WWF Prime Time Wrestling 16/06/1986

Bret Hart vs Sivi Afi

Better than the match they had a few episodes earlier, there was nothing blown here and Afi looked to keep up with Bret better here. Fun opening section with Bret holding onto a headlock on Irish whips by grabbing Afi’s hair. Afi hits a nice crossbody, but Bret takes over by brilliantly catching a leapfrog into an atomic drop. Enjoyed Bret sending  Afi to the floor, not letting him in by booting him off the apron only for it to be paid off by Afi coming back in with a sunset flip for two. Didn’t like Afi’s “flying headbutt” he hit on a standing Bret, before he hits a top rope corssbody, but Bret is clearly waiting and rolls through to get the win. Good stuff.

Jim Neidhart vs Lanny Poffo

Poffo starts off with a really terrible poem, so bad he deserved to get jumped at the start by the Anvil. Hilarious spot where Poffo skins the cat, and turns around right into an Anvil forearm that instantly decks him. Neidhart’s offence looks good here, with Poffo seemingly happy to make everything he does look killer. Even an Irish whip into the corner looks bone rattling. Poffo makes a nice little comeback with a killer dropkick, and I liked him dropping to the mat, dragging Neidhart down by the beard. Moonsault gets him two, but Poffo spends too long going for a senton which misses and Neidhart hits a 2^nd rope forearm for the win.

Tony Garea vs Iron Mike Sharpe

Since I’ve started watching Prime Time, Tony Garea has been a constant disappointment in the ring. In contrast, Mike Sharpe has been a constant source of stooging joy. This match is pretty par for the course for both men. Sharpe is great from the start, acting befuddled by an armdrag, missing a dropkick and getting slingshot into the corner. Garea isn’t very interesting on offence, so Sharpe’s performance is needed to keep this on track. Garea goes for a good few pinfalls, but also does things like lock on a long abdominal stretch to kill the momentum of the bout. In contrast, Sharpe’s clubbing blows look good and it’s a nice surprise when he ducks a corner charge, sending Garea into the turnbuckles and leaving him prone for a roll up from Sharpe for the rare victory.

Hercules vs Scott McGhee

On the subject of people who’ve been surprisingly good, Hercules really impressed me in the tag match on the previous episode, and he looked good here too. Far better movement than I remembered him having, working a satisfying quick sequence with McGhee and bumping big for dropkicks. He also hits a nasty looking stun gun on McGhee, basically just hurling him head first at the ropes. McGhee also looks good, really liked his belly to belly and his top rope kneedrop. Genuinely enjoyed this bout, Herc even looked good on the ending as he catches McGhee, hits a back breaker and smoothly rolls into the pin. Pleasant surprise.

Big John Studd vs Jim Powers & Rick Hunter

Basic squash used as the backdrop to a Studd/King Tonga angle. Both guys try to slam Studd early, with the $10,000 slam challenge being offered pre-match by Bobby Heenan. Neither succeed, and Hunter gets pinned after a Studd slam. Post match, Tonga comes in, having been rebuffed pre-match by Heenan, and successfully slams Studd to a huge pop.

Johnny Valiant, Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake vs Davey Boy Smith, Pedro Morales & Danny Spivey

Real mixed cast on that face team. Really enjoyable six-man tag, it’s really a formula that’s very hard to mess up. Valentine, being by far and away the best worker on his team, works a good percentage of the match, and has to eat offence from all three faces early doors. Valiant in particular is mainly used as a tool for distraction. Davey Boy ends up the face in peril, with the idea being that the Dream Team want to weaken him for a future tag title rematch. The heel control is basic, but fun, with distractions, chokes and double teams being really well worked to keep Davey Boy in their corner. Loved how it backfired in the end, as Morales gets fed up with all the cheating, stomps on Valentine as he locks on a figure four, and gets Smith to the face corner for the tag. In the ensuing chaos, Pedro hits a backbreaker on Valiant and Davey Boy gets the win. Good, crowd pleasing match.