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What the HECK?/Intro- Rasslin Tape 15 (Summer 1991)
Tape 15! This tape picks up in the Spring of 1991 and carries us all the way to
the "SummerSlam Spectacular". Taped in chronological order, as they
aired. Nothing but free TV matches, and a bunch of 'em, so here goes..
Random Match 1: Jake "the Snake" Roberts vs. Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart)
This incident was mentioned on the last tape.. so I apparently juggled my
matches around for better use of tape or whatever. From Superstars with Vince McMahon,
Roddy Piper and Randy Savage on the sticks. Quake charges Jake before the bell rings.
Jake fights him off and hits a knee lift. Jake immediately grabs his bag and
lets Damien loose. Earthquake refuses to work the match and starts heading back to the
dressing room. Quake eventually agrees to return, but gets the ref to order Jake to
toss Damien's bag under the ring. The "match" finally begins and Quake
immediately puts Jake in the Andre the Giant special (arms caught in the ropes).
Jimmy Hart runs into the ring and tackles the ref, drawing the DQ. Quake recovers
"Damien's bag" from under the ring and prepares to drop ass on it. Right as he connects, the camera cuts
to a "shocked" Sean Mooney in the events center. Quake hits another splash, and again it
cuts to Mooney. Mooney informs us that they'll send it back to the arena, but will
immediately return "if the carnage continues". Quake and Jimmy finally leave the ring. Refs
free Jake's arms and he mournfully looks into the bag. Vince, Roddy and Savage
act all solemn and weepy...think of Dan Dierdorf whenever some schmuck would suffer an injury on
Monday Night Football. After years of slithering all over the ring... (snif).. Damien is "dead".
Well, my pappy always said "if you don't want it broken, lost or stolen... leave your stuff at home".
No match, but a fun little incident. With Damien gone, Jake would become even creepier,
so I guess you could say this was the start of his heel turn. Oh, and don't cry,
kids... they pulled a little switcheroo under the ring. Quake didn't really squash Damien,
he squashed a bag of rolled-up sweat pants.
Random Match 2: Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick "The Model" Martel
From Wrestling Challenge, with Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan and Jim Neidhart on the call. Neidhart's
overused comment of the night is "look at the look
of intensity on Warrior's face!" Warrior wins the initial lockup
and follows up with a hiptoss, two powerslams and a clothesline to knock Martel
out of the ring. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer cut an inset promo, promising Warrior will
be their "sacrificial lamb". Warrior gets a back bodydrop in here, somewhere. Martel makes it back in,
grabs Warrior's hair and tosses him out. Outside brawling fun. They make it back in where Martel
kicks away, hits a backbreaker and hooks in the Boston Crab. Warrior powers out with his legs
and sells an epileptic seizure! Oh..he's just shaking the ropes and all. Two more powerslams,
two clotheslines, shoulderblock and the big splash score the 3 count pin for Warrior.
Random Match 3: WWF Tag Team Championship:
Nasty Boys (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Rockers
(Brian Knobbs & Jerry Saggs vs. Shawn Michaels & Marty Janetty)
Back to Superstars. Nasties punch a lot... Janetty flies off the top with a facebuster for a two count.
(Savage: "Unbeee-lievable"). Both Rockers work the armbar on Saggs. Blind tag sees Michaels
fly off the top with a shoulderblock (Savage: "Unbeee-lievable") An LOD inset promo flies in
amongst more Nasty punches. Whoa.. clothesline from Knobbs gets a two. Michaels splits Saggs' legs with the post (Savage: "Unbeee-lievable"). Nasties try to set up Michaels for their doubleteam, but the match breaks down and a four-way erupts. Jimmy Hart's motorcycle helmet makes it in and the ref signals DQ. Jannety backdrops Saggs over the top (Savage: "Unbeee-lievable"). Well, I always remember the Nasties as being a little sloppy..but damn, can they do ANYTHING outside of a punch or clothesline?
Random Match 4: WWF Intercontinental Championship:
Mr. Perfect (c) (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Tugboat
Back to Challenge. Heenan stalls while Perfect tries to mess with the turnbuckle. Tugboat shoulderblocks and shoves off Perfect. Usual Perfect bail out. Perfect returns to the ring and tries to chop away at the Tugger. Tugboat puts him in an elevated choke and slaps on a bearhug. Throws him into the corner and misses a follow-up charge. Perfect gets a quick 2. Tugboat recovers with a powerslam then misses a big flappy splash off the second turnbuckle. Perfect immediately grabs the drawers and scores the 3. Awful match. Tugboat looks frustrated, afterwards.. if ya can't beat 'em...
