A look back at an MSG show from 1989
I watched a WWF show from November 1989 at Madison Square Garden last night on WWE 24/7. I had only intended to watch a little bit of it to kill some time, but I got into it and ended up watching the entire show.
Here are some observations:
They weren’t singles stars yet and their tag team match went on second, yet Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were stealing the show even then. The Rockers (Michaels and Marty Jannetty) and The Hart Foundation (Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) squared off in an exciting match-up of popular babyface teams.
The two teams took the crowd on a rollercoaster ride, and the fans enthusiastically cheered them both. The action was non-stop and the workrate and psychology were top notch.
Neidhart clearly wasn’t as good a worker as the other three, but he played his role as the power guy well. And as good as Jannetty was, you could see that Michaels and Hart were two breakout stars waiting to happen. It was inevitable that they would one day be competing for the same spot.
As I was watching Michaels and Hart put on a wrestling clinic, I noticed that Earl Hebner was the referee – at least I think it was Earl and not his brother, Dave. At the time, no one could have guessed that those three would be together in the ring eight years later in one of the most famous and controversial matches in the history of the business.
The tag team bout began as a scientific match, but both teams got more aggressive as the match went on. It ended in a 20-minute draw, and then a brawl ensued after the match. Several babyfaces hit the ring and pulled the two teams apart.
That was by far the best wrestling match I have seen on television this week. …
The other match that stood out was “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase versus Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Those two really knew how to tell a story in the ring, and they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Everyone knows how great of a worker DiBiase was, but I had actually forgotten just how good Roberts was in his prime. Seeing Roberts at the top of his game, however, only makes it sadder to see how much he has deteriorated. …
The Randy Savage-Hacksaw Duggan main event was hardly a technical wrestling classic, but both guys were very over with the crowd. Savage was doing his “Macho King” bit at the time, and he had Queen Sherri by his side.
Before the match, Sherri and Miss Elizabeth were guests on a live version of The Brother Love show. I was never a fan of the Brother Love character, and after watching this I remember why. The red-faced, smarmy Southern evangelist (played by Bruce Pritchard) was so annoying that it was impossible to be entertained by him. Great heels make fans love to hate them; Brother Love just made fans hate him in a “please go away” sense.
Sherri carried the segment and drew a lot of heat. It’s hard to believe that both she and Elizabeth are no longer with us. …
Bad News Brown wrestled Tito Santana to a double countout. Brown was given a big push as a challenger to Hulk Hogan’s WWF title, but I never saw much in him. …
A guy I did see something in was Al Perez, who defeated The Brooklyn Brawler (Steve Lombardi). Perez, who had made a name for himself as a top heel in World Class Championship Wrestling, was a fine worker and had a good look, yet for some reason he never made it big in the NWA or WWF. …
The announcing was pretty bad. I loved Gorilla Monsoon when he was paired with Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan, but his broadcast partner on this show was Hillbilly Jim. They two had zero chemistry, and Jim’s chatter about his granny and “a hoedown and a Hootin’ Annie” got old real quick. Monsoon was definitely better playing off heel color commentators.
Sean Mooney was serviceable doing the backstage interviews, although there was an awkward moment when he didn’t really play along when Savage kept trying to force him to bow. Lord Alfred Hayes’ periodic reports between matches added nothing to the broadcast. …
Of the 16 wrestlers on the card, two – Michaels and Duggan – are currently on WWE’s active roster.
Comments
"loved Gorilla Monsoon when he was paired with Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan, but his broadcast partner on this show was Hillbilly Jim."
Who was a worse partner for Monsoon? Hillbilly Jim or Art Donovan at the 1994 King of the Ring?
Coincidentally, I think that pay-per-view was held in Baltimore.
Posted by: Christopher | December 7, 2008 2:41 PM
I stopped watching WWE for years because of Brother Love. Gag!
