11/2/85 - Saturday Night Slam Masters (TAPED: 10/31/85)
LOCATION: Hersheypark Arena - Hershey, PA
"Obsession" by Animotion kicked in and welcomed us to Saturday Night Slam Masters, on MTV! Gorilla Monsoon was with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and Monsoon could barely welcome everyone to the show before the Brain was running his mouth, talking about how tonight is the night of the Heenan Family, and that not only would Eddie Gilbert prove to be the greatest dancer in wrestling, but a member of the Family would also be the #1 contender for the World Title when all was said and done. Monsoon told Heenan not to get ahead of himself because a lot of people had the Family in their sights, including Rick Martel and Bob Backlund. Heenan said sure, but that the big surprise would take care of that. Monsoon shrugged it off before sending it to Howard Finkel for our first match of the evening!
MATCH #1
Intercontinental Title Match
Tony Atlas (c) (w/ "Classy" Freddie Blassie) vs. Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase is a veteran of the wrestling game, but he has yet to win a championship at the highest level, which is Global Championship Wrestling. He's gotten into it in recent weeks with Intercontinental champion Tony Atlas, and thus he had a chance to rectify this in our opening match. This all started over a parking spot, and I bet you after how this went, Atlas regrets getting so upset about it. He used his power early on to put a hurting on DiBiase, but DiBiase's technical savvy is amongst the best in the world. He is such a ring general, that no matter what your style is, he can counter it. That was the case here, as he used Atlas' power against him and lured him into a variety of wear down holds. Atlas looked to have the match in the bag though when he got DiBiase in the Bearhug, but DiBiase fought out with an ear clapper, and then immediately put on the Cobra Clutch! The crowd was going wild as Atlas flailed uncontrollably to get out, but the more he struggled, the faster his energy was zapped. Before Freddie Blassie could do anything to stop it, the bell rang, and we had a new Intercontinental champion!
Ted DiBiase made Tony Atlas submit to the Cobra Clutch in 0:08:51.
Rating: ****
(Ted DiBiase won the GCW Intercontinental Title.)
DiBiase looked absolutely ecstatic as he was handed the Intercontinental Title. DiBiase put it around his waist and celebrated as we cut to a commercial.
TED DIBIASE'S TITLE CELEBRATION IS INTERRUPTED
As we get back, "Mean" Gene Okerlund is on hand backstage to get a word with the NEW Intercontinental champion, Ted DiBiase. DiBiase gives a passioned promo, saying that he has wrestled all over the world, had a ton of highs and lows, but the entire journey was worth it for this moment right here where he could say he was a champion. DiBiase was joined by BARRY WINDHAM, who said he wanted to be the first man to shake the new Intercontinental champion's hand. Suddenly, there was a commotion off camera and we heard a man scream out in pain. Okerlund ran toward the commotion, the camera man hot on his heels, to see what it was about. When he gets there, officials have already started to gather around the fallen body of RICK MARTEL. Martel was still conscious, but he was holding his neck and was in a lot of pain. Okerlund tried to ask Martel who did this to him, but he was ushered away by officials who said the medical staff needed the space to work. All we overheard was Martel telling an official the man who did this to him was "big… very big." Windham was still around and told Okerlund he knew it was King Kong Bundy, and he was about to go do something about it.
Back to Monsoon & Heenan, and the Brain was smiling ear to ear. Monsoon was not as happy, asking Heenan if he was behind this. Heenan kept smiling and said that he promised that King Kong Bundy did not attack Rick Martel, but boy, was it unfortunate that it didn't look like Martel would make the #1 contender battle royal. Monsoon called Heenan a weasel before throwing it to a video.
