Originally reviewed – June 5, 2011
So…here I am returning to blogging, and what am I blogging? WWE 24/7’s broadcast of The Best of the WW-? Volume 18. The title on the screen says Best of the WWE, but when Sean Mooney introduces the episode, he just says The Best of the WW…and then pauses.
Frickin’ Panda Huggers, making Sean Mooney look stupid. I wonder what Sean Mooney is up to these days? Hmm…Wikipedia has some interesting post-WWE career notes about Mooney.
See, what a lot of modern-day fans don’t realize is that Mooney really SUCKED as an announcer. I mean, Michael Cole, Tony Schiavone, Josh Matthews…all are miles ahead of Mooney from back in the day.
Nowadays, when I watch WWE Prime Time Wrestling, I only listen to Monsoon and Heenan doing their comedy bits in between, once Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes come on to do the commentating for the matches, I hit the Mute button. Seriously, Mooney and Hayes could have made Savage-Steamboat boring.
Mooney: And there, Lord Alfred, Ricky Steamboat has an armdrag takedown.
Hayes: Oh yes, Sean, he really has a twist on it. My word!
So, if it’s up to Sean Mooney to make North America fall in love with rugby, I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for Rugby-Mania to run wild on you.
Anyways, the good news is that the first match on Best of the WW-Blank has Monsoon and Heenan on commentary. The bad news is, it’s a Women’s Championship match between Sensational Sherri and Rockin’ Robin. I remember this show (not seeing it, mind you).
It was a show the WWE held in Paris, France and aired on USA Network the same night of the American election in 1988 (the one that Bush Sr. won). It was kind of a smart move. You don’t want to watch election results, watch this WWE show.
Wikipedia fact: Rockin’ Robin’s home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
I was reading a recap of another televised WWE House Show on WWE 24/7 and the writer made a good point. Back in the day, the commentating team of Monsoon and Heenan were entertaining, but unlike Michael Cole, they were always intent of putting over the talent and the story-lines, rather than themselves. In 1988, there was never any thought of Heenan vs. Monsoon on pay-per-view.
As far as the match goes, Robin puts Sherri away with a bulldog to win the match and the title. Ironically, Robin was the last WWE Women’s Champion before the title was retired in 1990.
Next match is the Brainbusters vs. the Young Stallions from Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. Monsoon is back on commentary with Mooney. Ironically, Monsoon is referencing the Sherri-Robin match we just saw, so that’s a cool bit of continuity.
As for this match, this is a bout that I wish they’d pushed a bit further up on the card. The Brainbusters are probably my favourite team of all time…although more as the Four Horsemen in the NWA. (At some point, maybe I’ll rethink my Top Wrestlers and Tag Teams of All Time list, but they’d still be in the mix at the top.) I also liked the Young Stallions, and thought they really could have been pushed more than they were. The irony is that Roma would join Blanchard and Anderson among the ranks of the Four Horsemen. I mean, I liked Roma as 1/2 of the Stallions, a young tag team that makes good…but a Horsemen???? This is pretty much on par as David Arquette being forever known among the ranks of WCW Champions.
As expected, the Brainbusters got the victory, as Tully came off the top rope with a sunset flip on one of the Stallions. Moonsoon and Mooney talk about the Stallions gave the Busters a real run for their money. Sadly the Stallions were basically JTTS in 1989, after a brief push in 1987.
Brother Love is next. Sigh! I never liked this guy. A lot of these talk shows were pretty much hit or miss. I mean, if they had a good guest, it might be interesting, but for Brother Love, Adrian Adonis’ Flower Shop, the Funeral Parlor, the Snake Pit, they couldn’t sustain my interest if their guest couldn’t cut a decent promo. The great thing about Piper’s Pit is that Piper could make any guest that much more interesting.
Actually, a lot of the latter day interview segments (the Cutting Edge, Jericho, Christian, even MVP) were pretty good although they weren’t regular segments and were usually just brought in to further programs with the host.
This particular Brother Love Show was from a 1988-1989 Saturday Night’s Main Event, with Hulk Hogan and Slick. Love and Slick try to get the better of Hogan, until the Hulkster finally has had enough, sends Slick packing and then attacks Brother Love.
You know, a while back I wrote an article about religion in wrestling and I stated that, while Love (Bruce Pritchard) was supposed to be a spoof of televangelists at the time, they never actually mentioned God. They used the word “Love” instead.
Pritchard is now head of Talent Relations for TNA after being sent packing after 22 years with WWE.
From there we go to the blow-off of the Jake Roberts – Rick Rude program from 1988-89. In case you forgot, this started when Rick Rude hit on Cheryl Roberts (Jake’s wife at the time) at ringside. Why am I thinking I heard that, off-camera, Rude and Cheryl were involved?
