Sage Cortez
Hello once again, as we’re continuing on the path down North American wrestling history with World Wrestling Federation matches from July and August of 1985. This will be a longer entry, as quite a few things happened over those two months. One of those which won’t be reviewed was an unaired King of the Ring tournament at Foxboro Stadium which Don Muraco won by defeating the Iron Sheik. Two heels in a final? Weird.
– Taped to air at an unknown date
BECOMING THE DRAGON, THE THREE MOMENTS OF TRUTH.
I can’t find a date for this, but it fits the time frame. The skits are awesome. Not many words needed. Watch it.
– Taped to Air July 6th, 1985, on Championship Wrestling from Poughkeepsie, New York
Randy Savage vs. Aldo Marino
Pre-Match Thoughts: The debut of the MACHO MAN YEAH! Savage is my absolute favorite wrestler of all time. Some robe he’s wearing too. Not linking the video due to the fact you can find it anywhere.
Match Review: Savage didn’t need a gimmick to get over. He had the mannerisms and the charisma. All the heel managers have made their way to ringside to watch the match, as Marino is getting a little bit of offense with sunset flips and stuff. Savage clotheslines the jabroni, then does his rope clothesline thing where he flies over the top and chokes the wrestler on the top rope. To the top now, Savage elbows Marino in the head. To the outside Marino goes, and Savage follows with that amazing top rope double axehandle of his. Big slam by Savage, and it’s time for the best finishing move in wrestling to that date, THE FLYING ELBOWDROP. TWO FLYING ELBOWDROPS, and Savage gets the pinfall win at 2:45. Another one of those double axehandles after the match gets Savage some cheers, as he celebrates with the interested managers.
My Thoughts: I love how strongly Savage was put over. Blassie, Fuji, Hart, Heenan, and Johnny V being there for his match shows that Savage was supposed to be a big deal. Nice match too.
– July 6th, 1985, from Baltimore, Maryland
Tito Santana vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) in a Steel Cage Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This was the culmination of an excellent long feud. To start said feud in September 1984, Valentine took Santana out before a match at a television taping. Santana climbed into the ring with an injured leg and lost the Intercontinental Championship in short order. After the title change, Valentine applied a figure-four leglock to Santana and injured Santana’s leg worse. Valentine didn’t like, really hurt Tito’s leg, but Tito really had a knee injury and took time off. I strongly recommend reading this article here, it sums up the program very well.
Match Review: Escape rules with Gorilla Monsoon on dubbed commentary. Valentine teases not entering the cage, which doesn’t make Santana very happy, so he drags him in. The magnitude of the occasion is not lost on these Baltimore fans. Santana tried to toss Valentine in the cage, but could not. They trade punches, and Santana tries to head over the top…but he didn’t make it. Valentine makes his run for the cage, but can’t make it over the top either. Valentine gets crotched on the top rope, and Santana lays into him with a few more punches. Santana blocks being sent head first into the cage a couple times, before Valentine takes him down with a big clothesline. Valentine tries and fails to climb out of the cage again, but this time he’s joined by Santana on the top rope. Santana knocks Valentine down, tries again, and nope. Didn’t work. Match still hasn’t really picked up. Valentine gives Santana a big shoulderbreaker, goes for the door, but Santana latches onto Valentine’s leg. Unfortunately, Santana exposes Valentine’s ass in his attempt to keep Valentine from leaving the cage. Santana then makes his crawl to the door, but Valentine stops him. Noticing a pattern here? Valentine tries for a figure-four, but it gets blocked. Santana hits Valentine with THE FLYING FOREARM, but Santana is too tired or something and can’t even make a cage wall. So Valentine gives Santana a back suplex, and goes for the door. Santana trips Valentine, but Valentine gets up and rams Santana head first into the steel cage. Little bit of blood after that, now Santana’s getting rammed into the cage repeatedly. Once again Santana goes into the cage, after which Valentine elbows him from the second rope. Valentine goes for the door, he’s all but out, and Santana grabs onto his leg. Crowd bought that escape try. They trade punches for a bit, but Santana is just out of it and can’t go for the door. Valentine tries for the figure four again, but gets kicked into the cage wall. Tito climbs the wall, reaches the top, and is shortly joined up there by Valentine. Santana clocks Valentine, GOES OVER THE TOP OF THE CAGE, KICKS THE DOOR IN ON VALENTINE’S HEAD, AND DROPS TO THE FLOOR for the win and Intercontinental Championship at 10:25!