THE ROUGEAU BROTHERS TAKE THE MEXICAN EAGLES ON A TOUR OF THE HERSHEY CHOCOLATE FACTORY
After such a serious situation, we had something to lighten the mood a little. Taped earlier today, the Rougeau Brothers and their running buddies, the Mexican Eagles, did a little sightseeing of the Hershey factory. This was the campy comedy you would expect from these four. Jacques & Raymond snapping pictures left and right, Chavo trying pieces of chocolate whenever he could, and Dos Caras having difficult eating the chocolate without getting any on his mask. The video ends at the end of the day with Jacques, Raymond, & Chavo all decked out in Hershey souvenirs, looking for where Dos Caras was. They soon found him, being pulled out of a vat of chocolate by security. I wouldn't eat a Hersheys bar for awhile, folks.
MATCH #2
Corporal Kirchner vs. "The Japanese Assassin" Shiro Koshinaka (w/ "Classy" Freddie Blassie)
Corporal Kirchner is here to stand up to those who would try to hurt the United States of America, and it looks like the first target he has is Freddie Blassie's Foreign Legion. Blassie's night did not start out well with Tony Atlas losing the Intercontinental Title, and he was not looking to lose another one. He wanted to send a message to Kirchner right off the bat not to mess with the Foreign Legion, and to do that, he sent the Japanese Assassin himself, Shiro Koshinaka. After a distraction from Blassie, Koshinaka got the early jump on the military man, catching him with a variety of martial arts kicks and strikes. Kirchner soon turned the tide though with his rugged brawling style, and soon the Hersheypark Arena was booming with a "USA!" chant. Kirchner road those chants to hitting a big time powerslam and a victory. Not a good night for the Foreign Legion.
Corporal Kirchner pinned Shiro Koshinaka after a powerslam in 0:03:27.
Rating: **
TED DIBIASE TRIES TO CALM BARRY WINDHAM DOWN
Back in the locker room, Okerlund was there again with Barry Windham. New Intercontinental champion Ted DiBiase was with him, trying to calm him down. DiBiase said he knew Windham was upset and wanted to get his hands on King Kong Bundy and the Heenan Family, but an attack in the locker room was not the way to do it. "Don't sink to their level. You want revenge? Get it in the ring by tossing each and every member of the Heenan Family out of the battle royal." Windham was still seething, but told DiBiase he was right - that's exactly what he was going to do.
JUNKYARD DOG/EDDIE GILBERT DANCE-OFF
Now going into this dance-off between Junkyard Dog and Eddie Gilbert, we didn't exactly assume this was going to be a tremendous display of dance skill. JYD likes to juke and jive, but he's not exactly what I would call a classically trained dancer. Gilbert, on the other hand, just came out looking ridiculous. He was in a dance outfit that would put even the most flamboyant man to shame, complete with "HOT STUFF" emblazoned on the backside. Lord Alfred Hayes ran the show here, and the rules were simple. Each man would have 30 seconds to show their best moves, and then the audience would vote on who they thought was the better dancer. I think you can see where this is going. Gilbert when first, and pulled out some of the worst dance moves you will ever see (though his Charleston did have some pizazz). Gilbert was obviously booed out of the building, prompting Bobby Heenan to grab the microphone and call everyone in Hershey an idiot. JYD went next, choosing to dance to his theme song, and the place exploded. Before JYD could finish his routine, Gilbert jumped him from behind! Gilbert was wailing away at JYD, but the Dog fought back, smashing Gilbert with a headbutt and then throwing him over the top rope. Gilbert & Heenan went to the back licking their wounds while JYD brought some kids into the ring to dance with him in celebration of his victory.
When we came back from commercial, Gorilla Monsoon was joined by Lord Alfred Hayes at commentary, and many of the competitors were already in the ring for the battle royal. Noticeably missing were the members of the Heenan Family. We soon learned why as Bobby Heenan stepped out from the back with a microphone, and King Kong Bundy, Arn Anderson, Television champion Tully Blanchard, and Eddie Gilbert in tow. Heenan told the world what they already knew - that the Family was responsible for taking out Rick Martel. BUT, it wasn't who you thought it was. He said all of the men standing with him right now were innocent. No, the man who took out Martel, and who had taken out Barry Windham a few weeks back was the newest member of the Heenan Family - BIG JOHN STUDD! The mammoth Studd came out from the back with a huge smile on his face, while Windham looked like he was going to go insane in the ring, wanting to get his hands on this new giant. The Brain cockily walked to ringside with the Family, now 5 strong, to get the battle royal underway.
