WWF House Show 1/23/1989

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 1/23/1989
From: New York, NY

Matches:
1.) Sam Houston defeated Danny Davis
2.) Mr. Perfect defeated Brutus Beefcake by count-out
3.) Tim Horner defeated Jose Estrada
4.) Bret Hart fought the Honkytonk Man to a double count-out
5.) The Brainbusters defeated The Rockers
6.) Rick Rude defeated Hillbilly Jim
7.) Hercules defeated Ted DiBiase by reverse decision
8.) Tito Santana defeated Ron Bass
9.) The Big Bossman defeated Hulk Hogan by disqualification

Angle Developments/Notes:
1. The show kicks off with ‘Dangerous’ Danny Davis in action against fan favorite Sam Houston. Houston’s gimmick is similar to what Dustin Rhodes had in WCW in the early 1990’s. He is a cowboy while Davis is a former evil referee, if I remember correctly. Houston had the early advantage hitting a cross body block but it was too early in the bout to get a three count. Davis gained the upper hand with a back suplex and kept control for a few moments. Davis dumps Houston to the floor where Houston staggers around the ringside area until he gets a second wind and slides back into the ring to hammer away on Davis. Davis is able to stop the momentum shift with a clothesline but it wasn’t enough. Davis believes he made Houston submit but that wasn’t the case. That mistake ended up costing Davis as Houston hit a bulldog to win the bout. Why is it that cowboy gimmicks have to use the running bulldog as a finish? It was a really dull match and was quite uninteresting.

2. Brutus Beefcake took a good amount of time just stalling before the match by removing his ring jacket and showing off his body to the crowd. Beefcake controls Perfect with a side headlock to open the match. Beefcake is bleeding from the nose after an exchange of mat wrestling, I believe. Beefcake responds with a big power slam to show Perfect he is all business tonight! Perfect escapes a test of strength with a knee lift and hammers away on Brutus in the corner to get his first flurry of offense. Beefcake drops Perfect face first over the top turnbuckle to break free from a sleeper hold. Perfect recovered and began to work on Beefcake’s lower back with forearm shots. Beefcake punches Perfect over the top to the floor but Perfect quickly returns to the ring where Beefcake atomic drops Perfect followed by a right hand. Beefcake knee lifts Perfect and signals for the sleeper hold but doesn’t go for it. Instead, Ron Bass comes out to steal Beefcake’s clippers. Beefcake leaves the ring and attacks Bass allowing Perfect to hit a double axe handle off the apron and wins the match by count-out. After the match, Beefcake attacks Perfect and tries to cut his hair but Perfect escapes even though his foot got caught in the ropes. I didn’t really like the match. It was too slow for my liking.

3. Tim Horner is being promoted as a high flyer. I don’t recall ever seeing him compete so I won’t know if that is true until the end of this paragraph. Horner provided a fast pace opening with a springboard cross body and a head scissors takedown. Estrada had a brief advantage following an eye poke, but Horner was able to roll up Estrada and pick up the win. For a “high flyer” Horner didn’t really do anything with risk. This must have been an early bathroom break match.

4. Good lord, Honky stalls for several minutes until Bret chases him around the ring. Bret eventually gets Honky into the ring and begins to punch him several times. Bret continues to dominate Honky with atomic drops and mounts him with right hands until Honky pokes Bret in the eyes to begin his comeback. Honky withstands a few uppercuts from Bret and ends up tossing Bret to the floor after he tried a go behind. Jimmy Hart hits Bret on the back with his megaphone when Bret tried to enter the ring. Bret struggled for several minutes as a result of the cheap shot as Honky kept control of the match with a fireman’s carry slam for a two count. Bret blocks a middle rope double axe handle shot with a punch to Honky’s gut and began to make his comeback with right hands and a dropkick. Jimmy Hart distracts Bret as he looked for a middle rope forearm drop. Honky attacks Bret on the floor with right hands and they are both counted out as they exchanged right hands. Jimmy tried to roll into the ring to get away from Bret but was caught by Bret. Bret fought of Honky in the ring with a right hand but the match ended with a double count-out. I enjoyed the match, actually. There was some good action and Honky wasn’t all that boring this time around. Hopefully the show picks up following this match.

5. Shawn Michaels and Arn Anderson kick off the tag team match between the Rockers and the Brainbusters. The Rockers hammer away on both Anderson and Blanchard in the early moments to send the heels reeling to the floor. Michaels continues to make the Brainbusters look foolish by sending Blanchard into Anderson causing Anderson to fall off the apron. The Rockers work on Blanchard while Anderson is left on the apron trying to tag Blanchard, but the referee doesn’t see the tag on a few occasions. Jannetty arm drags both Anderson and Blanchard. Jannetty follows up with a double dropkick. The Brainbusters tried a double suplex on Jannetty but Michaels gets his partner and they hit a double super kick to send the Brainbusters to the floor! Anderson works on Michaels with right hands but Michaels quickly comes back with a nice hurricanrana. Blanchard is sent to the floor while the Rockers double dropkick the Brainbusters yet again! Blanchard bails to the floor where Michaels follows him only to be met with a clothesline from Anderson. Michaels is double teamed by the Brainbusters for a few moments but Michaels refuses to stay down for three seconds. Michaels nearly wins with a sunset flip on Anderson but Blanchard tagged in to prevent a three count from happening. Michaels gets a two count on Blanchard following a top rope cross body. Anderson plants Michaels with a spine buster but Jannetty made the save on the cover attempt. Michaels manages to tag in Jannetty who cleans house with right hands. Jannetty rams the Brainbusters into each other and nearly wins the match after Michaels hit a top rope cross body. Anderson trips Jannetty on a suplex attempt and allows Blanchard to pin Jannetty. That was a really good tag team match. By far the best match on the show thus far and anything trying to top it will have a hard time to do so.

