WWF Wrestling Challenge (10.4.1986) Review

-Originally aired October 4, 1986.

-Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Johnny V. What? NO! You fixed it! Remember?

KING HARLEY RACE (with Bobby Heenan) vs. ALLEN MARTIN
-Johnny V makes a joke about margarine and does the bad-comedian thing of ending the thought with “But, uh, you know…” Race suplexes Martin around while Johnny V moves onto a Richard Nixon impression. Cradle suplex by Race finishes before we can get Johnny’s thoughts on shopping cart wheels.

WRESTLER’S REBUTTAL
-The Machines cut a promo about sushi and “flied lice” that wouldn’t fly even five years later. This segment is still just the worst chunk of filler on these shows.

ROUGEAU BROTHERS vs. BOB BRADLEY & “Mr. Electricity” STEVE REGAL
-Regal’s career path is the kind of thing that makes you shake your head and go “Oh honey…” He was on his way up the ladder in the AWA, then jumped to WCCW and only stayed a little bit before jumping to Jim Crockett without notice, and he lasted there only a few weeks before getting REALLY cocky and jumping to the WWF without notice, and his early WWF showings were so unimpressive that Gorilla Monsoon just instantly buried him on commentary and he was demoted to jobber. He was out of the company by the end of 1986, and after that, his career was DONE because he had burned all of his bridges in the business in the space of only one year.

-Bradley throws punches at Raymond as Bobby Heenan happily returns to commentary. Raymond reverses an Irish whip and heaves Bradley over the top rope. Jacques with flying headscissors on Regal, and Raymond just takes on the world with bodyslams for everyone, and the crowd gives him a round of appreciative applause. Le Bombe De Rougeau finishes.

-Ken Resnick interviews Corporal Kirchner, and you can kind of get a feel for why this gimmick didn’t get over, because he just sounds like…a dude. Sgt. Slaughter was a patriotic drill sergeant and you believed that with your whole heart and soul every time he said anything. Kirchner cuts a promo and seriously just sounds like he brought Ken some beer and flopped down on his couch for a chit-chat.

THE GREAT DEBATE: PIPER’S PIT vs. FLOWER SHOP
-A legendary segment from “Superstars,” with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Adorable Adrian doing their interview segments simultaneously. Adrian’s guest is Cowboy Bob Orton, and Roddy Piper welcomes Magnificent Muraco, who is so shit-rocked here that you want Piper to walk behind him and see what’s keeping him propped up. Muraco appreciates being invited as a guest on Piper’s segment, “The Body Shower,” and Piper won’t let that slide for a moment, jumping on Muraco for not being able to put a sentence together. So Piper eventually runs his mouth a little bit too much, and after a while, he’s pissed off Adrian, Cowboy Bob, AND Muraco, and the three of them have just absolutely had enough and wreck Piper, injuring his knee with a chair, smearing make-up across his face, and destroying the Piper’s Pit set.

-Ken Resnick talks to babyface Dick Slater, and man, talk about a square peg…

DICK “The Rebel” SLATER vs. TIGER CHUNG LEE
-Slater charges to the ring wearing a Confederate flag as a cape and cutting a pre-taped promo promising to adjust people’s attitudes. History went on to prove that yes, an ass-kicking unrefined redneck COULD possibly get over as a babyface in the WWF but Slater’s interpretation doesn’t quite fit.

-Sleeper by Chunger is reversed into a back suplex. Slater throws right hands and tackles Chunger, and a Dusty-style elbow off the top rope finishes.

THE SNAKE PIT
-Continuing our parade of jigsaw pieces that don’t fit, Jake rambles to himself about going home and rediscovering yourself, and with that, he brings in Butch Reed, who works the word “natural” into all of his sentences to make this work. It’s such a one-note gag that before long he was just “Butch Reed, oh and also he has blonde hair.”

DREAM TEAM (with Luscious Johnny V) vs. DON HASTINGS & JERRY ALLEN
-We get a weird pre-taped promo from the Dream Team saying it’s great that Johnny V is a commentator now. You know, now that they’ve pulled him and he just fills in during Brain matches.

-Allen takes control a little bit, but Beefcake begs off and Danny Davis makes Jerry Allen back away so Beefcake can get a rest. Hastings tags in and falls victim to a backbreaker. Valentine tags in and finishes right away with a figure four. Good thing Valentine hadn’t had fifteen minutes to warm up yet or Hastings would be dead.

JUNKYARD DOG vs. JIMMY JACK FUNK
-And the lone surviving Funk family member is STILL dealing with Junkyard Dog. So JYD knocks him around for a bit, JJ gets some token offense on JYD, but a fist drop misses and JYD does the rolling headbutts. JJ tries to make it a fist fight, but he comes out on the losing end of that. JJ tries a thumb to the eye and capitalizes from that, but JYD hulks up and…applies an abdominal stretch, and Gorilla’s not impressed. JJ makes the ropes, but JYD just keeps up the fight, and the Thump ends it. IS THE FEUD DONE NOW?

-Ken Resnick chats with Bobby Heenan, who brings in Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. Nobody can beat them. Except for Hulk Hogan, like, all the time.

7.1

The final score: review Good

The 411

Piper's face turn is always mandatory viewing, and the squashes this week weren't half-bad.