Sage Cortez
After a calm finish to 1985, there is a LOT going on at the start of 1986 for the WWF. First there was the Saturday Night’s Main Event, which I didn’t find very good. That being said, it did a huge rating, the biggest yet. That can be nothing but a good thing. Hopefully I will find some videos that I can put in this article and share with other people. Without further adieu…
– Taped to Air January 11th, 1986, on Championship Wrestling from Poughkeepsie, New York
Piper’s Pit with Adrian Adonis
The debut of "Adorable"Adrian Adonis by Stinger1981
This week’s Piper’s Pit begins with Jimmy Hart talking about his surprise. He says that ADORABLE ADRIAN ADONIS is now upon us. And he’s wearing bows in his hair. Some of the people in the crowd are laughing, I don’t blame them. Adonis says that he’s coming out of the closet. Well now. He says that he’s never felt more like himself, and that his leather jacket will be retired, and given to Piper. That was interesting, and I can foresee the heel heat he’s about to get. This isn’t very groundbreaking, but I felt it to be worth sharing anyway.
– January 11th, 1986, from Boston, Massachusetts
Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Tito Santana for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is the first match in a series that will engulf these reviews. Not because there are so many matches in the series, but because they are all so good. This is a sellout crowd, one of two the WWF had on the night. They had another in Philadelphia. Savage gets a big face reaction for his entrance, and a big heel one too. Gorilla and Jesse are on commentary, so this seems as if it is quite important. To be honest, a title change seems looming. No other top heel out there, and Santana has no momentum.
Match Review: Savage does his Elizabeth shield, getting some boos. Wonder how long that shtick will last. When the bell rings, Savage immediately leaves the ring and stalls. Does the same thing when he gets back in, too. They finally lock up, and Savage quickly runs to the ropes. After even more stalling in the ring, Savage leaves the ring. He finally punches Tito in the face, but gets rammed into the turnbuckle in response. Savage leaves the ring, but comes back in and Tito puts an armbar on him. Savage gouges his eyes to break free, and pulls Tito to the ring apron, where he then chokes him along the bottom rope. He pulls Tito back in, and drops an elbow on him for a 2 count. Savage puts a chinlock on the champion, during which Jesse has some great commentary bits. Savage hits Santana with a knee, gets a 2 count. Back to the chinlock, and I must mention that Tito has his left quad wrapped. A big Savage knee drop follows, and his cover is nearly a 3 count. Very close. Tito staggers to his feet, lands a few punches, and Savage thumbs him in the eye. Up top Savage goes, double axehandle on the way down. Cover gets a very close 2 count. Savage lands a clothesline, gets another 2. The crowd is buying into this quite a lot. Savage puts another chinlock on him, Tito fights out after some time, and reaches the ropes. Savage goes for a leapfrog body guillotine and misses, wedging his body in between the second and top rope for a big, very cool looking bump on his lower back. I bet that fucker HURT. Savage now gets tied in the ropes, and Tito kicks his ass. Danny Davis unties Savage and admonishes Tito, and Savage then dumps Tito to the outside. Savage follows with the AWESOME double axehandle to the floor, nailing Tito in the back of the head. Savage gets back in the ring and waits for the champion, who meets Savage at the ring and beats him up. Tito goes to the second rope, and lands a hard elbow on the challenger. Tito goes for the FLYING FOREARM and hits it, knocking Savage to the floor. Elizabeth goes out there to help her charge, and Savage does the shield act again, this time PUSHING HER DOWN. STOOPING TO NEW LOWS. Tito helps her up, Savage throws Tito into the front rope, and Savage runs back in the ring. During all this, the referee has counted 10, and that means Savage wins by countout at 13:01.
My Thoughts: The implied wifebeating is going a little far here, but this is a good match and was worth watching. It will be interesting to compare this to the next month’s match. *** for this, the first of many notable matches between the two. The series just ramps up more and more over time. There is a Bruno Sammartino match on this card, but it’s pretty much a redux of a cage match that I’ve already reviewed. So, moving forward…
– January 11th, 1986, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion) & Andre the Giant vs. King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, & Bobby Heenan
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is presumably the blowoff match to this feud, which had a match on Saturday Night’s Main Event #3. While I don’t expect high match quality, I believe it is imperative to watch and review the closing of the book on this issue. Unfortunately, this feud does come back in some way later in the year. I will refrain from further comment on that, but I’m quite impressed that the WWF was able to fill two arenas on the Eastern Seaboard. Holiday ticket sales certainly played a part in that. It’s obvious who’s taking the pin, too.
