WWF TV Taping Double Feature: New Haven, CT - February 16th, 1987 | Springfield, MA - February 17th, 1987
by Scrooge McSuck
We're STILL on the road to WrestleMania III, and it's another package recap of TV. The content taped for Superstars of Wrestling (New Haven) and Wrestling Challenge (Springfield) will cover the broadcast period of February 28th through March 15th. If you're paying attention to dates, that means the next set of tapings will include content for the week before AND after WrestleMania, a trend that would be business as usual for the next few years. Just like our last Double Feature, there's not a ton of meat on the bone here, with all the storylines locked in for WrestleMania, and most of the heavy lifting done in the studios with promos taped to sell the big event.
WWF Superstars of Wrestling Taping - February 16th, 1987
Taped from the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, CT. The live house was treated to Hulk Hogan defeating Hercules to retain the WWF Championship, and Roddy Piper defeating Adrian Adonis, both relatively short matches compared to typical house show matches. Neither match has surfaced on home video or international broadcasts, but you probably know what you're getting from them. Several matches were taped for Prime Time Wrestling and International TV, but nothing that jumps out as something worth dedicating more than a quick mention: Ron Bass pinned Salvatore Bellomo (taped for Prime Time Wrestling, broadcast on April 6th), The Islanders defeated Moondog Spot and The Gladiator (Prime Time, broadcast April 27th), and Blackjack Mulligan pinned Joe Mirto (featured on International Wrestling Challenge).IN THE PIT WITH PIPER...
Despite the breaking news from the February 21st episode of Superstars, Roddy Piper continues with Piper's Pit as we march towards his retirement at WrestleMania III. We'll take a look at each segment taped for Superstars, compiling them in one section for the sake of keeping things organized.
February 28th: Tito Santana and The British Bulldogs are the guests, but not before Piper cuts a quick promo on Adrian Adonis. These three men all have a bone to pick with Danny Davis. Davey says when they're done with Davis, they're coming for the Hart Foundation, who stole their belts. Santana says now Davis is one of them, and they're going to find out how tough he is at WrestleMania III. Wow, this was a terrible promo.
March 7th: Andre the Giant is Piper's invited guest, because Piper wants to hear from Andre himself, but Bobby Heenan comes out anyway and tells Piper he is tired of being disrespected. Piper cuts him off, because he doesn't want to hear from Heenan anymore. Suddenly, Captain Lou Albano shows up wanting to know what's going on with Andre and why he's listening to a half-wit like Heenan. Albano says he hopes that Hogan whips Andre's butt. Andre doesn't appreciate those words and intimidates Albano off the stage. That might be the last time we see Captain Lou on WWF TV for quite a long while.
March 14th: World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan is our guest to keep pushing that WrestleMania III Main Event. Piper mentions this might be one of the last Pit's we ever see, and in two weeks, if Adrian doesn't cut his hair, he's going to cut Adrian's, and he doesn't plan on walking away a loser. Hogan says there's no way he'll let any "fat boy" put a sleeper on him and make him lay down. Piper says they'll have to bury Hogan 6-feet under the ground to get the belt off him. I LOVE SHOOT COMMENTS THAT AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SHOOT COMMENTS. No one gives Hogan a chance. Andre is 7'5"! 500 POUNDS! UNDEFEATED! Hogan doesn't know if he can pick Andre up, but he's going to try. Andre is fighting for money and greed like the Weasel, but Hulk is fighting for all the Hulkamaniacs. When Andre ripped the shirt and crucifix off, he tore the heart and souls from the little Hulksters, and he promised to get him for that.
NOW FOR OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION(S)...
Here is where we will recap all the "star vs star" matches taped for TV, with a few liberties based on my own whims, since I've had so little to really work with on this set of tapings. When the WWF features a ton of their prelim/JTTS talent (you know the names, people in the Jimmy Jack Funk tier), it really limits the level of matches most people would say is worth the attention, but when these same names are all over the house show loop, sometimes it's OK to give them a little respect on these taping recaps, even if their matches are no-doubters.
