6/22/85 - GCW Superstars

6/22/85 - GCW Superstars (TAPED: 6/4/85)
LOCATION: Mid-Hudson Civic Center - Poughkeepsie, NY

It's the day after the major show in Madison Square Garden, and there was a lot of monumental happenings that took place in New York City! Gorilla Monsoon & Mark Niemiller were here to talk about all of the happenings and a whole lot more on GCW Superstars! Stan Hansen left Dusty Rhodes high and dry in the main event, and the Lariat is on today's program to explain his actions! Niemiller brought up that Hansen isn't the only one who needed to explain himself, as Intercontinental champion Tony Atlas turned on Jim Duggan & Junkyard Dog last week and joined with the hated Foreign Legion. Atlas will be here as well to talk about why he joined forces with"Classy" Freddie Blassie! Monsoon turned back to the wrestling side of things, saying there would be some great matches taking place on the show today. Bad News Brown is in action, as is the aforementioned Dusty Rhodes! Don Muraco will make his very first title defense as Television champion against Chavo Guerrero, and in our big main event, Rick Martel squares off against Bret Hart! Now to Howard Finkel and our first match!

MATCH #1
The Rougeau Brothers vs. Richard Charland/Joe Mirto

The Rougeau Brothers may not have been successful against the Electric Dream Machine last night, but from all reports, they had a great time seeing all the sights of the Big Apple. The French Canadian brothers shook off the loss pretty quickly as Jacques & Raymond made short work out of Richard Charland & Joe Mirto. Niemiller commented that they put the match away so they could get out and do some more sight seeing.

The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) defeated Richard Charland and Joe Mirto when J. Rougeau pinned Mirto after the Bombe de Rougeau in 0:01:50.
Rating: -1/2*

TONY ATLAS DISCUSSES WHY HE JOINED THE FOREIGN LEGION

After a commercial break, we were joined by "Classy" Freddie Blassie, who was flanked by his newest client, Tony Atlas. The Intercontinental champion was all smiles, even if he was being pelted by trash and insults. Lord Alfred Hayes was in charge of the interview, and he had a lot of trouble hiding his distaste for what Atlas did last week. Blassie did the talking to start, saying that he promised everyone that he would get the Intercontinental Title in the Foreign Legion, and he did just that. Hayes wanted to talk to Atlas though, and ask him why he thought this was what he had to do. Atlas said this plan had been in the works for a long time. Atlas said he always took pride in being a proud supporter of the United States. He didn't call himself Mr. USA for nothing. But he watched other wrestlers start to pass him by and get bigger opportunities while he had to stay on the back burner. But when he saw Junkyard Dog not only getting a chance to win the Television Title, but also getting a shot at the Intercontinental Title, he took matters into his own hands. Hayes asked for clarification, and Atlas said it was he who took JYD out in Boston so that he could get the shot at the IC Title. And he's glad he did it, because now he's the champion. Hayes still wasn't sure why Atlas had to join with Blassie and the Foreign Legion to do this. Atlas said it was simple - money. With Blassie, he is a bigger star than he ever was trying to be a nice guy. He ended by telling JYD & Jim Duggan that it was nothing personal, but if they knew what was good for them, they would stay out of his business - and that included JYD backing out of his title shot in Philly.

MATCH #2
Bad News Brown vs. Mike Donnatello

We haven't seen a lot from Bad News Brown since he broke out on his own, but he was in action next against Mike Donnatello. Brown did an insert promo during this match, saying that being on his own is exactly how he likes it. He's a lone wolf by nature, and he is going to stay that way from now on. He also issued a warning to the rest of GCW, saying he wasn't here to make friends or win championships, but rather he as here to beat people up. Brown put everyone on the roster on blast, and said if they were looking for a fight, he wasn't hard to find. It wasn't hard for him to get past Donnatello either. Brown's Ghetto Blaster sealed the deal for the Harlem brawler.

Bad News Brown pinned Mike Donnatello with the Ghetto Blaster in 0:02:07.
Rating: 1/2*

Monsoon was highly impressed and said that Brown might be the most dangerous man in wrestling. Niemiller added that you would have to be a crazy man to willingly get in a fight with Bad News.

