in Cincinnati, a huge show promoted as WrestleFest 3 has the Hulkster going over Killer Khan, who he pins again at Boston Garden on the 12th. 15th dark at Peoria TVs the Hulk pins the Gang and the next day in Rockford, Khan. 17th in Kansas City 6000 come for Hogan vs Race in cage with Harts vs Bees and Sherri vs Velvet underneath. On the 18th at the Philadelphia Spectrum, 9000 attend for Hogan vs Khan with Savage pinning Harley Race underneath, the same two matches in Buffalo the next night. 21st we're at the Mecca, Madison Square Garden, for a one-two of Hogan vs Gang going to a double count-out and Honky doing a PINFALL JOB to Savage in a non-title match. 26th in Nashville 10,000 turn up for Hulk vs The Million Dollar Man with support again from Savage vs Race, then they get themselves over to Huntsville for a 5000 gate for Hogan vs Race and what I believe is the first Savage vs DiBiase match, the same two matches finish Pensacola the night after. Honky vs Jake AND Randy against Nikolai hits Oshawa on 2nd (Sherri vs Moolah underneath), the faces swap opponents 3rd in Troy NY. The 4th is the King of the Ring show in Providence with Honky defending against Jake again, and Macho Man wins 4 matches (3 of which against heels) including King Kong Bundy in the final to win the tournament. 5th in Omaha its supposed to be Kamala but he's injured so Savage beats Kimchee & Mr Fuji in a handicap match, 6th in Des Moines he's got Rick Rude. Jake misses Topeka on the 11th so Honky has to defend against the Animal, the next night in Detroit we're back to Honky vs Savage. Randy has to go on last with Sika (again, instead of Kamala) at Nassau on 13th and 14th in Kenosha, WI while 14th in South Bend it's Honky vs Jake with Jimmy Hart in the "shark cage." Peoria TVs on 15th and Rockford on 16th we have Honky v Savage dark swapping DQ wins. On the 17th in Syracuse (with Savage vs Hercules on last) and 18th in Youngstown OH, its Honky vs Hacksaw with the Mouth in the overhead cage again - guitar for the DQ. 19th in Toledo, 20th in Columbus, its rare outings for the Dragon, Jimmy still imprisoned, Honky still getting himself DQd, 22nd in Glens Falls its Honky vs hometown hero Duggan, 24th in Winnipeg and 25th in St Paul there's Savage vs Sika and Harts vs Young Stallions (though Orndorff vs Bundy goes on last), 26th in Landover Harts vs Stallions is underneath Honky losing to Hacksaw non-title. 27th in Richfield Honky draws with Steamboat (Orndorff v Bundy on last again) and 28th in Fresno he's got Duggan again with Harts/Stallions underneath, then the same two matches 29th in Oakland but the Harts on last, both cards with killer support from Savage vs Race. The Harts have their share of other main events. 7th in Cedar Rapids, 8th in Davenport, 9th in Hammond IN and 10th in Decatur IL, its the Bees in a cage. 11th at the Meadowlands they go to a double count-out with the New Dream Team which Johnny's boys earned the month before in the same building, on top of some "rising heel" wins for DiBiase over Brutus and Ravishing over our Davey Boy. 13th in Lansing they wrestle (this is mental) Dingo Warrior & Danny Spivey - Spivey walks off, then 14th in New Haven its another heel vs heel match with Demolition and another non-finish. 20th in Dayton they're back with the Bees in a straight match, 27th they're with the Stallions again in Tucson, prior to sharing cards with Honky and Savage as above. September C shows kick off with more of Superstar vs Hercules in whipping matches with the Brain handcuffed to Ken Patera 3rd/4th in Montana, then we have Paul Orndorff v Herc 5th then a swing through Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania has the first matches between Strike Force and the Islanders on top with various Beefcake/JYD matches underneath. 12th-13th in Florida there are Superstar and JYD vs Gang and Butch Reed in singles one night and a tag the next. Mr Wonderful's beefing up that roster against Bundy in the whipping match 18th at the Rosemont and 19th in Indianapolis (Sherri vs Velvet McIntyre underneath), and on the 20th Maple Leaf Gardens gets an uncharacteristically weak show with Orndorff vs Rude and Strike Force vs the Islanders on last. 21st-22nd in Washington, 23rd in Portland, 24th in Sacramento and 25th at LA Sports there are Rude vs Beefcake (until Brutus gets hurt) and Demolition vs Killer Bees bouts underneath (usually) a battle royal, often won by Bam Bam. 26th in San Diego and later in Phoenix there's no battle royal, Brutus is back doing a job to Killer Khan (ugh) and Superstar goes on last with the Natural. The Montreal Forum on 28th and Flint MI on 29th its Orndorff vs Bundy again with Strike Force vs Islanders on last before we get to Battle Creek on 30th with Strike Force/Islanders again and a Superstar/Reed main event. Boston Gardens show here ; Some interesting results with some REAL ham and egger matches on the bottom, the Harts vs Sika/Fuji match, Davey Boy in singles with Herc, and the Hogan vs Khan debacle, but the best reason you watch this is for the NUCLEAR heat for the Million Dollar Man. It's no surprise they pushed him to the Hogan feud so quickly, what a cunt. October is a huge month, with Survivor Series looming, several guys (mostly heels) slowly coming up, the Superstar Billy Graham experiment closing in on its end, and the tag belts changing hands. 3rd October SNME is where Hogan saves Savage from the post-match beatdown from Honky and the Harts, cementing his babyface status. So... whats Hogan doing? 2nd in Hartford it's Hulk vs Khan, then 3rd in Dallas we're loaded with Hogan vs Harley Race, the Harts vs the Killer Bees, Sherri vs Velvet, and Dingo Warrior handcuffed to Heenan for Orndorff vs Bundy whipping match - the first interaction I can find between Jim and The Brain, obviously far from the last. 6th dark after Milwaukee TVs, Hulk vs Khan, 7th dark in Green Bay, over the One Man Gang. 9th sees a disappointing sub 4000 crowd come to Sam Houston Coliseum where Hogan loses by count-out to the Million Dollar Man to setup a rematch. 10th at the Rosemont, near 15,000 come to see Hogan against Khan, Honky against that lesser spotted Dragon again and Macho Man over Hercules. 15th in Buffalo, all three titles are contested!! Hogan pins Khan after five legdrops, and he does a stretcher job, Honky beats JYD and the Harts go over the Rougeaus. The 16th in Pittsburgh, a near 9000 for Hogan vs Gang and Honky against Steamboat. 18th in Landover there’s a huge show with all the belts up again - Hogan vs Gang, Honky vs JYD and Harts vs Bulldogs. 23rd October and Hogan is back at the Pontiac Silverdome! But it ain’t WrestleMania and Killer Khan sure isn’t Andre so they only draw 6625, supported by Honky vs Beefcake and Bulldogs vs Demolition. Sure wish that stretcher job had stuck. 24th in Winnipeg 7683 turn up for Hulkster vs One Man Gang - Virgil actually wrestles on this one, losing to a Beefcake sleeper. 27th in Syracuse they sell out for TVs and the bonus of Hogan vs Khan, and I suppose Beefcake vs Virgil might be a bonus to some. This is where they tape Strike Force winning the tag titles from the Hart Foundation. Weird first couple of months for Strike Force, they sure lost a HELL of a lot of matches to the Islanders all around the country if they were planned to get the belts. They also record the injury angle to write Billy Graham out of Survivor Series but he fulfils advertised house show bookings until it airs. Next night Rochester sells out too and their dark matches include Hogan vs Gang and Honky vs Savage. 31st Hogan actually wrestles back to back shows in Glens Falls and Worcester (workrate!!) against the Gang, and underneath after working the Harts or Demolition all month, Davey and Dyno draw the short straw and are saddled with the Bolsheviks. B shows for Honky or Savage headlining go like this - Salt Lake City on the 1st Hacksaw Duggan pins Honky non title, with the Harts vs Paul Roma and with Jim Powers' missing it, a sub called Steve Gatorback (no, I dont know either), Savage against Harley, and Sherri vs Velvet. 3rd in Denver Honky drops a pin to Brutus Beefcake non title, with Ted DiBiase beating JYD underneath. For a man with his reputation, Honky's doing plenty of jobs. Meanwhile at the Boston Garden Savage pins Hercules with Strike Force vs Islanders the next most noteworthy match. 8th in Duluth, it's Honky vs Savage. 11th in Springfield MO (again the same night as a crew run Springfield MA) it's Honky vs Beefcake and Savage vs Gang. 12th in New Haven, 13th in Wayne NJ, 14th in Scranton, Honky wrestles a babyface Don Muraco who's now divorced from Bob Orton and supporting Superstar in his comeback. 15th in Tampa, Macho Man and Handsome Harley go on last. 16th at MSG, it's Macho Man vs Killer Khan and Superstar vs Butch Reed in a cage match. 17th in Wichita it’s Honky v Savage AND Harts vs Bulldogs. 18th in Los Angeles and 19th in Portland we’re pretty stacked - Savage v Race, Bam Bam v Bundy, DiBiase v Beefcake and Strike Force v Islanders. 20th in Dayton and 21st in St Joseph MO we shuffle to Macho Man vs Rick Rude with the Bees vs Demolition and then 22nd in Indianapolis, Randy vs Herc, DiBiase vs Beefcake, Bulldogs vs Demolition and Strike Force vs Islanders. Warriors working Lombardi by now. 24th at the Omni then later in Columbus there are two loaded shows with Honky vs Savage AND Harts vs Killer Bees, supported by Orndorff vs Rick Rude. 14,000 turn up the Montreal forum on the afternoon of the 25th and at first glance there’s a “C show” feel to the card - Warrior squashing Danny Spivey, the Young Stallions stretched to working singles with the Shadows, Bulldogs v Demolition a highlight. But the build to Survivor Series is truly on and we have Superstar against the Natural and a main of Bam Bam & Orndorff vs Bundy & Rude with ANDRE at ringside! The same crew run Ottawa that night except Mr Wonderful v Rude and Bam Bam v Bundy split into singles then the next night at the Meadowlands they fly that tag match in, plus Andre with the Brain banned from the building (leaving the rest of that roster to do C towns), and underneath the Harts defend in a non finish against Ken Patera and Billy Jack. 26th in Binghamton it’s Honky vs Savage top of an otherwise uneventful show right before the two nights of tapings, then 29th-31st in San Diego, San Fran and Sacramento then Fresno, it’s hard push for Survivors - Honky with screwy non-finishes with Macho Man, Graham doing jobs for Reed, Bam Bam beating Bundy by DQ and as their tag title win hasn’t aired yet, Strike Force do four MORE jobs for the Islanders. Jesus, lads. The Harts are pretty busy in their last month with the gold. On top of what you've read above, 2nd in Omaha its Harts vs Roma & Sam Houston with Powers still out, Randy Savage vs Harley Race and Sherri vs Velvet, although Orndorff vs Bundy goes on last (no whipping stip this time). 