Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper are in the booth and they are still in Providence, Rhode Island.
Jimmy Snuka
Vengeance 2007
Vengeance 2007
Date: June 24, 2007
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 15,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Joey Styles, Tazz, John Layfield
It’s time for a Night of Champions (that has a ring to it) as this whole show is about title matches. We have nine title matches and that is almost a guarantee for a couple of changes. One of which will be the ECW World Title, which is vacant coming into the show. Let’s get to it.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 30, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing studio duty for this evening’s show.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – July 28, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are doing commentary, concluding the tapings in Dayton, Ohio.
The Big Bossman squash from Prime Time Wrestling begins the broadcast.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 23, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing their usual studio duties for tonight’s telecast.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA on ESPN 07-15-1986
Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Airdate: July 15, 1986 (taped 07/05)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Rod Trongard, Lord James Blears, & Nick Bockwinkel
Can Zhukov upset Bockwinkel to become World champion? What do Snuka, DeBeers, and the tag champions have to say these days? Prepare yourself for a wild ride!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 9, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan host tonight’s program.
Randy Savage’s win over Jim Brunzell on the recent episode of Superstars is shown. Monsoon and Heenan must like Brunzell as they cover for his short loss by saying that he lost to an elite competitor that most superstars would struggle against.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA Battle By The Bay
Live from Oakland, CA
Airdate: June 28, 1986
Attendance: 1,500
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Rod Trongard, Lord James Blears, & Greg Gagne
Can Blackwell achieve greatness by defeating Hansen? Will Devine retain against Sherri? What will Bockwinkel do against Nord the Barbarian? How will the Midnight Rockers and Hennig fare in the main event? Let’s uncover the mystery right now!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – July 2, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the studio for tonight’s show. Heenan wants Mr. Perfect’s feature match against Hercules to air at the beginning of the telecast, but Monsoon urges patience because the show is two hours long.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA WrestleRock ’86
Live from the Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN
Airdate: April 20, 1986
Attendance: 23,000
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Rod Trongard, & Ken Resnick
Can the Road Warriors get revenge against the Freebirds? Will Bockwinkel regain the World title? How will Snuka and Greg fare against Brody and Barbarian? What’s going on with the Midnight Rockers? Let’s dig in and find out!
The Legion of Doom vs. The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express (and other Dream Matches!)
The LOD vs. the RnRs! And not in FirePro! But don’t get too excited, because it’s short!
It’s time for another Dream Matches column! I was really surprised by how much of a reaction my 1995 KOTR one got, so I’ll have a 1996 version next week. This one features the one-time-only tag team match between the Road Warriors and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express… except it’s given 4 minutes on a WWF D-Show and the Express are heels! Life is weird.
Also up is a DOUBLE-SHOT of Ahmed Johnson vs. Al Snow, as Ahmed takes on Shinobi in an infamous squash match, and then the next year faces the New Rockers’ “Leif Cassidy”. Then we get the Bruiser Brody Memorial Show weirdo match of Abdullah the Butcher & Jimmy Snuka against Stan Hansen & Tom Zenk of all people. And we end it with a WCW Lucha Libre show match starring Psychosis, Felino & El Mosco vs. Blitzkrieg, Venum & Super Calo!
THE LEGION OF DOOM vs. THE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL EXPRESS (w/ Jim Cornette, Jeff Jarrett & Barry Windham):
(WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, Jan. 24th, 1998)
* Yes, this is apparently the one and only time the friggin’ Road Warriors & R’n’Rs EVER FOUGHT, despite the vast amount of years both teams had been around, often in the same company. This seems impossible given how today’s wrestling is, but back then, I guess they just never wanted to run it. On this very blog, someone suggested it and Scott pointed out the Roadies weren’t gonna lose and the Express was better off getting the rub for teams who could play ball with them: https://blogofdoom.com/index.php/2020/05/19/road-warriors-vs-rnr/. All there ever was was a 4-way match I guess. So instead we get a four-minute bullshit match on a WWF D-show, and this is the only time these two legendary squads ever faced each other in a tag match… with Jim Cornette backing up the HEEL RnRs, who are advertised as the NWA Tag Team Champions. Life is weird.
