Through the Years: The Wrestling Classic

My opinion of The Wrestling Classic was that it was a tournament designed to showcase the WWF’s singles wrestlers to a truly national audience. A bonus was that the card emanated from Chicago, which was AWA territory. It was another shot across the bow in the wrestling wars. To my knowledge, the winner of the 16-man tournament never gained anything from this. The drawing card is a Piper vs. Hogan title match, which is finally on TV! For all intents and purposes, it is essentially the blowoff to their very long feud. Unfortunately, there are no tag team matches, so the show doesn’t showcase all of their talent. The crazy thing to me is that they ran a house show in Ohio with many of their other wrestlers on the same day! There won’t be much in terms of pre-match thoughts here, because it’s a tournament and match backgrounds don’t really apply.

 

November 7th, 1985, from Chicago, Illinois

 

Our announcers tonight are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura, and Vince McMahon will serve with Alfred Hayes as the hosts. Also, some dork in the crowd wins a Rolls-Royce. Lots of empty seats in the upper levels. We’re supposed to believe this is an open draw. They show a few wrestlers drawing names, and Ricky Steamboat’s acting is particularly terrible.

 

First Round, 10 Minute Time Limit

 

Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Corporal Kirchner

Pre-Match Thoughts: Adonis hasn’t changed his gimmick yet, but he’s gaining weight. First time I’ve seen Kirchner in the company to date. He’s basically an army advertisement.

Match Review: They lock up, and Kirchner gives Adonis an arm drag. This ring is really bouncy and doesn’t have the WWF’s turnbuckles, it is not a WWF ring. He gives Adonis another arm drag, and puts on a headlock. Adonis gives the military man a back suplex, and lands a few elbows to the head. Adonis applies a chinlock, Kirchner powers out, but gets DDT’d by Adonis, pinned and eliminated from the tournament at 2:35.

Adonis gets a promo afterward, it’s about half as long as the match!

My Thoughts: Nothing match, but I found the slowness of such a really short match odd. DUD. Shouldn’t guys try to go all out for 2 and a half minute matches? Obviously they had plans for Adonis, although those were not obvious at this time.

 

Dynamite Kid vs. Nikolai Volkoff

Match Review: Volkoff starts to sing the Soviet anthem, gets missile dropkicked by Dynamite and pinned after 6 seconds! What a dropkick that was.

My Thoughts: Giving Dynamite a chance to do something awesome is always good, but that was a huge bump. I ain’t complaining, but not rating that. He treated Nikolai like a jabroni. Great way to get someone over too, considering he hasn’t had an SNME match or any of that.

 

Ivan Putski vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth)

Pre-Match Thoughts: Savage gets a chance to show Elizabeth who’s boss before the match. He doesn’t beat her. Just talks a little…rudely. He claims this tournament is the most important thing out there. Lots of Polish people in Chicago, so naturally, Putski is over.

Match Review: Putski begs Savage to attack him, which seems pretty stupid. Naturally, Savage spits on him. HEEL SAVAGE rules. Putski spits back in his face, and Savage takes a walk around the ring. Putski and Savage collide, which gives Putski a chance to showcase his muscles. Putski rams Savage’s head into the turnbuckle, and Savage responds with an eye gouge. He pops Putski in the face, and Putski does the same. Ivan rams Savage’s head into the mat, and punches him a couple times. He shoots Savage into the turnbuckle, where Savage rolls him up and cheats by placing his feet on the ropes to get the pinfall at 2:45!

My Thoughts: Nothing match, but at least these guys worked harder than Adonis and Kirchner. 1/2* for spitting.

 

Nikolai Volkoff runs down America in a little segment before the next match, which is now coming on…

 

Ricky Steamboat vs. Davey Boy Smith

Pre-Match Thoughts: Dream match in many respects, but destined for brevity.

Match Review: They lock up, do some reversals and stuff, and Davey hip-tosses Steamboat. He then does a nice belly to belly like suplex, which leads to Steamboat bridging into a backslide for 2. Davey gorilla presses Steamboat, which gets a 2 count. Davey puts on a front face-lock, they stand there for a bit, and Davey gorilla presses him again. Gets 2. Back to the front face-lock, which Steamboat then reverses into a big delayed vertical suplex. Steamboat misses a splash attempt, and Davey dropkicks him twice. Davey then charges at Steamboat, but gets crotched on the top rope and the referee stops the match at 2:53, with Steamboat being awarded the victory.

