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Tape Reviews
From the Vault: The Brains Behind the Brawn
Posted by Alex Padrino on Aug 7, 2003, 15:56
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A few weeks back, I made my official debut on the site with my review of the ever-so popular "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan tape. In my continuing effort to cover things never-before reviewed, I've returned this week with pad and pen in one hand and Coliseum Video's Brains Behind the Brawn from 1989 in the other.
While Duggan's tape was pretty hard to sit through (even for a fan of that era), this tape offers a little more promise, as it's 90-minutes dedicated to the managers of the WWF, which at that time, included the likes of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Slick, and Jimmy Hart. Since the wrestling element promises to be fairly non-existent, let's us try something different for the review, shall we? Keeping with the theme of the video, following the clips of the manager's prot�g�, I'll do a rundown of the success (or non-success) each one encountered with and without their respective managers. With that said, sit back and prepare yourselves for a trip down memory lane, because this tape defines nostalgia.
- Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake (cutting up a handful of cigarettes with his shears) lets us know that we can cut smoking out of our lives. I don't see how an inspirational message like that couldn't silence most of those Ed Leslie naysayers.
- Wrestlemania V video promo (the same one from the Duggan tape) is shown. For the millions of you who read the Hacksaw review, you'll remember that a swank watch was included with your purchase of the video.
- Jimmy Hart welcomes us to the program, coming across as not only homosexual (mimicking Elizabeth), but racist (mimicking Mr. Fuji), as well.
- We now get a very 80's-ish video package showing various clips of the managers to be profiled on the program, in action. Included is the clip from the inaugural Summerslam in 1988 where Elizabeth removed her skirt to distract the heel team. For obvious reasons, that doesn't feel right to gawk at anymore. Unlike Kane and HHH, I let the deceased be. Let's just move on.
- Sean Mooney is our real host, and he's kind enough to give us a rundown of what we can expect to find on the video. What caught my eye here was the poor editing when cameras were changed, as it's obvious that one of Mooney's sentences was compiled from two different takes.
- Heenan is our first manager profiled and I must commend the boys at Coliseum for knowing how to start this tape off on the right foot. Bobby gives us a solo interview, fielding the question as to what he means to the WWF. In addition, he informs us as to why he's called the Brain. He puts over his stable of wrestlers, which at the time included Steve "Brooklyn Brawler" Lombardi. The fact that he convincingly put over Lombardi as an actual threat is proof enough to me as to why he was referred to by that particular moniker.
- It's back to 1987, Piper's Pit, and the beginning of one of the most famous feuds in WWF history, that being between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. I think anyone who's watched the WWF in any capacity has seen this particular segment, where Andre comes out, accompanied by Heenan, and challenges Hogan to a match for the title. Hogan, of course, can't believe it's happening, leading to Andre ripping off his shirt, as well as the cross from his neck.
We then cut to what may have been the following week or the same show (either way, I'm sure it's still the same arena, since the WWF liked tape roughly 87-hours of syndicated programming in one shot), and Hogan's out on the Pit again, spurring Roddy Piper to inquire as to whether he'll accept the Giant's challenge for Wrestlemania III. Hogan responds with a powerful "Yes" (and it'd have to be, since a simple "yes" wouldn't really cut it).
- The contract signing for the match is up next and it's little things like this that I miss these days. Granted, this was the biggest match of all-time back then, but nevertheless, they still had this huge contract signing. Not one of those makeshift ones in the ring, either, we're talking about a professional-looking room, conference table, important officials lined up, and WWF President Jack Tunney. Hulk gets worked up, while Andre just calmly stares back. He then says something to Hogan, going from English to French halfway through, and honestly, I couldn't tell the difference, although I did make out a few words at the beginning. I'd put on the closed captioning, but I'm afraid it might self-destruct instead of trying to translate. Anyway, Hogan demands that Andre speak in English when he's talking to him. Well, that's not very open-minded of him. The poor guy had so many things going against him, the least you could give him was the freedom to speak in his native tongue.
As for the contract signing itself, they both sign it and amazingly, that's that. I can't remember a contract signing that didn't end with the face getting attacked and having the table dumped on him. Oh well, that table looked pretty heavy, anyway.
