Sage Cortez
After Saturday Night’s Main Event, it was time to go around the horn once again. However, the WWF did not push the reset button as they do now after some big events. The cards were a continuation of the previous months house show storylines and things that were built up on television beforehand. Don Muraco was chasing the champion, and we continue on from there…
– May 18th, 1985, from Boston, Massachusetts
Hulk Hogan & Jimmy Snuka vs. Don Muraco & Bob Orton (w/Mr. Fuji)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Muraco is substituting for Roddy Piper. Seamless fit considering the Muraco/Hogan program. Muraco and Orton would later become a tag team which didn’t pick up many victories. Obviously this tag match is bigger than any they had during that time frame.
Match Review: Despite the subtraction of Piper from this scenario, the crowd is hot as could be. Monsoon and Okerlund are on commentary, which is nice. The heels try a sneak attack to start things off, but Hogan and Snuka clean house to a big ovation. They brawl for a good little while, until the referee gets some order and sends Hogan and Muraco out of the ring. Superfly takes Orton down with a nice armdrag, then Hogan tags in and rams Orton’s arm into the turnbuckle, cast and all. The crowd is throwing trash at Orton, who gets his hair pulled and sent back to Snuka, who tags in. Snuka latches onto the arm again, Orton sells it to the crowd’s delight, and Hogan tags in to do the same thing. Hogan kicks Orton in the chest and stomps on Orton’s cast, which has been getting a nice reaction. Blown spot as both guys run into each other in the middle of the ring, which is corrected by Hogan giving Orton an atomic drop. Hogan stumbles in, and Muraco tags in to take advantage, which he shortly does. Hogan eats one of Muraco’s knees, eats an elbow too, and Orton goes to work with a few right hands to Hogan’s face.
Unfortunately this is slightly clipped, and the video resumes with Hogan being suplexed by Orton. Impressively at that. Orton’s cover gets 2. Muraco comes into the ring for a double team move on Hogan, which turns out to be a double clothesline. Muraco follows up with a legdrop, and the 2 count cover is broken up by Snuka. Hogan clotheslines Muraco in the corner after a revere Irish whip, and Hogan makes the tag to Snuka. Chops and headbutts for both opponents follow, Snuka slams Muraco, then Snuka heads up top to give Muraco a crossbody. At this time Mr. Fuji is distracting the referee. Snuka flies off the top rope and Orton nails him in the face with his cast. Good idea. Orton then tags in, hits Snuka in the face again with his cast, AND THE SUPERFLY IS BUSTED WIDE OPEN. This gets clipped again, but I don’t think that’s all that bad or that much was chopped out. Snuka finally tags in Hogan, who goes to work on Orton and Muraco. Hogan then gets hit in the back with Muraco’s cast, and the referee looks to disqualify Muraco and Orton at 9:42. Hogan and Snuka then square off with their opponents and brawl for some time, during which Snuka smashes Muraco over the head with a wooden chair. It’s an awesome brawl for the time period. Orton and Hogan very nearly stupidly head into the crowd and the fans were ready to tear Orton’s head off, at which point a mass invasion of police ran down to the troubled crowd area to try to calm the situation. Great finish.
My Thoughts: My version was clipped, but it certainly was interesting to watch. A quick perusal of the internet shows that around 2 minutes was chopped off. While initially selected for its novelty factor, the bout became something worth watching for a different reason, which was the finish. Excellent finish that the crowd was really into. The DQ result made the whole thing even better. **1/2 for it. Barring WrestleRock ’86 surfacing, unfortunately (or possibly fortunately depending on your viewpoint) this is the last time I’ll be seeing and reviewing a Snuka match through this series for quite some time. It may take some time to get to 1989. Maybe at that point I’ll be more comfortable talking about his life or what have you.
– May 20th, 1985, from New York City, New York
Bobby Heenan introduced The Missing Link at this show and claimed that he would be the one to take Hulk Hogan’s WWF Championship. Worth mentioning. Of all the guys Heenan was partnered with, perhaps this one was the biggest “did nothing in the WWF” of the bunch. Link had a few, er…interesting moves. Anyhow, onto the next match!
Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship
Match Review: Same commentary duo as Boston, second straight match between these two at MSG. The attendance number from thehistoryofwwe.com does not list this as a sellout. Muraco attacks Hogan as he enters the ring, rips Hogan’s shirt off, and works him over. Once again, it’s hard not to mention the crowd. These fans are really into the big matches. Muraco chokes Hogan with Hogan’s shirt, elbows Hogan in the face, as Hogan starts to do his mini-Hulk up thing and fight back. They trade shots in the center of the ring, and in short order the action spills to the outside. Hogan atomic drops Muraco on the concrete as if that means more, then chokes Muraco with his tank-top. Nicely done. Hogan follows Muraco into a corner with a nice clothesline choke (only way I can think to describe it), then a big headbutt which sends Muraco to the canvas. Hogan slams Muraco, and lands a big elbowdrop. Now he’s punching the challenger in the face both inside and outside of the ring, at least until Muraco hits Hogan in the gut with a chair. Hogan then hits Muraco in the head with the chair, and headbutts Muraco for at least the tenth time. Muraco is now bleeding, and inside the ring he gets back suplexed by the champion. Over the top rope Muraco goes, Hogan chases him out again, then rams Muraco head first into the steel post. This is the kind of brawling people want to see. Hogan bites Muraco, suplexes him in,and does a bit of typical Hogan sauntering. Hogan DROPS THE LEG on Muraco, and the crowd thinks it’s over after the 3 count, but Fuji put Muraco’s leg on the ropes to break up the pinfall. The official waves off the victory, so Muraco throws salt into Hogan’s eyes. Minor victory. Now Muraco’s been disqualified at 6:12. Afterwards, Okerlund says something I agree with. “I am a little confused.”
My Thoughts: Keeping your guy from getting pinned so that he can get disqualified? Not sure about the psychology of that. I know this was building towards a cage match, but Fuji throwing salt into Hogan’s face himself would have the same effect without the confusion of Muraco taking a false pinfall. *1/2, it was quite good given the time allotted, but the finish was odd.
Bruno and David Sammartino (w/Arnold Skaaland) vs. Brutus Beefcake and Johnny V
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is coming off the WrestleMania match with David and Beefcake. Exactly what everyone wanted to see, Bruno Sammartino getting back in the ring after many years, and they got it. Of course they’d do it in a few more places around the horn, but this is the blowoff.
Match Review: The crowd explodes for the Sammartinos entrance, and who could blame them? This is people getting to see their nearly 50 year old hero wrestling again. Bruno and Johnny V start things off, and Bruno takes Johnny down with a big shoulderblock, running boot, and a couple of armdrags. Beefcake runs in, gets cleaned out by Bruno, and the crowd loves that. Things normalize again, and Bruno backdrops Johnny V to a decent pop. David finally tags in, the crowd settles down a tad, but Johnny eats a shoulderblock too. They trade bodyslams, then David takes Johnny over with a nice armdrag. Once again Johnny gets shoulderblocked, he responds with a hiptoss, and tags in his charge Beefcake. The younger Sammartino tags his father in to punish Brutus, but not for that long. The hammerlocks these guys are putting on Beefcake are amusing. David drops a knee on Beefcake’s arm, and finally Beefcake gets some help as Johnny V kicks David in the back. Bruno tags back in after David kicks Valiant, and Bruno beats up his similarly aged opponent. They kick Johnny’s ass as Beefcake stupidly stands on the ring apron, but the action comes over towards Beefcake and he hits David. So things fall into a more familiar face in peril pattern. Beefcake tags in, gives David two backbreakers, and Monsoon puts Beefcake over for his strength. Johnny V slams David, shoots him into the corner, and kicks him. This is mostly punch-kick stuff. Very surprisingly, David turns a missed Johnny V charge into a rollup, and gets the pinfall for the Sammartinos at 9:07. Nice pop, but not exactly what people wanted to see. In the post-match, the heels attempt to garner some sort of revenge by attacking their opponents. David gets sent to the outside and Bruno gets double teamed, after which Beefcake and his manager turned tag team partner scurry to the back.