Billy Jack Haynes vs. King Kong Bundy (w/ Bobby Heenan)
Taped for broadcast on February 28th. I wonder if we're going to get an appearance from Hercules in this match featuring his stablemate and his rival as we approach WrestleMania III. Lockup, Bundy drives a knee to the midsection and clubs Haynes with a forearm. Haynes avoids a big splash and lays into Bundy with chops. Whip is reversed and Bundy clobbers Haynes with a clothesline. Bundy controls with more clubbing and a scoop slam. Whip to the corner, Haynes avoids the Avalanche and slaps on the Full Nelson. Heenan hops in to take a shot at Haynes, drawing the Disqualification at 1:51. Haynes stalks Heenan around the ring until Hercules shows up and attacks from behind. IT'S A TRAP! Bundy and Hercules get some shots in before booting Haynes out of the ring like a sack of garbage. A nothing-burger with a value side of shenanigans.The Can-Am Connection & Lanny Poffo vs. Adrian Adonis (w/ Jimmy Hart) and The Dream Team (w/ Johnny Valiant & Dino Bravo)
Also featured on February 28th. There's just way too many people at ringside for the heel side. Poffo reads a poem about Roddy Piper cutting Adonis' hair at WrestleMania III and calls Adonis a "fat, disgusting slob." It's a donnybrook at the bell, with the Can-Am Poet Society clearing the ring. Things settle down, with Martel and Beefcake in the ring. Martel blocks being sent to the turnbuckle and grabs a side headlock. Crisscross and Martel counters a hip toss with a back-slide for two. Valentine comes in from the top rope with a double axe-handle, but Martel quickly cuts him off and the Can-Am's take turns working the arm. Valentine blocks a roll-up but misses an elbow. Zenk with a pair of dropkicks, knocking Valentine into the corner. Whip across the ring and Valentine counters a charging attack with a clothesline. Martel back in, taking shots at everyone. The numbers game catches up on Martel, and Adonis grabs a pair of scissors while Martel is getting worked over. Then in the most ridiculously contrived spot you could imagine, Martel switches positions, putting Beefcake in the corner. Adonis starts cutting his hair, NOT REALIZING IT'S NOT BEEFCAKE, and the shock of it all distracts Beefcake enough to get rolled up for three at 3:52. Excluding the brain-dead logic for the finish, it was a fine, super-accelerated match between the Dream Team and Can-Am Connection.Brad Rheingans & Special Delivery Jones vs. The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Slick)
Taped for broadcast on March 7th. We're highlighting this one because we're not going to see much of Rheingans. He's much better known for his work in AWA and seems like a random name to sign considering the style that the WWF presented and the major drawbacks of Rheingans as a worker (zero personality). Rheingans and Sheik start. Lockup and Sheik with a fireman's carry. Rheingans with a head-scissors and back to a neutral stance. Rheingans grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. Crisscross and Rheingans with a hip toss, followed by a suplex for a two-count. Sheik counters a back body-drop with a punt to the chest and spits at Rheingans. Volkoff in doing the bare minimum. Rheingans fights out of the corner and tags in Jones. He runs wild with left hands and headbutts on both men. Atomic drop on Volkoff gets a one-count. Jones misses a charge in the corner, smacking his shoulder on the post. Volkoff with a back breaker and Sheik finishes with the Camel Clutch at 3:08. This was a decent little match!The Killer Bees vs. Tiger Chung Lee & Iron Mike Sharpe
Taped for broadcast on March 14th. Poor Tiger Chung Lee and Mike Sharpe get no respect for all the work they do as prelim geeks on the house show circuit. They might not be stars, but they deserve a little shine from time to time, right? The Bees have the ridiculous long tights under the bees trunks along with the tennis shoes. JESUS. Blair and Sharpe start. Lockup and Blair with a fireman's carry into an arm bar. Crisscross and Blair with a monkey-flip, followed by a pair of arm drags. Brunzell takes over on the arm with Sharpe bellowing the entire time. Sharpe slams Brunzell and tags in Tiger, who is immediately taken to the canvas and gets his arm worked on. Tiger catches Brunzell off the ropes with a slam but misses an elbow drop. Brunzell with a slam and arm drag before going back to the arm. Brunzell gets caught in the heel corner and worked over like it's 1979. Brunzell tries fighting his way to the corner, but Tiger grabs a front face-lock and the referee misses the tag thanks to Sharpe's shenanigans. Sharpe accidentally whacks Tiger with the forearm brace, allowing Blair to get the tag. Whip is reversed and Blair with the Bee Sting. He boots Tiger with an atomic drop and Brunzell with his signature dropkick for three at 4:48. OK, maybe we didn't need to try and give these guys shine. This was pretty dull stuff.Before we jump into the Challenge taping, just a quick mention of the talent featured in action that we haven't seen featured above in any other matches or interview segments: The Rougeau Brothers, The Honkytonk Man, Kamala, The Junkyard Dog, Ricky Steamboat, Demolition (still with Johnny Valiant), Macho Man Randy Savage (squashing Sivi Afi), Koko B. Ware (squashing Barry O), Hercules, King Harley Race, and The Hart Foundation. After watching the Foundation as the center of attention of several tapings, it's nice to see them pull back a little so we don't get sick of them. The home audience was treated to vignettes of a new arrival, but since they didn't appear for the live audience, we'll hold off on that one...