Random Match 5: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Rick "the Model" Martel
Back to Superstars. Senses a pattern, I do. Lotsa punching and kicking. Piper is still
selling his injured knee and Martel peels off the bandages and goes to work on it. Piper tries
to hit a suplex, but his knee collapses. Piper makes a comeback and atomic drops Martel, split-legged,
onto the ropes. He uses the bandage to choke and drag Martel around. Outside the ring, where Piper
tosses a pitcher of water at Martel. Egads..now it's getting ugly! Back in the ring, Piper
ducks a Martel clothesline and hooks a small package to get the 3.
Random Match 6: Legion of Doom vs. Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji)
(Hawk & Animal vs. Kato & Tanaka)
From Superstars. The LOD must have loved the Express. After beating on bigger dudes
like Dr. Death Steve Williams, Ron Simmons, Butch Reed, Sid Vicious, the SST and
the Powers of Pain in the NWA, they came over to the WWF and got to toss round the comparatively
small Kato and Tanaka. Go back to late 1988 and this would have been an AWA-NWA
dual championship match. Anyways... Kato and Animal start off. Kato comes off the second turnbuckle,
gets caught by Animal and slammed to the canvas. Both guys tag their partners, so it's Hawk
turn to pummel Tanaka, with a gorilla press slam. Express takes over and they hit a mini spike
piledriver on Hawk. Animal even gets to sell a little bit and allows the Express to hit
their vego-matic doubleteamer. Animal clotheslines both guys and LOD is back in command.
Punches, etc until Animal lifts Kato up in the Doomsday Device. Flying clothesline from
Hawk scores the win for LOD.
Random Match 7: Ultimate Warrior vs. Smash (w/Mr. Fuji)
Superstars. Nothing but punches.
Smash gets Warrior outside the ring for a mini Tour De Post.
Warrior punches away, hits a shoulderblock, two clotheslines and the biiiiig splash to get the
pin. Lazy bastard Warrior... he apparently stopped doing his gorilla-press
as Part One of his finisher.
Vince kept referring to Smash as "Demolition Smash", so I guess we know his last name, now.
use the info learned from the Demolition theme song, and we can deduce that
the fullname on Smash's paycheck was "Demolition Destruction Smash", and I guess
Ax would be "Demolition Pain Ax". And now ya know...
Random Match 8: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Warlord (w/Slick)
Wrestling Challenge again and ,understandably, Anvil is praising his
buddy Bret. Even though it's Bret Hart, lots of punching until Warlord
cinches in a bearhug. Bret bites Warlord's forehead to escape. Schoolboy roll-up
gets Bret a 2. Warlord hits a side-suplex and a nice gorilla press slam. Pounding
continues until Bret hits a charging clothesline and reverse atomic drop. Bret goes up
to the second turnbuckle, and he's all like, weeeeeeeeeee with a flying elbow.
Tosses Warlord into the ropes and drops the leg-splash thingie. Slick smacks
Bret with his cane for fun. Bret grabs the cane and begins smacking Warlord around.
Ref signals for the double DQ.
Random Match 9: Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan)
From PTW with Lord Alfred Hayes and Sean Mooney. Both guys sniff each other out with armbars and chops.
Jake takes over and works the armbar. Barbie pounds out and sends Jake to the ropes for
a backdrop attempt. Jake hits him with a kneelift and tries for quick DDT. Barbie slips out and
runs to the outside. Jake follows him out and rams Barbie's arm into the ring post. They make
it back
in and jake hits the short-arm clothesline and tries for another DDT. Barbarian backdrops
to counter and take over. Pound, thump, etc. Backbreaker gets 2 for Barbie. After an irish whip
toss, Jake gets his knee up to block a charge. Jake misses the short-arm clothesline, and that
was some serious TS, 'cuz Barbie absolutely molests him with a kick to the noggin! Jake stumbles
to the ropes and does the Andre Special again. Barbarian is over to consult Heenan, allowing
Jake to escape the ropes, sneak up on him and nail the DDT! Both guys are out. Cue the Earthquake
entrance. Jake slides over to his bag, unleashes Lucifer and chases Quake down the aisle. Jake can't make it back before 10, so Barbarian wins by countout. The ending was kinda weak, but did
further the Jake-Quake feud. Good match when it was on.
