Strictly Storytime: Hulkamania, WWF in 80s Pop Culture, and Wrestling Before I Watched Wrestling

Hulk Hogan is the most famous professional wrestler of all time. One of the purposes of this post is to show just how popular Hulk Hogan was in the 80s.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson may be as well-known as The Hulkster nowadays, but he comes with the caveat of being far more famous for his movie roles than his wrestling career. Rocky has been an actor first, wrestler second for well over a decade now. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if most younger people only know him as an actor. Or if they do know of his wrestling career, simply think of it as an interesting curiosity....a weird thing he did before he became a star.

Anyway, Hogan was a genuine pop culture icon in the 80s (and 90s....and 2000s....albeit to a lesser extent). In Hogan's 80s heyday, his iconic mustachioed visage was EVERYWHERE....movies, his own Saturday morning cartoon show, lunchboxes, commercials, tv shows, making the talk show rounds, and of course wrestling. You could not escape Hulkamania, brother.  

I imagine even today Hulk Hogan would be the most common answer if you were to ask random people on the street to name a wrestler. For well over a decade pro wrestling was simply "that thing Hulk Hogan does" to the vast majority of the public.

Hogan passes the parent test with flying colors. Despite having my wrestling-obsessed ass for a son, I am not sure either parent knew who Austin & Rock were even during the peak of the Attitude Era. As for modern contenders, I am fairly certain at least one of them has no idea who John Cena is, while neither of them have likely heard of Brock Lesnar. My mom didn't know who Ric Flair was as recently as this past Super Bowl. But they sure as heck fire know who Hulk Hogan is.

My brother and I had Hulk Hogan merchandise before we ever watched wrestling simply because Hulk Hogan is what young boys were into in the 80s. To not be a Hulkamaniac was unthinkable. There's a pic of my brother at age 3 or 4 wearing a Hulk Hogan shirt. I also vaguely recall a Hulk Hogan lunchbox. Of course, I would turn on Hulk Hogan in a big way once I actually started to watch wrestling. But that's a story for another day.... 

Hogan was definitely the right guy in the right place at the right time. I don't think even the most diehard Hulkmaniacs would deny that. At the same time, I find it hilarious in hindsight that for a decade and a half my dumbass thought you could just plug a bunch of different guys into the Hogan role with more or less the same results. As if Kerry Von Erich wouldn't have flaked out! As if Sgt. Slaughter with his 2/10 look would have been equally successful as The Hulkster! As if the aggressively Southern (a big no no in Vinceland), lisping Duthtay Rhodes with his 1/10 look would have somehow magically filled Hogan's iconic yellow boots! Madness! Sheer madness! The young fool who didn't understand championships, non-title matches, and the Secret of the Mist was....well, still an idiot well into the 2010s.

I have very few memories prior to 1986. Meaning I cannot recall a time before Hulk Hogan. He was always there. Long before I watched wrestling, I knew of Hulk Hogan as basically the real life version of He Man. Hogan was already synonymous with strength and toughness. Like "Whoa! Mr. Marty picked up the big log that fell off the tree by himself. He must be as strong as Hulk Hogan!" Or "Daniel fell off his bike and got right back on it. He must be as tough as Hulk Hogan!" 

Hulk Hogan, WWF, and Pro Wrestling were all synonyms to kiddie me and my peers. I'm not sure 80s kids watched "pro wrestling" or "WWF" so much as they watched "Hulk Hogan."

Before I watched wrestling my kiddie brain had always associated Hogan with Mr. T & The A Team. Like they were a part of the same "universe."

My brother and I actually came to wrestling relatively late. For example, our cousins and best friend Matt (more on them in a bit) were wrestling fans long before my brother and I got into it.

I also did not watch much A Team as a kid. We were simply not allowed to. Most likely because some pearl clutching, Very Important Publication(s) had famously derided it as "The Most Violent Show On Television." So we could only watch The A Team if we happened to be at Matt's or our Cousins house. And those were memorable moments in their own right due to the thrill of doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. Anyway, I still didn't watch much A Team until catching it in re-runs circa 1993ish.

As for wrestling, the famous Hogan/Orndorff SNME Cage Match is the first wrestling thing I distinctly remember watching. That's what hooked me. But I almost certainly had seen some wrestling before then. It just didn't register as anything beyond an interesting curiosity. No different than a few years later when I'd occasionally watch episodes of Jake And The Fatman with my mom. 

While I was aware of it, I also didn't watch the WWF cartoon very often. Most likely because there was a better Saturday morning cartoon on another channel. The only time I really remember watching the WWF cartoon at all was when I spent the night at Matt's or my Cousins house. Even after getting into wrestling proper I never watched the cartoon very often. Let's talk about Matt and The Cousins a bit since they play a big role in this story....

Matt was our best friend in the 80s. He lived 3 houses up the street. This Matt is a completely different guy than Matt The IRS Fan who enters into a lot of my 93-95 stories. It was at Matt's house where I watched the Hogan/Orndorff Cage Match that first got me hooked on wrestling. Matt was also a HUGE A Team fan. Either his dad, the aforementioned Mr. Marty, or his Uncle Tim (I forget which one) actually went to either high school (Calvert Hall) or college (Towson State) with Dwight Schultz, who played Murdoch on the A Team. Anyway, my family moved out of the neighborhood in 1990. Matt's family moved out one year later in 1991. I think I only saw him like 3 times after our respective moves. But Matt will forever be remembered as the guy who helped get me into two of the greatest things ever- pro wrestling and Nintendo.

These Cousins are yet another set of cousins. Told ya I had a lot of them. Anyway, we were inseparable in the 80s. They lived about a mile away. We went to the same school and would ride together to and from school with one set of parents picking us all up and the other taking us all home. One cousin was a year older than me. The other was only 4 months older than my brother, but was a grade ahead of him due to a calendrical quirk. It was the Cousins, even more so than Matt, who piqued the interest of my brother and I when it came to wrestling. They were forever talking about it in what I imagine was 1986. They moved to Southern Pennsylvania in 1989. We were *this close* to moving next door to them in 1990 before my dad backed out at the last minute due to work related reasons. My brother and I were gutted. For living next to them was a dream shared by all four of us cousins. We once again drifted apart after the moves. Over the last two decades I only ever see them at weddings and funerals. Their one last contribution to wrestling comes when I watched a 1996 episode of Superstars featuring the Savio/Marty KOTR Qualifier at their house. Yet these cousins will also forever be remembered for helping me get into two of the greatest things ever- pro wrestling and Nintendo. 

The Most Popular Wrestlers Prior To 1987

*These were the wrestlers I knew about before I ever watched wrestling due to Matt and (especially) The Cousins forever talking about them. 

1. Hulk Hogan- Duh. Hulk Hogan, WWF, and Pro Wrestling were all synonyms for the same thing. 

2. Mr. T- The anti-Sgt. Slaughter. Kiddie me infamously thought Slaughter was a GI Joe character who became a wrestler. Kiddie me also thought Mr. T was a wrestler who became an actor. Kiddie me was a moron who was wrong about practically everything. But Mr. T was nearly as popular as Hulk Hogan. Even dumbass kiddie me knew that. T is definitely another true 80s icon. 

3. Roddy Roddy Piper- Not a typo. That's what I thought his name was for the longest time. My Cousins made up this song they used to sing.....

Roddy Roddy Piper
Lost his diaper
He went to see Mr. T
And Mr. T said...
"Don't pee on me"

*The last verse was sung in the deepest voice a pair of prepubescent boys could muster. I suppose that was supposed to be their "Mr. T voice?"

They thought this song of theirs was HILARIOUS. I mean, truly the height of comedy. They usually couldn't even finish the song. They'd already be laughing too hard. I only knew who Roddy Roddy Piper was in the vaguest sense. But I was more willing to play along in those days. So I'd fake laugh lest I be mistaken for humorless and out of touch. Nowadays, forget about it. If I went to a stand up comedy show I'd be that guy sitting their stone-faced no selling every "joke." And that's why I don't go to stand up comedy shows.

4. Big John Studd
Cousin #1- You gotta see this guy Big John Studd...
Cousin #2- He's SO TALL!
Cousin #1- SOOOOO TALL!

Big John Studd was also famous locally for a series of commercials he did for a local(ish) amusement park in the DC/Northern VA area. Honestly, I knew Studd was a wrestler, but I knew him even more for the commercials. Even as a kid I thought he had a great look. BJS was also an early Holy Grail/Must See wrestler since he left WWF before I started watching, but had TONS of kiddie hype both before and after leaving. Anyway, here is one of the BJS amusement park commercials...



Fun Fact: Big John Studd always auto corrects to Big John Stuff on my phone. Cracks me up every time.

5. King Kong Bundy

Cousin #1- You gotta see this guy King Kong Bundy...
Cousin #2- He's SO FAT!
Cousin #1- And he pins people til 5!

Again, being late to the party, I had no idea what "pinning people til 5" meant. How long were you supposed to pin people?? But I feigned shock and awe when being bombarded by Bundy hype lest I be dismissed as an out of touch nerd for not knowing about this stuff.

6. Captain Lou (Albano)
Cousin #1- You gotta see this guy Captain Lou....
Cousin #2- He wears rubber bands all over his body!
Cousin #1- And SHOOTS THEM AT PEOPLE!

Did Captain Lou ever actually shoot rubber bands at people? I don't remember that. But I swear my cousins claimed he did! Rubber bands....that was Captain Lou's big thing. Outside of perhaps watching Wrestlemania I & II on tape, I don't think I ever saw Captain Lou until the Mario Brothers tv show came along in....'89, I think it was. 

? Andre The Giant- I weirdly don't remember my Cousins (or Matt) ever mentioning Andre before I started to watch wrestling. Now that's not to say they didn't. It's just that I don't remember any specific instances when they did. Keep in mind, this would have been some random conversation 34 years ago. Now I do have a good memory, but not an eidetic one. I mean, I can't imagine them NOT mentioning Andre. He's Andre The f'n Giant! So here is how that conversation likely would have (and probably did?) went....

