WWF Primetime Wrestling 3/17/1991 Superstars and Stripes Forever

WWF Primetime Wrestling 3/17/1991 Superstars and Stripes Forever

This also seems to be known as The Road To Wrestlemania VII.

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are our hosts. They run down the card.

WWF Intercontinental Title - Mr. Perfect (c) vs Shawn Michaels

Heenan says this is a warm-up match and he's not going to be out there with Perfect. This is a random one but it should be good. Shawn has cool black tights on with a tiger stripe jacket. They see a blonde fan in the crowd and Heenan asks if it's Marla Maples (she will be on Mania VII).

Perfect pokes Shawn and we are told WWF Primetime Wrestling is moving to Tuesdays permanently. Perfect back elbows Shawn off the waistlock. Shawn euros him and Perfect does a big bump for it. Shawn blocks jabs and asks if he wants to fight him. Shawn puts his fists up and Shawn decks Perfect. Shawn pounds on the back of Perfect's head. Perfect slides out and Shawn grabs his hair. Shawn then does a nice suicide dive over the top, nailing Perfect and a camera man.

Shawn keeps pounding on Perfect then is stungunned on the rails. Marty Jannetty comes out to help out Perfect.

We go to break and return. Perfect hits punches on Shawn. Perfect hits a standing dropkick then hits chops. Shawn chops him. Shawn is thrown into the buckles and takes a bump to the apron. Perfect lariats him on the apron. Shawn bangs Perfect's head off the mat.

Perfect hits more punches and knees Shawn out of the ring. Heenan says, "Perfect is on him like a bum on a bologna sandwich". Perfect snapmares him and pulls his neck forward. Perfect bends over, is kicked and takes a big bump. Perfect puts him in a sleeper.

Shawn chinbreakers him the does a big bump for a knee. Perfect slaps Marty then Marty hits him back. Heenan heads to ringside after seeing that. He really hustles down there too. Heenan tells the ref that Marty hit Shawn.

Marty argues with Heenan then is nailed from behind by Perfect. Perfect sends him into the post. Shawn crotches Perfect around the post and both Heenan and Perfect make great faces for it. Shawn hits leg kicks and atomic drops Perfect. Perfect bumps into the buckles and hits his head off of it. Shawn lariats him then superkicks him for 2.

Shawn neckbreakers Perfect. Shawn goes up top and Heenan tries to knock him off the buckles. Shawn grabs him then The Big Boss Man comes in. He breaks up Perfect's perfectplex and Shawn is DQ'd. Perfect slides out to avoid Boss then is hit by Jannetty and leaves. Boss then chases Perfect.

Thoughts: Perfect should have gotten DQ'd for Heenan trying to interfere. The finish wasn't good as typical of wrestling from this time period but it at least made some sense. The work was good here as expected with Perfect bumping around like usual.  The two really had an exciting match and I would have liked to have seen a winner.

Boss celebrates after and Andre The Giant pops up from behind and scares him. Boss goes to hit him but Andre offers a handshake. Boss shakes his hand and Andre raises his hand.

Mean Gene Okerlund is in the ring with Jack Tunney, maybe Billy Red Lyons, Tony Garea and other officials. There will be a contract signing for Macho King Randy Savage vs the Ultimate Warrior.

Macho and Warrior come out. Macho says he wants to get him out of the WWF. He said Warrior will get beat and there's nothing he can do about it. He says he will make him extinct. Macho tells Tunney he stands for everything in the WWF and says Warrior won't stop the momentum. Macho signs the contract. Warrior pushes the table and says Macho's dreams of becoming champ will be shattered. He says all that Macho will have left is memories after Wrestlemania VII. Warrior throws the table over and The Undertaker comes out.

Taker and Paul Bearer stare down Warrior. Warrior tells Macho he will destroy him and his career. Warrior stares down Taker and leaves.

Thoughts: I have no idea why Taker came out here.

The British Bulldog vs Jim Corbett

Winston is with Davey and this is one of his first appearances. Winston has a platform to sit on near the end.

Davey side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Jim get his hiptoss blocked and Davey lariats him. Jim eye rakes him. Jim tries for a full-nelson but Davey breaks it and puts his own on. Jim walks up the ropes to get out and Davey just lets him go.

