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WWF at Johnstown, PA
May 21, 1985

by Scrooge McSuck

Time for another trip down the Fan-Cam rabbit hole. I think I've only covered one other show taped from Johnstown, PA (March of 1988), and based on other lineups available, this location never got much more than a C-tour card, and that's OK, as long as you've got the right people working the show to make up for the lack of star power.

This is one of three (known) cards the WWF ran on May 21st, all with different lineups. Cape Girardeau, MO got Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase, Demolition vs Strike Force, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. The One Man Gang, Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules, and George Steele vs Jim Neidhart (results unavailable), and the Philadelphia Spectrum got Jake Roberts def. Rick Rude, Don Muraco def. Greg Valentine, Andre the Giant def. Jim Duggan, Bret Hart and Bad News Brown going to a Time Limit, Haku, Chief Afi, and Heenan def. The Bulldogs and Koko, The Rougeaus def. The Young Stallions, and Jerry Allen def. Steve Lombardi. I guess that doesn't leave much for available talent, but we'll cross our fingers and hope for the best...

Jose Luis Rivera vs. The Big Boss Man:

The Boss Man made his first appearance for the WWF earlier in the month, but was a month away from his first television appearance. Last seen in Jim Crockett Promotions as "Big Bubba Rogers", the Boss Man is Ray Traylor being presented as a rough and brutal former prison guard, tapping into his real-life position as a corrections officer. Not much to say about Rivera beyond a mainstay of the mid-late 80's working almost exclusively as enhancement talent. If there was a masked man running around at TV tapings, it was a good bet Rivera was involved (working under gimmicks like the Conquistadors and Shadows, among others).

Boss Man shows off his size and strength advantage, throwing Rivera into the corner. Rivera ducks an overhand right and lands several blows that Boss Man shrugs off and mockingly applauds. Boss Man drives a knee into the midsection and works the body. Rivera escapes, hitting Boss Man with a pair of boots to the face, but does nothing to follow up on the opening. He works the Boss Man's arm for about 5-seconds, but gets cut off with an eye rake. Boss Man with a lot of plodding offense, including a bunch of choking and kicks. Rivera gets dumped over the top rope, onto the hardwood floor. Back inside, Boss Man with a whip and clothesline. He tries it again and Rivera bounces back with a body press, only for Boss Man to catch and counter with a back breaker. He misses a splash, allowing Rivera another small window of offensive opportunity, but a dropkick only gets a one-count. Rivera hits the ropes and Boss Man puts him away with the sidewalk slam at 6:42. Cookie cutter squash match for the Boss Man, who didn't do too much. *

Sam Houston vs. "Dangerous" Danny Davis:

They really went around the horn forever with this one. For those unfamiliar, Davis is the crooked referee-turned-wrestler, practically handing the Tag Team Titles to the Hart Foundation and conveniently being the referee when Randy Savage defeated Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Title way back in early 1986. Sam Houston made his (official) debut on WWF TV towards the end of 1987, presented as a plucky underdog that was given little respect. I say "official" because he worked house shows as early as May 1987, and would pop up from time to time on Prime Time, but rarely did Prime Time continuity go along with what was presented on syndication.

Houston comes in showing off some fancy footwork, and there's a good chance that will be the highlight of the match. Davis insists the referee check Houston's gear and throws a punch over his shoulder. He tries to big d_ck Houston and a shoving match doesn't go well for him. Davis hides on the apron, mocking Houston's two-step, so Houston pantomimes that Davis is a chicken. Back inside, Davis controls with a headlock, grabbing the hair repeatedly until Houston gets fed up and chases him out of the ring. Houston takes advantage of the referee distracting Davis and hits a body press for two. They do a cute routine where the referee misses Houston biting Davis' hand, but catches Davis whenever he grabs the hair or trunks. Lots of shtick from Houston, and the crowd is digging it. Davis manages to regain control, staggering Houston with a headbutt and hitting a jumping clothesline for a two-count. Houston blocks a suplex, countering with his own. Davis cuts him off and throws him through the ropes. Davis repeatedly blocks Houston returning to the ring, firing Houston up enough to eventually come in from the apron with a sunset flip. Houston misses a charge in the corner. Davis signals for a bulldog (Houston's big move), but Houston counters and hits the bulldog himself for the three-count at 16:03. I enjoyed some of this, mostly Sam Houston's work, but it was way, WAY too long. Davis could play to the crowd and make things fun for a little bit, but asking ANYONE to get 16-minutes out of him is asking too much. *½

Ken Patera vs. Dino Bravo:

AAAAHHH!!! Can I get Danny Davis going broadway, instead? PLEASE? OK, might as well be fair. Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine quietly split towards the end of 1987, giving us our first singles push of heel Dino Bravo, adopting a "strongest man" gimmick supported by his effort to set a new world record at the 1988 Royal Rumble. Patera, who did the strongman routine himself years earlier, is completely washed up, running on fumes for a weak babyface run where his real-life incarceration was somehow used to get sympathy against Bobby Heenan. Patera ended up injuring his bicep and the storyline was dropped, with Patera mostly performing in the role of a JTTS for the remainder of his WWF tenure.

