The Island of Misfit Shows: WWF Tuesday in Texas

WWF Tuesday in Texas – December 3rd, 1991

– The follow up show from the Survivor Series, Tuesday in Texas was, apparently, an idea to see if the WWF could get away with airing random PPV’s on untraditional nights. In the past, shows were broadcasted on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Thursday (Thanksgiving night’s), so why not try Tuesday? To make a good sell of the show, the Gravest ReMatch was scheduled, as well as the in-ring return of Randy Savage. Plus a bunch of other crap thrown together during the weekend shows that were sandwiched between the two PPV’s.

– Live from San Antonio, TX, with Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan calling all the action. That’s always one plus for any WWF program. If memory serves correctly, this was part of a Wrestling Challenge taping, something along the lines of the 1989 flop, No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie. [Note: This show is featured on SuperTape ’92 in it’s entirety, but I won’t waste my time with the rest of the crap on that tape.]

– WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Bret “Hitman” Hart © vs. Skinner:
According to my sources, this was supposed to be Bret defending against the Barbarian. I’m sure that match would’ve sucked like all the others the two had. Shameful… WWF actually found someone that could NOT have a “good” match with Bret Hart. Skinner was still KINDA pushed, but it was all down here from this show. Monsoon still would call him a filthy pig though, even when he stopped coming to the ring with tobacco chew. Bret breaks tradition, giving his sunglasses to some teenage chick, instead of a toddler. Lockup to start, and Bret with an arm drag. Lockup #2, and Bret does it again, then applies an armbar. Irish whip to escape, and Bret with a shoulder block. Criss-cross leads to a Bret atomic drop, followed by an inverted version, and a clothesline sends Skinner out of the ring. Back in the ring, and Bret applies a wristlock, then hammers away on the arm. Takedown and armbar by Bret. Skinner tries escaping with an arm drag, but Bret keeps the hold applied and works the arm over some more. Bret with a leg drop across the arm, then goes back to the armbar. Lockup, and Skinner applies a side headlock. Bret counters into a hammerlock. Skinner counters back, and Bret escapes with an elbow to the side of the head. Bret with a headbutt to put Skinner down, then stomps the chest. Back to the armbar. Skinner rakes the eyes to escape, then dumps Bret shoulder-first into the ring post. Skinner stomps away on Bret and shoves him out of the ring, where he follows up with some choking. Back in the ring, and Skinner pounds away. Irish whip, and Skinner applies the abdominal stretch. He cheats too, of course. Classic Gorilla: He doesn’t have the hold applied properly! Skinner with a shoulder breaker, but he’s not Papa Shango, so it only gets a two count. “Close but no cigar, or chewing tobacco I suppose.” Irish whip to the corner, but Skinner charges into the boot of Bret. Bret to the middle rope, but he misses an elbow drop. Skinner takes time to spit in his spittoon, then nails Bret with his leathery-claw-thing behind the referee’s back. Skinner with more choking, and Danny Davis gets in his face for roughing up his old running buddy. Irish whip to the corner, and Bret gets to do his famous sell. Skinner stomps the leg and chokes some more. Skinner with a thumb to the throat, but he’s not Umaga, so it won’t win him the match. The match really slowed down the last few minutes. Skinner connects with the Gator Breaker (reverse DDT), but Bret kicks out at TWO! Skinner pulls Bret to the middle of the ring and heads to the middle rope, and this time he eats boot. I always hated that spot. Bret pops up and hammers away on the midsection of Skinner. Irish whip, and Bret connects with a back elbow. Irish whip, fist to the midsection, and Russian leg sweep for a two count. Bret with a snap suplex for another two count. Back breaker by Bret, and he comes off the middle rope with an elbow drop for two, again. Skinner rolls up Bret from behind, but that only gets two, and Bret sends Skinner out of the ring with the momentum of his kick out. Bret counters a suplex back in the ring, but fails at a roll up attempt. Skinner goes to the top rope, but Bret pops up and slams him off. Sharpshooter time, and Bret retains the IC Belt at 13:46. **3/4 Although the result wasn’t going to be much of a surprise, this managed to be a pretty good opener, but I knocked a portion of the rating off for that super-dull few moments late in the match.