Match Review: Andre and Hogan attack immediately upon entry to the ring, and clear it to a big pop. My VQ is garbage, I see. I can live with it. There are ring introductions after the earlier ring clearing, during which the size of four of the people in the match is made clear. Studd and Andre start the match, and lock up. Andre grabs Studd by the neck, and gives him a bodyslam to a big pop. Hogan tags in, and gives Studd a bodyslam of his own to an even bigger pop. This match is in some ways an exercise on how to get heat. Heenan winds up in the ring, and Hogan kicks his ass, and throws him into the turnbuckle, which leads to a big Heenan bump to the outside. Bundy tags in, and gives Hogan a shoulderblock. Hogan responds with a high knee, and gets a cover of 2. He goes for a bodyslam, but Heenan pushes Bundy down, and he lands on top of Hogan in bodypress position. Cover gets 2. Bundy misses a knee drop, and Hogan tags in Andre, who promptly gets kicked in the chest. Studd tags in, and beats up Andre. He also walks over to Hogan and knocks him off the ring apron. Bundy tags in, and kicks Andre a whole bunch. This is the part where a good match turns into a decent one. Heenan comes in now, and hits Andre with some really fake looking stuff, and Andre stands up, and slaps him all the way back to his corner. Bundy runs at Andre, and gets clocked with a big boot in the face.
Hogan tags in, shoots Bundy into the corner and follows with a clothesline. Then he knocks Heenan and Studd off the ring apron, but gets caught with a big shot, and Studd tags in. Studd slams Hogan, and tags in Bundy, who puts Hogan in a chinlock. Hogan breaks the chinlock, but gets put back down with a back elbow by Bundy. Studd tags in, and gives Hogan a shoulderblock. Pin gets 2. Hogan gets beaten up in the heel corner, and Heenan very foolishly tags in, only to get thrown into the turnbuckle once again. Hogan HULKS UP NOW, and beats Heenan up, until he finally tags in Andre. Studd and Bundy get in the ring, and they do a spot where all of them get beaten up. Andre gives Heenan a really stupid looking big boot, and gets the pinfall victory at 12:17 to a huge ovation.
After the match, Studd and Bundy tie Andre up in the ropes, and Bundy wrecks Hogan with a big splash. Andre gets out of those ropes, but can do nothing as his friend is down in the middle of the ring.
My Thoughts: This could have been really good, but the control segment basically killed the match. It’s too bad, because I was very entertained until that point. *1/2, I didn’t like anything after the heels gained control.
Despite the big sellout, we’re going to go with nothing from this month’s MSG card because there are later, greater things.
– Taped to Air February 1st, 1986, on Championship Wrestling
Piper’s Pit with George Steele and Lou Albano
There is a match on here where the Bulldogs pin the Dream Team in a non-title affair, but I’m not watching it. There’s better stuff later. As for this, Piper insults Albano from the get-go, and Steele shows up. Piper sells that he’s scared of him, which is cool by me. Steele says he’s like to have a date with Elizabeth, and Orton laughs at him. Piper calls Steele ugly, and in response he points out Piper’s wearing a skirt like Elizabeth. That wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.
– February 8th, 1986, from Boston, Massachusetts
Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Tito Santana for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Yes, the time is finally upon us for the rematch. Once again, Jesse and Gorilla are on commentary, and once again this is a sellout crowd. Looking at the full lineup, this has to have been one of the best non-MSG house shows they’ve ever put together. For some reason Savage’s music doesn’t play. I must also mention that Danny Davis is the referee. One thing I’ve never figured out is why Santana is announced as being from Tocula. It’s Toluca!