Before the match begins, Bravo challenges Patera to an arm wrestling match, because that's what strong guys are known for. If you've never seen this angle before, the heel usually does a chicken sh*t routine, stalling for time to get the crowd more invested, then sucker-punches the babyface when he's just about to lose. Of course, this plays out differently because it's Dino Bravo and he's THE WORST. Patera wins the contest, so Bravo demands a rematch. This time Bravo with the sucker punch (or sucker clothesline). He flips over the table and starts pounding away on Patera. He drops an elbow across the back of the head, THEN SLAMS THE DAMN TABLE ON HIM! The crowd chants U-S-A as Patera is dumped to the floor. The referee blocks Bravo from doing further damage, and it looks like the match is canceled. I guess we're the winners. They did this routine quite often at the time, including the regional broadcast from Madison Square Garden on April 25th. Some sources list Bravo as winner by forfeit, but he was sent away from the ring, so it feels more like a no contest in my eyes.

"Leaping" Lanny Poffo vs. Jos LeDuc:

The hits keep coming. LeDuc was one of the more interesting "blink and you missed them" characters from this era. A veteran of the Canadian territories (as well as runs in the US, most notably in the southern states), LeDuc's career was winding down by this point, and was never formally introduced to the TV audience. He made a handful of appearances on Prime Time, in at least one appearance going by the name "The Headbanger", but was gone almost as soon as he came in. He was used for the film "No Holds Barred", so maybe giving him a few months worth of house show dates was part of the deal. I don't think Lanny Poffo needs much backstory, he's an underneath babyface who wrote poems on novelty flying discs and was usually putting people over.

LeDuc appears to be using his familiar lumberjack gimmick, based on the attire of sleeveless flannel and blue jeans. I must plead ignorance, as I never realized how many Canadian gimmicks were based around being lumberjacks, but that feels like something from the era before I was becoming a fan. LeDuc hops in the ring and immediately starts unloading on Poffo. Poffo is dumped outside. Every match/angle on this show has done a "heel throws a face out of the ring" spot. Can the agent get this stuff under control?! Back inside, LeDuc controls with more punching. People that were hot for DANNY DAVIS are sitting on their hands for this snoozer. Poffo's comeback is cut short after about 5-seconds and LeDuc finishes with a softer than baby-poop back breaker at 3:13. I hate to dump on a match that is as long as a typical commercial break these days, but this was awful and I can see why LeDuc didn't last very long.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
The Honkytonk Man (c) (w/ Peggy Sue) vs. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake:

Hey, we're finally getting some star power. Honky is closing in on one year as the reigning Intercontinental Champion, having perfected the chicken-sh*t heel routine. These two met at WrestleMania IV (a match without any true build) and Honky snuck out with the belt thanks to Jimmy Hart drawing a DQ on his behalf. Unfortunately for Jimmy, Beefcake gave him a terrible haircut, necessitating Hart wearing a beret for most of the Spring. At this point of their house show loop, they're running with the gimmick that Jimmy Hart is banned from ringside, so of course Peggy Sue is here and looking a little off from how we're used to seeing her.

It's nearly impossible to hear, but I hope to God that Beefcake is leading a chant of "haircut." Beefcake gives chase, with Honky staying a healthy distance in front of him. He tries getting the jump on Beefcake in the ring, but the plan backfires. Beefcake chokes Honky with a piece of his entrance gear, no doubt learning the trick from his friend to the end (or at least until 2015). Honky cuts Beefcake off and throws some short punches. Beefcake blocks being sent to the turnbuckle and gives Honky a taste instead. Honky over-sells an atomic drop and Beefcake drops an elbow below the belt. Brutus gets the sleeper applied, but Honky fights free and "Peggy Sue" picks the ankle, distracting Beefer long enough for Honky to bop him from behind. Jesus, Davis and Houston look like they're holding MOTN honors deep into this one. I'd rather have a bunch of shtick over endless punching and choking. We change things up with a long chin-lock. Brutus escapes, but is quickly cut-off. Honky with a snap mare and three elbow drops for a two-count. Why did I pick this show? Beefcake with the real comeback, winning a slugfest and hitting a big boot. Beefcake feels so uncoordinated in everything he does. Seriously, everything looks terrible. They can't even pull off a smooth sleeper hold spot. Peggy Sue runs in, and it's a lame DQ at 12:58. Beefcake rips off the wig, revealing Jimmy Hart, then strips him to his underwear. I'm knocking the rating down for having to look at that. There wasn't much to say to paint this in a positive light. The action was boring, Beefcake looked like the least athletic guy on the show not named Jos LeDuc, we got a f*ck finish, and we got to watch a cross-dressing Jimmy Hart stripped to his underwear. ¼*

