Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura call today’s action and kick off a new round of television tapings at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on January 22 and drew a crowd of 15,063, 10,500 of which paid to attend.
Rick Martel
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA Super Clash ’85
Live from Chicago, IL
Airdate: September 28, 1985
Attendance: 20,347
Hosted by Larry Nelson
Can Magnum defeat Flair for the NWA World title? Will Martel retain the AWA World title against Hansen? How will the Road Warriors fare in their hometown? Does Slaughter stand up for America against Zhukov? Let’s sink our teeth into this delicious supershow!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – February 3, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are doing commentary and they are concluding the tapings in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Dusty Rhodes squash match from Prime Time Wrestling airs.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA on ESPN 09-24-1985
Taped from St. Paul, MN
Airdate: September 24, 1985 (taped 09/08)
Attendance: 4,000
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Ron Trongard, & Verne Gagne
Can the Road Warriors retain against Regal & Garvin? What will happen when Slaughter and Zhukov square off? Also, Bockwinkel versus Martel in the mat classic. Let’s dive right in!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – January 22, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan do the studio duties for tonight’s show.
Bret vs. Misawa, Savage vs. Tenryu & Hogan vs. Hansen (and other Dream Matches!)
Hogan & Hansen: Main Event in the making!
WWF/AJPW/NJPW WRESTLING SUMMIT:
(Tokyo Dome, April 13th, 1990)
* This is a pretty wild and wacky card, full of the kind of “Dream Matches” you’ll never see again- I’m really shocked it’s not more famous. I mean, it’s a triple-show with All Japan, New Japan, AND the WWF all at once! In the Tokyo Dome! Apparently highlights were aired on Japanese TV, but complexities with the rights led to the full event never being shown in its entirety (which might be why it’s so obscure). The biggest matches are Hulk Hogan vs. Stan Hansen, Macho Man vs. Genichiro Tenryu, and the Ultimate Warrior vs. Ted DiBiase. The WON awards declared this the “Best Major Wrestling Show” of 1990!
“TL;DR” Version: So come see Bret Hart vs. Mitsuharu Misawa in the most disappointing Dream Match of all time! Hogan with his “Japan working boots” (where he’s more “Unstoppable Monster” than the Technically-Gifted Powerhouse I was led to believe he was) on against Stan Hansen in one of his greatest matches ever! Macho King & Queen Sherri doing their schtick against a stoic top-tier Japanese legend in a befuddled Tenryu! Grumpy ol’ Jumbo Tsuruta dealing with hard-working heels in Martel & Perfect!
The show had two dark matches- Dan Kroffat, Doug Furnas & Joe Malenko beat Samson Fuyuki, Tatsumi Kitahara & Toshiaki Kawada in (11:56), and Jushin Liger beat Akira Nogami in (8:37). An extremely shaky fancam of the latter exists- it’s mostly hold-trading. They trade corner moves and Liger hits a surfboard and a rock-the-cradle. They trade flash-pins and Nogami hits a very good plancha and German Suplex for two, but Liger dropkicks him coming off the top and hits a Tope Con Hilo to the floor! He misses a roundhouse kick but gets a powerslam and finishes with a Moonsault Press. Looks **1/2-ish but holy god am I not gonna go move-for-move with such a shaky vid.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Royal Rumble 1990
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.
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.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA 09-10-1985
Taped from Atlantic, City, NJ
Airdate: September 10, 1985 (taped 07/08)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Doug McLeod, & Verne Gagne
Can Greg get the better of Bockwinkel? Will Zumhofe regain the Light Heavyweight title? How do the Freebirds fare tonight? And we’ll revisit the night Martel won the AWA title.
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.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA on ESPN 09-03-1985
Taped from Atlantic, City, NJ
Airdate: September 3, 1985 (taped 07/08)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Dick McLeod, & Nick Bockwinkel
Can Gordy defeat Martel and become World champion? What’s on the mind of the Road Warriors? Long Riders? Jimmy Garvin? What’s that? A pair of wrestlers have infiltrated this reflection? Let’s check it out!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – January 6, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are in the booth and they are taped from the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This taping took place on December 13, 1989.
What the World Was Watching: WCW Main Event – November 5, 1995
–With no pay-per-view afterward, Main Event is back as a studio show with Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan.
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Monday Night RAW 10-11-1993
Taped from New Haven, CT
Airdate: October 11, 1993 (taped 9/27)
Attendance: 5,500 (3,200 paid)
Hosted by Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
Will Martel or Ramon become the new IC champion? What’s up with Borga? All this plus an SMW surprise in included. Doesn’t this sound like fun?
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Monday Night RAW 10-04-1993
Taped from New Haven, CT
Airdate: October 4, 1993 (taped 9/27)
Attendance: 5,500 (3,200 paid)
Hosted by Vince McMahon & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
Who will become the top two contenders for the IC title? What’s up with Bigelow and Doink? Let’s find out!
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Monday Night RAW 09-27-1993
Live from New Haven, CT
Airdate: September 27, 1993
Attendance: 5,500 (3,200 paid)
Hosted by Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
Who will challenge the Quebecers for the WWF tag team titles? Will Tatanka remain undefeated against Martel? How will the WWF handle the IC title situation with Michaels AWOL? Let’s find out!
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Monday Night RAW 3-8-93
Taped from New York, NY
Airdate: March 8, 1993 (taped 3/1)
Attendance: 1,000 (sold out)
Hosted by Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, & Rob Bartlett
Can Martel thwart Mr. Perfect’s momentum? Will Santana and Virgil pull an upset over the tag champions? Let’s find out!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – December 23, 1995 (Last of the series)
–A replay of Xanta Claus attacking Savio Vega at In Your House 5 is shown.
–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are kicking off some new tapings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, only 1,500 fans attended because there was a blizzard during the show. This was also the taping where Bradshaw made his debut in a dark match, losing to Savio Vega. Also, this is the last Superstars of 1995 because next week’s episode is a “year in review” show.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA WrestleRock ’86
Live from Minneapolis, MN
Airdate: April 20, 1986
Attendance: 22,000
Hosted by Rod Trongard & Larry Nelson
Three cage matches along with the Midnight Rockers, Sergeant Slaughter, Jimmy Snuka, Road Warriors, Freebirds, and more fill out this star-studded supershow. Read on!
Rock Star Gary reflects on WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event XXIII
Taped from Cincinnati, OH
Airdate: October 14, 1989 (taped 9/21)
Attendance: 14,000 (12,000 paid)
Hosted by Vince McMahon & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
What can DiBiase do to win the WWF title from Hogan? What’s new with Savage? Can Piper be any zanier? Read on!