WWF TV Taping Double Feature: Dayton, OH- March 10, 1987 | Columbus, OH - March 11, 1987
by Scrooge McSuck
We're getting close to WrestleMania III, with these tapings the last to take place for syndication until after the big event. Yes, we're still running with the package recap since there's not enough to justify giving both their own recaps, especially Wrestling Challenge. The content taped for Superstars of Wrestling (Dayton) and Wrestling Challenge (Columbus) will cover the broadcast period of March 21st through April 5th. Yes, the last week of this taping period will make TV the weekend AFTER WrestleMania III, which means those shows will probably rely more on post-production content that wasn't taped for the live arena audience... wait... THEY TAPED FOR TV THE WEEK BEFORE MANIA, TO BROADCAST THROUGH THE END OF APRIL?!?! Hmm... That's going to be an interesting one to cover.
WWF Superstars of Wrestling Taping - March 10th, 1987
Taped from the Hara Arena in Dayton, OH. Hulk Hogan defended his WWF Championship, this time against Paul Orndorff. They've done that one to death, but Orndorff is still a more credible threat than Hercules, who has worked Hogan regularly as the TV taping main event. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan pinned Nikolai Volkoff, probably to give the live audience an idea on how they should react to Duggan for his appearances taped for syndication. The Assassin defeated Paul Roma, and while it's not stated, we can assume it's Randy Colley working under the mask again. There's also a tag team match featuring the random duo of JYD and SD Jones over enhancement talent Brian Costello and Dave Wagner.Blackjack Mulligan & Danny Spivey vs. Salvatore Bellomo & Tiger Chung Lee
Taped for the March 30th episode of Prime Time Wrestling. LOOK AT THIS COLLECTION OF TALENT. Dan Spivey, floating like a turd without Mike Rotundo, Blackjack Mulligan, repackaged after the Machines were disbanded, Salvatore Bellomo, attempting a heel run, and Tiger Chung Lee... I got nothing for him. He's Tiger Chung Lee. I'm curious if this was taped for syndication and was cut late in post, because Vince and Jesse are calling the action, which was incredibly rare for Prime Time exclusives. The foreign menaces attack before the bell, but are quickly overmatched, with Tiger knocked out of the ring and Bellomo getting whacked with a double clothesline. Mulligan shows off with a snap arm drag and nails Bellomo coming off the ropes with an elbow. Tiger's turn to take a beating. He decides to stop selling and takes Mulligan to the corner, but Blackjack fights off the 2-on-1 attack. Spivey with the world's worst dropkick that Tiger can't sell because it missed that badly. OK, I can see why it might have been cut from syndication. Mulligan gets the blind tag, hits Tiger with a poor timed clothesline, and the diving elbow finishes at 3:55. I don't think you need me to tell you this wasn't good.Koko B. Ware vs. The Honkytonk Man (w/ Jimmy Hart)
Taped for the April 6th episode of Prime Time Wrestling. Koko is reasonably closer to Honky on the pecking order than you would think (that's not saying Koko is heavily pushed, but he's not a complete geek yet), but that would not be the case much sooner than later. The bell rings and Honky powders. They lock up and Honky goes to work on the arm. Koko counters, connects with an atomic drop, and after messing with the hair, plants Honky with a slam. Whip to the ropes, Koko with a shoulder block and another slam. Honky with a short offensive burst, but he misses a fist drop and gets caught in a side headlock. Whip to the ropes and Honky takes control avoiding Koko's attempt to counter a back body-drop attempt. Koko's comeback is cut short with a knee to the midsection. Honky with a slam and a fist-drop from the second turnbuckle for a two-count. Whip to the ropes, Koko ducks a clothesline and hits a cross body press for two. Honky quickly regains control and sends Koko out of the ring. Back inside, Honky with a fireman's carry and elbow drop for another two-count. Honky kicks out of a sunset flip and lays the Birdman out with a clothesline. Koko with the comeback, sending Honky to the turnbuckle. Whip to the ropes and a BAAAAACK body-drop, followed by a pair of dropkicks that send Honky backwards over the top rope. Koko tries bringing Honky back in with a suplex, but Jimmy sweeps the ankle, allowing Honky to land on top and get the three-count at 10:50. Yep, Honky needed outside interference to beat Koko. Nothing special, but nothing bad about it either. ** Taped for the April 6th episode of Prime Time Wrestling. Koko is reasonably closer to Honky on the pecking order than you would think (that's not saying Koko is heavily pushed, but he's not a complete geek yet), but that would not be the case much sooner than later. The bell rings and Honky powders. They lock up and Honky goes to work on the arm. Koko counters, connects with an atomic drop, and after messing with the hair, plants Honky with a slam. Whip to the ropes, Koko with a shoulder block and another slam. Honky with a short offensive burst, but he misses a fist drop and gets caught in a side headlock. Whip to the ropes and Honky takes control avoiding Koko's attempt to counter a back body-drop attempt. Koko's comeback is cut short with a knee to the midsection. Honky with a slam and a fist-drop from the second turnbuckle for a two-count. Whip to the ropes, Koko ducks a clothesline and hits a cross body press for two. Honky quickly regains control and sends Koko out of the ring. Back inside, Honky with a fireman's carry and elbow drop for another two-count. Honky kicks out of a sunset flip and lays the Birdman out with a clothesline. Koko with the comeback, sending Honky to the turnbuckle. Whip to the ropes and a BAAAAACK body-drop, followed by a pair of dropkicks that send Honky backwards over the top rope. Koko tries bringing Honky back in with a suplex, but Jimmy sweeps the ankle, allowing Honky to land on top and get the three-count at 10:50. Yep, Honky needed outside interference to beat Koko. Nothing special, but nothing bad about it either. **The Junk Drawer...