- Hogan vs. Andre for the WWF Championship- This is the Wrestlemania match and although it's probably one of the most famous WWF matches of all-time, thankfully we're only shown the end of it, which is the only redeeming portion of the encounter. Hogan gets the Giant off his feet and then provides us with one of most memorable moments in wrestling history by body-slamming him, which is enough to score the winning pinfall. You may hate Hogan, but I still get chills watching that part. It's simply one of those everlasting moments that will always seem amazing.
- Prot�g� Profile: Just to clarify, this isn't part of the tape, but rather, the aforementioned analysis concerning the fate of each wrestler with and without their manager.
Andre was undoubtedly already one of the biggest names in pro wrestling when he took on Heenan as his manager. Despite this, he usually played second fiddle to Hogan, working somewhere in the midcard, unless the two teamed in the main event scene (which they did on occasion). The heel turn, along with acquiring the managerial services of Heenan led to a main event program for Andre that would span over a year. Obviously that wasn't all in thanks to Heenan, but I think it's safe to say that Heenan was one of the few managers (if not the only) that could accomplish turning the people against the once beloved giant.
Although he'd eventually fade back into the midcard and then tag team ranks (due mainly to his deteriorating health), when most think of Andre, they think of his main event program with Hogan, which was highly successful thanks in part to Bobby. For that, you must call Heenan's role with Andre a success, as well.
- The Slave Angle- For a moment there, I forgot I was watching a tape about the managers and not Hulkamania 3. We've gone ahead about 18 months here, as this angle took place soon after the first Summerslam. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this one, it involved Heenan, his prot�g� Hercules, and Ted Dibiase. For weeks, Heenan had shown a lack of interest in Herc, while Dibiase was going about making claims that he would soon own something that nobody else had.
We're at one of the syndicated shows and more specifically, on the interview stage, where Gene Okerlund is joined by Dibiase (sporting his boss and grossly underrated green and silver tuxedo), Virgil, Heenan, and Hercules. After going through a verbal list of what he already owns, Ted reveals that he now owns his own personal slave. Gene seems flabbergasted in regards to the entire notion, while Dibiase hands over a metal briefcase to Heenan. Showing that he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Hercules still hasn't figured out why he's out there and seems taken when Dibiase spells it out in black and white that he is now indeed his slave. Good thing too, because that 4-year-old in the Hulk Hogan tank top with the Randy Savage foam finger was seconds away from having to drive the news home to Herc.
Herc asks Bobby, "What the hell's going on?," as Heenan lets him know that he deserves this. Apparently Hercules doesn't like the idea of being a slave for Dibiase, especially when Virgil is right there (well, he doesn't actually say it with words, but you can see it in his eyes, damn it), and he begins to rough Bobby up, allowing Dibiase to attack him from behind with the briefcase.
For those of you keeping score at home, this marked not only Hercules' face turn, but Dibiase's arrival in the midcard, where he'd become a permanent fixture for years to come. I can see the logic in wanting to create the illusion that Dibiase could in fact get whatever he wanted, but they were walking a fine line even running a slave angle in 1988.
- Prot�g� Profile: Throughout his WWF tenure, Herc had an array of managers, including Mr. Fuji (for a brief time), Heenan, and Slick. While he is often now thought to have been nothing more than a JTTS (which is accurate for the most part), most forget that for a small stretch, he was the top contender for Hogan's world title, and that of course, was under the direction of the Brain. Fuji didn't have time to do anything with Herc, he was going around in circles as a face, and being managed by Slick just stuck him with Paul Roma, so I'd say it's pretty clear that Heenan was involved in the most productive portion of his WWF career.
-Rick rude and one of his famous Rude Awakening demonstrations is up next. Heenan scouts the arena in search of finding a lady worthy of such an honor, which of course allows him to get some nice jabs in on the fans. "No, you're too ugly," and "Slim pickings on this side," are among the Brain's putdowns. He finally picks someone and her prize is the Rude Awakening (the kiss from Rude, not the neck breaker, in case any of you out there are thinking that Rude used to pick females out of the crowd to perform his finisher on). Pretty run of the mill material here. I suppose it was just an excuse to show Rude.