Match Review: This time, there is no stalling by Savage. They lock up, and Savage reaches the ropes. Now he stalls, but not for nearly as long as the last time. Savage takes Tito down with a headlock, Tito reverses to a head-scissors, and they break. Savage thumbs Tito in the eye, and the champion is pissed, and he chases Savage out of the ring. Tito follows him to the outside, and punches him. Savage puts him back in the ring, goes up top, and Tito catches him with a punch to the gut on the way down. Tito bodyslams Savage and goes for the FLYING FOREARM, but Savage ducks out. Tito chases him, and Savage nails him back in the ring. Savage tries a big boot, gets caught, and Tito gives him an atomic drop. Savage gets his feet in the ropes to break the cover. Savage attacks Tito from behind, gets a 2 count on the cover. Savage gives Tito a clothesline, also gets 2. Crowd senses something important here, too. Savage lands his top rope double axehandle, and goes for the cover, which gets a close 2 count. Savage dumps Tito to the outside, and does the top rope double axehandle to him. What a spot that is. Tito rams Savage’s head into the turnbuckle, and hits him with a few big forearms. Tito heads to the second rope, and gives Savage a big flying elbow. Cover gets 2, Savage’s foot was on the rope. Tito sends Savage into the corner, but misses a charge and runs into Macho’s knee. Savage goes for a cover, but Tito presses out of it and launches Savage onto Danny Davis. Tito goes for a small package, Davis wakes up, and gives a 2 count. Savage then knocks Tito down and misses a knee drop, and Tito goes to work on his leg in response. Tito now goes for the FIGURE-FOUR (on the wrong leg), and locks it in. Savage reverses it and reaches the ropes, which was a bit unexpected. Savage is now on the ring apron, and digging in his tights for something. Tito gives him a suplex, and goes for the figure-four again, but Savage kicks him off and runs to the ring apron again. This time, Savage FINDS whatever he’s looking for, swings and misses, but Tito goes for a back suplex and gets clocked in the face by Savage during the middle of it. This is a repeat of the Steamboat/Savage match from this same city, but a good one. Savage crawls over for the cover, gets the victory and becomes NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION, 10:29 the time. Huge cheer for that finish.
My Thoughts: And so Santana’s title reign ends. I didn’t think it was anything spectacular, and after his title victory over Valentine they didn’t have a ton planned for him. As for the match, it was a historic bout, and launched Savage on a long title reign. Not surprisingly, after Santana lost the belt, it gave him something important to do. He was great at the chase for a belt, Savage was great at holding one. ***1/2, the match was better than the previous months match. I don’t really like the repeat finish in the same town, though. Recommended, obviously.
Bruno Sammartino vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in a STEEL CAGE MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: Piper is trolling big time before the match, wearing a Chicago Bears shirt to the ring before the match and placing Bears posters on the walls of the cage. Of course, the Bears had just beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl. This is the last match of their feud. Escape rules.
Match Review: Bruno attacks Piper from behind at the start of the match, and throws him into the cage. Piper so obviously cuts himself, like he’s trying to make the match look bad. Piper is bleeding quite a bit after those throws into the cage, and he starts choking Piper with one of those Bears posters. He shoves another one in Piper’s trunks, and rips off Piper’s bloody shirt to choke him with it. Bruno goes for the cage door, but Piper hits him in the nuts. Piper finally stands up, wearing a crimson mask, and stomps on Bruno for once. He gives Bruno an elbow drop to the balls, and chokes Bruno with his shirt. “Returning the favor,” Ventura says. Piper goes for the door, but Bruno grabs his leg, preventing him from leaving. Piper rams Bruno into the cage, Bruno keeps him from exiting through the cage door once again. Piper tries to climb over the top and can’t make it, as the match has slowed down a bit. Bruno sells the shots to the nuts even still, and that keeps him from exiting the cage as quickly as he’d like. This match has fallen apart since the early portion, to be honest. Unfortunately Bruno exposes Piper’s ass, who trades punches with Bruno while having nearly his whole bare-ass exposed. Bruno goes for the cage door again, and Piper pulls him back. Piper tries to climb over the top of the fence, and Bruno hits him in the nuts. Ouch. Bruno crawls towards the cage door, tries to go out head first, and grabs a wooden chair as Piper is holding him back from leaving. Bruno hits Piper with the chair a few time, and exits the cage at 8:40 for the victory!
My Thoughts: That looked like a great match at the beginning, but it slowed way down and seemed to lose its structure. Too bad, but it wasn’t one of my favorite cage matches by any stretch. Only ** here.
– Taped to Air February 15th, 1986, on Championship Wrestling
Terry Funk (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Junkyard Dog
This is joined in progress, which is fine for the purposes of this review. Terry gets tied up in the ropes, and Jimmy Hart tries to save him with the branding iron. JYD throws Jimmy Hart into the turnbuckle and out of the ring. JYD grabs the branding iron to brand Terry with, and he does, but DORY FUNK runs into the ring and hits JYD with his cowboy boot. Dory beats up the ref, and then he and Terry beat up JYD to their satisfaction. One throws garbage in the ring, but skinny ass Jimmy Hart beats up JYD now. Damn, that’s humiliating. The jobber brigade runs into the ring to clear it, but it’s too late, and JYD has been messed up by the Funk family. Good WrestleMania setup there.