6. Sean Mooney interviews Ted DiBiase. Mooney mentions that DiBiase owns Hercules. DiBiase doesn’t believe that there should be a rematch tonight because last month he beat Hercules. He is going to prove that Hercules is just a muscled up loser. DiBiase says that no one tells him what to do and thus Virgil will not be barred from ringside.

7. Hercules is also interviewed by Sean Mooney. Hercules thinks that DiBiase hasn’t been thinking with a clear mind. Hercules says that tonight DiBiase has to put his money where his mouth his. Hercules makes his declaration of independence tonight!

8. Big Bossman is interviewed by Sean Mooney regarding his match against Hulk Hogan. Bossman says that last time he beat Hogan and tonight he will punish Hogan to the fullest point of the law. He will chain Hogan up and put him away for life. Slick chimes in asking if Hogan can deal with the wrath of Big Bossman later on.

9. Rick Rude cuts a promo before his match insulting the fans before taking his robe off so the female fans can check out his body. Hillbilly Jim runs to the ring and quickly backdrops Rude to open the bout. Rude gained the upper hand with an eye poke to get out of a bear hug and kept control for a few moments. Jim ducks a wild right hand and atomic drops Rude before slamming Rude butt first to the canvas. Rude blocks a big splash by getting his knees up and capitalizes with the Rude Awakening to win the bout. It was a rather dull contest. I’ve never been entertained by Hillbilly Jim. It might as well have been an extended intermission because there was nothing to see here.

10. Before the next match, Virgil is forced to leave the ringside area. Hercules sends DiBiase shoulder first into the ring post on the floor to open the contest. They get into the ring where Hercules continues his offense with a backdrop and clotheslines. DiBiase reaches the ropes when Hercules puts a full nelson on but drops DiBiase head first to the mat. Hercules scoop slams DiBiase on the floor! DiBiase is able to send Hercules to the floor and begins his attack with right hands and chops. DiBiase delivers a scoop slam of his own on the floor! DiBiase beats down Hercules with a middle rope elbow strike and a clothesline but is still unable to get a three count. Hercules tries to make a comeback but is stopped with a power slam by DiBiase which gets a near fall. They both go down following a double clothesline. Hercules press slams DiBiase off the top rope and knocks DiBiase off his feet after several jabs. DiBiase stops Hercules in the corner and rolls Hercules up with his feet on the ropes to win the match. After the match, Virgil comes down to the ring and attacks Hercules. DiBiase accidentally clotheslines Virgil! Hercules cleans house with right hands and power slams. The referee has reversed the decision giving Hercules the win. I thought it was an okay match, but the whole booking of Hercules losing even without Virgil at ringside seemed a little foolish. As much as I like DiBiase, I would’ve rather seen Hercules get a clean win then something cheap.

11. Brutus Beefcake made another appearance this evening. He came out to distract Ron Bass and ultimately cost Bass his match against Tito Santana. Santana ended up coming up from behind and rolled Bass up for the win. I didn’t have much interest in the match, thus it got the fast forward treatment.

12. It is time for the main event! Hulk Hogan quickly knocks Bossman off his feet with a running forearm drop. Bossman accidentally splashes Slick in the corner! Hogan connects with a back suplex and has the handcuffs! Hogan handcuffs Slick to the ring post and returns to the ring to clothesline Bossman. Hogan scoop slams Bossman and quickly big boots him as well. But, Hogan goes to the floor and slaps Slick again. Bossman blocks a backdrop attempt with a clothesline. Bossman is able to remove the handcuffs from Slick. Bossman continues to work on Hogan with strikes to his back. Bossman drives Hogan down across his knee with a back breaker. Hogan comes off the ropes but is driven down to the canvas with a spine buster for a two count. Hogan dumps Bossman over the top to the floor but is dragged to the floor by Slick. Hogan chases Slick into the ring but is slammed by Bossman with a side slam but only gets a two count. Hogan begins to Hulk Up and big boots Bossman to the floor. Bossman drags Hogan to the floor and sends him chest first into the ring post! Hogan has had his wrists handcuffed together. Bossman misses a splash in the corner! Hogan breaks the handcuffs in half! Hogan hits the leg drop but doesn’t want to go for the cover. Instead, he leg drops Bossman again! Hogan grabs the nightstick and hits Slick after tossing the referee away. The referee calls for the bell and awards the match to the Big Bossman. After the match, Hogan runs to the backstage area after Bossman and Slick. Slick returns to pose for the fans. A decent main event to close the show as the crowd was riled for it. The opening sequence was the best part of the match, as everything else was quite average. Bossman looked good in the ring with Hogan as well.

Final Thoughts:
There were only three entertaining matches, in my opinion. Brainbusters/Rockers was by far the best match on the card while Bret/Honky had some redeeming quality to it and the main event was a fine way to close the show. While the other matches may have not been all that good, they weren’t horrible. I can’t recommend watching the whole event, but if you are a fan of tag team wrestling check out the Rockers/Brainbusters match. I really enjoyed that match and for house show standards it was really good.

Thanks for reading.