WWF Wrestling Challenge Taping - February 17th, 1987
Taped from the Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, MA with a sell-out crowd of 9,000 fans in attendance. As you've come to expect, the Wrestling Challenge taping isn't going to surpass the quality of Superstars, but with so little happening as we approach WrestleMania III, we can at least hope to keep pace with a few decent matches and maybe slipping in an angle or two. Two matches taped for cable programming featured the Islanders over Al Navarro and Joe Mirto (February 23rd Prime Time) and Blackjack Mulligan defeating Tiger Chung Lee (February 28th episode of Spotlight). For stuff that has never surfaced and intended exclusively for the live audience, Hulk Hogan defended the WWF Championship against Kamala in the main event, with Ron Bass pinning Jerry Allen and Tom Magee defeating Terry Gibbs. We've got one match before getting to the content taped for Challenge...Non-Title Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/ Elizabeth) vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Originally advertised as Savage vs George "The Animal" Steele (OF COURSE), and featured on International broadcasts of WWF programming. Roberts immediately sends Savage running from the ring with Damian unleashed. Very light "DDT" chants as Savage climbs the ropes and tries to intimidate Roberts. Lockup, Savage grabs an arm bar but Roberts escapes with an arm drag. Savage hangs out on the floor, tricking Roberts into a game of cat-and-mouse. The plan doesn't pay off and Savage powders again. Back inside, Roberts grabs a side headlock. Savage takes him over with a hip toss but misses an elbow. Roberts teases a DDT, but Savage slides out of the ring to avoid the attack. Roberts keeps getting the better of things and another DDT attempt is unsuccessful. Savage grabs the ring bell and teases bringing in the ring before letting it go. Savage finally has things under control, taking Roberts' head off with his signature clothesline. Savage prevents Roberts from grabbing the bag containing Damian. Back inside, Savage with a knee across the chest, followed by a flying axe-handle for a near-fall. Roberts counters a slam with a small package for two. Roberts fights to his feet and unloads with a series of left jabs. Whip to the ropes and Savage counters a back body-drop with a punt to the chest. Roberts nails Savage as he comes off the top rope and the DDT finishes at 7:15! Roberts pinned Savage clean as a sheet! I don't have all the records in front of me, but this is the only time I recall Roberts pinning Savage. ***IN THE SNAKE PIT...
With Jake Roberts officially turning babyface at the last set of tapings, I guess we should expect a little more comradery with the other babyfaces and a little more hostility towards the heels. Interesting that of all the matches announced for WrestleMania III, Jake vs Honkytonk Man is the last one official for the card.
March 1st: Roberts lets us know that he's a little rough around the edges and a little cold at heat, but even he would normally have sympathy for a blind man. The Honkytonk Man has two good eyes and doesn't see what he's done. This week's guests are Hercules and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Roberts wastes no time grilling Heenan, asking to see his hands and telling him that only honest men have blisters on their hands and dirt under the nails. Heenan tells Roberts that he wishes he had someone like the Brain to guide him, which Roberts quickly shoots down with "remember when I said no?". Hercules finally starts talking, putting Billy Jack Haynes down as a normal mortal man who doesn't have a chance in the ring. By 1987 standards, I guess that was accurate. Don't ask anyone about Billy Jack from the last... uh... three decades.
March 8th: Jake says men do things without thinking, but it's hard to apologize to a dead man, and this leads to a short promo on Honkytonk Man. Roberts owes him one and will drop him like a bad habit. This week, we have a STRANGE combination for WrestleMania III, Hillbilly Jim, The Haiti Kid and Little Beaver. The little guys seem worried about Damian, but Roberts assures them both that Damian has already been fed. The big question for them is what is going to happen if Bundy tries to squash the little guys like grapes. Jim says he made a promise that Bundy won't lay a fat finger on either of their heads. LIAR. He also says that he's got a big score to settle from a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away, I presume). This promo felt as thrown together as the match on the card.
March 15th: Jake says he's lived his life by intimidating people. If you can make people fear you, then you have them in the palm of your head. There's a lot of questions to be answered at WrestleMania which segues to Roberts telling us he will have Alice Cooper in his corner while Honkytonk has the one-hit-wonder Jimmy Hart. Suddenly, Bobby Heenan comes out with Andre the Giant. Wow, Heenan on the segment TWICE for the same taping. Jake wants answers from Andre, but Heenan says he's the only one doing the talking. We get the same old routine about Andre being undefeated and taken advantage of. This time they're going to use Hulk Hogan to get what they want, and that is the WWF Heavyweight Championship. Andre remains silent the entire time and Heenan closes by saying WrestleMania III will be the end of Hulkamania (Spoilers: It will not be the end of Hulkamania).