- We cut to the infamous Super Posedown from Royal Rumble '89 between the Ultimate Warrior and Rude, and thankfully, it's clipped to the final pose. On the negative side, that means that we don't get to hear Bobby ask for "about 15 minutes," before Rude's next pose. On the plus side, that means that we're spared the misfortune of watching this abomination.
Rude stalls quite a bit before doing his final pose, which combines several poses into one routine (or something along those lines). The crowd, of course, boos Rude and cheers Warrior (who almost falls over during the turn on his final pose). The point of the whole segment comes to light when Bobby throws oil in the Warrior's eyes and Rude attacks him with his workout bar. A crew of officials rush down to the ring to break things up (they must've sensed something was going to happen, since you could see them visibly standing by the entranced during the entire segment), but the rest of it's cut out. The Warrior going Ken Shamrock on the officials is what was cut out, if any of you were curious. This lead to their Intercontinental title match at Wrestlemania V, which in turn, lead to a return match at Summerslam '89 months later.
- Prot�g� Profile: Since Rude's entire WWF tenure was spent under the management of Heenan, there's nothing to compare his career with and without him (unless you venture to other promotions, and we're not going to be doing that). What can be said in this case is that with Bobby in his corner, Rude enjoyed an Intercontinental title reign, several high-profile feuds, and a brief run after the WWF title. This all happening nearly a decade and a half ago, when those things were actual rare for most wrestlers, we'll call this one another triumph for the Brain.
- Hey, look, it's Wrestlecrap alumnus Terry "Red Rooster" Taylor! In his sole "useful" program of his brief but memorable (for all the wrong reasons) WWF stint, no less.
For the those of you who are unaware of how poor Terry got sacked with the gimmick, you must travel back to 1988, when he and a young Curt Hennig made their respective ways to the WWF in hope of finding success. It was no secret that both men were very talented, and the WWF had big plans�for one of them, at least. They had concocted a gimmick, but not just any gimmick, the perfect gimmick. That's right, what we all know now as "Mr. Perfect," was simply a pipe dream until both Taylor and Hennig showed up in the company. The powers that be decided that one of the two would be awarded the gimmick and set up a match between them at Wrestlefest '88 as the determining factor as to who would get the honor. Both guys shone, but apparently, Hennig was just a little bit better that night, impressing WWF officials enough to snag the Mr. Perfect gimmick, while Taylor would wander aimlessly for the next couple of months.
I'm sure if Taylor could do it all over again, he would have insisted on being directionless as opposed to being awarded the apparent runner-up gimmick.
Terry soon found himself under the management of Bobby Heenan, which under normal circumstances would've been considered a great honor. These however, weren't normal circumstances.
The angle that was played up between the two was that Heenan was the wise manager, while Terry was just the green youngster who needed to be taught the tools of the trade. In Heenan's mind, Taylor was nothing more than a "little red rooster," and thus, the moniker and surely the undoing of Taylor's WWF career and credibility was born.
With that little lesson in Wrestling Career Homicide 101 behind us (well, almost, with the conclusion coming up), the actual portion featuring Taylor on this program is the climax of several months of emotional abuse that he had suffered at the hands of Heenan.
- Jesse Ventura interviews the Rooster and Heenan before a match on Saturday Night's Main Event. This is actually a pretty funny segment, with a continuous cycle of Heenan and Ventura cutting down Terry, then him defending himself. Here's a quick example (just imagine them doing this at a quick pace):
Heenan: He's not too quick.
Ventura: Yeah, he's pretty slow.
Rooster: I'm not that slow.
This is all leading up to�
- Tito Santana vs. Red Rooster- This is from the 1/7/89 show and as an added bonus, Heenan's wearing a mic so we can hear his managerial styles. What Bobby says becomes more of the focal point than the actual match early on, as he rips into Taylor excessively (more so than usual), jumping on every little mistake he makes. Heenan finds the time to strike up a brief conversation with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrener. Following one of Taylor's errors, Bobby proclaims to George that there's a "ring full of Winfield," (in reference to then-Yankee Dave Winfield) which draws a laugh out of not only me, but Ventura, as well.
