Stock prices may be dropping on WWE stock (as they usually
do around this time of the year), but pro wrestling seems to be rather
healthy. A clear indication of this
would have to be the weekly offerings of wrestling on broadcast and cable
television. There is wrestling on TV
Monday through Friday. The first three
days of the week are defined (and somewhat saturated) by the WWE. Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live on Tuesdays,
and NXT on Wednesday. Thursdays are for
IMPACT Wrestling while Fridays sees AXS TV bless us with matches from New Japan
Pro Wrestling.
But alas, there is more backstage dialogue than there is
wrestling these days. Pro wrestlers are
given time to further their issues and promote their matches in the most
transparent of ways. It didn’t always
used to be like that. For this reason,
RAW is sometimes all of WWE I can stand in a week’s time. I’m writing this on a Wednesday morning;
meaning last night was Tuesday. Now I
could religiously watch SmackDown Live.
But instead, I ventured to the WWE Network. I’d just gotten home from the gym and
showered. I was looking for something to
view in the vault and what I stumble upon?
WWF Prime Time Wrestling.
This year was 1987.
Prime Time Wrestling was the predecessor to Monday Night RAW for
years. It was a sit-down studio show
hosted by the legendary team of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. Monsoon was always the straight man: a former wrestler who would confuse me and
countless youth with his random offerings of medical terminology. Thanks to Monsoon, I could say terms like medulla
oblongata and medial collateral ligament long before I could spell them. To his right was none other than Heenan. Still managing at the time, Heenan had
one-liners that would make you laugh, cringe, or both. Heenan’s trademark sequined bowtie and jacket
made him stand out.
Several matches that didn’t look exciting on paper were
actually pretty good for many reasons.
The matches on this show would take place at several arenas around the
world. The show opened up with Greg
Valentine earning a cheap win over “The Rebel” Dick Slater in the legendary Boston
Garden. A camera shown from ringside in
the direction of the competitors also showed the Garden filled to
capacity. The mezzanine seats were full
and this was a damn house show! The next
match saw one of my all-time favorites Sika defeat Cpl Kirschner at the
Meadowlands Arena. That alone brought
back memories of me and my brother arguing with grown-ups as kids in the same
arena and almost getting kicked out just before The Ultimate Warrior challenged
Rick Rude for the Intercontinental title years later.. ..but that’s another
story.
Siva Afi pinned Frenchy Martin a match that was short,
sweet, and won via sunset flip. I always
knew Afi was good but didn’t know he was that athletic and graceful. There were a few 80’s skits, but they were
short and took less than five minutes to view.
There was Blackjack Mulligan riding horseback and rustling up some
longhorns. All the while, he said he was
coming to WWE and hunting for the Heenan family. Awesome visual simplicity. Next was the ill-fated Outback Jack. Jack was in Australia getting war paint put
on his face by members of an Aborigine tribe.
After the skit, Heenan quipped “Who was that with Jack? The Temptations?”. Hilarious!
Finally, Jesse Ventura (with a head full of hair, no less) stood in the
lobby of hotel with a mic in hand.
Ventura heard screaming female fans and assumed that “Macho Man” Randy
Savage is causing the commotion. To his
dismay, the female fans are trying to get to the Can-AM Connection of Tom Zenk
and former AWA World champion Rick Martel.
Zenk is awestruck while Martel’s shirt is torn to shreds. Cool stuff.
Back to the action and tag team wrestling is at the plate. First, The Hart Foundation took on The
Islanders at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
Highly athletic and entertaining match.
Anyone that knows me knows I absolutely LOVE the Anoa’I family. To get the chance to see Tama (Tonga Kid)
work again was great. Next, WWF World
Tag Team champions The British Bulldogs took on the Slick-led team of Nikolai
Volkoff and The Iron Sheik. Sheiky Baby
and Volkoff won after Matilda the Bulldog earned her humans a
disqualification. Finally, it was main
event time. “The King” Harley Race took
on the modern-day concussed crybaby Billy Jack Haynes. Haynes used his size and strength to batter
Race all over the ring. About three or
four years removed from his last NWA World title reign, Race sported quite the
belly. Still, it didn’t stop him from
going to work on the big man from Oregon.
The match ended when Heenan ran in the ring to stop Haynes from locking
Race in the Full Nelson. So what did
Haynes do? He put Heenan in it. Classic material!! The show would end with Monsoon telling fans
to tune in next week for a cage match featuring World champion Hulk Hogan and
Paul Orndorff.
Prime Time Wrestling would go on for about six more
years. Near the end, it lost its
identity. There was now a studio
audience. Vince McMahon and his
unflinching hair would greet weekly viewers wearing a puffy tracksuit, high top
sneakers, and his trademark bravado.
Even still, this trip down memory lane did what wrestling today can’t
do: keep my attention for two hours
straight. These guys FOUGHT with fists
and feet. It was compelling. It was consistent. But most importantly, it was CONVINCING.
Ah, the good old days…….
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