-Heads up, this is only half the episode…
-Originally aired November 28, 1981.
-Your hosts are Gordon Solie & Roddy Piper.
-Gordon is joined at the lectern by Masked Superstar and Super Destroyer, proving conclusively that they were two different people all along, DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Superstar is now sporting the National Title belt. Both of them enjoy the fact that they made everybody look stupid after all of the accusations, and Superstar thinks that the babyfaces in this territory just can’t handle losing so they have to find some excuse like “one guy using two identities” to justify their failure.
MASKED SUPERSTAR & SUPER DESTROYER vs. MIKE JACKSON & RICK THOR
-Superstar starts with Jackson, taking him down and just tagging out immediately because he’s already made his point. Gordon offers some thoughts about lactic acid while everybody tags and Thor applies a side headlock. Destroyer easily lifts him off and heaves him across the ring like nothing.
-Jackson tags back in and gets slammed around. Neckbreaker by Superstar gets two. Thor tags back in and Destroyer wrecks him with a bearhug into a belly-to-belly for three.
-Superstar and Super Destroyer head back over to the lectern to do some more bragging, and Big Red strolls out, dressed in John Travolta’s white suit and black shirt, and says that what happened to Tommy Rich in the Omni was a load of crap, and he’s coming after some masks to get revenge for what happened to his friend Tommy.
THE BIG O vs. BIG JOE TURNER
-Cagematch lists 17 guys who have gone by the name “The Big O” during their career and this guy could not possibly be any of them. He’s a black man with bleached hair and a bleached goatee, and if he had held on for another 17 years or so, I’m sure Vince Russo would have gladly booked him as a tag team partner for Val Venis.
-Big O lumbers around the ring and just hits and throws Turner, and he actually reminds me a lot of late-stages Ernie Ladd with the way he moves around the ring, just lumbering and looking like he might be in some pain.
-Front facelock by The Big O. Forearm, followed by a knee to the groinal region, and it’s a big W for the Big O.
-Austin Idol, now sporting an ill-advised bowl cut, calls out Leroy Brown, and Leroy strolls out to answer the challenge. This gimmick ALWAYS bothered me, because that is absolutely the perfect song to turn into a wrestling gimmick, and they used the name…but the song paints a very, very clear picture of Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, and this guy’s dressed as, like, an electrician.
BOB & BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. BIG JIM DUGGAN & SOMEONE ELSE
-But his name doesn’t matter because Duggan gets thrown out of the ring and his partner just gets KOed and pinned in only 30 seconds.
AUSTIN IDOL vs. TOM ROGERS
-Young Tom already looks like a star even here, and they let him shine a little bit, getting some early offense and compelling Idol to hide in the ropes for a few seconds to get away from him.
-Rogers applies a side headlock; Idol counters with an atomic drop. Austin throws Rogers out to the concrete. Idol with a suplex and a slam, and a knee from the second rope gets three.
-Roddy Piper interviews the Armstrongs, commending them for their stellar performance in the tournament at the Omni. Piper asks Brad if he’s dating right now, and Brad says he likes to squeeze Georgia peaches. Piper then pivots to shit-stirring, asking if it bothers Brad that he’s in his dad’s shadow and everyone just looks at him as “Junior” and not his own identity. Bob very calmly puts a stop to that bullshit and takes over the interview. He actually concedes that winning the Omni tournament took a little bit of luck, but he’s proud of the conditioning and training he did. Piper notes that he must do a lot of jogging because of his “skinny legs” and Bob immediately blows off that insult, saying that thoroughbred racehorses don’t have fat legs, and again, maintaining the peace, Bob just quietly declares that the interview is over, and the Armstrongs walk off. Piper looks a little annoyed at being cut off like that, and they cut back to Gordon, who has a big smirk on his face, like he really enjoyed watching Bob make Piper look stupid there.
BAD BAD LEROY BROWN vs. BIG JOE TURNER
-Headbutt by Brown, and a big splash finishes this in seconds. Gotta say, for a week where half the episode is missing, it certainly worked out that they jammed these specific 40 minutes as much as they could.
-Superstar and Destroyer are back out here, wanting to know what Big Red is talking about when he says that Tommy Rich’s title loss was tainted, because there is NO VIDEO PROOF of that title change.
SUPER DESTROYER vs. RICK BENFIELD
-Destroyer hammers and chokes Benfield. Bearhug wears Benfield down. Benfield goes limp, and even the 1981 studio audience is having a good laugh at how abnormally homoerotic this bearhug suddenly looks, and Destroyer lets go when he notices the reaction it’s getting. He scoops Benfield back up and reapplies the bearhug, then rams him into the corner. Superplex gets the victory for the Destroyer.
RAY STEVENS & OLE ANDERSON vs. EL GRAND APOLLO & RICK THOR
-Apollo throws punches to daze Ole. Stevens tags in and gets caught in a top wristlock. Thor tags in and takes a beating, and Stevens hits the piledriver and gets the three in time for Gordon to sign off.