As the match progresses, Heenan becomes more and more infuriated with the Rooster, finally pulling him out of the ring and laying the verbal abuse on him, prompting Terry to shove him. Taylor's back in the ring and finally gets in some offense, which still doesn't please Heenan, whom sarcastically asks Taylor if he wouldn't mind pinning Santana. This leads to Tito getting a fluke rollup and getting the pin. As I said, the focus wasn't quite meant to be in the ring, but more on Heenan's abuse towards the Rooster, hence the fairly basic and unspectacular encounter.
After the match, Heenan continues to berate Taylor, and eventually smacks him. Terry reacts like any normal person would--he beats the living hell out of him, much to the delight of the fans. Seeing Heenan get knocked around always reminded you that he was probably the best bump-taker this side of Curt Hennig that the WWF ever had.
Common sense would suggest that since Taylor had finally dumped Heenan, he would dump the Red Rooster handle, as well. No way, man. He would not only keep the moniker, but would start displaying rooster mannerisms, as well as a red mohawk, to obtain that true rooster image. I honestly can't believe someone thought this was in any way a good or even decent idea, but nevertheless, this course of action proved to be the final part of our earlier lesson in Wrestling Career Homicide 101.
- A segment from Prime Time Wrestling is shown featuring the Rooster and Bobby agreeing to part ways, with Gorilla Monsoon playing the mediator. It winds up being a setup, as Steve Lombardi comes out (as the Brooklyn Brawler), and attacks Taylor from behind, even knocking Gorilla out with a stool. The Brawler ends his attack by slamming Terry through a large cabinet. This set up a mini-feud between the two which was about as enthralling as one could possibly imagine.
- Prot�g� Profile: The Red Rooster gimmick will forever be known as one of the worst WWF creations of all-time, there's little doubt about that. However, the true cream of the crap from this gimmick can be linked to things that took place after Taylor had broken ties with Heenan. The point of their association from the beginning seemed to be to split them up, so of course, Terry actually doing anything much of note with Heenan is non-existent. You can't place the blame here on Bobby or even Terry, as he seemed doomed to fail from point go, being saddled with the gimmick early on and not having it washed away once he turned face.
As for Lombardi, it seemed that they were actually trying to put him over as a somewhat credible heel with the Brawler gimmick in the early going, but once they dumped him on his own with the character, he became a JTTS, at best, meaning that his peak came while paired with Heenan.
- Jimmy Hart's up next and he gives a pretty energetic and redundant "exclusive" interview to get the ball rolling.
- Bret Hart vs. Steve Lombardi- This is from one of the weekend shows shortly after Wrestlemania IV, so Steve's still just some guy in plain wrestling trunks putting other guys over, while Bret and his partner Jim Neidhart were teetering on the brink of turning face. In the weeks that followed the event, they did their best to distance themselves from Jimmy, with one example of such is featured during this match.
Moments into the match, Jimmy comes running down to ring to cheer Bret on, but he wants none of that and insists he goes back to the dressing room. Bret ends up winning with a stiff-looking piledriver.
- Bret Hart vs. Jerry Allen- Once again, Jimmy comes down to lend support and Bret wants none of it, sending him away again. No finish is shown, since the match was just a backdrop to forward the angle.
- Hart Foundation vs. The Conquistadors- Ah, one of most enduring gimmicks in WWF history, the Conquistadors! A previously taped interview with Hart is aired during the match and then later, shows up and watches the match from the interview stage.
In case you couldn't tell, the previous three segments were all designed to illustrate the falling out between Jimmy Hart and the Hart Foundation. Until now, Hart's looked pretty foolish, but there's a point to this�
- Hart Foundation vs. Demolition- This one's from the first Summerslam and is for the tag team titles. We're JIP to the end of the match where the typical chaos has broken out, which allows Jimmy to run down to the ring and toss the megaphone to the Demos, which they use to aid them in a victory of a sub-par match. These two squads would meet up again two years later at Summerslam '90 in the popular 2-of-3 falls match for the titles.
- Prot�g� Profile- I don't think anyone will make claims that Bret Hart experienced more success while with Hart than he did later on in his career, so we'll keep our view on what the Hart Foundation did with and without Hart. In terms of in-ring success, it was about the same, as they had a reign with and without Jimmy by their side. However, I think Hart was integral in the team's early success, doing the talking for them, and getting the crowd's attention, which allowed the duo to do their thing in the ring, which kept the fans' interested. Without a good manager, a team like the Hart Foundation would have likely gone by the waste sides, a la the Killer Bees.
