In this WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/27/86 review, The British Bulldogs square off with The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, Paul Orndorff continues to taunt Hulk Hogan, and much more.
Let’s jump in.
- Show:Â WWF Wrestling Challenge
- Date:Â September 27, 1986
RINGSIDE: Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are on commentary. I love Ernie Ladd and Johnny V, but the Gorilla and Heenan combination is unbeatable.
The Gladiator vs. Koko B. Ware
Rick Hunter is back a week after he was destroyed by Sika (REVIEW), only this time he’s wrestling under a mask as The Gladiator. He gets way more offense in on Koko than he did Sika, but the result is the same. Koko uses the Birdbuster for the win. (SQUASH)
VIDEO: The weekly Wrestlers’ Rebuttal segment, and The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and Slick rant against the United States.
Lucius Brown vs. Paul Orndorff (w/Bobby Heenan)
Fun fact: Lucius Brown is the future Virgil. Johnny V replaces Heenan on commentary, and Orndorff continues his crusade against Hulk Hogan by once again coming out to his theme music. Such a great heel move. I’ve said this in other reviews (probably the Mid-South Wrestling ones), but Orndorff was a true gem in the 80s.
Orndorff racks Brown on the guardrail, then Heenan instructs him to use the piledriver. He hits a BRUTAL piledriver on Brown for the win as he does all the Hogan poses for good measure. Put the belt on Orndorff! (SQUASH)
BACKSTAGE: Ken Resnick with Ricky Steamboat. He’s pissed at Jake Roberts for what he did at Saturday Night’s Main Event back in May. I need to go back and review that one at some point.
Terry Gibbs vs. The Honky Tonk Man
It is wild to see Honky come out and shake hands and play 100 percent babyace to the crowd. That would change. Inset promo from Hogan, who thinks Honky is gonna take over the WWF. That’s quite an endorsement. Honky showcases his offense and flies off the top with a fist to the face for the victory. (SQUASH)
BACKSTAGE: Resnick with Leaping Lanny Poffo. He makes fun of his own hair and talks about throwing a frisbee, then reads a poem for the Special Olympics.
Mike Kelly vs. Butch Reed (w/Slick)
They hype this as Reed’s WWF debut, and he cuts a promo saying he’s coming after Hogan. I miss the days when a wrestler’s top motivation was to be the world champion. Kelly is the future Shane Douglas, who went by his real name (Troy Martin) on the debut episode of Wrestling Challenge several weeks ago. Reed uses his strength to dominate and notch the easy win. (SQUASH)
VIDEO: Snake Pit with The Hart Foundation. Jake keeps playing up this “nasty boys” theme for Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart. Bret wants the snake to devour The Rougeaus, while Neidhart wants it to be The British Bulldogs.
VIDEO: The Wizard is on the beach in Samoa. Here comes Sika, who comes out of the ocean eating a fish. These 80s vignettes are just the best. Wizard also pushes Sika as a threat to Hogan. Now, we transition to them in the jungle, and Sika is eating weeds and foaming at the mouth. I love these so, so much. Wait, WE’RE NOT DONE. They are sitting by a fire in the mountains, and Sika is eating another raw animal.
The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick and Freddie Blassie) vs. The British Bulldogs
Another non-title match, and there’s an inset promo of the Bulldogs talking about their respect for the former champions. Heenan thinks they’re cowards for not defending the titles, then tries to make a dinner bet with Gorilla that Sheik and Volkoff win the match.
The heels take advantage in the early going, with Sheik even spitting on the Dynamite Kid. But eventually Dynamite suplexes Sheik to reverse the momentum, then makes the hot tag to the British Bulldog. He hits the powerslam but Volkoff breaks up the pin. As always, the action breaks down, and Slick grabs Dynamite’s leg to allow Sheik to fall on him for the upset victory. (*1/2)
BACKSTAGE: Resnick with Slick, Sheik, and Volkoff. Slick recalls his dreams of wanting to be the best, and he pushes his alliance with Sheik and Volkoff. Resnick wants to know about the co-manager setup with Blassie. Sheik and Volkoff are all for it. SLICK MAKE THEM HUMBLE!
BLAKE’S TAKE ON WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE 9/27/86
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Thoughts: Slick was the main focus on this particular episode and for good reason since his new clients picked up a win over the tag champs. Elsewhere, the Orndorff stuff was great, and you can’t go wrong with Gorilla and Heenan working their magic on commentary.
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