Thursday, November 23rd, 1989
Rosemont Horizon
Rosemont, Illinois
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Off The Grid, Volume 6:
Hulk Hogan says that we are thankful that Hulkamania is the strongest force in the universe, brother. This leads to a series of short vignettes of what all the superstars are thankful for. This leads to an epic Vince McMahon rundown of the card.
The Enforcers (Big Boss Man, Akeem, Rick Martel & Honky Tonk Man) vs. The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana & Red Rooster)
Why wasn't Beefcake on Hogan's team? Honky and Tito start things off, which Jesse Ventura calls a main event anywhere in the country. Santana and Martel get in there together and Martel hits a nice dropkick to slow down Santana. Santana gets a close call after a roll up and then they tag in Boss Man and Dusty. Dusty gets a quick burst of offense and then tags in Brutus. The pace of this match is really good for this era. The Enforcers are able to take back control once Red Rooster comes in. Bad News Brown refuses to tag in, as they continue to cut the ring in half. Honky's sell on the sunset flip by Rooster is everything. We get a double tag after a collision that once again gives us Tito and Martel. We were robbed of a 15 minute pay-per-view match between these two. Martel counters a roll through and grabs the tights to eliminate Santana, which is a legit surprise and great booking. Bad News finally gets in and we get a kind of awkward moment with him and Rooster. Boss Man accidentally nails Bad News, which leads dissention between the Enforcers, so Bad News just heads to the back and eliminates himself. With things once again even, Boss Man goes to work on Beefcake. Honky gets tagged in and gets hit with a high knee, which leads to him getting eliminated. I'm not really sure why Rooster is still in this thing. Martel tries grabbing the ropes to pin Beefcake, but he gets caught by the ref and it leads to a reversal by Beefcake and Martel is now gone. Boss Man is the lone man left on his side and hits the Boss Man Slam to eliminate Rooster. Beefcake hits Boss Man with a couple of knees and tags in Dusty, who hits a crossbody and earns the victory for his team. Immediately after the match. Slick gives Boss Man the nightstick and uses it on Rhodes. He handcuffs him to the ropes and continues the attack. In comes Beefcake with the hedge clippers to get Boss Man out of there. This match was everything you would want out of a Survivor Series match from this era. Good opener.
Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
Boss Man cuts a promo after the match with Sean Mooney saying that when you are a prisoner of the Boss Man, you forfeit all rights.
We now get the 4x4s with Mean Gene and it is the insanity you would expect.
The King's Court (Randy Savage, Greg Valentine, Dino Bravo & Canadian Earthquake) vs. The 4x4's (Jim Duggan, Ronnie Garvin, Bret Hart & Hercules)
We get a lot of quick tags to start until we get to Garvin and Valentine. It doesn't last long, as Bravo tags in and hits an inverted atomic drop. Bravo takes down Hercules and quickly tags in Earthquake, who then immediately hits his finisher for the quick pin. Hacksaw hits a shoulder tackle with Hart on his knees behind him and they get Quake off his feet. The Court singles out Garvin. We again get Valentine and Bravo and start chopping each other's chests. Duggan comes in and quickly eliminates Valentine to even things up. This match is a great reminder of how flawless Savage was during this era. Earthquake misses a big elbow drop on Duggan and he's able to tag in Garvin. Garvin hits the Garvin Stomp on Bravo. In come Hart and Savage and the crowd is digging this combination. It doesn't last as long as you would hope and next thing you know Bravo hits the dreaded side slam on Garvin and eliminates him. Duggan goes right after Earthquake and then hits a double clothesline with Hart to knock the big man down. Hart and Savage get another shot and Savage gets tied up in the ropes. Hart misses with a second rope elbow drop and in comes Bravo to take advantage. Bravo puts on a bear hug that looks less convincing than any normal hug I've ever had in my life. Savage accidentally hits Bravo with a knee and that allows Hart to tag in Duggan. For some reason, he tags in Hart again and it leads to Savage eliminating him with a top rope elbow drop. Duggan is now the only remaining member of his team. Duggan gets in the obligatory 1-on-3 ring clearing, causing Jimmy Hart to lose his mind. He then hits a double clothesline on Bravo and Savage, but Earthquake attacks him from behind. Quake hits a big elbow drop, but Duggan kicks out at 2. Sheri pulls down the top rope as Duggan was running them and he is dumped to the floor. Duggan is unable to get back in the ring, allowing the King's Court to be victorious. After the match, Duggan clears the ring with his 2x4. Gorilla says that this is okay, but thought what Boss Man did about 30 minutes ago was despicable. This one was decent enough, but not as good as the opener.
Match Rating: **1/2
The Genius is here for a special Thanksgiving poem.