- Honky Tonk Man vs. The Ultimate Warrior- Also from the first Summerslam, this match's quite famous. Honky at this point had been the Intercontinental champion for a mind-boggling 15-months, and people were beginning to wonder if he'd ever lose the damn thing. Honky was originally scheduled to face Brutus Beefcake for the title here in another chapter of their never-ending feud, but an accident took him out and opened the door for the opportunity that the WWF had been looking for to put the Warrior over big.
Honky's out in the ring with Jimmy Hart, telling them to send out anyone for him to wrestle. A small silence passes before the Warrior's music hits and from that point on, don't blink or you'll miss Honky's title reign come to a sudden end in roughly 30 seconds, as Warrior destroys him, not even letting him get his jumpsuit off. The fans were pumped and seemed surprised, although I'm not entirely sure why, since it I would think that common sense would point to the Warrior being the mystery opponent, since he hadn't been put on the card, while guys like Ken Patera had been.
- We cut to an interview of the Warrior on stage during a Superstars of Wrestling show, when Hart comes out to talk some trash, setting up the clich� sneak-attack from behind courtesy of Honky and his guitar. Well, I guess that showed, Warrior. It was Midcard Country for Honky shortly after this.
Prot�g� Profile: Honky was under the tutelage of Hart essentially for his entire WWF stay, but we can't forget the doomed face run upon his entrance into the company that bombed so horribly that he had to be turned heel. For years to come, he was the longest reigning IC champion, which had been thanks in part to Jimmy's antics during his matches, so I'd think you'd have to call Honky's run with Hart anything but a flop.
- We're moving on to the Doctor of Style, Slick. This guy was pimping way before Charles Wright ever put on a pair of orange pants and told masses of horny 14-year-old males to jump aboard the Ho Train.
- A clip of Slick with his duo The Bolsheviks, is shown. Nicolia Volkoff sings the Soviet National Anthem and the fans boo. Yeah, I know, what a monster. What the hell were they thinking putting a black pimp from the South with a couple of dry, uptight, Russian Communists, anyway? They were pushing it by having Nicolia paired with Freddie Blassy, but this was too much. By the way, that was the entire clip.
Prot�g� Profile: The Bolsheviks were never anything more than a JTTS team and to expect the Slickster to do anything with them was insane. The team was no better off with or without the Doctor of Style.
- One of the many Hulk Hogan beat downs from the Brother Love Show is shown, with this one being at the hands of the fairly new Big Boss Man. Brother Love talks trash to Hogan, as Slick hides a can of something behind his back. Boss Man lays in a shot with the nightstick, and Slick follows it up by spraying Hogan with the contents of the aerosol can. Vince exclaims that Slick is spraying Hogan with a "mace-like substance." Hmm, what could it possibly be? Mace, perhaps? Vince was such a tool as a commentator. Boss Man finishes things off by handcuffing Hogan to a guardrail and choking him with the nightstick. Hogan, being the god-like specimen that he is, is able to fight all three of them off�with the guardrail handcuffed to him. Hogan and the Boss Man would go on to have several encounters both in singles and tag team action during the next several months. And is it just me, or did the Brother Love Show seem like the place for faces to get their asses kicked or humiliated on a semi-regular basis? You'd think they would have been a little more cautious about appearing on the show after a while.
- Prot�g� Profile: Boss Man got over huge as a monster heel and pairing him with Slick helped him get heel heat right off the bat. His only main event feud during his WWF stay came while paired with Slick, although his popularity following his face turn makes it hard to say which period was his most productive. We'll call it a wash.
- To ensure that the Red Rooster isn't the sole Wrestlecrap alumnus present on the tape, we're treated to the entire segment devoted to the debut of Akeem, the African Dream (or the repacking of the One Man Gang, take your pick).
I'm sure all of you have seen or at least heard of the gimmick, but for the benefit of those who aren't up to par on their Wrestlecrap history, in the mid-1988, the WWF decided to take the successful One Man Gang character and repackage him as Akeem, a white man who had found his African roots and dressed like a pi�ata, and acted like he was, well, black.
