WWF No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie 12/27/1989

WWF No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie 12/27/1989

Mean Gene Okerlund welcomes us to the show and Vince does a voiceover. Gene talks about the rivalry between Zeus and Hogan and talks about the cage match.

Tony Schiavone is at ringside with the cage being set-up. He says you can feel the tension at every moment. He shows the cage being set-up. He says the match has nothing to do with construction, but destruction. Tony says the ref will only be here to see if someone gets pinned or escapes the cage legally.

Tony says the winners could be the losers here as far as careers will be concerned as this could be a career terminator. Gene then takes us to the No Holds Barred movie.

I've seen the No Holds Barred movie several times. I do not have high quality movie taste and I enjoyed it. Stan Hansen's cameo was great. Mr. Brell ("jock@ss") was a good villain. Hulk making that guy crap his pants was weird and I loved The Battle of the Tough Guys with them fighting in all kinds of unusual locations. I also loved the octagon ring that Zeus and Hulk fought in and wished we would have gotten to see that in a match. If they ever want to make No Holds Barred 2: The Return of Zeus, I'm down.

We get an ad for the 1990 Royal Rumble. Gene says the cage has been constructed. We see Sean Mooney go into the cage. He says you can't help feeling the awesomeness but can't help feeling confined. He said what he feels is nothing like what the participants will feel. He says they will feel like caged animals. He says when an animal is caged, they have no choice but to fight for their lives. Sean says when flesh strikes steel, something has to give and it won't be the cage.

Mean Gene says the Hulk/Zeus rivalry was sparked during the filming of the movie and ignited when Zeus came into the WWF.

We see clips from Saturday Night's Main Event 21. Hulk Hogna and Big Boss Man are about to fight in a cage match and Zeus pounds on Hulk as he enters. We then see clips from SNME 22 with Zeus having Brutus Beefcake in a bearhug. Hulk chairs Zeus and Zeus no sells it. We see clips from Summerslam '89. Hulk tries to slam Zeus but can't then he gets choked. We see clips from SNME 23 and see Zeus twist Hulk's neck. We then see Zeus do it again at Survivor Series 1989. We see Zeus get disqualified when he won't let go of Hulk. We then see Hulk and Brutus Beefcake get attacked by Zeus and Macho in the locker room after.

We get another Royal Rumble ad.

Mean Gene says some cable systems are not carrying Royal Rumble 1990. He says they are denying people the privilege of seeing Wrestlemania as well. He says to let them know where they stand and to make the call as soon as possible. Apparently, WWF and the PPV company couldn't come to a deal but eventually were able to.

Tony Schiavone interviews Macho Man, Zeus and Sherri. Macho says the destruction of Hulkamania begins now. He says there will be no rules and says Hulk and Brutus reap what they sow. He says Zeus will take care of Hulk. Zeus says this is his how and says he will kill him. Sherri says the time has come and says it will be the destruction of Hulkamania and Beefcake. She says they will bow to them. Macho says he has Hulk's number and Hulk's number is destruction. He says when you look into his eyes you see the destruction of Hogan. He says you see the eyes of destruction in Zeus' and Sherri's eyes.

Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake are interviewed. Hulk says the Hulkamaniacs are running wild and says the lambs are lead to slaughter. He said Sherri, Macho and Zeus have fallen into their trap. Hulk tells Brutus to bust up Macho real bad and leave Zeus to him. He says Brutus has been anointed as the #1 Hulkamaniac. Brutus says he won't stop until he puts them down. He says the most important thing is to end this reign of terror from Zeus and put Zeus out. Hulk says this is the roughest seas they will have to sail and does the whatcha gonna do line. Brutus was wearing a "Hulk Rules" shirt here.

Steel Cage Match - Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake vs Macho King Randy Savage and Zeus

Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are on commentary for this. Sherri pushes the door into Hulk when he goes to enter. Macho then nails Brutus while he's in the cage. Brutus is thrown into Zeus's bodyblock. Macho chokes Hulk from inside the cage. Sherri locks the cage so Hulk can't get in.

Brutus is dropped throat first on the ropes. Hulk nails Macho then climbs the cage and gets in. Hulk boots Macho as he enters then lariats Zeus. Zeus gets his head banged off the cage and goes down. Hulk eye rakes and scratches Macho. Macho takes a back body drop into the cage from Zeus. Hulk boots Zeus in the corner. Brutus bangs Macho's head off the buckles and sends him into Hulk's boot.

Hulk elbows Macho in the head. Zeus takes chops from both opponents. Zeus bangs his opponents heads off the cage at the same time. Zeus chokes Hulk. Macho climbs the cage then Zeus lariats Hulk. Brutus grabs Macho as he tries to leave and hits him. Sherri gets on the cage then Sherri and Macho gt their heads banged together.

Brutus sleepers Zeus on his back. Macho top rope double axe handles Brutus. Sherri chokes Brutus. Hulk takes a double clothesline. Hulk is sent into the cage then Brutus is as well. Brutus is rammed into the cage. Zeus chokes Hulk and Macho knee drops Hulk.  Vince brings up people maybe not being able to see Mania in a lame moment.