The Dynamite Kid returned to action for the first time in nearly 2-months as part of a Six-Man Tag with Tito Santana and Davey Boy Smith, but he never entered and participated in the match, so he's there literally for show. It's a minor miracle the man was able to do anything at WrestleMania III later in the month.The Honkytonk Man squashed "Leaping" Lanny Poffo in under 60-seconds (the man put in a legitimate effort on the same taping with Koko, you need to save some of your energy!) and his post-match celebration was interrupted when Jake Roberts began talking to him over the public address system, sending him running for cover.
Nikolai Volkoff's scheduled match against Rick Hunter never takes place when Hunter jumped Volkoff while he attempted to sing the Soviet Anthem and was beaten up and thrown out of the ring. Volkoff began singing again, and this time Jim Duggan, with his head bandaged to sell the assault from his second match with the Iron Sheik, runs out and chases everyone with the 2x4.
For our familiar faces who still get competitive matches on house shows but are clearly outside the bubble of talent who are worthy of a spot on PPV... Cpl. Kirchner is stuck tagging with Mario Mancini in a quick loss to the Magnificent Muraco and Bob Orton, Jerry Allen gets destroyed by King Harley Race, the duo of Iron Mike Sharpe and Jimmy Jack Funk are defeated by the Killer Bees, and Sivi Afi and Brad Rheingans are polished off by Demolition.
The Finale of Piper's Pit...
March 21st: As we've seen in recent weeks, Piper opens with words for Adrian Adonis, warning him that as bad as he wants to embarrass him with a haircut at WrestleMania III, doing so will be a far more difficult task than you could imagine. This leads to the introduction of WWF President Jack "On The Take" Tunney, who has gone ahead and approved the design of a new belt for the World Heavyweight Champion, a belt large enough to fit around the waist of Andre the Giant, if he were to win. Piper shows off the new belt, giving a clean look for the camera. Out comes Bobby Heenan and Andre the Giant, who waste little time in looking over the hardware and trying it on. Heenan congratulates Tunney on finally doing something right and lets everyone know they should get used to seeing the belt around the waist of the new Champion. Piper doesn't approve of this level of confidence. Andre has the belt, he has the manager, he has the title match, but the only thing he doesn't have is he hasn't won the match yet.March 28th: It's the final edition of Piper's Pit, and if it wasn't obvious, Piper begins removing the decorations of the set. He promises this will be the last Piper's Pit we'll ever see in our lives (lie detector explodes). He stands up on the table and talks about growing up on the streets without a mom or dad, and if not for professional wrestling, he would be in jail. Instead, he married a beautiful American woman and has two beautiful American girls. He's been stabbed and shot at, he's been on planes that went down, but none of it bothered him and made him want to retire. One day, his four year old grabbed his leg, crying, asking him not to go anymore. You can stab him or spit on him, but he's not going to let his kids go without a daddy, and he's going to go home and raise them to be great Americans. He's proud of this country because it allowed him to be the jerk he is, and when you came to see him fight, you got your money's worth. "Thank you to the WWF, and daddy's coming home."
The Feature Presentation...