The Killer Bees vs. The Bolsheviks:

Sure, I'll take anything after that last match. Welcome to prelim purgatory! Boris Zhukov was snatched away from the AWA in the Fall of ‘87, giving Volkoff a new tag team partner following the termination of the Iron Sheik. They were never pushed, but were always used at TV, and when Volkoff is the worker of the team, you've got problems. B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell have worked as an underneath tag team for nearly 3-years, and never got a significant run as the top babyface team of the division. There was an idea kicked around earlier in 1988 to have the Bees turn heel, using their masked confusion gimmick for evil purposes, but the idea was scrapped almost immediately, and they chugged along until the Summer before the decision was made to split them up.

Blair and Volkoff start, but not before we make sure to add the tag ropes to the appropriate corners! Volkoff does the dastardly act of picking the ankle of Blair from the outside to get the unfair advantage. Zhukov and his perfectly shaped cranium misses a charge into the corner, allowing Brunzell to tag in and work the leg. The Bees with a double spinning toe hold. Zhukov rakes the eyes of Blair but can't get to his corner. The crowd is surprisingly more vocal for this than for Honky and Beefcake. Volkoff tags in and he's doing no better than his partner. I swear, about 5 straight minutes of leg locks from the Bees. Zhukov with a shot from the apron to finally turn the tide for the evil communists. Brunzell gets dumped out and Zhukov works on him while the referee is distracted. That poor referee has worked pretty much every match tonight. A headbutt from Zhukov should be considered an illegal move. Whip to the ropes and Volkoff catches a diving Brunzell in a bearhug. Zhukov with a handful of trunks to keep Brunzell in their corner. Brunzell blocks a suplex and takes Zhukov over with his own. The referee misses the tag, but Brunzell comes right back with a dropkick on Boris. Blair with the hot tag, running wild with right hands and a BAAAACK body-drop. Atomic drop and school-boy roll-up from Blair for a two-count. Heck breaks loose with all four men in the ring. Brunzell dropkicks Blair on top of Zhukov, but Volkoff gently steps on Blair and puts Zhukov on top of him for the three-count at 15:08. Sure, why not. Not a "good" match, but at least they were working instead of standing around playing to the crowd for most of it. I'd act surprised the Bolsheviks won, but it's the Bees... beating the Bulldogs later in the Spring and Summer was a bigger deal. *½

The Junkyard Dog vs. "The Outlaw" Ron Bass:

The final match of the card, THANK GOD. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Beefcake vs Honky was the advertised main event, but they're probably putting this on last to send the fans home happy (or as happy as you'll be sitting through 10+ minutes of washed JYD trying to perform). Bass started with the WWF in early 1987, and I believe was penciled in for a program with Blackjack Mulligan, but that ended up going nowhere, and Bass just hung around as a mid-level filler heel until finally getting an angle shot with the JYD shortly after WrestleMania IV. Speaking of JYD, whatever aura he had in his earlier days with the WWF are long gone. He's still over, but his physique has gradually worsened and he wasn't bringing much value to the show once the bell rings.

Bass plays to the crowd, ignoring JYD patting him on the back. JYD chokes him and hits him with the chain he wears to the ring, and the referee seems cool with it. Bass gets wrapped up with the chain and knocked out of the ring following a headbutt. The chain is used again to choke Bass out, and the referee just lets it happen. That should have been an immediate DQ! Bass wants to use Old Betsy, but thinks better of it when he sees the chain is still in JYD's hands. They finally lock up and JYD chases Bass into a compromised position on the ring post. They do the test-of-strength spot. Bass cheats but JYD is able to send him out of the ring with more headbutts. Bass takes over following a cheap shot in the corner. I guess I should point out that JYD is terrible at selling. Bass gets him up for a slam, the first offense worth noting in quite a while. Whip is reversed, Bass avoids a charge in the corner and lays out the Dog with a clothesline. JYD busts out a butt-ugly inside cradle for two. Why is a man with zero cardio booked to go out there for this long? JYD starts no-selling and hits a Russian leg sweep for a two-count. Whip to the corner and Bass pops out with a clothesline for two. He celebrates prematurely and JYD rolls him up for three at 13:40. This was a lot of nothing and JYD looking bad at whatever he tried to do. I know you're running a shorter show, but there was no need to have JYD work this long. -*

Final Thoughts: A complete stinker of a show, with none of the matches cracking 2-stars and the two most prominently featured matches failing to deliver anything close to satisfactory entertainment. When the best match on the card involves Danny Davis in singles action, there's not much to get excited about. I've seen my fair share of fan-cam shows and I can safely say this one is probably as bad as you're going to get from the WWF.

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