Davey hits a suplex. Vince calls the comments from the fake Queen on Superstars a hoax. Davey powerslams Jim and gets the win.

Thoughts: It was a quick squash as usual but at least Jim got a little offense in. He definitely did the full nelson to foreshadow The Warlord/Davey match.

Jake Roberts does a promo. He says the lights go out on Martel at Wrestlemania VII. He says the only thing worse than defeat is the anticipation. He says it's the inner most fear a man has and Jake says he's the one Martel fears.

Blindfold Match - Koko B. Ware vs "The Model" Rick Martel

They fight before the blindfolds get on. Koko hits punches when Rick turns his back on him. Koko hits a back body drop and dropkicks. Rick then goes out. The ref put the blindfolds on. Koko has his on, Rick takes it off and beats up Koko. Koko gets the crap beaten out of him and is booted out. Koko doesn't know Rick doesn't have the hood on (which is why he still has it on) and Heenan laughs.

Rick rams Koko's back into the post outside. The ref finally gets the hood on Martel. They each search around for the other and Koko nearly goes after a ref. They crawl around, looking for each other and Rick grabs Koko's legs. Rick then boston crabs Koko and wins.

Thoughts: Rick was a great heel here for nailing Koko while he was blindfolded, though he probably should have been DQ'd for it. The match was nothing though. It was short and just a lot of crawling around.

Rick stomps on Koko again while he still has the hood on. 

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper hosts Ted Dibiase on the stage. He says Piper is not Evel Knievel and will be no help to Virgil. Piper accuses him of being nervous. Piper says he can smell Ted's toejam and says he doesn't have Virgil to clean his toes anymore.

Piper says he wasn't planning on doing anything to Ted at Mania as he figures Virgil can take of business on his own. Piper asks why Ted can't afford a back to his shirt. Piper says he's a guy who would give him the shirt on his back. He then gives Ted his shirt so he can have one that covers his back. Ted then throws it.

Piper said Ted has money but no friends and is stuck at Mania. Ted says he runs his big mouth like a woman. He says he dresses like a woman and looks like one. Ted says Piper led the lamb to slaughter and will have a ringside seat at Mania. He says Virgil is noting more than a gutter rat.

Piper asks if he would say this to Virgil's face and he says he would. He says Virgil is nothing more than a servant. He says he's so dumb that you'd have to lead him in the direction of a corner to find it.

Virgil eventually comes out. Piper tells Ted to say the things to his face about him being dumb and a gutter rat. Virgil says in one week at Wrestlemania VII, he will kick his butt. Piper and Virgil then walk off.

Thoughts: It was about what I expected with Piper going off and not exactly being the best host ever.

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Scott Allen

They lock up and Scott side headlocks him. Greg hiptosses him and armlocks him. They trade chops in the corner. Greg lariats him out of the corner. Scott offers a handshake and Greg hits him. Greg hits some elbows and a gutbuster.

Scott clubs on Greg's back then side headlocks him. Greg kicks him in the leg then headbutts him in the gut. Greg does an elbow drop then figure fours. Scott then taps out.

Thoughts: It was a short squash and nothing too special. Greg wasn't the best face ever here and Scott posted no challenge.

General Adnan and Sgt. Slaughter do a promo. Adnan talks in his language. Sarge tells the people to listen up. He says Adnan will get in the ring with Hulk to see what makes him tick. Sarge said they never fought before but he will know every inch of him when Adnan gets done with him. He says peace is for pansies.

Hulk Hogan does a promo. He says we are a week away from Mania. He says he won't underestimate his opponent and said he will seek and destroy. He says Hulkamania is the only thing that will live forever.

Hulk Hogan vs General Adnan

We get a rare Hulk TV match here. Adnan eye rakes Hulk and rakes his back. Adnan rips Hulk's shirt off and goes to the eyes again. Hulk kicks him then hits punches. hulk running lariats him. Sgt. Slaughter comes in and hits Hulk with the WWF Title for the DQ. Sarge then hits him with his riding crop and clubs him.