I was never a big fan of Rude’s in WWE or WCW for that matter. He was “THA MAN” in WCW in 1992, though. Too bad an injury screwed him out of the WCW Title at Starrcade ’92…and basically screwed up WCW’s booking for that show. Rude as WCW Champion was one of those things you could just see coming in late 1992. As much as I liked Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, him facing Ron Simmons at Starrcade ’92 was almost like “Let’s draw a name out of a hat” booking.
To me, Rude hit his prime (entertainment-wise) in ECW. He and Joey Styles were a great combination.
Anyways, this particular match, from Saturday Night’s Main Event, sees Roberts hit Rude for the DDT, but instead of going for the pin, Roberts starts yanking the Cheryl Roberts – adorned tights of Rude off. Heenan runs in for the DQ and then calls for Andre the Giant to come down to Rude’s aid. Andre sends Roberts to the outside, but Jake gets Damian. (I thought this was THAT match!)
It’s soon apparent that Andre is scared of Damian, a fear that gets no better when Jake throws the snake on Andre. Give WWE credit for being able to seamlessly end one program and start another, all in the same segment.
From there, our host Mooney throws it to Mean Gene who introduces then-newcomers, the Bushwackers. Apparently a lot of other tag teams in WWE are apprehensive about their arrivals. I’m guessing that’s probably because those teams remembered Butch Miller and Luke Williams as the Sheepherders in Florida, the UWF and Crockett, as a kind of precursor to ECW teams like the Eliminators and tha Gangsters, rather than the clownish morons they became in order to appeal to the 12-year-old marks and white trash adults.
(I always recall some moron on a float during the Rodney Fair parade breaking into the Bushwacker March and thinking “yeah, this is the demographic the Bushwackers appeal to!” )
I will say I think, finally, after 20-some-odd years, I’ve figured out which is Butch and which is Luke. (Butch has darker hair!) Apparently, WWE figured the best way to get these guys over was to explore their eating habits. We see them get “a soder” (as Mean Gene says) and then eat some sardines. And then Mean Gene literally stumbles upon them in the forest.
Thankfully, this isn’t where the Best of WW- ends, as we get a steel cage match for the WWE Championship between Randy Savage and Ted Dibiase.
If Dibiase seems a little extra aggressive in this match, I can’t blame him. It’s a well-known rumour that Dibiase was originally penciled in to win the tournament and title at Wrestlemania IV. (Hogan was going to go off and do “No Holds Barred” and then return to regain the belt at SummerSlam.) Savage was supposed to regain the I-C title at the Main Event in February 1988. But the Honky Tonk Man threatened to take the belt with him to WCW. So, to prevent that, WWE booked Honky to retain the belt. Savage threatened to shoot on Honky on live TV, so to placate him, they changed the booking so Savage won at Wrestlemania.
Now there are a couple of things wrong with this rumoured scenario:
(1) I sincerely doubt that the WWE would book a heel to come out of Wrestlemania as champion and
(2) What would Crockett have done with the Honky Tonk Man amid the more straight-edged wrestling style they had going at the time? Do you really see Flair-Honky? Windham-Honky? One of the Road Warriors vs. Honky? Okay, that last one makes me laugh.
Anyways, speaking of commentators (well, we were before), we’ve got some AWA announcer (not Ron Tronguard, although he had jumped about the same time), Superstar Billy Graham and Lord Alfred Hayes. Graham seems to be trying to push the idea of Elizabeth bulking up and working out so she can aid her man, the WWE Champion. Sure, Superstar, work on that!
Anyways, Dibiase’s corner man Virgil comes into play here several times, blocking Savage’s exit on several occasions and even bashing the cage door on Macho’s head. This leads to Dibiase almost escaping in a moment that probably would have had everyone on edge live. (Now, of course, I’m like “Okay, we know how this turns out!”) Very late in the match, Savage is battling both Dibiase and Virgil at the top of the cage when a teen-aged fan gets involved, climbing all the way to the top of the cage to help out Savage. (“It’s still real to me, damn it!”) . The fan is removed from the equation, Savage rams his adversaries heads together. Dibiase drops to the mat, Virgil falls all the way to the floor (man, poor Virgil having to take that bump) and Savage exits the cage to retain.
And that young fan, although escorted from Madison Square Gardens that night,, who had done his part to help “Macho Man” Randy Savage retain his title against the dastardly double-team of Ted Dibiase and Virgil…
…was named John Milner!
Okay, I’m kidding! And with that, Sean Mooney declares “the Best of the WW ….” is over!
johnmilner.ca 