– February 17th, 1986, from New York City, New York
The Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Killer Bees
Pre-Match Thoughts: The Bees annoy me, but they are very good wrestlers. In theory, this should be a great matchup considering that the Hart Foundation is a very good team. Still early in their progression, and as of yet the Hart Foundation hasn’t really gotten in gear facing all sorts of tag teams, but this is a great chance for them to have a showcase match. They still need their familiar attire, though. This is the first of FOUR matches I will review from this card, and I’m watching this on the first WWE Bret DVD.
Match Review: The Killer Bees are over BIG, I miss crowds like these. Neidhart and Brunzell will start, and Anvil gets a few chances to showcase his strength. Brunzell tries a shoulderblock, which wasn’t very smart. Neidhart tries a shoulderblock, and Brunzell gives him a drop toe-hold. Great move. Blair tags in, and they give Neidhart a double wishbone. Blair keeps hold of Neidhart’s left leg, and when Neidhart gets up, gives Neidhart another drop toe-hold. Brunzell tags in and goes for a jackknife pin, which gets 2. Brunzell works over that left leg even more, and tags in Blair, who goes for a figure-four leglock. Bret quickly jumps in the ring, and gives Blair a leg drop to break it. Bret then tags in, and takes Blair down for some punches and a quick leg drop. He rams Blair’s head into the turnbuckle, and chokes him in his corner. Bret distracts the referee while Neidhart chokes Blair, after which Bret puts Blair in a chinlock. Blair fights out to a wristlock, but Bret grabs his hair to prevent anything from happening. Bret gives Blair a backbreaker, and heads up to the second rope, but slips and misses an elbow drop. That bump looked rough, and that sure did look like a slip.
Blair makes the hot tag, and the crowd explodes for Brunzell coming into the ring. Brunzell throws Bret into Neidhart, and works Neidhart over in the corner. Neidhart misses a clothesline, but Bret kicks Brunzell in the back as he’s running the ropes. A Neidhart cover gets 2, and he goes to a chinlock himself. Neidhart then catches Brunzell and walks him over to his corner, to give Brunzell a backbreaker-elbow drop combination as Bret tags in. Nice double team move. Bret kicks Brunzell in the gut, and puts him in a front facelock to keep him from making a tag. This match has a LOT of heat, exhibited whenever a Killer Bee is put in a control hold. Neidhart tags in, and tosses Brunzell to the outside, where Bret gives him a bodyslam. Blair then attacks Neidhart, while Bret beats up Brunzell. Good distraction there. Brunzell gets back in the ring, at which point Neidhart brings him over to the corner for a tag. Brunzell gives Bret a surprise sunset-flip for a two count, and can’t get anywhere near tagging because Bret whipped Neidhart into the corner for a big shoulder charge. Bret gives Brunzell a dropkick, gets 2. Brunzell gives Bret his excellent looking dropkick, and is so exhausted that Neidhart is able to place Bret on top of Brunzell for a 2 count. That was an interesting sequence. Bret gives Brunzell an inverted atomic drop, and Anvil distracts the referee so that Brunzell can’t make a tag. The Hart Foundation tries a double team, and Bret misses a charge to the corner, which leads to Brunzell making the tag!
The crowd goes bananas as Blair beats up both of his opponents. Blair gives Neidhart a clothesline, and a small package which gets 2. The crowd pops big for a Blair powerslam on Bret, and he then atomic drops Bret into Neidhart. Neidhart tries to break up the cover and hits Bret, then Blair makes the cover, which gets 2. Ridiculous heat for this match. Blair puts an abdominal stretch on Bret, and Neidhart breaks it up. This time Brunzell runs into the ring to attack Neidhart, and the Killer Bees whip the heels into each other, which leads to Bret being taken out. Bret kicks out of the cover at 2. Blair rolls Bret up, but Bret grabs the tights so that he can’t get the win. Brunzell gives Bret another great dropkick, and the bell rings for the time limit at 18:48. The crowd cheers the Killer Bees as if they’ve won, but of course, they did not.
My Thoughts: This match was ridiculously good. Although it was cut off by the time limit, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. At this point, I think both teams are being slightly misused. No SNME matches for either of them, and as we know their match at WrestleMania is the battle royal. Unfortunately the first thing to be sacrificed when singles wrestlers and celebrities need their TV time are the mid-level tag teams. Bummer. In any case, if you watch this match and can’t get into it, you are a heathen. ***1/2. Recommended.
Ricky Steamboat (w/King Tonga) vs. Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) in a MARTIAL ARTS MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is basically the end of this feud, barring a later match from Toronto that aired on Prime Time Wrestling. Maybe it’s better, but I don’t know nor care. Steamboat is super into his gimmick, and extremely over. Doesn’t get much lower of a reaction than Hogan if I’m being honest. Both guys are given gi’s, and after being annoyed by Fuji, Steamboat goes to the back and comes back out with KING TONGA. You may know him as Haku.