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. The Iron Sheik (w/ Slick & Nikolai Volkoff)
Taped for broadcast on March 21st. This is a rare case of introducing a new Superstar in a match against an already established star. Duggan rushes the ring, with 2x4 in hand, to interrupt the singing of the Soviet anthem. He swings wildly at Slick as everyone, including the referee, bails out of the ring. Duggan quickly follows, and everyone runs for the hills. I'm sure John Bonello (the referee) had better things to do. Duggan returns to the ring and tells the crowd that he is holding the Iranian Sheik hostage and says this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. As long as Jim Duggan is alive, Nikolai will never sing that anthem again! No match, obviously, but FEAR NOT, we're going to run this back later on in the taping.The Can-Am Connection vs. Steve Lombardi & Johnny K-9
Taped for broadcast on March 28th. This easily could have been tucked away in our collection of geeks who were used for the house show runs but weren't beating anyone on syndication, but Johnny K-9 is worth a quick acknowledgement. Typically used as card filler when the WWF ran in/around Ontario, he wasn't used too many times for syndication. K-9 has a rather forgettable in-ring career that spanned several decades, but outside the ring, the man was a detestable pile of scum drug dealer, gang banger, bombed a police station, and served time for conspiracy to commit murder and was suspected of committing murder. Oh, for the match... Martel starts and gets hooked from the apron by Lombardi. K-9 accidentally hits his own partner and Martel follows up with a dropkick, knocking them into each other again. Zenk with a dropkick and fireman's carry takeover. Martel with an O'Connor Roll on K-9 for a two-count. Lombardi with ANOTHER shot from the apron to take control. Crisscross and they smack heads for a double-down. Zenk runs wild on K-9. Zenk with a whip and powerslam, and Martel finishes with a slingshot splash at 3:15. Lombardi worked about 20-seconds of the match, for those keeping track of that stuff.
Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Moondog Spot
Another match taped for broadcast on March 28th. We're looking into the crystal ball to make sure we're putting a focus on this one for a legitimate reason. Spot has been on solo job duty since Rex was repackaged for a week as Smash of Demolition, and now is scrambling for a new identity. Roberts goes for the arm and they trade hair pulls. Roberts catches Spot off the ropes with a hip toss and follows with a knee lift. Spot brings up a knee in the corner and pounds away. He plants Jake with a slam and comes off the second rope with a fist drop for a two-count. Spot sends Jake to the corner, but Jake leaps over a back body-drop attempt and finishes with the DDT at 1:50. Jake gave Spot quite a bit more compared to other stars during the last few tapings. That would be the last appearance for Moondog Spot in the WWF, by the way. He would soon find his way to Memphis, managed by Downtown Bruno and feuding with a young Jeff Jarrett, and continue to find work, usually on the Southern independent scene, until passing away in 2003. In a weird fun fact, Spot actually got booked for an NWA-TNA PPV that year, teaming with Jim Duggan in a win over Mike Sanders and Glen Gilberti."Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. The Iron Sheik (w/ Slick)
Taped for broadcast on April 4th. The TV audience was treated to taped promos to set up running the match out there for a second time. No Volkoff at ringside this time. Sheik gets the jump on Duggan, but Duggan counters a back body-drop attempt with a punt to the chest. Duggan with a slam and knee drop, sending Sheik to the floor for a quick conference with Slick. Back inside, Duggan puts the boots to Sheik and throws him into the corner. Sheik counters a clothesline then whacks Duggan across the face with a clothesline of his own. Duggan fights back, but Sheik rakes the eyes and dumps him to the floor. Slick attacks, and here comes Volkoff, snapping the cane over his head and beating him with the broken piece. Duggan is showing color as the heels do a 3-on-1 assault until the Killer Bees and Sivi Afi run out to chase everyone away. Call it a DQ finish in Duggan's favor at 3:00. This taping was certainly the Jim Duggan show, working two features, a dark match, AND running in during another match.WWF Wrestling Challenge Taping - March 11th, 1987
