WWF House Show 1/29/1989

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 1/29/1989
From: Los Angeles, CA

Matches:
1.)Sam Houston defeated Barry Horowitz
2.)Rick Rude defeated Brutus Beefcake
3.)WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior defeated King Haku
4.)Andre the Giant defeated Jake Roberts by disqualification
5.)WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition fought the Powers of Pain to a double disqualification
6.)The Red Rooster defeated Danny Davis
7.)Greg Valentine defeated Jim Neidhart
8.)The Brain Busters defeated the Rockers

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.Horowitz arm drags Houston and pats himself on the back, as he should. Houston gets control of Horowitz by working on his left arm with an arm bar. Horowitz counters and keeps Houston on the mat with a hammerlock. Horowitz maintains control with an abdominal stretch. Horowitz tries to get the submission with a Boston crab but Houston refuses to give in to the pain. Horowitz is pressing his forehead up against the turnbuckles until he is kicked chest first into the corner. Houston fights back with several punches and delivers a big clothesline. Horowitz knees Houston in the back and locks in the Boston crab but Houston fakes Horowitz out acting like he submitted but he didn’t. Houston plants Horowitz with a running bulldog and wins the match. That was a mostly boring contest as they did a lot of rest holds and not much actual action.

2.Beefcake chases Rude from the ring with his cutters after shoving Rude into the ropes. Rude gets the better of Beefcake on a test of strength. Beefcake stomps on Rude’s fingers as the crowd is really into this match. Rude looks to monkey flip Beefcake but Beefcake instead stomps Rude right on the face and hammers away for the advantage. Rude gets momentum after an atomic drop out of the corner. Beefcake clotheslines Rude but on a splash attempt Beefcake lands on Rude’s knees. Rude comes off the top to deliver a strike to Beefcake’s upper back. Beefcake delivers an atomic drop and rams Rude head first into the corner. Beefcake locks in the sleeper hold! Rude struggles for a moment but reaches the middle rope. Rude falls to the floor and Beefcake rolls him back in. Rude counters a a sunset flip from the apron and uses the ropes for leverage to steal the victory. After the match, Beefcake tries to cut off some of Rude’s hair after hitting a knee lift. I thought it was an okay match with the fans really getting into parts of the match. It was just a basic bout, which is a normal occurrence on the house shows.

3.I was actually surprised by how soft of a reaction Warrior got. Haku attacked Warrior before the bell in the corner. Warrior big boots Haku and drops Haku with a cross body for a two count early on. Haku misses a standing leg drop and Warrior hits an atomic drop. Warrior misses a splash in the corner. Warrior recovers and rams Haku into the corner several times head first. Haku comes out of the corner to deliver another atomic drop. That must be the move of the night to use. Haku gets a near fall following a shoulder breaker. Warrior slams Haku but Haku gets his knees up to block a big splash. Warrior gets his knees up to block Haku’s splash attempt. Warrior shakes the ropes and shoulder blocks Haku! Warrior connects with a suplex and splashes Haku to win the match. It was actually a better match than I was expecting it to be. They started off fast and finished strong as well. I didn’t think there was anything all that bad with this one. I must be crazy, right?

4.The “main event” is going on fourth tonight. Andre decides to head to the backstage area because he wants nothing to do with the snake. The referees decide that the snake must go underneath the ring, which doesn’t sit well with Roberts. Andre gets himself tied up into the ropes and Roberts works over Andre with punches and choking him. Roberts wants to get the snake but Andre is freaking out. The referee threatens to call the match so Roberts stops. Andre breaks free from the ropes and chokes Roberts. Andre absorbs a few punches and head butts Roberts down to the canvas. Roberts knocks Andre down to his knee with a knee lift in the corner. Roberts goes for the DDT but Andre hooks the top rope to prevent that from happening. Roberts knocks Andre down to the canvas following a middle rope shoulder block. Roberts goes under the ring and gets Damien. Roberts slides Damien into the ring and puts the snake on Andre on the apron! Andre has his arm trapped by the snake! Andre bails to the floor and the referee calls for the bell. Not a good match but the moment that Roberts put the snake on Andre was entertaining. Roberts was bitten by the snake, by the way.