Cousin #1- You gotta see this guy Andre The Giant....
Cousin #2- He's THE TALLEST...
Cousin #1- And HEAVIEST...
Cousin #2- Man in wrestling!
=====================
*Next Time: Going to see if Demolition's Halloween Massacre is still readily available. Wrote about it before but that must have been on the old PW because I couldn't find it when I was converting 1987 WWF posts from the Match Review thread to this one.

Important Hart Attack update. I've watched about 20 Hart Attacks spanning from 1985 to 1991 on DailyMotion and not one time was it ever called the Hart Attack. It was most often referred to as "WHATTA CLOTHESLINE!" My current theory is we knew the name from wrestling magazines.

EDIT

Also "Roddy Roddy" was a thing. My best friend from childhood (still friends!) had a January birthday that usually fell around Royal Rumble, so he had like three or four Royal Rumble Birthday Parties and there'd be kids from his school that were there for the birthday part, not the Royal Rumble part, would often incorrectly call Rowdy Roddy "Roddy Roddy" because they didn't know fucking better. I was a shy boy that would quietly judge them, call them dumb shits, in my mind. Royal Rumble 1992 was at one of those birthday parties, best birthday party ever, man. 

Hulk Hogan was also one of those names my dad just knew when we got WWF television in the summer/fall of 1984. At first I was sure it was solely through Rocky III but years later when Nick Bockwinkel became the Commissioner of WCW my dad would just casually say "that's the guy who used to beat Hulk Hogan all the time", que my double take. I swear he must have had wrestling magazines stashed away somewhere because for the life of me I don't remember ever watching AWA televison. We didn't get TSN until 1987 which by then had quit showing AWA.

I would also agree that the Hart Attack was mentioned by name in the magazines, more specifically in those WWF Superstars yearbooks they used to publish that had full bios on everyone. At least that would be my guess. Also in that shoot Bret talks about doing the move wrong the first few matches out. He would get so mixed up running the ropes he would clock the guy in the back of the head with Anvil facing him.

Roddy Roddy was popular here as well. My first group of wrestling friends that I hung out with around 1985/86 always called him that. I don't think we all fully caught on until the build for his retirement match at Wrestlemania III.

I think the big problem with Patera in 87 was his body was used up and he just could not go like he once could. He had some kind of injury that really limited him. I missed out on Patera in his prime, but apparently he was a freakish strong and a great heel.

Feb 22, 2020 2:28:17 GMT 🤯 said:

At some point we're gonna get to 1988

I hadn't planned on continuing this past '87. I am not automatically opposed to the idea. It's just that my favorite part of this (or any) project is the Storytimes, and I'm not sure I have enough stories to tell for 1988(to 1992) that would warrant an entire thread. Basically, I need something to masturbate to. Otherwise it just becomes a bunch of dry "Wrestler A did this and Wrestler B did that" Match Reviews. 

Feb 22, 2020 6:16:30 GMT Kilgore said:

Important Hart Attack update. I've watched about 20 Hart Attacks spanning from 1985 to 1991 on DailyMotion and not one time was it ever called the Hart Attack. It was most often referred to as "WHATTA CLOTHESLINE!" My current theory is we knew the name from wrestling magazines.

EDIT

Also "Roddy Roddy" was a thing. My best friend from childhood (still friends!) had a January birthday that usually fell around Royal Rumble, so he had like three or four Royal Rumble Birthday Parties and there'd be kids from his school that were there for the birthday part, not the Royal Rumble part, would often incorrectly call Rowdy Roddy "Roddy Roddy" because they didn't know fucking better. I was a shy boy that would quietly judge them, call them dumb shits, in my mind. Royal Rumble 1992 was at one of those birthday parties, best birthday party ever, man. 

Kilgore putting in the work. 

Feb 22, 2020 6:48:53 GMT Shootist said:

I would also agree that the Hart Attack was mentioned by name in the magazines, more specifically in those WWF Superstars yearbooks they used to publish that had full bios on everyone. At least that would be my guess. Also in that shoot Bret talks about doing the move wrong the first few matches out. He would get so mixed up running the ropes he would clock the guy in the back of the head with Anvil facing him.

Roddy Roddy was popular here as well. My first group of wrestling friends that I hung out with around 1985/86 always called him that. I don't think we all fully caught on until the build for his retirement match at Wrestlemania III.

I'm glad you guys chimed in on the Hart Attack and Roddy Roddy.

For over two decades I had just chalked up not knowing the Hart Foundation's finisher was called the Hart Attack to simply not paying enough attention as a youngster. Never would have guessed the name wasn't used onscreen. Your guys magazine theory seems valid. That's certainly where I learned of the move name.

I also had always assumed the Roddy Roddy mistake was just another dumb Bakerism. Glad to see I was not alone.

Specially Selected Superstars Matches: 10/31/87

One of my favorite things about this project has been discovering exactly when certain fondly remembered matches took place. I realize this must sound about as exciting as watching paint dry to most people, but I have a weird fascination with dating and organizing these ancient memories. 

I get genuinely excited when I discover two (or potentially even three!) of these randomly remembered matches or segments occurred on the same show. That means we're looking at a strong Show Of The Year runner up contender (Wrestlemania III obviously won't be topped). So far we've had the 2/7/87 edition of Superstars with the Harts/Bulldogs title change and Andre's heel turn on Piper's Pit. Now it's time to add the Halloween edition of Superstars to the list.....

Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Scott Casey & Brady Boone- Superstars 10/31/87

As a few of the Youtube comments on this match accurately state, this is the moment that made Demolition. Up to now they had done little beyond scaring the youth of America, myself including. I mean, that's all well and good, but they hadn't participated in any major feuds, had any big angles, or major tv matches, during what had already been a nine month run. That all changes here...

Demolition come out to their iconic theme leading to this hilarious exchange....

*Jesse talks about his love of heavy metal for about 30 seconds. Then....
Jesse: Bruno, you ever listen to metal music?
Bruno: No.

Trust me. Bruno's deadpan delivery made this funny.

I don't remember Casey at all (though I do remember this match). Think he had a push somewhere in Texas (World Class, maybe?) prior to joining WWF. He obviously never did much of note in The Fed since I literally have no memory of him existing. Casey first got on my radar when I read about him in the 1996 PWI Almanac, discovering he either wrestled on an early Survivor Series PPV or was replaced by another wrestler in an early Survivor Series match (I forget which). He basically looks like "Outlaw" Ron Bass Jr.

Brady Boone was an undersized and athletic high end jobber who was billed as Billy Jack Haynes' cousin. Boone was actually also one of RVD's favorite wrestlers and inspirations when the future ECW legend was growing up. Not surprising considering Boone was one of the first high flying flippers I ever saw. He would be a huge star today. We're talking wildly popular World Champion material regardless of which promotion was lucky enough to acquire his services. See, because he's short. And does flips. He even has a beard.

Demolition controls early on Boone until Brady does this cool floating evasion. He tags out to Casey. Casey hits an Erik Watts level dropkick and then lands on the ropes after missing another Watts-level dropkick. Going on record to say Scott Casey sucks.

One Demolition member clubbers much better than the other. Too bad 🤯 isn't here to tell me which one it is. Casey gets beat up for a while while the commentary team of Vince, Jesse, and Bruno talks about Brady Boone being Billy Jack Haynes' cousin. A BJH inset promo then plays where he puts over his cousin. Casey eventually tags in Boone. Boone comes in with a sort of slingshot dropkick. Then he goes dropkick crazy on both members of Demolition. Demolition teeter totters, but does not go down. Boone shows good fire. He goes for a Frankensteiner! No! Caught by Demolition Dude! I start to get giddy with anticipation at seeing the second powerbomb in WWF history (Judy Martin 4 Life). But NO! Instead Boone eats a sick Hot Shot. OK! That still works! Boone is toast now. The so-called Demolition Decapitation gets an easy 3 count.

But wait! The fun has just begun. Demolition hits another Decapitation! And then a third! Good grief! Somebody stop this carnage!

And somebody does! It's Boone's cousin, Billy Jack Haynes! He fights off both members of Demolition....until he doesn't! Oh My God! BJH is also hit with the so-called Demolition Decapitation! But wait...What's this?

It's yet another Oregonian out for the save in Ken Patera! He's wearing a cast on his arm as he blasts Demolition with shitty punches because Ken Patera sucks, or at least the 1987 and beyond incarnation of Ken Patera sucks. But it matters not because the crowd goes wild! Until! Demolition gets the better of the Olympic Strongman, too! They whack on Patera's injured arm with Fuji's cane multiple times. Good god, man! It's absolute carnage in the ring! Demolition has just laid waste to not one, not two, but THREE WWF Superstars! Who can possibly stop these monsters??

Verdict- ***** segment that made Demolition. This is THE textbook example of how to get a badass heel act over. Before this they were merely scary. Now they had ascended to nightmare-inducing terrors. I had never seen anything like this before. Demolition decimated two legit superstars back to back. Kamala killing jobbers with a top rope splash was scary and impressive. Killer Khan having supernatural mist abilities was also scary. One Man Gang wrecking 4 jobbers and a ref in one segment was scary and impressive. But this! This was something else entirely. I had already been conditioned that the bad guys would be run off, or beaten in a brawl, once the good guys ran in to make the save. Not this time! They wrecked Billy Jack. Then they wrecked Patera. Boone got stretchered out while his fellow Oregonians nursed their wounds. Demolition were now the most terrifying men in the entire company. And it's so fitting that this episode aired on Halloween. Also, Scott Casey is pretty much the worst partner ever. Where was he during that epic Demolition beatdown? What a coward! This one is worthy of a video share...



10 Man Battle Royal featuring Bam Bam Bigelow/Hercules/Bob Orton/Outback Jack/Junkyard Dog/One Man Gang/Boris Zhukov/Nikolai Volkoff/Ultimate Warrior/Don Muraco- Superstars 10/31/87

Getting a star-studded Battle Royal on a 1987 episode of Superstars is bound to be a memorable occurrence. So it is not surprising that I remembered this match for 33 years. I have always been able to recall two things in particular about it....

