WCW Saturday Night - 03/28/1987
What Worked
RANDY & BILL MULKEY v THE GLADIATORS
This was arguably the biggest moment ever aired on WCWSN. For the couple
of years preceding this match, the Mulkeys – pale, skinny twin brothers
– epitomized the idea of the TBS Jobber. Sure, there were the Mikes
Starbuck and Simani; Gary Royal, Nelson Royal, Ricky Nelson, Sam
Houston, and the legendary Thunderfoot #2. But no one compared to the
hapless Mulkeys, who jobbed pathetically week in and week out to the
Midnights and other, lesser lights.
The Gladiators had been built up for a couple of weeks by Tony
Schiavone. West Coast Tag team champions, he called them; whatever that
meant to anyone. The Gladiators were mentioned almost reverentially, and
it seemed all too typical that the Mulkeys were being served up to these
masked stalwarts as jobbers d’jour.
The Mulkeys, of course, are standing in their corner, waiting to be
destroyed as the Gladiators’ hard rockin’ theme music – some anonymous
hair metal guitar slop – plays on. It doesn’t take much to imagine them
as a parody of the Road Warriors, as the Gladiators storm the ring in
matching blue masques and bodysuits (shades of – oh, bitter irony –
Thunderfoot One and Thunderfoot Two during their glory years) and start
clubbing away at the established enhancement workers.
One of the Gladiators tosses Bill Mulkey out of the ring, and they start
putting the boots to Randy as Bill rolls around on the concrete.
Gladiator One or the Other with a backbreaker. Bill pulls himself onto
the apron.
The referee shepherds one of the Gladiators outside the ring in an
attempt to restore order. The in-ring Gladiator vertical suplexes Bill
in, but trips over Randy who at this point is on all fours. Bill with a
lateral press as the other Gladiator jaws with the ringsiders. Referee
Scrappy McGowan with an emphatic three count and David Crockett ruins a
pair of Haggars.
The Mulkeys get to say some words after the match: "It’s unbelievable.
We don’t know what to say," Bill declares. Randy adds, "We don’t know
what to say."
Five star match and interview, of course.