WWE 24/7 - Old School - Boston Garden 8/6/88 Review - September 1, 2008

I watched the August 6, 1988 WWF Boston Garden house show over the weekend that has aired on WWE 24/7. I thought I’d review it and give some thoughts. I love recapping old school shows so here we go. The show obviously had a lot of focus on matches leading up to SummerSlam 88. The commentary team was Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Superstar Billy Graham. Opening match had Outlaw Ron Bass pinning Koko B. Ware. The ref was distracted and Bass used his bullwhip (remember Miss Betsy) on Koko nailing him in the throat leading to the pinfall. Yeah, that wasn’t a very fun match. Next up is the Hart Foundation taking on The Rougeau Brothers. Funny moment right off the bat when there is a fan that has an oil painting that they made of Bret Hart and he shows it to Bret. Alfred hates it and does commentary ripping the fan on it for being terrible and then the others jump in behind him. I was thinking “what is up with the face commentary team ripping on fans”. Ha ha. They completely ignored the fan later when the camera got a shot of one that he also had for Smash of Demolition which I thought was very good. Another Alfred moment during this one that had me thinking “what???” was when he said that the ref was having a hard time telling Jacque and Raymond apart cause they look so alike. WHAT??? They didn’t look anything alike!! LOL. Anyway, the ref gets distracted by Jimmy Hart. Bret has a sleeper on Jacque and then Raymond jumps off the ropes with an axehandle to the back of the head. Bret falls and Jacque lands on top of him to get the pinfall. Next is Leaping Lanny Poffo taking on DJ Peterson. The commentary team pushes Peterson as this great newcomer. I was a diehard wrestling fan even at the time that this show happened and I don’t remember Peterson at all. Poffo does his classic poetry reading it off of the Frisbee. Do you remember when WWF sold his frisbees in the merchandise catalog? Ah, memories. Poffo does a very cool looking springboard into a swanton type move that doesn’t get the three count. Poffo goes for a bodyslam and then Peterson counters it into a cradle for the win. Peterson won??!!! Is this the only win that he ever had in WWF? Next is the Intercontinental Championship match with The Honky Tonk Man defending against Brutus The Barber Beefcake. This was one of my favorite feuds of 1988. Peggy Sue comes out with Honky but it is Jimmy Hart dressed up as her. Beefcake counters saying that he has Georgia in his corner. Out comes George The Animal Steele in drag dressed as a punk rocker. Funny stuff. Georgia then brings “Mine” (remember his plush toy) out of the bag and Mine is dressed up as a punk rocker too. This match doesn’t go very long. Beefcake has the sleeper on Honky Tonk. Hart jumps in the ring and is taken out by Georgia. The megaphone was dropped on the apron and Honky gets it nailing Beefcake over the head to break the sleeper. Honky Tonk gets the pinfall. Beefcake had dominated the match until that point. After the match, Brutus nails Honky Tonk with the megaphone and then he and Georgia grab a hold of Jimmy ripping all of his Peggy Sue clothes off of him. They strip him right down to what appears to be a thong as he runs down the aisle to the locker room. Remember that Honky Tonk would lose the Intercontinental title just a few weeks later to The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam in around 30 seconds. Next is a non-title tag team match with WWF tag team champions, Demolition, taking on The British Bulldogs. Match ends with Fuji on the apron for the distraction leading to Ax hitting Dynamite from behind with a double axehandle. Smash then pins Dynamite to win the match for Demolition. WWF Championship match is next with what is probably my favorite feud from 1988, Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase. That Savage and Elizabeth entrance is still so classic to watch. The ending of the match has the fight on the floor. Savage hits an atomic drop sending Dibiase crashing into the ring post. Savage rolls in the ring to beat the count and win by countout. Dibiase ends up grabbing Elizabeth as she was standing on the apron. He proceeds to twist her ankle. Savage sees what is going on and chases Dibiase to the locker room. He returns to check on Elizabeth and carries her out as the announcers push that her ankle is swollen. Final match of the night was a lumberjack match between Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Andre The Giant. Andre ends up getting the turnbuckle off the corner exposing the steel. Duggan gets rammed into it but then Duggan avoids Andre’s headbutt which catches the steel. Duggan hits the three point stance sending Andre crashing into the steel again. The ref gets distracted by Ax on the apron who was a lumberjack. Duggan then nails Andre with the 2x4 and breaks a piece off of it on the impact. Andre falls out of the ring. The lumberjacks try to put him back in but Andre takes them all out getting back in himself. Duggan ends up getting put into the steel and then Andre drops an elbow for the pinfall. Did you notice how almost all the heels won on this show? That is what I kept noticing all through it. Overall, this was an all right show. But nothing can’t miss. Some matches were obviously better than others. Savage/Dibiase and Beefcake/Honky Tonk were my favorite matches on the show.