The scene for the actual segment is in a dark alley, where Mean Gene Okerlund had been told to meet Slick. Slick makes his appearance, along with his trusty boom box, playing that ageless classic Jive Soul Bro. He explains to Gene that tonight will be the greatest night in "rasslin" history, and then popping in a cassette tape of tribal music, which leads to a group of tribal dancers appearing out of nowhere, and the trash can nearby emitting fire. This is on par with the Undertaker incident from Royal Rumble '94. And from a poof a smoke, Akeem makes his debut. Gene quickly recognizes him as the One Man Gang, but Akeem and Slick quickly make it clear that he is never to say that name again. The usual claims to being the biggest thing in wrestling is made and with that, the duo dances off into the night, leaving Gene surrounded by the angry-looking tribal dancers. This ladies and gentlemen, is Wrestlecrap to a T.
- Prot�g� Profile: Since the One Man Gang/Akeem was under the direction of Slick during his entire WWF tenure, you can't say whether he had more success without him, although the One Man Gang character was much more credible with the fans of all kinds than Akeem was, despite Akeem getting a high-profiled main event program of sorts.
And would you look at that, we don't even get anything with Butch Reed and Slick. Why not put him on the tape, the guy would have been Intercontinental champion for crying out loud if he hadn't missed the bus. Well, he didn't miss the bus, he just didn't show up. I was just looking for a way to fit a Kris Kross reference in here. All joking aside, Reed's absence here makes sense, since he was already gone by time the video hit shelves, but still, Butch was one of Slick's few wrestlers that was actually like him.
- It's time to get evil, because Mr. Fuji is our next manager in the spotlight. He cuts a promo about leading Demolition to the tag team titles and then dumping them for a bigger team (The Powers of Pain). He ends by saying that he and his team will beat Demolition and he will have the belt around "his big waist." I think Fuji just inadvertently took a shot at his weight.
- Demolition vs. Strike Force- From Wrestlemania IV and for the tag team titles, we're JIP to the closing moments, where Ax uses Fuji's cane on Rick Martel to score the pin for his team and snagging the titles. Despite being the heels, they get quite a bit of audible face pops.
- The big 20-man, 10-team elimination match from Survivor Series '88 is up next, and like everything else on the tape, it's clipped to the closing moments. Fuji surprises everyone by pulling the ropes open, resulting in Smash spilling out to the floor. Ax confronts him and the two get into a shoving match, ending with Fuji giving a cane shot to the back of Ax. Smash is back up and throws Fuji into Ax, who delivers a bodyslam on the floor. The damage has been done though, as Demolition has been counted out and eliminated from the match. The Powers of Pain help Fuji up, who decides to stick around despite his team being eliminated. He ends up tripping one of the Conquistadors with his cane, allowing the Powers to win the whole thing. They hoist Fuji onto their shoulders and it's obvious that the crowd has no idea what's going on or who they should be cheering for. A double-turn seemed to be what they were going for, but thanks to the spontaneous nature of the angle, the crowd was lost.
- Prot�g� Profile: Demolition could easily be labeled one of, if not the most popular WWF tag team of the era, experiencing virtually no down points during their stay in the company. The team didn't come into its own until the combo of Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow comprised the duo and were taken under the wing of Mr. Fuji. After cutting ties with Fuji in late 1988, they became the top babyface team in the WWF, reigning as the champions the majority of the time. It wasn't until they had taken on a third member of the team (Crush), lost the tag titles to the Hart Foundation at Summerslam '90, and taken on Fuji as their manager once again, that Demolition became a shell of what they had once been. Like many teams that were managed in their formative days, Demolition hit their peak after venturing off on their own.
A shame they refused to acknowledge that Fuji ever managed anyone except those two teams, since he did manage before 1988, but I suppose that's their policy.
- Almost as an afterthought, we get a quick look at Frenchy Martin and his guy, Dino Bravo. Martin passes a helping of verbal diarrhea off as French, while Bravo claims that 1989 is going to be his year. Well, glad to see that worked out for him. Now if I could only remember something of note he did that year aside from bring in Earthquake, I'd be set.
- We cut to the infamous segment from the first Royal Rumble, where Bravo attempts to break the World Benchpress Record. Jesse Ventura spots him, and of course, does a little more than that, helping Bravo lift the weights a considerable amount. It was this incident that got Bravo going on the "Canada's strongest man" act.
