wrestling / Video Reviews
Universal Wrestling Federation (11.8.1986) Review
Image Credit: Universal Wrestling Federation
Loading...-Cold open: Flashback to last week, with Dark Journey getting KOed and painted by Eddie Gilbert & Missy Hyatt. It’s a wonder JR had a voice box left by 1987.
-Originally aired November 8, 1986.
-Your host is Jim Ross, who says Michael Hayes isn’t here because he’s preparing some sort of “Freebird surprise.”
ICEMAN KING PARSONS & CHAVO GUERRERO vs. RICK STEINER & STING
-Sting beheads Chavo right off the bat with a clothesline, and then another one. A third proves to be one too many as Chavo ducks it this time and connects with a savate kick. Iceman tags in and windmills the arm, but Steiner goes to the eyes and clotheslines him. Powerslam by Steiner gets two.
-Chavo tags back in and we get all four guys in the ring. King and Chavo double-clothesline Steiner. Chavo rolls up Steiner while the referee tries to restore order. Sting breaks the pin by clotheslining Chavo from the top rope, but the referee catches him and the faces take it by DQ. Match wasn’t bad–actually a good showcase for Sting and Steiner–but wow, the crowd was distractingly ice cold for this one.
-Jim Ross is in the ring and asks Michael Hayes to come to the ring to unveil his big surprise, whatever it is. Hayes enters the arena by limousine, and JR has a funny reaction to that, as he kind of shits on Michael because anyone can rent a limo and he hopes the big surprise is better than that. Then the limo opens up and Buddy Roberts gets out, wearing a tuxedo. Also pretty underwhelming. But then Hayes directs everyone’s attention to the limo one more time, and it’s the Freebirds’ new valet…Sunshine. She teases having a preference for Michael Hayes above Buddy, but everybody seems to be getting along for the moment.
-Jack Victory and John Tatum managed to get a title shot signed without having a manager, and they’re about to prove they can win a title without her, too!
-The Fantastics thank the fans for their support.
-Sunshine decides to hang out at commentary for the rest of the show.
ANGEL OF DEATH vs. GARY YOUNG
-Big debut time. Angel of Death gets mad at the ring announcer for announcing him from Parts Unknown when he’s from Los Angeles, which is clearly a known part.
-Punches and boots by the Angel while Hayes starts scouting him to possibly become a fourth Freebird. Angel throws a dropkick, but Young has GUTS, throwing a dropkick of his own, only to get caught in mid-air and slammed down. No piece of the Aggro Crag for him, then. Clothesline off the second rope by Angel gets the pin with ease.
THE UWF COMPUTERIZED TOP TEN!
#10. Missing Link
#9. Chris Adams
#8. Chavo
#7. Terry Taylor
#6. Michael Hayes
#5. Jim Duggan
#4. Ted DiBiase
#3. Dr. Death
#2. One Man Gang
#1. Buddy Roberts
TV TITLE: BUDDY ROBERTS (Champion) vs. JUMPIN’ JOE SAVOLDI
-Savoldi leapfrogs Buddy and flips him, cradling him twice in rapid succession and compelling Buddy to get out of the ring for a minute and figure stuff out.
-Back in, Savoldi sunset flips him immediately for another two-count, and Buddy is completely baffled by this strategy where Savoldi just wants the pin and absolutely nothing else. Buddy goes out for a breather, then comes back in and tries throwing punches. Savoldi wins the fist fight and dropkicks Buddy for another two-count. Savoldi crashes on his next try. Buddy starts going for Savoldi’s eyes, but suddenly, Terry Taylor comes to ringside in his suit and glasses, which JR reasons is proof that he’s not out there to make trouble.
-Savoldi mounts a comeback, getting Buddy in an atomic drop. Buddy stops the comeback and bulldogs him, but to make a point, he throws Savoldi over the top rope on the side of the ring where Terry Taylor is standing. Buddy is DQed, but what matters to him now is he wants Taylor to get in the ring. Taylor takes off the glasses, steps in the ring, five-arms Buddy, and counts his own three to prove he can beat Buddy just that easily.
-We take a look at what happened during the commercial break. Michael Hayes comes to ringside after Terry Taylor has already left. Hayes begins to cut a promo running down Taylor, but Roberts shocks Hayes and Sunshine by grabbing the mic and telling them to mind their own business, and declares that he’s willing to put the belt on the line against Taylor any time. Hayes looks annoyed about having the mic snatched from him and disturbed that Roberts offered a title match for no reason. JR declares that if time is left in the hour, they WILL go ahead and let Buddy put the belt on the line a second time. Uh, excuse me, I believe we just had a whole-ass angle in which we established that title matches have to be declared in writing and can’t happen spontaneously, did we not?
SAVANNAH JACK vs. BUDDY LANDEL (with Skandar Akbar, Bill Irwin, One Man Gang, and Leroy Brown)
-Savannah Jack comes to ringside, sees the army backing up Landel, and heads back to the locker room. Jack comes back, apparently alone…but then Chavo Guerrero, Iceman, Chris Adams, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan hit the ring, so now the FACES outnumber the heels, and the heels get their asses handed to them until they get out of Dodge.
TAG TEAM TITLE: THE FANTASTICS (Champions) vs. HOLLYWOOD JOHN TATUM & JACK VICTORY
-Michael Hayes is openly hoping for a long dragged-out match just to avoid the TV Title challenge.
-Pier six brawl right away. Tommy Rogers backdrops Victory, and a dropkick sends him to the floor. Tatum hugs him on the floor, which is not unheard-of for heel heat, but the way he hugs Victory is so ODD that JR just stops everything on commentary to ask WTF Tatum just did.
-Back in, Victory gets knocked around in the Fantastics corner. Tatum tags in, and Tommy Rogers does a really quick, subtle spot where he “accidentally” springs the rope as Tatum comes in, causing him to get hit in the crotch. Crowd goes NUTS for it, and Tommy plays up the “Whoops, that was an accident” gestures for all they’re worth.
-Victory distracts Bobby Fulton from the floor, allowing Tatum to knock Fulton out there so Victory can drop him throat-first on the barricade. Back in the ring, Fulton hangs in there and manages to wipe out Tatum with a kneelift that “loosens his socks.” Hot tag Rogers and all four men end up in the ring. Referee struggles to restore order as Rogers takes an elbow to the back of the head, and Victory pounces quickly and gets the three-count for the shocking title change. Good little match–I get more fond of the Fantastics every time I watch them.
TV TITLE: BUDDY ROBERTS (Champion, with Sunshine) vs. TERRY TAYLOR
-They get to fighting before the announcer has finished the introduction. Taylor boots him down and suplexes him for a two-count. Buddy falls over the top rope, and Tommy Gilbert and Terry Taylor have an argument about if it constitutes “throwing him over the top.” Terry pleads his case while Buddy Roberts puts on the stolen black glove and gets back into the ring. He KOs Terry Taylor with it, but Gilbert does the right thing and calls for the DQ right as TV time runs out.