1. The Finish
2. Being the tv debut of THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR~!

BUT! It turns out this was not Warrior's tv debut after all. His real television debut came a week on earlier on Wrestling Challenge against jobber Terry Gibbs. I must have missed that one. Oh well. This will always be Warrior's tv debut to me. 

It is however the first televised WWF match of "Big Head" Boris Zhukov and the last televised match Bob Orton had during this run. So there is still a lot of semi-historic stuff going on here.

The match itself is terrible. Just two turns away from DUDsville. Zero thought was put into it (more on that in a bit). No angles were advanced or stories told until the finish. It was insanely rushed. This 10 man star-studded Battle Royal didn't even last 4 minutes! Even the commentary team is phoning it in. How you gonna have a debuting big headed RUSSIAN and an insanely jacked face painted freak making only his 2nd televised appearance RIGHT THERE and not even make special mention of it? Wtf?!?

First elimination comes when Outback Jack unceremoniously dumps the One Man Gang. Umm...why? Jack was on his way down the card while Gang was still working high profile house shows against Hogan. This makes no sense! The eliminations come fast and furious after that. The pre-finish highlight comes when Ultimate Warrior press slams Big Boris Zhukov in an impressive feat of strength. Warrior is unceremoniously dumped seconds later! Warrior took maybe the softest Battle Royal elimination I have ever seen, being gently helped over the top rope and softly landing on his feet. Rant time!

It took far longer than you'd expect before WWF realized what they had in Warrior. He gets unceremoniously dumped like he's just another jabroni here and at the 1988 Royal Rumble. He also beats Hercules at Wrestlemania 4 on the old overused NWA finish where both guys are double pinned after a back suplex until one (Warrior in this case) gets his shoulder up at the last second. Warrior should have been running through Herc in convincing fashion by WM 4! So I feel like it's not until some time after Wrestlemania IV that WWF FINALLY realized what they had in Warrior.  

Meanwhile, back in 1987, it is then-potential #2 babyface Bam Bam Bigelow getting same Next Big Thing push that Warrior would receive a year later. Bam Bam, Herc, and Orton are the Final 3. The two heels trap BBB in the corner. Bigelow impressively cartwheels between them to get out of trouble. Uh oh! Now Bammer is trapped in the other corner. This time he escapes by somersaulting between the two baddies. Crowd is solidly behind The Bammer. Herc & Orton once again trap Bam Bam in corner. This time they charge.....

Only to have Bam Bam simultaneously lift both men for a double dump out elimination and the win! Big pop! That Bam Bam Bigelow sure is going places...

Verdict- 1/2* for Warrior press slamming Zhukov and the Bam Bam finishing stuff, particularly that very-impressive-in-1987 double dump out. Beyond that, this is real bottom of the barrel stuff as far as Battle Royals go.

Next Time: A look at The Islanders

Cowboy Scott Casey was a upper mid-carder and occasional main eventer in Texas. He was kinda a big deal in SWCW or San Antonio in the early 80's. By the time he got to the WWF his career was winding down and he took the cash to make others look good.

Feb 23, 2020 3:35:56 GMT Baker said:

One of my favorite things about this project has been discovering exactly when certain fondly remembered matches took place. I realize this must sound about as exciting as watching paint dry to most people, but I have a weird fascination with dating and organizing these ancient memories. 

Finding out the date of the first ECW TV episode I ever saw was fucking exciting, so I understand this completely. 

Still catching up from what I don't really remember reading while high.

Sober as black coffee this morning, I must pause to post and say the following:

Dyno Bravo the trouble-finding triceratops always getting into pickles is perhaps the greatest missed opportunity of all time in sports or entertainment.

Still catching up, time for another thought dump pause...

First:
"Hulk Hogan as basically the real life version of He Man"
=
Probably the most accurate, definitive statement about pro wrestling pre-Attitude Era, if not ever. Between this and Johnny Blacktights/Joey Blacktrunks/swing dance wrestling, I think Baker-man has sealed the deal and won his case to prove he's the Aristotle/Socrates/Plato of definitive philosophical truths about pro wrestling.

I feel like Baker and me are maybe one whole high school generation apart... Just enough coming-of-age overlap for certain pop culture references to cause surges of massive nostalgia (while a few from time to time sail right over my head). He-Man definitely registered big time though. Him, RoboCop, G.I. Joe, Ninja Turtles, Voltron, Gobots, Transformers, and Police Academy... Probably roughly in that order... Were my fucking jams. Before getting into Marvel/DC superheroes, WWF was as close as it got to the straight-up embodiment of the Masters of the Universe.

Second:
BJS! He autocorrects to Big John Stuff on my phone all the time too, and I too find it so funny that I'm tempted to just leave it every time. You think that amusement park is the same one Six Flags took over years later, developed, and then ran into the ground? If so, nothing but traumatic memories of that plot of ground and the various beltway journeys to and from it.

Third:
Did you get a perfect Sat score, at least for vocab? Eidetic. Fuck me, what a word. You're the fucking man, Baker-man!

Fourth:
I dug the parent test, and of course perked up at the Lesnar name-drop.

Paraphrased recap of me running the parent test on Lesnar, thinking he'd have name recognition between his WWE runs and UFC phenom-like dominance...

🤯: Brock Lesnar is the single greatest fucking thing ever.

🤯's dad: Brick who?

🤯: Dad, c'mon, duh... Don't disrespect the ultimate force in hand-to-hand combat!

🤯's (Vietnam Vet) dad: lol, "combat". He can talk to me about hand-to-hand combat after his LZ gets overrun.
*1000-yd stare*

🤯: ... 😮😦😕🤐😶

Enjoyed that Demo vid, Baker-man.

The only thing worse than Scott Casey's dropkicks (if you can even call them that?) are Ken Patera's casted clotheslines and clubbing blows. Casey's dropkicks are actually so ugly and terrible that I kinda love them.

I also appreciate that there's some inadvertent logic to Casey peacing out instead of helping Boone. They're not a regular tag team, so Casey has no vested interest in helping the man who technically just cost him the winners' share of the purse. Fuck, Boone! Especially if it means tangling with Demo and perhaps getting sidelined with injury.

Both Demos clubbered equally well, IMO... So no real way to tell them apart other than Repo wearing that funnily highly positioned elbow pad.

Feb 23, 2020 15:11:10 GMT 🤯 said:

First:
"Hulk Hogan as basically the real life version of He Man"
=
Probably the most accurate, definitive statement about pro wrestling pre-Attitude Era, if not ever. Between this and Johnny Blacktights/Joey Blacktrunks/swing dance wrestling, I think Baker -man has sealed the deal and won his case to prove he's the Aristotle/Socrates/Plato of definitive philosophical truths about pro wrestling.

I feel like Baker and me are maybe one whole high school generation apart... Just enough coming-of-age overlap for certain pop culture references to cause surges of massive nostalgia (while a few from time to time sail right over my head). He-Man definitely registered big time though. Him, RoboCop, G.I. Joe, Ninja Turtles, Voltron, Gobots, Transformers, and Police Academy... Probably roughly in that order... Were my fucking jams. Before getting into Marvel/DC superheroes, WWF was as close as it got to the straight-up embodiment of the Masters of the Universe.

Second:
BJS! He autocorrects to Big John Stuff on my phone all the time too, and I too find it so funny that I'm tempted to just leave it every time. You think that amusement park is the same one Six Flags took over years later, developed, and then ran into the ground? If so, nothing but traumatic memories of that plot of ground and the various beltway journeys to and from it.

Third:
Did you get a perfect Sat score, at least for vocab? Eidetic. Fuck me, what a word. You're the fucking man, Baker -man!

It's funny you mention philosophical truths about wrestling because I had the ultimate Eureka Moment late last night/early this morning on that very topic. Now there are very valid arguments for opposing what I am about to write. It's very much a Catch 22 situation. But the actual premise itself is every bit as unfuckwithable as Ron Simmons in his heyday.  And without further ado, here is the ultimate philosophical truth about professional wrestling.....

Pro Wrestling is at its very best when being fueled by cocaine and steroids.

Prove me wrong.

Iirc we're about a high school generation and a half apart. Remember that time I thought you were older than you really are and you said you were "an old soul?"

lol My more obscure references likely fly over most everybody's head. No worries.

It was Six Flags! I just checked. Only remember going there once circa 2006ish. Never did make it to Big John Studd's Wild World. I was a hardcore Hershey Park enthusiast when it came to amusement parks. Sweetest Place On Earth!

lol I didn't get a perfect SAT score, but I did have the highest PSAT score in my entire class either sophomore or junior year (I forget which). Look, I peaked early in most ways. Hated it anyway. It brought me a bunch of unwanted attention. Like "Look! It's that PSAT boy!"

I had two main goals in school...

1. Do just enough to keep my mom off my back. 
2. Blend into the background as much as possible.

Much like Kilgore , I was painfully shy growing up. I was really only comfortable among my little cliques (they changed every few years). I was terrible in groups. Terrible with girls. Had my own peculiar interests. Didn't give a hoot about what was popular. Was painfully naive and rather sheltered. Had zero fashion sense/simply didn’t care about clothes. Wore glasses. Was skinny. Listened to unpopular music. Was obsessed with wrestling (which was a very "uncool" thing for several years). Watched Doctor Who and other British shows on PBS. Also still watched early morning cartoons marketed to children. Read too many books. Was a curve killer on tests. Didn't drink, smoke, or do any drugs. Was book smart with ZERO street smarts. Famously still played with my childhood wrestling dolls. Also came up with these elaborate games with my younger brother. We called them "quests." Oh, and many of these "quests" involved us playing with our childhood stuffed animals. Halfway through high school I had yet another clique change where most of my new closest friends were actually my brother's peers. Meaning the bulk of my closest friends were now two or three years younger than me. Did not go to a single high school party. Etc. Etc. Etc. I was basically 18 going on 12 when I left high school.

I was obviously a colossal nerd. And not one of those "nerd culture" assholes who use a "nerd" gimmick as a substitute for their lack of personality. These people thankfully didn't yet exist on any large scale. No. I was a genuine, awkward af dork. Honestly, only three things prevented me from years of wedgies and being stuffed into lockers....

