1986 spring season of U.S. Network television programming (Saturday morning) [1]
ABC
8AM –
The Bugs Bunny Show
9AM –
Pink Panther and Sons
9:30AM –
Star Wars: Ewoks
10AM –
Star Wars: Droids
10:30AM –
Laff-a-Lympics
11AM –
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians
11:30AM –
The Littles
12PM –
ABC Weekend Special
1PM –
American Bandstand
CBS
8AM –
The Berenstein Bears
8:30AM –
The Wuzzles
9AM –
Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies
10AM –
Ricky Steamboat’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling
11AM –
CBS Storybreak
11:30AM –
Dungeons and Dragons
12PM –
The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show
12:30PM –
Land of the Lost
1PM –
Get Along Gang
1:30PM –
Pole Position
NBC
8AM –
The Snorks
8:30AM –
Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears
9AM –
The Smurfs
10AM –
It’s Punky Brewster
10:30AM –
Alvin and the Chipmunks
11AM –
Kidd Video
11:30AM –
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
12PM –
Mr. T
12:30PM –
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
1PM –
NBC Sports
--
April 20, 1986
WrestleRock ‘86
From *Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
WrestleRock ’86 was a wrestling event promoted by the American Wrestling Association. The event was held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 20, 1986. The card was heavily promoted for months during weekly television programming by the AWA. Although not as ambitious as the WWF’s
Wrestlemania 2, the show was a reasonable success, though it still failed to draw more fans than the NWA’s Crockett Cup shows. [2]
The show also featured a brief concert by country singer Waylon Jennings before the final three matches.
WrestleRock would prove to be the final stadium show for the AWA, though the promotion did continue to promote their flagship card of
Superclash until closing in 1992.
The “WrestleRock Rumble”
A promotion for the show included a music video shot in Las Vegas entitled the “WrestleRock Rumble”, in a vein similar to “The Super Bowl Shuffle” from 1985. It featured different AWA talents “rapping” verses, including the then 60-year-old Verne Gagne reading his verses off a sheet in a very off-key fashion. The idea was parodied by the World Wrestling Federation for
Wrestlemania 24, with various WWF wrestlers singing verses, often quite badly. [3]
Matches [4]
No., Results, Time
1) Brad Rheingans defeated Boris Zukhov (5:44)
2) Colonel DeBeers defeated Wahoo McDaniel by disqualification (7:03)
3) Buddy Rose & Doug Somers defeated The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) (12:03)
4) Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa) defeated Buck Zumhofe (6:55)
5) Harley Race fought Rick Martel to a double count-out (18:00)
6) The Fabulous Moolah won a 10-Woman Battle Royal featuring: Sherri Martel, Luna Vachon, Joyce Grable, Kat LeRoux, Rose Divine, Taylor Thomas, Despina Montega, Debbie Combs, and Candi Devine (8:00)
7) Kamala defeated Sgt. Slaughter (c) to win the AWA America's Championship (9:54)
8) Scott Hall & Curt Hennig (c) defeated The Long Riders (Bill & Barney Irwin) to retain the AWA World Tag Team Championships (25:25)
9) Scott LeDoux defeated Larry Zbyszko by disqualification in a Boxing match (w/ Larry Hennig as the special guest referee) (7:32)
10) Nick Bockwinkel defeated AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen (c) by disqualification (12:29)
11) Greg Gagne defeated Bruiser Brody in a Steel Cage match (12:12)
12) Verne Gagne defeated Sheik Adnan El-Kassey in a Steel Cage match (6:54)
13) The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) defeated Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin in a Steel Cage match (21:21)
See also
American Wrestling Association
Superclash
The Super Bowl Shuffle
--
April 22, 1986
“Yeah, a friend of mine in Minnesota actually went to that
Wrestlerock thing,” Pat Patterson said. He bit into the turkey sandwich he’d gotten for lunch at a nearby deli.
“Did he sit all the way through the show?” Vince McMahon asked as he sipped his drink.
“Oh, he didn’t watch it,” Patterson replied. “He just went because the concession stand outside was giving away free hot dogs and snow cones.”