4th in Bismarck ND and 5th in Platteville WI, it's Harts vs Bees. Harts vs Bulldogs is our draw for 19th in Portsmouth OH, 20th in Lebanon PA and 21st in Frederick MD. Bret and Jim get the last four nights of October off after doing the honours for Tito and Ricky. Fun note - Valentine misses the show at Lebanon High School, luckily a local guy in able to fill in. His name? Steve Blackman from nearby Annville. Yes, that Steve Blackman, then 24. I'm wondering if this kind of find should be kept for my short posts rather than the deep dives, but hey ho. One of Blackmans smattering of matches for the WWF in the late 80s (before a long hiatus from wrestling) was on Superstars, have a look ;https://youtu.be/492EEFXHaeo C shows kick off 1st in Halifax with Superstar vs Butch Reed and Strike Force vs Islanders. 4th in St Louis, there's an absolutely cursed card with subs, and subs of subs, and worst of all they announce before the show-closing battle royal that the winner will get a title shot next month, having accidentally announced One Man Gang vs the champion next month, at intermission. The crowd didn't care for that spoiler. Sherri pins Velvet underneath, Billy Jack beats Bundy and Mr Wonderful beats Ravishing Rick, both by count-out, and having subbed for Ricky the Dragon who was supposed to sub for Jake, Haynes has to sub for Dyno and tag with Smithers against Demolition - and they win! Same night in Fort Wayne, Bam Bam works the whipping gimmick with Harley - George the Animal on Brain duty, then the next night in South Bend Orndorff and Bundy join that crew for a tag of Orndorff & Bam Bam vs Race & Bundy. Also on 5th the rest of the St Louid crew run Lincoln with added Superstar vs Butch Reed on top of Ravishing over Billy Jack and Bulldogs v Demolition. 8th in Topeka we're pretty stretched - Patera vs Bundy and Bees vs Demolition, and at a high school in Hamburg NJ, Bulldogs vs New Dream Team, Glamour Girls defending, and underneath the newly-rechristened Ultimate Warrior wrestling Jose Estrada for the first of several times. On the 9th the rosters twist again. Orndorff vs Race (the last of the whipping matches) in Springfield IL, Bulldogs vs Bravo & Johnny V and Glamour Girls defending in Utica, next night the Hammer makes it to Providence so he and Bravo can job to the Bulldogs, most of the undercard from Springfield goes to the Philadelphia Spectrum where Bam Bam v Bundy and Strike Force vs Islanders are the top matches. Maple Leaf Gardens on the 11th has Bulldogs vs New Dream Team and Orndorff vs Rick Rude with INTERFERENCE FROM ANDRE while Springfield MA gets Bam Bam pinning Harley Race (!), Billy Jack vs Hercules and the Glamour Girls defending, the next night its Superstar vs Butch Reed in Pittsfield MA, 13th in Poughkeepsie, 14th in Lock Haven PA and 15th in Johnstown. 12th also its Bam Bam vs Gang, Sherri vs Debbie Combs and a best of three falls between Strike Force and the Islanders in West Palm Beach. 17th in Toledo it’s Bam Bam vs Gang again, Superstar vs Reed and Strike Force vs Islanders again. 18th in Louisville and 22nd in Nashville Orndorff vs Rude is the top match. 19th in Muskegon MI it’s Patera vs Hercules, then 20th in Spokane and 21st in Victoria BC we have Bam Bam vs Bundy with DiBiase vs Beefcake underneath. 23rd and 24th they actually take a small crew to Paris and Milan - Rougeaus vs New Dream Team, Sherri vs Velvet, JYD vs Harley Race, that kind of stuff. 24th in Cornwall Ontario and 26th in Watertown NY, Superstar vs Reed is the main - but the end is drawing near for Billy. Survivor Series, the birth of the Thanksgiving Night tradition, is the chief focus on in November. Andre's on the road, even though he isn't wrestling, Honky Tonk Man vs Randy Savage is the hottest feud in town, Rockin Robin enters the frame as a challenger for Sherri and at the Meadowlands there's an unbelievable one-shot appearance by one of the greatest to ever lace boots. 1st in Portland near 9000 come for a matinee with most of the roster on at Maple Leaf Gardens later - Hulk Hogan vs One Man Gang for the belt. 6th at Nassau, Hulkster actually loses to Gang by DQ, I assume to set up a rematch in the New Year - underneath Virgil actually pins Junkyard Dog after an injured Ted DiBiase smacks him with his crutch. Huge card on the 7th in St Louis has Hogan going over the Gang as set up last visit, then later on coming down to stare down Andre who interfered in the Rick Rude/Orndorff match to set up their match next month(!), and the Harts & Danny Davis vs the Bulldogs & Koko underneath, plus the last match of Superstar Billy Graham in the WWF, putting Butch Reed over. 10th in Vancouver we really flag up Survivors - its Hogan, Savage and Hacksaw vs Bundy, Rude and Race with Andre in their corner. 12th in Oakland and 13th in Vegas, the Million Dollar Man beats Hogan by count-out when Andre interferes. 14th at LA Sports Arena and 15th in Reno, the Hulkster is lumbered with Killer Khan again on top of I believe the first DiBiase vs Jake matches, and two of many that Ultimate Warrior is honing his squash routine against Barry Horowitz. 11,000 sell out Des Moines TVs on 17th with Hogan vs Gang and Strike Force vs Islanders and near 10,000 to Omaha next night for Hogan vs DiBiase with the Andre count-out finish. 21st in Baltimore it’s Hogan vs Gang with Honky and Savage underneath before everyone apart from Hogan flies to London, Ontario, then the next night in Toronto there’s 17,500 for an absolutely loaded card with Hogan vs DiBiase with Virgil and Bundy interfering for the count-out, Macho Man & the Bulldogs vs Honky & The Harts, and Sherri vs Rockin Robin for the belt. The next night in Hartford the men are running the same top matches except Randy, Davey Boy, Dyno do their tag against Honky, Hitman and the Anvil then three matches later, Savage and Honky Tonk have an impromptu Intercontinental title match as Hogans running late to the arena! He makes it and loses to Teddy by count-out via Virgil. 25th in Providence the night before Survivor Series it’s Hogan vs Ted again with the usual finish, Bulldogs vs Harts and Glamour Girls v Bomb Angels. 28th in Montreal Hulk beats One Man Gang again, 29th he’s pinning him in St Paul in the afternoon but losing by count-out in Chicago in the evening, you can guess why. Always the rematch. 1st there are back to back B shows in Springfield IL and the Rosemont, Honky and Savage on last and Strike Force still aren't carrying the belts but at least they're beating the Islanders. On the 5th, its Honky vs Jake with the Mouth in the shark cage in New Haven, and I'm still calling Harts vs Bulldogs a B show main event, in Beaumont TX. With Hogan elsewhere, 6th in Houston is still huge with Harts vs Bulldogs taped for Prime Time, and for the live crowd only Strike Force beat the Islanders in a tag title defence then get challenged by the Harts for next month, Rick Rude wins a battle royal, and Honky vs Savage. I guess Houston will have to wait for the Hogan/Ted rematch. Same two title matches the next night at Boston Garden, 7th at the Philly Spectrum, 8th in Springfield MA AND Landover, the finishes to the title matches vary between wins for Strike Force, screwy non finish defeats, draws, and in some cases even two out of three falls victories. Harts vs Bulldogs is your draw 7th in Cape Girardeau MO before they head to St Louis later that night, as above. In Calgary on the 8th and Regina on the 9th they do the Koko/Davis six-man and ANDRE shows up in Calgary to interfere in Rude/Orndorff even though Hogan's not there. 10th we've got an utter blinder in Miami with Honky vs Jake underneath Strike Force vs the Islanders in a cage match, same matches without a cage involved 11th in West Palm, then Honky vs Savage as the top match 12th in Pittsburg KS, 13th in Cedar Rapids, 14th in Fort Wayne, then 15th in South Bend with the cage match on top again. 16th at the Meadowlands there’s an event which quite simply, I’m stunned I had no knowledge of. There’s a legends battle royal, many participants in their 60s, involving guys who were stars both for the (W)WWF and outside it ; Ray Stevens, Edouard Carpentier, Bobo Brazil, Nick Bockwinkel, it’s a who’s who! LOU FUCKING THESZ (71) is in it, and of course, he’s the winner, last eliminating Pat O’Connor (63). If his name is familiar to you but you can’t put your finger on why, it’s because it’s him that Nature Boy Buddy Rogers beat for the NWA World title as featured on WWEs “history of the World Heavyweight Championship” DVD, before Capitol/the WWWF seceded from the NWA so they could continue promoting Rogers as World Champion rather than losing their apparent monopoly on title matches to Thesz and areas outside the North East. If they’d done more to promote it, maybe they’d have drawn better, coming in under the 5000 mark as the show did which is pitiful for the building. It’s fairly eventful too with the Million Dollar Man pinning Ricky the Dragon, Macho Man going over King Harley and Jake winning the show closing battle royal after DiBiase and Virgil have a miscue. 16th in Moline it’s Strike Force and the Islanders without Savage or Honky to help them draw, just over 1000 for a venue that holds 7000 for basketball. 19th in Scranton and 20th in Hershey it’s Honky vs Savage, Harts vs Bulldogs and Sherri vs Robin, then 23rd in Worcester it’s Savage and the Bulldogs vs Honky, Bret and Neidhart on last with Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels underneath, then a healthy 17,000 at MSG for Honky beating Savage by count-out (megaphone), Strike Force retaining over the Harts by DQ (megaphone), and the Glamour Girls beating the Bomb Angels, taped for Prime Time. It wouldn’t shock me if the megaphone was involved there too. That’s the last B show before Survivors! 27th and 28th in Nashville and Huntsville it’s Honky Tonk vs Macho Man with DiBiase vs Jake the Snake underneath, while 27th it’s Strike Force vs Islanders in Hull (LOL), Quebec before they join the Hulkster in Montreal on 28th. Afternoon of the 29th Randy is back in the Silverdome, losing again, to Honky by count-out before crossing the border to Winnipeg to lose again by DQ, Strike Force again the support. That’s November. It's such a huge month on the road, there aren't many C shows. Toronto on the 1st has Mr Wonderful vs Rick Rude in a cage, they're doing a straight match the night after in Phoenix, while Battle Creek has Superstar vs Butch Reed, the same as 3rd in Lansing MI. 3rd in Tucson we switch to Orndorff & Hacksaw Duggan vs Rude & Harley Race, 4th in Halifax it's Graham and Reed in the cage. A few of these have Sherri defending against Debbie Combs, the originally announced opponent for Alundra Blayze at WrestleMania X. Incomplete reports have C shows in Flint on 24th and Dayton on 25th and that’s it before Survivor Series. The last recognisable C show for the month is 30th at San Diego Sports Arena but it’s pretty packed - Demolition against Patera & Billy Jack, Jake and the Million Dollar Man, Bam Bam & The Rock (no, Don Muraco) vs Gang & The Natural, Mr Wonderful getting a win over Ravishing, and The Barber on last with Hercules. MSG November 24th ;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNLVoZstoN8 Ultimate Warrior squashing Frenchy Martin, Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels, Mr Wonderful vs Ravishing, Bees vs Bolsheviks, Honky Tonk vs Macho Man, Jake vs Danny Davis, Strike Force vs the Harts, Ivan Putski vs Million Dollar Man, Bam Bam vs Bundy. I have zero memory of Nick Bockwinkel doing anything for Titan but he's on colour here! Worth watching it for the Bomb Angels and a few bars of Girls In Cars alone. December's here and the C shows pick up where they ended November, strong. Herc misses 1st in Phoenix so Brutus worked DiBiase and Jake's stuck with Killer Khan, the Bigelow tag is split into Bam Bam v Gang and Muraco vs The Natural. Herc's back 2nd in Tucson so we revert to Herc vs Brutus and Snake vs DiBiase and the same 3rd in Odessa, 4th in Albuquerque Jake and Herc are off (booked in Pittsburgh) so the show gets a leg up from the Harts, against Koko and George the Animal. 