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WWF Prime Time Wrestling - Sep 11, 1989

by Scrooge McSuck

- Courtesy of WWE Classics On Demand (or whatever it's called), it's time for some more Prime Time Wrestling fun. The last time I had access to WWE 24/7 (as it was called at the time), Prime Time was airing shows from July 1987. That was well over five years ago. Took them that long to get to the post-SummerSlam '89 stuff.

- Gorilla Monson and Rowdy Roddy Piper are our hosts... wait, what?! I guess this was around the time when Piper and Bobby Heenan were sharing the duties. We flashback to three weeks ago (August 21st), Roddy Piper and "Ravishing" Rick Rude were apparently having a split-screen argument from the two different studios that led to a physical confrontation later in the show. Now the climax of the Intercontinental Title Match at SummerSlam makes more sense. Because of this altercation, Piper will be in Studio B, and there will be no more tolerance with any more physicality between the hosts and guests. This would of course come to a climax on the Christmas Edition of Prime Time, when Piper beat the tar out of Santa Heenan.

"The Widow Maker" Barry Windham vs. Tim Horner:

I'm pretty sure I linked this from YouTube on Da' Site, but it's an NWA Match (both men are well known for their stints in NWA/Jim Crockett Promotions), with Tony Schiavone calling the action, along with Lord Alfred Hayes. Windham bitch slaps him before the bell, and quickly takes him over with an arm drag. Thumb to the eye, and Windham slams Horner on his face. Whip to the ropes, and Horner comes back with a pair of dropkicks. Horner goes to the arm, and quickly changes to a side headlock. Horner off the ropes with a shoulder tackle, followed by a hip toss. Windham catches him off the ropes after one too many times with a tilt-o-whirl back breaker. Windham with a side suplex, and a shout out to his mother. Windham with some heel tactics (eyes across the ropes), followed by a gutwrench suplex. He comes out of the corner with an elbow, but refuses to cover. Whip to the ropes, and Windham takes Horner over with a powerslam. Whip to the corner is reversed. Horner mounts him in the corner with rights, and lays him out with a clothesline. Windham responds with an inverted atomic drop. He sets Horner up across the top turnbuckle, and the Super-Plex is enough for the three count at 4:58. Fun, extended squash match. It's a shame Windham didn't last too long, though.

- From the pages of WWF Magazine, it's Update: Two weeks ago, the Ultimate Warrior was manhandling a scrub, when a Bobby Heenan distraction allowed Andre the Giant to attack from behind. Ultimate Warrior wound up taking back the Intercontinental Title from Rick Rude at SummerSlam, so now he gets to work with Andre... the ULTIMATE Giant. The nickname wasn't dropped yet, but it's coming, and it lead to Andre wearing Warrior-like face paint for a few weeks.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Tom Stone:

Pulled from WWF Wrestling Challenge. Rhodes is sporting a policeman cap and Boss Man's nightstick. He's still fairly new to the WWF at this point, decked out in polka dots. Lockup into the ropes, Rhodes gives a clean break. Stone tries a sneak attack, but a bionic elbow lays him out. Rhodes (another NWA mainstay, with Schiavone calling the action) with a slam, followed by some more clubberin' blows. Courtesy of WWF Magazine, there's an article on the American Dream and the Big Boss Man. Rhodes pulls Stone back into the ring with a suplex. Whip to the ropes, Dusty with a back elbow, followed by a big elbow drop for the three count at 2:12. Dusty gets funky like a monkey, afterwards. It wasn't a good 2-3 months before they would introduce the world to the sweet Sapphire, #1 Dusty Rhodes Fan.

- Koko apparently is no longer using "Piledriver", singing "Bird, Bird, Bird" instead. No, he's not lip-syncing, either. As much as people love making fun of Koko and his "Hall of Fame" induction, he was a fun opening card act, much like the Godfather in the Attitude Era, or to a lesser extent, Brodus Clay as the Funkasaurus these days. He didn't win much, but he always made his opponents look indestructable. Back to the studio, and Piper is singing along while cleaning up the old Studio B, formerly the home of the Bobby Heenan Show.