MATCH #3
20-Man Battle Royal for a World Title shot at Grand 16
The first thing that happened as soon as the bell rang was Windham caught Studd by surprise with a hard punch to the face as Studd was getting himself into the ring. Studd was startled, which allowed several other wrestlers to come over and help Windham send Studd out of the ring!
x Several wrestlers threw out Studd in 0:00:14
What a shocking start to the battle royal! Heenan's newest man, and someone who has been causing havoc in the shadows for weeks, was out. Windham didn't look satisfied as he wanted to get out of the ring to keep going after Studd. Windham couldn't get out of the ring though as Adrian Adonis nailed him from behind. Adonis laid in some big shots, but when Adonis tried to hiptoss Windham over, the fiery Texan reversed it and sent the Adorable One out!
x Windham threw out Adonis in 0:00:59
Windham had the place on fire as he then went over and took it to Arn Anderson. Meanwhile, Steve Lombardi was over by Bad News Brown and patted him on the back, seeing how they are going to be partners for Grand 16. If looks could kill, Bad News would have been a murderer. Instead, he grabbed Lombardi by the back of the head and tossed him out of the ring.
x Bad News threw out Lombardi in 0:01:11
The bad night for Tony Atlas would continue in this battle royal. Not only did he lose the Intercontinental Title earlier in the evening, but when he tried to get a little retribution on Ted DiBiase, he forgot that other wrestlers were still in the ring. DiBiase blocked Atlas' punch that he saw coming from a mile away, and fired back with one of his own. While Atlas staggered back, Dusty Rhodes gave him an early trip to the locker room.
x Dusty Rhodes threw out Atlas in 0:03:00
Rhodes' partner for Grand 16 was asserting his will in the match as well, doing a good job of getting himself a piece of the Heenan Family. Windham was going into the corner the Heenan Family had staked out in the match like a wild man, and he was getting beaten back because of it. Duggan was focusing on one man at a time, namely the Television champion Tully Blanchard. Dino Bravo came over and tried to get his licks in on Duggan. Duggan, though, was ready, ducking a wild haymaker from Canada's Strongest Man, picking him up and hitting an atomic drop which propelled Bravo over the top to the floor.
x Duggan threw out Bravo after an atomic drop in 0:03:58
At this point, Bobby Heenan instructed his Family to make their move. The Heenan Family moved out of the corner, and started singling out competitors in the ring. The first they went after was an old nemesis and the new IC champion, Ted DiBiase. DiBiase did his best to fight off the Heenan Family, and he did a good job of it - until King Kong Bundy got a hold of him, that is. DiBiase rocked Bundy with a couple of hard shots, but all this really did was make the monster mad. Bundy picked DiBiase up like a rag doll and sent him to the showers.
x Bundy threw out DiBiase in 0:04:50
Still a good night for DiBiase, who can't be upset with how Slam Masters went. His partner and former protege Barry Windham got a major victory for the rest of the men in the ring. With a little assist from a hard headbutt by Junkyard Dog, Windham hit a discus punch on Eddie Gilbert that eliminated him, putting a major dent in the power of the Heenan Family!
x Windham threw out E. Gilbert in 0:06:03
On the other side of the ring, "Classy" Freddie Blassie was doing everything he could to get under Corporal Kirchner's skin. Kirchner got an impressive win over Blassie's Japanese Assassin Shiro Koshinaka earlier in the evening. Kirchner was focused on eliminating Koshinaka from the battle royal as well, but he got distracted when Blassie very loudly yelled, "AMERICA IS FILLED WITH A BUNCH OF BUMS!" Kirchner turned to Blassie with fire in his eyes and told him to take it back, but this lapse in judgment was enough for Koshinaka to sneak up from behind and dump the proud patriot from the match.
