WWF Prime Time Wrestling (6.12.1989) Review

-Originally aired June 12, 1989.

-Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan. They’re already arguing about some embarrassing shenanigans last week, as Heenan snuck into the theater without paying after taping wrapped and Gorilla had to rescue him.

HERCULES vs. HARLEY MANSON
-GREAT name for the jobber. Herc fires punches and nearly kills him with a slam; Manson sandbagged the crap out of him. Crowd is chanting something that I can’t understand but they’re into it, and Herc actually yells “I don’t get it!” at them. Herc puts the boots to Manson, then flat-out stops wrestling and asks the crowd to do the chant again, and they’re loving this chant. It appears to be some variation of “Let’s Go Cena/Cena sucks” because the crowd splits in half and yells it at each other. Torture rack finishes. Just a squash but watching Herc play along with the chant was fun.

-Gorilla indicates that a scene where Zeus had sex with a train was deleted from No Holds Barred. So there’s that.

UPDATE
-I have the WWF Magazine that they show at the opening of this segment. It has an exclusive interview with Hulk Hogan where Hulk explains…wait for it…that the character of Rip is actually based on Hulk Hogan. What a hot scoop for WWF Magazine crack reporter N.S. Sherlock. We take another look at the Superfly/Honky Tonk Man confrontation last week, and we get word from Honky warning that Snuka is just asking for trouble now.

-Bobby Heenan tells us that the zippers on the backs of the Rosatti sisters’ dresses are also called superflies.

BLUE BLAZER vs. GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE (with Jimmy Hart)
-Tony marvels that for someone who has been competing as long as Valentine, he looks as good as he always did. Of course, if you’ve attended an indy show since 1989, you know that Valentine is a freak of nature who will continue looking like that forever.

-Blazer wrings the arm and bodypresses Valentine for two. Blazer applies the hammerlock on Hammer, which opens the door to a spirited debate about whether this qualifies as irony, and I encourage you all to post your thoughts below.

-Valentine stalls before trying a corner charge, but Blazer moves and goes to work on the arm some more. Blazer ends up getting thrown to the floor and Valentine ties him up on the apron and starts to yank the mask off, but the referee stops him before we get a rare glimpse of Barry O’s face. I can’t remember who Blazer turned out to be but “Barry O” feels right. I think I read that once.

-In the ring, Valentine thwacks Blazer with a forearm and gives him the lethal headbutt to the midsection. Motion to just starting calling it the Nutbutt going forward.

-Valentine goes for the figure four, but Blazer cradles him for two. Valentine tries again and this time he gets kicked out to the floor. Valentine heads to the top, but ends up meeting a shot to the gut. Blazer dropkicks him and comes off the second rope with a double axehandle for two. Backbreaker for another two. Okay, hold on, a second rope axehandle and a backbreaker, and we’re sure it’s OWEN under the mask?

-Blazer rams Valentine into the turnbuckles ten times and comes off the top with a missile dropkick for two. Blazer heads to the top rope again, but Valentine catches him and slams him for three. No complaints here.

-The Bushwhackers march out of the movie theater screaming. That’s about how No Holds Barred made most people feel.

THE GENIUS vs. BRIAN COSTELLO
-Genius stalls and makes a big show out of escaping to the floor to avoid a clothesline, turning a cartwheel to celebrate.

-In the ring, Genius starts kicking Costello and we get some really clumsy video editing, as a “boring” chant starts and instantly a loud chorus of booing switches on. So this would appear to be the point when the WWF’s addiction to canned heat is starting.

-Genius is still kicking away at Costello and the canned crowd heat is all over the place. It sounds like they’re mixing multiple tracks of crowd noise, each track recorded by a different device in a different venue. More kicks by the Genius and when Costello falls to the mat you don’t even hear the impact. They’ve totally eliminated the audio from this match and just replaced it with “Baseball Stadium–Fans Booing Track #0821.”

-Genius suplexes Costello and rams him into the turnbuckle and sends him into the ropes for an elbow, and I think they actually added a sound effect to the elbow. Genius slams Costello and he lands with no audible impact again, and the somersault from the top rope finishes. Holy damn, what a bizarre exercise in post-production this turned out to be.

-Gorilla mentions that Rick Rude is reluctant to put his John Henry on the contract. That mistake wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t so consistent. Gorilla says it ALL THE TIME, to the point that I secretly hope it was an inside joke.

RAVISHING RICK RUDE (Intercontinental Champion, with Bobby Heenan) vs. FRANK DEFALCO
-Rude works the arm. DeFalco gets some token offense, but Rude comes back quickly, giving DeFalco a knee to the gut and wrenching his neck. Rude Awakening ends it.