29th in probably the last show I'd call a C, in Dayton, which opens with a midget tag and finishes with monsters, Bam Bam vs Bundy, with Muraco vs Gang and Jake vs Herc underneath. Pittsburgh on the 4th we're still running Honky Tonk Man against Randy Savage and Strike Force vs Islanders in title matches, but 5th at the Cow Palace the champs are pulled to support Hogan, so its the Harts coming in against Beefcake and Steele. Double duty from Strike Force on the 6th, Portland then Springfield MA (just 1700 in a 7-8000 building), and Honky and Savage go twice as well, matinee in Fresno for the belt with DiBiase vs Steamboat and Harts vs Beefcake & Steele, then they head to Sacramento for a six-man with Savage, Steamer and Beefer dropping Honky and the Foundation, Million Dollar Man beating Steele underneath. Randy's beating Honky by DQ again 7th in Landover dark at the SNME taping then losing to him by count-out the next night in Tampa, Strike Force beating the Harts. 12th at the Boston Garden, 13,000 attend for Honky vs Savage with the Mouth in the shark cage. 13th in Miami, its Honky and Savage again (Bret beats the Animal in singles here) then randomly on 14th in Fort Pierce, Randy teams up with old enemy George the Animal to beat the Hart Foundation. The talent get some time off, then Boxing Day in New Haven we've actually got Ricky Steamboat back on the road, beating Honky by count-out, with Savage doing a time limit draw with Rick Rude, then they head over to MSG where Honky vs Savage sells the Garden out with Jimmy Hart in the little cage again and Dragon doing the broadway with Ravishing. Over in Buffalo, the Harts are supposed to be up against the Young Stallions but the Anvil doesn't make it, so Bret wrestles Jim Powers in singles, loses, then challenges Roma to a match as well, and loses that too. If that doesn't sound surreal enough, Steve Lombardi actually beats Tony Garea on the undercard, and since Orndorff isn't there for his scheduled match with Harley Race, "The King" instead does a job for the Ultimate Warrior, who's spent most of the month working Iron Mike Sharpe. Finally, with Hogan in Toledo and a ton of the guys at MSG, its in Buffalo that Andre shows up, accompanying Bundy in his loss to Bam Bam. Bret does the same gig the night after in London, Ontario, and again that evening in Hull, Quebec. Your top matches there are Hacksaw vs Race and Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels. 27th the Honky/Savage main events run again in St Paul and Duluth, at this point Sherri is doing double duty defending against Rockin Robin and then doing the Peggy Sue gimmick in Honky's corner - three shows in a row, Randy's taking her wig off to reveal her true identity, which I don't think ever happened on TV. 28th in Pittsburgh and 29th in Hershey they do the same, the Dragon losing to the Million Dollar Man every night too. 28th in Halifax, Bret's with Roma again at the foot of Duggan vs Race and Glamour Girls vs Bomb Angels. 30th in Providence Strike Force make it back to work and Bret does his two losses to them, DiBiase does a broadway with Steamboat and Rude beats Mr Wonderful in a cage match. Meanwhile in Springfield IL its Honky v Savage, and once more New Years Eve in Muskegon MI to wrap the year up for the WWF on the road. The Hulkster kicks off on the afternoon of 5th in Erie against Herc which is a fairly low key defence in a small town for him - Strike Force/Islanders on last. That evening over 10,000 come to the Philadelphia Spectrum to see Hogan pin the Gang then get confronted by Andre afterwards, and the two square off again when Andre interferes in Bam Bam vs Bundy later. Hogan vs Gang is the main after the Superstars taping on the 9th at the Tampa SunDome too, then the next night in Fort Myers he's dropping a DQ to Ted. Houston finally get their Hogan/DiBiase rematch on 11th with the Hulk wins despite Andre distracting and Virgil interfering, then in Kansas City the day after with the same, and Strike Force vs the Harts, but that night in St Louis its ANDRE WRESTLING, not the title match they had set up last month but he and Rick Rude defeat Hulk and Mr Wonderful when Andre pins Orndorff. On the 13th the Hulk is pinning Gang in Youngstown then that night beating him in a cage match at the Meadowlands to 15,000. Hulk's next gig is Boxing Day, over 8000 come to Toledo to see him pin the Gang, then 12,000 at the Rosemont with Nick Bockwinkel as the ref. 27th in Landover, 13,000 come to see Hogan & Bam Bam vs Andre and Bundy. The most interesting thing on the undercard is the opener of Jerry Allen vs Barry Horowitz, because HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS! Later the same day, 17,500 sell out the Maple Leaf Gardens for Hogan & Bam Bam vs Bundy & Ted DiBiase, meaning over 50,000 fans went to see Hulk in two days. The next night in Richfield a good 8000 see Hogan & Bam Bam vs Andre & Bundy. 18,000 turn up to Copps Coliseum in Hamilton on 29th for Hogan going over Butch Reed after the Prime Time taping, and that's our lot for the Hulkster and the WWF on the road in 1987. Phew! Edited March 19 by air_raid dead vid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Showtime Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Great stuff and interesting little bits here and there (Steve Blackman, legends battle royal etc). I do skim a few sections but at least you don't just reel off a list of matches, you add enough background to make it worth delving into. Putting names in bold really helps too - so as long as you keep that up, you can make it as long as you like. Just remember real life, though... 😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 12, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) August 87 is when Billy Jack claims he was involved with those two teenage boys being killed and left on the train tracks in Arkansas. Despite wrestling Bundy in Detroit just 2 days earlier. I remember watching a Steve Blackman shoot interview where he talked about his brief time in the WWF in 87 before he got really sick with malaria or something. Can’t even imagine where he’d have fit in on the roster during that time. It’s weird to even think about. Edited February 12, 2022 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted February 12, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted February 12, 2022 Didn't Pat O'connor used to win his matches with the O'Connor roll? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dart Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: I remember watching a Steve Blackman shoot interview where he talked about his brief time in the WWF in 87 before he got really sick with malaria or something. Can’t even imagine where he’d have fit in on the roster during that time. It’s weird to even think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2022 That Legends Battle Royal is a hidden gem on the Network, complete with post-match promos. Nothing spectacular, but a good little curio. Keep up the good work, some fascinating stuff here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 14, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) I got the first half of 1988. Interesting as always because of the rate of change, especially as we enter a period of "How will we cope without Hogan?" Januarys huge as the build is on to The Main Event, we have the first televised Royal Rumble at which the Jumping Bomb Angels will finally wrest the womens tag belts from the Glamour Girls, Honky vs Macho Man will carry on drawing huge amounts of dollar, and Paul Orndorff and Billy Jack Haynes will finish up. Hulk Hogan kicks off his towns on 2nd in Indianapolis (one month before the big one in the same building) with One Man Gang, all three titles contested with Honky Tonk Man vs Randy Savage and Strike Force vs Hart Foundation plus the bizarre sight of Sherri Martel teaming with Rockin Robin to lose to the Jumping Bomb Angels! 8500 at the Huntsville TVs on the 5th see Hogan team with Savage (!) in a handicap match defeating Honky & the Harts, Nashville the next night get all three title matches that Indianapolis did. Boston Garden on the 9th near 14,000 come to see Harts vs Strike Force, Glamour Girls vs Bomb Angels and Hogan pinning Rick Rude but then attacked and beaten bloody by the Million Dollar Man. 10th, Hogan slums it in Madison WI with the Gang, Sherri vs Velvet McIntyre underneath. 15th in Milwaukee over 13,000 come to see the Hulk pin DiBiase, another 10,000 in Chicago on 16th see Ted win by DQ above Ultimate Warrior crushing Harley Race in under 3 minutes. 17th in Oakland Hogan beats the Gang, 18th in Vancouver he pins Ravishing. 23rd in Lexington we’re loaded - Sherri vs Robin, Strike Force vs Harts, Honky vs Savage and Hogan and Bam Bam Bigelow vs the Million Dollar Man and ANDRE THE GIANT. 24th they have the Rumble then 25th MSG is sold out for Hulkster and Bammer beating DiBiase & Virgil with Andre in their corner. Next night another sell out at Hershey TVs for Hogan & Bam Bam vs Andre & Ted plus Strike Force vs the Harts, 27th in Salisbury the same plus Honky vs Savage, and that’s Hogans last commitment before that fateful night at Market Square Arena. B shows are straight back to Honky Tonk Man vs Macho Man with Jimmy Hart above the ring in the shark cage at the Pontiac Silverdome on 1st January. Honky and Savage draw 18,000 to the Montreal Forum on 4th while in Augusta it’s Strike Force vs Harts and Mr Wonderful losing his final WWF match, to Ravishing Rick - he’ll be out of wrestling for at least two years during which time, according to Fin Martin, he’ll manage a bowling alley! Philadelphia on the 9th is huge with Honky v Savage in a cage, Strike Force vs Harts, Glamour Girls vs Bomb Angels and the Warrior doing a double count-out with Ravishing. 