Thirty years ago — May 10, 1988 — the World Wrestling Federation brought a card to Duluth for the sixth time. A television crew came along to capture matches for four episodes of the syndicated weekly program Superstars of Wrestling.
Clips from the first of four episodes shot in Duluth are available in the post “Video Archive: Superstars of Wrestling in Duluth, 1988.”
WWF World Heavyweight Champion Randy “Macho Man” Savage successfully defended his belt against the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase at this card. Two photos of Savage celebrating the victory are below. On his shoulder in the top image is Savage’s manager, Miss Elizabeth.
According to the History of WWE website, a sold out crowd of 7,000 witnessed the card. Below are results to the matches not included in the first of four TV broadcasts:
- Koko B. Ware pinned Bobby Heenan at 5:05 after Heenan rammed his shoulder in the ringpost when Koko moved out of the way as Heenan charged at him in the corner; after the bout, Koko put Frankie on top of Heenan’s back, with Heenan eventually brushing him off when he realized
- Ken Patera defeated Dino Bravo via disqualification in a tug-o-war contest when Frenchy Martin interfered; after the contest, Patera cleared both men from the ring
- Jake Roberts pinned Rick Rude
- Brutus Beefcake defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion the Honky Tonk Man via disqualification at 6:12 when Jimmy Hart interfered; Hart had been barred from ringside for the match
- WWF World Champion Randy Savage pinned Ted DiBiase (w/ Virgil) with a roll up after DiBiase collided with Virgil on the ring apro
- Andre the Giant defeated Jim Duggan via countout after hitting him with his own 2×4
- Jake Roberts pinned Barry Horowitz with the DDT at 1:24
- Bad News Brown pinned Mike Richards at 1:19 with the Ghetto Blaster
- The Junkyard Dog pinned Tim Patterson at 1:28 with a powerslam
- Rick Rude (w/ Bobby Heenan) pinned Tim Yates at 1:32 with the Rude Awakening
- Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov (w/ Slick) defeated Billy Bowman & Ricky Ataki at 2:15 when Volkoff pinned Ataki following a kneedrop
- The Ultimate Warrior pinned Steve Lombardi at 1:37 with a press-slam/splash combo
- Ted DiBiase (w/ Virgil) defeated Buck Zumhoff via submission with the Million $ Dream at 1:27
- Dino Bravo (w/ Frenchy Martin) pinned Frank DeFalco at 1:24 with a side suplex
- Brutus Beefcake defeated Tom Stone via submission with the sleeper at 1:36
- Greg Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated JT Thomas via submission with the shinguard-assisted figure-4 at 2:57
- Jim Duggan pinned Billy Anderson at 1:07 with the running clothesline
- WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (w/ Mr. Fuji) defeated Jim Powers & Paul Roma via disqualification at 4:47 in a non-title match when Rick Martel & Tito Santana interfered when Ax was about to use Fuji’s cane
- Koko B. Ware pinned Rick Gantner at 2:05 with the Ghostbuster
- Hercules (w/ Bobby Heenan) defeated Chris Bassett via submission at 1:55 with the backbreaker
- Ron Bass pinned Louie Spicolli at 1:38 with the Pedigree; after the bout, Bass attacked his opponent with Miss Betsy, and hung him over the top rope
- Ken Patera defeated Larry Simpson via submission at 1:37 with a full nelson
- Sam Houston, Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated Danny Davis, Chris Curtis, & Pete Sanchez at 3:29 when Raymond pinned Curtis following a double-team move off the top from the Rougeaus; after the bout, Sanchez was given a similar move and Houston seemed confused as to why the Rougeaus attacked Sanchez
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