WWF Wrestling Challenge – July 1, 1990
By Brian Bayless on 26th September 2017
July 1, 1990
From the Rochester War Memorial in Rochester, NY
Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan
This week, we will see the Hulk Hogan Tribute video. Also in action are Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Demolition, Brutus Beefcake, Bad News Brown, and The Rockers.
The Rockers vs. Paul Diamond & Brooklyn Brawler
Marty hits Brawler with an atomic drop after a lengthy reversal sequence. The Rockers work over Brawler until Shawn gets backed into the corner. Diamond tags in and hammers away as Heenan refers to The Rockers as “male cheerleaders.” Shawn skins-the-cat then takes Diamond down with a super kick that gets two after Brawler made the save. Brawler tags but gets worked over again until The Rockers put him away with a double flying fist drop (4:07).
Thoughts: Decent action here as The Rockers were once again over with the crowd.
WWF Special Report with Lord Alfred Hayes. We once again get the address for the “Come Back Hulk” campaign before we once again see the Hogan tribute video.
The Barbarian w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Mark Bee
Barbarian immediately attacks Bee and continues to destroy him as Gorilla puts over his toughness. Barbarian then takes Bee down with a big boot before putting him away with a flying clothesline (2:01).
Thoughts: Gorilla spent this match putting over the toughness of The Barbarian.
Nikolai Volkoff says that out of all his favorite things in America, his most favorite is the WWF Ice Cream Bars. He then proceeds to devour one while making weird noises. He was one goofy babyface.
Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake vs. Dennis Allen
Heenan is back at the desk and talking to Mr. Perfect, who is shown in an insert. Perfect says he has never been more “perfect” than he is now and proceeds to call Beefcake a “perfect loser.” Back to the match as Beefcake stays in control using some of the sorriest looking turnbuckle smashes I’ve ever seen and soon after that puts Allen away with a sleeper (3:08).
Thoughts: Just some more hype for the Perfect/Beefcake feud. However, this would the last match aired featuring Beefcake as just a few days after this aired he was seriously injured in a parasailing accident. Beefcake did actually wrestle at the next cycle of TV tapings, which happened a week before this aired, but those matches were not shown. One of those matches was against Mr. Perfect too and I kinda wish that was part of the WWE Unreleased Matches 1986-1995 DVD.
An ad for SummerSlam airs.
Rhythm & Blues are with Jimmy Hart on the interview platform. They proceed to sing us “Hunka, Hunka, Honky Love.” It lasted a long time.
Duane Gill & Barry Hardy vs. Demolition
This is Crush’s debut on “Wrestling Challenge” as he teams with Smash. Demolition are shown in an insert promo as they put down the Hart Foundation as Crush tells us he doesn’t have to like anyone. We see Crush slam Gill back inside but he did not get him all the way over so Gill bounced off of the ropes and flipped onto the mat. Crush continues to show off his power then Demolition hits Gill with the Decapitation for the win (3:34).
Thoughts: Crush did some power stuff that looked okay and some stuff that looked awful. This match was more about getting him over as they continue to feud with the Hart Foundation.
Gene Okerlund welcomes Boris Zhukov to the interview platform. He runs out while holding the Russian flag. Zhukov tells us how Mikhail Gobrachev is what’s wrong with Russia and he is soft for speaking with Americans. Okerlund then asks Zhukov about his former partner, Nikolai Volkoff, as Zhukov goes off on America for loving cowards like Volkoff and will prove to everyone that “might is right.” Well, Zhukov was never known for his skills on the mic and this was not an exception. Zhukov got some boos for the anti-American stuff.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Joe Champ
Duggan beats on Champ then we hear from Earthquake in an insert promo telling us the fan mail Hogan is receiving makes him sick but Hogan is never coming back and he will also get rid of Duggan. Heenan teases Gorilla about Hogan never returning as the crowd chants “USA” then Duggan hits a slam before the Three Point Stance gets the win (2:40).
Thoughts: The eventual match between Duggan and Earthquake is being built up to take place soon.
Ted DiBiase & Virgil are back in Cobb County, GA in the neighborhood where the Big Bossman grew up. He makes fun of it for being poor then he talks to a kid mowing the lawn. The kid tells DiBiase that Bossman beat up little kids and was the neighborhood bully. DiBiase says this is another example of him proving what Bossman really is, which is a big, obnoxious bully. Not much to this and one of the weaker DiBiase in Cobb County segments.
Scott Colontonio vs. Bad News Brown
Gorilla talks about Bossman doing a lot for his community and that DiBiase paid off the kid to lie. Okerlund is in the crowd with a kid, wearing a new Jake Roberts shirt while playing with a Jake action figure, as they talk about the Jake/Bad News feud as Heenan calls the kid a “nerd.” Bad News beats on Colontonio then puts him away with the Ghetto Blaster (2:39).
Thoughts: They hyped their newest merchandise and line of action figures here while continuing the Jake/Bad News feud.
We get an ad, voiced over by Vince, selling fans on how great it is to attend a WWF live event.
Next week in action are Koko B. Ware, Rick Martel, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Perfect, and Tugboat. Plus, an interview with Demolition and more!
Final Thoughts: Not much of a show this week. They aired the Hogan video that was first shown on last week’s “Superstars of Wrestling” and besides that did little to promote the other feuds in the company. The TV at this time was stagnant and uninspired to be honest.