Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura are in the booth and they are live from Orlando, Florida. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, this show drew a sellout crowd of 16,000 fans. It also drew a buyrate of 2.0 (an estimated 260,000 buys), an increase from the 1.5 number the Rumble did the previous year. This would also be the last pay-per-view that Schiavone would call for the WWF.
demolition
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – January 21, 1990
Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon call today’s action, which originates from Chattanooga, Tennessee. The taping took place on January 3. This is the last show before The Royal Rumble.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – January 20, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are in the booth, kicking off a new set of tapings in Birmingham, Alabama. These tapings took place on January 2.
The opening match is the Jimmy Snuka-Brooklyn Brawler bout that aired on Prime Time Wrestling.
Demolition vs. Andre the Giant & Giant Baba (and other Dream Matches!)
Welcome back to more Dream Matches! Today, it’s a kind of Giant-themed day by accident, as I went looking for Ron Reis’s stuff and found this bizarre Andre/Baba tag match as well! So come see a weird WWF/All Japan bout as Andre & Giant Baba take on Demolition! Also, come see ERIK WATTS make his “Dream Matches” debut wrestling a knock-off Kamala! Plus Ron Studd versus a jobber Chavo Guerrero Jr., then a couple years later as Ron becomes “Reese” of the Flock and takes on a washed-up ex-WWF guy in The Barbarian! And Earthquake in rare chocolate-brown gear against Rubbish Ronnie Garbage!
ANDRE THE GIANT & GIANT BABA vs. DEMOLITION (Ax & Smash):
(WWF/AJPW/NJPW Wrestling Summit April 13 1990)
* Good heavens! A wild interpromotional show, with an ungodly tired-looking Andre teaming up with the aged Baba in Japan against the Demos! Andre adored both guys in real life so he’ll probably be pretty generous to them, but, uh… neither guy on his side is in any position to be carrying a match. Andre’s in blue, with an obvious brace in his gear, while Baba’s in red and looks like he just got dug out of a mass grave. Looking at this card, I really gotta watch the whole thing.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – January 15, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the studio to spar with each other before they toss the broadcast over to new matches. Tonight’s feature match comes from Chattanooga, Tennessee and was taped on January 3.
Heenan is upset that he cannot have the guests he wants on the program whereas Monsoon was able to bring Arnold Skaaland on last week’s show. Monsoon tells Heenan that he had better not abscond with the yellow Royal Rumble hats on the broadcast desk.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – January 14, 1990
Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon call today’s action, wrapping up the television tapings in Nashville, Tennessee.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – January 13, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are doing commentary and they are concluding the tapings in Huntsville, Alabama.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – January 8, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan host tonight’s broadcast. Tonight’s two feature bouts come from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and were taped on December 14.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – January 7, 1990
Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon handle commentary duties and they are taped from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. This taping took place on December 12, 1989. Schiavone has a guitar and tries to play a song and does terribly.
Demolition vs. The Rockers (and other Dream Matches!)
Found this on Pinterest. It’s glorious.
Time for more Dream Matches- this time centered by an SNME match between Demolition & The Rockers! Also, a REMATCH to the classic Jim Powers/Bobby Walker vs. Renegade/Joe Gomez match I showed you last week… PLUS the legendary explosion of that very same Renegade/Gomez team! And then not one, but TWO High Voltage solo matches, as Rage & Kaos face Fit Finlay & Perry Saturn, respectively! And then we cap things off with a Papa Shango vs. Typhoon match, long after either man was relevant! I couldn’t have booked a better match myself!
DEMOLITION (Smash & Crush, w/ Ax) vs. THE ROCKERS (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty):
(Saturday Night’s Main Event, July 27 1990)
* This is the prelude to SummerSlam, with the Demos now as heels. The Rockers are in bright yellow, and gaining credibility at this point.
