WWF House Show 5/7/1988

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 5/7/1988
From: Boston, MA

Matches:
1.)Scott Casey defeated Iron Mike Sharpe
2.)Jake Roberts defeated Greg Valentine
3.)The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers defeated The Killer Bees
4.)Frenchy Martin defeated Jerry Allen
5.)Pete Doherty defeated SD Jones
6.)Rick Rude defeated Koko B. Ware
7.)Andre the Giant defeated Jim Duggan by count-out
8.)Bret Hart fought Bad News Brown to a time limit draw
9.)WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition defeated Strike Force to retain the titles
10.)WWF Intercontinental Champion the Honkytonk Man defeated Brutus Beefcake by count-out to retain the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1. We open the show with two guys that I’ve never been a fan of. Sharpe tends to stall for several minutes every time he wrestles and this is no different. I’ve seen Casey wrestle maybe three times and I don’t remember anything great of him. This is a really slow start to the match with Sharpe working over Casey with a test of strength. Casey hits a monkey flip to get out of it and Sharpe bails to the floor to stall because he loves to do that. Casey tries to roll Sharpe up several times but isn’t able to keep Mike down long enough. Sharpe gets tied up in the ropes after a chop and Casey just pokes him in the eye, which kills the crowd, which started to make some noise. Casey surprises Sharpe with a crucifix pin to win the match. (*. That was really boring and uninteresting. The match was slow and dragged along with just basic wrestling.)

2. Gorilla Monsoon interviews Greg Valentine who puts over the figure four and says that the figure four changes careers, just ask Tito Santana. Tonight, Jake Roberts will experience it as well!

3. A slow start to the contest as Valentine kept a headlock on Roberts for a few moments until he bails to the floor after several jabs from Roberts. Roberts tries for the DDT but Valentine bails to the floor. Valentine controls Roberts on a test of strength. The referee prevents Roberts from doing a low blow and Valentine keeps the advantage in his favor. Valentine comes off the apron to deliver an elbow shot to Roberts throat. Valentine focuses his offense on Roberts right knee. Late in the match, Valentine attempts a scoop slam but Roberts gets out of it and plants Valentine with a DDT to win the match. (*1/4. A slow match that was not designed to rile the crowd up at all. At least the fans got to see the DDT, I guess.)

4. Blair and Raymond kick off the next tag match. They start off with some mat wrestling in the opening moments of the contest. Brunzell takes Raymond down with a head scissors. Brunzell is worked over by the Rougeau’s as they focus on his left knee. The Bees are able to get the advantage and focus on Jacques left knee. The Rougeau’s keep Blair in their corner and work over him with an abdominal stretch and hit a dropkick/atomic drop combo. Brunzell gets the hot tag fairly quickly after that. Brunzell cleans house with a slam and monkey flips Raymond out of the corner. Brunzell nearly pins Raymond after a dropkick. The referee is distracted when Jacques hits a double axe handle off the middle rope and Raymond gets the pin. (*1/2. There was a brief moment of action that wasn’t slow and thus I bump it up a little bit. However, it wasn’t enjoyable. The Rougeau’s are starting to get some good heel heat, though.)

5. Frenchy Martin wins an extended squash match against Jerry Allen with a roll up and having his feet on the bottom rope. After the match, Martin has a difficult time getting to his feet.

6. Backstage, Gorilla Monsoon interviewed Rick Rude. Monsoon suggests that Rude bit off more than he could chew when he decided to mess with Jake Roberts wife. Rude thinks that it is obvious that Jake’s wife wants him. Tonight, Rude assures us that Koko B. Ware will be feeling the Rude Awakening.

7. Doherty and Jones are basically two jobbers. Pete is the heel and SD is the face, but seemingly got the same reaction from the crowd. Long story short, Doherty rolls SD up from behind and wins the match. SD was yelling at the referee regarding a count on a pin.

8. Koko uses his speed to get the early advantage on Rude with a series of jabs in the corner. Rude has a chin lock on Koko until Koko delivers an electric chair slam. Rude blocks a splash with his knees. Moments later, Rude puts Koko away with the Rude Awakening!