Taped from the Ohio Center in Columbus, OH. Hulk Hogan We've got quite a bit of unused content to cover for this taping. Hulk Hogan defended the WWF Championship against King Kong Bundy, defeating him in 5-minutes, The Can-Am Connection defeated the whacky duo of Kamala and Sika, Tom Magee went over Barry O, and The Shadow (Randy Colley under another masked gimmick) defeated Special Delivery Jones. There was a match between the Hart Foundation and Paul Roma and Jim Powers that was retaped for syndication, and two matches were taped that made broadcast on WWF Wrestling Spotlight, but aren't worth the time to cover here: Hillbilly Jim defeated Brian Costello (broadcast date March 21st) and Outback Jack defeated The Raider (April 4th). We have one match taped for Prime Time, then a handful of content for Wrestling Challenge worth mentioning...WWF Women's Tag Team Championship Match: Leilani Kai & Judy Martin (c) vs. Velvet McIntyre & Angie Minelli
Taped for broadcast on the March 16th episode of Prime Time Wrestling (surprisingly short turnaround time for the era). I don't think I've talked about it before, since we rarely get opportunities to talk about women's wrestling in the WWF, but Martin and Leilani are credited with winning the titles way back on August 1st, 1985... in CAIRO, EGYPT. We'll just assume that a tour took place and the women were booked, and go on with our business. It's more believable than the Rio de Janeiro stuff, and I think Leilani has posted pictures of herself in Egypt on social media, so there's at least a reasonable chance it happened. Contrary to information circulating the popular spots, this is pre-Glamour Girls, with both Leilani and Judy still wearing their unique singles gear, not introduced with a team name, and not represented by Jimmy Hart.There is NO crowd sweetening for this, which is very uncommon for the era. There's some shoving from the Champions before the bell and the challengers pay it back with dropkicks knocking Leilani and Martin off the apron. Minelli brings Leilani in and the challengers take turns working the arm. Martin offers help but it backfires. Whip and a shoulder block sends Velvet crashing to the canvas. Velvet regains control and starts tossing Martin around the ring before settling on the arm. Martin forces a break in the ropes and doesn't hesitate in taking a cheap shot. Whip to the ropes and Velvet with a twisting body press for two. Leilani and Velvet battle for control with a test-of-strength, with Leilani taking control with a straight-jacket chin-lock. Velvet avoids a leg drop and takes Leilani over with a victory roll, but Martin saves. Leilani with a back breaker and Martin spins Velvet out with a double handful of hair. Leilani comes off the second rope with a double chop for a two-count. Velvet bridges out of another pin attempt and comes off the ropes with a dropkick. Leilani prevents the tag and drops Velvet across the knee of Martin for two. Whip to the ropes and McIntyre misses a springboard body press. We get heel miscommunication, allowing Minelli to get the hot tag. She runs wild with dropkicks on Leilani, followed by a monkey flip. The Champs are knocked into each other and Minelli covers for a two-count. Whip is reversed and Martin nails Minelli from the apron. Velvet goes after Leilani while Martin makes Minelli part of the canvas with a Powerbomb (with gasp from the crowd), and Leilani covers to retain at 10:07. This was perfectly fine. Nothing to get too excited for, but they were working hard for a cold crowd.
THE SNAKE PIT...
March 22nd: Roberts is holding the new belt Bobby Heenan requested that would fit around Andre's waist. The sands of time are running out for a lot of people, one of them the Honkytonk Man. Jake says he's a tail shaker, while he's a bone-breaker. There's going to be two worlds colliding on March 29th when Hulk Hogan faces overwhelming odds. For the first time, the oddsmakers don't have faith in Hogan walking away victorious. Hogan knows what people are saying and it doesn't bother him. The belt Jake is holding in front of him was made for a man who hasn't won anything yet. Before Andre can wear that belt, he's going to need to beat him for the belt he's currently wearing. Jake points out that never before was a belt made before a title match specifically for the challenger, name-dropping King Kong Bundy. Hogan says Andre was on the verge of greatness, but is heading towards disaster with Weasel Heenan. He doesn't need that huge belt, because he has what it takes to carry the load as World Champion. Andre doesn't have the heart or the guts to carry that burden on his back and tells Andre that he can play with the new toy all he wants, but on March 29th, he can put it back in the box, because he won't be needing it after that.April 5th: Unfortunately, I couldn't find a complete version of the March 29th episode of Challenge. According to TheHistoryofWWE.com, Jake Roberts, like Piper on that weekend's episode of Superstar, was his own guest, probably cutting a last-second hard-sell promo on the Honkytonk Man. For April 5th's episode of Challenge, Jake's guest is Blackjack Mulligan, and the entire segment is Mulligan eating WWF Ice Cream Bars, and talking about putting BBQ sauce on them. Yeah, the same taping that had that Hogan hard-sell promo had THIS ridiculous commercial for the delicious frozen treats.
The Feature Presentation...