x Koshinaka threw out Kirchner in 0:07:15
We knew it was just a matter of time before Bundy would really assert his will in the match, and that part came next. Bundy began throwing his weight around (quite literally), trying to bully the smaller competitors of the match. First of all, he smashed Davey Boy Smith in the corner and threw him out.
x Bundy threw out D.B. Smith in 0:08:04
Bundy wanted to go after Dynamite Kid next to complete the set of the British Bulldogs, and looked well on his way, despite Dynamite's fiery attempts to defend himself. Bundy was about to throw Dynamite out, but the American Dream came over and got in Bundy's face. The building was going crazy as Rhodes fired off on Bundy with Bionic Elbows. Bundy was reeling and leaning against the ropes, looking primed to be dumped to the floor. Rhodes went in for the kill, but he got jumped by Blanchard & Anderson. The Dream fought them off, but when he went back to Bundy, the monster threw Rhodes out to a huge chorus of boos.
x Bundy threw out Dusty Rhodes in 0:09:10
Dynamite Kid ran in at Bundy with a crossbody attempt, but Bundy caught him, and put him out of the match as well!
x Bundy threw out Dynamite Kid in 0:09:14
With the numbers dwindling, this was looking a lot like the Heenan Family's match. They still had three members in there, and they had effectively eliminated or broken up the other alliances in the match. The three ganged up on Jim Duggan next. Bad News Brown offered an unofficial assist when he smashed an unsuspecting Hacksaw in the back of the head with the Ghetto Blaster. Duggan was easy pickings for the Enforcer to dump him out of the ring.
x Anderson threw out Duggan in 0:10:18
This is when a man we surprisingly hadn't said much about up to this point made his presence known, and that was the Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant. Andre had stayed to himself, and everyone in the ring had more or less left him alone (and I can't say I blame them). Andre decided to be passive no more, picking off Anderson and throwing him across the ring like a toy ball. Bundy came at him next, and Andre hit a big punch that almost took Bundy off his feet. Blanchard jumped off the second turnbuckle onto Andre's back, but Blanchard simply bounced right off and hit the mat hard. When Tully got to his feet again, he was met with a clothesline by Windham that sent him to the floor!
x Windham threw out Blanchard in 0:10:52
Koshinaka came over to try to take an advantage of a distracted Andre, but he should have just stayed where he was as Andre easily eliminated him.
x Andre threw out Koshinaka in 0:10:59
We had a commotion from the back as BIG JOHN STUDD came back down to ringside and began jawing at Andre! Andre might be a jovial guy normally, but you don't want to make him mad, and Studd was definitely making him mad. Andre reached over to try to get at Studd. He got Big John by his arm, but Studd held on and began pulling. Bundy came up behind Andre and scooped him up, eliminating the Giant from the match in stunning fashion!
x Bundy threw out Andre after a distraction from Studd in 0:11:16
Heenan was laughing about Andre's elimination. That is, until Andre got back up. Once Heenan saw the look on Andre's face, he hightailed it to the back with Studd, Andre on the chase. In the ring, we were down to the final five, and one of Barry Windham, Junkyard Dog, Bad News Brown, King Kong Bundy, or Arn Anderson would get the chance to wrestle for the World Title at our debut on pay-per-view. Bundy & Anderson clearly were going to work together, and Windham, JYD, & Bad News all took a corner of their own. Bad News went right after JYD, leaving Anderson & Bundy to go after Windham. Windham tried to get the first blows in, but he was quickly overtaken by the Heenan Family. Windham kept fighting back though, but he looked to be done when Bundy squashed him with an avalanche. Heenan demanded that Anderson throw Windham out so Bundy could go over and take care of business on the other side of the ring. Anderson was cocky about it, playing to the crowd a little instead of getting the elimination. Big mistake. Windham shifted his weight and changed the momentum of the elimination attempt, causing the Enforcer to be thrown out instead!
