Colling It In The Ring Reviews: WWF House Show 4/22/1989

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 4/22/1989
From: Boston, MA

1.) Greg Valentine vs the Blue Blazer: Early on, Valentine works over Blazer with an arm drag but Blazer comes back with a few of his own as the match is off to a rather slow start. Greg drops Blazer with a chop but misses a spear in the corner and hits the ring post shoulder first! Blazer is focusing on Valentine’s left shoulder by yanking down on the arm several times. Greg regains control with a strike to Blazer’s lower midsection area. Valentine is trying to weaken Blazer’s legs for a figure four. Blazer leaps off the middle rope to dropkick Greg for a near fall. Valentine avoids a dropkick and delivers an elbow drop for a near fall. Blazer kicks Valentine away to avoid the figure four. Blazer nearly rolls Valentine up for a win. Valentine is kicked to the floor as he went for another figure four. Blazer hits a back breaker for a two count. Valentine runs into a back drop and a leg drop but Blazer only gets a two count. Blazer nails Greg with a missile dropkick but can’t get a three! Blazer follows up with a middle rope elbow drop for a near fall. Blazer with a scoop slam but Greg catches Blazer in midair and gets the win following a slam. (***. I actually really enjoyed the match and was surprised by the pace they went with for more than half the match. A nice job by these two to start the show.)

2.) The Barbarian vs Jim Neidhart: Barbarian uses his size advantage to knock Neidhart off his feet a couple of times. Neidhart begins to stand his ground but dropkicks Barbarian to the floor! They do a test of strength, which Barbarian gets the early advantage but Neidhart tries to work his way out of it, but is having a hard time doing so. Barbarian casually tosses Neidhart away but is knocked to the floor moments later. Barbarian returns and tops Neidhart with a big boot to the face. Barbarian nails Neidhart with a modified superkick to stop a comeback by the Anvil. Anvil clotheslines Barbarian over the top to the floor. Neidhart brings Barbarian back into the ring from the apron with a suplex. Neidhart follows up with a slam. Mr. Fuji trips Neidhart from the floor and the distraction allows Barbarian to deliver a knee to the back and wins the match. (*1/2. A rather weak finish to end a rather boring match. There wasn’t much entertainment here but it didn’t feel like it dragged on though, so that’s a positive.)

Backstage, Tony Schiavone interviews Tito Santana. Tito is hurt to hear Rick Martel say that he carried Strike Force. Santana is ready for tonight and wants to find out who really carried who in their tag team.

Rick Martel attacks Santana during his entrance and works over his left knee. Martel drives a chair into Tito’s knee a few times. Martel is quite happy with himself and enters the ring. The match won’t be happening right now, but rather later on in the night.

Backstage, Tony Schiavone interviews WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition. They know wrestling Bossman and Akeem tonight won’t be easy. They are aware of the people the Twin Towers have been beating. This isn’t going to be a match but rather a war!

3.) WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition vs Big Bossman & Akeem for the titles: Probably the second most anticipated match for the evening goes on early tonight. Smash and Bossman start the match with Smash not being able to knock Bossman off his feet. Bossman gets a few blows in but can’t know Smash down either. Bossman works on Smash in the corner but runs into a big boot. Bossman is being punched by the champs in the corner. Ax tags in and clobbers Bossman several times. Bossman is able to drive Smash to his corner and Akeem tags in to get some offense. Akeem misses a splash in the corner and the champs begin to work over Akeem for a few moments. Bossman enters but can’t get lasting offense on Ax until he puts Ax in a bear bug and Akeem comes in to splash Ax from behind. Akeem enters and splashes Ax for a near fall thanks to Smash entering to break up the cover. Akeem jumps across Ax’s back as he was hung over the middle rope. Bossman enters to do the same thing! Bossman drops Ax with a head butt and the champ falls to the floor. Smash eventually gets the hot tag and cleans house. Smash sends Akeem into Bossman and clotheslines Bossman to the floor. The champs clothesline Akeem, who knocks the referee out! Akeem is dropped throat first across the top rope. Ax covers but Bossman enters and nails both Ax and Smash with his nightstick! Akeem pats Akeem on the back three times and calls for the bell. The match has ended due to a disqualification. After the match, the challengers continue to attack the champs. Smash enters with a chair and hits Bossman over the back and hits Akeem as well. (**. Nothing overly good here by these four this time around. A rather slow match and just didn’t hold my interest too much.)