My Thoughts: I guess that’s one way to have a babyface match without one guy punching the other, either guy having to do too much damage to the other, or one guy doing a job. Keeping them strong, I suppose. *.

 

Junkyard Dog vs. The Iron Sheik

Pre-Match Thoughts: JYD cuts a promo with Gene Okerlund before the match. It’s nothing special. He doesn’t even remember to say Bears when trying to pump up the local team. Sheik doesn’t get to do his bit, how sad. Blassie isn’t there either.

Match Review: Sheik attacks JYD, and CHOKES HIM WITH HIS ROBE. Evil foreigner, that guy. He does the same thing with his headwrap, and eventually lets go. He spits on JYD and gestures to the crowd, then JYD starts to no-sell shit and go crazy. Sheik bows to JYD trying to get him to stop, and after a headbutt, he walks out of the ring. Sheik applies a full nelson, which JYD eventually breaks. JYD hits Sheik with a big clothesline, only gets a 2 count. JYD misses his falling headbutt, but the logic doesn’t really work. It shouldn’t hurt, right? But it does and Sheik puts the CAMEL CLUTCH on JYD. JYD falls to the mat and Sheik lets go, and beats up JYD in the corner. Then Sheik pushes the ref out of his way, gets headbutted by JYD, and pinned at 3:26.

My Thoughts: That match had more heat than the rest, which is no surprise. As stated before, JYD is at worst 4th on the face side in that regard, and Sheik gets a lot of cheap heat, even in cities that the WWF just started running cards in. The WWF’s heels get good heat so it’s hard to rank him. Anyway, I thought this was the best match so far due to the heat. *1/4.

 

Moondog Spot vs. Terry Funk (w/Jimmy Hart)

Pre-Match Thoughts: Terry gets a chance to talk before the match. But why isn’t he attacking JYD? He’s feuding with the guy. Instead he wants to face Roddy Piper, the new WWF Champion. HAHA. He spits that nasty tobacco shit into the camera at the end. Great promo. The Moondogs were a cool gimmick that sucked in the WWF. Spot was a WWF tag team champion in the very early 80’s.

Match Review: My introduction took me much longer to write than this match took to take place. Terry asks Spot if he wants to wrestle him, and he says no. He says to Spot, “why don’t we just leave the ring and have a draw?” Terry leaves the ring, and Spot does as well. They stand out there, walk towards the back, and TERRY PUNCHES HIM. WHAT A BASTARD. Spot catches up before Terry can get back in the ring, Terry throws Spot into the ring, and Spot wins via countout at 0:25.

Terry attacks Spot after the match, and chases him out of the ring. Terry tries to attack the referee who runs away. This thing is over.

My Thoughts: What did I just watch? Decent little angle to keep Terry from jobbing, and to keep him from having to wrestle JYD. They want the people to go PAY to watch him wrestle JYD. No rating.

 

Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Tito Santana (Intercontinental Champion)

Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a non-title match. While Muraco does his interview, I’m drawn to remembering the way Santana got the IC Title in the first place, which was by beating Don Muraco. Unfortunately, there’s no video of the finish out there. I’ve always found it a little strange to see Santana sporting the IC Title design of that time.

Match Review: They lock up, and Muraco gets the best of Santana. He beats Tito up, and launches him into the turnbuckle twice. Muraco rakes his eyes, but misses a clothesline and Santana lands a cross body, which gets a 2 count. Santana sunset-flips Muraco for a 2 count, and backslides him for the same. Tito shoots Muraco into the corner, and Muraco goes upside down for his troubles as Tito takes over. He puts Muraco in an armbar, which lasts for a little bit. Muraco powers out and drops Tito throat-first on the top rope, and follows it up with a clothesline. A knee drop and elbow drop follow for 2, and Muraco powerslams him, which gets…3? Tito had his foot on the ropes, but the referee never saw it. Someone tells the referee what happens, Tito cradles Muraco and gets the pinfall victory at 4:13.

My Thoughts: That made no sense. 3/4* for that cluster. I bet these two had better, longer matches. Cheap jobs are necessary to preserve Muraco, especially considering his current feud.