– Backstage, Sean Mooney interviews Jake Roberts, who cuts another one of his intense heel promos. We’re informed that Roberts will not be allowed to bring any kind of reptile to ringside with him. Randy Savage cuts a promo while Mean Gene stands around, and DAMN, he has a giant feather in his hat. Oh, and Elizabeth looks hot, as usual, but not like she did in her early run with WWF, or during the nWo era of WCW. Savage hears Roberts’ theme playing, and quickly runs off screen…

– “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts:
For those who weren’t fans at the time, or never saw the events leading up to this, Jake Roberts was stuck without a feud when Warrior was fired/left/whatever following SummerSlam. To make up for it, he was put into a program with Savage, which featured Roberts having his King Cobra bite Savage on an episode of SuperStars. No, that’s not a joke. THE SNAKE ACTUALLY BIT SAVAGE ON CAMERA. And it sank it’s teeth into Savage’s arm. Savage must’ve had MAJOR balls (or a good check) to go through with that. Savage had been petitioning to get reinstated by Jack Tunney, and got his grant… but it would have to wait until Tuesday in Texas, because they wouldn’t allow Savage to replace Sid Justice as Team Captain for Survivor Series… and to hold over another big match for this show. With that all out of the way, let’s get to the match…

As mentioned, Savage rushes the ring during Roberts’ entrance, and attacks him like a man who forced a snake to bite him on National television… oh wait. Savage rams Roberts into the steps and throws Roberts into the ring. Savage with a boot to the chest, and hammers away on Roberts in the corner. Savage with raking of the face, then rakes the eyes of Roberts across the ropes. Irish whip to the corner, and Savage with a back elbow. Savage to the top rope, and he comes off with a double axehandle. Roberts heads outside for a breather/to take a walk, but Savage follows and hammers on Roberts back into the ring. Roberts with a shoulder into the midsection to break the momentum, and follows by dumping Savage over the top rope. Savage tries crawling back into the ring, but gets pulled off the apron by Roberts, and thrown into the ring post. Roberts continues working over the bandaged arm of Savage, ramming it into the post a few more times. Savage climbs back into the ring and hammers on the midsection of Roberts. Roberts with an eye rake in retaliation, followed by an inverted atomic drop. Roberts with a series of knee drops to the arm of Savage, then starts ripping off the bandage. Savage gets rammed into the buckle, and Roberts applies a hammerlock. Savage quickly breaks with an elbow to the face. Irish whip, and Savage boots Roberts in the chest. Roberts with a sledge across the back. The short-arm clothesline misses, and Savage whips Roberts into the corner. Roberts boots Savage in the face, and nails the short-arm clothesline on the second attempt. DDT time, but Savage escapes by ramming a shoulder into the ribs of Savage. Savage to the top, and he quickly comes off with the elbow drop for the three count at 6:26!

Post-Match, and Savage wants to do more damage. Savage goes outside and fetches a steel chair. The timekeeper won’t give it up, so gets kicked for his troubles. He grabs the ring bell, and shoves another WWF attendant down. He’s going Steamboat Roberts! Roberts is pulled up on his feet, and quickly snaps off a DDT on Savage, and both men are down now. Both men are back up, and now Roberts plants Savage with a second DDT. I should remind everyone, that in 1991, that move was the kiss of death in wrestling. Savage leaves the ring, but comes back and pulls out an “ominous bag” from under the ring. AHA! He didn’t bring a snake to ringside, but there was no rule about having one under the ring! Elizabeth runs to the ring now to get in on the action, trying to protect Savage from the wrath of Savage. Roberts keeps slapping Savage around, because he can. Elizabeth and referee Earl Hebner keep yelling at Roberts to stop, but I doubt that’s going to work on him. Savage… slowly… gets back to his feet, but Roberts drops him with ANOTHER DDT. Roberts continues to torment Elizabeth, asnd undoes his little bag… but all that he pulls out is the black glove. He goes back to the bag, but kicks Savage in the head and yells at Elizabeth to beg him to stop. Elizabeth takes a swing at Roberts, but Roberts keeps it up and grabs her by the hair. In the ULTIMATE heel move of the century, Roberts slaps her across the face. Yes, he barely touched her, but still…that’s the lowest thing anyone can do at the time. Gorilla: He’s not a man, he’s an animal! Jack Tunney comes to ringside now to send Roberts off from ringside, as another referee, Rene Goulet, and Pat Patterson comes out to help Savage backstage. *** It’s hard to review this match, but I go by everything that happens during and after the match in this case. The match itself was probably **, as it was a rushed “fight” and featured very little wrestling, but everything after the bell was just pure awesome-ness (that’s not a word, but screw it) and was probably worth the $15 price tag the show had at the time.