The two men laughed at Patterson’s joke. With all the competition McMahon was getting lately during his plans of national expansion, it was nice to have a laugh every once in a while. To make matters better for McMahon, the AWA looked like it was floundering heavily, and wouldn’t be lasting very much longer.
“All joking aside, the AWA
does have some pretty solid competitors,” McMahon said as he chomped down ferociously on his corned beef sandwich, chewed it up, and swallowed. “Take the Road Warriors, for instance…we need a good, fresh babyface tag team to challenge the Hart Foundation now that Hart & Neidhart are champions. If we could persuade them to sign with this company, we’d have just that.”
Patterson nodded. “They’d be great, alright—if you could get ‘em. If you could get the Midnight Rockers, they could probably work, too…”
McMahon stroked his chin. “Yes, but I’d much prefer the Road Warriors. We already have Steamboat bouncing around the ring with his style—I don’t want people to think I’ve gone soft, allowing all these little guys into the WWF spotlight.”
Just then, there was a loud knock at McMahon’s door.
“Nobody here,” Patterson called jokingly. “We’re dead. Come back tomorrow; maybe our zombies can help you.”
“Oh please, Patterson. You’re not foolin’ anybody,” bellowed a deep voice from behind the door.
McMahon instantly recognized the voice, and swallowed the bite of sandwich in his mouth before speaking. “Sorry, Terry. Come on in.”
The door opened, and in walked Terry Bollea, better known as former WWF Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan. The muscular man smiled and nodded at McMahon and Patterson. “How are you guys this morning?”
McMahon raised an eyebrow at Hogan, wondering to what he owed this visit from one of his biggest drawing cards. “Fine, fine. Have a seat, Terry. What can I do for you?”
Hogan sat down in the chair in front of McMahon’s desk. His jovial demeanor was now replaced with a calm, slightly stoic one. “I’ve been thinkin’, Vince. Steamboat’s been champion for a pretty long time. Now, no offense to Ricky, he’s a great talent. Definitely at least ten times more athletic than me. And he’s done a great job carryin’ the title. But…don’t you think it’s time to give the top dog his time in the spotlight again?”
McMahon nodded slowly. He knew this conversation would be coming soon, and he had been deliberately avoiding talking to Hogan about until now. “Of course; I agree with you 100 percent. I’ve just…been having problems figuring out how I want to do it.”
Hogan nodded. “Understood. Have you considered turnin’ him or me heel?”
McMahon shook his head as he creased his brow. “No, I don’t think that’ll work. You’re both over too much with the crowd…turning one of you heel would be depriving me of my two top faces in the company. I don’t really want that…” In reality, by going by the audience’s cheers as a measure of how popular a wrestler was, McMahon felt that Steamboat had actually been
eclipsing Hogan in popularity, and he thought that if he turned one of them, it would have to be Hogan. He wanted the Hulkster to remain a babyface as long as possible.
“Yeah, I get what you’re sayin’,” Hogan replied. “I guess you could have him drop the title to a heel wrestler, and then have me win it later on.”
McMahon shrugged. “That was my original plan, really. But there aren’t really that many big heel challengers for Rick right now. As of this moment, I’d probably lean towards someone from the Harts, to be honest… “
Patterson nodded in approval as he finished off his sandwich. “Yeah, the Hart Foundation is pretty hot right now. The people hate ‘em…especially Dynamite.”
“They’re not the only ones,” Hogan grumbled. Tom Billington was one of his least favorite people in the WWF locker room.
McMahon glanced at Hogan, and rolled his eyes at the remark. “Let’s keep this strictly business, alright? I think Tom
would be a decent choice to win the title from Steamboat, carry it for a month or so, and then drop it to Hogan, were it not for his…injuries.” [5]
The room was silent for a few seconds as Hogan and Patterson watched McMahon in anticipation. McMahon pondered his options carefully—he wanted the title to be on a decent heel when Hogan challenged for it. However, he didn’t want to endanger his employee’s well-being, either. Plus, there was the fact that he and Hogan were basically going behind Steamboat’s back, and Steamboat might not be happy about this when he found out.