The Powers of Pain (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. George Scoland & Mark Friarch:

Prime Time Exclusive, with Schiavone and Hayes back in the booth. I don't know how accurate those names are, since there wasn't a graphic on the screen. Fat Jobber tries to work a hammerlock on the Barbarian, but he easily shrugs him off and pounds away. Hayes calls the team of the PoP "brutal." Thank you, but I think we have different definitions for the word. Warlord comes in, and pounds away, and Barbarian does some more. In-Shape Mullet Jobber comes in as we get an inset promo from the Bushwhackers. Yes, the matches were as atrociously bad as you would anticipate them being. Warlord works over Mullet Jobber for a moment, then Barbarian comes off the top with a clothesline for the three count at around the 2-minute mark. It was more watchable than usual, but this crowd was dead. Must've been late in a marathon television taping.

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka vs. Jake Milliman:

Taped on August 9th, 1989, and it's more with Schiavone and Lord Alfred. I don't think anyone knows much of Milliman except for the infamous Turkey on the Pole Match that some people keep believing was the last match the AWA ever produced for television. Snuka was still kind of relevant to the WWF Universe (HA HA! SLIPPED IT IN!), but his tenure would quickly turn into a permanent JTTS role. Inset promo from the Honkytonk Man and Jimmy Hart. There's an angle that went on for a while without a SNME or PPV blowoff. Pretty sure they did a couple of matches on Superstars, though. Snuka pulls the beard, because babyfaces who cheat are kind of cool. Criss-cross ends with Snuka laying Milliman out with a big chop. Scoop slam, running knee drop, scoop slam, and the Superfly Splash finishes it off at around the 3-minute mark. Could've been a worse squash.

- Sean Mooney is standing by in the Event Center. We get words from Bad News Brown and Tito Santana. Generic promos. Santana was actually feuding with Rick Martel at the time, while Bad News was kind of in limbo before kicking off a program with Roddy Piper in 1990.

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Terry Daniels & Mark Meadow:

Wow, another squash match. Technically we haven't seen a feature match yet, and it's almost 45-minutes into the show (without commercials). The Rougeau's awesomely cheesy "All-American Boys" theme music brings a smile to my face. "all we like to listen to is Barry Manilow..." The Rougeaus were kind of having issues with the Rockers, but the Rougeaus, much like the Rockers, were used primarily to put over other teams rather than having blowoffs to any issues they had. Jacques wastes time doing his usual arrogant nip ups. From the pages of the WWF Magazine, another article, featuring the Rougeau Brothers. You know they recently moved to Memphis, TN? This goes on for a while, so you know it's a Prime Time squash. They finally finish off a scrub with the double team boston crab and leg drop. I'll admit I like them more as heels, but as workers, they were better as babyfaces, if not completely generic performers.

King Jim Duggan vs. Tony Ulysess:

Cool name for the scrub, but a pain in the ass to type. Duggan acts like a total goober, running around like his name was Eugene. Ulysess attacks from behind, but Duggan no-sells and pounds away with rights. Whip to the ropes, and Duggan with a pair of clotheslines. He tosses his scrub opponent to the floor, and continues to attack. What a nice guy. Back in the ring, Duggan gives him the thumbs down. Yet another plug for WW Magazine, with an article on Jim Duggan visiting Hershey Park. It's in the Private Eye section, you know. Whip to the ropes, and Duggan plants Ulysess with a slam. He sets up in the corner, and the charging clotheslines finishes it at 2-minutes. I really dislike Jim Duggan ,if it wasn't obvious.

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. Dale Wolfe:

MORE SQUASHES! MORE I SAY! Seriously, this is getting to be a bit too much. Beefcake was somehow shoe-horned into Hogan's program with Randy Savage and Zeus, but to be fair, at least he was working hard enough to justify his push. 1989 might be the only year I would recommend watching a bunch of Beefcake matches. Nice of them to change Wolfe's name to Dale, thanks to another Dusty joining the company. Rick Martel cuts an inset promo on Beefcake. There's a program that really went nowhere, in terms of a television blow off. Beefcake simply transitioned into a program with Mr. Perfect midway through, and Martel kind of floundered until blinding Jake Roberts in the Fall of 1990. Beefcake wins with the Sleeper at 2:21, and gives Wolfe and his 80's porn-stache a minor trim, just for the heck of things.

