WWF Wrestlefest was a 1987 professional wrestling event put on by the World Wrestling Federation. It was the first iteration (of 4) of the Wrestlefest event, the fifth event of 1987, and the 17th event overall in the alternate WWF timeline. The show took place in Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio and was broadcast live on the USA Network. The show featured a double main event, both being rematches from Wrestlemania III earlier in the year. Firstly, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defended his Intercontinental Title against "Macho Man" Randy Savage. In the second main event, former WWF champion Hulk Hogan faced off with the Eighth Wonder of the World Andre the Giant inside a steel cage. The undercard of the event featured the Honky Tonk Man issuing an open raffle for a shot at his Television Title (which was won by his stablemate Bret "The Hitman" Hart, facilitating his face turn later on in the year), World Tag Team Champions Demolition defending against The British Bulldogs, and "The Natural" Butch Reed teaming with Jim Cornette's Midnight Express to face the rechristened Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake teaming with Strike Force in a six-man tag team match.
Prelude[]
After losing the WWF Championship in a shocking (and crooked) loss to the Million Dollar Man at Summerslam, Hogan immediately tried to get his mandatory rematch. However, Hogan discovered that the "one and done" rule he had put into the contract for DiBiase also applied to him (thanks to DiBiase's high priced lawyers), meaning he had forefited his automatic rematch as champion. After WWF President Jack Tunney (who had taken over for Commissioner Arnold Skaaland due to the latter's retirement) sided with DiBiase on the contract, Hogan decided to make a deal with the Million Dollar Man, agreeing to any match he wanted to prove him worth getting a shot. DiBiase took him up on the offer, and then recruited Andre the Giant (through Bobby Heenan) to "squash Hulkamania once and for all" by defeating him in a steel cage. For his part, Andre demanded a title shot for services rendered, and DiBiase tentatively agreed, saying that they would "hash out the details" at a later date.
Following their Wrestlemania classic, Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat had formed a tentative alliance based on mutual respect, though neither man liked the other. After defeating The King Harley Race at Summerslam, Steamboat accepted Savage's challenge for a rematch for the title. Despite grumblings from The King at wanting another crack at the belt, the main event match was once again set for Cincinnati, with Race on the outside of the title picture.
Mr. Fuji's team of Demolition had run roughshot throughout the entirety of the World Wrestling Federation's tag division en route to their relatively easy victory over Strike Force at Summerslam to win the titles. However, their opposition had changed to former tag team champions The British Bulldogs, who having finished their feud with the Hart Foundation, found themselves as the #1 contenders and seemed the only team capable of stopping Demolition's reign of terror.
Former Intercontinental Champion Brutus Beefcake had disappeared from television earlier in the year, in kayfabe receiving the reason of "becoming a barber". He returned to the WWF with the gimmick of a Barber who would often cut the hair of his opponents. After being insulted by Jim Cornette on an episode of WWF Superstars, the Barber vowed to shave Cornette bald, teaming with Strike Force to take down the US Tag Team Champions in the process, while the Midnight Express enlisted the help of the devious Jake Roberts.
Event[]
The event began with a pair of dark matches, as Terry Taylor and the One Man Gang each picked up easy pinfall victories. The main show began with newer superstar, Sting, continuing his short undefeated streak by defeating one half of the Islanders, Tama, finishing him off with a Stinger Splash in the corner followed by the big splash off the ropes. This was followed by a tag team match in which The Young Stallions got back on their winning ways, defeating the Cowboys Bob Orton and Kendall Windham.
The next match was for the Television Title, with the Honky Tonk Man facing a challenger who was determined by a raffle backstage. To his (and his manager's surprise), the person who won the raffle was Bret "The Hitman" Hart, who went all out despite being the stable mate of the Honky Tonk Man. Jimmy Hart tried to convince The Hitman to take a dive, but it didn't work on the hyper competitive Bret Hart (as The Anvil remained Neutral at the time.) Hart almost defeated the champion on numerous occasions, but Honky Tonk Man cheated to win again by rolling him up and placing his feet on the ropes for extra leverage. Bret Hart complained both to the ref and to Jimmy Hart for the action, though the latter did nothing to assuage his other client. Following this, Brutus Beefcake tried to give Jim Cornette a close shave in the six-man tag, though he ran afoul of the demented Jake Roberts, who teamed with the Midnight Express to face Beefcake and Strike Force. The babyfaces seemed to have the match well in hand, until a racket shot from Cornette while the ref's back was turned caused Zenk to stagger forward and get caught in a Roberts DDT for the win.