 

Bobby Heenan gets the chance to cut a promo during the interval, and it’s pointed out that he doesn’t have any wrestlers participating in this tournament. He hypes up the bounty he has on Orndorff. That hasn’t been mentioned in some time over the matches I’ve watched.

 

“Cowboy” Bob Orton vs. Paul Orndorff

Pre-Match Thoughts: This is the final match of the first round, and I believe the last televised singles match of this feud. Summing it up is not needed. Trying to pump this up as a random draw though…no. Clearly not.

Match Review: They lock up, and Orndorff capitalizes on Orton’s broken arm by putting it in an armbar. Orton sells it well, and quickly gets atomic dropped. Orndorff rams the arm into the turnbuckle, and shoulderblocks Orton. Orton takes Orndorff down with a headlock, Orndorff responds with an armdrag, and back to the armbar. Orndorff misses a charge to the corner, and Orton drops an elbow on him. Orton drops Orndorff throat-first on the top rope, and follows up with some really realistic punches to the head. Orndorff misses a sunset flip, but grabs Orton’s tights to get him over…which gets a 2 count. Orton puts Orndorff in a head scissors, which Orndorff shortly powers out of into a cover…which Orton bridges into a backslide for 2. Orton hip-tosses Orndorff and tries for a flying head scissors, but gets crotched on the top rope as he misses. Orndorff then gives Orton a back elbow, and does his babyface comeback. He rams Orton head first into the canvas, and punches Orton over the top rope. Orndorff follows him to the outside, knocks him onto the apron, and Orton wrenches around his cast to clock Orndorff in the face with. He goes for a cover, but it turns out that Orton has been DQ’d at 6:27. I don’t get that. Why disqualify a guy for hitting someone with something they’ve been cleared to wrestle with? JYD will now pass through the next round with a bye.

They fight after the match, and Orndorff knocks Orton out of the ring.

My Thoughts: Maybe he wanted to win Heenan’s bounty, but clearly he did not. This was okay while it lasted. My opinion of Orton’s work has improved a lot over the last few weeks. **. Wonder what Orton’s work will look like against other wrestlers.

 

During a bracket breakdown, Terry Funk intrudes and complains about being eliminated.

 

Quarterfinals, 15 Minute Time Limit

 

Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Dynamite Kid

Match Review: This is a very strange matchup. Adonis shoulderblocks Dynamite, but tries again and gets armdragged twice, and has to bail out of the ring. Adonis elbows the Brit upon his re-entry, and slingshots him into the turnbuckle. That’s an interesting move for so early in the match. Adonis slams Dynamite, and gets a 2 count. Ventura says that he has to go talk to Savage, and leaves his commentary position. Weird. Adonis suplexes Dynamite, and gets a 2 count. Adonis puts a chinlock on Dynamite, but he won’t quit! He gets out of it, and back suplexes the big man. Dynamite misses a splash and hits the canvas, after which Adonis goes to work on Dynamite’s left knee. He puts a SHARPSHOOTER on Dynamite (what the hell), but Dynamite reaches the ropes and forces him to break the hold. Adonis sends Dynamite into the turnbuckle, but Dynamite leaps up on the Adonis charge and sunset-flips the fat man, but only for a 2 count. That would have been a good finish. Dynamite sends Adonis shoulder-first into the ring post, and lands a BIG clothesline. Up to the second turnbuckle he does, and he comes down with a knee drop. It gets 2. Dynamite snap suplexes Adonis, and lands a headbutt. Jimmy Hart goes up on the apron, which distracts Dynamite. Adonis rolls up Dynamite, but it only gets 2 as Dynamite kicks out, by launching Adonis into Jimmy Hart. They collide, then Dynamite pins Adonis for the 3 count at 5:23! Adonis had his foot on the ropes, but who cares.

My Thoughts: Great finish! Nice to see Dynamite go over here, too. He’s great in the underdog role. I wonder what would have happened to him had Vince ever decided to push him as a singles guy. Anyway, it’s clear to see why Adonis got a bump up the card, even though his new character was embarrassing. Adonis could bump, had good offense, and could put together a good match. **1/4.

 

Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Ricky Steamboat

Pre-Match Thoughts: This is quite the matchup for a second round of a nothing tournament, and a year before the beginning of the series everyone is familiar with. Not sure if anyone expected it to be a nothing tournament. I don’t know if they did or not. Anyway, Ventura cuts a promo on Savage’s behalf prior to this match.