Hogan finally spoke up. “Well, you’d just have to have him wrestle two matches, correct?” he asked McMahon. “One to win the title, and one to lose it. That’s not a very big workload, to be honest. Tom can even take some time off after he loses the title to heal up if he wants to.”
McMahon thought about Hogan’s words for a few seconds, and slowly nodded. “Well, if you insist, Terry. I took a gamble on Steamboat as champion; I took a gamble on the Hart Foundation—who’s to say this gamble won’t pay off, too?”
Patterson frowned. “I don’t know, Vince. Steamboat was one thing, but Tom’s not that big of a guy. How will he make a believable champion?”
“Easy,” McMahon replied. “He’ll win dirty.
Always dirty with the Harts. We’ll have all the Harts accompany him to ringside, and Rick will be so busy fighting them off that it’ll let somebody come in, maybe hit Steamboat with Jimmy’s megaphone, then Tom pins Rick. Then, we can have Hulk feud with the Harts. Besides, Tom will only be champion for a month or two, tops.”
Hogan nodded and smiled. “I like it. Hulk Hogan takin’ on all five Harts in the Foundation—it makes it look like the odds are stacked against me.”
“Of course, I’ll have to run this by Rick,” McMahon said. “He may or may not like the idea, though…”
Patterson patted McMahon’s shoulder. “I’m sure you can convince him. I got faith in you, Vince.”
Hogan nodded. “Me too. You’re probably the most persuasive guy I know!”
McMahon smirked and rolled his eyes. “Stop it, you two; you’re making me blush…”
--
May 3, 1986
The seventh episode of
Saturday Night’s Main Event airs on NBC; it was previously taped on May 1st. The show would garner a lower-than-before, but still respectable, 9.7 rating. [6]
The lead-off match sees Hulk Hogan teaming up with the Junkyard Dog to take on Paul Orndorff and Big John Studd, with manager Bobby “the Brain” Heenan in their corner. Hogan and JYD manage to overcome the odds and score a hard-fought victory over the heels in a match that also sees Bobby Heenan take a big bump to the outside. After King Kong Bundy squashes Uncle Elmer in what would ultimately be Elmer’s second-to-last match in the WWF, the viewers hear an interview between Gene Okerlund and WWF newcomer Billy Jack Haynes. Haynes, who plays a “Wild West sheriff” gimmick, says he’s here to declare “martial law” in the WWF, and he’ll “clean up crime” wherever he sees it.
The next match sees Randy “Macho Man” Savage defending his Intercontinental Title against the man he took it from at
Wrestlemania 2, Roddy Piper. After several minutes of high-impact offense by Piper, Savage rolls out of the ring and walks away, taking an intentional count-out victory against his adversary, losing the match but keeping his championship in the process. Greg Valentine scores a pinfall victory over the man who branded him at ‘
Mania, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts disposes of former WWF Tag Team Champion Tito Santana with the DDT. Oddly, Santana’s partner Brutus Beefcake is nowhere to be seen.
The main event is the long-anticipated rematch between WWF Champion Ricky Steamboat and his longtime rival, the Hart Foundation’s Dynamite Kid. While the match is shorter and significantly less of a technical classic than their previous two bouts, it’s still fairly action-packed. Jimmy Hart and the rest of the Hart Foundation are at ringside for the match, and provide ample distractions to allow Dynamite to perform numerous heelish tactics during the match. Still, Steamboat fights through, and looks poised to end the match after hitting a crossbody on Dynamite. The referee, however, is preoccupied with Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart on the other side of the ring, and doesn’t see the pinfall attempt. Steamboat gets up and knocks Hart and Neidhart off the apron. The Tag Team Champions try to climb back in the ring, but the referee admonishes them. Meanwhile, Davey Boy Smith manages to climb into the ring behind the referee’s back and bash Steamboat in the head with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone. Then, in front of a shocked crowd, Dynamite pins an unconscious Steamboat to win the WWF Championship. The Harts start to attack Steamboat post-match, but Hulk Hogan charges down to the ring with several babyface wrestlers (Santana, Andre, JYD, Valentine and Piper) and drive them away. They all help Steamboat to his feet as Dynamite, flanked by the rest of the Harts, holds the title belt aloft, having finally slain “the Dragon”. Hogan balls his fists up as he stares at the Hart Foundation, vowing revenge...