The crowd goes totally apeshit, and Valentine grabs the belt to destroy it. If he can’t have it, nobody can! Tito then heads into the ring to celebrate with the destroyed belt, to a raucous ovation.
My Thoughts: Great title changing moment, the match to get to that point wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. I’d never seen it before. I enjoyed the finish a lot, it was well put together. Slightly disappointing however, and I think they could have had a better match if it was 10 minutes longer. As for the feud, it certainly was one of the best in WWF history to that point. **1/2.
– Taped to Air July 13th, 1985, from Championship Wrestling in Poughkeepsie, New York
The US Express (w/Captain Lou Albano) vs. The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/Freddie Blassie) for the WWF Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: So, after Sheik and Volkoff’s WrestleMania title win, their little feud with the US Express would continue for some time. As there were very few other established attractions, it was necessary for them to continually wrestle one another. A match like this being televised is often a giveaway as to what is going to happen, and in this case…
Match Review: Sheik and Volkoff get trash thrown at them before any anthem singing. That’s heat. Of course with an entrance theme like “Born in the USA,” Rotunda and Windham get a big reaction. Windham and Volkoff start things off, and Volkoff gets dropkicked after a silly cartwheel thing. Rotunda and Windham double team Volkoff, then Rotunda rolls him up for a 2 count. Rotunda gets kicked in the back by Sheik while running the ropes, and then gets backdropped by the Iranian. Kicks by Sheik follow, and a big chop to the throat does as well. Cover gets 2. Sheik slams Rotunda for a 2 count., then gutwrench suplexes Rotunda. Already time for the CAMEL CLUTCH BREAK YOUR BACK, but Windham enters the ring to break it up. Sheik tries a big vertical suplex, there’s a bit of rollup reversal, Windham enters the ring to place his partner on top, at which point the US Express gains the pinfall victory and tag titles at 3:13!
My Thoughts: Huge pop for that, good little match for it being only 3 minutes and change long. ** and highly recommended. For being two time champions, it seems like the US Express should have been more notable as a team. However, the tag division wasn’t very deep, and so they didn’t get to face the quality of opponents that other, more similar type champions like Strike Force would get to face.
– July 13th, 1985, from New York City, New York
Paul Orndorff vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
Pre-Match Thoughts: While in the middle of the card, this was the headline bout before intermission. The feud between Orndorff and Piper is intensifying, and there is a 25,000 dollar bounty on Orndorff’s head, courtesy of Bobby Heenan.
Match Review: Piper’s heeling before the match is amazing. Trash flying in the ring and all that. While classless, that’s a sign of a good angle. Piper fails a charge at Orndorff, then gets beaten up and sent to the outside. Orndorff chases Piper around the ring, rams him into the guardrail, and elbows Piper from the top rope once Piper comes back into the ring. Orndorff grabs an arm wringer, which is sold like death. Piper slaps Orndroff twice, tries to run away, but gets taken down and given a hammerlock. Piper gets shot into the turnbuckle, but he gets his knee up and tags Orndorff as he runs in. He knees Orndorff in the head again, which leads to a bad straight up Orndorff’s ass camera shot. Better production needed. Orndorff backslides Piper, which only gets a 2 count. In response, Piper pokes Orndorff in the eye. Piper knocks Orndorff out of the ring and heels to large boos, which is of course nice to hear. Piper then tosses Orndorff head first into the ring post, and gets back into the ring to resume heeling activity.