Before we jump into the matches I'd like to highlight that were taped for Wrestling Challenge, I want to mention that there was a match between Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff announced for TV that ended up not taking place. Also, because I'm such a weirdo, I wanted to recap Ricky Steamboat vs "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty that was intended for the March 15th episode, but for whatever reason, it appears to be the one segment from the show I cannot find anywhere. I also left Billy Jack Haynes vs. Moondog Spot out because it's another minute-long squash of the poor Moondog, and we already talked about him at the last taping.
Non-Title Match: The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis) vs. Lanny Poffo & "Special Delivery" Jones
Taped for broadcast on March 1st. S.D. Jones lucks into TWO spots in my showcase thanks to the lack of availability to the Steamboat/Doherty match from this taping. After watching the Piper's Pit featuring the Bulldogs and Tito, I'm not at all surprised with the result we got at WrestleMania III. Davis is still wearing the ridiculous striped jacket and trunks. I guess it's slightly better than the white body suit top and striped tights, but only barely. Poffo reads a poem about Davis having the stripes knocked off his butt at the Pontiac Silverdome. Neidhart opens by planting a boot to the midsection. He misses a charge to the corner and Poffo nails him with a dropkick. Jones tags in and Bret quickly takes him out with a shot from the apron. Neidhart with a slam and Bret drops an elbow from the second rope, followed by a leg drop. Bret with a boot to the midsection and a back-breaker for two. Jones tries fighting out of the corner, but is quickly cut off. Whip and Jones surprise Bret with a sunset flip for two. The Foundation with the Hart Attack and it's over at 2:37. Wow, Poffo did practically nothing out there, and Davis was a complete non-factor! I'm honestly disappointed by this one, even with the low-standards of a syndicated quasi-squash promised on paper. At least everything the Hart Foundation did looked crisp.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Slick & The Iron Sheik)
Also featured on March 1st. Wow, in another universe, this could be a feud of the month from mid 70's WWWF! Maybe. I don't know Volkoff's career too well. I probably should have done research before making that crack. Volkoff attacks from behind, putting the boots to the Living Legend. Whip to the ropes and Volkoff drives a knee to the chest. Nikolai throws some sorry looking rights and lefts. Whip to the corner and Bruno brings up the boots. Bruno throws a series of right hands and goes to work on the body. Now it's Bruno throwing boots and knees. Bruno turns Volkoff over with a single-leg crab but the Sheik runs in for the disqualification at 2:40. Bruno shrugs off the run-in, planting Sheik with a slam. It appears to be a 2-on-1, but Bruno doesn't back down, and the Killer Bees run in to make sure Volkoff and Sheik leave the ring. Well, that was a turd of an ending. Had Volkoff and Sheik beat up on Bruno, it would be fine, but the fact he doesn't back down kills them. They're former Tag Team Champions and Sheik is a former WWF Champion!Tito Santana vs. Barry O
Taped for broadcast on March 8th. How many times will I get to talk about Barry O on these taping cycles?! The answer is obvious, because we're giving him a showcase right now. While Barry was a decent hand in the ring, his biggest claim(s) to fame are being the brother of Bob Orton and uncle of Randy Orton, and the sexual misconduct scandal that hit the WWF hard in 1991-92. Lockup, Barry grabs a side headlock but Santana quickly counters with a top wrist-lock, sending Barry to the ropes. They fight for control of a waist-lock and Barry goes to the ropes a second time. If this were a pure rules match in ROH, he would only have one break left! Barry comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. Santana blocks a hip toss, countering with his own, and sends Barry to the floor following a pair of dropkicks. Back inside, Santana controls with a side headlock. Barry with the escape, putting the boots to Tito and planting him with a slam. Santana avoids a twisting elbow drop and throws rights of his own, but Barry cuts him off by dumping him over the top rope. Slick shows up at ringside, smacking Santana with his cane. Tito has been on the floor for a hot minute. Barry brings Santana in from the apron with a slam for a near-fall. Whip to the ropes and Santana nails his signature flying forearm for the three-count at 4:43. They were having a decent little match for syndication standards. I guess Slick attacking Santana continues to remind fans that Tito vs. Butch Reed is in the cards for a house show run.Final Thoughts: Another set of tapings that feels like you're going to enjoy more as a finished television product than for an evening of live entertainment. With WrestleMania III locked in, there's not much to get excited about as far as new angle developments, there's no new Superstars making their debuts, and we're still light on name vs name matches. I guess they tried to remedy that with the JJTS squad being used a ton instead of the "who the heck are these people" tier of jobbers. The one thing that jumps out the most is Bruno Sammartino making his last in-ring appearance for syndicated TV, and it's for WRESTLING CHALLENGE.
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