Reviewed in April 2012
Gorilla Monsoon and Ken Resnick are the commentators for the show. Resnick was cool backstage with guys like Savage and Steamboat but I’m not expecting great things from him on commentary. However, Gorilla might be able to carry him to an entertaining event.
Iron Mike Sharpe vs. S.D. Jones – Iron Mike makes sure to make the announcer introduce him as “Canada’s Greatest Athlete”. I just noticed that S.D. has this weird indent in his back. My Mom opines, as she’s cutting my hair, that he looks like he got shot. Good choice for an opener. Ironically, these jobber vs. jobber matches are fun because you really don’t know who might get the win. In this case, it’s Jones.
The Rougeaus vs. the U.S. Express – Resnick and Rotundo are forever tied together in my memory for a backstage promo Rotundo did about this same time, where Resnick brought up Spivey’s injury, and Rotundo said the injury was a good thing because it got Spivey “off his butt”. I remember being a little shocked at this. Looking back, I have to wonder if they were planning to turn the Express heel. Holy crap! Monsoon just made a mention of there being “a lot of red tights” in there. I remember watching a house show on satellite over at Kurns’ back in the day that was from Boston Gardens and not only had this match, but also a main event of Hulk Hogan vs. Kamala (which is also on this show). Earlier Resnick had made mention of Kamala taking out George Steele, which I remember, but in my memory it was Gorilla saying it, but Monsoon’s “red tights” remark confirms it…. This is the same show I watched back in 1986!
I remember my friend Jason, his brother Kris and I think Lisa Van Alstyne in Jason and Kris’s basement, watching this show. One thing I remember from that afternoon is the WWE doing a rundown of their touring schedule and announcing Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who must have been signed from Bill Watts’ UWF but hadn’t’ shown up on TV yet, was to appear on one of the shows. As I remember, things get heated and the U.S. Express and the Rougeaus end up battling each other in the middle of the ring, leading to a double-disqualification. Rotundo was cheating a lot more than I remember, and so again, I have to wonder if this was the test to see how much heat Rotundo might get as a heel.
Harley Race, introduced as simply “The King” (but with no Bobby Heenan) takes on Pedro Morales: I think these two had a lengthy series back in mid-to-late 86, as I think they battled at the Big Event at the CNE earlier that summer. Of course, it this was 1976, a match between Morales and Race would have been, as they say, a main event anywhere in the country. Funny moment (for me anyways) where Monsoon and Resnick (who’s holding his own) talk about the Bruins and Celtics have success over the weekend. No mention of the Red Sox, who in December 1986 were probably still smarting from losing the World Series to the Mets in the aftermath of the Bill Buckner bobble. In a “miscarriage of justice”, Race cradled Morales, with both his feet on the ropes, in a takeoff of the Valentine-JYD finish from Wrestlemania I.
After a solid midcard match like that, we go back to a midcard-jobber squash as “The Rebel” Dick Slater takes on Steve Lombardi. Yeah, a guy comes down using a Confederate battle flag as a cape. That’ll get over in Boston. You know the weird part is: in 1986, a guy called the Rebel coming to the ring with a Confederate flag was seen as a goofy midcarder who would never get over. Today, he’d be the biggest and most hated heel in the industry. He’d have more heat than New Jack, Kevin Steen and Necro Butcher rolled into one. As you might expect, Slater defeats Lombardi.
The next match could be fun, as it’s a midget tag match pitting Peppi Gomez and the Karate Kid against Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo. As expected, this is as much a comedy match as it is an actual wrestling match. Littlebrook tried to pin his own partner on one occasion. On another, Tokyo got a sunset flip on the referee, and the Karate Kid counted down the ref. The final was Tokyo giving an airplane spin on Gomez, but was dizzy. Karate Kid gave him a dropkick, but Tokyo fell on Gomez. The ref started the count but stopped at two. Kid came over but rather than break up the pin just kinda stood there. The ref made the three count but Kid just kinda gave Tokyo a light kick and that was the match. Little Tokyo and Littlebrook must have been regular tag partners, as they would team with King Kong Bundy against Hillybilly Jim, Little Beaver and the Haiti Kid at Wrestlemania III.
Adrian Adonis takes on the Junk Yard Dog. Fun match that pitted two upper carders from the mid-80s against each other. This was similar to their CNE show match, save no Jimmy Hart. JYD won via countout. (I was doing a few things during this match, so I can’t comment too much on it.)
Next, Jimmy Jack Funk vs. Black Jack Mulligan in “the Battle for Texas”. Jimmy Jack and Mulligan must battled for Texas a lot back in 1986, as the two had a similar match on Saturday Night’s Main Event at about the same time. I remember Kris Kurn, some girl, and I got in trouble for being too loud in the Glencoe Library making jokes about “The Big Battle for Texas”. Of course, this would have been better if it had been Terry Funk vs Mulligan. Quick but not overly pretty. Mulligan gets the win with a reverse flying elbow. The former Jesse Barr tries for some revenge after the fact, but Mulligan runs him off. Not sure what the purpose of bringing the former WWF Tag Team Champion back in 1986. At the time I remember wanting to see him do a lot in the WWF but really, time had passed him by. I think “the Big Battle for Texas” was about all his run was going to be.
That was the end of Part I of this show, Part II opens with the introduction of the Dream Team, with Johnny V, apparently the only manager to make it to Boston. The Dream Team takes on the Islanders, Haku and Tama. I think the Islanders made a better heel team, especially the future Meng, Haku. The story of this match is the experience of the Dream Team taking over on an injured Tama. Great formula for a tag team match, obviously taking a page out of Crockett’s tag team play book with a Polynesian Ricky Morton in the form of Tama. The Islanders would come back to make a good accounting of themselves. Just as Tama came off the top rope with a high cross body on Valentine, the bell rings to end the match with a time limit draw. Tama calls out for five more minutes, but as expected the Dream Team will have no part of it.
After a promo from the Dream Team to explain their actions in the previous match, Johnny V sticks around to manage Dino Bravo against Corporal Kirschner. I know Kirschner is seen as a poor man’s replacement for Sgt. Slaughter, but I always liked Kirschner. Not a long bout, but the dark-haired Bravo gets the victory over Kirschner thanks to some distraction from Johnny V and a fast count from the referee.
Main Event Time as it’s Sex Tape Dude vs. the One-Footed Trucker…or Hulk Hogan vs. Kamala. Gotta give this match extra points for Hogan getting busted open, after Kamala nails him with a foreign object. Man, Hogan is busted open to the point where some of the blood ends up on Kamala’s shoulder. Funny how even in the WWE’s previous “PG” era of the mid-80s, they’d let even a guy like Hogan blade from time to time. This is your typical Hogan match for the period. Kamala gets the advantage, beats down Hogan until the Hulkster Hulks up and makes the comeback. The blade job really adds something to this match. It makes Kamala look like that much more of a savage, and makes Hogan look that much better for coming back to win. Finish is the usual slam, legdrop and pinfall for Hogan. As Real American plays, they show the replays of the finish to this match.
Afterwards, Resnick and Monsoon wrap it up and we’re done from the Boston Gardens.
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