1. I was friends with a "cool" guy two years older than me, and most of his "cool" friends (picture a gang of Zach Morrises....who also wore Starter jackets) tolerated me for the most part. (although a few wanted nothing to do with me, having accurately assessed me as a hopeless geek. This lot would quite openly ask my friend Vogel why he hung out with me)

2. I was a fairly decent athlete. Again, I peaked early. But I was still good enough to make a few high school teams. Played one year of H.S. soccer and two years of baseball....where I promptly spent the bulk of my time riding the pine. I usually sat alone reading a book, or doing homework (which was about the only time I ever properly did my homework) on bus trips to away games while the rest of the squad told dirty jokes I didn't understand, or talked about popular things I was clueless about. Oddly enough, I did get along with all my teammates in a casual acquaintance sort of way. I imagine most of them were like "(Baker) is a little weird and nerdy, but he's alright."

3. I was too damn quiet to even let people know what a colossal geek I was. 

Somehow I was not bullied or picked on....with two exceptions. There was this one asshole I had to deal with sophomore year who always wanted copy my papers, and would get wicked pissed when I'd occasionally refuse due to not wanting to get in trouble. He was borderline illiterate and ended up getting himself shot and killed about a decade ago. It was the top story on the local news. Can't say I didn't see that one coming. Nor can I say I was sorry to hear the news. And this other douchebag "skater boy" gave me a hard time in 7th grade. Don't know whatever became of him.

Whew! This post went off in an unexpected direction. Let's get back to business....
===================================
I promised a look at The Islanders. Well, some complications arose when a few matches didn't jibe with my memories. But fear not! That just means Islanders Day will likely involve 3 (or even 4!) matches rather 2. Plus something else came up that bumped The Islanders from the forefront of my mind....

Feb 18, 2020 2:41:52 GMT Baker said:

Now if only I can track down Koko vs. Big Burly Bearded Biker Guy......new Holy Grail??

Success! Well, sort of....

After some crack detective work that would put even Sherlock Holmes to shame, I found Big Burly Bearded Biker Guy. And then I found another Big Burly Bearded Biker Guy! Turns out there was a jobber tag team of Big Burly Bearded Biker Guys kicking around 1987 WWF! How cool is that? Feast your eyes on these guys....

I can hear it now....

Check out the kissers on these two, Jess.
Faces only a mother could love, Gino.
Hahaha You got that right.

These guys wrestled as "The Alaskans" in AWA before entering WWF. Meaning even the JOBBERS in 1987 WWF were stars elsewhere! I remember seeing The Alaskans name pop up once or twice years later in the Apter Mags.  How do I not remember these guys other than the one Koko match??

So the Big Burly Bearded Biker Guy in the Koko match in question was definitely one of these two. But which one?

Well, it turns out Koko wrestled each man twice on tv between December 86- May 88. I imagine the WWF booking team liked the dichotomy of the undersized Koko going up against these two big, bearded brutes. So I had to really think back in order to narrow it down to THE match. Using a personal milestone which occurred on the day in question as a marker, and a memory of watching this show later in the afternoon, meaning it would have been Challenge, I finally narrowed it down to....

Koko B. Ware vs. Dave Wagner- Wrestling Challenge 5/16/87

BUT! That match is not readily available. Aww nuts! So I will write about the next best thing.....

Koko B. Ware vs. Rick Renslow- Wrestling Challenge 12/7/86

Meh. December '86 is close enough government work.

Renslow is erroneously labelled Rick "Bradshaw" on this Youtube video. Meaning it took me FOREVER to find a match featuring Koko vs. An Alaskan. 

Quickie Outback Jack vignette with his theme playing a little too loudly in the background.

Koko comes out to a different theme than I remember.

Federettes sighting! Don't remember them from back in the day either. They were basically ring girls for those who don't know.

They do the old criss cross spot as Gorilla botches Renslow's name. Renslow is leisurely jogging. Come on, man! Put some oomph into it! Koko hits a few hip tosses after a drop down. He does his "bird" gesture as I realize Koko > Marty Scurll. Renslow comes back with some solid clubberin' in the corner after an eye rake. Koko fires back with a subpar back body drop (Renslow's fault) and a nice dropkick. Then he goes up top to hit his patented Missile Dropkick. Renslow does take a nice bump this time. Not that he had a choice. Koko follows that up with his trademark Brainbuster to collect the winner's purse on his trip to the pay window.

This match triggered two thoughts....

1. Koko B. Ware=Inventor of overkill? The Missile Dropkick is a state of the art maneuver and a Top 3 finisher in 1987 wrestling. Meaning Koko following it up with his GOAT Brainbuster is completely unnecessary. 

2. Why the hell did they call Koko's Brainbuster the "Ghostbuster?" This is not a new thought either, but one I've had for like 30 years. Koko's gimmick has nothing to do with busting ghosts! My working theory was Vince thought the term "brainbuster" was just a little too extreme for WWF's kiddie audience. BUT! WWF would introduce a tag team called The Brainbusters less than two years later! So that theory is quickly debunked. Meaning I got nothing beyond this being one of WWF's/Vince's trademark weird linguistic quirks.
============================
Next Time: Islanders Day
Also need to slip in a Thoughts on Prichard's Podcasts post at some point. Was going to do that today but this post is already running way too long.....as usual. 
Thought a little more about the potential 1988 Thread 🤯 suggested. Maybe I'll go through with it after all so long as I have an audience and don't burn myself out. If I do go through with it, I can't imagine it being anywhere near as detailed as this 1987 Thread.

*Moving another 1987 WWF Match Review post over here and combining it with Strobe's excellent take on Wrestlemania III....

Can-Am Connection & Lanny Poffo vs. Dream Team & Adrian Adonis w/ Jimmy Hart/Johnny V/Dino Bravo- Superstars 2/28/87

I'm fairly certain this is a pretty famous/historically significant match. Let's see if I'm right....

Can-Ams are Rick Martel & Tom Zenk. They were the latest hot young babyface team. The original plan was to have them beat the Hart Foundation for the tag titles a few months down the line, but Zenk left because of reasons, and Tito Santana would replace "The Z Man" as Martel's new partner.

Dream Team was Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake. Dino Bravo is now in as a third member/understudy of sorts. Iirc Beefcake was not happy about this. Bravo has his natural dark hair rather than the bleach blonde look I'm used to. It pains me a little to say this, but I'd have been a Beefcake fan if had I started watching wrestling just a little bit earlier. I still maintain Brutus Beefcake is one of the all time great wrestling names, and his heel outfits are absolutely fabulous. Adrian Adonis, on the other hand, has the physique of Louie Anderson and a face reminiscent of his former partner Dick Murdoch.

Wrestlemania III is only a month away. Adonis has a featured bout there against Piper in "Rowdy" Roddy's retirement match.

All six men are in the ring when Howard Finkel does the introductions. Love the Fink! Also love the whole feel of this period in WWF history.

Poffo poem time! Sadly, it's not a very good one, and Poffo's delivery sucks. Disappointing. The big punch line comes at Adrian's expense. So Adonis attacks. And we're off!

Babyfaces quickly clear the ring to a nice pop. If I didn't know any better I'd swear this match would end with Poffo (who was a glorified jobber) getting pinned, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen. Can-Ams have some nice stuff with Beefcake & Valentine. Nothing fancy, but perfectly fine 80s wrestling. Martel appears to be a southpaw. I was not aware of that. Beefcake has some nice leapfrogs while one of the Can Am's (they're practically identical) runs the ropes with authority. Hammer decks Zenk with a (botchy) clothesline on a corner charge. Think Zenk expected Hammer to move. Instead Valentine cold cocked him. Zenk hits Hammer with a few dropkicks after dodging an elbow drop at the last possible millisecond. I always like that. Another schmozz ensues which leads to Valentine accidentally back body dropping Adonis over the top. And here it comes....

Adonis wanted to shave Piper bald to kill his chances of becoming a leading man in Hollywood. So he started carrying a pair of scissors around (and possibly cutting the hair of jobbers?). Martel & Beefcake are fighting in the corner. Adonis accidentally takes a chunk out of Beefcake's hair rather than Martel's. Beefcake is irate. Martel rolls him up for the win. Beefcake remains hot at Adonis, who quickly fled the scene with his manager Jimmy Hart.

This was poorly done. Adonis is either blind or a complete idiot if he thought Martel was Beefcake. They look nothing alike! Beefcake has a few inches on the future Model. Their attire is dissimilar. They have different hairstyles. Adonis should have been poked in the eye or something to temporarily blind him. WWF was usually better at attention to detail during this period.

Anyway, this is the big catalyst for Beefcake's babyface turn and the "Barber" gimmick he would become famous for. He'd fall out with his partners over Dino Bravo once and for all at Wrestlemania III, and solidify his good guy status by cutting the hair of Adonis with Piper's blessing later that evening.

Verdict- Kind of a nothing match but it was all action for the 3-4 minutes it lasted and it's somewhat important in WWF lore. Poffo never officially got in. He was probably embarrassed after dropping the dud of a poem.
=========================================================

Apr 7, 2019 12:44:46 GMT Strobe said:

WrestleMania III is one of the most watchable wrestling shows in my opinion. Most matches had a story going in or a post-match angle, just something to make them interesting. Plus, they were all relatively short - all matches under 15 mins, with only Hogan/Andre and Savage/Steamboat over 9 mins. It is the type of format that I used for my Mania V rebook. The WWF was moving into an era of minimal match quality, but great characters and angles. So make the matches short and make them mainly about seeing the character and their gimmicks and props.

First off, it just looks great. With the daylight shining in, that crowd looks ginormous at the start as we get Vince's great intro "Ladies and gentlemen... welcome... to the magnificent Silverdome. And welcome to WrestleMania III!" while holding up the three fingers. Just has a nice authentic grandeur to it all.

The opener is one of the few matches that is just a match and in that regard it is perfect. It isn't supposed to be a featured match with a story. It is quick and fun with the face Can-Ams getting the win over Orton/Muraco to get the crowd going. Ideal opener.

Then we get the Battle of the Full Nelsons that was serviceable and finished with a double DQ and Herc hitting Haynes post-match, who bladed.