After this, Demolition had the toughest challenge of their short tenure with the world tag team titles as they faced former champions The British Bulldogs. Davey Boy and Dynamite were the first team that was able to withstand the early match onslaught from Demolition, using their own quick speed and teamwork to try and isolate Ax from his partner. But dirty tricks from Mr. Fuji turned the tide as they isolated Davey Boy and worked over the more powerful foe's back. Davey Boy eventually rallied and got the hot tag to the Dynamite Kid, who came in like a house of fire and took out both members of Demolition. However with Davey Boy hurt on the outside (made worse when Mr. Fuji took him out with a cane shot to the back behind the referee's vision), the numbers game was too much and Demoltion took advantage, finishing off Dynamite with their Decapitation finisher for the win. Following this, Japanese sensation Lioness Asuka ran into a road block in the form of Rhonda Burke, the woman who had attacked Wendi Richter at Summerslam. Though the Lioness put up a valiant fight, the power of Burke was far too much, who finished her off with a huge powerbomb.
The rematch between Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage for the Intercontinental Championship was an instant classic, almost as good as their Wrestlemania III match had been. Each man traded move for move over the course of 13 minutes, and neither man seemed willing to give an inch in front of the hot Cincinnati crowd. However, things took a turn when "Ravishing" Rick Rude came out to ringside, making the moves on an obviously uncomfortable Miss Elizabeth. This obviously raised the ire of the Macho Man like waving a red cape in front of a bull, as Savage came charging down after the Ravishing One. This made him a target of "The King" Harley Race, who came out from under the ring and attacked Savage. Steamboat slid out to attack Race, only to be confronted by Rude, who delivered a Rude Awakening on the outside. Both men were beaten down by Race and Rude, as the referee throughout the match, resulting in a no contest.
In the second main event, the tension was palpable as Hogan and Andre stared across from one another in the ring for the first time since their epic encounter six months earlier. To try and keep people away from the cage, extra security had been set up around the area. Andre dominated the early going again, but Hogan rallied his reserves as he had done time and time again. The steel cage came into play for both men at times, with Hogan being busted open right above the eye at one point. The end came as Hogan once again managed to slam Andre, falling to his knees from the effort. Hogan began to crawl towards the door, reaching it at one point, only for one of the security guards to slam it in his face. The guard removed his sunglasses and hat, revealing himself to be the Big Boss Man, the security officer in Ted DiBiase's employ. With this having been done, Andre was able to wake up and slam Hogan hard into the ring for good measure before exiting the cage himself, winning the match.
Results[]
No. | Results | Stipulations | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1D | Terry Taylor d. Bob Emory by Pinfall | Singles Match | 5:44 |
2D | One Man Gang w/Slick d. Lanny Poffo by Pinfall | Singles Match | 4:00 |
3 | Sting d. Tama w/Chief Iaukea by Pinfall | Singles Match | 5:20 |
4 | The Young Stallions [Jim Powers & Paul Roma] d. "Cowboy" Bob Orton & Kendall Windham by Pinfall | Tag Team Match | 5:00 |
5 | The Honky Tonk Man w/Jimmy Hart (c) d. Bret "The Hitman" Hart w/Jim Neidhart by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF TV Title | 9:08 |
6 | Jake "The Snake" Roberts & The Midnight Express [Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane] w/Jim Cornette d. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake & Strike Force [Tito Santana & "Z-Man" Tom Zenk] by Pinfall | Six-Man Tag Team Match | 11:09 |
7 | Demolition [Ax & Smash] w/Mr. Fuji (c) d. The British Bulldogs [Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid] by Pinfall | Tag Team Match for the WWF World Tag Team Titles | 12:00 |
8 | Rhonda Burke d. Lioness Asuka by Pinfall | Singles Match | 10:01 |
9 | Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat & "Macho Man" Randy Savage Wrestled to a No Contest | Singles Match for the WWF Intercontinental Title | 14:33 |
10 | "The Eighth Wonder of the World" Andre the Giant w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan d. Hulk Hogan by Cage Escape | Steel Cage Match | 9:08 |
Aftermath[]
Andre's title shot would have to wait, as a special match was setup at the new event called the Survivor Series, in which Hogan captained a Six-Man Team of his choosing against Ted DiBiase and members of the Heenan Family. This match would also encompass the ongoing feuds between Savage/Steamboat and Rick Rude/Harley Race. The Midnight Express and Strike Force would begin feuding for the US Tag Titles, while Rhonda Burke would actually defeat Wendi Richter on an episode of Primetime Wrestling. Bret Hart would be turned on by his tag partner and Jimmy Hart in a match with the Killer Bees, as punishment for challenging the Honky Tonk Man for his TV title, turning Bret fae in the process.