Random Match 10: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. Warlord (w/Slick)
More PTW. Warlord wins the initial lockups, while Hayes and Mooney make absurd
weight room stories about him. Hacksaw finally knocks him down with 3 charging clotheslines.
Warlord bails for a bit, comes back in and stops a Hacksaw backdrop attempt. Warlord thumps
away and chokes Duggan with the ropes. Ref gets distracted and Slickster gets in his own choke.
Here it comes... the Warlord Chinlock! Hacksaw makes a mini-comeback until he's nailed
with a kneelift and a cover for 2. Hacksaw punches, hits an elbow and connects with
his 3-point stance finisher. Warlord tumbles out of the ring, then reaches in to pull Hacksaw
out as well. Both guys brawl to a double countout. Afterwards, Hacksaw clears the ring with his 2x4
and nails Slick in the caboose.
Random Match 11: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. Sgt. Slaughter (w/Col. Mustafa and Gen. Adnan)
Still on PTW. All three "Iraqis" attack Valentine as the bell sounds. Very slight
"Gun-HO" chant ... I guess the fans were ridiculing Slaughter about
his GI Joe connection??!! Slaughter accidentally
nails Mustafa with his combat belt, allowing Valentine to take over with a powerslam and
several punches. irish whip to the corner as Slaughter oversells it and flips out of the ring.
A groggy Slaughter grabs a chair and throws it into the ring. Valentine rolls out to smack
Mustafa and Adnan, then throws Slaughter into a table! "Hardcore" for 1991. Valentine rolls
Slaughter back in for 5 elbowdrops and a 2 count. Slaughter takes over with a thumb to the throat
ejects Valentine from the ring. Mustafa is over to smack Valentine onto the railing and throw him back
in. Slaughter stomps and works on Valentine's back. Announcers miss that he's softening up
his opponent's back for the Camel Clutch...but it's Hayes and Mooney! Slaughter misses
something from the top and it's "Hammer Time!" Valentine works the leg and hooks the figure four!
Mustafa distracts the ref, so Adnan can run over and brain Valentine with Slaughter's helmet.
Valentine is out and loses by submission to the Camel Clutch (yes.. CAMEL Clutch. Remember, this
was EVIL Sarge. Cobra Clutch wouldn't come back for another 5 months or so).
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"fuh' life..." |
Random Match 12: Bushwhackers & Tugboat vs. Nasty Boys & Earthquake
Fairly famous match from Superstars. Roddy Piper refers to Knobbs and Saggs as "Big Bird
and Leon". At the time, the Nasties were dead ringers for my buddies Henry and Frank, but
that joke only connected with people named Stragand. Lots of punching,
and 'Whackers keep trying to tag in Tugboat. He always turns and does his tugboat toot to the crowd.
Butch finally tags in Tugboat while his back is turned. Earthquake enters and
the two do a staredown. Before they can trade blows, Tugboat backs off and tags
Luke! Heels work on Luke for a few minutes, until Butch enters to make the save and
attack all three guys. Tugboat runs in and sends Butch out of the ring with a clothesline from behind!
Tugboat bounces off the ropes and splashes Luke! Quake drops ass on Luke and scores the pin.
Afterwards, the heels hug and high five their new buddy, Tugboat. Jimmy's boys all pose
around like the nWo would, six years later.
The storyline was that Jimmy Hart wanted to form a new tag team with Earthquake and Andre the Giant
to act as blockers for the Nasties' tag team title reign. Andre refused, so Jimmy went to
the next big ol' tug of guts- Tugboat. Actually, a very surprising heel turn at the time.
Random Match 13: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. Barbarian
Back to PTW, but there's no Heenan for Barbarian. Initial chopping until
Valentine catches Barbie with a ...drop toehold! Hammer follows up with elbowsmashes
and clotheslines. Elbow to crotch to soften him up for the figure four. Barbarian ducks a clothesline
and takes over with a backbreaker. Slight "Mer-Ham" chant breaks out. Barbarian with a
big ol' bearhug. Kick to the tummy, snapmare and elbowdrop gets 2. Valentine takes over
and goes for the figure four. Barbarian kicks him on the spin and sends him to the apron.
