The Name on the Marquee: WWF Prime Time Wrestling (9.20.1988)

-Originally aired September 20, 1988.

-Your hosts are Gorilla…oh…wait a second…your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan. I’m immediately okay with this after Vince picks up a stuffed Matilda and makes barking noises.

BAD NEWS BROWN vs. JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL
-Funny intro to this match, as Bobby tries to make Bad News sound like a bad-ass by saying that whenever the WWF comes to MSG, Bad News walks there from his home in Harlem, and Vince points out how completely feasible and unremarkable that is for an athlete.

-Jumping Jim has done his homework and lets Bad News sneak up on him just so he can attack Bad News first, and he retreats into the aisle for a moment. Back in, Bad News works the arm while Vince says “we might recall” that Brunzell used to be in a tag team with Brian Blair. Yes, Vince, back in the black & white days. We used to watch the Killer Bees on the Dumont with Dennis James at the microphone.

-Brown is getting dominated as Brunzell lights into him with uppercuts and a lethal hand-clapping. Is he trying to kill the man?! Brunzell works the arm until Bad News rakes the eyes to turn the tide. He chokes Brunzell but misses a corner charge and Brunzell gets two from that. Sunset flip gets another two. Brunzell applies a sleeper, but Bad News rams him to break it. Now it’s Brunzell’s turn to miss a corner charge, and the ghetto blaster finishes. Holy shit, Brunzell dominated that match right up to the finish. Bad News must have liked him.

UPDATE
-A look back and Rick Rude getting his tights ripped off last week. I can think of no greater chasm between the heat of a feud and the quality of the matches it led to.

ROCKERS vs. DANGEROUS DANNY DAVIS & IRON MIKE SHARPE
-Double flying headscissors and double dropkicks clear the ring right away. Back in, Danny tries to take control of Shawn with a side headlock. Shawn fights free and goes to work on the arm. Janetty comes in and works the arm as this is a rather relaxed pace for a Rockers match, and even Vince & Lord Alfred on commentary take note of that. Iron Mike comes in and gets his arm worked over. Danny blocks a monkeyflip and Iron Mike takes control after that, clubbering Shawn and ramming him into the turnbuckles. Shawn rams back, but misses a corner charge (and do a shot). Danny comes in and he and Shawn collide on a double clothesline, which leads to the hot tag you wouldn’t have expected this match to have. Janetty cleans house, and Shawn comes off the top with a bodypress on Iron Mike for three. Actually wasn’t bad after the sluggish start, but still, I can’t help but think the Rockers could deliver more exciting matches if only they had a better tag team to work against.

In the studio:

BOBBY: I’m adding new members to the Heenan Family shortly. Want to hear their names?
VINCE: Not really.

EVENT CENTER
-Koko B. Ware has a new watch on sale in the WWF, and he cuts this ridiculous over-the-top promo about how he can wake up on time for breakfast and not show up late at the arenas anymore now that he has a new watch to help him tell time.

-Bobby does a bit of foreshadowing, talking about how Hercules is one of the most valuable wrestlers he’s ever managed and all the assets he brings as a wrestler.

JUNKYARD DOG vs. HERCULES
-From the Meadowlands. Herc connects with a right, but Dog reacts by just headbutting him all over his body until Herc retreats to the floor. Herc snaps JYD’s neck over the top as long as he’s out there, then heads back in and clotheslines him for two. Double clothesline lays both men out. Herc reovers first and sends JYD out to the flor. Dog can’t even be bothered to make it look like he’s in trouble, landing on his feet and just walking back into the ring.

-More foreshadowing in the studio, as Vince finds it strange that Bobby wasn’t at ringside for his man’s match.

-Back to the match, Herc has JYD in a bearhug. JYD fights back and goes for a slam, but loses his footing and Herc goes back to the bearhug. JYD fights out but rams into a knee. Hercules gives JYD shots to the back, which JYD sells by falling backward. JYD starts to make a comeback and goes for a slam, but Herc hooks the rope on his way up so JYD loses his footing and Herc lands on top for the three-count. Just awful, and it was 100% one guy’s fault. Hercules really TRIED here.

-Bobby continues to insist that Hercules is the backbone of the Heenan family and says that Herc is taken care of financially.

BLUE BLAZER vs. BARRY HOROWITZ
-From the Meadowlands. Blazer is still wearing the fugly mask from his Los Angeles debut, but he’s wearing the standard Blue Blazer outfit now. Blazer springboards himself and hiptosses Horowitz into position for an armbar. Hammerlock slams by Blazer. He hits the ropes, and Barry, with his legs still in good shape, meets him with a hard kick that gets a respectful “Ooooh” from the fans. Barry actually yells “Now we go to school!” and a legdrop gets two. Double underhook gets two. Neck vice by Horowitz, but Blazer elbows free. Horowitz goes back to the kick, since it worked before. Bodypress out of nowhere by Blazer gets two, and I’m glad that wasn’t the finish because there’s a fight breaking out on the stands and nobody is watching the ring.

-Slam by the Blazer, but Horowitz raises his knees and blocks a splash. Blazer finally gets a second wind and makes his comeback with a belly-to-belly off the ropes, and a top rope splash gets three. I liked this better than the LA match.