The Express are in red tights with white tassels (coming down to the ROCKERS’ theme music of all things) while the LOD are sorta in their “LOD 2000” gear, with grey shoulderpads- an unusual look for the WWF. The Express are 40 and 42, yet both look nearly fifty- they did NOT age well.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – June 18, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are tonight’s hosts. Monsoon tells Heenan that he does not appreciate how he left last week’s show. He says that he has seen Hogan and he is okay but could be doing better.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – May 28, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are tonight’s hosts. Heenan refers to himself as “the perfect host” for this program in keeping with his new role as Mr. Perfect’s manager.
Manami Toyota & Mike Quackenbush vs. Cesaro & Sara Del Rey (and other Dream Matches!)
We live in a world where Manami Toyota gave Cesaro the rolling cradle. Life is so weird.
Welcome back to another Dream Matches column! This time, I have a wild CHIKARA match- MANAMI TOYOTA vs. CESARO!! With Mike Quackenbush and Sara Del Rey as their partners! I’ve had my eyes on for a while but was avoiding because of the length, but it turns out it’s really goddamn awesome!
And we follow that up with a very “Before They Were Stars” showdown, as John Cena as the super-lean, roided to the gills “Prototype” takes on WCW reject Chase Tatum, who has to lead the match! Back to All Japan, as John Tenta’s “oddly-skinny rookie run” has him teaming with Yoshiaki Yatsu against… Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka!?! Then we cap it off with some WCW Saturday Night goodness, as Barry Darsow & John Nord take on Disorderly Conduct.
LUCHA RULES (leaving the ring counts as a tag):
MIKE QUACKENBUSH & MANAMI TOYOTA vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & SARA DEL REY:
(CHIKARA, 19.09.2010)
* Okay, now THIS is an interest mix of characters- friggin’ CESARO vs. TOYOTA?!? I’m there, dude. This is CHIKARA owner Mike Quackenbush teaming up with Manami again, but in a tag team match, and their opponents are the future Cesaro as an indie darling under his real name- long, lean and already bald, in white trunks. His partner is Sara Del Rey, who… okay I don’t know jack shit about modern women’s wrestling, but I’ve heard she’s respected. She was big in Shimmer, a women’s promotion that I always found to have a very clutzy-looking style of wrestling (but I’m a puro snob when it comes to women’s stuff, and ’90s AJW casts a WIDE shadow over low-budget American indies). She also went to ROH, CHIKARA and has been a WWE trainer since 2012.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – May 21, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the studio and handle tonight’s broadcast. Heenan blasts Tugboat’s gimmick, arguing that kids should want to be the President of the United States rather than “a stupid boat.” Monsoon has a good counter, asking Heenan what the Barbarian wanted to be as a kid.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – May 13, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary, and they are taped from San Antonio, Texas. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these tapings took place on April 24 and drew a sellout crowd of 10,700 fans.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – May 5, 1990
Vince McMahon calls today’s action with Jesse Ventura. This is the last show of the taping cycle in Glen Falls, New York.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – April 29, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan call today’s action, still taped from Syracuse, New York.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – April 16, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan host tonight’s broadcast.
Jake Roberts’ squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.
What the World Was Watching: The Wrestling Summit (Special Column)
As noted in prior columns, this show was a joint effort by the WWF, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and All Japan Pro Wrestling. The WWF was looking to expand its global presence while New Japan and All Japan felt threatened by Akira Maeda’s shoot-like Universal Wrestling Federation, which drew a 50,000 person crowd to the Tokyo Dome for a big show in November 1989. To counter them, New Japan and All Japan worked together on a supershow at the Tokyo Dome on February 10. Then, they built on that effort by partnering with the WWF for another big card in Tokyo on April 13 that was named The Wrestling Summit. According tothehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 53,742.