x Windham threw out Anderson in 0:12:35
Final four! Bundy turned back and went after Windham again, but Windham ducked and pounded away with right hands on the behemoth. On the other side of the ring, JYD was getting the crowd going by juking and jiving, and peppering Brown with punches to boot. Brown was reeling from the blows, but he thought fast and hit JYD with a low blow. In a regular match, that would have been a disqualification. But here, it was what led to JYD's elimination.
x Bad News threw out JYD in 0:13:39
The last three, and this was a rare situation where even though Windham was left alone with two rulebreakers, it actually worked out well for him because let's face it - Bad News doesn't like anybody. We thought Brown was going over to take shots at Windham, but instead, he came over and shoved Bundy, challenging him to a fight! And almost more shocking, the crowd was strongly behind Brown for this. The two powerhouses started wailing away at each other with bombs, but both men refused to fall. Bundy was getting the better of the exchange, but when he charged in for an avalanche, Brown moved and Bundy hit hard! Bundy had the breath knocked out of him, but before Brown could follow up, Windham came out of nowhere and threw him out!
x Windham threw out Bad News in 0:14:41
This was exactly what Windham had wanted. Windham promised he was going to throw Bundy out of the match, and he had his chance here. Bundy was still hurting, and Windham popped him with some punches before going for the elimination. Windham looked to be doing the impossible when he temporarily had Bundy teetering, but Bundy clubbed him with a big shot. Bundy hit his avalanche this time, and then tossed the game Windham out to end the match.
x Bundy threw out Windham in 0:15:06
[WINNER RECEIVES WORLD TITLE SHOT AT GRAND 16]: 20-Man Battle Royal:
King Kong Bundy won a 20-man Battle Royal:
Rating: ***
A valiant effort by Windham, but Bundy was just too big. And now we officially know that it will be Bob Backlund defending the World Title against King Kong Bundy this Thursday.
THE PRESENTATION OF THE GRAND 16 TROPHY
Before our final match of the evening, Gene Okerlund was in the ring, alongside GCW President Jack Tunney. Next to them was also a table that had an object on it that was obscured by a large blanket. Okerlund welcomed Tunney, and gave him the floor. Tunney said that in just 5 days on pay-per-view, 16 of the world's finest teams will compete in a one night, single elimination tournament to see who is crowned the first ever Grand 16 champion. He said with the teams finalized, he could now announce the first round matchups, which are as follows:
The Rock 'N Roll Express vs. The Fabulous Ones
Hector Guerrero/Tito Santana vs. The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff
The British Bulldogs vs. Tony Atlas/Shiro Koshinaka
Barry Windham/Ted DiBiase vs. The Hart Foundation
Dusty Rhodes/Jim Duggan vs. Bad News Brown/Steve Lombardi
The Rougeau Brothers vs. The Electric Dream Machine
Andre the Giant/Rick Martel vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard
Sgt. Slaughter/Stan Hansen vs. The Mexican Eagles
Okerlund put over these fantastic matches before turning his attention to the table. Tunney said that the 16 teams would all be competing for this, the Grand 16 Trophy. Okerlund removed the blanket and revealed an impressive gold trophy, standing about 3 foot tall. Tunney wished all 16 teams good luck, and added, "May the best team win."