- More from the Event Center, hosted by Sean Mooney. Mr. Perfect is a self-promoting arrogant jerk, and the Rockers have issues with the FABULOUS Rougeau Brothers. It's become weird looking at Michaels as a Rocker, after he's formed a new identity

- Coliseum Corner! Courtesy of, you guessed it, Coliseum Video, we take a sneak peak at SummerSlam '89, joining the match between Jimmy Snuka and Ted Dibiase, already in progress. I know we scoff at this now, but by 1989 standards, putting ANY matches, even just clipped, on television, was a pretty sweet thing. We join the match with Dibiase taking control for the heel heat-segment. He misses that second rope falling back elbow, allowing Snuka to make the big comeback.... and they cut away. Never mind, that was stupid.

- Jake "The Snake" Roberts (along with Damian) is here to tell us he's making his return to the ring, and he's got his mind set on making Ted Dibiase's life a living hell. There's a program where almost all the matches were pretty boring, if not technically fine, and it ran all the way through to WrestleMania VI (and was blown off with a COUNT OUT).

- Honkytonk Man squash. I pass. I'm already hostile after the last one, and I'm expected to watch a Honky squash, now? No way, Jose.

- Brother Love Show with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Piper manhandles Brother Love after a few minutes of a verbal lashing, shoving dental floss and an entire tube's worth of toothpaste into his mouth. At least he didn't rip his pants off again, like at WrestleMania V. Heenan comes out to distract Piper long enough for Rick Rude to spray him in the eyes with Mouth Wash (containing ALCOHOL!), and gives him a Rude Awakening to add injury to insult.

The Hart Foundation vs. The Rockers:
(Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty)

Taped on August 29th, 1989 (my 4th birthday!), from Springfield, MA. This has a chance to be pretty good, depending on the motivation levels of everyone involved. Jannetty and Bret start. Lockup into the ropes, and Bret gives a clean break. Jannetty with a side headlock, and a criss-cross ends with a body press for two. Jannetty with an arm drag, then into the armbar. Michaels tags in, comes off the top with an axehandle, and takes over working the arm. Criss-cross sequence, Hart with an inverted atomic drop. Neidhart tags in and plants Michaels with a hard slam for two. Whip to the ropes, and Hart nails Michaels with a knee to the back. Bret comes in illegally and connects with a back breaker. Neidhart with a snapmare, and he settles into a chinlock. Michaels escapes with elbows to the midsection, but runs right into a bearhug. Whip to the ropes, and Michaels counters a hip toss attempt with a slam. Bret gets up first though, dropping an elbow across the back of the head. They trade blows in the corner, with Bret gaining the upperhand. Neidhart in with a standing dropkick (to a decent pop) for a two count. Whip to the ropes, and a back drop sends Michaels off camera for another two. Bret with a snapmare, followed by an elbow drop. Bret with a slam, and he slingshots Neidhart in, who ends up missing a splash. Whip to the corner, Bret with a boot to the face, but he misses a second rope elbow drop. Jannetty gets the tag, and quickly connects with a diving elbow. Whip to the ropes, and Jannetty with a dropkick, followed by a powerslam for two, broken up by the Anvil. Whip to the corner, and we get an awkward double clothesline spot. Whip to the ropes, and Jannetty with a fist to the midsection, followed by a running knee lift for two. Michaels tags back in, and they connect with a double crescent kick for another two count. Michaels with a suplex for two. Whip to the corner, and Bret charges out with a clothesline. Neidhart tags in, and bulldozes Michaels across the ring. Whip to the ropes, and Neidhart accidentally knocks Hart into the security rail. Suddenly, the Fabulous Rougeaus hit the ring to attack the Rockers, and the match is thrown out at around the 11:30 mark. The Foundation and Rockers join forces to clear the Rougeaus from the ring, becuase they're good guys. Lame finish, again. Took a while to get going, but developed into a solid formula match. The Foundation always seemed to have more fire working with other face teams, and getting subtle heel stuff into the match.

Final Thoughts: Really weak with the high profile matches. We've got the Rockers vs. Hart Foundation, and not much else. Yes, I enjoyed Windham vs. Horner, too, but that was just an extended squash for all intents and purposes. Filling out the rest of the show with another 7 squash matches made me think this was a double length episode of Superstars. Recaps from the weekend remind us of new programs between Warrior/Andre and Piper/Rude, but if you watched Superstars, you would've known about them, already. Don't get me started on Coliseum Corner... what a waste of time. As usual, the true highlight is the bickering and banter between Monsoon, Heenan, and Piper, especially the latter two around this time period.

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