Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan host tonight’s broadcast.
Jake Roberts’ squash from Wrestling Challenge airs.
Rick Martel
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.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA Night of Champions 2
Live from East Rutherford, NJ
Airdate: December 29, 1985
Attendance: 12,000
Hosted by Tony Schiavone
Can Martel retain the AWA title? Will Rhodes finally defeat Flair for the NWA strap? Can Magnum retain against Blanchard? What will the Soviets do to the Road Warriors? Will Slaughter survive against two Soviets? Let’s jam!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – April 8, 1990
With Tony Schiavone gone, Wrestling Challenge sees an announcing shakeup with Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan now calling the action. They are commentating matches at the end of the taping cycle in San Francisco.
What the World Was Watching: WrestleMania VI
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are in the booth and they are live from Toronto, Ontario, Canada in what will be Ventura’s last appearance calling a WWF pay-per-view. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a sellout crowd of 67,678, a new attendance record for the venue. It drew a buyrate of 3.8 (an estimated 550,000 purchases). This was a decline from the 5.9 buyrate of WrestleMania V, but this can be attributed to more homes getting pay-per-view access by 1990, thereby messing with the buyrate average.
Robert Goulet sings the Canadian National Anthem. According to Bruce Prichard, Goulet was picked for this spot because he badly botched signing “The Star Spangled Banner” several years earlier and this was a chance for him to redeem himself in front of a live crowd. The WWF put the lyrics on the Skydome’s video screen to ease Goulet’s nerves. And if you watch his body language during the performance, he goes from a bad of nerves to a guy having the time of his life halfway through. His wife, who watched backstage, cried her eyes out after he nailed the song.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA on ESPN 12-10-1985
Taped from Atlantic, City, NJ
Airdate: December 10, 1985 (taped 11/04)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Dick McLeod, & Verne Gagne
Can Hansen, um, wrestle the World title from Martel? What does Bockwinkel say about Zbyszko’s actions from last week? Also, Garvin, Regal, and Precious are here! Let’s party!
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA on ESPN 12-03-1985
Taped from Atlantic, City, NJ
Airdate: December 3, 1985 (taped 11/04)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Doug McLeod, & Nick Bockwinkel
Can Greg get the better of Zbyszko? Or will he receive the worst? What’s up with the bikers on the couch? And is that the UNDERTAKER in Atlantic City in 1985? Let’s explore!
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – March 25, 1990
Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon call today’s action from a new round of television tapings in San Francisco, California. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a sold-out crowd of 14,500, with 500 fans attending for free.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – March 18, 1990
Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon do commentary for today’s show, which concludes the tapings in Tucson, Arizona.
The broadcast starts by re-airing Demolition’s squash from Prime Time Wrestling.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Prime Time Wrestling – March 12, 1990
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan run the studio portion of the telecast. Heenan is wearing a dark green jacket, so Monsoon asks him if that will be his attire for WrestleMania VI. Heenan responds that he might be preparing for the Masters golf tournament.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – March 10, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura call the action and they are still in Phoenix, Arizona. This week Ventura has an Ultimate Warrior t-shirt, changing his prediction on the WrestleMania VI main event after doing some research.
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – March 3, 1990
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are in the booth, and they kick off a new round of tapings in Phoenix, Arizona. These tapings took place on February 13. Ventura is clad in Hulk Hogan merchandise because he predicts Hogan will win the WrestleMania VI main event.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA 10-08-1985
Taped from Atlantic City, NJ
Airdate: October 8, 1985 (taped 9/26)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Doug McLeod, & Verne Gagne
Can Slaughter retain the Americas title against the crafty Bockwinkel? Will Zhukov be involved? There’s chaos on the Christmas show. What happened? Speaking of chaos, what nightmares will Hansen deliver? Let’s dig right in…
What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – February 18, 1990
Tony Schiavone and Gorilla Monsoon are doing commentary and they are taped from Fort Myers, Florida.
Rock Star Gary reflects on AWA 10-01-1985
Taped from St. Paul, MN
Airdate: October 1, 1985 (taped 09/08)
Attendance: 4,000
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Doug McLeod, Rod Trongard, & Verne Gagne
Coming off the tremendous Super Clash ’85, could the AWA follow it up with a great ESPN show? Martel has a title match against…Kamala? Be afraid. Let’s cautiously make our way in…
What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – February 10, 1990
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.
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.