Then we get the fun giant/midget tag with the famous Bundy elbow on Little Beaver.

The short Mary Hart/Liz interview that Savage interrupts is great and in 45 seconds gets over Savage and Liz's characters and their relationship better than years of 15-minute promo segments have for modern wrestlers. You see that Elizabeth is kind and sweet but meek, while Savage is aggressive, arrogant and domineering. Mary Hart, since she was a famous TV host on entertainment and gossip news, fits in perfectly and gets over that we should like Liz, who Mary is very keen to talk to, and dislike Macho, whose behaviour she is affronted by. Look at how much I've been able to write about a sub-minute promo. In some ways, wrestling has been hurt by its popularity and ability to generate good TV ratings. The move to 2 and ultimately 3-hours resulting in promos being stretched out and people talking for 15 mins, while having about 3 mins worth of material. The slow intonations, the pauses, minimal charisma, minimal passion. Promos used to be so much better.

Loser Must Bow next with King Race cheating to beat JYD in a very short match. JYD reluctantly bows post-match but then attacks Race with a chair.

We get the splitting up of the Dream Team as Beefcake accidentally hits Valentine, but Bravo helps them beat the Rougeaus. They then walk away and leave Beefcake all alone in the ring, as Bravo will be replacing him now. But this will tie in to the next match.

Piper's "farewell" match, hair vs. hair against Adonis. Piper gets to be the first person (and only, other than Hogan) to walk to the ring, as he is the #2 face and leaving. Beefer comes out to help Piper win the match and to cut the hair, giving him his new Barber gimmick.

Next we get Foundation/Davis vs. Bulldogs/Tito. Davis was the corrupt ref who had cost the faces their respective titles and has a lot of heat. We get Jesse, in an incredible snake-skin jacket, introduced at the start of the match, awesomely by his own request, just so that the commentators can mention he'll be in Predator, out in cinema in a few months. The match starts with Matilda chasing after the Mouth of the South, before we get a fun match that ends with Davis stealing the win to retain his heat.

Reed/Koko is a bit of a nothing match, but it is short and we get Tito out to make the post-match save, as he has an issue with Slick and will move on to facing his man Butch.

Heenan's promo for the main is great and Andre just stands still, including for a close-up of his face. It makes him appear cold and remorseless, statuesque and epic at the same time - a great choice.

What probably doesn't get talked about enough in regards to Savage/Steamboat are the short pre-match promos, they are tremendous. "History beckons the Macho Man, yeah!" "This Dragon will scorch your back!". The match itself is obviously fantastic. We can talk about it not being the nasty blood-feud that it probably would have been in other contexts and not having Steele involved, but for the type of show this was and the long-term story, them working the match that they did and having the Animal help Steamer win the title was clearly a great choice.

Then we have another competent match with a good story, where Honky cheats to defeat Jake and post-match we get Roberts and his second Alice Cooper taunting Jimmy Hart with Damien.

Volkoff is about to perform the Soviet Anthem when the recently debuted Duggan interrupts and then causes a DQ in the Bees vs. Volkoff/Sheik match.

Nothing much more can be said about Hogan/Andre. But I have always thought that Uecker's ring announcing for it is one of the best in history. It just fit so well and I don't even think the Fink would've worked better. I guess, because it was delivered differently to the standardised routine. Andre coming to the ring with no music to boos, as he and Heenan wave to the crowd. "First, the challenger. Accompanied by his manager, Bobby The Brain Heenan. He hails from Grenoble in the French Alps. He weighs Five Hundred and Twenty Pounds. Andrreee... the GIANT!" Just that little pause and the way he says Giant is perfect. The use of the personal pronouns (pal) also just makes it seem much more epic for Andre.

------------------------------------------

What's also crazy is that for such a full and complete feeling card, there were lots of guys on the roster who were not on the show.

Paul Orndorff, who had just finished a massively successful feud against Hogan a couple of months before, not being on the card seems a bit wild. But the supposed reason was that he was the fallback plan in case Andre's back truly went out and he wasn't able to work the main.

Kamala was working a house show program with Hogan from late 86 until just before Mania. He had started working as a tag with Sika coming in to the show as well, so it is a bit of a surprise that they didn't just kill some faces on the show.

Blackjack Mulligan returned in late 86 and was setting up a feud with Ron Bass that was planned for post-Mania but Blackjack left. Mulligan's nephew Mike Rotundo was in a tag with Dan Spivey (Mulligan's son Windham's replacement) as the New US Express but Rotundo left about 6 weeks before Mania, leaving Spivey to go singles.

Demolition debuted on TV shortly before the show and would move into a program with The Islanders after Mania.

Pedro Morales still worked the occasional house show and TV matches, so it would've been nice for such a long-standing legend of the promotion to get a spot here.

Speaking of legends, there were plans at one point to get Sammartino, who still worked select house shows, on the show. He was part of a three-man Superstars announce team around this time with Vince and Jesse and, even though I somehow can't find anything about it right now, I am sure I have read that at one point there were plans for a Bruno/Vince vs. Jesse/partner tag.

Other names who were in the Fed at the time who were not on the card include: Corporal Kirchner, Siva Afi, Jimmy Jack Funk, Outback Jack, Dick Slater, Lanny Poffo, Paul Roma.

Also of note is that Missy Hyatt filmed her first Missy's Manor segments 8 and 7 days before Mania III but they were deemed to not work out well, never made air and Missy left shortly after.

This is a show that could be fun to rebook, even if the result probably isn't better.

Baker Mulligans nephew?

Feb 25, 2020 1:50:37 GMT bodyslam said:

Baker Mulligans nephew?

That was a Strobe post I quoted, but he was referring to Mike Rotunda being Blackjack Mulligan's nephew. Rotunda married Blackjack's daughter (Barry Windham's sister).

Fwiw I don't remember ever seeing Blackjack or Rotunda in real time 1987 WWF.

*Working on my long-awaited Islanders post now. It'll be up before I go to sleep tonight.

EDIT: Whoops. We both botched. Rotunda is actually Blackjack Mulligan's son in law, not nephew.

Fantastic memories from these shows. That 2/28/87 episode of Superstars also has the Hogan/Andre contract signing (via Challenge for me) and a rare Hogan and Billy Jack Haynes promo. Billy Jack and King Kong Bundy also make it two competitive matches on Superstars which was pretty rare (not sure about those early episodes.) I was fully behind Beefer at this time and hoping he would get a piece of Adonis's hair. I wasn't even considering a fully proper Barber gimmick for him at the time. By early 1987 Maple Leaf Wrestling went by the wayside as Stampede took over while on other channel Challenge was picked up.

It wasn't until the fall of 1987 that we got cable and with it CBS 62 Detroit which aired Superstars at 10AM on Saturdays. Demolition wrecking the faces was an early memory and definitely stood out as something you didn't see very often. It didn't instill fear as much as it made me hate the Road Warrior rip-offs that much more. I agree that this was when they could be taken more seriously and was great booking to make them unique. By this time the Midnight Express, Russians and The Four Horsemen all got the better of LOD so it was a great effort to make the Demos appear tougher.

That Koko B. Ware grail escapes me though, probably a day when our third channel wasn't coming in too well on the aerial so I missed Challenge, that did happen on occasion. Those first 9 or 10 months was more weighted towards Stampede than WWF.

Feb 25, 2020 2:05:48 GMT Shootist said:

Fantastic memories from these shows. That 2/28/87 episode of Superstars also has the Hogan/Andre contract signing (via Challenge for me) and a rare Hogan and Billy Jack Haynes promo. Billy Jack and King Kong Bundy also make it two competitive matches on Superstars which was pretty rare (not sure about those early episodes.) I was fully behind Beefer at this time and hoping he would get a piece of Adonis's hair. I wasn't even considering a fully proper Barber gimmick for him at the time. By early 1987 Maple Leaf Wrestling went by the wayside as Stampede took over while on other channel Challenge was picked up.

It wasn't until the fall of 1987 that we got cable and with it CBS 62 Detroit which aired Superstars at 10AM on Saturdays. Demolition wrecking the faces was an early memory and definitely stood out as something you didn't see very often. It didn't instill fear as much as it made me hate the Road Warrior rip-offs that much more. I agree that this was when they could be taken more seriously and was great booking to make them unique. By this time the Midnight Express, Russians and The Four Horsemen all got the better of LOD so it was a great effort to make the Demos appear tougher.

That Koko B. Ware grail escapes me though, probably a day when our third channel wasn't coming in too well on the aerial so I missed Challenge, that did happen on occasion. Those first 9 or 10 months was more weighted towards Stampede than WWF.

That's what I'm talkin' about! Love this post! Don't remember that Bundy/Haynes match. Might have to look for that one and do a write up. Already have something else planned for tomorrow. But maybe the day after that....

lol There's no reason why you, or anybody, should remember some random Koko squash of a Big Burly Bearded Biker Guy. I don't know why this stuff sticks with me. It just does. Couldn't tell you what I did two days ago. But I can rattle off intricate little details from dozens of unimportant rasslin' matches that took place 33 years ago. It's just one of those weird things. 

Looking at Adonis I would have never thought he could move as well has he did. He could go.

Feb 25, 2020 2:17:35 GMT bodyslam said:

Looking at Adonis I would have never thought he could move as well has he did. He could go.

Yeah, Adonis could move. He was a hard hitter too. Piper/Adonis at Wrestlemania III has aged well. 'Twas a hard hitting little match with a red hot crowd. 

Feb 25, 2020 2:13:02 GMT Baker said:

Feb 25, 2020 2:05:48 GMT Shootist said:

Fantastic memories from these shows. That 2/28/87 episode of Superstars also has the Hogan/Andre contract signing (via Challenge for me) and a rare Hogan and Billy Jack Haynes promo. Billy Jack and King Kong Bundy also make it two competitive matches on Superstars which was pretty rare (not sure about those early episodes.) I was fully behind Beefer at this time and hoping he would get a piece of Adonis's hair. I wasn't even considering a fully proper Barber gimmick for him at the time. By early 1987 Maple Leaf Wrestling went by the wayside as Stampede took over while on other channel Challenge was picked up.