MATCH #3
Television Title Match
"The Magnificent" Don Muraco (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Chavo Guerrero

Don Muraco sure has been doing a lot of talking since winning the TV Title, and it got him into a bit of hot water last night in MSG with Chavo Guerrero. Chavo got the better of the exchange last night, and if he could do the same today, he would be the new TV champion. Muraco was doing a lot of stalling before the match even started, wanting to make sure his hair was perfect and jawing with Monsoon to let the viewers at home know he was the biggest star on television. Chavo got fed up with this and dropkicked Muraco in the back, knocking him into the turnbuckle to kick off the match. Chavo rolled Muraco up right after and almost got the 3 count in record time. Chavo went through a series of other pinning attempts and got within an eyelash every time. Chavo had all the momentum going for him early, but when Muraco ducked a crossbody attempt, Chavo hit hard. Muraco got serious in a hurry and put the screws to Chavo. Guerrero made one more run at the end when he got his foot up in the corner to catch a charging Muraco in the face. Chavo hit his crossbody this time, but the powerful Muraco caught him. Muraco hoisted Chavo up from that position into the Tombstone. He planted him in the center and made a successful first title defense.

Don Muraco pinned Chavo Guerrero with the Tombstone in 0:03:38.
Rating: * 1/2
(Don Muraco retained the GCW Television Title.)

Monsoon pontificated that if Muraco hopes to have a lengthy title reign, he is going to need to stop focusing on his looks and focus more on the task at hand. Niemiller had a different take, saying he was successful today, so it's no big deal.

MATCH #4
"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs. Carl Fury

Dusty Rhodes was not in a good mood. After Hansen walked out on him last night, the Dream was in no mood to have fun against Carl Fury. The fans cheered him on none the less, but Rhodes didn't seem to hear it. He was focused on putting a hurting on somebody, and that somebody was the young Fury. Fury didn't put up much of a fight before eating the Bionic Elbowdrop and a loss.

Dusty Rhodes pinned Carl Fury with the Bionic Elbowdrop in 0:02:53.
Rating: 3/4*

Mark Niemiller tried to catch up with Rhodes after the match to get a comment about what happened last night. Rhodes said he had no comment right now. He wanted to see what Hansen had to say later on today. The Dream promised he would have plenty to say next week on Superstars.

LIVE EVENT REPORT WITH GENE OKERLUND

"Mean" Gene Okerlund was back for his weekly segment, the Live Event Report. Okerlund went over some of the happenings of last night's sold out Madison Square Garden and how if you wanted to experience the best in wrestling action, you had to get to these shows live. Okerlund was excited because fans would have two big opportunities to see GCW live in July. On the 8th, we make our debut in Foxboro, MA at Sullivan Stadium for the second King of the Ring tournament! Okerlund had big news, as he had just been handed the matchups for the first round of the tournament just before going on the air, and he could announce them right now! They are as follows:

Ricky Steamboat vs. Bret Hart
Junkyard Dog vs. Tully Blanchard
Jim Duggan vs. Stan Hansen
Wahoo McDaniel vs. Dino Bravo
Rick Martel vs. Arn Anderson
Chavo Guerrero vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Bruiser Brody vs. King Kong Bundy
Ted DiBiase vs. Bad News Brown

The entire 16-man tournament will take place on July 8, so you won't want to miss any of the action. Not only that, but there will be one non-tournament match, and it will be 8-man tag team action. Recent rivals The Rock 'N Roll Express & The British Bulldogs will be teaming up to take on the team that attacked them all at MSG, the Fabulous Ones, and the self-proclaimed "sparkliest team in wrestling," the Electric Dream Machine. This should be a tremendous contest.

This wouldn't be the only match Okerlund had to announce involved the Bulldogs and the Fabulous Ones. The other July show is on the 27th, and it is in the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Okerlund said that the Bulldogs and the Fabulous Ones would be meeting in a tag team encounter at this show. This is the third match announced, in addition to the Junkyard Dog trying to get his revenge against the turncoat, Tony Atlas, for the Intercontinental Title, as well as rivals Ricky Steamboat & Tully Blanchard putting it all on the line in a no-DQ match. Okerlund added there would be more matches to announce soon, possibly one involving one of the charges from his guest, Bobby Heenan. Heenan was live in the studio, and he was there to talk about one man - Andre the Giant. Heenan said Andre made the biggest mistake of his life last night when he turned down his offer to join the Heenan Family. Andre's life could have been easy - the riches, the fame, the championships. But now, Heenan has promised Andre that his return to GCW would be short lived. Heenan was issuing a challenge to the Giant, to face any of the Heenan Family one-on-one in Philadelphia. He assured Andre that if he had the guts to accept the challenge, it would be the last mistake he ever made. Heenan left, and Okerlund said he hoped to have Andre on the Live Event Report next week to address this challenge!

