Before we hit it I'd like to announce that my new Championship Edition of Clash of the Champions: The Story of Sting is now available on Amazon, in e-book and paperback formats. Have at it, hosses.
Randy "Macho Man" Savage says the Honky Tonk Man will have a "one-way ticket back to Disgraceland" tonight. Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart says Savage is lucky that Honky doesn't play the piano. Andre the Giant can't wait to choke Hulk Hogan again. Note- Hulk has the old title belt on in his intro promo.
Live from Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana
I shouldn't have to tell you what a big deal this show was. This was the first time the WWF had run live on NBC, in primetime no less. And this was the singles rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant from Wrestlemania III. I clearly remember watching this the night of my dad's birthday party and hurrying through dinner so I wouldn't miss a thing.
Jesse "The Body" Ventura predicts the champion is going down. He also predicts the Hart Foundation and The Honky Tonk Man will be victorious in their matchups tonight.
We see a Hogan workout montage set to what was later Jake "The Snake" Roberts' theme. I presume he didn't have it yet. Hulk poses and laughs like a maniac at the end.
"Mean"Gene Okerlund interviews Honky. He and Jimmy Hart say tonight he's taking Miss Elizabeth down to the end of lonely street at Heartbreak Hotel. Also, Randy's going to be "in the ghetto."
WWF intercontiental championship match, The Honky Tonk Man (c) vs. Randy Savage- It's funny that Peggy Sue is introduced as Honky's girlfriend, when he was just talking about getting Liz tonight. Gene interviews Macho and Liz as Honky dances in the ring. "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Macho Man!" Macho chases Honky out before the bell. Honky gyrates as Liz as Savage is distracted by the ref. The chase is on to begin. Savage catches Honky, and elbows his head. Savage snaps Honky's neck on the top rope, whips him to the corner and hits a back elbow. Honky goes out to confer with Jimmy, but Savage knocks their noggins. Savage tosses Honky in but menaces Jimmy. Hart grabs his leg on the apron and Honky attacks. Savage punches out of a sunset flip attempt, but eventually misses a corner charge. Honky misses an elbow drop but Savage goes after Hart, who runs into the ring. Hart dropped the megaphone, so Honky grabs it and waffles Savage with it. Honky gets two off of that. Honky twists Macho's neck but Savage shoulderblocks him. HTM hits him in the gut with a knee, ,knocking him out. HTM then pounces on him outside. Back in, he gyrates at Liz instead of attacking Savage. Hart chokes Savage while Honky jaws at Liz. Macho sort of Hulks up, but Honky knees him in the gut and clotheslines him. Honky drops elbows to the sternum area, sayeth Vince McMahon. HTM goes out to talk to Liz, and Jimmy has her corned. Savage then runs out and attacks. He tosses Honky back in, then throws him over the top. Flying axehandle, then back in Savage slams Honky and goes up. He hits another axehandle for two. Savage throws Hart in, and Honky accidentally hits Hart with a flying knee. Savage puts Honky in the sleeper, but catches Peggy Sue (his future manager, btw) going after Liz. Savage mediates, and catches Honky trying to attack him. He whips Honky to the post, and Savage wins by countout. You don't hear people talking about how he choked because he one by countout. That's probably because he had a bigger win a couple of months later. *3/4. There was a lot of story hear, plus Honky wasn't a great worker. Hart hits Savage with the megaphone, and HTM threatens to hit Savage with the guitar. Liz then covers him and HTM stops mid-swing, and Savage has time to recover and punch HTM, then he smashes the guitar. There were always rumors that HTM threatened to leave with the title unless the finish was changed to this, but I don't know if those actually have validity. Savage holds the ropes open for Liz, possibly for the first time. He also put her up on his shoulder.
We take a look at Wrestlemania III, which Ventura calls "very disputed." Then we see Andre attacking Hogan after he had beaten King Kong Bundy. The contract signing was then done at the very first Royal Rumble event. I'm disappointed we didnt' get to hear the promo where Andre told Dibiase he would give him the Word World Wrestling Federation championship.
Gene talks to the heels. "Your account is overdrawn, Hogan, and Andre's gonna close it."
WWF championship match, Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan (c)- In Hogan's prematch promo he still has the old belt. Seconds later, he's walking out with the eagle one (I refuse to say "winged" eagle, since all eagles have wings). Hulk tries to hit Andre with his new belt. He eventually attacks, and even pulls Virgil and Dibiase in for big boots. Punches to Andre, then an axe bomber. He can't get Andre off of his feet, though. A flying clothesline doesn' do it. He knocks Virgil and Dibiase off of the apron, and then knocks the money out of Ted' hand. He clotheslines Andre in the corner, punches and takes the eyes, and Andre slams Hulk off of the top. A headbut to the mat misses, but Andre chokes Hulk when he goes for a pin. He whips Hulk back-first to the buckles, then stands on his hand. Andre slams Hulk, and headbbutts him. Andre chops him too. He whips Hulk, boots him in the chest, then falls down himself. Hogan goes outside, and Virgil tosses him back in. Andre chokes with his strap, then more choking. Hogan Hulks Up, and knees him in the gut. Hulk goes to the middle rope, and a clothesline takes Andre down. Hulk hits the ropes (probably for a leg drop), but Virgil grabs his ankle. Hulk hits the other rope and leg tops Andre, but Hebner is arguing with Virgil. Andre headbutts Hulk, duplexes Hogan, and Dave Hebner counts the pin even though Hulk got his shoulder up. *
So Andre is presented the belt and announced as champion, and then tells Gene it's no surprise he won the "world tag team championship," and that he surrenders it to Ted Dibiase. Then we get the awesome visual of the two Dave Hebners arguing in the ring. I feel like I already knew there were two of them through the Apter mags, but I can't say for certain. Dave Hebner kicks his brother's ass, Hogan grabs him, then tosses him out of the ring onto Dibiase and Virgil.
WWF tag team championship, The Hart Foundation vs. Strike Force (c)- We now see footage from what appears to be the arena's hard camera, as the Harts are in the ring and "Girls in Cars" plays out Strike Force. Then we go to Hulk with Mean Gene. We get the famous "how much money did they spend on the plastic surgery?" promo. Hulk claims he had all of the bases covered. Gene shows him footage of Hulk getting his shoulder up, and Hogan rants and raves while we see Blackjack Lanza giving a "cut" signal.
We return to the ring and see Jim Neidhart grab Rick Martel by the trunks. The Anvil holds Martel for a cheap shot, which brings in Tito Santana. Bret Hart piledrives Martel for two, he then tries a sunset flip but Martel plops down on him for the three-count. I think the pin was added footage for the Network; I don't remember seeing an ending back in the day. I can't rate the match based on the little that I saw.
This show is of course recommended, but the I-C and tag matches are on multiple DVD releases if you wanna go that way.
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