It wasn't until the fall of 1987 that we got cable and with it CBS 62 Detroit which aired Superstars at 10AM on Saturdays. Demolition wrecking the faces was an early memory and definitely stood out as something you didn't see very often. It didn't instill fear as much as it made me hate the Road Warrior rip-offs that much more. I agree that this was when they could be taken more seriously and was great booking to make them unique. By this time the Midnight Express, Russians and The Four Horsemen all got the better of LOD so it was a great effort to make the Demos appear tougher.

That Koko B. Ware grail escapes me though, probably a day when our third channel wasn't coming in too well on the aerial so I missed Challenge, that did happen on occasion. Those first 9 or 10 months was more weighted towards Stampede than WWF.

That's what I'm talkin' about! Love this post! Don't remember that Bundy/Haynes match. Might have to look for that one and do a write up. Already have something else planned for tomorrow. But maybe the day after that....

lol There's no reason why you, or anybody, should remember some random Koko squash of a Big Burly Bearded Biker Guy. I don't know why this stuff sticks with me. It just does. Couldn't tell you what I did two days ago. But I can rattle off intricate little details from dozens of unimportant rasslin' matches that took place 33 years ago. It's just one of those weird things. 

I went through the match listing though and I'm sure I would have remembered that opener of Steamboat and Butch Reed. I'm drawing a blank on the whole episode however. For sure a snow day for our third channel, our second channel actually was CBC which wouldn't touch wrestling with a 10 foot pole.

Also forgot to mention I watched that Hart Foundation/Bees match from SNME and the debut of the pink tights. As a polar opposite to the Scott Casey dropkick check out Jim Brunzell's from this match. He destroys Bret with a dropkick as Bret comes off the ropes, just impeccable timing. To go with the applying dates to everything I do this as well especially with certain wrestler's attire but I never went back to seek out the debut of the pink tights. I could tell you which matches Hogan wore white or blue, when Sting periodically stopped dying his blonde flat top (and permanently for that matter), Steamboat' s switch to the black full length tights and when LOD switched from spikes to vests to pads.  Thanks for that info on the pink and black attack!

^Brunzell is famous for his dropkick. I remember the commentators always talking it up when I was a kid. He's probably the most famed dropkicker of the 80s tbh. 

In Search Of...The Islanders

Two matches in particular. Let's talk about them....

The first is a bout where the shady officiating of Danny Davis cost Haku & Tama the match. The way I remembered it, the finish came when Tama went up for his Superfly Splash finisher. Davis, who was officiating, positioned himself in front of Tama and The Islanders opponent, forcing Tama to change his flight pattern at the last millisecond, which caused him to be pinned after a crash and burn. I did not remember the opponents.

The second match in question would be The Islanders heel turn. This came when they aligned with Bobby Heenan at the conclusion of a face vs. face match against either the Rougeau Brothers or Killer Bees. I've never been able to recall whether it was the Bees or Rougeaus. But it was "definitely" one or the other! 

Storytime~! The Islanders heel turn is also my most well-remembered "missed match" from those early days of watching wrestling. I even recall WHY I missed this particular episode of Superstars some 33 years ago. It was Opening Day of little league baseball. The rec council I played for at the time would throw a parade on Opening Day where all the players and teams marched 1.4 miles (I just checked) in their uniforms from a specially selected location to the field.

I remember being super excited for my first parade, which would have been the previous year (1986), because I was thinking hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of people would be out there lining the streets and cheering while we made that 1.4 mile journey to the field. I was feeling mighty good in my swank Orioles uniform (Orioles! The team every kid in the league wanted to play for! And I was one of the lucky 12!). Turns out there MIGHT have been a few dozen people who bothered enough to pop out of their houses to watch this long and boring so-called parade.

So during the year in question (1987) I most certainly DID NOT want to participate in this stupid "parade," which was more like a brutal death march. I would much rather have been home watching my beloved WWF. Where the Islanders would be taking on either The Bees or Rougeaus in a rare good guy vs. good guy match. I also thought the day in question was cold, drizzly, and downright miserable. But a sweet website I just discovered called WeatherUnderground www.wunderground.com/ debunked that theory. Maybe the cold, rainy, miserable parade was the next year?

Fun Fact: Another little league baseball Opening Day two rec councils and almost a decade later would occur on the same day Dean f'n Malenko upset Shinjiro Otani to win the Cruiserweight Title on humble little WCW Worldwide. This one I did see! Due to having just "graduated" out of this league by being too old.
Moral of the Story: Cool things in wrestling tended to happen during opening day of little league baseball. 

Anyway, there's one colossal catch here. Neither match exists quite the way I remembered it! I searched and searched (for the first match in particular). I combed through months of tv results. I scrolled ahead to the finish of multiple matches on Youtube. The window in question for the first match was short. I started watching wrestling on January 3rd. Davis would famously be "banned for life" from officiating after helping the Hart Foundation win the tag titles from The Bulldogs on February 7th. After not finding the match in question, I even went months back into 1986 thinking (and kind of hoping) I would be able "prove" I had a wrestling memory prior to Hogan/Orndorff, meaning I began watching wrestling earlier than previously thought. Alas, still I came up empty. 

So while neither match is quite the way I remembered them, I did, in the end, find all the matches in question. Let's talk about them....
=======================
Hart Foundation (c) w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis vs. The Islanders- Superstars 2/21/87

This is a title match. It's also likely the Harts first televised defense, having only won the titles two weeks earlier with an assist from Danny Davis. You gotta love how Bret is already booked as a fighting champ even with his heel status. I've never been much of a belt mark, but I do like the look of the tag titles during this era. Whoa! Jimmy Hart announces Danny Davis as the newest member of The Hart Foundation! Making this a historic match.....at least to me lol. Davis walks out in a longjohn-style top and referee striped trunks. A group of police officers follow Davis out. Nice touch to show just how much heat Danny Davis had. Vince is awesome here selling his indignation at Danny Davis. "I can't wait until that man is knocked on his can. I wanna see it! I don't care if it's a preliminary wrestler. I don't care if it's....I don't care who it is! I just wanna see somebody knock that man, Danny Davis, on his can!" 

Bret & Tama start off fast and furious with some quick rope running. Tama breaks out the Rocky Maivia no look leapfrog and takes Bret down with a double chop. Tag to Haku. Nice double team where Haku hip tosses Tama on top of Bret. Tag back out to Tama. Anvil knees Tama in the back while he's running the ropes. And now we go to school.....

Harts work Tama over with punch/kick in a lethargic manner while Hillbilly Jim cuts an inset promo about the upcoming Hogan/Andre showdown, comparing the colossal confrontation to a tornado that came through Mud Lick, KY in 1962. Where it took the roof off granny's barn! 

WHOA! Sick double DDT by the Harts. Not sure anybody took a better one than Tama right here until RVD & Val Venis came along over a decade later. Vince sells it like death on commentary, too. He's on point today.

Tama eventually makes the hot tag to a svelte young Haku, who looks like a downright baby compared to how you probably remember him as Meng. Bret does a nice TIMBER sell of a Haku chop. OUCH! Anvil botches a 'thrown to the floor' spot by landing face first on the middle rope. Bet he felt that one for a while. Haku's karatay kinda sucks. But the crowd (or at least the heat machine) is hot! Superkick by Haku to Bret! Anvil is out of it on the floor! Might we be looking at new champs...?

 :lol:  OMG. Big, bad Haku just wiggled his booty! Shades of Disco Inferno! I have seen it all now. Tag to Tama. He goes up top for the Superfly Splash.....

NO! Danny Davis hooked his leg just as he takes flight! Tama crashes and burns! This is the spot I remembered not quite right for 33 years. Tama really did take a sick bump upon landing. No wonder I remembered this....even if I did get the details slightly wrong. Anvil quickly sneaks in for the cover. 1-2-3! The Hart Foundation have retained with yet another assist from Danny Davis!
======================================
*And now for the Islanders heel turn. For this one, I discovered my memory combined two matches into one. The actual heel turn came not against the Rougeaus or Bees, but the Can Am Connection! Yet there was an Islanders/Rougeau Brothers good guy vs. good guy match a month earlier where the Islanders wrestled more aggressively than usual. 

Islanders vs. Rougeau Brothers- Wrestling Challenge 4/25/87

The Rougeaus are not yet fabulous. Oddly enough, their transition to Fabulous would occur almost a year to the day of the Islanders' own heel turn. And the Bees WERE involved in the Rougeau heel turn match! So maybe my memory combined three matches into one in a roundabout sort of way? It's possible....

Raymond & Haku start it off. Gorilla is excited to see a scientific match. His dream tag team partner would be....Billy Jack Haynes? Ok, then! Nice Thesz Press by Ray! Jacques & Haku with the old school criss cross. Haku is really moving. Sweet sunset flip by the future Meng! Nets a two count. Now it's Ray (I think?) & Tama. WHOA! Tama gets HUGE height taking a monkey flip. Tama is looking like the Mick Foley of 1987 WWF when it comes to taking bumps. Islanders work over....a Rougeau with quick tags as I can't even tell the ROUGEAU BROTHERS apart if I don't get a look at their faces (Ray=mustache. Jacques=clean shaven). Haku fights off a sleeper with a Judo throw and takes a chest first turnbuckle bump reminiscent of Bret as the Rougeau in question finally locks in the sleeper he had been looking for. Tama cheats to free his partner from the sleeper. BOO! 

This leads to the Islanders working Ray over for a while. Gorilla picks the Rougeaus to win while Heenan thinks the Islanders will take home the winner's purse in a nice bit of foreshadowing. Ray finally shows some life by hitting his second Thesz Press of the match. Haku fires back with some stupid karatay. But then he punches Ray right in the face and hits a kneeling Ray with a Superkick. So it's all good.

Ray finally does get an an anticlimactic tag to Jacques. And Jacques soon hits a downright Jim Brunzellesque dropkick! Jacques locks Tama in an abdominal stretch. Haku interferes to break the hold. This is the second time The Islanders have cheated to get out of holds. Now Ray comes in. He has some heated words with Haku. Like "Come on, man! Why you cheating?" They get into a shoving match. Jacques throws the first punch (of course he does lol) after Haku shoves Ray down. And now a pier six brawl breaks out as all four men are on the floor. Since this is 80s WWF you know what that means.....