5.Demolition defend the WWF World Tag Team Championships against the Powers of Pain up next. They don’t wait for the bell as they brawl briefly. Barbarian and Ax kick off the match with Ax getting the early advantage with right hands. Ax clotheslines Barbarian and the crowd is hot for this match as well. Smash enters and pummels Barbarian with a series of strikes. Barbarian stops Smash with a throat thrust and a big boot. Warlord clubs Smash over the back after tagging in. Demolition double team Warlord with a double clothesline after Smash knocks Warlord off his feet. Fuji hits Ax with his cane to give his team the advantage. Warlord stomps away on Smash but runs into a back elbow. Smash gets the tag and cleans house with a scoop slam. Barbarian is sent to the floor by Smash. Fuji enters but bails and drops his cane. The bell sounds as Ax his Warlord with the cane. The result is that both teams have been disqualified. It was kept fairly short and as a result they were able to hold my interest. I consider it to be a decent match that didn’t have many slow spots, shockingly.

6.The Red Rooster squares off against Danny Davis next after the intermission. Davis was paid a lot of money by Bobby Heenan to beat up Rooster, apparently. Davis isn’t able to get the job done, though as Rooster is able to get the victory with a hammerlock submission. I was not interested in this one at all and the fans were really just waiting for it to be over with.

7.Jake Roberts has come back to the ring and calls out Andre the Giant. Here comes Andre for some more of Roberts! Andre calls Roberts a loser. Andre is a winner because he wins on his own. Andre wants Roberts to put some money on the line for them to wrestle. Roberts is pulled to the floor by Andre and he is choking Andre! Rick Rude storms the ring and attacks Roberts with right hands while Andre holds Roberts. Rude hits Roberts several times with the microphone!

8.Greg Valentine messes with Superstar Billy Graham and is punched by Jim Neidhart on the floor to kick start the match. They trade strikes in the corner with Neidhart getting the better of Valentine again. Neidhart is trying to get the shin protector off of Valentine but isn’t able to do so. Valentine uses the protector to hit Neidhart in the face for a two count. Valentine begins to focus on Neidhart’s left knee by slamming him across the apron leg first. Late in the match, Neidhart is able to rip off the shin protector. The referee stops him from using it and Valentine rolls Valentine up for the win. After the match, Neidhart gets a few shots in and clotheslines Valentine with the shin protector. There is nothing to see here, folks.

9.Michaels and Anderson kick off the real main event of the evening. Anderson drops Michaels to the floor and knocks Jannetty to the floor. Anderson bails to the floor and all four men brawl in and out of the ring. The Rockers get the better of the Brain Busters. Michaels is slapped by Anderson and knocks him down with a jaw jabs. Michaels drop toe holds Anderson and bails to the floor when Blanchard tags in. Blanchard tags in Anderson but the referee was distracted. Anderson gets a shot in but is brought back to the corner and Jannetty splashes onto Blanchard’s arm. The Rockers are keeping control of Blanchard’s arm without doing tags behind the referees back. The ref asks the fans and lets it go. Jannetty delivers a double arm drag and dropkick. Jannetty is stopped by Anderson but Michaels enters and they hit a double superkick on Anderson and Blanchard! Michaels tries to dropkick Blanchard but he hangs onto the ropes. Anderson tags into the bout, finally. Anderson drops Michaels with a shoulder block. Michaels hits a hurricanrana and hammers away on Blanchard. The Rockers hit a double dropkick on both Anderson and Blanchard! Michaels is knocked silly by Anderson on the floor with a clothesline. Michaels is sent flying over the top rope to the floor by Tully. Michaels tries to battle back and does so by blocking a splash by Anderson with his knees. Jannetty gets the hot tag and cleans house with right hands. Michaels hits a top rope fist drop but Anderson makes the save. The referee is distracted when Anderson trips Jannetty on a suplex attempt and holds Jannetty down to allow Blanchard to get the win. Easily the best match on the card and the best way to close the show. Anderson and Blanchard were so good and they did a great job of selling the Rockers offense.

Final Thoughts:
I’m going to consider this to be a good, entertaining show. Sure the opener and some of the later matches involving the lower midcard guys weren’t all that good, but the main matches delivered on an entertainment standpoint while the main event delivered in the ring. For a house show, I’ll give it a passing grade.

Thanks for reading.