The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus & Powers Of Pain) vs. The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts & Demolition)
Hogan and Zeus start things off and the crowd is very much into it. Hogan tries to get some offense in, but Zeus sells absolutely none of it. The rake to the eyes does the trick and he hits a body slam. Zeus pops right back up though and Hogan gets a boot to the back when he goes off the ropes. Zeus continually chokes Hogan and Earl Hebner has to keep pulling him off. Hebner finally has enough after he gets thrown across the ring and he disqualifies Zeus. Well, I guess that's the build to No Holds Barred. Hogan is able to tag in Roberts and he clotheslines DiBiase to the floor. Hogan joins in with Demolition to demolish DiBiase. The Powers of Pain get tagged in and things slow down. Ax tries to make a comeback, but Mr. Fuji hits him in the ankles and Ax is eliminated. The crowd has really died down during this match. Barbarian is able to hit a leaping clothesline and eliminates Smash. They begin to team up on Roberts and DiBiase hits a piledriver, but is able to get his foot on the bottom rope to avoid being eliminated. Roberts is able to crawl to Hogan who cleans house for a little bit until the Powers of Pain hit a spike piledriver. For some reason Hebner thinks this is worthy of disqualifying both of them. That's the equivalent of a weak pass interference on a 4th down play. DiBiase locks in the Million Dollar Dream on Hogan, but don't you worry, Hogan gets out of it and tags in Roberts. Virgil gets up on the apron and distracts Roberts. He hits a DDT on Virgil but DiBiase hits an elbow drop and eliminates Roberts. I'm not sure why Roberts would think it would be a good idea to turn his back right to DiBiase, who was standing right behind him. Hogan makes the comeback, but they hit a double clothesline. Hogan miraculously hits the boot and leg drop and is the sole survivor here. After two matches that were a lot of fun, this was such a drag of a match. It felt like they were walking in molasses even by 1989 standards. Throw in the stupid booking and you have yourself a very skippable match.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Randy Savage, Sherri and Zeus are back with Sean Mooney to talk about the No Holds Barred cage match. We then go to Hogan and Beefcake with Mean Gene. Sherri interrupts and throws powder in their faces and they get attacked by Savage and Zeus. Dino Bravo is the first man to the rescue.
Jesse Ventura says that there is some big dissention between the Heenan Family. We then go to Sean Mooney with the Rude Brood. The Rougeaus are great.
Mean Gene is with Roddy's Rowdies and this is the kind of stuff I am here for.
The Rude Brood (Mr. Perfect, The Rougeau Brothers & Rick Rude) vs. Roddy's Rowdies (Jimmy Snuka, The Bushwhackers & Roddy Piper)
I'm not sure Piper could have picked a worse team. The Rowdies all start biting Perfect to start things off. My appreciation for the Rougeau Brothers grows every time I watch them. After some showboating by Jacques, Snuka dominates him, hits a top rope splash and that's it for him? Rude's team didn't even try to save him. Rude accidentally pulls down the top rope as he's trying to get back to the apron and Perfect falls to the floor. They have some words and Snuka hits a double noggin knocker. The Rowdies once again corner Perfect, but an atomic drop by Piper allows him to tag in Raymond. Piper hits a piledriver and it's 4-2. Perfect once again gets owned by the Rowdies, until he is able to roll up a celebrating Butch and eliminates him. Piper tries the same, but Perfect kicks out at 2. Rude gets in there and hits the Rude Awakening on Luke to even the score. Perfect and Snuka go at it for awhile. I'm not really sure why they thought every match had to go 20+ minutes. After a collision, they both tag in their partners and the start brawling down the aisle. Both men are counted out and we are down to Snuka vs. Perfect. Perfect hits a dropkick that sends Snuka to the floor. Perfect follows it up with a suplex back into the ring. We get a couple of back-and-forth pin attempts from both men. Perfect is able to pull out the Perfect Plex and get the victory. After the match, we get yet another attack. This match could have easily been 10 minutes shorter.
Match Rating: *1/4
After the match, Rude's Brood is celebrating with Sean Mooney. With Mean Gene, it's the Ultimate Warriors and there is lots of shouting.
The Heenan Family (Andre The Giant, Haku, Arn Anderson & Bobby Heenan) vs. The Ultimate Warriors (Jim Neidhart, The Rockers & Ultimate Warrior)
Andre attacks Neidhart before Warrior even makes it to the ring. Warrior runs in and he clotheslines Andre out of the ring and he is counted out. Good thing they didn't do that earlier or anything. The Heenan Family singles out Neidhart and before you know it, Haku hits him with a kick and eliminates him. Michaels saves Marty from a double suplex and they hit stereo superkicks. Arn hits a knee to the back and Haku follows it up with a kick. Haku tags in Heenan and he gets the pin over Marty. Things get a little bit more entertaining, as we get both Arn/Michaels and Haku/Michaels. Michaels hits a top rope crossbody and eliminates Haku. Shawn gets dumped outside and Heenan teases jumping off the turnbuckle and to the floor, but chooses not to. Arn is upset with Heenan for not tagging in. Michaels and Anderson collide and are both down. They both get to their knees and exchange fists. Shawn gets hit with the signature spinebuster and is eliminated. Warrior goes after Anderson, but he's able to get Warrior to the outside. Again, Heenan goes for leaping off the turnbuckle, but doesn't. Warrior sends Anderson into Heenan and then hits the gorilla press and splash combo to eliminate him. It is now just down to Heenan and Warrior. This is such an odd choice to close out the show. Heenan takes an upside down bump into the turnbuckle and then another one sends him flying over the top rope. Heenan tries to walk away, but Warrior grabs him Warrior hits the flying shoulder tackle and a splash, gaining the victory for his team. This match had no suspense and used a booking decision that we saw just two matches ago by having Andre immediately eliminated.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show an old school photo gallery to close off the broadcast.
This show started off so promising and then just fell completely off a cliff afterward. The booking here felt really lazy towards the end of the show. As far as historical purposes go, nothing really of note happened here and this is easily just a thumbs in the middle show.
Overall Rating: 48%
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