Double Countout time!

Verdict- Solid face vs. face story-based match with the soon-to-turn Islanders being the more aggressive, and therefore heelish, of the two duos. 

Islanders vs. Can Am Connection- Superstars 5/30/87

*Don't feel like rewatching a third straight match. So I'm going strictly by (recent) memory for this one.

This is the Islanders actual heel turn. It lead to a lengthy Islanders vs. Martel & Partner (Zenk & Tito respectively) feud that I don't remember at all. Yet it's highly praised by the few people who go back to actually watch 1987 WWF, with many even saying their matches smoke the much more famous Harts/Bulldogs bouts. Maybe I'll watch them at some point....and maybe this project will last to 2021. I'm not bored yet! Which is kind of amazing given my (lack of) attention span.

Anyway, dumbass Bruno pretty much spoils the swerve/finish. Bobby Heenan apparently promised something big for a tag match on this particular episode of Superstars. Dumbass Bruno is basically like "This is the only tag match on the show. So Heenan is going to do something here." Vince, bless him, tries salvaging an unsalvageable situation by saying "Harley Race & Hercules will be in tag action later in the show!" Just checked. Harley Race & Hercules were not, in fact, in tag action later on this show.

Anyway, the match is fast and furious. All four of these guys could go. Particularly by 1987 WWF standards. Martel hits what I've come to realize is his trademark frankensteiner. Islanders cut an inset "promo" which consists solely of Tama laughing maniacally. Heenan comes out towards the end. The Islanders....wrestle slightly more aggressively? And win by countout when Tama hits a SWEET diving headbutt from the apron to the floor. That settles it. Tama is truly the Mick Foley of 1987 WWF. Heenan enters the ring and hugs the victorious Islanders, completing their heel turn.

As far as heel turns go, this one is only slightly better than that time Dr. Death sent in a video from Japan basically saying "Oh, by the way, I have now joined the Varsity Club and become a bad guy." The Islanders didn't really cheat. And even their "aggressive" wrestling was nothing Bret Hart didn't do half a dozen times in face vs. face matches where he still remained a good guy when it was over. And, yeah, I realize it was the 80s where every "star" must be protected in every match ever, but this would have been SO MUCH better if The Islanders scored a pinfall victory rather than another lame countout finish. As much as I love this stuff, wrestling definitely has improved in a lot of ways....

-Fewer squash matches involving jobbers
-No more house show promos. Honestly, like half an episode of Superstars or Challenge was taken up by local house show promos.
-More proper finishes!

Final Thoughts- It was cool to see the Islanders progress from white meat babyfaces to babyfaces with a chip on their shoulder to full on heels. I was indifferent to them in real time both as good guys and bad guys. They just didn't have the personalities or push to really grab my attention. But I've definitely come around on them since joining PW....

Haku > Meng when it comes to in ring work. Though I'll admit Meng smokes Haku in terms of presence. So call it a draw overall.

Tama is the star of the team anyway. He's really good as an energetic 80s style high flying, big bumping babyface. But he's even better as a heel. He just oozes sleaze. And his heel sneer is right up there with such GOATC heel sneerers as Mr. Hughes, IRS, and Tatanka. I was wondering why Tama never did more. He left WWF in mid 88. His only national run after this was a cup of coffee in 1990 NWA as "Samoan Savage." I also just discovered he is Rikishi's TWIN brother. Did not see that one coming. The few takes I could find claim Tama had a drug problem and/or a bad attitude. Well, that would explain his lack of success then.
======================================
Next Time: I put my crack detective skills to good use again as we take a look at the lightest man in wrestling. Then I'll share and comment on a few things I found interesting from Bruce & Conrad's (highly recommended) 1987 WWF podcasts. 

In the match listings for Challenge I came across a match vs. The Killer Bees from 5/17 (same date as the Koko match) where the Islanders shove the ref if you want to check that out. I was also indifferent to the Islanders and King Haku in general. Business picked up when he became Meng. I can still remember Dusty's comical selling of that nerve hold to this day. Meng's aura and presentation though helped with that initial angle.

Bruno was just the worst as a commentator, he didn't even try to feed into Jesse's commentary.

Feb 25, 2020 4:42:48 GMT Shootist said:

In the match listings for Challenge I came across a match vs. The Killer Bees from 5/17 (same date as the Koko match) where the Islanders shove the ref if you want to check that out. I was also indifferent to the Islanders and King Haku in general. Business picked up when he became Meng. I can still remember Dusty's comical selling of that nerve hold to this day. Meng's aura and presentation though helped with that initial angle.

Bruno was just the worst as a commentator, he didn't even try to feed into Jesse's commentary.

Thanks for the tip. Already checked out that Islanders/Bees match. Ditto for Bundy/Haynes. Will write about both tomorrow. It's looking more and more like I combined the Islanders April-May matches with the Rougeaus/Bees/Can Ams into one match in my mind.

It's also looking more and more like I'm going to end up writing about every single tv match from certain months (February & May come to mind) one bout at a time  :lol:

Bruno is terrible with Vince & Jesse. He rarely even speaks other than to call the replays. In fact, I have a vague memory of one of the other commentators basically referring to him "as the designated replay guy."at some point. Bruno really doesn't need to be there. 

BUT he was surprisingly good during one of the matches I wrote about a week or two ago. Lemme check...
It was Race/Haynes from January. Bruno did a great job of putting Race over while still staying true to his babyface character.

*Tomorrow: Haynes/Bundy, Bees/Islanders, and a Haynes squash featuring the lightest man in wrestling. 

The Lightest Man In Wrestling

For many years, likely until the 1-2-3 Kid came along, a 222 pound jobber named Morgan "Bastille" held the ignominious distinction of being the lightest wrestler I had ever seen. Because of this, I had a long-held theory that 222 pounds was the absolute lightest a professional wrestler could weigh. Like you literally could not be a (male) pro wrestler if you weighed less than 222 pounds.

Well, after much searching, I have found the Morgan in question. Turns out his last name was not "Bastille," but Bastien. He really was billed at a mere 222 pounds though! And he's so obscure he doesn't even have a Cagematch profile. Though one match did show up on another site called the Internet Wrestling Database. The match in question was a defeat to Billy Jack Haynes on an episode of WWF Superstars taped in January 1987. I most certainly did not recall Bastien's opponent.

I am fascinated by these old school tv jobbers. I'm not even necessarily referring to your full time jobber types like Iron Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz, or even the semi-regular ham and eggers like Reno Riggins. It was a regular job to them. No, I'm talking about the random one off guys....the Morgan Bastien's and Steve Reese's of the world. I am fascinated by these otherwise normal men who, for whatever reason, got to fake fight on tv for money one weekend many years ago. Somebody really needs to make a documentary where they track these guys down and interview them. How did they get these gigs? Why wrestling? What was the locker room like? Any good stories? Stuff like that. Would watch! Hell, I would fund the damn thing   Hmm......maybe I ought to do it myself.....?

Anyway, during this nostalgia trip back to 1987 WWF, I have also come across a wrestler named Joe Milano who was billed at least once at a mere 220 pounds. Making him 2 pounds lighter than our Captain Morgan. Must not have been watching/paying close attention that week. Let's talk about weights in wrestling for a minute....

Even after the 1-2-3 Kid broke the "lightest wrestler" record Morgan held for many years, the idea of a pro wrestler weighing under 200 pounds was unthinkable to me. I never encountered such a thing until late 95 when I started reading the Apter Mags and saw multiple wrestlers weighing under 200 lbs. in the ECW Top 10 rankings listed towards the back of those mags.

At first I thought it had to be typos. I mean, there's NO WAY their CHAMPION (Mikey Whipwreck) only weighs 187 lbs! And another wrestler (Rey Misterio Jr.) only weighs 140! Unthinkable! 

My jaw would drop again the next time I picked up an Apter Mag and once again saw those absurd weights of 187 & 140 pounds. No way they would make the same typo twice in a row. Meaning those absurd weights must be accurate. It made me think ECW (which I assumed stood for East Coast Wrestling) had to be the most bush league promotion imaginable....a promotion so bad it would make AWF (Where we wrestle in rounds!) look like WWF circa Wrestlemania III.

And the really crazy thing is the 222 pound Morgan Bastien, who spent 6 years as the lightest wrestler I had ever seen, wouldn't even be considered a Cruiserweight today! He'd be well above WWE's 205 pound Cruiserweight Title weight limit. Just goes to show how much the business has changed. 

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Morgan Bastien- WWF Superstars 2/21/87

Fun Fact: This episode of Superstars also featured the Hart Foundation/Islanders match I wrote about yesterday and the famous Jake/Honky Snake Pit segment where HTM whacked Jake with a non-gimmicked guitar. Show of the Year! Show of the Year! Show of the Year!

Billy Jack is billed at 246 lbs while the hero of our story is of course famously billed at 222 pounds. Gotta say if Bastien weighs 222 lbs, then Billy Jack isn’t an ounce under 290 

This is a basic squash like a million others. Bastien has that classic jobber look, which is to say "bad"   He is a pale, pasty, slender fellow with a beard who opts for the Jerry Lawler style of wearing trunks over tights. His selling is very bad. He doesn't go down when he probably should. Then he sort of flops around like a fish out of water when he finally does hit the canvas. Then he gets up a little too slowly. Real amateur hour stuff. Given Billy Jack's well-deserved rep as a real life nutjob, I'm surprised he didn't open up a shoot can of whoopass on Bastien.

BJH hits some clubbing forearms to the back, a few stomps, a fistdrop, clothesline, and suplex. He also does a move I don't recall ever seeing before. Haynes lifts Bastien up on his shoulder. Imagine a Bulldog Powerslam position, but with Bastien's head where the feet would normally be, and vice versa. Then Haynes drops down, creating a gut buster effect. Remember Albert's seated Canadian Backbreaker move? It was kind of like that, but to the stomach.