Saturday Night’s Main Event #7 Results
Hulk Hogan & Junkyard Dog def. Big John Studd & “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (w/ Bobby “the Brain” Heenan) (8:04)
King Kong Bundy def. Uncle Elmer (w/ Hillbilly Jim) (2:31)
WWF Intercontinental Champinship: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper def. Randy “Macho Man” Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) by Count-out (4:56)
Greg “the Hammer” Valentine (w/ Junkyard Dog) def. Terry Funk (w/ Dory Funk) (5:04)
Jake “the Snake” Roberts def. Tito Santana (4:15)
WWF Championship: Dynamite Kid (w/ Jimmy Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart & Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart) def. Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat (C) (7:01)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] A little something-something to show you what
Rock ‘n’ Wrestling is up against on Saturdays! A couple of changes are prevalent here.
- Let's start with ABC: for one thing, Pink Panther and Bugs Bunny were in opposite timeslots IOTL; here they swap places from the previous season in an attempt to bring viewers to the newer show, whose ratings were slipping at around this time. Also, the two Star Wars cartoons bookended Laff-a-Lympics IOTL; here, the ABC executives realize that airing them back-to-back is a much better idea because they play off each other and boost each other’s ratings. Lastly, American Bandstand had moved to the USA Network at this point IOTL; ITTL, it does just well enough to hang on for another season on ABC.
- CBS’ programming is almost completely the same as OTL—the only difference is that Land of the Lost and Charlie Brown swap timeslots due to butterflies.
- And finally, IOTL, NBC aired The Smurfs from 9AM-10:30AM; here, the NBC higher-ups deem one hour of the cartoon to be enough, and cut it short. Some of the other cartoons are moved up thirty minutes, and reruns of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids are added to the line-up at 11:30AM to fill the slot.
[2] IOTL,
Wrestlerock actually
did draw more fans than the Crockett Cup shows. This was because the Crockett Cups were badly promoted in ’86, and the shows were pretty lackluster. Here, they’re a little better-quality, inching them ever-so-slightly above
Wrestlerock.
[3] WWE never did this IOTL, but they did parody the song in an episode of their YouTube comedy show
Are You Serious?, with Brodus Clay, Yoshi Tatsu and Santino Marella doing rap verses to promote Wrestlemania 28. They were
all better than Verne Gagne, mind you.
[4] The card is largely unchanged from OTL, except for a few little differences. For example, Misty Blue Simms and Jimmy Snuka appeared at OTL’s
Wrestlerock ’86, but they obviously can’t here due to being employed by the WWF. Same goes for Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo, as they’re employed by the NWA.
[5] At this point IOTL, Dynamite was plagued by countless injuries due to his years of “bumping”, or actually making contact with the mat or his opponent during a match (often violently, to boot); his back was in especially bad shape, and this coupled with drug abuse and problems in his legs is what eventually forced his retirement and has today confined him to a wheelchair. ITTL, his workload has become a bit lighter due to being in a faction with his peers, so he’s in
slightly better shape.
[6] IOTL, this SNME did a 9.3 rating.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
And with that, Steamboat's first WWF Championship reign comes to a close. The Hart Foundation will not reign forever, though--not with Hulk Hogan on their tail, and Steamboat looking for revenge! I hope you guys enjoyed the
TV Guide-esque look at Saturday Morning programming as well. I've been looking to branch out in this timeline, and this is my first step in doing so.
Also, this has no bearing to the timeline, but this is my
100th post on this forum!
Coming up, more pop culture madness! And later, a look at the career of one of the biggest stars of the NWA in the late '80s that almost came to a
crashing halt...