PWC 6-13-87 the Great Canadian Bash!!!

[Chitohausen]

Sunday, June 13, 1987


MONTREAL FORUM in MONTREAL, QUEBEC




Ring Announcer: Pat Patterson
Referees: Dave Hebner, Tim White, Wayne Hart



MATCH 1:
THE RIOT SQUAD: TED DIBIASE & DICK SLATER & BAD NEWS ALLEN defeat EDDIE GUERRERO & BRIAN BLAIR & JIM BRUNZELL. Blair and Brunzell are certainly no slouches, but the Riot Squad has been on a roll since arriving in Canada. Dick Slater gets the win for his team here, when he catches Guerrero with a vicious Neckbreaker for the pinfall.

After the match, Dibiase grabs the house mic from Pat Patterson, and wants to know when they’re going to get some real competition? When are cowards like Rick Martel, Dino Bravo and the Rougeaus going to face them?



MATCH #2:
STAN HANSEN defeats GIORGOS TROMARAS. The powerhouse from Greece takes the fight to Hansen in the early going. Hansen tries to overpower Tromaras, but Giorgos fights back with power moves of his own, and uses his exceptional mat wrestling skills to take Hansen down to the mat. This is the first time Hansen’s even been knocked off his feet in a singles match!

Tromaras works on Hansen’s arm, looking to take away Stan’s main offensive weapon, the Lariat. Hansen turns the tables though, and stuns Tromaras with some clubbing forearm shots. Back on his feet, Hansen puts the boots to Tromaras. The Greek strongman again tries to fight back, but he’s in a weakened state now, and Hansen continues to pummel him.

Moments later, Hansen connects with a devastating Lariat for the 1, 2, 3!

Stan Hansen’s winning ways continue in Canada!



MATCH #3:
OLE & ARN ANDERSON (w/ James J Dillon) beat JACQUES & RAYMOND ROUGEAU. The heels have on a hot streak early on, and it continues in this match. The Rougeau brothers more than hold their own against the Andersons, and late in the match, they have the upper hand and look to be on their way to victory.

However, it’s James J Dillon that makes the difference. As Jacques has the upper hand on Arn, JJ hands something to Arn, and Anderson punches Jacques, while holding the object in his hand. Jacques goes down like a ton of bricks, and he appears to be out! Arn quickly tosses the object back to Dillon, and the referee doesn’t see this.

While Raymond and Ole brawl outside the ring, Arn Anderson covers the unconscious Jacques Rougeau for the pinfall!



Next up is the first of four big titles matches!

WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
EL HIJO DEL SANTO (champion) defeats BLACK TIGER. Black Tiger earned this match by defeating his nemesis Tiger Mask a few weeks ago on television, but unfortunately for the mysterious Black Tiger, he comes up short here. They wrestle what could be described as a British Jr heavyweight style, trading holds and moves on the mat, at a lightning-quick pace!

Late in the match, Black Tiger sets the champion up for one of his favourite moves, the reverse Piledriver. However, Santo is able to slip out of Tiger’s grasp, and reverses it into a Piledriver of his own! As Black Tiger staggers back to his feet, Santo uses the Manami Roll to get the 1, 2, 3!

El Hijo del Santo retains the World Middleweight championship!


CANADIAN NATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
DINO BRAVO (champion) defeats THE GREAT HOSSEIN ARAB (w/ Mr Fuji). Bravo dominates the match for the most part, and gets the win after a Backdrop Suplex for the pinfall.

After the match, Mr Fuji’s other charges the Powers of Pain: Barbarian & Warlord hit the ring and attack Bravo! With Mr Fuji directing traffic, Hossein and the Powers of Pain stomp away at Bravo, with Hossein eventually hitting Bravo in the head with the Canadian National title belt, busting him open, then locking Bravo in the Camel Clutch!

Finally Otto Wanz is able to fight his way into the ring! The Austrian strongman and several other wrestles then clear the ring of Fuji and his goons, before helping Bravo to the back.



