WWF House Show 2/6/1988

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 2/6/1988
From: Philadelphia, PA

Matches:
1.)Lanny Poffo defeated Terry Gibbs
2.)The One Man Gang defeated George Steele
3.)Ricky Steamboat fought Dino Bravo to a draw
4.)Danny Davis defeated Sam Houston
5.)Hulk Hogan & Bam-Bam Bigelow defeated Andre the Giant & WWF World Champion Ted DiBiase
6.)The Rougeau Brothers defeated Steve Lombardi & Barry Horowitz
7.)Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Brady Boone
8.)The Islanders defeated The British Bulldogs by disqualification

Angle Developments/Notes:
1. The opener goes on for about ten minutes between two guys that I don’t care for, nor do they play a big part in storylines at this time. Poffo is able to slam Gibbs off the top rope and springboards off the middle rope to get the win following a moonsault.

2. Steele works over Gang early on with strikes and knocks the big man to the floor. Slick gets into the ring but Steele knocks him down too. Steele is elbow dropping Gang’s jacket in the ring. George puts the jacket on and pokes fun at Gang’s weight. Steele puts the hat on as well and the crowd enjoys Steel’s antics. Slick distracts Steele on the floor and that allows Gang to work over Steele and hits him over the back with the ring bell. I’m pretty sure the referee saw that but didn’t call for the bell. George blocks a clothesline by biting Gang’s arm! Steele backdrops Gang over the top to the floor! Slick distracts Steele and Gang delivers a knee ram and pins Steele. (**1/2. Obviously, this isn’t going to be a wrestle masterpiece but it was actually entertaining and fun. I can’t really complain with how they did the match, honestly.) After the match, Steele attacks Gang and Slick to make the fans happy.

3. A boring start to the Bravo/Steamboat match sees Bravo fake Ricky out on a test of strength and sends Steamboat over the top but Ricky hangs on and knocks Frenchy Martin down before sending Bravo over the top to the floor. Steamboat works over Bravo with a series of arm drags. Ricky continues to work over Dino’s left arm for several moments. Dino regains control with a series of strikes in the corner to knock Ricky down to his knees. Steamboat nearly wins with a crucifix pin. Bravo blocks a monkey flip with an atomic drop and clothesline. Bravo spikes Steamboat with a piledriver! Ricky battles back with a sunset flip and a roll up but Dino kicks out before three. Steamboat hits a swinging neckbreaker but Bravo powers out at two again. Steamboat comes off the top to hit Bravo with an overhand strike but Dino kicks out at two! Bravo is sent head first into the corner ten times. Bravo trips Ricky and nearly wins the match with his feet on the ropes. Bravo tosses Steamboat over the top to the floor. They brawl on the floor and they are both counted out. They return to the ring where Bravo tosses Steamboat to the floor. Actually this is a draw and not a double count-out. (***. I actually thought it was a good match and provided quality amount of entertainment. The crowd was into it and it wasn’t too slow or lame.) After the match, Ricky Steamboat returns to the ring and knocks both Bravo and Martin out after being called back into the ring by the heels.

4. In a battle between jobbers, Danny Davis was able to steal a victory over the cowboy Sam Houston. Davis countered a roll up and used Houston’s tights for extra leverage while also having his arm hooked over the top rope. Who cares about this?

5. The big tag team main event is taking place right in the middle of the show. Ted DiBiase is being recognized as the WWF World Champion and has the belt around his waist. Andre and Ted attack before the bell but Hogan and Bigelow are able to get the better of them. Hogan knocks Andre to the floor. Hogan knocks DiBiase down with a big boot and it looks like Bigelow will start the match with DiBiase. Bigelow atomic drops DiBiase and follows up with a clothesline. Hogan gets the tag and has to fight off both Andre and DiBiase. Hulk clotheslines Ted in the corner and knocks Andre to the floor again. DiBiase is being punched by both Hogan and Bigelow. Andre comes back into the ring but Hogan clubs away on him as well. Hogan clotheslines Ted and along with Bigelow delivers a double big boot. DiBiase is loopy as Bigelow hits a falling headbutt. Andre grabs Hogan from the apron to headbutt Hulk and cheap shots him to give Ted the cheap advantage. DiBiase works over Hogan with right hands and chops. Andre gets the tag and double teams Hogan with DiBiase. Bigelow is trying to get involved but there is nothing he can do. DiBiase clotheslines Hogan in the corner to drop the former champ. Hogan gets out of a headlock after several moments and hits DiBiase with a clothesline but they both go down! Bigelow gets the hot tag and Bam-Bam drops Ted with a clothesline and a military press slam! Virgil trips Bigelow from the floor! Bigelow is double teamed while the referee is distracted by Hogan on the apron. Bigelow press slams DiBiase off the top and Hogan gets the hot tag. Hulk kicks Ted in the corner numerous times and hits a big boot. Hulk ties Andre up in the ropes and hits the leg drop on DiBiase to win the match! (***1/4. A good match that the crowd was really into big time. They did a good job of holding m interest and they didn’t stall around all that long or anything. A solid “main event” here.)

6. Well, you know when Barry Horowitz is teaming with Steve Lombardi that they aren’t going to win their match. That statement proves to be true as the Rougeau Brothers were able to win the match over certified jobbers when Raymond pinned Lombardi after Jacques jumped off the top rope to sit down splash Lombardi who was being held by Raymond.

7. To follow up from a jobber match, we go to another jobber match! YES! Sharpe gets the win following a clothesline. That’s about it.

8. The Islanders have dog leashes that don’t have dogs attached to them. The Bulldogs waste no time attacking Tama and Haku prior to the bell. The Islanders are sent into each other as Davey Boy and Haku start the match. Haku counters a suplex attempt but misses a falling headbutt attempt. Dynamite gets the tag and avoids a running crossbody before sending Haku over the top to the floor with a clothesline. Davey Boy is is worked over by Tama but Davey quickly takes him over with a hip toss to regain control. Davey lifts Tama up by his feet to slam him down to the mat from the corner. Dynamite headbutts Tama to avoid a catapult. Dynamite sends Tama chest first into the corner. Davey Boy press slams Tama throat first across the top rope for a near fall. Haku sends Dynamite chest first into the corner and chops Dynamite to stop a splash in the corner. Haku stomps away on Dynamite Kid and connects with a clothesline. Tama is biting Dynamite’s forehead. Haku enters and delivers a shoulder breaker for a near fall on Dynamite. Dynamite tries to roll Tama up but only gets a near fall. Davey Boy gets the hot tag and hits a delayed vertical suplex on Haku for a near fall. Davey continues to try a pin fall but Haku kicks out each time. Davey puts Haku down with a running power slam but Tama breaks up the cover. All four men are going at it until Tama big splashes Davey from the top rope. Dynamite shoves the referee down and that causes the disqualification. Dynamite hits both Islander members with the leash! (**. A boring main event to the show in my opinion. They didn’t do anything all that entertaining but the last minute or so was interesting because Dynamite showed aggression and it got fairly violent. But, it was a weak way to end the show.)

Final Thoughts:
There seemed to be a lot of jobber matches on the show or matches that didn’t really have a story behind them. The tag match involving Hogan/Bigelow/Andre/DiBiase was really fun and the crowd was hot for it. Steamboat/Bravo was a surprisingly solid match and Steele/One Man Gang wasn’t offensive. I’ll say it was an average show at best with three worthwhile matches. You don’t need to go out of your way to see anything, though.

Thanks for reading.