MATCH #4
World Tag Team Title Match
The Rock 'N Roll Express (c) vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Stan "The Lariat" Hansen
Main event time, and it was a big one with the World Tag Team Titles up for grabs. Since Sgt. Slaughter returned to GCW and formed the unholy alliance with Stan Hansen, they have been nearly unstoppable. Just ask Dusty Rhodes, a legend in this sport, who has had no answer for the duo. However, the Rock 'N Roll Express have managed to get the better of the unholy alliance more than any other team has so far, even causing the dominant team to lose their first match to the Fabulous Ones (via countout, mind you, but still). Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson may have been having a good time before, but it was all business tonight as they knew their titles were in jeopardy. The strategy of the champs was clear - don't let either Slaughter or Hansen get a hold of them. If this became a brawl, the Express were in trouble. They flew around the ring early using their superior speed to fluster the challengers. They were getting the better of the unholy alliance, but they were also making them mad, which is something you should avoid doing if you can help it. Ricky Morton spent a good portion of this getting the tar beat out of him, but the scrappy youngster has been in this position before. Part of the success of the Rock 'N Roll Express is their ability to come back from punishment. Still, with what Slaughter & Hansen were doing to Morton, it was only a matter of time before this one was going to be over if the RnRs didn't do something. That happened when Hansen went to take Morton's head off with the Lariat, but Morton ducked and rocked Hansen's jaw with a pinpoint dropkick. Morton made the hot tag to Gibson, and Gibson was a house of fire, doing quite well against both of the unholy alliance. Once Morton shook the cobwebs out, he joined in and helped out, getting Slaughter out of the ring with a tandem dropkick. They now turned their attention to Hansen, firing him into the ropes and hitting a double back elbow. Both of the tag champs hit the ropes, but Slaughter grabbed Gibson's feet, pulled him to the outside, and threw him head first into ringpost, taking him out and busting him open in the process. This was just enough to distract Morton who looked at his fallen partner, only to turn back around into the Lariat! Three seconds later, and we had new World Tag Team champions.
Sgt. Slaughter and Stan Hansen defeated The Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) when Hansen pinned R. Morton with the Lariat in 0:10:40.
Rating: *** 1/2
(Sgt. Slaughter and Stan Hansen won the GCW World Tag Team Titles.)
The crowd was livid at what just happened, but their jeers turned into pelting the ring with garbage as well when they continued to take liberties with the now former World Tag Team champs. Slaughter & Hansen wanted to send a message to the Rock 'N Roll Express for embarrassing them on multiple occasions the last several weeks. THE FABULOUS ONES ran down to try to help out, but it didn't take long before the unholy alliance asserted their will on them as well. Things changed though when DUSTY RHODES & JIM DUGGAN ran out, Duggan with his 2x4 in hand. Slaughter & Hansen saw this and decided to bail and live to fight another day. The broadcast went off the air with Rhodes & Duggan standing in the ring, calling for Slaughter & Hansen to get back in the ring and fight.
Match observations:
Up next is the big pay-per-view on November 7, Grand 16! Call your cable companies now to order this unique spectacular event!
Also, more matches have been announced for the November 16 show in Los Angeles, including rematches of the two title matches we saw tonight. More matches will be announced as we head into the huge event!
11/7/85 - GRAND 16 - ROSEMONT HORIZON - Chicago, IL
WORLD TITLE - Bob Backlund (c) vs. King Kong Bundy
16-Team Tournament
FIRST ROUND - The Rock 'N Roll Express vs. The Fabulous Ones
FIRST ROUND - Hector Guerrero/Tito Santana vs. The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff
FIRST ROUND - The British Bulldogs vs. Tony Atlas/Shiro Koshinaka
FIRST ROUND - Barry Windham/Ted DiBiase vs. The Hart Foundation
FIRST ROUND - Dusty Rhodes/Jim Duggan vs. Bad News Brown/Steve Lombardi
FIRST ROUND - The Rougeau Brothers vs. The Electric Dream Machine
FIRST ROUND - Andre the Giant/Rick Martel vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard
FIRST ROUND - Sgt. Slaughter/Stan Hansen vs. The Mexican Eagles
11/16/85 - LOS ANGELES SPORTS ARENA - Los Angeles, CA
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE - Ted DiBiase (c) vs. Tony Atlas
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES - Sgt. Slaughter/Stan Hansen (c) vs. The Rock 'N Roll Express
HARLEM STREETFIGHT - Jim Duggan vs. Bad News Brown
Junkyard Dog vs. Eddie Gilbert