My Thoughts: That kind of left people at the Garden waiting for a next time which never comes. However, it does come in Pittsburgh where the Sammartinos get their revenge by winning a steel cage match. * for this one, while entertaining, I don’t think it was particularly good. Lots of repetitive spots and not that much wrestling. Further appearances of David Sammartino are not likely to be forthcoming. A review of that house show series between David Sammartino and Tiger Chung Lee will just have to wait!
– June 21st, 1985, from New York City, New York
Once again back to the Garden. Other than what I’m recapping, a few notable things happened on the card. First and most importantly, Randy Savage made his debut at the Garden. The match is kind of long, so I passed on watching the whole thing. Secondly, the Killer Bees had singles matches. It’s notable because the lack of tag team opponents for them serves to highlight the lack of tag team division at this point. It’s non-existent. Lastly, there’s a cage match in the main event so the crowd is not only a large one, but quite rowdy.
George “The Animal” Steele & The US Express (w/Captain Lou Albano) vs. Adrian Adonis, Big John Studd, & Bobby Heenan
Pre-Match Thoughts: Adonis is a substitute for Ken Patera, who destroyed a McDonald’s in Wisconsin in 1984. So he’s now in jail. The novelty here is quite obvious. At the time, they were doing some sort of Steele in therapy type of thing. Which is funny.
Match Review: Steele’s antics before the match are amusing. Heenan wanted to start things off with Windham, but Steele slyly tagged in and chased Heenan around the ring to the crowd’s delight. Ha! I suppose we’ll start with Windham and Adonis. Windham armdrags Adonis, slams him three times, and gives him another armdrag. Adonis then gets bitten by Steele and the crowd goes nuts, which illustrates that comedy acts are necessary. So uh, Adonis fakes running to the back and getting counted out. Studd and Windham are in the ring now, and Windham gets destroyed. Windham tried to slam Studd, but he couldn’t, despite getting close to doing so. Can’t slam me is a good gimmick. Windham gives Studd a big crossbody, which gets two. Tends to get a guy over to do that to an established act like Studd. Windham gets shoved into the turnbuckle a few times, and Heenan tags in to attempt to capitalize, only to take a ton of punishment. Heenan took some great bumps, that’s for sure. Steele teases beating up Heenan again, this time he caught him! Into the steel barricade Heenan and Adonis go, but to keep Steele from getting out of hand Albano walks over to calm him down. THIS is a good schtick. Rotunda comes in for the first time, gives Studd a bit of offense, and shortly gets shoved into the corner to take a beating. Adonis kicks Rotunda in the balls and lands a big DDT on Rotunda but that only gets two. For shame. Monsoon called it a piledriver. Things break down into a pier six, Steele finally gets the piece of Heenan that people wanted him too, and during said brawl the bout ends in a disqualification at 9:59 because Steele was chasing people while brandishing a steel chair. Then LOL, Steele hits the referee with the chair and stares at the ceiling like a dope. People don’t really know how to take that. Quite obviously, Windham, Rotunda, and Steele lost the match.
My Thoughts: Nothing groundbreaking, but solid stuff with good character work. Nice to see Heenan looking good while given the opportunity to work in the ring. To be quite honest, this is probably the best match I’ve ever seen Big John Studd have, battle royals notwithstanding. **.