Orndorff slowly crawls back into the ring, and they rest for a little when Piper puts Orndorff in a front face lock. An audible “huh” gets picked up by the microphones as they have a conversation. Orndorff tries a bridge spot, but just can’t pick Puper the whole way up and transitions to a backslide that lands them both in the ropes. That didn’t work. Piper sells some Orndorff punches like death, then eats a big elbow. Orndorff and Piper tumble to the outside after a crossbody goes awry, and they brawl. Orndorff drags Piper onto the ring apron by his hair, and bashes Piper’s head into the canvas in a nice spot. Orndorff then drags Piper into the ring by his hair, and slams Piper face first into the canvas. Up top Mr. Wonderful goes, and Bob Orton runs from the back to push him off the top rope for the disqualification at 8:43. Orton and Piper attack Orndorff, and in short order Orton nails Orndorff in the face with his cast. Orndorff has been double suplexed, and when he goes over his bloody face is revealed. Piper clocks Orndorff with a soda can, and the fans are pretty pissed off at this point. BUT THEN THE BRITISH BULLDOGS COME IN TO BRAWL WITH PIPER AND ORTON TO HUGE CHEERS. Wow that was unexpected. Dynamite is giving Piper the business, Orndorff is finally up, but he needs to be restrained so he doesn’t get hurt worse.
My Thoughts: That was so good. 20 minutes of action packed into 10 minutes of well booked fun. Good example of a DQ finish that doesn’t suck, as well. ***1/4, one of the best matches from Piper’s first WWF run that I’ve seen. Highly recommended. Clearly this Orndorff fella needs a partner. Oh who could he find that would fill the Garden…
The Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The British Bulldogs
Pre-Match Thoughts: Took this straight from Bret’s first DVD. Don’t think I need to explain what I think of this combination, but it’s their chance to put on a show in the Garden for the first time. They’ll certainly do their best.
Match Review: Dynamite and Davey are roided beyond belief. Jimmy is loud as hell with that megaphone. Bret and Dynamite start the match, and after two lockup that earn Dynamite a reprimand, Dynamite takes Bret down with two arm drags. They then trade hammerlocks, and Dynamite does an awesome running spot where he ducks down and sends Bret to the outside through the second rope. I’m sure you guys know the one. Anvil tags in and does an awesome shoulderblock sequence with Dynamite that ends up in Dynamite getting wrecked. Dynamite knees Neidhart, tags in Davey, and they both shoulderblock Anvil. I don’t think the crowd really knew what to expect, but they’re into the match. Anvil tries to backdrop Davey but Davey lands on his feet, and dropkicks Anvil. Bret then tags in, and knees Davey right in the gut. Monsoon and Lord Alfred put Bret over pretty strong, during which Anvil and Bret give Davey a double back elbow. Anvil tagged in, and does an excellent backbreaker to Bret second rope elbowdrop tandem move on Davey. The hope spots with Davey running the ropes are getting good reactions. Bret cheats once again by not tagging in and giving Davey a dropkick. Nice stuff. Bret tags in this time, Davey reverses a side slam, and scoops Bret up to slam him. Bret then grabs Davey’s tights to prevent a tag, and kicks him in the gut. Bret gives Davey a backbreaker, and the cover gets a 2 count. Davey gives Bret a crucifix, but before the referee can count, Anvil runs in to break up the cover. Inverted atomic drop by Bret now, and the Hart Foundation tries a double team, but it misses and Dynamite tags in.