– Interview time! Okerlund calls Roberts a sick-o, and Roberts retaliates with another killer promo. Elizabeth is the center of attention this time. He lusts over when he slapped Elizabeth across the face. Roberts is a sick, sick person. Gene is pissed off big time at him, and tells him to get the hell out of there.

– The British Bulldog vs. The Warlord (w/ Harvey Wippleman):
Yeah, this has the unfortunate task of following THAT match. I don’t understand this match at all. They had a feud at the early part of 1991 that was blown off at WrestleMania VII, but they kept getting paired up. At SummerSlam, they were on opposite sides of a Six-Man Tag, and at Survivor Series, on opposite sides of an Elimination Match. Since their big WrestleMania clash, Warlord has replaced the MIA Slick with Dr. Harvey Wippleman, who originally managed Big Bully Busick upon debuting in the WWF. Lockup to start, and Warlord shoves Bulldog back into the corner. Lockup #2, with the same results. Lockup #3, and now Davey Boy wins the lock-up war. Warlord calls for a knuckle-lock, and sucker kicks Bulldog. Irish whip, and Bulldog blocks a boot. Bulldog puts Warlord on his ass and drops his head across the midsection. Warlord rams Bulldog into the turnbuckle. Irish whip, and Bulldog sends Warlord over the top rope with a clothesline. PESCADO! But Warlord “catches” him and rams Davey Boy into the ring post. Bulldog returns the favor by ramming the Warlord into the buckle 10 times, and comes off the top rope with a missile dropkick. Bulldog with a clothesline, and he locks Warlord in the Andre Special™. Bulldog charges for whatever, but crotches himself as Warlord escapes the prison of the ropes. Irish whip, and the Warlord puts Bulldog back down with a back drop. Wippleman fails to blow smoke into the camera while Warlord continues to punish the Bulldog. Irish whip into the corner, and Warlord catches Davey Boy in a bearhug. Bulldog escapes, but Warlord takes him down with a belly-to-belly suplex!? Warlord steps across the chest of Bulldog then plays to the crowd for whatever reason. Warlord hammers away on the lower back of Bulldog, and covers for a two count. Irish whip, and Bulldog boots Warlord in the chest. Piledriver attempt, but Warlord back drops out of it. Bulldog tries a sunset flip, but Warlord blocks. Both men back up, and Warlord drops Bulldog with a clothesline. Warlord calls for the Full Nelson, and gets it applied, but doesn’t have his fingers locked. Davey Boy battles back up and starts breaking the hold…but Warlord manages to hold on longer, until finally releasing the hold. Warlord rams Bulldog into the buckle. Irish whip to the corner, but Bulldog boots him in the face. Bulldog with a middle rope clothesline, followed by a delay vertical suplex! That only gets a two count, though. Irish whip to the corner, and Bulldog charges in with a clothesline. Powerslam attempt, but Warlord holds the ropes and falls on top for a two count. Irish whip, and Bulldog comes off the ropes with a crucifix for the three count at 12:49! ** I don’t know what’s in the water in San Antonio, but this match had no business being so entertaining. If not for the two-minutes+ wasted on the Full Nelson spot, I might have gone higher, but that really broke the momentum the early and late parts of the match had. Probably the best match these two had with each other, and that’s saying something considering how badly the matches were booked to (basic power vs. power).