9th in Scranton it’s Honky v Savage with no cage but the Animal refereeing it. 10th at Maple Leaf Gardens it’s Honky/Savage again. Seattle on 14th get Honky/Savage, Strike Force/Harts and Sherri vs Velvet, the same night after in front of 10,000 at LA Sports and another 10,000 in Sacramento on 16th, the same day Savage & Strike Force vs Honky & the Harts headlines San Diego. They do the six man 17th at the Meadowlands, 18th in Hartford in a cage, 19-21 it’s Honky v Savage in Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg, and 24th in Halifax. 25th in Toledo it’s Strike Force vs Harts and the Bomb Angels starting their defences in rematches with Kai and Martin, 28th in Flint, 29th in Richfield, 30th in Baltimore, it’s Honky vs Macho, Force vs Foundation and Sherri vs Robin, with Steamboat working various draws with Rude underneath, and the month closes on 31st with (check out this for fitting) Anvil somehow not making it to RVDs hometown of Battle Creek, so Savage & Strike Force win the main event over Honky, Bret and Danny Davis. It’s a drugs reference, if you didn’t catch it. C shows start in spectacularly crap style at Pittsfield Boys Club on New Years Day - midgets, jobbers, a Warrior squash, Bolsheviks vs Young Stallions and a battle royal. 2nd it’s Bulldogs vs Bolsheviks at Towanda (PA) Middle School Gym, and in Worcester Bam Bam vs Bundy and Jake vs DiBiase, 3rd those crews combine for two shows with Bam Bam vs Ted in Springfield then a shuffled card at Nassau Coliseum where Bam Bam wins a battle royal (including Ernie Ladd!) while DiBiase goes to Poughkeepsie to go on last with Jake atop Glamour Girls vs Bomb Angels. Monsignor Farrell High School (Staten Island) on the 4th get the Bolsheviks vs Stallions card. 9th in Wildwood NJ, 10th in North East MD, 11th in Huntingdon PA, 13th in New Castle PA, 14th in Clarksburg WV, 15th in Frederick MD, it’s Killer Bees vs Bolsheviks, 10th in Green Bay, 11th in LaCrosse, 12th in Fort Wayne, 13th in Rockford, 14th in Waterloo IA and 16th in Peoria it’s Bam Bam vs the Gang. Rochester on 22nd and Landover MD on 23rd they’re starting Warrior vs Hercules with time limit draws and double count outs under battles royal won by Don Muraco. It’s back to Bees v Bolsheviks 25th at Pottstown (PA) High School. 29th in Vegas is crazy strong - Jake vs DiBiase, Hacksaw vs Harley, Bomb Angels vs Glamour Girls and Warrior vs Herc, 30th in Reno the same plus Bigelow vs Gang. 30th at the Cow Palace and 31st in Phoenix are similarly strong to finish the month with Warrior getting wins over Harley, Jake and The Rock doing a match each with Gang and Butch Reed, Bomb Angels vs Glamour Girls, Hacksaw and Ken Patera beating Demolition & Mr Fuji in handicap matches, and battles royal won by the Million Dollar Man. Billy Jack Haynes was advertised for Duggan/Pateras team but he’s quit the company before the loop after learning that he and Patera where going to lose to Demolition on 28th in Portland, his hometown, leaving Ken to tag with subs or wrestle singles with Ax or Smash 24th through 30th. I’m sure he didn’t regret that over the next 8 years working indies save a cup of coffee as Black Blood in WCW. February C shows we’ve still got Killer Bees vs Bolsheviks 1st in Asbury Park, 2nd at Regina Youth Center in Brooklyn and 3rd at Billerica (MA) High School, but at least they get the Bomb Angels vs Glamour Girls match too. There’s also a Duggan v Race and Bulldogs v Islanders crew 2nd-4th in Buffalo, Syracuse, Muskegon MI. Bees v Bolsheviks resume 7th-17th in Cobleskill, Clinton (NY), Kingston PA, Martinsburg WV, Collinsville IL and Columbus MO. Duggan v Race goes again 12th/13th in Youngstown OH and Erie PA before it’s shuffled a bit, it’s still Bulldogs vs Islanders with various Jake matches 14th-18th in Altoona PA, Kirksville MO and Sheboygan(!) WI, the latter of which is the Snake vs no longer “WWF Champion” Ted DiBiase. It goes a bit chop n change here - 19th in Worcester it’s Bam Bam v Harley and a battle royal won by Muraco, 20th in Richfield then Pittsburgh, 21st in Providence its Bigelow vs DiBiase (plus Bomb Angels) while in Waukegan IL on 20th it’s transport issues - Davey vs Haku one on one and Jake actually wrestles Slick but 21st in Decatur it’s Bulldogs/Islanders and Jake vs Gang (plus Sherri vs Robin). Never dreamed I’d call MSG on 22nd a C show but the fans agreed, less than 10,000 turn up so it’s half full, DiBiase beating Bam Bam by count-out as usual and on last, it’s the final WWF match for six years for King Kong Bundy, he and the Natural losing to “The Rock” Don Muraco and the Ultimate Warrior - Bundy looks at the lights for Jim. Bulldogs vs Islanders continues to lead a crew 22nd in Farmland IN, 26th in Baltimore, 27th in Halifax (plus Jake vs Rude) before switching to Bulldogs vs Bolsheviks and Jake vs Gang 28th matinee in London Ontario then reverting for Toronto that night and Utica on 29th. Interestingly Sheiky baby is doing singles matches in the Ohio and Pennsylvania, picking up wins from Lanny Poffo or losing to The Rock. Strike Force/Harts is your draw 1st February in Orlando. The day after The Main Event, the 6th, it’s a double shot of South Bend then Lansing MI with Macho Man & Strike Force vs Honky & the Harts. 7th there’s an Ontario double with Guelph (?) seeing Savage team with old enemy Ricky Steamboat vs the Harts, then later in Toronto it’s Savage/Dragon/Hacksaw vs Honky/Bret/Anvil. It gets worse for the heels tomorrow in Montreal, you’ll read below. Sherri vs Rockin Robin invariably happens on these cards or Hogan cards. 9th - 14th we get Macho & Strike Force vs Honky & the Foundation in cage matches in New Haven, Poughkeepsie, Lake Placid, Glens Falls, Springfield, Landover and Duluth. 15th in Omaha it becomes an elimination match and Bret is actually the sole survivor when Macho Man gets counted out fighting Honky and Anvil! After TVs, 19th in Columbus Randy takes a break from Honky to tag with Hacksaw and beat Ted DiBiase and Virgil. 21st in Tacoma it’s back to the six-man cage match and later in Billings MT a standard tag, and again 22nd in Butte MT (?), 26th in Hollywood FL, 27th in Gary IN (?) 28th in Des Moines and Leap Day in Cedar Rapids. It’s no wonder Honky didn’t want to be cut off from Savage, the money they were drawing. 6th of February, one day after The Main Event, Hulk Hogans on the revenge trail at a sold out Boston Garden as Hulk & Bam Bam Bigelow take on Andre and the Million Dollar Man, wearing the belt and announced as the new Heavyweight champion, and Hulk puts “the champ” down with the legdrop. They do the same at the Philadelphia Spectrum later, nearly 30,000 fans in total coming to see that tag. 8th at the LA Sports Arena - I’m calling this an A show - a poor 3000 attend the Million Dollar Man, still with the belt, “defend” against Bam Bam, and again 9th in Fresno, 10th in Sacramento, 11th in Winnipeg and 12th in Fort Wayne. Meanwhile on the 8th, Hulk and Andre head to Montreal where Ricky Steamboat and The MegaPowers (as it were) go over Honky & the Harts with the Giant in their corner. 13th in Minneapolis we have Hogan & Bammer with Mad Dog Vachon in the corner vs Teddy & Andre and again on Valentines Day in front of 12,000 in the Silverdome, 15th at the Rosemont Horizon, and 16th after Wichita TVs (10,000). 18th at the Meadowlands it’s actually Hogan vs Honky to a non finish for 16,000 fans! The big tag sells out Denver on 27th then in Boise on 28th and 29th in Tucson it’s Virgil in the ring and Andre in the corner. It’s interesting that they were hoping Ted would draw with Macho Man all summer considering how many cities have seen him get pinned by Hulksters legdrop. ITS WRESTLEMANIA SEASON!!! Get your double VHS out. We kick off the big shows in real Mania mood, 4th March in Phoenix it’s Hogan & Hacksaw vs Andre & DiBiase, then 5th at the Cow Palace (8500) Virgil in the match with Andre seconding, and the same 6th in LA. Andre’s pinning Bam Bam dark at Nashville TVs on 7th in a rare singles match about 3 minutes long. 8th and 9th TVs in Bristol TN and Winston-Salem it’s Hulkster & Bigelow over Ted and Andre. 12th afternoon in Landover Andre pins Bam Bam and for some reason Hogan pins Virgil with the Million Dollar Man in his corner instead of wrestling, then that night in Philly the Hulk beats DiBiase in a lumberjack match with Andre “banned from ringside” which is funny because he isn’t even in the building. That particular show has the Bomb Angels vs Glamour Girls match from the High Flyers tape. 15,000 come to Copps Coliseum on 13th for Hulk & Bam Bam vs Ted & Virg, Bigelow pinning our favourite manservant. 18,000 at the Montréal forum (in honour of Mad Dog) on the 14th for Hogan and Bam Bam versus Andre and Teddy, 18th in Houston, we are back to Hulk and Hacksaw v Ted and the Giant because Bigelow has just done his knee, 19th in Cape Girardeau and 20th in Springfield after TV is the same, Ted getting pinned by Hogan again. That’s it before Mania for the big dogs!! Toledo on the 4th we’re back to Savage & Strike Force vs Honky & the Harts in a cage - interestingly the Jumping Bombs Angels beat the Glamour Girls in separate singles matches again here. Fun fact - Yamazaki settled in the States and owned a restaurant in New York for a while called GO Sushi. On the 5th at Boston Garden we have the same, the famous one immortalised on Coliseum, and again in Portland on 6th, Sioux Falls on 10th, Chicago on 12th, 13th in Cincinnati and at the Silverdome, 15th in Dayton, 16th in Pittsburg KS and 17th in Oklahoma City. In other work for top of the middle, a fundraiser at Methuan (MA) High School on the 6th has Jake the Snake with Strike Force for the six man tag. Honky works Jake and loses non-title at Nashville TVs then in Bristol and Winston-Salem early in the month and 20th in Springfield there’s a great tag of Savage & Brutus vs the would-be Rhythm & Blues. 14th at the Meadowlands, Honkys going over Ricky Steamboat but then is the last out by Jake in the show closing battle royal, Savage v Gang, Strike Force v Bolsheviks, Harts vs Bees and Jake v Hercules underneath. Randy also headlines with Herc 19th in Lake Charles and 20th in Lafayette. The Harts work the Rougeaus again who’ll they be with come summer, 7th in Bennington, 8th in Burlington and 9th in Watertown NY, and 14th they get beat by Ultimate Warrior and Don Muraco in Manchester NH. Random. Boston Garden here : Demolition v mildly booed Rougeaus, Warrior v Harley, Bomb Angels v Glamour Girls, all star six man cage match. There is one finish on this card which is definitely not what you expect, from the wrestler doing it… Fun fact, those Vermont and Watertown shows have Steve Blackman getting another look, picking up wins over David Sammartino, who loses his job after Watertown for attacking a fan giving him some stick and promptly getting arrested. Whatever would dad think? Bulldogs vs Islanders is still heading the Bam Bam crew - 4th in Scranton PA it’s Bam Bam vs Butch Reed and Muraco vs Gang then those combine into a tag 5th in Tampa, then cage matches 10th-13th in Johnstown, Hershey and London Ontario, before 16th in Hartford Muraco works Gang and Bam Bam injuries his knee beating Dino Bravo. The same night Rick Rude pins Ricky Steamboat AND wins a 22-man Rumble. Bam Bam battles on through the tag 17th in Worcester (they swap the cage match to Beefcake vs Valentine) but then he’s preserved for Mania. 