EVENT CENTER
-We get a rare green screen promo from Terry Taylor, who calls himself “Scary Terry Taylor.” Holy crap, they were really going to go with that, weren’t they? Ultimate Warrior also says things.

THE BROTHER LOVE SHOW
-Brother Love welcomes Slick and the Big Boss Man. Boss Man waves his nightstick as he says he’s so full of love that he wants to reach out and touch someone.

BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. FABULOUS ROUGEAU BROTHERS
-They’re actually showing a full match from Summerslam. Weird. This is one of the stranger matches to watch from this period, knowing that both teams would be engaged in a very real feud backstage a few weeks after this show. The freshly-turned Rougeaus offer a handshake, which is intelligently refused. Davey Boy is off and running, ramming Jacques’ head into the turnbuckles, going to the opposite end of the ring, and doing it again. Punch by Davey Boy and he rams Jacques into the turnbuckle again, but stupidly does it in the Rougeaus’ corner so fresh Raymond can tag in.

-Raymond gets a sucker punch out of the corner and Irish whips Davey Boy into the corner. Monkey flip fails when Davey Boy lands on his feet and gets an armdrag. Dynamite Kid tags in and shoulderblocks Raymond. Armdrag by the Kid while Jacques tries to start a “Go, Ray, Go!” chant. It’s weird that Jacques never seemed to catch on as a heel because he was so…fabulous at it. The crowd even refuses to latch onto his “USA!” chant.

-Dynamite comes back in and gets one hell of a clothesline on Raymond and Davey Boy keeps up the frequent tags by re-entering. We get a nice pinfall-reversal sequence and Dynamite comes back in and puts Raymond in an armbar while Raymond tries to tag out with his free arm. Dynamite pulls him away and the Bulldogs take him down with a double-clothesline. Tide is finally turned when Jacque hooks Davey Boy’s leg from outside the ring to trip him up. Jacques tags in and works the leg, causing Gorilla to fear for the lateral collateral ligaments. Gorilla amazes me…he can sputter out six different medical terms per match but can’t come up with a word other than “happening” to classify the event.

-The Rougeaus wishbone Davey Boy and now they’re doing the frequent tags. This is pretty neat mirroring…the Bulldogs tag frequently and work the arm, then the Rougeaus tag frequently and work the leg. Backdrop by Raymond and Jacques tags back in for a stepover toehold. Davey Boy reverses it to a small package but Jacques kicks out, then tags out. Raymond with a garden-variety non-stepping toehold, but Davey Boy monkeyflips out and gets the hot tag. Dynamite with a suplex and headbutts for a two-count. Back suplex and Dynamite goes for another pin, but Jacques gets a foot on the ropes. Dynamite gets frustrated and tosses him out of the ring, and Davey Boy attacks on the outside while the referee is distracted by Dynamite. Nice.

-Davey Boy enters legally and headbutts Raymond. Running powerslam looks to finish things but Jacques breaks the pin. Dynamite tries to continue the assault in the corner, but Jacques darts in and gets a back suplex off the second rope to even things up. Raymond tags out and Jacques gets an elbow and a slam. Kneedrop gets two. Gorilla complains that Jacques forgot to put Dynamite in a three-quarter nelson before pinning him, which, so far tonight, is the weirdest thing that Gorilla has complained about.

-Rougeaus double-team Dynamite in the corner while Davey Boy protests. Raymond tags in and Jacques genuflects so that Raymond can pick up Davey Boy and drop him for a stomachbreaker, and somebody should steal that. Make it a backbreaker and you might even have a new finish that nobody is using.

-Raymond stomps Dynamite and Jacques tags back in and gets an abdominal stretch, and guess what Gorilla complains about next. Davey Boy gets frustrated and runs in with an axehandle to break the hold, but when the referee turns to reprimand him, the Rougeaus pull the ol’ switcheroo. Jacques gets a splash for two and goes for a chinlock (or “double-reverse chinlock,” according to Gorilla Bischoff).

-Dynamite starts to power out, but a Raymond run-in stops him. It’s hard to explain it, but somehow, these teams are both adept at making the restholds so much more interesting than usual. Dynamite makes it to his feet and rams Raymond in the corner, but Jacques tags in and blocks the hot tag. Davey Boy distracts the referee while Dynamite has a small package; Davey Boy is actually coming across as strangely inept throughout this match. Raymond gets a front facelock, but Dynamite pushes and shoves until he’s in his own corner and makes the tag…behind the referee’s back, because Jacques is distracting him.

-Dynamite suddenly gets a headbutt and gets the hot tag, but Jacques kinda cockblocks it by dodging a dropkick immediately. Shoulderblock by Jacques, but Davey Boy catches him off the ropes for a press slam onto the top rope. Pin is broken by Raymond, who accidentally elbowdrops his brother. Mass confusion in the ring and Davey Boy press slams Dynamite on top of Jacques as the bell sounds for a time-limit draw. Lack of a finish is a disappointment, but this was a solid match, and if these guys didn’t hate each other so damn much, they could have had a pretty good feud.

-In the studio, Vince McMahon just shockingly rips on Superstar Billy Graham for how bad he was on commentary. “How many times did he say ‘brother’ during that match?”

6.6

The final score: review Average

The 411

Good matches, good chemistry from Vince and Bobby. I can't complain too much.