Sage Cortez
So, after the last SNME, which was very successful once again, we find ourselves with a show right before a PPV. Things I’m going to look out for are how much The Wrestling Classic will be hyped, and how far the Halloween episode gimmick goes. There’s also a hyped tag team match from the last one, so how that plays into the rating will be interesting to see. It is also the best wrestling card of these three NBC shows.
– Taped to Air on November 2nd, 1985, from Hershey, Pennsylvania
The announcers are as always for SNME, Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon. I suppose the WWF is holding this event in Hersheypark Arena because they only drew 8,000 to the other SNME’s. This building seats 8k. We start off with Bobby Heenan bobbing in a tank for something. I think pumpkins. He’s dressed like Davy Crockett. Hogan cuts a promo about his headlining tag match, Piper cuts one while dressed up like Superman, and Terry Funk cuts an excellent one of his own while chewing tobacco that he subsequently spits on the camera. The hype job that Vince does after that, running down the matches and all, is very good.
Terry Funk (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Junkyard Dog
Pre-Match Thoughts: Before the match, they show Funk stomping on Mel Phillips, as linked previously. Terry’s attack of JYD at MSG is also shown. Terry and JYD cut promos with Gene Okerlund before the match, and we’re off!
Match Review: JYD is over. REALLY over. Probably 4th on the face side behind Hogan, Orndorff, and Andre. Terry gets pulled into the ring by JYD at the start, and walloped with a few punches. This crowd is wild. Funk tries to follow JYD to the outside, but gets crotched on the top rope and swung up and down. That’s a ball breaker. Terry comes back with a bodyslam and an attempted elbow drop, but he misses and JYD slams him. JYD then slams Terry over the top onto the cement floor! Terry nearly attacks his manager, before realizing who it is and walking back into the ring. JYD slams Terry once again, and strikes him with a few of those HEADBUTTS. Terry feigns attacking the crowd, then gets back in the ring again and…Jimmy Hart grabs JYD’s leg as he runs the ropes. JYD goes to attack the Mouth, and Terry gets FUCKIN’ BACKDROPPED ON THE CEMENT FLOOR. Terry lands some punches to regain some kind of control, and gets a cover…for an extremely low 2 count. Terry puts on a SLEEPER, but once JYD gets to the ropes, Terry misses a clothesline and then JYD puts on the SLEEPER. JYD pulls Hart into the ring now, which is a big mistake. The referee is distracted now, and that allows Terry to clock JYD in the back of the head with the MEGAPHONE and pick up the pinfall victory at 5:16.
After the match, Terry attempts to brand JYD, but JYD blocks it and nails Terry in the face with the branding iron. Terry then falls through the ropes and knocks over a table, and JYD PUNCHES JIMMY HART IN THE FACE to a huge pop. And JYD pulls Hart’s pants off. HAHAHAHA. AND JYD BRANDS JIMMY’S ASS.
My Thoughts: Another **1/2 match + angle from these two. The crowd went berserk for that finish. Wonder if anything happened in the dark matches to pump them up like this, because seriously, it was incredible. Presumably this puts the feud on hold while Terry moves on to better things.
Some Halloween bullshit follows. The costumes some of these guys have on are outrageous. Sheik and Volkoff as Batman and Robin! Tito Santana as Zorro is good casting. Bundy and Albano are going to have a pie eating contest. It’s unbelievably disgusting. Albano wins.
Piper’s Pit with Cousin Junior, Uncle Elmer, and Hillbilly Jim
This is piggybacking off of last month’s SNME, when Piper interrupted the terrible wedding. The way Piper demeans these three is next level mic work. They eventually get upset, and call Jesse Ventura out. And he walks down to the ring! Orton then gets behind Junior, and when Piper pushes Junior, he trips over him! Then Jim starts swinging at Piper and Orton, Ventura is cornered, but he bails out. They’ve just built to another SNME match.
Another Halloween thing, with Bobby Heenan facing Cousin Junior in a pumpkin dunk. Yikes. JYD is dressed as a mummy, by the way. And Heenan wins!
King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion) & Andre the Giant (w/Captain Lou Albano)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Hogan and Andre are being billed as a dream team. Studd cuts a brutal promo before the match. Really brutal. Crowd goes apeshit when Hogan’s music hits. Unfortunately, this seems as if it could only be a bad match, at least in theory.
Match Review: Bundy and Hogan will start the match, and Hogan knees Bundy in the face for a 1 count. The crowd is nuclear, and when Hogan tried to slam Bundy, he failed. He hits Bundy with some elbows, shoots him into the turnbuckle, and follows with a big clothesline. And Andre tags in! He chokes the life out of Bundy, and tags Hogan back in, and he hits Bundy with a double axehandle from the 2nd rope. Hogan ventures a little too close to Studd, and Studd grabs him and tags in. He shoulderblocks Hogan, but Hogan replies with the most awful looking of atomic drops. Andre tags in and chops Studd, and Andre smacks the referee in the face during that. Hogan brawls with Bundy, Andre brawls with Studd, and the heels get their asses kicked. The injured referee switches with one who isn’t injured (Andre wasn’t DQ’d), and we go to commercial.
Back with Andre beating up Studd, and he then tags in Hogan for a big clothesline. Andre gives Studd a big boot, and tries to chase Studd out of the ring, but Bundy clocks him and Andre gets tied up in the ropes while sitting on the apron. Bundy then splashes Hogan during a double team, and Studd and Bundy beat the shit out of Andre until they are disqualified at around 5:00 (shown).