Follow up KICK sends Valentine to the floor. Barbarian tries to suplex him back in, but Valentine wiggles around and falls on top for the 3 count pin!
Random Match 14: Animal vs. Paul Roma (w/Hercules)
From MSG, with Gorilla, Brain and the Anvil on the sticks. Power and Glory has a coin toss before
the match to determine who will wrestle. Both guys bounce off the ropes to start. Roma leapfrogs
several times until Animal catches him in a reverse atomic drop. Whip to the corner as Animal
climbs the ropes and pounds away. Roma shrugs him off and he's sent to the floor. Hercules attacks
the lower back on the outside. Back in, and Roma gives three successive backbreakers to Animal,
without breaking the hold. Roma hits his textbook dropkick and follows up with a piledriver
for 2. Irish whip reversal by Animal and the ref gets bumped. Herc comes back in to work over
Animal. Herc holds him for a toprope dropkick from Roma. Animal ducks and Roma nails
Herc. Roma comes off the ropes right into a scoop powerslam from Animal. Ref recovers
and counts the three as Animal wins. Belive it or not, but Roma carried this match and
it was quite decent.
Random Match 15: Virgil vs. Kato (w/Mr Fuji)
PTW match with Hayes and Mooney. Terrible match, with nothing but punches and clotheslines. Fuji
trips Virgil and the former bodyguard is out to chase him away. Fuji casually walks back to the
locker as Virgil returns to the ring. A few punches and Virgil slaps on his version of
the Million Dollar Dream to win the thing. Announcers sold Fuji's exit like he was
going to the back to grab reinforcements...but I think he just had to take a dump or something.
Random Match 16: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Paul Roma (w/Slick)
More PTW. Lockup to begin and Roma again goes into his leapfrogs. This time,Bret
catches him with a clothesline off the ropes. Roma takes over with a series of chops
and hits his three consecutive backbreakers for 2. Bret gets a quick roll up off the ropes for
2, followed by his own backbreaker, grapevine suplex and two atomic drops. Bret tries
to float over after an irish whip into the corner and tumbles to the mat feigning an
"injured" knee. Roma is over to work on the knee, but Bret reaches up and
small packages him for 3. Despite being in the WWF for almost four years this point, Roma
apparently never watched a single Bret Hart/Hart Foundation match. For lack of a better
joke, Bret Cheated to Win.
Random Match 17: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Barbarian
More PTW with Gorilla and Hayes. Looks to be London, Ontario, but I'm not 100%.
Announcers ask about the whereabouts of "Coach", so Bobby Heenan's
apparently retired from full-time managing.
Bret starts out with an armbar and works Barbie to the mat. Barbarian comes
back with his power stuff and flings Bret to the outside. He follows him out
and tosses Bret into a chair. Back in and it's a Very Special Moment- the
Barbarian bearhug. Bret bites to escape, but gets killed by Barbarian's KICK!
Bret comes back with a backbreaker, second rope elbow and
grapevine suplex for a series of 2 counts. Bret is knocked out again and tries
to sunset flip his way back in. He connects, but Barbie holds the top rope
and drops down. The ref kicks Barbie's arms off the ropes, allowing Bret to kick up, hook
Barbie's arms and score the 3 count.
Random Match 18: Bushwhackers vs. Sgt. Slaughter and Col. Mustafa (w/Gen. Adnan)
Special stipulation: first team to use an actual wrestling hold WINS! Bushwhackers, the team
from NEW ZEALAND lead the crowd in a "USA" chant. You knew it was coming, but it's
LOGIC IN WRESTLING!
Luke is worked over for most of the match, including the high-spot: a double clothesline
from Slaughter and Mustafa. Slaughter hits the backbreaker.
Well, THERE's the first wrestling hold. Slaughter
misses a kneedrop from the top rope, allowing
Luke to make the hot tag to Butch. Butch cleans house with clotheslines and then brings in
Luke for the battering ram. Mustafa is sent out and the Whackers set up for Slaughter.
Adnan reaches up and grabs Luke's drawers, halting the battering ram. Butch flies
forward, right into the Slaughter Cannon (unnamed at the time, but Sarge's
big-ass clothesline). Slaughter makes the cover for the 3 count.