Sarge hits Hulk with the flag then camel clutches him. The refs try to break it but can't. Sarge gets off and Hulk is stomped on and hit with the flag.

Thoughts: We didn't get much of this one here and it shouldn't be that surprising. It was little more than a way to add some heat to Hulk/Sarge. 

Mean Gene interviews General Adnan and Sgt. Slaughter. Adnan talks in his language. Sarge says he only wants to hear two words - unconditional surrender. He tells Hulk not to kid anyone. He says Hulk says it's for God, the people and the country but Sarge says it's really for the gold. Sarge says he felt Hulk's back bones crack while in camel clutch.

We see a rather lengthy highlight vid of the #1 contenders tag team battle royale on Superstars a few weeks ago.

The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart are interviewed. Jimmy Hart says Bret Hart will be in trouble against Knobbs. Saggs says he will keep things square with Anvil. Knobbs says Hitman is an appropriate name. He will hit him in the eyes and nose.

Brian Knobbs vs Bret Hart

Neidhart is in his wrestling attire for some reason even though he's not wrestling. They lock up. Knobbs hits punches on Bret in the corner then bangs his head off the buckles. Bret hiptosses Knobbs then atomic drops him. Bret flying back elbows him and Knobbs takes a nice bump out.

Knobbs is slingshotted in. He begs off and hits Bret. He eye rakes Bret then forearms him. Bret flying crossbodies him then hits mounted punches. Bret armdrags him.

Knobbs eye rakes him again. Bret blocks a boot. Saggs gets on the apron and Anvil nails him. Jimmy tries to hit Anvil with the megaphone but Anvil blocks it and chases him. Saggs gets on the apron and Knobbs hits a mean lariat from behind. Knobbs lariats him out. Anvil comes back in.

Knobbs goes for a slam but Bret falls on him. Knobbs hits mounted punches and boots. Knobbs boots him out of the corner then hits more boots. Knobbs eye rakes him. Bret hits punches and russian legsweeps him. Bret suplexes him. Bret backbreakers him and elbow drops him off the 2nd rope.

Saggs gets on the apron and sends Anvil into the rails. Saggs trips Bret then Knobbs piledrivers Brett. Saggs tries to hold Bret on the apron but Anvil pulls him down. Bret then wins with a flying clothesline.

Thoughts: Similar to the Mania match between The Nasties and The Harts, it went long and they repeated a lot of spots. It wasn't bad but it got boring after a while.

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan on the stage. Hulk said he should have known that Adnan and Sarge had each others backs. He says there's no way Sarge will beat him at Mania 7. He said he feels no pain and is thinking about winning at Mania 7. He said one of the happiest days of his life was when he was told the troops are coming home and the war is over. Hulk says the war is not over as long as there is vermin like Saddam Hussein and Sgt. Slaughter. He says he pledges to Sarge that this will be the mother of all wars.

He says he wants to dedicate Mania 7 to all the troops and Hulkamaniacs. He says he wants Sarge at Wrestlemania 7 and asks what Sarge will do.

The Undertaker vs Tugboat

He says they played Taker's theme at Regis Philbin's wedding and says he wants to hear Willie Nelson hum Taker's tune. Heenan asks if they will vacuum Willie before Mania.

Taker nails Tug as he enters. Taker hits boots and punches then corner splashes him. Taker misses a splash. Tug tries to slam him but Taker falls on him. Taker misses an elbow drop and Taker flying clotheslines him.

Taker chokes Tug then Tug fails to slam him again. Taker leg lariats him on the ropes then pulls him back off the ropes. Taker knee drops Tug then misses an elbow drop.

Tug powerslams him and Taker no sells it. Tug corner splashes Taker. Taker avoids a splash then top rope elbow drops him to win.

Thoughts: It was more of an athletic match than you would think here. I was surprised to see Tug beaten so easily in this one. They kept a pretty good pace as well.

Taker pours dirt on Tug after. 

We see a video package on Hulk vs Slaughter to end the show.

Overall thoughts: It was about average overall. There was nothing too great on this one and there were a lot of dirty finishes. I was surprised to see Adnan on here and I was surprised Tugboat got jobbed out.