WWF 1989

[mdale2k]

WWF Superstars
July 15th, 1989

WWF Superstars opening with Gorilla Monsoon putting over Jimmy Snuka as the new Intercontinental Champion thanks to Hulk Hogan. They begin to discuss Dusty Rhodes entering into the WWF and speaking of him, he is coming to the ring for his match.

Dusty Rhodes pinned Frank Simpson with the Bionic Elbowdrop in 0:04:21.
Rating: -3/4*
Comments: Dusty Rhodes made short work of Frank Simpson using his power moves and showboating for the crowd, which they loved.

Dusty Rhodes celebrates his first win in the WWF and out comes from the back, the French Connection leader Rick Martel along with The Rougeaus. Martel claps mockingly at Rhodes for his win and says it doesn’t impress him. Martel yawns at the idea of Rhodes ever challenging for the Heavyweight strap and says that everything that happened before doesn’t mean squat. Dusty gets a mike and challenges Martel to a match, but Martel states he can’t wrestle next week but he volunteers Raymond Rougeau for the task! Raymond looks a bit stunned but Rhodes says it is on!

Bad News Brown pinned Barry Horowitz with the Ghetto Blaster in 0:04:08.
Rating: *
Comments: Pure squash here by BNB. He looked vicious.

Rick Rude is backstage with Bobby Heenan. Rude says it is a travesty what happened to him at SNME. Rude says he is petitioning the WWF for a rematch with Snuka! Rude tells Hogan that not only does he want the IC strap he wants to hold both titles simultaneously. Rude puts over the fact that he has already beaten Hogan in tag team action and has a pinfall win. Rude states his case for a title shot.

Jake Roberts pinned Virgil with the DDT in 0:07:13.
Rating: * ¾
[Ted DiBiase interfered against Jake Roberts.]
Comments: Jake Roberts had his hands full with DiBiase on the outside, but Jake was able to foil DiBiase’s plan of having Virgilget the win, and pinned him with the DDT. After the match, Ted entered and KO’d Roberts with his million dollar belt.

Jimmy Snuka is backstage before his match with Heenan Family member Haku. Snuka says that at SNME was the greatest moment in his career as he finally obtained some gold in the WWF. He plans to hold the belt for a long time and will take on all challenges.

Jimmy Snuka pinned Haku with the Superfly Splash in 0:09:29.
Rating: -* 1/4
(Jimmy Snuka retained the Intercontinental Championship.)
Comments: Just one week after winning the title, Snuka proved to be a fighting champion by coming out and fighting Haku, a dangerous opponent, in his first defense. Bobby Heenan really wanted the gold back in the Family but it wasn’t meant to be and Snuka fought hard and won with the signature Superfly Splash.

Hercules made Jim Neidhart submit to the torture rack in 0:08:25.
Rating: -*
Comments: Main event of the evening featured two powerhouses doing battle one on one. You would be surprised to know the Hercules manhandled Neidhart in the early going hitting huge powerslam and sidewalk slams. Neidhart tried to make a comeback but it wasn’t meant to be as Hercules picked up Nedihart and rack’ed him for the win. Impressive power by Hercules.

Randy Savage walked out to the ring after the main event along with Bad News Brown. Savage looked as disturbed as ever. He grabs the microphone and runs down the Rockers and states now that he has dealt with that trash he wants what is rightfully his, that being the WWF World Championship. He calls out Jack Tunney to give him the title shot. Jack Tunney comes out from the back and gets a good ovation. Tunney gets into the ring and congratulates Savage and Bad News on their victory at SNME. Tunney then begins to say that Savage is unstable and his actions have not been that of a champion. Tunney states that there are a lot of wrestlers in the back that have acted professionally and not broken so many rules that will get the shot. He states if Savage stops his unwarranted attacks and obeys the WWF officials he will get a shot down the line. This appears to infuriate Savage and he gets real close and tells Tunney to reconsider. Tunney tells him his decision is final and Tunney turns to get out of the ring and Savage grabs his arm and slaps Tunney down to the mat! BNB seems shocked at what happened. Savage gets the mike and lies on top of Tunney asking for his title shot and Tunney cannot respond and Savage begins to choke Tunney! As expected the crowd booes and tosses garbage. Gorilla Monsoon has seen enough and tries to enter the ring but Savage gets up and cracks Monsoon in the head with the mike sending him to the mat! Savage pounces back on Tunney and continues to choke him and this leads to a hoard of officials and faces (Duggan, Garvin, Hart Foundation, Snuka) out from the back and BNB sees it and taps Savage on the shoulder and they bail out! Crowd members are trying to get at Savage and BNB moves Savage along and Savage is yelling “Tunney I want my title shot!” Medic team is in the ring attending to Tunney and Monsoon as Duggan, Garvin, Hart and Snuka stand at the ring to ensure Savage and BNB don’t come back.

[JoshiQ]

Dusty is a fun addition to the roster. He always had such a rough time in the WWF, hopefully you can get a decent push for him this time around.

The ending segment was crazy. I can't even imagine the heat someone would have for laying out Tunney and Monsoon back in '89.

Hope you can keep this up with the MP running.

[mdale2k]

Ya my goal was to get savage some major heat plus continue his madness. I have ideas where he is going

[epw]

Interesting that Rude looks kinda like the number one contender for both the IC and World titles. Got a lot of options of how it's all going to play out.

Savage as a mad man in nice. Interested to see what kind of punishment he gets for attacking Tunney, and who finally is going to stop him.

[mdale2k]

WWF Superstars
July 22nd, 1989

Superstars open with Vince McMahon, Lord Alfred Hayes at the announce table. They mention that Gorilla Monsoon will be back next week and he is recovering from the attack from Randy Savage. McMahon mentions that they are unable to show the footage from the dastardly attack by Randy Savage and that Gene Okerland will have an announcement for the crowd in moments from WWF Officials. They announce some big matches tonight as Greg Valentine and Tito Santana will do battle as well as former Intercontinental champion Rick Rude will take on Jake Roberts in the main event.

We go to the ring with Mean Gene Okerland.

Mean Gene Okerland: “Thank you fans. After last week’s attack by Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage, WWF officials have asked me to make an announcement. First of all the WWF does not condone the actions perpetrated by Randy Savage and the WWF would like to apologize to the fans in attendance last week and you can be assured that nothing like this will happen again. Secondly Gorilla Monsoon has a bruised back and will be back at the commentary table next week! (crowd pops for Monsoon). WWF President Jack Tunney is in hospital with a severely bruised neck and currently it is unsure when he would be back. Finally the WWF has banned Randy Savage from the arena tonight and I am announcing from the WWF offices that Randy Savage has been suspended for 30 days and fined an undisclosed amount of money! (crowd pops).”

Bad News Brown comes out from the back and the crowd booes heavily. Mean Gene Okerland bails from the ring.

Bad News Brown: “Mean Gene, don’t worry I won’t hurt you (he says with a devilish smile). I want to say that this punishment is unwarranted and this is all Tunney and Hogan’s fault! Tunney, you did not give Savage what he deserved and you paid the price. Hogan has been silent all along and why? Because he doesn’t want to lose his precious title. Hogan, you have gotten a lot of pictures with your World Title, because frankly when Savage is back, you are just holding his belt.”

The crowd booes as BNB drops the mike and heads to the back. McMahon comments that BNB escaped punishment likely because he didn’t attack anyone.

Tito Santana pinned Greg Valentine after a flying forearm in 0:07:22.
Rating: **
Comments: Great opener between former champions. Tito looked in fine form and hit the flying forearm for the win.

Backstage Mean Gene Okerland is standing by with Mr. Perfect. He asks him about his injury and Mr. Perfect tells him to stop right there and goes onto challenge Jimmy Snuka. Snuka beat him a few weeks ago and that led to Snuka winning the IC Title belt. Perfect wants that belt and tells Snuka he better watch his back.

Dusty Rhodes pinned Raymond Rougeau with the Bionic Elbowdrop in 0:09:36.
Rating: **
Comments: Rhodes and Rougeau did battle as Martel sent Ray to do his work for him as he made it clear that he didn’t want Dusty in the WWF. Rhodes however looked great in his second match back and did a great job and won the match.

After the match Dusty is celebrating in the ring and Rick Martel grabs the mike and says that Rhodes was cheating! (obviously false and the crowd booes). Martel asks the referee to come here and this distraction allowed Raymond to low blow Rhodes and Martel slides into the ring and the beatdown is on before the referees break it up.

The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated Barry Horowitz and Brooklyn Brawler when Jannetty pinned Horowitz after a flying dropkick in 0:06:26.
Rating: ***
Comments: The Rockers did what they needed to go after they lost to Savage and BNB on SNME. This was a fast paced matchup and the Brawler / Horowitz team did not know what hit them and Marty hit a flying dropkick for the win.

The Brother Love Show is on and his guests are The Twin Towers and Slick! Brother Love welcomes the team and says that they have been on a tear. Slick gets on the stick and puts over his charges as the best team in the WWF. He says next week they will prove that by beating The Hart Foundation in the #1 contenders bout next week. Boss Man tells the Harts that they are about to find out what hard time is all about.

Demolition (Ax and Smash) defeated The Young Stallions (Jim Powers and Paul Roma) when Smash defeated Powers by pinfall in 0:05:14.
Rating: * 1/2
(Demolition retained the World Tag Team Championship.)
Comments: Demolition dominated and controlled this contest looking very strong.

Rick Rude pinned Jake Roberts with the Rude Awakening in 0:08:03.
Rating: ** 1/4
[Ted DiBiase interfered against Jake Roberts.]
Comments: Main Event time and it was a dandy as Rick Rude looked to get back on track after losing his IC Title. Roberts on the other hand would love nothing better than taking out Rude. Roberts was doing well but his old nemesis Ted DiBiase got involved and one thing led to another and Rick Rude got the win after the Rude Awakening!

After the match Roberts was pissed and chased DiBiase to the back!

[mdale2k]

From the Desk of Jack Tunney

Dear WWF Fans;

I am writing this letter from my home, recuperating from my injuries sustained at the hands of Randy Savage. I am satisfied by the punishment that has been selected by the WWF brass. I also would like to express my thanks and gratitude to all the fans for their letters that they sent to the WWF Head Office. Your letters really made me feel better.

Unfortunately, I have come to realize that being involved in the ring or involved with the interaction of the wrestlers is not in the best interest of myself, the company or my family. I cannot put my family in danger having me by injured and not working in my role as WWF President. Therefore as of today I am appointing the first ever WWF Commissioner to be my personal representative in the WWF.

Next week at WWF Superstars, this man will be introduced and he is a man of integrity and a man who can physically stand up to any of the WWF wrestlers to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

I will remain WWF President at the WWF head offices and continue to strive to do the best job I can.

Thank you

Jack Tunney
WWF President

[JoshiQ]

Bringing out the commissioner role pretty early on in the WWF is an interesting twist. I'm not really sure who you will go with, but maybe Bruno Sammartino?

[mdale2k]

WWF Superstars
July 29, 1989

Vince McMahon welcomes everyone to WWF Superstars. He also welcomes Gorilla Monsoon back after being off after being attacked by Randy Savage as Monsoon tried to come to the aid of Jack Tunney. Monsoon told all of the fans thank you for their support. We go to Mean Gene.

Mean Gene Okerland is the ring.

Mean Gene Okerland: “Thank you all. Please welcome my guest at this time, he is the new WWF Commissioner as appointed by Jack Tunney, he is Harley RAAAAAAAACE!”

The crowd cheers as Harley Race, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion walks to the ring with a clipboard and a fine suit. He is also a former WWF King!

Mean Gene Okerland: “Mr. Race, welcome back to the World Wrestling Federation.”

Harley Race: “Mean Gene, thanks a lot. When Jack asked me about this role I was not hesitant at all. My wrestling career is over at this point, but I still have a lot to give to the industry. What Randy Savage did to Mr. Tunney was reprehensible and he’s lucky I wasn’t around because I would have taught him a lesson. But enough about Randy Savage. I want to get to the important matters and that is on August 27th, 1989 from East Rutherford, we will have Summerslam! Now tonight The Hart Foundation and The Twin Towers are doing battle in a #1 Contenders match and the winning team will take on Demolition at Summerslam for the Tag Team Gold!”

Mean Gene Okerland: “That should be a great match.”

Harley Race: “Indeed Gene. But what I really want to discuss is the main event for Summerslam. And I believe that Hulk Hogan should defend his WWF World Heavyweight Championship. But against who is the question? Rick Rude has made quite a lot of noise about getting a shot and that is fair because he did pin Hulk at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but I think there is another man who deserves a shot and that is the man who he beat for the Intercontinental Title, The Ultimate Warrior (huge pop). So next week Rick Rude and The Ultimate Warrior will do battle and the winner will meet Hulk Hogan at Summerslam.”

Mean Gene Okerland: “Wow, what a match!”

And with that Race shakes Okerland’s hand and leaves the ring.

Hercules made Koko B. Ware submit to the Koji clutch in 0:04:25.
Rating: ** 1/4
Comments: Hercules continues his winning ways forcing Koko B. Ware to submit with the Koji Clutch. The crowd booed heavily as Hercules held the hold, maybe for a bit too long.

Backstage The Hart Foundation is discussing their match with the Twin Towers tonight. Bret says that with the addition of the Summerslam spot against Demolition there is extra motivation to get the win. Neidhart laughs and says that he is ready to get the gold back and tonight the Towers are going to fall. Bret finishes it off saying they will be excellently executed.

Tugboat pinned Aaron Gulliver with the Big Splash in 0:03:20.
Rating: -*
Comments: Hulk’s friend Tugboat got a huge victory win over AG with the big splash.


Ted DiBiase is backstage with Sean Mooney and Virgil. Mooney asks me DiBiase about his interference against Roberts. DiBiase says that Roberts has always been a thorn in the Million Dollar Man’s side. The Snake must go.

Shawn Michaels defeated Ted DiBiase by countout in 0:07:33.
Rating: **
[Virgil interfered against Shawn Michaels.]
[Jake Roberts interfered against Ted DiBiase.]
Comments: Michaels and DiBiase went at it in a face paced match. Virgil got involved helping DiBiase on the outside against Michaels and that brought Jake Roberts down from the back. He attacked Virgil and then DDT’ed DiBiase on the outside leading to the countout win.

Dusty Rhodes is backstage with Gene Okerland and Rhodes quickly starts off talking about the loud mouthed French Canadian Rick Martel. Rhodes says that Martel is hiding behind his friends and won’t man up and take a real match. Rhodes says that he wants a match with Rick Martel at Saturday Night’s Main Event and if Martel doesn’t agree he will ask Harley Race, who he is sure, will make the match.

Bad News Brown pinned Barry Horowitz with the Ghetto Blaster in 0:02:34.
Rating: * ¾
Comments: BNB got the squash win


Hulk Hogan is backstage with his WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt around his waist and he begins to discuss the big Rude/Warrior matchup next week for a shot at his title. Hogan runs down Rude as a fiendish man and one who he would love to destroy. He praises the Warrior and says he would be happy to defend the title. He said he will be in the building next week to watch the match.

Number-One-Contenders-Match:
The Twin Towers (Akeem and Big Boss Man) defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) when Boss Man defeated B. Hart by pinfall in 0:09:58.
Rating: 1/2*
Comments: The Twin Towers proved once again why they are one of the toughest tag teams in the tag team division. After they beat the Powers of Pain they took the win against the Hart Foundation and the title shot against Demolition. They used their size and strength and cut off Hart from his partner and they got the win.