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"Are ya feelin' it, Evel?!" |
Random Match 19: WWF Tag Team Championship:
Nasty Boys (c)(w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Bushwhackers
(Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs vs. Butch Miller and Luke Williams)
Stereo Whacker Butt Bite right off the bat. Shemp Stooge eye boink!
Things settle down and the Nasties work
on Luke. Knobbs hits a powerslam amongst 132 punches and kicks. Match breaks down and
a Pier 13 erupts. Jimmy Hart tosses the motorcycle helmet in, but BUTCH intercepts it!
He brains Knobbs with it and the crowd goes NUTS! Knobbs is out and Butch covers to
make the 1...2... awwww, Saggs is in with the helmet to draw the DQ! Bushwhackers parade
around with the
helmet in a funny visual. Say what you want about the Bushwhackers' ability, but they
were insanely over with the fans.
Random Match 20: "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich vs. Barbarian
Another round of the Greco Roman Knuckle Lock Challenge of 1991. Kerry kicks, then
misses the discus punch off the ropes. Barbarian beats away and throws him out.
Barbarian brings him back in with a suplex, then tries another. Kerry blocks
it and quickly hooks a small package to get the pin.
Random Match 21: Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka vs. Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji)
More PTW. First time we've seen John Nord as the Berzerker on the tapes.
Funny moment as both guys get into a duel between "HUSS! HUSS!" and "HEWW! HEWW!".
Even wackier as Berzerker sez to Fuji: "yes, master..I will rip his head off for you!!"
Gotta' hand it to Nord, he wasn't shy about playing this character.
Snuka sends Berzerker over the top rope with a series of chops. Berzerker is back
in to kick away at Snuka and tie him up in the ropes (Jake and Andre would be proud).
Berzeker charges, but Snuka escapes and the big guy is rope-crotched! Snuka
chops away then connects with a flying headbutt off the second rope. Irish whip
reversal sends Snuka into the corner. He climbs, twists around, and connects with
a high cross-body. Berzerker rolls through and scores the pin. This may be the last
Snuka appearance on the Rasslin' Tapes. And yup, he was wearing BOOTS here.
Random Match 22: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs. Warlord
PTW from MSG, with Gorilla and Alfred. Lotsa punching. I can only hope that
there will be a BACKBREAKER! Yup, thank you Warlord. Can't forget the bearhug, either.
Bobby Heenan wanders
down to join the broadcast crew and talks about an upcoming match between
Barbarian and Haku vs. Mr. Fuji and Kato. Never heard about this, but
apparently Heenan let Fuji manage Barbarian/Haku the previous month at MSG, and they lost.
Valentine makes a comeback
with several clotheslines, elbows and a double axehandle off the second rope.
Warlord irish-whips him to the corner, then nails a powerslam to get the pin.
10 minutes of "tremendous action".
Random Match 23: WWF Tag Team Championship:
Hart Foundation vs. Nasty Boys (c)(w/Jimmy Hart)
(Bret "Hitman" Hart & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart vs. Brian Knobbs & Jerry Saggs)
More PTW from MSG.
Anvil clears the ring with shoulderblocks to start. Nasties take over, cut-off the ring and work
on Anvil. Anvil tumbles out where Saggs nails him with the helmet. Heenan: "I didn't see that,
I was talking to Alfred. But I'll be sure to look into it, though!" Nasties take turns slapping
on the chinlock. See? They IMPROVED... two months prior, they couldn't have done a chinlock.
Saggs misses..uh, something off the top rope and Anvil is finally able to tag in Bret.
Knobbs is tagged in as Bret nails both Nasties. Grapevine suplex and second rope elbow
knock Knobbs to the canvas. Anvil returns and they hit the Hart Attack! Jimmy Hart tries to throw
in the helmet, but it's intercepted (again) by Bret. Bret smacks Knobbs and makes the cover, but
the ref stops the count and disqualifies the Harts. Not sure, but this may have been the
last match for the original Hart Foundation. Or at least their last MSG match.
Random Match 24: "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith vs. Col. Mustafa (w/Gen. Adnan & Sgt. Slaughter)
Looks like all PTW matches from here on out.
Davey's without Winston....so I'm guessing he either injected the dog with
hallucinogens or tied it the bumper of a Greyhound bus. Mooney skates on thin legal ice by
calling the Iraqis "Slaughter's Marauders". Thin ice, because Hasbro
had marketed a special GI Joe subset with the same name in late 1989.
