wrestling / Video Reviews

The Name on the Marquee: WWF Prime Time Wrestling (8.8.1988)

August 18, 2018 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
WWF Prime Time Wrestling Bobby Heenan, WWE Network
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The Name on the Marquee: WWF Prime Time Wrestling (8.8.1988)  

-Originally aired August 8, 1988.

-Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan.

BRET “Hit Man” HART vs. DANGEROUS DANNY DAVIS

-From MSG. If Davis had been anything more in the ring than he proved to be, this had a good enough background story that it would have been a decent feud. But nah, he’s just cannon fodder for Bret tonight.

-Danny wants a test of strength and Bret takes him to the mat and hammers him. Bret keeps him on the mat with an armbar. Danny retreats to the floor and stalls for a spell before going back in and taking headbutts and elbows from Hart. Danny rakes the eyes and stomps the Hit Man. He uses a piece of rope to choke Bret out under the guise of a sleeper, and Bret logically should be dead six times by the time he breaks out of the hold. Hart throws punches and gives Davis a backbreaker for two. Piledriver finishes things. Davis was just SO bad, do the point that he dragged Bret down to his own level and it looked like two guys on their second day of training.

TERRY TAYLOR vs. SCOTT CASEY

-From Toronto. Taylor snapmares Casey and struts while bobbing his head back and forth, which is allegedly what made Vince think “He looks like a rooster” and sent his career on a new path. Taylor whines about hair-pulling as a fan lobs an entire paper bag of peanuts into the ring and Gorilla seems pretty amused by it. Taylor begins throwing some nice right hands and jawjacks Casey for two. Top wristlock by Taylor is countered by some completely amazing bridging from Casey, and Taylor takes him back down to the mat for headscissors. Casey avoids an elbow and applies a side headlock, which Taylor counters with headscissors. My hair is standing on end from the sheer amount of electricity in this match so far.

-Taylor connects with a clothesline. Kneedrop gets two due to Taylor’s non-chalant cover. Taylor punches some more. Sunset flip gives us a rare appearance of the referee-kicks-the-rope spot in the WWF, and miracle of miracles, this referee does it right! I haven’t seen it happen at all in months, but you know the thing that they would do in the NWA where a wrestler would go to the ropes to break a pin or break a submission hold, and the referee would kick the rope, and the idea was he was seeing if the wrestler actually had a firm grip on the rope and if the referee was able to kick the rope away, the wrestler would be stuck in the hold? Once in a blue moon, they’d attempt that spot in the WWF and nearly every WWF referee would fuck it up the same way and they’d kick the wrestler instead, and Gorilla would openly gripe on commentary, quite correctly so, because what business does the referee have kicking a wrestler? So seeing that spot in a WWF match and seeing it done correctly is a monumental achievement.

-So anyway, this match is still happening and Taylor is getting clotheslined around, but Casey goes for a corner charge and hits the turnbuckles knee-first. Taylor works the leg over for a bit, and the “grapevine Boston crab” gets the submission. We get another historic moment, as Sean Mooney actually calls the move “the scorpion” for possibly the only time ever on WWF TV. Picked up toward the end but damn 12 minutes was a long time for this.

SPECIAL REPORT

-We recap everything leading up to the Mega-Powers/Mega-Bucks match before Craig DeGeorge runs down the card for the big night at Summerslam ’88.

-In the studio, Gorilla expresses suspicion that Ted DiBiase will try bribing his way to a win.

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. PETE SANCHEZ

-From Wrestling Challenge. Sanchez tries to sneak up but gets clotheslined. Sanchez does the most dramatic screaming sell of being rammed into the turnbuckle you’ll ever hear, and the three-point stance finishes.

-Bobby calls the Intercontinental Title match for Brutus Beefcake, because things in Jimmy Hart’s camp have been such a shitshow lately.

