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WWF Prime Time Wrestling - August 3, 1987
by erick von erich

Hello again everyone, it's Gorilla Monsoon...and your host, Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, with another edition of Prime Time Wrestling. From the late summer months of 1987, the Brain has finally taken to walking around without his neckbrace. Gorilla had been accusing him of goldbricking and that's pretty much the running commentary for this episode. They bring up Heenan's newest acquistion: Ravishing Rick Rude and Gorilla needles that "Ravishing" is a name more fitting for a lady. But with so much action in the World Wrestling Federation, let's get down to ringside for...

Match 1: "Ravishing" Rick Rude vs. Jerry Allen
From Rude's Madison Square Garden debut. Rude grabs the mike and asks all the "lizard lookin' men" to keep the noise down while he takes off his robe. As he disrobes, Rude gets several wolf whistles.... but most of them were probably from men. Match begins with each guy sizing the other up, with Rude stalling and pissing off the crowd every chance he gets. Allen ducks a charge and Rude tumbles over the top tope. Allen gets a quick sunset flip for 2 to frustrate Rude. Rude fights back and whips Allen to the ropes, where he returns with a high crossbody press. Rude with a backbreaker and a nice flying clothesline for 2. After a slam, Rude connects off the top turnbuckle with a fist drop for another 2. Rude hits two suplexes, but Allen counters and reverses a third. Match begins to drag (more than usual) with a Rude chinlock. Allen hits a monkeyflip, but tries another and meets an inverted atomic drop. Rude hooks in his over-the-shoulder bearhug/backbreaker to get the submission win.

Studio segment, where Heenan is upset over not knowing about the recent Women's Title switch, when Sherri Martel beat the Fabulous Moolah in Houston. He threatens to call the engimatic "Miss Betty:, but it's time for:

WWF Update with Craig DeGeorge
DeGeorge introduces highlights of the recent Moolah-Sherri match. Moolah tries to suplex Sherri in from the apron, but Sherri counters and cleanly pins Moolah to win the title. Tough to tell who was the heel or babyface in this match. I'd guess Sherri, since she appeared to be bra-less (and it looks like it might've been chilly that night).

A Very Special Segment with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
Another in the famous series of intro vignettes for DiBiase. In this episode, he walks into a hotel and demands the nicest suite. Two honeymooners are evicted from the suite, so DiBiase can occupy it. He turns to the camera and says: "Hey, don't feel bad for them. In 10 years, they'll want separate rooms". DiBiase gives a mild cackle and mentions that everybody has a price.

A Very Special Craig DeGeorge Podium Interview with "Outlaw" Ron Bass
Bass, who had been in the WWF for about 8 months at this point, had still done nothing of mention. Hard to follow, but the gist is that Bass couldn't find a woman, so he's opted for his bullwhip, Miss Betsy. He throws out challenges to Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana and the Junkyard Dog before the segment is abruptly cut.

Match 2: Outback Jack vs. Johnny K-9
From Maple Leaf Gardens, joined slightly-in-progress. But as we'll see, this match never really "progresses". Both guys lock-up and slug it out. Jack with an atomic drop, then the always deadly missed flying elbowdrop. K-9 with a diving double axehandle, kneedrop, irish whip into a kneelift, then a diving headbutt. K-9 goes up top for another diving headbutt attempts, but misses. Jack comes back with a backdrop, slam, then blows his own finisher; the "Boomerang". K-9 doesn't stand up all the way, so instead of a clotheline to the back of the head, Jack sorta' bulldogs him and scores the pin.

Back in the studio, Heenan claims to have signed the mysterious Bam Bam Bigelow. Monsoon doubts it and throws it to:

The Snake Pit with "Macho Man" Randy Savage & Elizabeth
Jake Roberts is the host, of course. He talks about jealousy and brings out Macho Man to discuss Honky Tonk Man's reign as the Intercontinental Champ. Jake, while officially a babyface, acts like a tweener and teases Macho Man about being a former champ. Macho, a tweener himself at this point, unofficially challenges Honky. I'm sure Jay Lethal has this segment on tape, as it features alot of audio of Macho saying "Snake Roberts".

Match 3: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Luscious" Johnny V
From Boston Gardens and ANOTHER in a series of matches that had been broadcast on TV, endlessly, since April 1987. Every match ended the same way and it was so bad that Brutus had to be quite liberal with cutting Johnny's hair. After all, he still needed some hair intact for the next night.... and the night after that, and the night after that, etc. Johnny V attacks before the bell and beats on Bruti for awhile. Barber comes back with a double axe off the second turnbuckle, a buttdrop, atomic drop, flying clothesline and the sleeper. V is out and Brutus spray paints his chest and back orange, then snips a few hairs up top. After continually losing and getting his hair cut for 4 months, you'd THINK Johnny V would've been seconded by either Greg Valentine or Dino Bravo in at at least ONE MATCH. Logic in Wrestling.