Those re-painted versions of Mutt, Spirit and the others were still floating
around toy stores at the time. (By the way... I always meant to pick up
the modified Wolverine/Mauler hybrid- the Lynx from that line, but never broke down and bought it..oh well)
Adnan distracts the ref while
Mustafa and Slaughter pound away. Mustafa whips Bulldog to the rope for an elbow, but
on the second attempt Bulldog ducks, hits a powerslam and a clothesline to send
Mustafa rolling out. Slaughter and Adnan keep distracting, while Mustafa loads his boot
and turns the tide. Evil Iraqi backscratch get a 2 count. Bulldog comes back with an sunset
flip for a quick 2. Mustafa lifts him up for a suplex attempt, which Bulldog reverses into
his running power slam finisher. Before Bulldog can land it, Slaughter reaches in and
grabs his leg, allowing Mustafa to fall on top and get the 3 count pin.
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"coming down the aisle... eventually" |
Random Match 25: Jake "The Snake Roberts vs. Typhoon (w/Jimmy Hart)
Lockup is won by a gloating Tugboat. Jake gets in some punches and works
the armbar. Tugboat tries his own armbar and Jimmy Hart offers his sage advice-
"Work on 'im, baby, work on 'im!" Tugboat mises a clothesline, Jake hits a kneelift, gets a
2 count and is then bench pressed out of the ring. Tugboat brings him back in and nails
him with an avalanche into the corner. Elbowdrop and the obligatory backbreaker.
Tugboat misses a charge into the corner and jake quickly capitalizes with
the short-arm clothesline and signals for the DDT. Earthquake makes a run-in, causing
the DQ. Quake sets up Jake for the sit-down splash, but Jake becomes the FIRST
GUY EVER to avoid it by rolling out of the ring. The heels then grab Lucifer's
bag and prepare to squash it. Before they can drop cheeks, Andre the Giant
walks out from the back on his crutches. Distraction allows Jake to recover
Lucifer and let him out of the bag. Heels hightail it, but Andre gets in
a lethal love-tap on Typhoon with a crutch.
Random Match 26: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. Paul Roma
MSG match and sadly, there's no uttering of the words "Ricky" or "Steamboat", just
"Dragon". Lights go down and fireballs spew. Roma attacks before the bell and powerslams
Steamboat. Steamer leapfrogs, tosses Roma and gets a deep armdrag to work the arm.
Roma backs him to the ropes to escape, but Steamboat drops down, hits
another armdrag and cinches in the armabr again. Roma gets a reverse atomic drop,
2 powerslams and an elbowdrop for a 2 count. Roma goes up top for a flying chop!
Hits his SWEET dropkick and gets another 2.
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H.R. Puffinstuff is in the Garden! |
Follows it up with
3 consecutive backbreakers. He tosses Steamer out where he slams him into the apron,
then suplexes him back in. Steamboat floats over after an irish-whip and hits an atomic drop.
Reverse knife edges and his own top rope chop. Goes for a splash, but Roma gets his knees up.
Steamboat gets a last gasp belly-to-back suplex and both guys hit the mat.
Roma whips Steamboat to the corner but misses a follow-up elbow. Steamboat quickly
climbs to the top and hits his high cross-body finisher to get the pin. Good match.
Random Match 27: "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith vs. Irwin R. Schyster
Get it? His initials are IRS? How SUBTLE! Shame that Mike Rotundo is
best remembered for this gimmick ... but yeah, yeah.
Bulldog starts with a headlock and takedown. IRS reverses for a quick 2 count.
Mat sequence until IRS throws Bulldog out and brings him back in to hook an
abdominal stretch. IRS plays with the illegal rope/leverage trick to get the fans riled.
Bulldog breaks the hold with a small package for 2. IRS with a legdrop for 2.
Chinlock and powerslam by IRS. Bulldog eventually goes for his finisher, but
IRS grabs the ropes and falls on top for 2. Both guys tumble out to ringside and
brawl to a double countout.
SummerSlam Spectacular
A special episode of PTW, aired one week before SummerSlam 1991. Co-hosts Vince McMahon
and Bobby Heenan run down the card.