4.) The Genius vs Jim Powers: Well, I’m not too interested in the idea of a Genius/Jim Powers match, personally. Powers got the early advantage on Genius, who has decided to stall in the opening minutes of the match. Genius cheap shots Powers, who was talking to the referee. Powers recovers and is able to dropkick Genius to the floor. Powers hits a vertical suplex for a near fall. Powers continues his offense moments later by ramming Genius into the corner and delivering a clothesline. Powers gets a near win following a back breaker. Genius avoids a dropkick to get the momentum in his favor. Genius heads to the top rope and hits a Swanton Bomb for the win! (**. I added half a star for the finish. A swanton bomb off the top rope in 1989 is just crazy. Plus, he pretty much nailed it.)

5.) Brutus Beefcake vs Bad News Brown: Brown attacks Beefcake before the bell and drops Brutus with a series of right hands. Brown chokes Beefcake with his own ring jacket. Brown has had control on Beefcake since the bell and is just punching and kicking him. Beefcake starts to battle back with right hands in the corner. That didn’t last long as Brown drops him with a head butt. Beefcake hit an ugly looking cross body but only got a two count on the cover attempt. Brown scoop slams Beefcake and taunts the fans. Beefcake press slams Brown off the top! Brutus signals for the sleeper hold. The hold is locked in but Brown stumbles backwards and breaks the hold by ramming Beefcake into the corner. Brown comes out of a corner to clothesline Brutus. Beefcake rolls Brown up from behind and gets the win. (*1/2. A pretty bad match here. Brown really needs to work with people who can do more than just brawling and basic moves. This one dragged on a bit.)

6.) Rick Martel vs Tito Santana: Santana is limping as his left knee is bugging him thanks to the attack earlier in the night by Martel. Martel quickly grabs Santana and wraps his leg around the ring post a couple of times! Wow, they are really killing Santana tonight. Martel jumps down across Santana’s knee and stomps away on him. Tito fights back on one leg by hitting a clothesline and a series of right hands. Martel low blows Santana as the referee was out of position. Martel rolls Tito up and uses the ropes for leverage to win the match. (*. Clearly this was designed to advance their feud, and it did a good job of that. The match wasn’t good, though.)

Backstage, Tony Schiavone is interviewing Honkytonk Man and Jimmy Hart. Honky says that he will out wrestle Hillbilly Jim tonight. Honky reminds us that he can sing, dance, wrestle and play the guitar. Jim will be finding all that out tonight.

7.) the Honkytonk Man vs Hillbilly Jim: The Honky/Jim match was actually really quick and lasted no more than two and half minutes. Jim got distracted by Jimmy Hart and that allowed Honky to get a cheap win with a roll up.

8.) WWF Intercontinental Champion Rick Rude vs. The Ultimate Warrior Warrior lifts Rude up in the air and drops Rude gut first down to the canvas. Warrior continues to beat down Rude as the fans are going nuts for this. Warrior follows up with a gut buster as well. Rude is tossed over the top to the floor and Warrior follows him quickly. Warrior tosses Rude gut first into the apron. Warrior rams Rude gut first into the ring post! Warrior shoves Rude down back in the ring as the champ was running the ropes. Bobby Heenan grabs Warrior’s boot from the floor to distract him. Rude has bailed from the ring but Warrior gets him and sends him into the ring post back first. Warrior backdrops Rude as the champ has not been able to get anything going offensively in this one. Rude crotches Warrior on the top rope by wiggling the ropes. Warrior actually falls off the ropes and Rude delivers an atomic drop. Rude gets his feet up to kick a charging Warrior in the face. Rude spikes Warrior with a piledriver but can’t keep Warrior down! Warrior is able to drive Rick face first into the mat several times and delivers a clothesline several times. Warrior spikes Rude with a piledriver of his own but Rude gets his foot on the bottom rope! Warrior connects with a running power slam but Rude kicks out at two. Warrior hits a snap power slam for another two count. They brawl on the floor. Warrior returns to the ring to choke Heenan, and wins the match by count-out for doing so. After the match, Rude returns but is clotheslined out of the ring. (**1/2. A decent match to close the show as the fans were into it. I was concerned that Warrior was just going to dominate the whole match, but luckily Rude was able to get some offense in. Nothing too special between these two, though.)

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The 411: The opening match gave me high hopes for this show, but it failed to be entertaining throughout. It appears to be a rather weak card for a Boston Garden show, too. I wouldn't seek this show as there isn't much of a redeeming quality to it.
Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]