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) for the Intercontinental Championship
Match Review: Steamboat is now sporting his Dragon garb. In the next article I’ll be sharing a video with some skits that explained how he became a Dragon. Very much looking forward to this match. Steamboat teases using kung-fu or some shit on Valentine, which the crowd likes quite a bit. Some mat wrestling kicks things off, after which Valentine eats a few chops to the chest and bails out of the ring. He re-enters, gets some punches blocked, and Steamboat chops him in the chest once again. Steamboat goes for the headlock, then after some trading of arm wringers, kicks Valentine in the chest. Nice start here. Steamboat’s kicks and chops thing is great. Valentine is selling it like he has no clue what to do, and it gives the impression he may be losing his title. Steamboat lands a big flying crossbody for a 2 count, then latches onto Valentine’s head once again. Valentine takes Steamboat to the corner and begins to go to work. Lots of stiff looking elbows and punches, which Steamboat responds to with a chop, then heads up top for an awesome flying chop. Cover got 2. Big slam by Steamboat, but a big splash is thwarted when Valentine gets his knees up. Valentine drops a couple of knees on Steamboat, then gives Steamboat a stomachbreaker. Cover gets a 2 count. The Hammer begins to set up the figure-four leglock, started by headbutting Steamboat in the groinal region. Then he elbows Steamboat on the right leg. Cover gets 2. Valentine tries for the figure four, and the crowd totally buys a title change when Steamboat cradles him. Cover gets 2. Steamboat tries for a bodyslam, but Valentine falls on top of him for a 2 count. Valentine then knocks Steamboat to the outside, and gives him some very realistic looking punches and elbows. That’s what’s so good about Valentine. His offense looks legitimate. Steamboat now Dragons up, he and Valentine trade shots to a raucous ovation, and I mark out a little inside. After Steamboat chops Valentine in the throat, he covers him for a 2 count. One to the eyes, one to the stomach, one to the eyes. After another chop, Steamboat goes to the top rope, flies with a cross body, but Valentine gets his foot on the ropes during the cover. Valentine then quickly responds by giving Steamboat a back suplex. Valentine drops the elbow twice, but can’t finish the challenger. Could only get a 2 count. Once again Valentine works on the leg, but he gets kicked into the turnbuckle and runs into a few more Steamboat chops. The Dragon then enziguri’s Valentine over the top and outside the ring, Jimmy Hart tries to throw Valentine back into the ring, but the referee has counted 10 and counted him out at 14:20. Counted 10 quite quickly. They then go to war in the center of the ring, which Steamboat got the better of.
My Thoughts: Two good workers put together a good match. The crowd was into Steamboat’s karate stuff, which meshed pretty well with Valentine’s stiff punching offense. Unfortunately the match didn’t have a great finish, and that’s why I’d give it a *** rating. Worth checking out, but not mandatory.
Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Hulk Hogan in a STEEL CAGE MATCH for the WWF Championship
Match Review: So, the Garden match series between these two men ends here. Good post-Mania program, of course. This is a true steel cage brother not any of that blue bar stuff. Escape rules. Hogan tossed the title belt at Muraco, basically telling him “if you want it come get it.” So Muraco tries to hit him with the belt, and Hogan goes to work. He swings it at Muraco and misses, before tossing it out of the cage. Here we go. Hogan USES THOSE BIG PYTHONS BROTHER to keep Muraco from slamming him into the cage, then Muraco does the exact same thing. Smart. Muraco blocks another attempt by Hogan to put him into the cage, and hits Hogan with a low blow. He knees Hogan in the face, and headbutts him down low. Ouch. Muraco goes to open the door, but he gets nowhere near exiting the cage. The match has been nearly all punch kick to this point, and Hogan is starting his no-selling early. He hits Muraco with a big clothesline and follows with an elbow drop, then bites Muraco. Hogan picks Muraco up and rams him head first into the cage, and of course, there’s BLOOD. Hogan does it again, and Muraco eventually responds by sending Hogan into the cage. Muraco then slingshots Hogan into the cage, causing him to bleed. Muraco is trying to climb out, he’s very nearly there, but Hogan catches up to him and rams him repeatedly into a bar on the top of the cage.
Unfortunately, this is slightly clipped, as evidenced by the video tape teleporting Hogan down to the canvas as Muraco is perched on the top rope. Muraco comes off the second rope with the power of the flying fist onto Hogan’s cranium, which had to hurt. Both guys are bleeding everywhere, and Hogan boots Muraco in the head, which sends Muraco into the ropes where he hangs himself by his neck. The champion goes for the door, but Muraco has freed himself. They trade punches, Hogan gets the better of the exchange, and he exits the cage for the victory at 9:05 (it wasn’t that clipped).
My Thoughts: That sounded more interesting on paper than it turned out to be in the ring. Lots of punching and kicking, lots of blood, but the blood was the only thing memorable about the match. And in addition, blood in a match with nothing around the match to support it doesn’t mean the match was good just because it had blood. It also goes back to a thing of mine where it’s difficult for a match to be good when the crowd never buys that the winner is in doubt. Nothing that happened in the match suggested that Muraco could take Hogan’s belt. Heel hope spots are necessary too. *. While initially very interested in the feud, I think it was better that they kept this series at the Garden rather than turn it into a long program with the benefit of some TV spots.