Dream Matches: WWF Survivor Series Showdown 1989
WWF SURVIVOR SERIES SHOWDOWN 1989:
(Nov. 12, 1989)
* So this is largely a card of JUST Dream Matches, and I Bayless already covered this ages ago, but whatever- these cards fascinate me. I guess they were on the USA Network and were used as hype shows for the Survivor Series, mixing up the guys in the matches against each other. So we’re in the post-WrestleMania V era, with “Macho King” being slid down to an “Upper Midcard” position, Hogan as Champion again with Zeus as an arch-enemy, and more. And this YouTube video includes the COMMERCIALS, complete with advertising. Hm, Dyanetics or video games made by Acclaim- which is more evil to advertise to children?
Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan & Roddy Piper are our hosts, and Monsoon actually lays it out- every team member would put their names into a hat, drawing names out until one one guy remained- those guys would fight each other. This is why it looks so “random” (ie. big stars are fighting tag team wrestlers so that they can win while not hurting anyone’s push).
Giant Gonzalez vs. Nailz (and other Dream Matches)
It’s time for more Dream Matches! Some of which are unironically good! We start off with one of the most infamous combinations of poor workers in history, and go from there.
Note: I skip YouTube links for the WWF-owned stuff, since I believe it demonetizes the blog.
EL GIGANTE vs. NAILZ:
(New Japan Pro Wrestling, 1994 G-1 Climax)
* Wearing black shorts and with a curly mullet, the 7’7″ Jorge Gonzalez was given a “Freak Show” match or two in New Japan, and here his opponent is a real shocker- NAILZ, fresh from being fired by the WWF for attacking Vince McMahon in a dispute over money (told hilariously here by Bret Hart). This is, quite literally, the worst match I can imagine putting together- Nailz was an absolutely horrendous worker whose offense consisted of choking with one hand and choking with two, and he’s up against probably the worst professionally-trained wrestler in the world. A guy as big as Nailz not even coming up to a guy’s collarbone is a pretty astounding sight, I will admit.
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event XXVIII
Taped from Toledo, OH
Airdate: October 13, 1990 (taped 9/18)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Vince McMahon & “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
It’s the Oktoberfest edition of SNME! Grab your Paulaner and Weihenstephan and enjoy!
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Summerslam ’90
Live from Philadelphia, PA
Airdate: August 27, 1990
Attendance: 19,304 (18,703 paid)
Hosted by Vince McMahon & “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
Can Hogan get revenge on Earthquake? Or will tremors cause a bigger crack in the Liberty Bell?
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event XXVII
Taped from Omaha, NE
Airdate: July 28, 1990 (taped 7/16)
Attendance: 10,303 (sold out)
Hosted by Vince McMahon & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Has the WWF gone ape? Or can they give us a decent show? Read on!
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF WrestleMania VI
Live from Toronto, ON
Airdate: April 1, 1990
Attendance: 64,287 (sold out)
Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
It’s time for the Ultimate Challenge! Can the Warrior freight train derail Hulkamania? Read on!
Went to WrestleCon and Met over 120 Wrestlers (List/Details/Photos)
For those of you who aren’t familiar, WrestleCon is kind of like Axxess on a budget with everyone running their own booth. The key differences though are you have a TON of indy wrestlers, plus dozens of legends. You pay a flat rate to get in ($33) and then each autograph and picture you want is an additional charge. For the sake of finances, I only paid for a handful of pictures.
Rock Star Gary reflects on Saturday Night’s Main Event XXII
Taped from Worcester, MA
Airdate: July 29, 1989 (taped 7/18)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Vince McMahon & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
How will the road to Summerslam be paved this year? Let’s read on…
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF WrestleMania V
Live from Atlantic City, NJ
Airdate: April 2, 1989
Attendance: 18,946 (17,500 paid)
Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Can the dissolution of the MegaPowers lead to a worthwhile main event? Let’s find out!
Rock Star Gary reflects on Saturday Night’s Main Event XVII
WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event XVII
Taped from Baltimore, MD
Airdate: October 29, 1988 (taped 10/25)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Vince McMahon & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
We open tonight’s program with Jake and Cheryl Roberts sharing a kiss. Jake then cuts a promo with Damian wrapped around his shoulders. According to Cheryl, Rude’s pain will be their “pleasure.”