– Sean Mooney gets the task to interview a fucked up and pissed off Randy Savage, who just rants and raves about what happened after the match and what Roberts did to Elizabeth. He even lays his hands on Mooney a few times, to the delight of few. I’m not sure, but there was no way the Warrior/Roberts feud could’ve been as good as this one. It just couldn’t.

– Virgil & Tito Santana vs. Ted Dibiase & Repo Man (w/ Sensational Sherri):
Weird combination for teams here, but there’s a backstory to it. Virgil/Dibiase were feuding of course, but at the 1991 Survivor Series Showdown, Repo Man (formerly Smash) made his first major move and helped Dibiase regain his Million $ Championship. Since Virgil had no friends outside of Roddy Piper, who was busy with Flair at the time, Santana (now El Matador) gets thrown into the match, officially starting the Miracle Jobber Connection. Someone throws a piece of whatever on target with Sherri’s cleavage. She’s also very glittery for the match. Sherri talks shit to anyone she can as we figure out who’s starting the match. Santana and Repo lockup into the ropes, and we get a clean break.. for about 3 seconds. Repo hammers away on Chico, and they exchange wristlocks. Repo escapes with an elbow to the side of the head, but gets put down with a shoulder block. Santana with an arm drag, and applies an armbar. Irish whip, and Santana does some Toro’ing. Heenan: He repossessed the Lone Ranger’s mask. He owed Tonto 50 bucks! Back to the match… Santana with another wristlock. Irish whip to escape, and Santana hip tosses Repo over the top rope. Repo sneaks back into the ring and is put back down with a clothesline. Dibiase tags in for the first time, as does Virgil. Dibiase with a knee to the midsection followed by a series of rights and lefts. Irish whip, and Virgil comes back with a sunset flip for a two count. Virgil with an atomic drop, sending Dibiase flying over the top rope. Santana scares Dibiase back into the ring, and Virgil clotheslines him back out. Santana hammers on Dibiase and dumps him back in the ring. Irish whip to the corner, and Virgil runs into an elbow drop Dibiase. Repo gets the tag back in, and plants Virgil with a scoop slam. Repo rams Virgil into the boot of Dibiase, and chokes him in the corner. Dibiase does the same as Repo distracts the referee. Dibiase tags back in, and connects with a clothesline. Virgil gets shoved into the corner, and Repo comes back in. Snapmare and punching from the masked man, followed by a knee to the midsection. Virgil tries fighting back with rights, but gets caught in the corner. Dibiase tags back in, and takes Virgil down with a gut-wrench suplex for a two count. Irish whip, and Virgil comes back with a swinging neck breaker. Santana with the hot-sauce-tag, and hammers on Repo. Irish whip, and Santana with a back elbow, followed by a dropkick. Santana calls for and nails the Flying Jalupeno, but gets tripped up going for the El Paso Del Mobil. Dibiase makes Santana his bitch outside the ring as the refere is distracted by Virgil. Back inside, and Repo remains in control. Dibiase with a sledge off the middle rope, followed by a stomp to the face. Dibiase applies a front facelock, and we get the token false hot tag spot. Heels double slam Santana and Repo continues to bring the pain. Irish whip, and we get a double clothesline spot. Virgil and Dibiase both get the tag in, of course. Irish whip to the corner, and Virgil with clotheslines for everyone. Russian leg sweep to Dibiase, but Repo breaks the cover. Santana comes in to brawl with Repo. Dibiase gets nailed by Sherri’s heel by mistake, and Virgil gets nailed from behind by Repo. Dibiase covers, and the three count is made at 11:18. ** Decent enough tag formula match, or as some would say, “Perfectly Acceptable Wrestling”, but I’ve seen better. The addition of Santana and Repo wasn’t necessary, in my opinion, since Santana had nothing to do with the feud.

