WWE Prime Time Wrestling 3/21/88 Match Reviews and Commentary
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan check in (Credit-WWE)
In my favorite episode of Prime Time ever, Gorilla and Bobby go on location to Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino to preview WrestleMania IV. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
WWE Prime Time Wrestling- 3/21/88
The Killer Bees def. The Conquistadors: ★★
Steve Lombardi def. SD Jones: ★
Hercules def. Scott Casey: ★
Greg Valentine def Lanny Poffo: ★★
The Honkytonk Man def. Jim Evans to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship: ★
The Junkyard Dog def. George Petraski: ★
Ken Patera def. Tom Stone: ★
The Ultimate Warrior def. “King” Harley Race: ★
Trump Plaza (Credit-Wikimedia Commons)
Show Highlight—
Gorilla Monsoon massages Bobby Heenan. Sure it’s not Ha Ha Funny but it’s just goddamn charming to see these two do physical comedy. As if it were an old vaudeville bit, Gorilla, unbeknownst to Bobby, comes up from behind the masseuse working on Bobby’s back and starts pummeling the hell out of him and slamming his face into a towel. Bobby’s reactions and facials are all gold. Again, not an original thought, but God do you wish this duo could have done a show that was all improvisation on location.
What Worked—
The Allure of Trump Plaza. Like a dumbass kid would, I was sold by WWE’s promotion of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino as a luxurious destination. Only in adulthood did I see that pretty much every casino ever was a sad, monolith of desperation. My schema then of luxury was very much like Trump’s—a little boy’s fancy. Also, I didn’t understand then that the Broadwalk Hall and Trump Plaza were two entirely different locations. Whatever, Trump bought the show and in turn WWE did a wonderful job of selling Atlantic City in the iconography of 1950s glitzy Las Vegas.
Gorilla arrives. It’s a simple pan of Gorilla exiting a limo upon arrival at Trump Plaza, but it’s great to see him clearly in his element and happy as hell to be where the action is. Gorilla, in real life as well as shown later in the episode, loved gambling, so he may legit have known the staff at the hotel. Gorilla did a quick intro and promoted the upcoming WrestleMania IV PPV and what translated through the screen was that he and Bobby were there to have fun and that it wasn’t work. It also subtly sold Mania as a destination event not unlike the Super Bowl as it is today.
Bobby Can’t Check In. On the Conrad Thompson podcasts, invariably everyone that traveled with Bobby had some funny story of Bobby hamming it up with a stewardess or waitress or concierge for everyone’s amusement. Here, in staying with character, Ms. Betty hadn’t booked the suite of rooms for Bobby and he tried to get a free room after harassing the concierge enough. Security got called, which Gorilla somehow knows. And best of all, the Weasel keeps the freebie Trump Plaza hat.
Killer Bees vs. Conquistadors. To be honest I didn’t appreciate the Bees until reading B. Brian Blair’s memoir. I knew him, but knew him more for Sheiky Baby threatening to make him humble in an infamous way. The masked confusion gimmick was great, building to a hot finish that was innovative and effective all these years later.
“You’re not going to be embarrass me again.” Heenan, completely out of his element in Gorilla’s plush suite, touched every surface like a child and attempted to steal an ashtray—because of course he would—before Gorilla threatened to pat him down before leaving and reminding Brain, as he did every episode, that he wouldn’t embarrass him or WWE again. Gold.
Gorilla gambles. I wanna say I heard in on Something To Wrestle With that Gorilla really was gambling as they otherwise wouldn’t be able to film at the tables per gaming regulations. He actually won a few hands in this scene. Heenan attempted to play with after dinner mints as his chips and after it was called out, he, again, of course tried to pay the waitress with said “chips.” Gorilla never missed a beat and with his back to the camera, flawlessly played blackjack, sold the PPV, and bullshitted with Bobby.
On the Boardwalk. To end the show, in an iconic shot used in montages about Prime Time and this pair, Bobby pushed Gorilla around in one of those carts as punishment for losing so many bets. Never been a better duo in wrestling.
What Didn’t Work—
Ken Patera in ’88. When Vince is on commentary you sometimes get a window into his fluctuating value of the talent and here, he had nothing to say about Patera and was just spouting platitudes about Patera “surprising you” in the most vague-ish way possible. I thought Patera looked like Richard Simmons with that perm of his as a kid so I always thought he sucked. Today, we know how much of a wacko he was and you can’t help but think what he could have been after his time in the clink with today’s presentation.
Show Cringe—
Warrior vs. Harley. A receipt for fucking with Vince in Kansas City? Harley took so much time on an ass-over-tea-kettle bump and slowly and pathetically tried to get his foot tied up on as much shit possible as he slid outside the ring. Much like Andre at his end in 1990, Harley was done.
Trump Plaza (Credit-Wikipedia)
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