WWF Philadelphia Spectrum 27/08/1988

Decided on a whim to watch one of the old house shows put on the WWE Network in the Old School section. Sadly, I was lied to, as the blurb promised me a Powers of Pain match that isn't show which I'd have been into. Still, the remaining matches were a fun hour of wrestling...

The Hart Foundation vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers

Fun little tag bout here. Loved the opening stages, with the Harts both getting to outsmart the Rougeaus when running the ropes – Anvil hitting a dropkick on a leapfrogging Raymond and Bret stopping short on a monkey flip to drop an elbow on Jacques’ head. The commentary suggests that the Harts are just off their face turn, so it’s no surprise they’re a little heelish with some of their actions in this, Bret casually whipping Raymond in the head with the tag rope in their corner. The Rougeaus take over by tripping Bret as he runs the ropes, and they run a masterclass in making things work to their advantage, continually luring Anvil into the ring as a referee distraction, allowing them to double team Bret. Bret gets a few hope spots and we get a false tag before the real hot tag, Bret managing to block a monkey flip that Jacques celebrates too early. We get a melee, in the midst of which Bret piledrives Raymond but takes a cheap elbow from the ropes by Jacque to give the Rougeaus a surprise win. Good formula tag team match here.

Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase

Savage starts this one like a man possessed, attacking DiBiase before the bell. It’s this mania that allows DiBiase a chance to take over, Savage running headlong into a boot in the corner. DiBiase tries to wear down Savage methodically, with chokes and drilled short punches to the head. Savage seems to build up little bursts of energy, allowing him to make supercharged comeback before a DiBiase blow stops him dead. When Savage is able to put a run together, however, he’s hard to contain, and I loved the whiplash clothesline he gives DiBiase, basically yanking him to the mat by the throat. DiBiase tries to calm the storm with the Million Dollar Dream, but when Savage makes the ropes, he relies on Virgil to remove a turnbuckle pad. This backfires, however, as another burst of Savage energy sees him block and ram Ted into the steel, only for Virgil to break up the pin for the DQ. Shitty end to a decent match.

Jake Roberts vs Rick Rude

I quite liked this, though it’s easy to see they’re both in house show mode. I actually really loved the early stages, with Jake grabbing onto a headlock for dear life, refusing to be whipped off the ropes, and even maintaining it when given a back suplex. Eventually, Rude breaks free and rams Roberts shoulder first into the ringpost outside the ring. This gives Rude the shoulder as focal point, and he works this over with a hammerlock and armbar on the mat. Rude holding onto the hammerlock for ages isn’t as interesting as Roberts maintaining the headlock, though I did like Rude managing to low blow himself by jumping crotch-first onto Jake’s shoulder. Liked Jake’s selling on the comeback, taking off his wrist tape to improve circulation on the bad arm, and wincing after hitting the short armed clothesline. Bizarrely, Jake somehow hits the DDT on top of the referee, putting him out. Rude hits the Rude Awakening, only to find the ref still out, and when he comes to Jake’s foot is on the rope. They head outside, and Rude manages to beat the count to win. Crappy ending to a fun match. Not a classic, but even taking it easy, this was still fun.