Posted by: AMC | December 7, 2008 3:24 PM
Thanks Kevin, I needed that. You are right though, Monsoon was sooo much better with a heel like Heenan by his side. Monsoon and Heenan made my best friend and I want to be color commentators. We would watch the PPV's with several of our other friends, turn the audio down and do our own commentary. He was the Heenan and I was Monsoon, only better looking. Ahhh the memories.
Posted by: Gwen | December 7, 2008 6:53 PM
There may only be two on the active roster, but in the last year, five have appeared on WWE programming: DiBiase (introducing his son), Jannetty (faced Mr. Kennedy at 15th anniversary show), and Lombardi (also appeared at the 15th anniversary show), in addition to Duggan and Michaels.
And of course, Neidhart's daughter is working for WWE, as is DiBiase's son.
Posted by: James | December 7, 2008 7:23 PM
Today's best heel IMO, Chris Jericho, owes a lot to Ted DiBiase. The Million Dollar Man character was one of wrestling's all-time greatest heels and seems to be a direct influence on Jericho's character.
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were, for my money, the best-ever announcing team. And shortly thereafter we saw Vince join the announcing crew, as one of the worst-ever. He got better, eventually; but listen to Vince announcing circa '92, especially the way he screams out every near-fall: "One, two, threeNOOOO!"
Posted by: Stephen | December 7, 2008 8:13 PM
Kev, did you see the video of Reid Flair's debut match in Charlotte? I'm kind of surprised Ric Flair would want anything to do with Hulk Hogan.
Posted by: RH | December 7, 2008 8:39 PM
That's why I can't get WWE 24/7. I'd try to watch a little bit & I'd wind up never leaving the house.
Did you ever get through Bret Hart's book? He's got some less-than-flattering things to say about Bad News Brown and Jake Roberts.
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I'm about halfway through it.
Posted by: Chris Slater | December 8, 2008 12:36 AM
I just watched the 2000 Royal Rumble on demand for $2 the other day. It was $2 well spent!
Posted by: Geckle | December 8, 2008 1:12 AM
Hey Kev, great blog. Just wanted to ask you, did you felt that Bret and HBK were gonna be that big stars, few years later?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I did think they were going to be singles stars, but not necessarily world champions. Once Bret won the title and broke through the glass ceiling, I did think Michals' time would come.
Posted by: Kunal | December 8, 2008 1:16 PM
Eck you must have read my mind.I know you wacth and blog on WWE 24/7 alot and I just got done watching the the same card myself Sat. night and was going to ask you if you'd checked it out yet.The Rockers/Hart Foundation match was classic,you really felt like Gorilla wasn't over selling at all when at the end of the match he said "this was one of the best matches I've ever seen!" It really made me sad for the state that tag team wrestling is in right now.
I think the TNA roster should be sat down and forced to watch the Roberts\DiBiase match,and learn a thing or two about ring psychology.
I can't understand why everything is so rushed nowadays.There is no storytelling anymore and thats what makes wrestling great taking the crowd on,like you said,a roller coaster ride.
Posted by: Andre the Midget | December 8, 2008 4:37 PM
Man , why can't 2009 be more like 1989 . (speaking for a few of us geezers)
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | December 8, 2008 5:06 PM
Well, I must say this post was very enlightening!
All the hate for Brother Love, I never would've thunk it! I bet that's why the character disappeared. It had always been a mystery to me, so thank you (and AMC) for giving me that perspective!
Also, I knew The Black Scorpion was created for Al Perez so I wonder if the angle would have succeeded with him. I only saw him work as enhancement for WWF, so the logic of him as #1 heel always baffled me. I'm glad to learn there was logic in that plan. I thought the angle was brilliant on paper.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | December 8, 2008 5:29 PM
I thought RAW was better this week then last week. The mix of the slammys and wrestling was a good blend. The matches were entertaining and good. I like the way there were no long gaps between the awards and the wrestling. WWE has finally gotten it right. One of the best 3 hr show WWE has done in long time.
Posted by: Finlay Fan | December 9, 2008 12:42 AM