Dynamite launches Bret into Anvil, and then gives Bret a HUGE clothesline, the best one I’ve seen while doing these reviews. He headbutts Anvil, and gives Anvil a huge backdrop. Then gives Bret a big falling headbutt, and a kneedrop. He sends Bret chest first into the turnbuckle (what a bump), and the cover gets 2 as Anvil breaks it up. Then Dynamite heads to the top rope, and flies off with a huge missile dropkick. This stuff is so far beyond what other guys are doing in this company at this time. Dynamite’s gotten himself over as shit. Davey tags in now, and gives Bret his BIG running powerslam. Cover gets 2 as Anvil breaks the cover up AGAIN. Small package by Dynamite leads to the same result, Bret then does what Dynamite did to him earlier, and runs Davey straight out of the ring. Bret and Davey are the legal men, and Bret tries a Boston crab. Ends up with Dynamite breaking it up. Neidhart does the same thing. Ends up with Dynamite breaking the hold. Anvil locks in a chinlock now, but gets caught in a backslide after Davey got out of it and ran the ropes. Oh look, Bret breaks up the cover again. Bret tags in, he and Davey do an amazing reverse cradle reversal pin sequence, but no cover comes out of it. Bret then chokes Davey on the ropes, but Davey springs right off and dropkicks his brother in law. Davey’s head gets thrown into Anvil’s knee, and Anvil tags in. Unfortunately, the bell rings for a curfew draw at 13:12.
My Thoughts: It’s too bad that ended due to curfew. Said curfew was in place because the show was under the authority of the New York State Athletic Commission. As for the match, I think that Dynamite got over the best of the four. They were also well on their way to tearing the house down. Of course this was never going to have a finish, but it was really good stuff. ***1/4. They’ll have more matches against one another, and I’ll probably review quite a few of them.
– Taped to Air July 20th, 1985, on Championship Wrestling
Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Ricky Steamboat
This isn’t quite a match. Muraco attacked Steamboat as soon as Muraco got in the ring, Steamboat did his karate stuff in response to Muraco working him over, and Muraco is bleeding from something. They trade blows, and Mr. Fuji gets on the ring apron to get punched in the face by Steamboat. Then Fuji grabs a belt, falls off the apron, and they HANG Ricky Steamboat with it. They’ve tied a noose around his neck and are beating him with another belt. In short order, Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog head out to save Steamboat from “certain death.” Hot TV angle, that one. Highly recommended.
– July 20th, 1985, from Landover, Maryland
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton
Match Review: I imagine that Steamboat wrestling that night after a hanging being shown on television was a little strange for some people. No real backstory to this. It’s a match for the sake of having one. Orton is quite scared of Steamboat’s karate style offense, so he goes to stall on the outside. Orton shoulderblocks Steamboat upon re-entry, then tries for another one and Steamboat takes him down with an arm drag. Steamboat then sends Orton to the corner, and chops him. Orton winds up on the canvas again, and begs for mercy. Steamboat does his best version of trollface.jpg, and Orton kips up. Didn’t know he could do that. Orton sells the arm wringers like death, which he should be doing because he’s wearing that cast. Orton then gets shot into the corner, but slides to a stop, only to get chopped by Steamboat and armdragged again. Orton and Steamboat trade bodyslams, and once again Orton is armdragged. The people love it. Orton tried to hiptoss Steamboat, but hurt his arm even worse. Orton then headbutts Steamboat, and hiptosses him with his other arm. Then Orton does a flying headscissors and charges at Steamboat, only to fly over the top into the guardrail. Then Orton throws a soda/beer/whatever into Steamboat’s eyes and begins to commence the beatdown. Excellent spot. Big kneelift by Orton, to which the fans respond by booing the shit out of him. Little bit of a neck vice by Orton, which is followed by a big elbow. Orton shoots the half, but the cover only gets a 2 count. To the chinlock we go, but not for long. Orton tries to drive his cast into Steamboat’s face, but he misses. Orton then falls on top of Steamboat for a 2 count, then gives him an old school version of an STO. Cover for that got 2. They then trade punches and chops, which leads to an Orton piledriver attempt. It’s reversed by Steamboat into a backdrop, and THE DRAGON IS GONNA FLY. From the top rope Steamboat hits Orton with a great crossbody, but that only gets a 2 count as well. Steamboat chops Orton in the throat for a 2 count, then Orton gives him a reverse atomic drop. Orton then tosses Steamboat over the top, but Steamboat skins the cat, and gives Orton an enziguri to send him over the top rope this time. Orton fakes a suplex to the concrete, but of course Steamboat reverses it. Steamboat then tries for a big splash, but eats Orton’s knees. What a match! Orton readjusts his cast, Monsoon claims there’s something inside, and Orton goes to the top rope. He nails Steamboat in the head with that cast, and the referee rings the bell at 14:51 to declare Steamboat the winner by DQ. Orton then chases Steamboat around the ring trying to maim him, and Steamboat chops Orton repeatedly to send Cowboy Bob to the dressing room. However, Orton doesn’t go to the dressing room, and teases getting back in the ring, but takes a powder once he sees Steamboat ninjaing up.