Match Review: Savage puts Liz in front of him so that Steamboat can’t attack him, and once Steamboat turns his back, attacks him. Great heeling. Steamboat comes back and chops Savage multiple times, knocking him out of the ring. Savage pulls Steamboat out of the ring, and Savage lands some punches. Back in they go, and more punches by Savage are landed. Steamboat puts a stop to it by head scissoring Savage over the top rope. Now Steamboat beats Savage up outside of the ring, and gives him an atomic drop. Steamboat tosses him in, and gives him a big chop to the chest. He tries another, but Savage turns that into a back suplex. Savage heads up to the top, and misses his axehandle as Steamboat catches him in the gut. Steamboat lands a few fist drops, and Savage bails to the apron, only to get suplexed back in. That didn’t look crisp. Steamboat heads to the top, and cross bodies Savage, only for 2. He chops Savage again, and Savage bails to the apron, where he grabs some brass knuckles. Steamboat tries a back suplex, but Savage punches him in the face, knocking him out. And Savage picks up the pinfall victory at 3:22. Nicely done.

My Thoughts: This was a nice little sprint with a very good finish. **1/4, wish it had more time. I like that they haven’t protected everyone on the card and have dished out some pinfall finishes. There will be much more to come from these two.

 

Moondog Spot vs. Junkyard Dog

Pre-Match Thoughts: Spot gets a chance to talk before the match, which he capitalizes upon by speaking in gibberish. And no, I don’t think this signified any sort of thoughts about pushing him. That was never the case, and his winning in that fashion was an easy way to get Hogan’s next challenger out of the tournament without losing.

Match Review: For some reason there’s no referee. Spot attacks JYD, knee drops him, and heads to the second rope. Spot misses a big splash, JYD headbutts him three times, and counts his own pin at 30 seconds. HA!

My Thoughts: No rating, but JYD counting his own pin was funny stuff.

 

Tito Santana (IC Champion) vs. Paul Orndorff

Pre-Match Thoughts: Another non-title match. Heenan hints that Santana may take Orndorff out and win the bounty for himself. Hm. Nice to see a babyface match here, and not to spoil anything if anyone’s reading this without knowing what happens, but this can only end in one way.

Match Review: Tito has his left thigh wrapped up. Everyone knows about Orndorff’s heel past, so there is some question here. They shake hands and lock up, after which Tito puts a headlock on Orndorff. He takes him down, and Orndorff powers into a wristlock, which knocks Tito down. Tito quickly puts him in a head scissors, which leads to some great banter between Gorilla and Jesse. Perhaps worth watching this match just for that. Orndorff turns things into a pinning combination for 2, and puts a hammerlock on the IC champ. So far this is like the first three minutes of a great 20 minute match. Tito reverses the hammerlock into one of his own, and the two guys tease punching each other in the face. That sets Jesse off. I love it. Orndorff gives Tito an atomic drop, and after they stare down once again, a drop toe-hold. Orndorff then elbow drops Tito’s left leg. Tito kicks him off, and limps around the ring, before they lock up again. Orndorff gives Tito a forearm against the ropes, which knocks him out of the ring. They trade forearms, then progress TO THROWING BOMBS AT EACH OTHER BROTHER. Tito throws Orndorff into the ring post, and they continue to fight, but they’ve both been counted out at 8:03. Eventually they realize the match is over, and stop hitting each other. This means that JYD will have no semifinal match, and will advance to the final of the tournament.

My Thoughts: The fans didn’t know who to cheer, but this was a great example of how to do a good babyface match. It was also a great example of how to do a match where neither guy has to take many bumps. You could count the number of bumps in this match on one hand. A 20 minute match between these two may have been nice, and there are a few from 1984. I may need to check them out. **1/2.

 

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship

 

 

Pre-Match Thoughts: Away from the tournament for the first and only time on the card. I don’t think I need to sum up this feud, because I’ve kept tabs on it in my articles. However, this is Piper’s PPV chance, and it is on this card because after nearly a year, it’s time to move along! No more house show runs to cash in on. This is also the first singles match between the two that I’ve reviewed, and can be found on Hulk Still Rules if you want to see it.

Piper gets a bagpipe entrance, with a real troupe playing him in! Hogan cuts a promo on Piper before the match. Hulkamania, brother, brother, and more Hulkamania. WHATCHA GONNA DO BROTHER.

Match Review: They play tug of war over the belt, and Piper viciously attacks the champion. He throws Hogan to the outside, Hogan pulls Piper out, and they trade bombs. Hogan throws Piper very nearly into the crowd, which is quite dangerous, and they head back in the ring. Piper chops Hogan in the throat, and does his BEST eye poke. Hogan throws him into the turnbuckle, and follows up with a clothesline that causes Piper to take a great face-first bump. Hogan gives Piper a back suplex and a bodyslam, then follows up with two elbow drops. Hogan beats up the challenger in the corner, until Piper catches Hogan and lands some punches of his own. Piper comes off the second rope, but Hogan catches him in a bearhug, which Piper gets out of by POKING HIM IN THE EYE. He covers Hogan, but that just gets a 2 count. A punch also gets a 2. Piper puts a SLEEPER on Hogan, and the referee checks to see if Hogan’s asleep, which he’s not. Hogan picks Piper up, and takes a dive to the outside over the top rope with Piper on his back. Smart move. Hogan rams Piper into the ring post, after which an idiot throws a beer at Piper. Hogan chases Piper into the ring, where they brawl, and Hogan hits Piper with a big boot. Hogan looked really angry while giving that out. Hogan atomic drops Piper, but Piper causes Hogan to charge into the referee. Piper brings a chair into the ring, and hits Hogan in the back with it. He tries to ram Hogan with it, and Hogan blocks it! The referee comes to as Hogan hits Piper with the chair and puts on a sleeper, then Bob Orton runs into the ring and clobbers Hogan in the back with it, getting Piper DQ’d at 7:15.

Orton and Piper beat the brakes off of Hogan, until ORNDORFF RUNS IN WITH A CHAIR and chases Orton and Piper out of the ring.

My Thoughts: Weird finish, but it was time to move Hogan along, not job either guy out, and get the last bit of money out of this match. Obviously that worked. *1/2, because I can’t in good conscience give this more than that. There was nothing resembling a definitive finish in this feud, and the work was passable. Piper makes almost anything watchable, so take that into consideration if you’re looking for a Hogan/Piper match worth watching. They all may be.

 

Junkyard Dog cuts a promo after this match, cause it isn’t like he has a semifinal to worry about. Jimmy Hart shows up, and talks shit to him. Cool.

 

Semifinal, 15 Minute Time Limit

 

Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Dynamite Kid

Pre-Match Thoughts: This is unique to say the least, and with two of the best athletes in the business at the time it can’t suck. I think it never happened again. Third different robe Savage has worn.

Match Review: Both men are not super big, which is differing from what Vince liked to great degree. Savage can’t catch up to Dynamite, and takes a powder before anything of note happens. The two struggle with each other against the ropes, and Savage just won’t let go. He sucker punched Dynamite in the face. After ramming Dynamite into the turnbuckle, he hits him in the gut. Dynamite responds with some of his own, and hits Savage with a huge shoulderblock. HUGE. He gives Savage a big backdrop, and Dynamite does a cross body, but can’t get more than a 2 count. Dynamite sunset-flips him, but gets sat on by Savage before he can pull Macho down. Dynamite misses a cross body, but doesn’t miss a massive clothesline. Check that, both guys clotheslined each other. Savage heads up to the top, but Dynamite gives him a dropkick, crotching him on the top turnbuckle. Dynamite heads up there for a HUGE SUPERPLEX, the likes of which Monsoon and Ventura have never seen, and neither have I in 1985. What a bump. From the very top rope! Savage grabs Dynamite’s leg however, and cradles him for a 3 count at 4:50. WRESTLING INTELLIGENCE. Savage gets some claps from the crowd after that.

My Thoughts: What a bump that was, if it was in the regular, super-hard WWF ring, I’m unsure they could have pulled that off or even tried. Fortunately, this ring bounced quite a lot they hit the canvas, and everything was alright. Watching Dynamite, there’s no doubt as to why he wound up as a cripple. *** and recommended, best match so far and very likely the best on the card.

 

They’re giving away a Rolls-Royce now, which I could not give less of a shit about. I wonder if Vince banged the chick who’s been helping out with the brackets? One of the guys giving the car away is a total tool-bag. One of the other guys is a dork. Once Alfred Hayes is introduced, the crowd shits all over it. This guy annoyed me too, I ain’t gonna lie just because he died. The winner got booed.

After that, Orndorff and Hogan got some camera time. Monsoon says the Piper issue isn’t over, but really, it’s over.

 

Tournament Final, No Time Limit

 

Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Junkyard Dog for the Wrestling Classic Championship (?)

Pre-Match Thoughts: What could you call the tournament winner’s title other than that? I think it’ll turn out that I review one other match these guys have. Savage is limping his way to the ring, that’s selling brother. I’ve gotta say, unlike what is the case for some other deceased wrestlers, I completely enjoy watching Savage’s matches. They don’t make me sad at all. I love the guy, and many of his best moments are the reason I got hooked into watching wrestling. He was totally unique, and I appreciate him for it.

Match Review: Savage is doing the place Elizabeth in harm’s way gimmick again. He does that until he leaves the ring and grabs a chair. He tosses it to JYD and JYD bashes himself in the head with the chair. What the fuck, that’s taking the black guy is hard headed thing too far. Savage breaks the count, and walks to the other side of the ring. He does that again, and now the fans are getting REALLY upset. This time they fight, and JYD pushes Savage away a few times. Savage fails to slam JYD, but JYD headbutts him in the back and Savage sells the shit out of it. JYD gives Savage an atomic drop, and gives him a bearhug. Savage rakes JYD’s eyes to break the hold, and all of a sudden Mean Gene shows up to do commentary. JYD clubs Savage in the back, and Savage winds up tied in the ropes, JYD headbutts him. He chokes the future WWF Champion, and shoots Savage into the corner, but Savage comes out with a big clothesline. Sloppy bump by JYD. Cover gets 2. Savage throws JYD to the outside, and once again it’s a lame bump, but Savage comes off the top rope to the concrete floor with a double axehandle. Great move, that. Savage crawls around the ring and sneak attacks JYD, ramming him into the ring post. Psychology here is very good, but JYD isn’t doing much of anything. He’s a broomstick. Savage lands another big top rope axehandle on JYD, and clobbers him in the back with a steel chair. The referee didn’t even care. Savage sneak attacks JYD again, and chokes him on the steel guardrail. A fan very stupidly tried to hit Savage with her program. Not wise. Savage FINALLY throws JYD into the ring and comes off the top rope again, but this time JYD hits him with a punch to the cut. JYD lands a few headbutts while on all fours, and pulls Savage out of the corner into a big back bump. JYD headbutts Savage into the ropes, where he gets tied up, and JYD goes to town. The referee unhooks Savage, who responds by raking JYD in the eyes. Savage kicks JYD, and gets BACKDROPPED OVER THE TOP ROPE. This guy takes some crazy bumps. There are no pads out there! Savage gets counted out, and JYD wins at 9:42. He is…the Wrestling Classic Champion?

Mean Gene climbs into the ring to interview the Junkyard Dog, but the fans are already going home. Ventura climbs into the ring as well, and says he’s PROTESTING THE DECISION. JYD scares Jesse out of the ring, says a few more things, and that’s about it. Vinny Mac has a few closing comments, and the show’s over!

My Thoughts: That match was all Savage. He took the big bump to make a countout finish that made sense, he did all the work while JYD stood there, it was all Savage. And it was enjoyable. He could have had that same match with any other wrestler and it would have been worth the ten minutes to watch it, because he’s Randy Savage. ** for it, that didn’t suck.

 

Of course a heel wasn’t going to go over as the tournament winner, that wasn’t how the WWF operated, but this card was very much a Randy Savage showcase. That can only be a good thing. Despite the lack of top quality matches, Savage wrestled for 20:39. That can only be a good thing. Now besides that, nothing was particularly special, although I thought Orndorff and Santana put on a good show. Comparing this to Starrcade, I doubt there’s going to be any comparison. Starrcade will have far better ring work. The most disappointing thing about this show is that JYD winning the tournament won’t go anywhere. It’s an average show, but I was impressed at how they packed 14 matches into 2 and a half hours. Impressive timing.

 

Best: Randy Savage vs. Dynamite Kid. That superplex!

Worst: Rolls-Royce giveaway. Nobody gave a fuck.

Card Rating: 5/10

 

Written by Sage Cortez

Sage is a boisterous Los Angeles sports fan. Unsurprisingly, like many other loudmouth LA fans, he also likes the Raiders and a range of combat sports.

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