Talk about it here.

Hogan is the guest of Brother Love. By this point, Big Boss Man has replaced Tugboat in the main event spot at Summerslam. I think Tugboat was being punished for something, but I don't recall what.

The Tugboat injury thing was miserable.

 

1. Tugboat wins a squash

2. Dino Bravo runs out to attack him, and it's totally anticlimactic. The announcer's reaction was pretty much "bo-ring". Tugboat gets the better of him.

3. Earthquake runs out, Tugboat gets double-teamed and injured.

 

Meanwhile, all of that took several minutes and nobody bothered to help Tugboat.

I know it's way after the fact, but the Tugboat attack being left off the set (apparently) was an oversight, IMO. It was the same Superstars episode as Earthquake & Bravo on the Brother Love Show and could have easily replaced that segment if time was a factor. It was a rare case--at least at that time--of the WWF changing plans on short notice and was also the final segment that Jesse Ventura called as a WWF announcer.

I don't remember Heenan filling in on Superstars after Jesse's absence. I thought they went straight to Piper.

 

Even Meltzer didn't know what the story was behind the sudden Tugboat de-push. Ottman recently did an RF shoot and of course that fucking imbecile interviewer never even touched on the subject.

 

Brother Love smugly rubs in the fact that Hogan will be a Lone Ranger at SummerSlam and how Tugboat will never be the same again. Hogan cuts a pretty vivid promo about his feelings laying with a broken sternum and seeing Brother Love and the Earthquake & co. laughing, and how Tugboat helped him come back. Hogan will have the strongest force in the universe in his corner, and a man who stands for truth, loyalty, friendship, and the three demandments: The Big Boss Man. Hulk & BBM are just a little more buddy-buddy than the last time they were both on Brother Love's show.

 

As mentioned, Heenan is on color, and the Boss Man mother jokes have already begun.

I'd rather have Bossman watching my back than that goofy bastard Tugboat.

Poor Tugboat, nice knowing ya.

 

Bossman as an enforcer for Hogan makes a lot of sense. Pretty good promo from Hogan again jabbing with brother love. Vince must have loved their dynamic with each other.

Brother Love lets us know that Tugboat got the same Earthquake treatment. Hogan confirms that Tugboat will not be in his corner at Summerslam. Wondered why they removed Tugboat this close to show. Hogan has another big friend though to back him up. The Big Boss Man.

The story I remember was that Tugboat "go an ego" so Vince punished him by removing him from the main event. Doesn't make a ton of sense but wouldn't be the first case of that.

I don't remember Heenan filling in on Superstars after Jesse's absence. I thought they went straight to Piper.

 

I just watched the whole episode. This is Piper's first episode. Why Heenan is in on the Brother Love segment is beyond me.

 

 

I know it's way after the fact, but the Tugboat attack being left off the set (apparently) was an oversight, IMO.

What do you mean? Can you explain this further please?

Tugboat was attacked at the end of the (I think) 7/17 Superstars during a squash by Bravo and Earthquake, took two Earthquake splashes, and was stretchered out, knocking him out of SummerSlam. I just felt that segment should have been on the Yearbook--it was a rare booking detour by the WWF at the time, it was a weird bit of circumstances that no one really knows the full story behind (did Tugboat piss somebody off? Was the gimmick just not working? etc.), and on top of that it was the last appearance for Jesse Ventura until coming back for SummerSlam '99. Something for any potential errata set, I think.

I think you mean 8/18, Pete. Piper took over for Jesse on Superstars with the 8/25 show.

 

Good fired-up promo by Hogan here, again talking vividly about his feelings while he was out. He again promises to respond to every card and letter the Hulkamaniacs sent him. Bossman comes out and does his usual interview about "hard time". I love Bossman as a worker, but most of his interviews were more one-note and repetitive than usual, even for the WWF. It's not like we could have ever forgotten that he was a former prison guard with the uniform he was wearing plain as day. Did every single sentence in every single promo he ever did have to contain a law enforcement reference? Even Terry Taylor's chicken and egg jokes while he was the Red Rooster weren't in every last sentence he spoke. Almost, but not quite.

 

I was looking for Hogan to acknowledge Brother Love's Lone Ranger reference, as talking about other TV shows and pop culture events (except, of course, for the situation in the Persian Gulf) was happening less and less often in the WWF at the time. Alas, he was in a world of his own, as usual.

 

As for Heenan being on commentary, one of two things probably happened: 1) if the commentary was done in the studio, the segment might have needed heavy post-production, and Heenan was available to lay down a commentary track, while Piper was probably home in Portland or 2) if the commentary was done live, the segment may have been taped on 8/7 in Springfield, MA (where Challenge was taped) instead of on 8/8 in Providence, RI (where Superstars was taped). Vince filled in for Gino at the Springfield taping, as Gino was having a toe amputated.

So Tugboat is out, and Boss Man is in. This doesn't change the DiBiase stuff I'm hoping? Is that at Summer Slam? It really bugs me that Hogan says the Boss Man is "the biggest Hulkamaniac" or whatever he says. It really makes them unequal.