My Thoughts: Excellent match, obviously these guys knew the match was being taped, but I wonder if they both wrestled like that every night! How could anyone? Tons of stuff packed into a 15 minute period, minimal restholds, and great psychology. I was super into it, obviously. ***3/4 and highly recommended. Notice a trend with the matches reviewed in this article? The match can be found on Steamboat’s WWE released DVD, by the way..
– Taped to Air July 27th, 1985, on Championship Wrestling
Paul Orndorff vs. The Axe
An Orndorff squash match, you say? Oh no…I’d never watch one of those without a reason to. Of course something will happen. The Axe attacked Orndorff from behind and got beaten up in short order. However, RODDY PIPER comes out from the crowd, and attempts to claim the bounty that has been placed on Orndorff’s head. They fight, Bob Orton comes into the ring for a double team attempt, as Bobby Heenan screams for them to attack Orndorff. A lot of wrestlers come from the back to break up the fight, and that’s that. If you skipped over the video at first glance, go back and watch it.
– August 10th, 1985, from New York City, New York
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper & “Cowboy” Bob Orton vs. Paul Orndorff and….ANDRE THE GIANT
Pre-Match Thoughts: So, Orndorff found his partner and of course, this sold out the Garden. The earlier TV angle made this match even bigger, I think. Andre took most of the summer off, so the crowd hasn’t seen him that much of late. There was also a match where Ricky Steamboat enlisted Andre’s help against Muraco and Fuji, but I decided not to review that one due to a later tag match where Steamboat enlists help from somebody else.
Match Review: Orndorff and Andre attack at the start, and they do a number on Piper. Orndorff bashes Orton’s cast into Piper’s head, and the babyfaces clear the ring to a big ovation. Andre hauls Piper into the ring, Orton tries a double team maneuver, and Andre moves out of the way so that Piper knocks Orton off the ring apron. Orndorff comes into the ring and dropkicks Piper, but Piper pokes him in the eye upon regaining his feet. Orton tags in, gets cradled by Orndorff, but Piper breaks up the cover. Andre now tags in, kicks Orton in the arm, and tries to TEAR Orton’s cast off. Because he can’t do that, he bashes the cast into the turnbuckle. The cast begins to unravel, and Andre chokes Orton with the tape to a big reaction. Piper then runs into the ring and gets some choke action of his own. Andre then ties the tag rope around Piper, while Orndorff is elbowdropping Orton repeatedly. Andre then squashes Piper WITH HIS ASS, and walks over to Orton and STANDS ON HIM. Andre has unraveled quite a bit of this cast, but Piper sneakily tags in and chokes Andre with the tape from it. Orndorff’s trying to save Andre, and while doing so sends Orton straight into the guardrail. Andre then bites Piper, who tags in Orton. Andre finally makes it over to Orndorff, and makes the tag.
Orndorff atomic drops Orton, Andre then grabs Orton while Piper and Orndorff are fighting, and the babyfaces send Orton and Piper into each other. Andre gets kneed in the back by Orton, Orton heads up to the top rope, and eats Andre’s boot. Simultaneously, Orndorff tosses Piper over the top rope. Then Orndorff pins Orton, and gets the 3 count at 8:25! Orton and Piper quickly leave the ring, Andre and Orndorff bask in their victory, and that’s that.