5th in Irvine and 6th in San Diego, Million Dollar Man goes on last with Hacksaw, then after TVs it’s usually Duggan vs Ron Bass, Ultimate Warrior vs Harley Race and a battle royal through mostly Texas 10th-17th in Colorado Springs (CO), Odessa, El Paso, Albuquerque, Clovis High School (NM), Lubbock, Wichita Falls and Tyler. There’s also a sole Beefcake vs Valentine headed show 18th at Rich Herrin Gym in Benton IL. Extra fun note, Owen Hart gets his first look in the early March TVs, pinning Barry Horowitz in a match they put on an Unreleased DVD, and putting Herc over. Post Mania, into April, and it’s all change. There’s a new WWF Champion and new tag team champions. Ricky the Dragon has finished up and people have been turned. Andres on the road but Hogans pissing about filming No Holds Barred. Let’s start with Andre! He takes a small crew to Europe, losing to Warrior by DQ 1st in Lugano, Switzerland (April Fool indeed) then pinning Hacksaw 2nd in Milan and Warrior 3rd in Cesena. Demolition get first defences here over the Young Stallions. 23rd Andre is back in the Silverdome beating Hacksaw by count-out halfway up the card between the first of the Bret vs Bad News matches and the Honky v Beefcake and Demolition v Strike Force rematches. 24th at Maple Leaf Gardens it’s Andre vs Duggan and Honky vs Brutus again, of note underneath the Rougeaus beat the Killer Bees and are already wrestling as heels. 25th in Montreal it’s Andre/Duggan and Honky/Brutus again, the Andre without Honky is the draw 29th in Utica and 30th in Scranton. The new WWF Champion is of course, Randy “Macho Man” Savage. There’s seemingly fuck all domestic house shows for most of April but 12,000 come to New Haven tv on 21st for Savage vs Andre (DQ) and Demolition vs Strike Force rematch, and 9000 to Springfield MA tv for Savage v Gang and Demolition v Bulldogs non-title. 23rd in Providence it’s Savage vs DiBiase for the title drawing about 6700 (Sherri defends as well) which to be honest isn’t great for the venue. 24th in Landover it’s Savage vs Ted supported by Demolition/Strike Force and Sherri in front of 4500, poor again. However the fabled yardstick of MSG yields results for Randy on 25th as 17,000 turn up for him vs the Million Dollar Man. It’s the same title matches 26th in Fort Wayne, 27th in Toledo, 28th in Phoenix, 29th in Fresno and 30th at the Cow Palace in front of a decent 11,000. Warrior vs Herc and Bret vs Bad News always support Randy and Demolition. Note of interest, Sherri’s challenger on these shows is Desiree Peterson, whose footnote in history was as the partner of Velvet McIntyre, when they lost the tag titles to the Glamour Girls. Honky Tonk Man still gets asked to draw a few B shows even without Savage as a dance partner. Him and Beefcake lead 26th in Glens Falls, 27th in Syracuse, 28th in Louisville, 29th in Columbus and 30th in South Bend. Bam Bams still getting booked, he’s with One Man Gang 23rd in Lowell. JYD v Outlaw Ron Bass might be your top match next night in Plymouth MI, 26th in Toms River NJ and 27th in Allentown. May starts as April left off with Macho Man vs Ted DiBiase and 1st at LA Sports (13,000), 2nd in San Diego, 6th in Richfield, 7th in Indianapolis, 9th in Green Bay, 10th at Duluth TVs (7000 sell out), 11th at Rochester TVs (6000), 12th in Winnipeg, 13th in Omaha (7000), 14th in Springfield IL, the Rosemont Horizon on 15th (a worrying 8500), 19th in Kansas City, 20th in St Louis, 21st in Cape Girardeau MO, 22nd in Denver, and a still-healthy 16,000 come to MSG on 27th for the rematch after last months count-out. They run Providence in 28th, Montreal on 29th, Portland on 30th and dark at Fresno on 31st. 23rd in Colorado Springs is different and fun - Randy is reunited with Strike Force to beat Teddy and Demolition. Andres still working in May. He’s working Duggan lots of shows 1st-9th in Milwaukee, Evansville, Hershey, Boston Garden (12,000), Binghamton and the Meadowlands. Buffalo on 13th it’s Duggan & Ultimate Warrior v Andre & Hercules, Andre v Duggan again 14th in Hartford, 15th in Rochester, 21st at the Spectrum, then Hacksaw & Jake Roberts vs Andre & Rick Rude 22nd in Maple Leaf Gardens, back to one on one 23rd in Halifax, 27th in Bismarck ND, 28th in Minneapolis, 29th in Pontiac, and the Rude/Jake tag dark at 31st at Fresno TV. Worth noting less than 2000 come to the Silverdome on 29th, proof that even with a draw like Andre you have to be careful trying to draw repeat business for the same match. Also, those Fresno TVs mark the return of the Rockers after 1987s brief fling. As for Honky on top? He’s taxed with drawing to Columbus on 12th, Savannah on 13th, 14th in Palmetto FL, 15th in Kissimmee, 20th in Wheeling, 21st in Johnstown PA, 22nd in Battle Creek, Gary IN on 23rd, 29th in Columbus and 30th in South Bend. All against the Barber. Demolition vs Strike Force rematches are your top draw 12th in Erie and 30th in Bakersfield. Bam Bam vs Gang is your C show main 1st in Lock Haven PA, 2nd in Spencer NY, 10th in Norwalk CT, and Hoosac Valley High School (I’m not making this up) in Cheshire MA on 11th. It’s JYD vs Ron Bass and Young Stallions vs Bolsheviks May 7th/8th in St Johns and Gander (Newfoundland), May 9th in Brantford Ontario, 19th in Washington OH, 28th in North East MD, 30th in Wilson and 31st in Taylorsville (NC). Boss Man is starting up on the road as part of that crew. Finally there’s two real fun sounding shows 19th in Worcester and 20th in Portland where Jake vs Rick Rude is the main, above the Bret vs Bad News match and Koko & The Bulldogs vs Islanders & the Brain rematches. June rolls on with Randy and Ted - 9000 tickets for Oakland TVs on 1st, Spokane on 2nd, 3rd in Tacoma (11,000), 4th in Los Angeles (10,000), 5th in Phoenix, 6th in Tucson, 10th in Pittsburgh, 11th in Hershey, 12th in Chicago, 16th in Dayton, 17th in Indianapolis, 18th in South Bend, 19th in Rockford, 20th in Syracuse, 22nd dark at Binghamton TV, 23rd in Utica, 24th in Richmond (7000), 25th in Baltimore (7000), and later on a monster 18,000 turn up to MSG for the cage match. 26th in Toronto, 10,000 for the last title match of the month. It's taken a while but Macho Man vs Million Dollar Man is starting to put the money in the till. Of note - MSG here has Bam Bam finishing up doing a job for Andre. Syracuse and then the TV tapings have the surprise of the Powers of Pain turning up and beating Demolition with the walking off count out finish, and in some other shows they’ll beat them by pinfall non title. Andres still with Hacksaw 2nd-4th at Sacramento, Richfield and the Boston Garden, then at the Meadowlands it’s Jake & Duggan vs Andre & Rude. 11th in Worcester it’s a crazy 8-man - Jake, Hacksaw and the Bulldogs vs Andre, Ravishing and the Islanders, then back to the Jake/Rude tag 12th in Springfield. Duggan v Andre 16th in Lakeland FL, 18th at the Philadelphia Spectrum, 19th in Scranton, 20th in New Haven, 21st/22nd dark at Glens Falls and Binghamton TVs, 23rd in Rochester, 24th in Providence it’s the Jake/Rude tag as does 26th at the Silverdome, the last WWF show before it closes. 29th in Montreal the same tag although the Rougeaus challenging Demolition go on last, and Andre finishes the month on 30th one on one with Hacksaw in Cornwall Ontario. For your amusement, Providence is the first show with Warrior vs the Brain in the weasel suit gimmick match. We don’t have many B shows without Savage or Andre. Honky vs Brutus is the headline 17th at the Nassau Coliseum and 19th in Elizabeth NJ. 5th in Landover we have Demolition & Mr Fuji wrestling Strike Force & Warrior - sounds a little unfair! There’s a ton of C shows however. Those JYD/Bass cards continue 1st-10th in Cookeville IN, Morehead KY, Lima OH (of Al Snow fame), California PA, Martinsburg WV and Manchester NH. 16th in Decatur IL it’s randomly Bulldogs v Haku & Sivi Afi in a cage. 20th, JYD v Bass resumes in Wildwood NJ but I’m guessing Warrior v Hercules the draw here. 22nd in Allentown, 23rd in Middletown NY, 26th at Sharon High School (PA) the show is so bland I think Ken Patera vs Dino Bravo is your biggest match. However on the 30th that show is improved with the Powers Of Pain crushing the Bolsheviks. Edited March 19 by air_raid dead videos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Onyx2 Posted February 14, 2022 Awards Moderator Share Posted February 14, 2022 4 hours ago, air_raid said: the show is so bland I think Ken Patera vs Dino Bravo is your biggest match Christ. Thanks for doing this thankless task. Obviously as fans you 'know' the same matches and cohorts are travelling doing the same matches in similar combinations but seeing them written out like this makes you realise the insane Groundhog Day nature of a loop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 16, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 16, 2022 (edited) Here's Q3 of 1988, I think quarterly might be the way to go with this much detail although I think 1989 will revert to "X wrestled Y all month" if there isn't much variation (January 1989 spoiler : certain guys work the same match every night). July is pretty huge, ending on 31st in Milwaukee - do you call WrestleFest a house show? Either way it’s near 26,000 for Savage and Teddy for the gold and Hogans return to go in the cage with Andre. Otherwise Macho Man vs Million Dollar Man is still our big ticket. 1st it’s a healthy 12,500 at the Calgary Saddledome. 