Hogan then saves Andre, clears Bundy out of the ring, and they double team Studd until he gets out of the ring and heads to the back. Hogan and Andre then cut a promo in the ring, and the crowd loves it. Andre wants more of Studd and Bundy in the future.
My Thoughts: This wasn’t bad at all, especially given the time. The WWF wasn’t at their best yet, but this crowd was on fire and has been during both of the matches on this show. I’d give this **, it was a well laid out match for television and didn’t have any lulls in the action.
After the match, a kayfabe destroying music video is shown. It’s absolutely fucking terrible, so it’s embedded above. The thing is nearly 5 minutes long. Yikes. Sheik has the only good parts.
Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Tito Santana for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: YES. I know this isn’t going to be a long, spectacular match, but it seems like it’s about time to be getting to this feud. Savage does his very typically awesome promo beforehand. Also, it seems like Elizabeth is a lot more into being a heel at this point, the way she smiles in his promos and all that. Glad they made some changes on that front.
Match Review: They lock up, and quite quickly are separated by the referee. The second time, Savage takes the chance to punch Tito in the face. Savage drops a knee, and launches Santana’s head into the buckle. Santana lands a hiptoss reversal, but misses an elbow drop and Savage lands a double axehandle from the second rope. Cover gets 2. Macho locks in the, um, chinlock, which Santana attempts to power out of only to have his hair pulled. Savage then slams Santana, and HEADS UP TO THE TOP, only to get caught with a punch to the gut on the way down. Santana kicks Savage quite a few times, then lands some big punches to knock Savage down. Santana slams the challenger, and goes for the FLYING FOREARM, but Savage bails to the outside. They now fight outside the ring, and Savage continually tries to run away or gain an advantage, which he does when he punches Santana in the face. Savage tries a piledriver outside the ring, but gives Santana a kneelift instead…and both guys get counted out at 4:08.
My Thoughts: Chemistry is building, and quite clearly they already have some of it. This is the first match of an excellent series that will mostly occur in the next year. **. I think they’ve introduced Savage to the national audience very well on this show, with his costumed appearance as Tarzan and all that.
Then, they hype the Mr. Fuji vs. Ricky Steamboat match that will close the night’s wrestling action out. It’s a Kung Fu challenge.
After the commercial, we get to see how Roddy Piper spends Halloween. Some of his talk about Native Americans is racist. Kids knock on the door and Piper invites them in for “treats”. He passed off bowling balls as candy apples and bricks as chocolate. They rip the bags, and Piper takes their candy. This is by some distance the most INSANE skit I’ve EVER SEEN. Apparently the kids tricked Piper and had red peppers in their bag, not actual candy. Piper then freaks out and that’s it. Hogan then talks about the skit in FULL BLOWN HULKSTER MODE BROTHER.
Mr. Fuji (w/Don Muraco) vs. Ricky Steamboat in a KUNG FU CHALLENGE
Pre-Match Thoughts: Despite the obvious absurdity of the stipulations and matchup, I’m very much looking forward to the match. Don’t forget what happened to Steamboat the last time he and Fuji had a match. Muraco and Fuji tried to choke him to death with a belt. They show that, and Steamboat talks about it.
Match Review: Steamboat is getting bigger and bigger reactions whenever I see him. Apparently attempted murder works well as a wrestling angle. They’re trying to hit each other with karate shit, it’s quite funny. Steamboat gets the better of it, but Fuji responds by knocking Steamboat down and headbutting him in the nuts. Fuji lands a big chop on Steamboat, but he lands some of his own and knocks Fuji down. Fuji gets the better of Steamboat again, and does some KUNG FU THROAT SHIT. The selling in this match rules. Fuji gets suplexed, I don’t think that’s Kung Fu. Steamboat heads to the top, and lands a big missile dropkick for the victory at 3:16.
Oh shit, they’re going to kill Steamboat again. Muraco gets in the ring, AND SPITS SOME BAH GAWD RED MIST INTO STEAMBOAT’S FACE. Muraco and Fuji then give Steamboat a beatdown, which is sold so perfectly, and then leave Steamboat in the middle of the ring with fucked up eyes.
My Thoughts: Little match, nothing special, and unintentionally comedic. 1/2*.
The Halloween party has begun, and I suppose the last game is a pumpkin pass. They have to pass it down the line without using their hands. Makes it look like these dudes are kissing each other. Of course Albano drops the pumpkin. The faces passed it 5 times. The heels passed it 4 times, because Elizabeth dropped it. Savage is yelling at her. Aw. Ventura hypes a six man tag challenge of he, Orton, and Piper against the Hillbillies for January, and that’s it!
Three shows, three parties…and no cake this time! This was a better wrestling show than the other two cards, and the skits had more impact with me. It was corny as shit, but it was good too. They did do a nice job of setting up the next few months of feuds. Unless it was cut out, there was no hype for The Wrestling Classic. I found that strange. This show as about an hour long, and it’s a pretty good way to spend an hour. Or in my case because I wrote about it and had to pause due to lack of entrance time to write out things, two hours. I’d recommend watching this. The Wrestling Classic is next for me, then Starrcade.
Best: Terry Funk vs. JYD. This is a copy of their other matches, but with a very hot post-match angle. Good stuff.
Worst: The music video. I hope to never watch it again in my life.
Card Rating: 6.5/10