Zeus gets on the ropes and is backdropped by Hulk. Macho and Brutus bang their heads off the cage at the same time and all 4 men are down. The ref goes to open the cage door and Sherri bangs the door off of the ref's head. Sherri then climbs the cage and gives Macho the cage lock chain.

Macho jumps off the cage and is nailed by Brutus in the gut. Hulk hits shots on Zeus and Brutus hits Macho with the chain. Hulk hulks up and no sells Zeus' shots. Macho is knocked off the cage down the ropes. Brutus then climbs the top of the cage and escapes.

Hulk hits shots on Zeus then lariats him. Macho goes to escape and Brutus pulls Macho out of the cage. Macho is bleeding and gets his head banged off the cage. Hulk slams Zeus. Brutus goes back into the cage and says he wants Zeus 1v1. Hulk throws Zeus into the cage several times and slams him. Hulk legdrops Zeus three times. Hulk then gets the pin over Zeus.

Thoughts: It was a quick and to the point cage match. There was no time wasted here and it was action packed from start to finish. I liked it and they did a good job but it wasn't really what I had expected. I was expecting a longer cage match and figured for sure they'd make use of the possible 1v2 scenario with Hulk trying to fight off Macho and Zeus. It was also shorter so there wasn't a ton of time for the drama that can come with a longer match. I probably would have had them rile the crowd up before starting. I would have had the faces get some offense in, have Sherri cheat and then have the heels take over. Maybe the heels throw out Brutus and then Hulk fights off the 1v2. Sherri locks the cage up so Hulk can't leave and Brutus gathers cheers for Hulk. Macho leaves then Hulk gets the win over Zeus.

Brutus and Hulk pose after while Jesse goes off on people being robbed of their constitutional rights to watch Wrestlemania.

We then cut to Royal Rumble promos. The Ultimate Warrior says maybe we need a Royal Rumble to clam us down. He says 29 mortals will face the power of The Warrior. Quake and Dino say only one man can survive and both say they will be the ones to survive. Dino stares at Quake when he says it.

Roddy Piper says it's his first "Rumble Royal". He says he wants #1 as he has never been #2. Macho and Sherri do a promo. Macho says he's suited for royalty . Dusty Rhodes says it will be dynamite and says him and Sapphire will get funky on ya. Heenan, Andre, Rude and Haku talk. Heenan says one member of his family will win The Rumble. He says he will calm them down and we see see a winner.

The Hart Foundation says they are rock solid. Jim says every man for himself. Mr. Perfect says it's a perfect opportunity to show all of the wrestlers that he is perfect in every way and will win The Rumble. Demolition talk next. Ax says it's a fight, scratch and kick every 2 minutes. Smash says they will throw everyone out unless it's them two. Bad News Brown says there will be 29 spineless cockroaches and 1 Bad News Brown. He asks who you think will win? Hercules talks. He says he steps in strong of mind in The Rumble and says only the strong survive.

Rick Martel says he doesn't care if luck is on his side as he makes his luck. The Rockers says there will be a lot of friends and enemy and Marty says it will be every man for himself. The Powers of Pain talk. Warlord said they have the size and power to knock everyone out of the ring. Jimmy Snuka says there will be no friends or tag team but he will be ready. Ted Dibiase says The Rumble is a lot of prize money. He says where you find money, you find him. Tito Santana says he has goosebumps and says he will be there. Jake Roberts says it's not fun to be there and says he's doing it to make money. Koko B. Ware says they've got to have their way and says they've got to do some business.

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan. He says he sealed Zeus' fate in the WWF. Hulk says he predicted it as it went down. He says there was no way it could go except victory. He said Hulkamania reigned supreme. Hulk talks about The Royal Rumble. He says he wishes The Rumble was tonight but he can wait. He says Hulkamania has a whole bunch of weapons. He says he hopes he can get #1 so he can prove he can take 30 guys at a time. He says the power of Hulkamania could wipe out 150 guys at a time.

Gene is given a piece of paper from someone. Gene says there's a chance many cable systems could deny people from seeing him in The Royal Rumble. He says they may not carry Wrestlemania. Gene says to cast your vote and not be denied. Hulk says he can't believe this is going down. He says his Hulksters have placed their bets on Hulk to win The Rumble. He says it would be a sin against Hulksters if they didn't see Wrestlemania. Hulk says to call the cable companies and says all they need to do is band together. He says to call them on the phone and drive them crazy. He says whatcha gonna do cable systems when Hulkamania, The Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania run wild on you.

We then get the No Holds Barred theme with clips from the match.

Overall thoughts: I thought they could have offered more than a single match here since people were paying for it. I think three matches would have been acceptable and wold have entice people more to buy this. There were other matches on the show that just weren't aired. The stuff about the cable companies was lame, bush league garbage. It would have been more digestible if they had just mentioned it once, but to mention it during the cage match then have Hulk do a promo on it was too much. The sole match we got here delivered and was an action packed match, but it could have been more. I guess you kind of have to see this if you watch through the TV like I'm doing, but I didn't think they went all out to give the people their money's worth here.