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WWF Wrestling Challenge (10.18.1986) Review

May 26, 2021 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
WWF Wrestling Challenge 10-18-1984 Paul Orndorff Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
5.1
The 411 Rating
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WWF Wrestling Challenge (10.18.1986) Review  

-Originally aired October 18, 1986.

-Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan.

KOKO B. WARE vs. STEVE LOMBARDI

-Koko introduces us to his new friend, Frankie, and Bobby wants someone to get him a bag of Shake ‘N Bake.

-They criss-cross and Koko just punches Lombardi between the eyes. Lombardi punches back, and it’s pretty much a boxing match until Koko reverses an Irish whip and follows with a neckbreaker. Ghostbuster gets the win.

WRESTLER’S REBUTTAL

-It’s Roddy Piper cutting a promo and they actually give this segment a little time, so it’s not as terrible as it usually is, just kind of.

-We flash back to a TNT segment from 1984 where Paul Orndorff goes to a beauty parlor and shows us his beauty routine. He orders four women around, insisting on having his shoes polished (“But these are sneakers”) and gripes about his poor-quality manicure. The most interesting part of this two-year-old segment is how even here, you can see a difference in the company’s aptitude for production. The camera work, the editing, even the picture quality aren’t what they would be if they had shot a fresh segment for this episode.

“Mr. Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF (with Bobby Heenan) vs. TONY PARKS

-Orndorff dumps Parks on the floor and brings him back in for the piledriver to finish.

-Ken Resnick chats with Tito Santana about…The Piper’s Pit/Flower Shop incident. Tito is like “Well, Piper will kick their asses, I guess” and then just cuts a generic Spanish promo. That was odd.

DICK “The Rebel” SLATER vs. BOB BRADLEY

-Bobby Heenan wonders if this hayseed realizes that the war’s been over for 100 years. Oh, just wait, buddy. We get a promo from Danny Davis for the first time, acknowledging the hate mail that he’s been getting and saying that we don’t understand the job of refereeing, and that he’s going to keep doing the work the same way.

-Crowd yells “Boring!” and a badly bungled neckbreaker doesn’t help their mood. Bradley sacrifices himself for the greater good, missing a charge and flying over the top rope and crashing to the floor, and now they’ve got the crowd. Elbow off the top rope by Slater gets the three-count for Slater.

-Ken Resnick welcomes the Rougeau Brothers. They remind me of the babyface promos on the 1970s All-Star shows, where all they have to say is that they want top competition.

DREAM TEAM (with Johnny V) vs. JERRY ALLEN & RICK HUNTER

-We get pre-taped words from Johnny V explaining how he balances two careers as a manager and a commentator. Getting fired from one helps, I guess.

-Jerry Allen goes for a sunset flip but gets popped in the schnozz. Jobbers actually accomplish a blind tag and Hunter surprises Brutus with some shots. Brutus fights back with a powerslam. Valentine with elbows as the commentators again talk about how Wrestlemania 2 messed these guys up psychologically and they’re still rebounding from it. Valentine finishes with the figure four.

SNAKE PIT

-The venue they’re in this week is not favorable for the Snake Pit, as there’s a visible parquet floor in Jake’s mysterious den of villainry. Our guest this week is Junkyard Dog, and they swap insults until JYD proclaims that the only two things anyone can make him do are stay black and die. Have I mentioned Jake trying to get “I’m the one you’re mother told you about” as a catch phrase for the past few weeks?

SIKA (wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Wizarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd) vs. JOSE LUIS RIVERA

-Sika rips and pulls away at Rivera as we get pre-taped words from the Wizard, explaining that Sika’s diet consists partly of the herbs that Wizard stores in the giant tooth he wears around his neck, which he says is called “Sharkcard’s Tooth.” Sharkcards, for my money, the very best of the obscure genre of dyslexic game shows. Dyslexic game shows would actually inspire another gimmick some years after this, a voodoo priest who was originally to be named Papa Gong Show.

-Bobby Heenan hassles the British Bulldogs and Matilda until 30 seconds have elapsed and the segment is over.

BRITISH BULLDOGS (Tag Team Champions) vs. “Mr. Electricity” STEVE REGAL & RUDY DIAMOND

-Regal gets bumped around as his parade of regrettable career choices continues. Diamond, who usually worked as a babyface jobber, tags in and tries a wristlock, but Davey Boy tumbles around and reverses it. Powerslam by Davey almost finishes, but Regal runs in and Dynamite ends up doing the diving headbutt off Regal’s back for the three-count.

-Ken Resnick talks to Slick, Iron Sheik, and Nikolai Volkoff. Everyone complains about the British Bulldogs mysteriously missing their flights or coming down with the flu every time Sheik and Volkoff have a title shot.

5.1
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
Total filler show this week.
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