EVENT CENTER
-Jim Neidhart says he loves to hurt people. Meanwhile, the Rougeaus have a good laugh at the expense of the “Wreckers.”

TIM HORNER vs. BARRY HOROWITZ
-From Boston. Horner goes for a hammerlock. Barry Horowitz elbows free but runs into a hiptoss and goes soaring. Horner armdrags him into an armbar. They have, I think, a miscommunication but end up inventing a nice move from it, as they hit the ropes, meet face to face, and Horner pretty much hiptosses Horowitz behind his back, and it looked kind of badass.

-Horowitz takes control with a gutwrench for two. Kneelift to the jaw by Horowitz, but Horner surprises him with a cradle just before we pause for a commercial break. Back from the break, Horowitz bulldogs Horner into the top turnbuckle and then runs his eyes across the top rope. Horner surprises Barry with a sunset flip, with Barry making a big show of countering it while patting himself on the back. Abdominal stretch into a legsweep by Barry for two. He tries it again, but Horner reverses the abdominal stretch. Horowitz hiptosses out for two, with Horner escaping by just slapping Barry on his pressure points, forcing him to release the pinning combo. That was different.

-Barry goes back to the abdominal stretch, using his free hand to pat himself on the back. Horner hangs on and counters a backdrop, then rolls up Horowitz and bridges it for the three count. Both guys broke out some new stuff tonight and it was pretty fun!

-Bobby says he’s going to start bringing guests on the show, including Zeus, and Gorilla just tells him to leave and get his own show if he wants to do that crap.

-Off to Americana Tacos, where Dusty Rhodes serves up enchiladas and pina coladas, daddy. Dusty eats a huge burrito and a customer asks, “Aren’t you…”

TONY SCHIAVONE’S COLISEUM CORNER- FLAG MATCH: HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. DINO BRAVO (with Frenchy Martin)
-Tony tells us that this comes to us from “Hacksaw Jim Duggan: The Videocassette.” Not to be confused with “Hacksaw Jim Duggan: The Flame Thrower.” Your commentary team: Rod Trongard, Hillbilly Jim, and Lord Alfred Hayes.

-Duggan knocks Dino straight out of the ring to start. Back in, Duggan works the arm with a hammerlock. Dino puts up no fight, but Duggan breaks the hold anyway to stare at Frenchy Martin. Duggan charges in the corner and eats a boot. Inverted atomic drop by Dino and we go to the headlock. They don’t just lay around either, Duggan stays in motion, trying to get free from the hold and going for the hair before Dino wears him down. Duggan gets a second wind and breaks free. To see the rest go to your local videocassette rental facility now.

ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. DUSTY WOLFE
-Warrior takes Wolf out to the floor and rams his face into the apron repeatedly, taunting Rick Rude and daring him to come get some. Back in, the press slam and a splash end it.

EVENT CENTER
-Hillbilly Jim warns the kids to be careful in the water this summer. Greg Valentine brags about all the broken legs and ended careers he’s responsible for.

BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE vs. BAD NEWS BROWN
-From Boston. Bad News has been hitting the gym this week and has some pretty impressive abs showing.

-Bad News attacks right away and strangles Beefcake with his own jacket. Bad News keeps up the choking and elbows Beefcake down to the mat. Bad News slams and whips Beefcake into the corner, but misses the corner charge and Brutus is finally coming to life, just in time for a commercial break.

-Back in the studio, Bobby Heenan has abruptly disappeared. Bobby returns and says he has something to say, but they just go right back to the match.

-Beefcake targets Bad News’ ear with right hands. Bodypress gets two. Beefcake just keeps unloading and signals for the sleeper. He gets it locked on but Bad News immediately backs into the corner to break the hold. Beefcake tries it again but this time Bad News hits a clothesline…and then grabs the mic and cuts a promo, promising to show the beer-bellied sharecroppers in Boston what a haircut looks like. Bad News grabs Beefcake’s scissors from the corner, but gets held up in an argument with the referee and Beefcake sneaks up and rolls him up for three. Bad News chases the referee back to the locker room, still holding the scissors. Match wasn’t much at all, as Bad News took a turn, Beefcake took a turn, and that was it.

-As we close the show, Bobby again makes some noise about quitting Prime Time and starting his own show, and then walks off the set before Gorilla has signed off.

6.9

The final score: review Average

The 411

This week was pretty good in some unexpected places. Have a look.