2nd in Vancouver, 3rd in Saskatoon (8300), 7th in Toledo, 8th in Richfield, 9th at the Boston Garden, 10th at the Meadowlands, 11th in Des Moines, 12th in Davenport, 13th/14th at LaCrosse/Cedar Rapids TVs, 15th in Houston (a fairly disappointing 7500), 21st in Tampa, 22nd in Miami, 23rd at the Spectrum (over 9000 attend), 24th at Maple Leaf Gardens, 25th in Columbus, 29th in Tacoma, 16th in Landover and 17th in Hershey we have a change - it’s Savage & the Barber vs DiBiase & Honky Tonk Man. The Meadowlands has an amusing storyline - a battle royal determines the challenger midway through the card and when it boils down to the Million Dollar Man and the Bolsheviks, he simply pays off Nikolai and Boris. Randys last few nights of July feature the first WWF matches of a certain Curt Hennig. Andre is wrestling Hacksaw 1st in Niagara Falls, 8th in Eugene OR, Hacksaw & Brutus Beefcake vs Andre & Honky 9th in Sacramento, vs Duggan again 10th in Vegas, 11th at the Cow Palace, 12th in Madison WI, 15th at LA Sports, 16th in San Diego, 17th in Denver, (here on, lumberjack matches) 21st in Portland, 22nd in New Haven, 23rd in Nashville, 24th in Chicago, 25th at a half full MSG, 29th in Regina and 30th in Buffalo. Fun note - in Los Angeles, San Diego and Denver Warriors doing the Weasel Suit with Bobby Heenan again. Also, it’s a big start for Terry Taylor on Andre towns - he’s doing jobs for Sheiky baby! Demolition vs The Rougeaus gets a little spotlight 2nd in Halifax and 3rd in Hull Quebec, but there’s no other B shows, truthfully. LA Sports - Early Rockers vs Conquistadors match, Andre vs Duggan, Jake vs Rude, but I know you're watching for that Weasel Suit match. C Shows, it’s Powers of Pain v Bolsheviks 1st-3rd in Manchester NH, Lewiston ME, Warwick RI. We switch to Warrior vs Herc 7th-14th in Eureka, Redding, Chico, Santa Rosa, Fremont, Los Banos, (CA) then Warriors out and Ken Pateras in 15th-17th in Tulare, Santa Paula and Palm Desert (CA). The whole Cali run also features Sherri vs Rockin Robin. We’ve got Patera v Bravo 21st-25th in Brooklyn, Amsterdam, Delhi, Pulaski (NY) and three shows in Newfoundland 29th-31st feature Owen, Sheik, jobbers, the Rockers vs Conquistadors and JYD winning battles royal. Another fun note - Brets usually pinning Danny Davis on the C show, Bad News has been switched to working Anvil on Andre’s towns. We’ve got D shows, to be fair, full of jobbers and JYD vs Ron Bass 7th-17th in Perth NJ, Emmitsburg MD, Buckhannon WV, Jasper IN, Lawrenceburg IN, Decatur IL and Muskegon MI. It’s Tito v Outlaw, 22nd onwards in Las Cruces, Roswell, Santa Fe, Portales, (NM), Lubbock, Odessa, San Angelo, Waco and San Antonio - Sherri vs Robin on all of these. The march to the inaugural SummerSlam is underway!!! August is crazy with Hulk doing a few shows and four shows a night nearly every night even though many of them are C/D shows in Bumfuck, Indiana. Hogans back on board and he’s pinning Bad News dark at the Wheeling TVs on 3rd in addition to Macho Man vs Ted DiBiase and Andre vs Hacksaw. 7th it’s HOGAN VS ANDRE (DQ finish) for the Greensboro debut supported by Demolition vs Bulldogs. Hulk doesn’t show his face again until 28th in Toronto, going over Bad News again. There’s a great bit of fun on that Wheeling taping. Ultimate Warrior squashes Honky to “win” the Intercontinental belt so they can record an interview with him as champion for Superstars, then the live crowd are informed President Tunney has overruled the win. LOL. This is also where they record Ron Bass injuring Brutus to remove him from SummerSlam. Randy Savage is still defending against the Million Dollar Man in Flint MI, Rochester, Springfield MA, Montreal (15,000), 6th at the Boston Garden with Andre and Duggan on last, 7th at Maple Leaf Gardens, 11th/12th/13th he defends against Andre in Boise, Oakland and Los Angeles, 14th in Lansing MI we revisit the tag of Savage & the Barber vs DiBiase & Honky Tonk Man. 15th it’s Savage v Teddy again in the first show at the Palace, Auburn Hills MI (final destination of the Lex Express), then Macho vs Giant again 19th-22nd in Miami, Landover, Richfield, Glens Falls supported by Honky vs Warrior DQ finishes, dark 23rd/24th at Providence and Hartford TVs. 25th he’s back with Ted in Halifax, 26th in Moncton and 27th at the Spectrum. 28th in Montreal is a curveball with Savage wrestling Dino Bravo (hometown hero), Andre with Jake Roberts and Demolition vs Powers Of Pain. LA again - Savage vs Andre, Harts vs Rougeaus, Rude vs Jake and some interesting squashes. On Providence/Hartford TVs there’s two more pretend wins for Warrior over Honky for the purpose of his recording squashes with the belt. A few towns that definitely weren’t surprised at his SummerSlam win, then. In Boise the Harts start tagging regularly again, working (and usually losing to) the Fabulous Rougeaus. It’s still Andre vs Hacksaw 1st in Terre Haute IN, 2nd in Dayton with 8000 coming (Hogan vs Haku for TV probably helped), 5th in Baltimore, 14th in Sioux Falls SD, 15th in Omaha, 25th in Vancouver, 26th in Calgary, 27th in Edmonton - those Canadian shows featuring Honky vs Warrior and Demolition vs Bulldogs. Demolition vs Bulldogs main events 2nd and 3rd in Allentown and Little Silver NJ, 11th in Columbia SC, and 13th in Syracuse it’s an old fashioned B+ shows with Honky Tonk Man vs Brutus Beefcake, Demolition vs Bulldogs and DiBiase vs Hacksaw. 19th in Greenville, 20th in Bristol TN, 21st in Knoxville and 22nd in Utica it’s Demolition/Bulldogs, DiBiase/Duggan and Jake vs Ravishing. C shows are all over the place. 1st in Welland Ontario we wrap the little Owen, Rockers, JYD battle royal tour and Shawn wins this one! 4th in Altoona PA it’s Jake vs Rick Rude then a cycle of different main events on top of Rockers vs Conquistadors elsewhere - Warrior vs Hercules 4th in Nanticoke PA, Ken Patera vs Dino Bravo 5th in White Plains and 7th in Manchester NH, and Patera vs One Man Gang 6th in Pittsfield MA, Tito Santana vs Bravo 11th-15th in Three Rivers, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Granby (Quebec) and Kingston Ontario, then Don Muraco vs Greg Valentine 19th in Scranton, 20th in Frederick MD, 22nd in Athens PA, 24th in Poughkeepsie, 26th in Fitchburg MA and 27th in Burlington VT, before night before SummerSlam in Manchester NH they’re graced with Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase. Separate from the Rockers group it’s also Warrior vs Herc 6th in Palmetto, 8th in Stuart, and 9th in Mt Dora (FL), 13th/14th in Montgomery/Athens (AL) then Barber vs Herc 20th in Enid, 21st in Muskogee (OK) 23rd in Joplin, 24th in St Joseph (MO), 26th in Jacksonville IL, 27th in Richmond and 28th in Sharpsville (both IN). We have Sherri vs Robin on all those shows and many of them also have Killer Bees vs Young Stallions which I imagine was worth watching. First week of September the Hulksters battling Ted DiBiase atop huge cards featuring Warrior/Honky and Demolition/Bulldogs 3rd in New Orleans, 4th in Orlando, and 5th in Tallahassee, before the tag titles move to Savage cards. Hogan/Ted and Warrior/Honky run 9th in Springfield and 10th at the Boston Garden, 11th at the Meadowlands he’s beating Bad News, then back to Teddy 15th in Auburn Hills, 16th at the Rosemont Horizon and 17th in Landover. 18th it’s King Haku at Maple Leaf Gardens, 19th in New Haven he’s doing his first non-finish with Big Boss Man and again 29th in Miami and 30th in Springfield IL. Meadowlands here ; Harts vs Rougeaus and Jake vs Rude again with Cheryl watching, but the real reason you watch is for Hogan vs Bad News with Hulkster sporting the infamous War Bonnet. Andre vs Duggan lumberjack matches along with Jake vs Rude run 2nd in Portland, 3rd in Winnipeg, 4th in Regina and 5th in Saskatoon. The Giant returns to working Hacksaw after a long run with Savage, 24th in Lexington and 25th in Chattanooga. Macho Man is back from a week off with Andre, supported by Demolition v Bulldogs and Jake vs Rude, 9th in Cincinnati and 10th in Buffalo, starting 11th in Columbus they have Warrior v Honky as well, and 12th in South Bend and both singles titles dark on TVs Indianapolis on 13th and Louisville 14th. All three titles contested again 15th in Fresno, 16th in Sacramento, 17th in LA, 18th in San Diego, 19th in San Francisco and 23rd in Richfield. 24th at the Spectrum he’s got the Million Dollar Man in a cage and in a straight match 25th in Syracuse, before Andre again at MSG on 29th in front of a decent 13500, and 30th in Denver. Peoria on the 12th DiBiase works Duggan who has to pull double duty to go on last with Rick Rude as Jake misses it. There’s also a DiBiase vs Duggan card 23rd in Cape Girardeau MO supported by Harts vs Rougeaus and the Powers of Pain. That Rockers vs Conquistadors party is now topped by Barber vs Outlaw grudge matches 2nd in Canton OH, 3rd in Kittanning and 4th in Kingston before it flips to Duggan vs Boss Man 9th in Johnstown, Duggan vs One Man Gang 10th in Reading (all PA), Duggan vs Bravo 15th in Norwalk CT, 16th in Adams MA, 17th in Biddeford ME, 18th in White Plains and 19th in Enfield CT. It switches again and the Rockers inherit Muraco vs Valentine 23rd in Staten Island and 25th in Ithaca. We also have a Powers of Pain vs Bolsheviks and Sherri Martel vs Rockin Robin run through 6th-11th in Victoriaville, Chicoutimi, Hull (Quebec), St John (Newfoundland), Peterborough and Guelph, (Ontario). Sherri’s roster switches to Muraco vs Valentine and Harts vs Rougeaus 15th in Pittsburg KS, 16th in Ottumwa, 17th in Burlington and 18th in Waterloo (IA). Edited February 16, 2022 by air_raid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 18, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 18, 2022 Here's your Q4 for 1988. I'll keep these up as long as there is any interest from readers, I still have interest in doing them. October starts as you were - it’s Hulkster vs Boss Man and Randy vs the Giant! Loads of comings and goings again, usually 3 or 4 shows a day, a King of the Ring and event a brief jaunt into Europe, plus Survivor Series to build. Hogan wrestles Boss Man 1st in Madison WI, 2nd in Rockford, dark at Fort Wayne TVs on 5th (with Savage vs Bad News) and again at Toledo (9500) on 6th, then 7th in Tampa, 8th in Houston, 9th in Portland and 10th in Edmonton (15,000!!) 16th in Los Angeles he’s pinning King Haku then back to Boss Man 17th in Vancouver before only 6000 come to St Paul on 21st for Hulk vs Bad News, who he fights again 22nd in Green Bay. On the 23rd it’s HULK HOGAN VS ANDRE THE GIANT at the Omni in Atlanta which draws 5200 but despite it being an NWA stronghold I imagine they were hoping for more. It’s Haku again 24th in Hershey then 28th in Greensboro we’ve got a storyline tag on the way to Survivor Series - Hulk & Hercules vs Ted DiBiase & Virgil. 30th in Fort Myers it’s Hogan vs Boss Man to finish the Hulks month. LA here - Hogan vs Haku, Harts vs Rougeaus, Warrior vs Honky, Jake vs Rude Fun fact - Houston is the first report when Curt Hennig is referred to with the Mr Perfect moniker. It’s Macho Man vs Andre 1st in Wichita, 2nd in Omaha, 3rd in Des Moines and 4th in Flint MI. 7th they’re actually in Paris for a random Savage vs Akeem title match with Andre vs JYD underneath plus the chase that would never end is finally over - Rockin Robin beats Sherri Martel for the Womens Championship. 9th in Montreal it’s (deja vu) hometown boy Dino Bravo for Savage - non title, double DQ. He drops a count-out to Bravo 9th at Maple Leaf Gardens. I smell rematch. He drops another count-out to Bad News at Boston Garden on 10th EXPLICITLY to push a rematch, then that night he puts Bravo down in Portland ME then he’s back in the cage with Ted DiBiase 14th in Niagara Falls NY before 15th at the Capital Centre in Landover a dire 2800 see Bad News beat Randy by count-out again (you could get 15,000 in the building for wrestling). 16th in Providence it’s King of the Ring and reigning monarch Savage loses to Ted in the final by count-out thanks to Virgil. 17th in Utica they’re back in the cage, then 21st in Auburn Hills, 22nd in Dayton it’s Randy giving King Haku a turn at the top. 23rd it’s the Bravo rematch in Toronto and of course, this time Macho pins him. A decent 12,500 at MSG on 24th for Savage vs Andre, down slightly from last month but some people won’t pay for the same main event twice, I guess. They go again next night and 26th dark at Baltimore and Salisbury TVs, 27th in Asheville, 28th in Chicago, 29th in Lakeland FL, 30th Columbus the lumberjack matches start, just as the month ends. Fun - King of the Ring is the first show I read Terry Taylor referred to as the Red Rooster and he actually makes the semi although he only has to beat Marty Jannetty and Iron Mike Sharpe - it wasn’t exactly a stellar field, Ted paying off Ron Bass to forfeit in the other semi. Andre draws in Italy, 14th in Brescia and working 15th in Milan against Tito, plus Demolition vs Bulldogs and Robin vs Sherri non-title with Sherri wearing the belt as Robins win hasn’t aired anywhere yet (Robin wins) then largely the same 16th in Rome except in a title match Sherri “retains” the belt she’s already lost. Andre’s also in Cagliari on the 18th. Demolition vs Bulldogs with Jake vs Rude runs 3rd in Lansing, 4th in Battle Creek and again 27th in Worcester MA. 8th in Moncton, New Brunswick Warrior vs Honky draws by itself as Savage isn’t back from France yet. 14th in Oakland, 15th in Tacoma, 22nd in Buffalo they’re the draw again (with Jake vs Ravishing), 27th in Phoenix, 28th in Reno, 29th in Vegas and 30th in Sioux Falls SD (with Sherri “defending” vs Robin). Buffalo seems to be the first show for Tully & Arn (against the Young Stallions), 28th they start working the Rockers. Also, I’d completely forgotten that Cheryl Roberts had gone on the road with Jake for the Rude feud but it makes total sense. Duggan v DiBiase is our main 1st in Pendleton, 2nd in Salem, 3rd in Roseburg, (OR) 4th in Eureka, 5th in Chico, 6th in Stockton, 7th in Larkspur, 8th in San Jose, 9th in Modesto and 10th in Barstow (CA). They reprise 29th in Richmond. Incidentally Pendleton I believe is where the Gang first starts doing the Akeem gimmick. ARE YOU READY FOR THE SURVIVOR SERIES?? (Yes Jimmy, cheers). 3rd in Glens Falls NY we’ve got Randy Savage dropping a DQ to Bad News, 4th in Montreal he’s giving Dino Bravo his rematch in a lumberjack match and beating him but only by DQ, 5th its 7000 in New Haven for Randy vs King Haku, then 6500 to the Boston Garden for the Bad News rematch which is low, but up from last month. 6th it’s another poor draw in Springfield. Sherri vs Robin features up until that show. 11th in LaCrosse it’s back to Savage vs Andre with Demolition supporting, 12th in Bismarck ND, 13th in Spokane, 14th in Portland, 17th in Tucson, 18th in Nashville, 19th in Knoxville, 20th in Winston-Salem, then that night in Landover another piss poor 2500 for the Bad News defence. 22nd in Greenville Savage is back with Andre, 25th in Chicago and 26th in Detroit though he wraps up 27th in Rochester with Akeem. Andre has a couple of headlines, vs Jake Roberts 3rd in Colorado Springs and 4th/5th in Denver and Boise we’re in hard sell for the PPV - Jake & Tito vs Andre & Bravo. Hogan kicks off Milwaukee on 4th against Boss Man (IC/tag belts underneath) and again on a huge card Bonfire Night before 14,000(!) in Champaign IL (no, me neither), 6th at Maple Leaf Gardens and in Ottawa, 12th at the Spectrum (12,000), 14th in Fresno, 12,000 to the Cow Palace on 15th dark after TV (Demolition actually drop a count-out to the Rockers there) and near 16,000 to the Arco Arena, Sacramento the night after. 10,000 come to LA on 17th, 9600 sell out St Louis on 18th, and they hit Cincinnati on 23rd. Post Survivor Series it’s nearly 10,000 in Hartford on 25th (Demolition start working the Powers of Pain regularly here) a 19,700 sell out at MSG on 26th, and 27th in Indianapolis. LA again - Demolition vs Powers Of Pain, Robin vs Sherri, DiBiase vs Herc, Hogan vs Boss Man. Warrior vs Honky and Demolition vs Bulldogs is the double main 3rd in Rapid City SD and 5th afternoon in Terre Haute IN. 12,000 come to the Nassau Coliseum on 11th for Warrior without Demolition where the Hulk is there but not wrestling, as the guest of the Brother Love Show. WTF. Warrior v Honky again 13th in Binghamton, 14th in Salt Lake City, 19th in Wheeling, and 20th in Hershey. 20th in Fayetteville, Demolition vs Bulldogs draw (plus a battle royal), again 21st in Columbia. C shows with Jake vs Rude and DiBiase vs Hercules run 11th in Albuquerque, 12th in San Bernardino and San Diego and 13th in Bakersfield. DiBiase gets moved, Jake and Rude carry on with Tito/Haku and Powers of Pain vs Bolsheviks 17th in Hammond IN, 18th in Cadillac, 19th in Flint, 20th in Grand Rapids (MI) with Robin v Sherri on all those towns too. 21st half that tour goes to Kitchener Ontario and your top matches become Beefcake vs Bass and Harts vs Rougeaus, again 22nd in Oshawa and 23rd in Kingston. Ron Garvin debuts in Hammond, working Valentine immediately. After Survivors it’s Jake vs Rude 25th in Pensacola, 26th in Tulsa and 27th in Little Rock. December comes around and there’s some odd stuff in here. 2nd in Providence it’s Randy Savage & Hercules vs Ted DiBiase & Virgil with Andre vs Jake supporting but only drawing 5000. 3rd in Moncton he defends against battle royal winner Ray Rougeau (???) then 4th in Springfield MA it’s Akeem. He fights the African Dream again 5th in Fort Pierce FL, Boss Man dark after TV 6th in Daytona Beach and 7th in Tampa in front of 10,000 crowds both nights, then Rockford on 8th it’s Savage vs Rick Rude with Warrior vs Honky Tonk Man beneath. Same 9th in LaCrosse, 10th in Madison, 11th in South Bend, 12th in Phoenix, 16th in Memphis, then 17th at the Spectrum it’s Savage vs King Haku supported by Warrior/Honky and Andre/Jake. Later that night he’s back with Rude in Louisville, then on Boxing Day somehow the Bad News match draws 15,000 to Maple Leaf Gardens then Randy works Akeem in Kitchener and again 27th in Worcester, Bad News 28th in Lincoln, 29th in Huntington and an impressive 16,000 to MSG on 30th and 31st in Hartford. Randy won them over at the gate, even with dead weight like Brown. Hulkster tags with Hacksaw vs Boss Man & Dino Bravo 2nd in Quebec City, 3rd Hogan vs Boss Man draws 8500 to Boston Garden, 15,000 to Montreal Forum and 13,500 to Copps Coliseum both on 4th. They run Miami on 8th, Jacksonville on 9th, Kansas City on 10th (7000), 16th in Denver, 17th in Oakland (10,000) and in LA, 18th in Tacoma, 27th in Wheeling, 28th in Minneapolis, 29th in Cedar Rapids, 30th in Chicago (11,000) with Andre vs Jake under, 31st the same in Springfield IL and later in Indianapolis. Usually Robin vs Sherri is on the Hogan shows. Warrior vs Honky runs 2nd in Cape Girardeau MO, then 3rd in Omaha, 4th in Des Moines, 5th in Fort Myers, with Andre vs Jake. On their own again, 11th at Wausau High School and then Green Bay and 12th in Fort Wayne in a cage, back with Andre and Jake 16th in Toledo, 17th in Scranton and 18th at the Meadowlands, then losing Andre but adding the cage Boxing Day in Hershey then a decent 12,500 to the sometimes cursed Capital Centre. Jake vs Andre runs alone the same day in Rochester and Syracuse and Buffalo on 27th, Binghamton on 28th then Andre & Rude vs Jake & Tito 29th in Utica. We switch to Warrior vs Akeem 30th in Columbus but he fights Honky later in Dayton, then Akeem 31st in Lansing then Honky in a cage in Muskegon. When Honky swaps opponents with Akeem the other babyface is Tito. Demolition vs Powers of Pain run Duluth on 8th, Calgary on 9th, Saskatoon on 10th, 11th in Edmonton and 12th in Vancouver, with Andre vs Jake. That’s all we have left to cover for 1988 except…. late December is when the Bushwhackers start getting booked. What a Christmas present! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 21, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 21, 2022 Here's Q1 of 1989, stripped back version as promised. January we start with the same feuds we closed 88 with - Hogan vs Boss Man, Randy Savage eking out gates with Bad News. Hogans on top with Boss Man basically all month, including dark at four TV tapings, notable crowds 8th at Charlotte (13,500), 13th at Boston Garden (12,000) and 23rd at MSG (14,000), Boss Man’s winning by DQ at those last two and in Chicago to build rematches. 29th at Maple Leaf Gardens he works one match with Akeem then later in Montreal there’s more hometown hero booking - Hogan, Ron Garvin & Hacksaw Duggan beat Dino Bravo & The Rougeaus by DQ and Hogan does a stretcher job for Bravo(!) to end his month on a bizarre note. Randy Savage vs Bad News Brown for the belt is going on round the country to mixed results. 6000 to the Philadelphia Spectrum on 14th was bound to disappoint. Some of them are announced as “Harlem Street Fights”, some of them go to a DQ to build for a rematch, but there’s not much extra to add. Andre vs Jake is still going on all month, sometimes supporting Hogan (probably helped that gate in Charlotte), sometimes supported by midcard titles or Duggan vs Bravo flag matches. Their card 13th at Nassau Coliseum, other than Ultimate Warrior vs King Haku, it’s a little padded out with a fair few jobbers and Demolition and the Powers of Pain working singles matches plus a Tito vs Rude time limit draw. A papered 10,000 in Oakland supported by Warrior vs Haku is their best gate. There are very few B shows in January. 7th in Butte MT it’s Warrior vs Honky in a cage which basically serves as a feud ender as Jim’s with Haku for most of the rest of the month. Though 16th in El Paso he works the first of couple of matches with Ravishing as that feuds started in earnest at the Rumble, and they’re the draw 28th in Lowell too. Last Warrior note of interest - 26th on an Andre card in Flint MI (fairly well attended 9000) our Jim does double duty when for undisclosed reasons Michigan sports commission don’t allow The Barber to wrestle, so Warrior goes on early doing a 2 minute double count out with Rude, and on last with Haku as scheduled. Brutus misses a couple of days only while the office clear it up but it leads to the bizarre event on 28th afternoon in Springfield of Paul Roma getting a DQ win over Rude after a brief match then Warrior clearing Rude from the ring (he wrestles Haku later). For reasons unknown Roma also beats Haku by DQ in Lowell that night - Warrior wrestles Ravishing in the main, as above. 30th in Ottawa is the sole card where Demolition vs Powers Of Pain goes on without Hogan, Savage, Andre or Warrior. They do however get Perfect/Blazer, Bret/Honky and the Fabulous Rougeaus in rare singles - Jacques pinning Tito(!) and Raymond losing to old Montreal rival Ron Garvin. Plus a flag match…. Amusing Demolition note from the Hogan loop, a couple of these matches are no DQ so 29th matinee at Maple Leaf they lose by count-out to the Powers instead, but beat them later in Montreal. A final interesting note from Canada - in Toronto, Rick Martel finally goes back on the road after returning from his big injury at the Rumble. And what a return - he subs for an injured Hacksaw in the flag match with Dino Bravo, and wins! Presumably this leads to the sight of the Canadian babyface waving the American flag in triumph, in Canada. This is repeated on the Demolition card in Ottawa. There are ZERO C shows. Here’s an overview of undercards - John Studd is actually on the road with Akeem after the Rumble except 29th/30th with Akeem in Canada, Studd wrestles Boss Man. Zero finishes in sight. DiBiase is still with Hercules every night. 6th/7th when Boss Man has a couple of nights off from Hulk, are the first shows I can find The Twin Towers tagging, against the Young Stallions. Shawn & Marty are trading wins with Tully & Arn all month, Blue Blazer is doing jobs for Akeem and Red Rooster but beating the likes of Danny Davis, Boris Zhukov and Ron Bass. Perfect is regularly pinning Koko and by month end doing time limit draws with Tito and occasionally beating him. Tito also does plenty of draws with Ravishing Rick who also squeezes in some surprising losses to The Barber. They’re still looking at Bret in singles, he’s doing lots of DQ or count-out draws with Honky. Anvils left with Valentine. They haven’t dropped the Womens title yet, there’s a spot for Rockin Robin vs Sherri Martel virtually every night. A final note of curiosity, Koko doesn’t make it to Indianapolis on 29th so Tony Garea actually gets in the ring to do a job for… umm… a Conquistador. Always bring your gear. February, it’s all change. RANDY IS A BADDIE! Zero house shows happen before Randy Savage turns heel on the Hulkster on 3rd. This leads to the bizarre event of Bad News playing the babyface in some of their matches! The hero, Bad News Brown. Can you imagine? It’s an eclectic month for Randy ; he sells out Grand Rapids on 6th wrestling Akeem, then 10th in Halifax and 11th at the Boston Garden it’s nearly 20,000 fans total for two more sell outs for his first two champion vs champion matches with Ultimate Warrior. He’s with Warrior for most of the month including dark at TVs (when he’s not with Bad News) and it’s monster at the gate, they sell out MSG on 20th without Hogan on the card (you probably saw this on Coliseum). Hulkster again works Big Boss Man all month. There’s unbelievable dollar generated with the double mains of the first Hogan/Boss Man cage matches and Savage/Bad News 17th-19th with about 50,000 bums in seats for three sell outs in St Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis. The rest of the month it’s the same match with only variations on the finish and if it’s in the cage or not. Andre vs Jake continues to draw too. Finishes are mixed between carrying on from last month with Jake getting Damian out for a DQ, Andre by pin, or the Mania V finish as Big John Studd is doing the guest ref gimmick on some shows. 26th in LA, 12,000 see Andre & Rick Rude lose to Jake and Ultimate Warrior which I believe is the Giants first meeting with Jim. Warrior is top billing with Boss Man Valentines Day in Rochester. 17th in Green Bay, 18th in Rapid City it’s double main with Demolition vs Powers of Pain (who only work each other in Feb) and the first of several matches Warrior works with the Million Dollar Man. 24th in South Bend the support for Jim and Ted is Tully & Arn vs Shawn & Marty. Some of that loop features the biggest wins on the road in ages for Hillbilly Jim - subbing for injured Hacksaw and beating Dino Bravo in those flag matches. Really only 3 C shows to be found. Studd vs Akeem or Duggan vs Bravo flag match is your top match 10th in Scranton. 19th in Kitchener Ontario they can’t ask Andre to work again having done the matinee at Maple Leaf Gardens so Rick Rude takes over Jake duty, Rockers vs Brain Busters the other highlight. 20th in Worcester, DiBiase is actually in the cage with Hercules! Michaels/Jannetty/Blanchard/Anderson support again, Boss Man is with Tito Santana. If you were wondering, the Womens title is still about, Rockin Robin picking up wins early in the month over Judy Martin and later over - of course - Sensational Sherri. Brutus Beefcake is booked like an absolute player in February earning multiple pinfall wins over Ted DiBiase (including at the Philadelphia Spectrum) and the next IC champ Rick Rude at MSG and elsewhere although he does return the favour to Ravishing on the three big shows in St Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis. Rude also works a successful program with Tito including at the Boston Garden included on the first SuperTape. He’s supposed to work Rick Martel early in the month but clearly the neck is still bothering Martel as he misses them all but comes back at the end of the month to bag a few wins over King Haku. Very varied month for Mr Perfect. In Milwaukee he does a double DQ with the Barber, next night in Providence he gives the Blue Blazer 17 minutes before beating him. He does a series of time limit draws with Ron Garvin, and several more with Hercules aside from narrowly beating him in Chicago. The Perfect Record is in intact but not yet particularly convincing. Hardly a banner month for DiBiase either. As well as many quick defeats by Warrior and half the shows losing to Brutus, he drops a DQ Dusty finish to Herc in Wheeling. He does win the cage match alluded to earlier and beats Tito on 24th in Seattle but then goes broadway with him in Los Angeles and Portland. Still, it’s not all bad news ; 16th February they tape SNME and it’s the debut of the Million Dollar Belt before Ted pins the Blazer, which you’ve seen if you bought the Saturday Nights Main Event tape. Finally, hilariously, the Red Rooster does a job at MSG on the 20th to the Brooklyn Brawler (with help from the Brain). No wonder he didn’t get over. March is here as the MegaPowers prepare to explode! Macho Man still has to complete some street fights with Bad News. 5th at Copps Coliseum they’re in a cage. 7th/8th at the Texas tvs he does dark matches with Ultimate Warrior again then they’re back on the road selling out the Cow Palace on the 10th. That’s Randy for March - 9000 (near capacity) attend the first WWF show at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio on 25th for Savage v Warrior. Shawn and Marty beat Tully & Arn by DQ in Shawns hometown. Hogans still doing cage matches with Big Boss Man. 10th in Montreal he has to slum it and do Bravo duty (Boss Man works Herc). 18th the Hulkster/Boss Man cage match sells out Madison Square Garden because of course it does. If interested, the Rooster gets his win back from Brawler but only because Bobby Heenan is banned from ringside. Loser. An identical card sells out Boston Garden the same evening. Hulkster only works Boss Man until Mania. Early month on a few shows there’s continuation of Warrior & Jake vs Andre & Ravishing. Andre vs the Snake one on one goes down dark at TVs and supports Savage on occasion, and is the draw in several towns including Louisville Gardens on the 9th. Later they’d start doing lumberjack matches. A Warrior defence vs Boss Man is your main 11th in Nashville atop Rockers/Brain Busters, Studd/Akeem and DiBiase/Tito. 21st in Bismarck ND and 22nd in St Cloud MN, Demolition vs Powers of Pain is on top, Studd/Akeem and DiBiase/Tito support again. A lot of form carries on from February - Perfects still doing broadways with Herc, but starts getting to win over Ron Garvin including at MSG, Beefcake is still beating the Million Dollar Man or Rick Rude, it’s still Big John Studd vs Akeem, Robin vs Sherri or Judy, and Rockers vs Tully & Arn. Ted still sometimes beats, sometimes draws with Tito, Rick Martel makes it back to close enough full time so he does some of those overdue bouts with Ravishing and wrestles Perfect in Nashville. Near the end of the month there’s a few changes, Perfects with Koko, Martels with Bad News, Hacksaw divorces himself from Bravo at last and starts working Haku. With Bret/Honky and Anvil/Valentine for virtually three months straight, the Rougeaus have been slumming it with the Bushwhackers. The only show I can find without Hogan, Savage, Andre or a Warrior or Demolition defence is 6th in Colorado Springs, Rockers vs Brain Busters goes on last supported by Herc vs Perfect and Studd vs Akeem. Amusing note on Studd vs Akeem ; allegedly in San Francisco Studd is told by the office that their matches have been so crap (with non finishes) that if Johns physically incapable of giving Akeem a bodyslam for a decent pinfall ending, he’ll be let go. Harsh but fair. 7th dark at El Paso TV, Perfect works a draw with John Tenta (Earthquake), who beats a jobber next night in Odessa. Finally… 3 undercards between 19th and 24th feature Barry Horowitz vs Scott Casey…. HOROWITZ WINS!! HOROWITZ WINS!! HOROWITZ WINS!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 Not sure if this is the best place for this but it is about house shows. WWE are rebranding their Saturday and Sunday live events as "Saturday Night's Main Event" and "Sunday Night Stunner". Moving away from the "WWE Live" branding. Don't know if it will have much of an impact on things, but i've always felt they could have branded some of their house shows to at least present them as tours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Infinity Land said: WWE are rebranding their Saturday and Sunday live events as "Saturday Night's Main Event" and "Sunday Night Stunner". I hope they've cleared it with Babestation first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 22, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 22, 2022 (edited) 16 hours ago, Infinity Land said: Not sure if this is the best place for this Not really, the thread is about matches, but since you’re here…. 16 hours ago, Infinity Land said: i've always felt they could have branded some of their house shows to at least present them as tours. They have, many times. The post Mania shows have traditionally been referred to as the WrestleMania Revenge Tour both domestically and internationally. For a vintage example, the post-SummerSlam 1994 schedule all over the States/Canada was referred to as The Hart Attack Tour (headlined by Bret & Bulldog VS Owen & Anvil). If they stopped bothering to do that then it’s just another example of how sterile the modern product has become, and how things were better back in the day. Kind of also what this thread is about….. Edited February 22, 2022 by air_raid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 22, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 22, 2022 And here’s a one-shot story just to keep the random theme going, straight from the pages of the book of UKFF favourite Bob Holly. He’s driving with Sid to New Haven first week of January 1996 and Sid asks him “How do you want to beat me?” Bob thinks he’s ribbing at first but Sid tells him “They (the office) want you over.” There’s no tension between them as Sid is convinced it’s politics by Shawn & Kev as Diesel wasn’t the big success they’d hoped as champ and Kevin either feels threatened by Sid or blames him. Either way, Holly does what he’s told and beats Sid that night. Straight after the show Sid feigns injury (not the first time, nor the last) and walks out of the WWF. Handheld of the shows main is up on YouTube but sadly not Holly vs Sid. Big scalp for Sparky Bobcore, that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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