- Prot�g� Profile: Well, with all of that footage on Bravo, how can Frenchy be anything short of a god among managers? Dino got more exposure once he took on Jimmy Hart as his manager, a smart move, since Frenchy was just awful in all respects.
- A special tribute is ready to honor Elizabeth, but unfortunately, she couldn't do an interview for the video since she was so distraught over the split of the Mega-Powers (Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan) to talk. Considering Liz's sub-par promo skills, we're probably better off not sitting through her speak.
- Randy Savage vs Ted Dibiase This is the first in a series of 3,948 matches that these two would have in 1988, with this one being the most important. I can't imagine it, but there may be some people out there who have yet to see this one from Wrestlemania IV, the finals of the tournament to crown a new WWF champion. We actually get most of the match, and see Andre tripping Savage, which sends Liz to the back. She returns with Hogan, who ends up nailing Dibiase with a chair to allow Savage to hit the big elbow and secure his first WWF championship.
This was the beginning of Savage and Hogan's bumpy, one-year partnership, which was existent for the sole purpose of pitting them against one another the following year. While it was impressive to see them go through with a 12-month storyline, the WWF's refusal to ever let Savage really be on his own ended up hurting him, and thus, the credibility of his reign was always in question. I say if you're going to do something, go all the way through with it and don't hold back. They did here and it ended up being Savage's downfall as a champion.
- We cut to the clip from Summerslam '88, where the Mega-Powers took on the Mega-Bucks (Andre and Dibiase) in the main event. As per the norm, we're JIP towards the end, with the faces in trouble, and Liz ripping off her skirt to distract the heels. The Mega-Bucks (not to mention Virgil, Bobby Heenan, and special referee Jesse Ventura) seem more confused than in awe of the sight, but nevertheless, it's enough for the faces to take control of the match and put Dibiase away for the win. Hogan embraces Liz following the match, which draws a puzzled look from Randy's face (which I've got to believe wasn't just in storyline), and it's fairly clear that tensions were already beginning to mount between the two.
- The big 10-man elimination main event from Survivor Series '88 is shown next and we're only left with Haku, Savage, and a handcuffed Hogan. As Haku lays the smack down on Savage, Liz gets a hold of the key and frees Hogan. Savage ends up falling back into Hogan for a tag (which the commentators make sure to note), and Hogan finishes off Haku in typical Hogan fashion.
For whatever reason, we're not shown the breakup of the Mega-Powers, despite it taking place prior to the release of this video.
- Prot�g� Profile: I find it a little odd that they didn't show anything concerning Liz and Savage pre-1988, since there was plenty to choose from that was more noteworthy than what we saw. I guess it was because Liz played a bigger role in what we saw, which isn't to say she didn't in the things that we didn't see. Unlike most manager/prot�g� combos, Liz was the weaker one in the mic skills department, while Savage was one of the better talkers from the WWF in the 80's. Overall, I'd say Liz was along for the ride during Savage's higher moments, which weren't specifically because of anything she'd done. Randy just got the shaft for the majority of his second heel run, which was without Liz by his side. In any case, Savage had no problem getting himself over, with or without Liz, and regardless of the situation.
Closing Remarks: Certainly better than the Duggan tape, but then again, so are most things. I'll be honest, there's quite a bit of throwaway and rehashed footage for anyone who's seen enough WWF from the late 1980's. However, for the fan who hasn't seen much from the era, I'd suggest looking for a copy. There are many big moments like the Hogan/Andre saga, Savage winning his first WWF title, Demolition winning their first tag team titles, the Demolition/Fuji split, just to name a few. And let's not forget Wrestlecrap moments like the slave angle, debut of Akeem, and Red Rooster story, things that haven't been seen by as many people (before seeing this video, I hadn't seen the first two of those three segments). Like most WWF videos of the time, this one is a nice trip down nostalgia lane for a fan of the era. Containing enough memorable and notable moments (for both the right and wrong reasons), Brains Behind the Brawn has earned the coveted Padrino's Praise.
Hopefully it doesn't take me another month to pump out another review, but until then, have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, jewels, spices, or daughters to send my way? Do so here.
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