WORLD MID-HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
DYNAMITE KID (champion) (w/ Fit Finlay) beats OWEN HART. Dynamite Kid comes to the ring with Fit Finlay, who had a series of matches with Owen back in the Spring, and Finlay jaws with Hart before the start of the match.

Owen is clearly distracted by the Irishman at ringside, and this gives Dynamite the opportunity to jump Owen from behind, and control the early going. Throughout the match, every time Owen seems to get something going, Finlay interjects himself, distracting Hart, and giving DK a chance to recover and go back on the offensive.

In the end, this is something Owen is unable to overcome, and Dynamite gets the win after a snap suplex, followed by a diving headbutt from the top rope for the 1, 2, 3.



Now it’s time for the main event! This is the match that the Montreal fans came to see, as La Belle Province's favourite son, Rick Martel, looks to win the International heavyweight title from Tully Blanchard!


INTERNATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
RICK MARTEL defeats TULLY BLANCHARD (champion) (w/ James J Dillon) to win the title! Martel is still showing signs of pain in his knee as he makes his way to the ring, and Tully immediately targets that knee, kicking Martel’s leg out from under him, then going to work on the knee, stomping and twisting it. At one point, Tully drapes Martel’s foot on the bottom rope, then jumps up, landing in a sitting position right on the injured knee, and Martel howls in pain!

Martel takes a beating, but he shows his guts and determination by continuing to fight back! Late in the match, Tully goes for the Figure-4 Leglock, the same hold he used to injure Martel’s knee in the first place, but Martel quickly kicks him off, sending Tully into the corner. Martel then hoists Tully up and delivers a Backdrop Suplex, but unfortunately with his knee in the condition it’s in, he can’t get much behind the move.

It looks like Martel might be in just too much pain to overcome. Tully, sensing this, goes right back at the knee again, then delivers a suplex that plants Martel on the mat, right in the middle of the ring.

Tully motions that it’s time for the Figure-4 again, but as he goes to apply it, Martel sits up, grabs Tully’s head, and rolls him up into a small package!

The referee is right there to count . . .

ONE!
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TWO!!
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TWO AND A HALF!!
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THREE!!!

RICK MARTEL HAS DONE IT!!! HE’S PINNED TULLY BLANCHARD, AND BECOME THE NEW INTERNATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!!!!

[jp1985]

Another great show that lives up to the name. I thought for sure that the knee injury would be an excuse for Rick Martel losing so it caught me by surprise to see him overcome that and beat Tully Blanchard for the title with a hero's ending like that. Closes the show in a big way but I can't imagine they've seen the last of each other with that injury still likely to be a target.

Fit Finlay ended being the difference in the Owen Hart and Dynamite Kid match but it was still relatively clean. Now Hart just needs some back up to counter Finlay if he can get a rematch. Or maybe Owen should take care of him in the ring first.

I expected Dino Bravo to take the rematch with Hossein Arab but the attack by The Powers Of Pain shows that one's probably not over with either. A lot of 6 man pairings here. Could be cool to see a tournament of some sort over the summer to take advantage of that window.

Would be interested to see how a 1987 Montreal crowd reacts to El Hijo Del Santo against Black Tiger. It reminds me of the pre boom MSG shows or something where you'd occasionally see a match with talent from Mexico or Japan and it stands out when it's the only one. I think it would work well with this audience based on the rest of the show.

Made sense to give The Andersons the W in the tag match with the result of the main event. That stable has the obvious Horsemen vibe going but I like that Ric Flair's been removed from the equation for fantasy's sake as it allows the others the chance to step up. The Rougeaus trying to avenge that defeat could be a good draw in a rematch.

Stan Hansen is really rolling here now with that win. The idea of him here works well with Bravo or Martel as he poses a very realistic threat no matter who he ultimately targets.

Great opposition for The Riot Squad in the opener. No real doubt on who wins for fans I'm thinking, but they can work a match that really kicks off the night and gives the heels strong opposition. This is where that 6 man factor really shines because a group like that starts the right feud, you plug any of them in with Martel and it's an easy main event.