SSS Match 1: Hawk vs. Brian Knobbs (w/Jimmy Hart)
The annual "half tag title match". Hawk tosses Knobbs around, until the latter
grabs a chair from ringside to attack. Knobbs then cinches in... holy moley,
captain... a BOSTON CRAB! Knobbs hits a powerslam and then goes to a half-assed
came clutch. Hawk powers up and gives him a piggy-back slam. Hawk kicks him,
then sends him to the ropes for a powerslam. Knobbs reverse an irishwhip
and send Hawk to the corner. He tries to follow-up, but Hawk gets his foot up.
Hawk up top for the the flying clothesline to get the pin.
Warrior-Jake Roberts Segment
Replay of the final episode between these two. Storyline was that Warrior
had to "beat the darkness" in order to beat the Undertaker. So, this
meant Jake got to bury Warrior in dirt and toss him in a casket. In this episode,
Jake's led Warrior to an "abandoned mine" that looks like a set from
a "Land of the Lost" episode. Warrior's mission is to walk into a dark room filled
with snakes and open up a mini-casket. Okay... he opens the casket, a snake bites him
and Jake turns a passed out Warrior over to the Undertaker. Golly, the snake must have
bitten the cameraman too...cuz the screen goes blurry!
SSS Match 2: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Barbarian
Pretty much the same match the two had, earlier (about 12 paragraphs up)> A few differences:
Bret gets a dropkick and The Coach wanders down to ringside to scout him.
I guess Coach didn't take over the entire Heenan Family. This time, instead of
suplexing Bret back in, Barbie tries to SLAM him back in. Same result,
Bret reverses with a small package and gets the pin.
A Very Special Mean Gene Podium Interview: Sid Justice
Gene asks Sid if he can remain "impartient" as the special guest referee
in SummerSlam's main event. Sid lets us all know that Justice will be
Served. okay....good to know.
SSS Match 3: Texas Tornado, British Bulldog and The Dragon vs. Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji)
Hey, it's the team of Guys With Forgotten Full Names! I think this was the only time all THREE
members of the Express appeared together- Kato, Tanaka and the forgotten Sato. Sato's
ring jacket doesn't exactly match, so I imagine he'd been bumping around in
Japan in his disappearance. Bulldog and Kato lockup and Kato gets a cheapshot. Whip to
the ropes where Bulldog leapfrogs him twice, then dropkicks him. Tornado is in to
work the armbar. Heenan: "Tornado's the only guy who can hide his own Easter
Eggs!" Tag to Dragon who spends most of the remainder of the match as the legal
man.Dragon works on Kato's arm and sets him up for a piledriver. Before he can hit it,
Tanaka is in with a flying headbutt to break it up. Fuji gets a cane shot for fun. Heels
team up in a 3-on-1. Heenan: "He's not outnumbered. It's okay, they're all oriental".
"Sato, Kato & Tanaka...sounds like an oriental law firm". Y'know..we really shouldn't laugh.
Kato and Tanaka hit Dragon with the vegomatic. Tanaka thrust kick gets 2.
Dragon counters a backdrop with a swinging neckbreaker, but Kato is tagged in to
apply a headlock before he can recover. Dragon leaps over Kato and makes the HOT TAG to
Bulldog. Backdrop for Kato! Gorilla-press for Sato and Tanaka! Kato gets caught in
the running power slam, while Tornado comes in to claw Tanaka. Dragon is tagged in
for the high cross-body off the tope and pins Kato.
SSS Match 4: WWF Championship:
Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Sgt. Slaughter (w/Gen. Adnan & Col. Mustafa)
Before the match, Heenan is shown holding up the
"REAL World Champion's belt" and gets in a Ric Flair reference. Allright!
Slaughter attacks and applies a noogie! Hogan backdrops and clotheslines
him. Slaughter takes over with a back scratch and throws Hogan out. Adnan and Mustafa
get in their shots and Mustafa slides a chair into the ring. Slaughter smacks
Hogan with the chair, bites him and Hogan blades. Slaughter goes up top..and CONNECTS
with a flying stomp. So THAT is what he was always trying to hit! 2 count and Hogan
starts hulking up. Two punches and big boot... but Adnan throws baby powder in Hogan's face!!
All three bad guys are in to apply a triple camel clutch on Hogan. Mustafa pulls back
on Slaughter, who is pulling back on Hogan...looks kinda, ummm "amorous", with Sarge
as Lucky Pierre in this case. Sarge tosses ref Dave Hebner and the DQ officially sounds.