The commentary trio spends most of the match talking about the red hot Danny Davis (and Friends) angle. Hercules cuts a bad inset promo.

Anyway, BJH wins a complete squash in about two minutes with his patented full nelson. Then he aggressively FLINGS Morgan down."Whoa, baby!"- Vince

*Good grief! I just spent nearly an hour rewatching and writing about a 2 minute squash. Burned out for the moment. Be back later with Bundy/Haynes and Islanders/Bees thoughts.....probably.

*Going to C&P another 1987 WWF-related post from another thread. This one from October 2018 with the premise being "Who would my Top 10 draft picks be if Donald Trump gave kiddie me several million dollars to start my own wrestling promotion on December 31, 1987?" WWF wrestlers in bold.

1987

1. Hulk Hogan- The biggest star of all time is coming off his best year. Easiest #1 choice ever.

2. Andre the Giant- The yin to Hogan's yang.

3. Bam Bam Bigelow- First WWF guy I ever saw get the Next Big Thing treatment. There's an alternate universe where BBB got Savage's spot at WM 4 & 5 and went down in history as a first ballot Hall of Famer/all time great rather than the good hand journeyman he ended up becoming.

4. Ted Dibiase- Best bad guy in wrestling.

5. Barry Windham- NWA's good guy Next Big Thing.

6. Lex Luger- NWA's bad guy Next Big Thing.

7. Dr. Death Steve Williams- Badass babyface with credibility due to already having been a kinda sorta world champion with UWF.

8. Randy Savage- Oozed star power. This former IC Champ had recently turned over a new leaf by becoming a good guy.

9. Honkytonk Man- The...umm....other best bad guy in wrestling edges out Flair in the battle of hated whimp (tm Soulblazed) heels due to familiarity. His lack of credibility actually worked in his favor because it had fans buying into any HTM challenger as a potential new IC Champion. He'd have the same role in my fed.

10. Ric Flair- Ok, hear me out. I didn't think very highly of Flair in real time. Viewed him as basically a poor man's HTM. Hogan vs. Flair wouldn't become a thing to me until.....the mid 90s, to be honest. Had that match happened in 1987 I'd have expected Hogan to wipe the floor with Naitch in 5 minutes. But I feel wrong about not picking peak(ish) Flair. So he gets the nod in this slightly revisionist take.
==============================

Shootist Suggests...

King Kong Bundy w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Billy Jack Haynes- Superstars 2/28/87

This is a huge match for Superstars! Yet it is also one I do not remember watching in real time. One cool thing about this match is it should settle a debate Gorilla & Heenan had during one of the bouts I watched yesterday. Gorilla chose BJH as his dream partner. Heenan chose Bundy. We will now see who made the better choice....

Bundy controls most of the way with so so clubbering. Hillbilly Jim and his 2 midgets from Wrestlemania III cut an inset promo. Jim vows to protect his midgets from big, bad, Bundy. Liar! You failed! Hillbilly Jim=Worst partner this side of Scott Casey. 

BJH dodges Bundy's two big moves- the splash and the avalanche. I like this. Nowadays both moves would connect only to be kicked out of. 

Haynes locks on the Full Nelson after dodging Bundy's avalanche! Will Bundy give it up....?

We'll never know. Because Bobby Heenan quickly runs in to pound away on BJH's back, saving Bundy from a potential submission defeat. Heenan is a hell of a lot more ballsy than I remembered. Definitely not afraid to mix it up with the big dogs. Heenan fluidly leaps over the top rope once his effects predictably have no effect on Billy Jack. Now we get a chase on the floor with BJH running after "The Weasel." 

Oh no! It's Billy Jack's arch-rival, Hercules! Herc attacks BJH from behind just as Haynes had Heenan trapped. Now Bundy & Herc double team Billy Jack. BIG clothesline from Herc! That's like 3 or 4 times I've seen Herc wreck a dude with a clothesline during this project. That's a large enough sample size. Meaning Herc is officially the JBL of 80s WWF when it comes to throwing clotheslines. Take a bow, sir.

The Heenan Family celebrates in the ring to a chorus of boos after wrecking BJH.

Verdict- 2 minute nothing match. But good angle putting even more heat on the already hot Herc/Haynes feud. 
==========================
Islanders vs. Killer Bees- Wrestling Challenge 5/16/87

This is Chapter 2 in The Islanders three match heel turn arc which got all muddled together into one match in my memory. 

Pedant Alert- The time has come to explain my idiosyncratic method for dating Challenge episodes. Superstars & Challenge were syndicated shows. This meant they aired at different times, on different stations/networks, and even different days depending on the market in question. Most of the results pages I've been reading and Youtube videos I've been watching use a Sunday date for Challenge. Yet Challenge aired on Saturdays here in Baltimore. So I use the Saturday date. My OCD thanks me.

Gorilla & Heenan are on commentary. Poor Gorilla gets SO excited at the prospect of seeing a good, clean, scientific match. I mean, the guy is like a kid in a candy store. Just so happy. I'm starting to feel bad for him. His dream of seeing a scientific match always seems to be foiled by flaring tempers. I swear, if Gino were still with us today I would finally join some social media sites for the sole purpose of sending him videos of Guerrero/Malenko matches so he could finally satisfy that scientific match craving.

They spend a lot of time talking about Heenan's neck injury, which must have just been caused by Patera. They both sell it really well. Whenever Heenan gets heated, he'll let loose with an "OWW!" And Gorilla will say "Serves you right!"

Anyway, both teams uphold the Code of Honor by shaking hands at the outset as Bobby Heenan calls them "sissies." The first half of this 5 and a half minute bout lives up to Gorilla's expectations of a scientific match. They do some really good mat/chain wrestling that would not only fail to look out of place today, but would likely garner a solid ovation, if not a standing one. Holds are applied and countered at a very fast pace. All four men get in on the act. Both Bees take wicked fast armdrags from Tama. 1987 Haku is to the Sunset Flip as 1987 Hercules is to Clotheslines. Simply the best. He goes over fast and really yanks the guy down. Just the best sunset flip. Heenan kind of buries his future team by picking the Bees to win because "The Islanders lack killer instinct." Surprised that made air. WWF, especially during this time, was usually better at foreshadowing. UNLESS....that plays into the story? Like it's Heenan who gave The Islanders that killer instinct? Anyway....

The Islanders get chippy after the Bees keep beating them on the mat. Haku & Tama start throwing punches, chops, and headbutts. Haku cheats from the apron once. Tama does the same a minute or so later. Both Bees hit thoroughly average dropkicks. Disappointing after Shoot and I had both hyped up Brunzell's dropkick hard yesterday. The Bees are all "wtf?" So they start fighting back with fisticuffs of their own. Finish comes when Haku shoves the ref down, causing the Bees to win by DQ.

Tama shows his natural heel instincts by climbing the turnbuckles and sneering to "celebrate" after losing. 

I'd see The Islanders heel turn coming from a mile away nowadays. But 1987 me most certainly did not. Although....that could be simply because I did not give a hoot about The Islanders. Very possible....

Verdict- Good little match where I rather surprisingly enjoyed the "scientific" part more than the "brawling" part. Maybe Gorilla's childlike enthusiasm for a scientific match rubbed off on me?
============================
Next Time: I plan on finally dropping that long-teased Random Thoughts post. 

To keep the Islanders train going I watched a different match vs The Hart Foundation from the Spectrum in March. Ken Resnick and Dick Graham confused the proceedings by getting the Islanders mixed up for the entire match, it made my own head spin at times. Hart Foundation do their best Larry Zbyszko by stalling right at the start. Solid match which saw the Islanders shove the ref from behind and Haku seemingly taking out Bret's eye with a devastating side kick. Haku did a lot of GOAT stuff in retrospect like the sunset flip, sidekick and that piledriver on Bulldog in the '92 Rumble. For the finish Danny Davis runs in during a schmoz and shoves Tama to reverse a cradle giving the Foundation the win. It was also interesting to note that big bad Haku had a couple of exchanges with whimpy Danny. It just crossed my mind that if Haku wanted to shoot it wouldn't end well, and I'm more toward's Kilgore's line of thinking  that much of Haku's rep is blown way out of proportion.

D'oh! All that writing and I forget to mention the greatest thing about either match. I suck. But that's ok! Because what I am about to share deserves a post all to its own anyway. For it is that damn good.

Gentlemen, what you are about to see is no less than the 2nd greatest sign of the 80s (close call between this gem and the fabulous "Michael Hayes All Talk No Cock" sign from UWF). Behold!



My god! What a beaut! Get that artistic masterpiece to The Smithsonian!

The misspelling of "butt" alone would make this a classic. But that honest-to-goodness drawing of a buttocks causes it to rise to the level of a masterpiece. So great!

Feb 26, 2020 4:05:10 GMT Baker said:

D'oh! All that writing and I forget to mention the greatest thing about either match. I suck. But that's ok! Because what I am about to share deserves a post all to its own anyway. For it is that damn good.

Gentlemen, what you are about to see is no less than the 2nd greatest sign of the 80s (close call between this gem and the fabulous "Michael Hayes All Talk No Cock" sign from UWF). Behold!



My god! What a beaut! Get that artistic masterpiece to The Smithsonian!

The misspelling of "butt" alone would make this a classic. But that honest-to-goodness drawing of a buttocks causes it to rise to the level of a masterpiece. So great!

Why isn't image loading in your post?!

Also, this:

I am fascinated by these old school tv jobbers. I'm not even necessarily referring to your full time jobber types like Iron Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz, or even the semi-regular ham and eggers like Reno Riggins. It was a regular job to them. No, I'm talking about the random one off guys....the Morgan Bastien's and Steve Reese's of the world. I am fascinated by these otherwise normal men who, for whatever reason, got to fake fight on tv for money one weekend many years ago. Somebody really needs to make a documentary where they track these guys down and interview them. How did they get these gigs? Why wrestling? What was the locker room like? Any good stories? Stuff like that. Would watch!


NEEDS to happen. I'd watch too.

Fuck me, it's working now. Assuming stupid mobile issues.

I'm WEEPING over the inclusion of KBB's butthole in that sign. So hilarious.

:lol: