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Post by ianclark on Apr 29, 2013 7:31:16 GMT -5
WWF
February 1988
It is late February 1988 and following the controversial victory by Andre the Giant over Hulk Hogan at The Main Event earlier in the month, together with his attempt to hand over the WWF World Heavyweight Title Belt to “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, WWF President Jack Tunney has declared the WWF title as vacant, with a tournament to be held to determine the new WWF champion. Preliminary matches for the tournament would be taking place in the next few weeks, with the finals of the tournament being held at the upcoming Wrestlemania IV.
The InterContinental Champion is still Honky Tonk Man, who has reigned for more than 7 months since his surprising victory over Ricky “Dragon” Steamboat. WWF Tag Team Champions are the popular Strike Force, Rick Martel and Tito Santana.
In terms of its schedule, the WWF has streamlined its programming. There are now 4 pay per view events per year (with the Royal Rumble and the newly announced SummerSlam – to be held in August – joining Wrestlemania and the Survivor Series). Saturday Nights Main Event has been extended and will be held each month, sometimes more than once a month. There will also be “special events” such as big house shows from prestige venues like Madison Square Garden, overseas shows and other events yet to be announced…..
Roster (and details of the WWF World Heavyweight Title tournament brackets) to follow…………..
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Post by ianclark on May 3, 2013 15:22:32 GMT -5
Roster – February 1988
Faces
Hulk Hogan
Macho Man Randy Savage
Ricky Steamboat
Jake “Snake” Roberts
Brutus “Barber” Beefcake
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
The Ultimate Warrior
Don Muraco
Bam Bam Bigelow
Ken Patera
Junkyard Dog
Koko B.Ware
Hillbilly Jim
Strike Force (Tito Santana & Rick Martel)
British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith)
Rougeau Brothers (Jacques & Raymond)
Killer Bees (B.Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell)
Young Stallions (Jim Powers & Paul Roma)
Heels
Andre the Giant
“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
Honky Tonk Man
“King” Harley Race
One Man Gang
“Ravishing” Rick Rude
“Natural” Butch Reed
Bad News Brown
Greg “Hammer” Valentine
Dino Bravo
“Outlaw” Ron Bass
Hercules
Demolition (Ax & Smash)
Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Niedhart)
The Islanders (Haku & Tama)
The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov)
WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament
1st Round (to take place at Saturday Nights Main Event – March)
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan v “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
Don Muraco v Dino Bravo
Ricky Steamboat v Greg “Hammer” Valentine
Macho Man Randy Savage v “Natural” Butch Reed
Bam Bam Bigelow v One Man Gang
Jake “Snake” Roberts v “Ravishing” Rick Rude
2nd Round (at Wrestlemania IV)
Hulk Hogan v Andre the Giant
Duggan/DiBiase v Muraco/Bravo
Steamboat/Valentine v Savage/Reed
Bam Bam/Gang v Roberts/Rude
Other Matches set for Wrestlemania IV
WWF InterContinental Title
Brutus “Barber” Beefcake v Honky Tonk Man
WWF World Tag Team Titles
Strike Force v Demolition
and
The Ultimate Warrior v Hercules
The British Bulldogs v The Islanders
20 Man Battle Royal
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Post by ianclark on May 11, 2013 4:54:44 GMT -5
Saturday Nights Main Event – March 1988
WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament
1st Round
“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase beat “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (12:58)
Don Muraco beat Dino Bravo (12:39)
One Man Gang beat Bam Bam Bigelow (5:51)
Ricky “Dragon” Steamboat beat Greg “Hammer” Valentine (10:56)
Jake “Snake” Roberts v “Ravishing” Rick Rude (15:00 – Time Limit Draw)
“Macho Man” Randy Savage beat “Natural” Butch Reed (9:46)
Notes:
The first show in the “new” era of the WWF saw all 1st round matches for the WWF World Heavyweight Title tournament take place (with Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant receiving byes into the 2nd round).
The night began in controversial fashion as interference from Andre allowed the “Million Dollar Man” to progress against the distracted “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. His opponent at WM IV will be Don Muraco after the former I-C champ managed to overcome Dino Bravo in a battle of two strong men.
The next match saw two giants of the ring collide as One Man Gang took on the popular Bam Bam Bigelow. This contest was decided thanks to the trickery of Gang’s manager Slick, who pulled the rope down causing Bigelow to fall out of the ring and ultimately to be counted out of the match and the tournament.
The next match was a mini classic between two former InterContinental champions and two of the best wrestlers in the WWF in Ricky Steamboat and Greg Valentine. The fast pace required by the short time limit in the first round of the tournament worked in Steamboat’s favour this time and he was able to progress on this occasion.
The penultimate match of the night was a tough encounter between two top stars in the WWF, Jake Roberts and Rick Rude. Despite dominating most of the match, partly thanks to his manager Bobby Heenan, Rude wasn’t able to get the 1-2-3 and in the end time ran out for both men as the bell rang to signal the time limit had expired and both men were subsequently out of the tournament. One side effect of this decision was that the One Man Gang will automatically receive a bye into the semi finals of the tournament and this must surely make him one of the favourites for the title.
The final match of the evening saw the “Macho Man” Randy Savage (accompanied by the lovely Elizabeth as always) take on “Natural” Butch Reed (with manager Slick) for the final spot at Wrestlemania IV. This match turned into a surprisingly one sided affair and a visibly very focussed and determined Savage never looked like losing this bout, and he duly progressed, much to the delight of the fans.
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Post by ianclark on May 11, 2013 4:55:42 GMT -5
WRESTLEMANIA IV
WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament
2nd Round
Hulk Hogan v Andre the Giant
Don Muraco v “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
Ricky “Dragon” Steamboat v “Macho Man” Randy Savage
One Man Gang receives a bye
WWF InterContinental Title Match
Brutus “Barber” Beefcake v HONKY TONK MAN
WWF World Tag Team Titles Match
STRIKE FORCE v Demolition
Plus:
20 Man Battle Royal
The Ultimate Warrior v Hercules
Jake “Snake” Roberts v “Ravishing” Rick Rude
The British Bulldogs v The Islanders
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Post by ianclark on May 11, 2013 5:19:06 GMT -5
WRESTLEMANIA IV
Bad News Brown won a 20 man Battle Royal
WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament
2nd Round
Hulk Hogan v Andre the Giant (10:04 – double countout)
“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase beat Don Muraco (8:40)
“Macho Man” Randy Savage beat Ricky “Dragon” Steamboat (13:23)
One Man Gang received a bye
The Ultimate Warrior beat Hercules (7:25)
WWF InterContinental Title Match
HONKY TONK MAN beat Brutus “Barber” Beefcake (9:46)
WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament
Semi Finals
“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase received a bye
“Macho Man” Randy Savage beat One Man Gang (6:27)
The British Bulldogs beat The Islanders (11:18)
WWF World Tag Team Titles Match
Demolition beat STRIKE FORCE (11:14)
“Ravishing” Rick Rude beat Jake “Snake” Roberts (9:09)
WWF World Heavyweight Title Match
“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase beat “Macho Man” Randy Savage (16:49)
Notes:
Just a few short weeks after he tried to buy the WWF World Heavyweight Title, “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase has earned the title the old fashioned way, by winning it in the ring at the climax of the 14 man tournament to decide the new champion. Having seen his path to the title made significantly easier due to the shock double elimination of former champion Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, DiBiase took full advantage, overcoming “Macho Man” Randy Savage in the final. Savage had fought bravely during a gruelling night of 3 tough matches for him, first beat Ricky Steamboat in a modern day classic to rival their match at last year’s Wrestlemania, before beating the well rested One Man Gang in the semi final, before falling short against DiBiase. However, there was controversy throughout as both Virgil and Andre the Giant constantly distracted Savage during the match. Elizabeth eventually ran to the back to get Hulk Hogan to try and even the odds, but it was this move that would arguably cost Savage the title. With the referee down and chaos in the ring as Andre and Virgil helped DiBiase in a 3 on 1 attack, the Hulkster got a chair from ringside and took a mighty swing at the heels. Unfortunately, it was Savage who took the full force of the chair shot, leaving him easy prey in the middle of the ring for DiBiase to cover just in time for the referee to make the 1-2-3 count and proclaim a new WWF World Heavyweight champion!!!!!
As the heels celebrated, both Hulk and Elizabeth tried to explain to a very groggy Savage what had happened. Eventually, Savage accepted Hulk’s apology before they chased the heels from the ring. Nothing could take the smile away from DiBiase’s face though as he laughed all the way to the backstage area, with both Savage and Hogan promising to get the belt from him!
Earlier in the night the Honky Tonk Man held onto the WWF InterContinental Title as he used the ropes and the “Shake, Rattle and Roll” to see off the challenge of Brutus “Barber” Beefcake – at least for now.
Strike Force were not so fortunate however, as Ax wielded Mr Fuji’s cane to great effect to enable Smash to pin Rick Martel and win the WWF World Tag Team Titles for Demolition.
“Ravishing” Rick Rude managed to defeat Jake “Snake” Roberts in their rematch from SNME and there were also good wins for The British Bulldogs and The Ultimate Warrior.
The first match of the night was a 20 man Battle Royal featuring the likes of Harley Race, Junkyard Dog, The Hart Foundation and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan amongst others. However, it was a newcomer to the WWF, loner Bad News Brown who prevailed in the Battle Royal as he outlasted all 19 opponents, to win the match.
The next event on the WWF calendar is Saturday Nights Main Event.
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Post by ianclark99 on May 13, 2013 14:34:09 GMT -5
Hi,
I am scrapping this circuit (before it has started) as I have had another idea (well, an old idea actually) that I am going to try again.
Apologies for the stop/start stuff, will try to stick to this one!
Watch out for the birth of Ultimate Championship Wrestling!!!!
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