EVENT CENTER
-Demolition reveals that Jimmy Hart will be in their corner at Summerslam, and Jimmy warns that he’s told them everything about the Hart Foundation. Ax says that he owns MSG, which probably explains how ROH got a booking there.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

-Craig DeGeorge welcomes the Honky Tonk Man. Honky promises he’s leaving MSG with his hair and his belt. Honky’s story years later about this was interesting, as they spent months building to Honky getting his head shaved, and Honky implied that he wanted one hell of a payday for losing his hair, and Vince didn’t feel like meeting the price and said “fuck it.”

JUNKYARD DOG vs OUTLAW RON BASS
-From MSG. Bass attacks during JYD’s entrance, which is stupid because he enters wearing a chain, so JYD just punches the hell out of him with the chain and then uses it to hang Bass over the top rope. Rolling headbutts cause Bass to retract himself into the corner and go balls-first into the post. Bass demands a test of strength, but JYD boots him and headbutts him.

-Bass takes over and applies a chinlock. JYD hangs on so Bass puts the boots to him. Crowd is visibly leaving in droves during this match. JYD gets clotheslined down and Bass stomps away at him. Slam by Bass, but JYD holds on through the impact and rolls Bass over to turn it into a three-count. “A pound of air,” as Sgt. Joe Friday would say. Funny match to watch just to see the fans hauling ass out of there like the match was happening on the Titanic.

-Bobby’s alone because Gorilla doesn’t even want to be in the studio during a Brother Love segment.

THE BROTHER LOVE SHOW

-Brother Love excitedly introduces his very special guest, The Million Dollar Man…but “Pomp and Circumstance” starts blaring and out comes Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Savage snatches the microphone away from Brother Love and warns him that he’ll be better off keeping his distance and letting Savage talk. And Savage brings out a surprise guest of his own, Hulk Hogan, who tells us his definition of love while Brother Love has a tantrum about having his show taken away from him. Hulk teases kicking Brother Love’s ass and he goes running, which is the kind of thing that would give Jesse a heart attack if he was on commentary because Brother Love legit hasn’t done anything to deserve that yet.

ROCKERS vs. FABULOUS ROUGEAU BROTHERS

-From MSG. Shawn Michaels starts with Jacques. Jacques dazes him with a cheap shot, but then offers a friendly handshake. Shawn comes to life with a dropkick and then taunts Jacques by offering his own handshake. Jacques blows him off and everybody tags. Raymond elbows Marty Janetty down. Marty responds with an elbow of his own for two. Rougeaus do a genius bit of distraction when Shawn Michaels tags in and Jacques takes out his leg. Rougeaus have a target to work with now and go nuts on the leg, but Shawn catches Jacques coming off the ropes with a leg trip and makes the tag. Rockers start working the arm on Jacques. In the studio, Gorilla laments that “if the Rougeau Brothers ever showed their true colors, they’d be black!” I’m pretty sure that sounded better in Gorilla’s head.

-Back from commercial, Shawn is destroying Jacques’ arm and bodypresses him for two. Marty tags in and stupidly picks a fight with Raymond on the apron, which leads to Jacques sneaking up and attacking. Rougeaus start working on the back. Abdominal stretch/kick combo by the Rougeaus. Ray holds him in place for a dropkick to the small of the back by Jacques, as the Rougeaus are just laser-focused with their offense here. Janetty ducks a second rope bodypress and that takes us to the hot tag. All four men are in the ring and Shawn heads to the top rope to finish. Fistdrop gets two when Raymond breaks the pin, so Janetty fights him off so Shawn can try it again, but instead Jacques is able to sneak over and crotch Shawn on the top rope, and Raymond gets the winning pinfall. British Bulldogs show up after the bell to tattle on the Rougeaus and lay a little groundwork for their Summerslam match.

-Gorilla announces that since Bobby booked a guest for the last three hour special, he’s taking the initiative and booking a guest for next week’s three hour special, Jesse Ventura. Bobby begins to panic and insists there’s nothing that we need to ask Jesse and begs us not to misinterpret anything said next week. This was the bizarre part of the build to Summerslam ’88, as they spent all of August virtually clubbing us over the head with hints that Jesse was going to turn face and screw the Mega-Bucks.

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
Good feature bout and some fun build-up for Summerslam. It's a keeper this week.
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