MATCH #5
Rick Martel vs. Bret "Hitman" Hart

A hotly contested wrestling match for our show's wrestling main event. Bret Hart was once again without Mr. Fuji, just like he was last night. Monsoon announced during commentary that Hart & Fuji have officially cut ties as Fuji wanted to focus all of his managerial efforts on the Television champion. Despite that, Hart didn't look out of place against Rick Martel. The Hitman has never had a problem going in the ring - if anything, many have said that it was Mr. Fuji's unfocused manager style that was holding him back. Still, he had a tall mountain to climb against Martel, one of the most popular competitors in all of GCW. Martel firmly had the fans behind him, and that was rattling Hart a bit. Hart made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the end, and the opportunistic Martel was there to capitalize on every one of them. A well-placed dropkick jacked Hart's jaw, giving Martel a big victory in a fantastic television main event. Both of these men now look forward to making some noise in the King of the Ring tournament.

Rick Martel pinned Bret Hart after a dropkick in 0:10:28.
Rating: *** 3/4

As Bret Hart made his way to the back, holding his jaw in pain, he was met in the aisle by JIMMY HART. The camera couldn't pick up what they were talking about, but the Hitman was looking on very intently. Monsoon pondered out loud about what was going on before Niemiller threw it to the back to Lord Alfred Hayes, who was standing by with Stan Hansen.

STAN HANSEN IS AS SURLY AS EVER

Lord Alfred Hayes was going to try to interview Stan Hansen, but right away the Lariat ripped the microphone away and scared Hayes away. Hansen wanted to interview himself, apparently. Hansen knew everyone wanted to hear about why he left Dusty Rhodes to the wolves last night. Hansen said he didn't owe an explanation to anybody, most of all Dusty Rhodes. Hansen said Rhodes has been weighing him down for months, and that what he did last night was long overdue. In fact, Rhodes was lucky walking out on him was all he did. Hansen said he didn't need Rhodes anymore and that he would regain the World Title from Bob Backlund by himself. At this point, BARRY WINDHAM entered and confronted Windham. After beating Kamala, Windham has an overflow of confidence, but standing up to Hansen might have been a huge mistake. Windham's crusade of doing the right thing and telling Hansen that his attitude was all wrong about got him knocked out, and if it wasn't for officials and security coming in to keep them separated, this could have been a lot uglier situation to end this episode of Superstars.

Match observations:

Be sure to join us next week on Superstars, where we have just learned that after their confrontation today, Barry Windham will take on Stan Hansen! Also, Bruiser Brody is in the ring, as will be Bad News Brown! Wahoo McDaniel makes his first appearance on GCW TV, and we will see the in-ring debut of the Fabulous Ones! And we will hear Dusty Rhodes' response to Stan Hansen! Have a great week, everybody!

7/8/85 - KING OF THE RING - SULLIVAN STADIUM - Foxboro, MA

16-man King of the Ring Tournament - First Round Matches

Ricky Steamboat vs. Bret Hart
Junkyard Dog vs. Tully Blanchard
Jim Duggan vs. Stan Hansen
Wahoo McDaniel vs. Dino Bravo
Rick Martel vs. Arn Anderson
Chavo Guerrero vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Bruiser Brody vs. King Kong Bundy
Ted DiBiase vs. Bad News Brown

NON-TOURNAMENT MATCHES

The Rock 'N Roll Express/The British Bulldogs vs. The Fabulous Ones/The Electric Dream Machine

7/27/85 - THE SPECTRUM - Philadelphia, PA

INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE - Tony Atlas (c) vs. Junkyard Dog
NO-DISQUALIFICATION - Ricky Steamboat vs. Tully Blanchard
The British Bulldogs vs. The Fabulous Ones

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License