Sid Justice makes his way down to order the heels out. Hogan recovers and clears the ring with
a chair. Justice grabs the chair and the two have a mini-standoff. Justice leaves and
Hogan is left to mildly celebrate.
 |
|
Darsow's forgotten gimmick- The Evil Murray |
SSS Match 5: Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase's Mystery Man
Last time DiBiase had a mystery man, it was the Undertaker. Here, it's
Barry Darsow (Demolition Destruction Smash) in a mask. "Executioner" Buddy Rose
would be proud! DiBiase gets on the house microphone and refers to
him as simply "my man" and that he paid him a lot of money to take out Virgil.
Later, Heenan uses his broadcast journalism skills to reveal that
his name is "Murray...but that's all I can tell ya". Murray wins the lockup, punches
away and chokes Virgil with the ropes. Virgil punches back,irish-whips and hiptoss
"this man". Both guys go into a waistlock/mat sequence. Virgil is irish-whipped to the buckle,
floats over and underhooks for a quick 2. Murray hits him with a stun-gun, turns around
to bark to DiBiase and lets us know that he's Barry Darsow. Believe it or not, but at the time
I had no idea who it was! Murray stomps some more, then hooks a sleeper.
Virgil powers out and clotheslines him and goes for the Million Dollar Dream.
DiBiase reaches in to grab Virgil's foot. Virgil is distracted and gets his with a
NASTY blindside clothesline from Murray to go flying over the top.
Murray suplexes him back in and tries to hit a splash off the ropes. Virgil blocks
and quickly hooks Murray to score the 3 count. DiBiase was "conveniently" gloating to the crowd,
turns around and is shocked to see the result. Y'know, it's not saying much, but this may have been Virgil's Best Match.
The Mountie gives a jail tour to psyche us up for his SummerSlam
Jailhouse Match against the Big Bossman. Mountie lets us know that when you go
to jail that "Dey're gonna take a photo!" Mountie then shows us how to properly
fingerprint a perp in this educational sequence. Big Bossman has a rebuttal
as the show ends.
Why'd you tape this??
If you dig the Powers of Pain, then this is YOUR TAPE, man! I've now seen enough Barbarian
bearhugs to last until I'm 47. For my 48th birthday you can send me a tape of Barbarian matches.
Most of the matches follow the same pattern: guys lockup, face gets in some offense
and heel bails to the outside. There's ALOT of backbreakers, too! Bret Hart worked a lot, but
his matches really haven't aged too well. I liked Paul Roma's matches,
and I'm almost thinking he was the Chris Benoit of 1991.
Some of the feuds were kinda' wacky. Guys were still
feuding over cartoony or gimmicky angles- Undertaker locked Warrior in a casket,
Mountie and Bossman were feuding over who was the better cop, Earthquake
"killed" Damien, and Slaughter and
Hogan were feuding over the ridiculous Iraqi angle. Just imagine the Denver Broncos
having a "heated rivalry"
not with the Raiders... but with the Indianapolis Colts, simply because both
have horsies for mascots. The only believable feud was
Nasty Boys-LOD, who were feuding over the tag team straps, nothing cutesy. Well, the
Bushwhackers had a serious issue after Tugboat screwed 'em...but they're the frickin'
BUSHWHACKERS! Also, in a pre-cursor to today, the WWF started make "Prime Time
Wrestling" their primary show. You'll notice that the "Superstars" and "Challenge"
matches began to die out as this tape went on.
After SummerSlam, the feuds
start to change a bit-- guys get mad at each other over more realistic things:
injuries, respect or title shots.
The first half of 1991 wasn't too spectacular, but the tail end really picks up.
Warrior was a big part of the first 8 months of 1991...but he leaves and
it doesn't make a difference. Very rarely was a
fed able to lose a top babyface with virtually no backlash.
Finally, some guy named Flair gets into the thick of things and the World Title becomes the
hot commodity it's supposed to be.
Next tape starts us off with SummerSlam 91 and
goes to a few days before Survivor Series. This is the home stretch of my Rasslin Tapes,
since I stopped watching after Wrestlemania 8.
You can
still e-mail me your own
rasslin' reviews
or you if ya' wanna see these matches on YOUR TV you can
set up a trade for this tape!
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