I guess I should address it again, but considering the era, the quality of matches on syndicated television isn't what we would have even a few years later, so I try to pick out matches that feature guys who I don't get to talk about too much, matches featuring new talent or a new direction for talent, and the occasional match that is legitimately between two pushed acts on the roster.Non-Title Match: The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis) vs. Paul Roma & Jim Powers
Taped for broadcast on March 22nd. We're still several months away from officially putting Roma and Powers together as a permanent semi-pushed team, but the seeds were sown and they were working more frequently as a team in syndication enhancement roles. Bret starts, driving a knee into the midsection of Roma and planting him with a slam. Whip to the ropes and Roma takes Hart over with a back body-drop. Roma follows with a dropkick and Powers tags in, sending Bret into the turnbuckle. Neidhart with a distraction, allowing Bret to regain control. Neidhart drops Powers throat-first across the top rope and sends him to the floor. Back inside, Bret with a dropkick and inverted atomic drop. Hitman connects with a back breaker and the Hart Attack finishes at 2:37. Post-match, the Hart Foundation dumps Roma out of the ring and Danny Davis drops a series of elbows on Powers to add insult to injury.Tito Santana (w/ The British Bulldogs) vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/ Johnny Valiant, Brutus Beefcake, and Dino Bravo)
Taped for broadcast on March 29th, the same day as WrestleMania III. That's quite the collection of people hanging around ringside, so we won't take any bets on the finish, because we all know where this one is going. Lockup to the ropes and Valentine with a shot to the midsection. Santana fires back with right hands and goes to work on the left leg of the Hammer. Valentine with a slam and his signature wind-up forearm drop for a two-count. Santana fights out of a chin-lock. Whip to the corner and Santana bounces out with a forearm. Valentine cuts him off, taking him to the canvas with a snap mare and dropping a headbutt across the abdomen. Santana blocks the Figure-Four, sending Valentine to the turnbuckle. Santana with more right hands, disregarding the referee's count. Santana blocks an atomic drop and slaps on the Figure-Four, but Dino Bravo sneaks in to pull Valentine to safety while the referee is distracted by Valiant. Chaos erupts as Bravo and Valiant put the boots to Santana before getting chased from ringside by Matilda. Brutus didn't seem too interested in getting involved. Oh, it's a Double Disqualification at 3:51. Not much of a match, but always fun to see Santana and Valentine mix it up.
"Adorable" Adrian Adonis (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Corporal Kirchner
Another match taped for March 29th. It feels like forever with the changes in the television presentation, but once upon a time, this was a PPV match! Yes, Kirchner and Adonis were the opening match of the Wrestling Classic Tournament from November 1985. Kirchner maintained a modest push through the first half of 1986, but fell off hard by the time we made the transition from Championship Wrestling and All-Star Wrestling to Superstars and Challenge. I probably spent more time putting that little bit together than this match will be. Lockup into the corner and the referee forces a clean break. Why is Hebner giving Kirchner the business? Kirchner with a side headlock and a series of shoulder blocks, sending Adonis to the floor. Back inside, Adonis buries a knee into the midsection. Whip is reversed and Kirchner takes Adonis over with a BAAAAACK body-drop. Adonis counters a headlock with a back suplex and comes off the top rope with a forearm across the chest for three at 2:10. I know it's just a short sprint, but I don't know why Adonis gave the entire match to Kirchner. He's not the guy sitting near the top of the card for WrestleMania III.Kamala (w/ Mr. Fuji & Kim-Chee) vs. Sam Cody
Taped for broadcast on April 5th. The April 4th episode of Superstars featured a pre-tape announcing that Mr. Fuji would take over the contracts of Kamala and Sika, writing off The Wizard. Kamala has felt like an afterthought in recent weeks, and it looks like going forward, he'll be teaming with Sika more often. Mr. Cody looks like your typical patron from your local honky tonk bar. Cody doesn't know what to make of Kamala and is quickly overwhelmed. Kamala throws him around and nails him coming off the ropes with a chop. Kamala with a slam and splash. He climbs to the top rope, and a flying splash finishes at 0:57. Post-match, Kamala threatens to come off the top rope again, but is talked down by Kim-Chee. Just your typical Kamala squash, featured for being paired up with Mr. Fuji.Final Thoughts: We desperately need for WrestleMania III to come so we can move on and introduce new storylines at the TV tapings for our heavy hitters. I've honestly forgotten the last time TV featured significant angle development, and SPOILERS, the next set of tapings, recorded BEFORE WrestleMania III, probably doesn't do much either (the best we can hope for is a debut or something along those lines). If you're looking for some deep cuts, the best you're getting here is Koko pushing Honkytonk Man to the limits and a solid Women's Tag. Coming up next, the WWF returns to Philadelphia's Spectrum (and if you're looking for Saturday Night's Main Event, we've got that in the archives).
Sound Off!
Comment about this article on Da' Wrestling Boards!