– Taped to Air June 29th, 1985 on Championship Wrestling, from Poughkeepsie, New York
Terry Funk vs. Aldo Marino
Pre-Match Thoughts: The debut of Terry Funk! Terry is one of my absolute favorite acts to watch. He wasn’t in the WWF for that long, but he did some memorable things while he was there.
Match Review: Terry had so much ring gear to get rid of that Mel Phillips decided to put Funk’s hat on his head. THEN YES TERRY SLAPPED THAT PEDOPHILE AND BEAT HIM UP. Mel wearing Terry’s hat was a grave offense he was not going to stand for. Marino decides to get in the middle of it and gets thrown out of the ring. Once he gets back in, Terry kicks his ass too, but he really worked over Phillips. Terry is getting some cheers during this. Jobber abuse is fun, and this one is certainly getting some. Marino gets thrown out of the ring again, after which Funk teases going into the crowd and kicking some fans asses. Bruno Sammartino’s commentary during this is nice. Marino finally gets some offense in when he knocks Terry out of the ring, and then dropkicks him over the top once Terry tries to get back in. Big cheers for that. Funk gives Marino a back suplex, then hits him with another big suplex. Marino submits to Funk’s SPINNING TOE HOLD, and that’s the end of the match at 3:07.
My Thoughts: I think that’s the best squash match I’ve ever seen. It perfectly showcased Funk’s character, allowed him to get in a few of his trademark bumps, and he made the jobber look good without roughing him up too bad. Highly recommended.
– June 29th, 1985, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hulk Hogan & Paul Orndorff vs. Roddy Piper & Bob Orton
Pre-Match Thoughts: Here’s one of the very few blowoff tag team matches that came out of this long Hogan/Piper feud. This is the only televised one I could find, after which Hogan was transitioned onto other things and Orndorff took his spot in feuding with Piper. More on that later.
Match Review: The security guards escorting Hogan and Orndorff to the ring are basically having to kick people’s asses to keep them from grabbing Hogan. Such is their love. Piper and Orton attack quickly, Orndorff pairs off with Piper, and Hogan with Orton. The heels are getting whipped, and finally we get to a place where Hogan and Piper are the only men in the ring. Exactly what I wanted to see. Piper pokes Hogan in the eye, and distracts the official while Orton punches Hogan with his cast. Orton goes off the top rope to mash Hogan’s mouth with said cast, but it’s still Piper and Hogan in the ring. Piper comes off the top rope with a hammerblow to Hogan’s back, but Hogan’s already HULKING UP. Big three punches, a tag to Orndorff which people want to see, and Orndorff forces Orton to hit Piper in the head with Orton’s cast. Some suspension of disbelief required for that. Orndorff is desperately trying to get after Piper, but not yet. Hogan runs over to the heels corner to attack them both, but Orton and Piper certainly get the better of that. All four men are brawling on the outside, and things break apart to a point that it’s nearly impossible to relay. Hogan and Orton wind up in the ring, Hogan rolls up Orton, and referee Joey Marella makes a quick count so that Hogan & Orndorff get the victory at 5:02!
After the match, they continue to brawl, and Hogan gets sent to the outside. Piper wallops Orndorff with brass knuckles, after which Hogan gets back into the ring and…some idiot fan goes into the ring to attack Piper. Piper throws him out, and everyone makes their exit. Or not. Hogan has a chair, but Orton and Piper go into the ring anyway, where Hogan hits Orton with a chair. Piper’s along in the ring, and Orndorff HAS THE KNUX. Oh no, Orton pulls Piper out of the ring before Piper can be hit with them. Aw. Orndorff and Hogan do their pose thing to big cheers, and that’s the end of that show.
My Thoughts: This was pretty much a Texas Tornado style mess, but the crowd loved it and that’s what matters. A tad difficult to rate, but it wasn’t long enough to go over a certain threshold in any case. *1/2. Glad I got to watch it.
Best: Terry Funk beating up Mel Phillips
Worst: A Missing Link match I watched and decided not to put in this entry due to how weird it was.