My Thoughts: Started very hot, but cooled off as the match went along and didn’t have a dramatic build to the hot tag. Sometimes that’s good, and in this case it was fine. It had the proper finish, which I think was necessary at this point. Orndorff had to get a pin over one of them, and Orton was the obvious one to take the pinfall. **1/4.
– August 18th, 1985, from Toronto, Ontario
Terry Funk vs. Junkyard Dog
Match Review: First of two 1985 matches between these two that will be reviewed. Terry’s first big WWF program as well. Terry attacks JYD at the start, and chokes him with JYD’s own chain. In response, JYD elbows Terry, and bodyslams him over the top rope. That’s a huge bump to take. Terry then gets in the ring, and eats a couple of punches. Then gets shot into the turnbuckle by JYD, and does a Flair flip like thing that ends in him falling headfirst to the concrete outside the ring. Terry gets flung into the turnbuckle again, and does some awesome “I’m knocked out” type selling. JYD then launches Terry over the top rope AGAIN. JYD applies a bearhug, and the crowd goes a little silent. Terry turns it into a headlock, and positions himself so that he can give JYD a low blow. Terry drops a few elbows on the Dog, and throws JYD to the outside for once, through the second rope. Terry feigns hitting JYD with a chair, and runs over to elbow him in the head instead. Terry’s headbutts on JYD don’t work at all, but JYD’s certainly hurt Terry. JYD chokes Terry, which is pretty strange if you ask me. Terry applies a sleeper, but JYD just won’t submit. He elbows his way out of the sleeper, shoots Terry into the turnbuckle, and gives him a big bodyslam. JYD headbutts Terry up the ass (ew), and gives him a big atomic drop to send him over the top rope again. And OH SHIT TERRY JUST TOOK A TABLE BUMP. There’s a hole in the middle of the table and Terry’s sitting there crawling around the ring. The referee has counted both men out at 9:28, but they’re going to brawl all the way to the back. Funk takes a huge backdrop on the ramp in the middle of that.
My Thoughts: Terry took some big bumps, but in between not a hell of a lot happened. ** for them, but not a great match. One man wrestling himself kind of thing.
– Taped to Air August 24th, 1985, on Championship Wrestling
Randy Savage Picks a Manager
After countless skits, which can all be found on YouTube, Savage is ready to pick his manager…and it’s somebody nobody knows! It’s Elizabeth! Bruno’s line of “who is this, a movie star” fit the moment PERFECTLY. But Vince is practically jacking off to her. Cool moment to share.
– August 24th, 1985, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Also on this show, Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff had another match. During said match, Bruno Sammartino was the referee. Piper attacked Bruno.
The Dream Team (w/Johnny V) vs. The US Express (w/Captain Lou Albano) for the WWF Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: If it seems like I didn’t review any US Express title defenses in between the beginning of the article and this, the ending of the article, it’s because Valentine and Beefcake were the only team they faced in televised title defenses. Moreover, their only televised match previous to this title change was 24 minutes long, so I’d rather review this one instead. It’s shorter.
Match Review: The heels attack at the start, get the worst of it, so Windham and Rotunda clear Valentine from the ring. Beefcake runs into a Windham elbow, and is sent to the outside by Rotunda. Valentine and Rotunda are in the ring now, and Rotunda is slammed in short order by the former Intercontinental Champion. Valentine misses an attack, and Rotunda responds with a slam of his own. Rotunda then hiptosses The Hammer, and dropkicks for everyone! Windham tags in, elbows Valentine in the head, and lands a big elbowdrop. Only gets a 2 count. Valentine tags in Beefcake, who misses an elbowdrop. Rotunda tags in and goes to work on Beefcake’s left arm. Beefcake knocks Rotunda down with a big shoulderblock, then Rotunda takes Beefcake down with a pretty cool looking arm thing. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it before. Windham tags in and goes to work on that same left arm, with a hammerlock. Little bit of heel in peril going on here, which is different. Windham dropkicks Beefcake, which is pretty impressive considering the size of both wrestlers. Rotunda tags in, and the US Express gives Beefcake a double dropkick. Cover can only get 2 because Valentine broke it up. Valentine sneakily tags in, and kicks Rotunda right in the chest.