– Mean Gene is backstage with Hulk Hogan. The usual promo from him, so I won’t waste my time making any smart ass comments about it. We do get a clip from Survivor Series ’91, so that’s one good thing about this promo.

WWF Championship Match:
The Undertaker © (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Hulk Hogan:
I’ve seen this match enough to say it’s going to be bowling shoe ugly. It’s the Gravest ReMatch, as the Undertaker, with the help of Ric Flair, stole the WWF Title from Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series. Jack Tunney made an immediate rematch for this PPV, hyping it non-stop DURING the Survivor Series! To make sure nothing evil goes down, Jack Tunney will personally watch over things from ringside. The Undertaker comes to the ring first, dragging the World Title along with him. Hogan must mean business… he tears his shirt before he makes it to the ring. Undertaker and Bearer stomp away as the bell sounds, but Hogan pops up and rams them together. Hogan hammers away on Undertaker, and whips him to the corner, following in with a clothesline. Hogan with mounted puches in the corner, followed by an eye rake or two. Hogan with an inverted atomic drop, but they seemed to have fucked the spot up. Irish whip, and Hogan with the charging clothesline. Scoop slam attempt is blocked by Undertaker, but Hogan boots him and rakes the eyes. Scoop slam by Hogan, and Undertaker sits back up. Hogan nails Bearer off the apron and clotheslines Undertaker over the top rope. Hogan pulls Undertaker back on the apron, and they manage to fuck up the hang-man/stun gun spot. Undertaker pulls Hogan out of the ring and hammers away on him. Undertaker with choking, and they’ve been out of the ring for like, 2 minutes now. Back inside, finally, and Undertaker chokes more. I’m, seriously, watching this on Fast Forward, and keeping up with the action. Into the corner, and Undertaker with more choking. Hogan comes back by ramming Undertaker into the corner, but Taker no-sells. Undertaker with his “old-school” clothesline from the top rope, followed by… MORE CHOKING. Hogan no-sells that, but gets rammed into the ring post for his trouble. Back in the ring, and Undertaker with the suffocation choke now! Gotta’ love that deep move set of the Undertaker. This goes on FOREVER. Hogan Hulk’s Up… and now they fuck up AGAIN. Undertaker tripped going for his signature flying clothesline. Hogan whips Undertaker into the corner, but runs into a boot. Irish whip, and Undertaker his flying clothesline on the second attempt. Undertaker goes to the top again, but this time Hogan throws him off. Ric Flair comes to ringside again to cause problems. HULK UP TIME… even though Undertaker did nothing to warrant it. Hogan with the roundhouse rights, and a clothesline sends Undertaker out of the ring. Hogan follows out and nails Flair with a chair, and takes out Tunney in the process. Back in the ring, and Hogan hammers away. Undertaker stops his momentum, and Flair hops up on the apron with chair in hand. Undertaker tries ramming Hogan into it, but Hogan counters, and sends ‘Taker into the steel instead! Hogan clotheslines Flair off the apron. Irish whip and big boot to Undertaker. Paul Bearer jumps on the apron again, and Hogan steals the urn. He empties the contents, ashes, and throws them into Undertaker’s face! School boy roll up, and Hogan is a (then) record 4-Time WWF Champion at 13:10. However, Jack Tunney saw all of this, and declared the championship vacant the following week, the first time the title was held up since before WrestleMania IV. ¼* Oh, the match sucked sweaty balls that were sitting out in the desert heat for 6 days. I give it a boost above DUD because I’m a mark for both guys. Hogan does his usual pose-down , as a big pile of ash lays on the canvas, and his hands are almost black.

The 411: The show seems to be a lot better since the last time I watched in full. The opener was pretty good (it’s a Bret match, after all), the Savage/Roberts stuff is pure awesome, Bulldog/Warlord manages to be good somehow, and the tag match was fine for a filler match. The only downside is the main event, which was a pile of steaming shit in every department. I guess both men deserve blame, because they fucked up signature spots both men do every single match. Plus the finish wasn’t something to brag about either. Anyway, good enough show for a recommendation, but don’t go out of your way to see it, or anything.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]