Match 4: Brady Boone vs. Dino Bravo (w/"Luscious" Johnny V)
Back to MSG. Bravo shoves Boone around, but Boone ducks out of the corner, does a backflip and dropkicks Bravo out of the ring. Bravo returns to an atomic drop and a drop-kick from Boone. Bravo with an inverted atomic drop, then slams Boone on top of the ropes, neck-first. Front facelock from Bravo for your resthold spot. This allows Johnny V to wander over to the commentary booth and babble about Boone's backflip being illegal. Bravo begins working the lower back with a bearhug, then tosses Boone outside. V is over to slam him and toss him back in. Boone gets back in with a surprise sunset flip for 2, but Bravo ejects him shortly after. V grabs him again and tosses him into the timekeeper's table. Boone makes it back in to cinch a backslide for 2, then a spinning kick, kneelift and a reverse flying elbow. Boone misses a charge into the corner and eats turnbuckle. Bravo quickly nails his side suplex finisher to get the pin.

A Very Special Pre-Recorded Interview with the Hart Foundation Mean Gene Okerlund is in the studio with the tag team champs: Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Anvil talks about the growing popularity of pink while Hitman says that they're not "Pretty in Pink. We're Brutal in Pink". Rejected Catchphrase #2,981

In the Prime Time studio, Gorilla introduces some of the recent skits about Heenan's neck being examined. Back in May, Heenan had been yanked around by Ken Patera, then wore a neckbrace for months and claimed to have serious problems. Heenan had brought in his own quack doctor; "you came out with a datsun under your arm, you're examining a weasel and you're talking to a gorilla". The next week, a "legitimate" doctor examined Heenan and said that he was goldbricking the entire injury. Back to "live" studio action, where Gorilla gives a Heenan a special gift, all wrapped up in a Radio Shack bag. It is, in fact, a brick, spray-painted gold. Huh...I don't get the joke? Too subtle for me, dude.

Match 5: Tito Santana vs. Nikolai Volkoff
Joined-in-progress from MSG. Chico is working an arm-wringer, but Nikolai jabs him in the throat and tree-chokes him. Nikolai tosses him out, then greets him with a kneelift, bearhug and some shots to the back. Chico elbows him away, but Nikolai counters with a nice flying clothesline for 2. Nikolai lifts him up for his press-slam/backbreaker finisher, but they're too close to the ropes. Nikolai tries to finish him and whips Chico to the ropes. Mistake, as Chico returns with his flying forearm and scores the pin.

Anotehr studio segment with Gorilla and the Brain talking about Jesse Ventura's recent movie exploits. They plug both "Predator" and the upcoming "Running Man", but Gorilla jokes about Jesse getting jobbed out so early in "Predator".

Match 6: WWF Tag Team Championship:
Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Junkyard Dog & Rick Martel

From a Superstars of Wrestling taping, with Craig DeGeorge and Bruno Sammartino on the call. JYD was probably a sub for the recently departed Tom Zenk, so you could call this the Junk-Can Connection. Some fans in the front row have a big Canadian flag...so either they're big Rick Martel fans or "smark" Bret Hart fans. Martel starts by thwarting Hart with a seires of leaps and armdrags. Hart signals for the knucklelock and immediattely kicks Martel in the tummy. Martel reverses with an armbar, then blocks Hart's sunset flip attempt for a 2 count. Tag off to the their partners. Anvil hooks a side headlock, but JYD shoves him off and cinches a small package for 1. They trade arm-wringers, but the Harts manage to doubleteam JYD for a bit. Anvil charges and hits the turnbuckle, as it's back to Martel and Hart. Martel backdrops Hart, but Anvil trips him to turn the tide. Jimmy Hart provides his sage advice through his megaphone: "work on him Hitman, work on him". Hitman with an atomic drop, backbreaker and flying axehandle off the second turnbuckle for 2. Hart splits Martel's legs, stomps away and throws him outside. Anvil pounds away, drops Martel on the railing and throws him back in. The Harts settle into their usual ref distraction/double team tactics for awhile. In a patented heel miscommunication spot, Anvil accidentally dropkicks Hitman. Hot tag to JYD who punches and headbutts both Harts. All four guys brawl for a brief moment, buts the Harts drag JYD to their corner. They perform a version of their "Hart Attack" finisher with Hart coming off the top turnbuckle. But the bell suddenly sounds to disqualify the Harts for illegal doubleteaming, awarding the victory (but not the titles) to JYD and Martel. But now is the time when we Grab Them Cakes!

Why'd You Tape This??
Quite an awful episode. The only halfway decent match was Tito/Nikolai and that was clipped. Then to show another Johnny V/Brutus match?! Gorilla and the Brain weren't even entertaining in their studio segments, as they just re-hashed the onoging neck injury joke. Even showing old clips. Absolutely nothing new was inserted into their antics. It's fun to occassionally flashback to this time period; but if you do, pick a better episode to land on.

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