Valentine is such an underrated wrestler, and he’s so good because his offense looks so realistic. It’s stiff as hell. Valentine works over Beefcake’s legs, until he tags in and chokes Rotunda. Beefcake knees Rotunda in the mush, but that only gets a 2 count. Valentine tags in, and the Dream Team throws Rotunda very hard into the turnbuckle. Beefcake tags back in, applies a front face-lock, and unfortunately this thing dies a little bit. Zzzzzz. Beefcake drags Rotunda back to his corner, and Valentine tags in to beat the crap out of him. They’ve been using the same hold on Rotunda for some time, too long in fact. After about two minutes, Rotunda drives his legs over to his corner, but the referee didn’t see his tag as he was being distracted. Rotunda then gets thrown to the outside, and drags his body back into the ring to take more punishment. However, Valentine’s elbow doesn’t land anywhere at all, Beefcake rushes in and JUST holds Rotunda back from being able to tag his partner. By inches at most. Still with the front face-lock, but Rotunda pretty much spinebusters Beefcake into Valentine, who tags in and fights with Windham over in the corner. Rotunda gets a shoulderbreaker from Valentine, which only garners a 2 count. Valentine goes for the figure-four on Rotunda, who then pushes Valentine into the turnbuckle…only to tag in Valentine. Rotunda still can’t tag in, the crowd is getting upset, and Beefcake collides with Rotunda. After Valentine lures Windham into the ring, he puts Beefcake on top of Rotunda…for a 2 count. *I* bought a title change right there. Valentine misses a couple elbowdrops, and FINALLY tags in the big Texan.
Windham is a house of fire, dropkicks Valentine, dropkicks Beefcake. Beats up both of them, and tosses Beefcake to the outside. Windham goes for a bulldog, and NAILS IT. Crowd thinks it’s over, but Valentine kicks out at 2. Another try at a bulldog, which only gains a 2 count as Beefcake breaks it up. Oh shit, Johnny V just handed Beefcake his cigar, AND HE PUTS IT OUT IN WINDHAM’S EYE. Valentine then elbowdrops Windham, the referee counts 3, AND THE DREAM TEAM ARE NEW TAG CHAMPS! This was around 20 minutes long. Windham is selling the cigar to the eye like death, and the Dream Team makes their quick getaway.
My Thoughts: Valentine went from Intercontinental Champion to Tag Team Champion over a bit longer than a month’s time. I thought this was a potentially great match that lost some steam during portions of the heat segment. The front face-lock was painfully long until they began to tease false tags. That being said, the finish went over very well. I’d slap a **1/2 rating on it, it was quite a long match, but not an amazing one. The tag division is a bit limited on the babyface side, whereas on the heel side there were two legitimate teams (Dream Team & Sheik/Volkoff), and one up and coming team in the Hart Foundation. Windham would stick around for a month and change before leaving. Rotunda would reform a tag team with Danny Spivey, but that wouldn’t last terribly long and they weren’t established for long enough to be seen as credible challengers. The Killer Bees are not established. The Hillbilly Jim and Uncle Elmer thing is terrible. That leaves the British Bulldogs…but all that being said, I have at least 5 or 6 Dream Team matches lined up just for the 1985 Assorted Matches articles, some of which include the above listed teams.
Saturday Night’s Main Event #2 doesn’t really change the status quo, so September and October’s matches from the WWF will be paired together in a future article. But really, I think it’s time to see what another company with plans of becoming a national power is doing…
Best: Ricky Steamboat vs. Bob Orton
Worst: British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation running into the curfew. I wanted more!
