The Name on the Marquee: WWF Prime Time Wrestling (2.1.1988)

-Originally aired February 1, 1988.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan. Vince makes fashion history tonight by wearing a vest with a double-breasted suit.

“The Rock” DON MURACO vs SIKA (with Mr. Fuji)
-From MSG, long enough ago that he’s still introduced as Magnificent Muraco. Lock-ups go nowhere and Sika stalls for a minute. Match finally goes somewhere with chops by Sika. Muraco counters a corner charge with a roll-up for two, then applies a toehold, and hey, Sika wrestles barefoot, so for once, it’s literally a toehold. What an exciting show.
-Sika rakes the eyes and flops down onto Muraco with a headbutt. Muraco ends up on the floor and it’s surprisingly weird to see Fuji taunting him after all their history, especially when they never formally broke up. Fuji was in his corner one day, and the next day he wasn’t.

-Headbutts and rights by Sika as he tries to prevent Muraco from re-entering the ring. Muraco gets fired up and shoulder-rams Sika to make him back off, then heads back in and dropkicks him. Sika misses a corner charge and Muraco heads to the top rope, gets a handful of hair, and jerks Sika’s head backward while simultaneously coming down with a kneedrop to the skull, and that knocks Sika right the hell out to give Muraco the win. Nice finish, but a dull match.

-Vince announces that Wrestlemania IV will be happening on March 27 in Atlantic City.

KOKO B. WARE vs KING HARLEY RACE (with Bobby Heenan)
-From Toronto. Heenan comes to the ring alone and demands that the fans bow down for Race’s entrance, then heads to the commentary table to join Gorilla.

Heenan: “Is this really Koko singing the Piledriver song?”
Monsoon: “Yes it is!”
Heenan: “Wow! He really stinks!”

-Koko leapfrogs the King and dropkicks him. Side headlock applied. Race fights out with a headbutt that sends Koko all the way to the floor and then rams him into the barricade. Race tries to suplex him back in, but Koko lands on top of him for two. In a moment that defies logic, he headbutts Koko and Koko totally no-sells it. HARLEY JUST HEADBUTTED HIM ONE MINUTE AGO! Koko headbutts him back and dazes him.

-More headbutts by Harley as this is just getting silly. Double-underhook suplex with Gorilla doing a neat explanation of that one: it applies so much pressure on the upper arms that Koko has to let Harley to the move or else he’ll separate both shoulders. Chinlock by Harley. Harley knocks Koko onto the entrance ramp and tries to do a diving headbutt, but Koko moves and Harley hits the ramp. Koko slams Harley onto the ramp and just hammers him repeatedly until the referee tells them that this would be a stupid finish, so Koko goes back into the ring to reset the count. Back outside, Harley suplexes Koko on the ramp and heads back in himself.

-Koko slingshots himself back in and sunset flips Harley for two. Clothesline by Koko as we’ve reached the “pause for two minutes to show how hurt you are after each move” stage of the match. They hit the ropes and collide into each other.

-Back from the break, Race misses a diving headbutt from the second turnbuckle and some fan at ringside yells “You’ll give yourself brain damage doing that, Harley!” If only we had listened to drunk Canadians…

-Flurry of punches and a dropkick by Koko gets two. Harley fights back and drops a knee for two of his own. He tosses Koko out to the floor and rams Koko into the bell hard enough to get a “ding” from it. The fight on the floor continues and Gorilla insists that Harley’s busted open despite the fact that this is on TV and we can see him.

-Back in the ring, Harley avoids a fist drop and suplexes Koko. The King snaps the Birdman’s neck over the top rope and clamps on a camel clutch. Koko survives it so Harley tries a back suplex for two. Knee by Harley gets another two. Koko fights back and connects with a knee of his own for two. Harley clotheslines Koko for two. They just keep trading two-counts like this for a bit.

-Koko gets knocked out to the floor and Race attacks, pool cueing Koko right in the throat with a microphone. Harley tries to block him from coming back in, but Koko fends him off with right hands and comes off the top with an axehandle right as the bell rings for a draw. Slow as molasses, but as slow as it was I can honestly say I never really got bored by it, so it’s a keeper.

UPDATE
-Craig DeGeorge promotes “this Friday night’s event from Indianapolis, live on television.” Craig gives us a brief recap of the angles leading up to the three matches.

-Brief discussion about weapons leading into the next match, and Bobby argues that Ron Bass should be allowed to bring his whip to the ring if Billy Jack is allowed to wear a hat.

BILLY JACK HAYNES vs OUTLAW RON BASS
-Joined in progress from Toronto. Bass stalls while the fans chant “Asshole” at him. Billy Jack wrings the arm. Single leg trip into a hammerlock by Haynes, and he drives a knee into Bass’ back. Bass grabs the whip but the referee gets it away from him. Haynes works the arm some more. Bass clotheslines him down and stomps away. Gorilla reminds us that this is an important match in the career of both of these men because “it could mean a crack at the title, or maybe a crack at nothing.” I’ll put my chips on NOTHING, Gorilla.

-They brawl on the floor and Bass gets a pretty clear upper hand there. Back in, he bites Haynes’ hand. Haynes fights back with a kneelift and drops an elbow for two. Haynes goes for the full nelson, but he can’t get those fingers locked and Bass gets to the ropes. Bass punches him square in the throat and grabs his whip, choking Haynes out and shoving the referee down to get himself DQed. I wasn’t feeling this one. And this is the last we’ll see of Billy Jack, by the way.

BAD NEWS BROWN vs BRADY BOONE
-Brown’s debut from “Superstars.” He’s still in his Stampede gear and doesn’t even attack Boone before the bell. Brown just punches away and slams Boone down. We get pre-taped words from Brown, who promises no mercy.

-Back in the ring, Brown screams “No mercy!” while headbutting Boone, so he’s committed to that catch phrase. Clothesline by Brown is enough for three.

-Craig is on the interview platform with Hulk Hogan, who apparently has some big match upcoming.

-We’re given an address for fans to write get-well-soon letters and cards to Matilda, and Bobby goes off on a magnificent rant about how stupid anyone would have to be to do this.

INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE, LUMBERJACK MATCH: HONKY TONK MAN (Champion, with Jimmy Hart) vs RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT
-From MSG. Heck of a main event for this week. Dragon skins the cat immediately and dropkicks Honky over the top. Honky gets thrown back in. Ricky throws him out to the heel side but knows that he’ll get a breather on that side, so he attacks on the floor. Heels and faces come together to force both of them back in.

-Back from the break, Steamboat rams Honky’s face into the mat repeatedly and elbows him for two. Steamboat rams Honky into the turnbuckles a million times, but Honky starts fighting dirty and the Islanders trip Steamboat from the floor. JYD and George Steele retaliate by tripping Honky and Steamboat rolls him up for two. Steamboat is going for a pin after every single thing he does and the crowd freaks out each time.

-Back suplex by Steamboat for two. We take another break with Steamboat giving Honky an inverted atomic drop. Honky reverses an Irish whip and Steamboat takes a big bump over the top and onto the floor. Honky tries to attack on the floor, but Outlaw Ron Bass turns out to be a shockingly ethical lumberjack and forces Honky back in the ring too.

-Steamboat makes a comeback, slingshotting Honky into the turnbuckles. Chop from the top looks to finish, but Jimmy Hart distracts the referee. George Steele comes into the ring and counts three, but the referee won’t allow that to count and ushers him back out to the floor. Honky clobbers Steamboat with the megaphone to end it, and we get the traditional post-lumberjack match battle royal to end it. Lots of heat and really entertaining.

-Ted DiBiase has a few final words for Hulk Hogan before this Friday night.

6.6

The final score: review Average

The 411

Exciting build for the Friday night special plus a few good matches in this week's pile. It's a keeper.