9. Three months ago, Andre was involved in the main event picture and most controversial angle in the WWF and now he is working with Duggan. Not a mega drop off the card, but still significant I think. Andre starts the bout by choking Duggan against the ropes. Duggan comes back with a series of right hands but Andre stops him with a head butt. Andre rams his body into Duggan in the corner. Duggan backs Andre into a corner and delivers several punches. Andre locks in a bear hug to get control of the bout again in his favor. Duggan breaks free and eventually shoulder blocks Andre into a corner. Duggan is trying to knock Andre off his feet. Duggan kicks Andre’s arm off the ropes and the big man falls! Andre blocks a splash with a right hand. They go to the floor where Duggan slams Andre’s head against the apron. Andre nails Duggan over the back with the 2×4 while the referee was distracted. Andre rolls in and wins by count out. (**. A decent match. I liked the energy the crowd had and the finish was fine. Andre’s slowly falling down the card if he can’t beat Duggan clean at the house shows.)

10. Brown attacks Hart from behind to get the cheap advantage. Hart hip tosses Brown and scoop slams him to get the control of the bout. Brown acts like he is going to leave after being knocked to the floor, but returns rather quickly. Brown sends Hart into the corner a few times to get the advantage but that didn’t last overly long. Hart backdrops Brown to the floor as he is getting the better of Brown early on. Brown brought back into the by Hart via a slingshot off the apron. Brown blocks a backbreaker with a poke to the eyes and hits a running clothesline. That’s the turning point that Brown needed to get the control of the bout. Brown slams Hart and hits a leg drop. Brown hits Hart with a series of forearm shots from the apron. Hart is able to fight back with a middle rope forearm drop for a near fall. Hart continues to get near falls after a snap suplex. Hart hits a big hooking clothesline but Brown pops his shoulder up at two. Hart spikes Brown with a piledriver as the bell sounds. This is a time limit draw. (**1/2. A fine match here as both men were able to provide quality action throughout. Still, there were a few dead spots in the match but easily the best match thus far on the card.)

11. Strike Force quickly goes after the champs before the bell. Martel has the Boston Crab on Ax but Smash is able to club Martel over the back while the referee is distracted by Santana. Martel avoids an elbow shot and strikes Smash several times before tagging in Santana. Ax enters and just pounds on Martel to the canvas. Martel quickly returns the beating and works on Ax’s left arm. The challengers are working over Smash’s left arm to keep the advantage. Ax trips Martel from the floor and that allows Smash to beat on Martel. Martel gets a near fall on a cross body but Smash kicks out and Martel goes flying to the floor. A double clothesline in the middle of the ring sees both Martel and Smash go down. Santana and Ax get the hot tags with Santana cleaning house. Santana hits the flying forearm on Smash and locks in the figure four! Martel is brawling with Ax distracting the referee. That allows Mr. Fuji to come in and hit Santana with the cane, but that doesn’t give the champs the win. Fuji throws salt into Santana’s face and that allows Smash to get the win. (**1/2. A decent tag match with the screwy finish being predictable. There was good energy in this one. But, nothing too great.)

12. Beefcake chokes Honky with his ring jacket in the opening moments of the contest. Brutus knocks the champ off his feet with a big boot. Honky bails to the floor Honky tries to get some offense in but Beefcake rams the champ face first into the corner several times. Brutus gets a sleeper on Honky but Peggy Sue gets his foot and allows Honky to attack from behind. Honky stomps away on Beefcake. Peggy Sue attacks Beefcake while the referee is distracted. Beefcake gets out of a sleeper hold after his arm nearly falls down three times. Beefcake drops Honky with a back elbow. They end up on the floor where Peggy Sue prevents Beefcake from getting back into the ring. That gives Honky the win by count out. After the match, Beefcake strips Peggy Sue of her clothes only for it to be revealed that it’s Jimmy Hart! The heels run off to the backstage area to close the show. (*1/2. A rather boring match, which didn’t surprise me considering the guys involved.)

Final Thoughts:
A sub par house show this week. There were a couple of matches that were okay, but there wasn’t anything on here that I would recommend to ever see. A bad show overall.

Thanks for reading.