Match Review: I don’t understand what the rules are here, but I hope it isn’t much different than a regular match. Steamboat refuses to break cleanly, and enziguri’s Muraco in the back, knocking him over the top rope. Muraco gets back in the ring, and he’s an asshole, so he ducks out to the ring apron. Steamboat enziguri’s Muraco over the top rope again, to a nice cheer. Back in the ring, and Muraco pulls Steamboat’s hair to get out of a headlock, knocking Steamboat down. Twice, in fact. Steamboat and Muraco do a great running the ropes sequence, which ends with Muraco getting chopped and bodyslammed. Steamboat gives Muraco a headlock takeover, and this time Muraco does not cheat. Muraco gives Steamboat a huge Samoan drop, and throws Steamboat over the top rope. He distracts the referee, during which Fuji acts like he’s going to hit Steamboat with his cane…but TONGA comes over there and breaks it up. Then Muraco bodyslams Tonga on the concrete floor. Muraco slingshots Steamboat into the back of a chair held by Fuji, which is a really cool spot that I haven’t seen before. Steamboat gets color at a very opportune time, and Muraco then suplexes him into the ring. Cover gets a 2 count. Muraco unravels the belt on Steamboat’s gi, and whips him with it. Another great spot. Now he chokes him with the belt, and the crowd is getting quite upset! Muraco then clotheslines Steamboat, and chokes him until he gets punched in the mouth. Steamboat uses his momentum to cause Muraco to fly over the turnbuckles, and ram himself into the ring post, which causes Muraco to get bloody. Steamboat heads up top, and lands a big flying chop. Muraco thumbs Steamboat repeatedly in the eye, and the referee gets in the way, so he goes down too. Fuji gets on the ring apron and holds Steamboat, but Steamboat breaks free and Muraco goes for a small package, but there’s no referee. Fuji wakes up the referee, during which Tonga reverses the small package to put Steamboat on top. So Fuji doesn’t see the referee making his cover and Steamboat gets a 3 count at 12:47.
Fuji dances around the ring celebrating,until he sees the referee raising Steamboat’s hand. He hears the announcement and then he and Muraco get really angry. Tonga goes after Fuji, and Muraco nearly kills Tonga with a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER. There are no words to describe how dangerous that looked, and if his head would have made the impact that Steve Austin’s did with the canvas, he would probably be paralyzed.
My Thoughts: Whoever thought up that finish clearly didn’t recognize how silly it would look. It was unbelievably ridiculous. The lumberjack match in Toronto was the best in this series of matches, I believe. I’m going to give it **3/4, because it was a good, old fashioned brawl, with a bit of cheese added to the equation. The lumberjack match was better because there were no early limitations of the martial arts gimmick. That being said, I really don’t like Muraco’s work very much. He works so slowly, and he carries a bit of racism to his shtick that I don’t like. His manager being a guy who says he eats dogs is part of that, too. I also believe that to great degree, he and the WWF’s lack of good working heels has held Steamboat back from having better matches during this time period.
The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Dan Spivey & Corporal Kirchner
Pre-Match Thoughts: This team of Spivey and Kirchner comes about because Rotunda bailed on the WWF and went to the AWA to team up with Windham again. Anyway, I’m watching this because it’s a good check to see how these guys are doing. Spivey looks way too much like Hogan, with his hair and attire.
Match Review: Sheik and Kirchner start the match, and do some mat wrestling bits that lead to not very much. Sheik gives Kirchner a shouldebrblock, and the two men botch a backdrop or some such. Kirchner catches Sheik’s boot, and gives him an atomic drop. He headbutts Sheik in the nuts, but Volkoff tags in afterward, preventing Kirchner from gaining control. Volkoff does an awful turnbuckle bump after being whipped into them, then beats up Kirchner a bit and tags in his partner. Sheik gives Kirchner a clothesline, and tags in Volkoff, who subsequently is given a sunset-flip. Referee isn’t paying attention, though. Spivey makes a tag in with the referee not paying attention, and with the referee distracted, Sheik and Volkoff give the referee a double back elbow. Spivey finally makes the tag, gives Sheik a bad bodyslam, and Volkoff puts Spivey in a full nelson which he subsequently reverses. Such a boring match. Sheik puts an abdominal stretch on Spivey, which he reverses into a hip-toss. Sheik responds with a gutwrench suplex and goes for the BREAK YOUR BACK CAMEL CLUTCH, but Kirchner runs in to break the hold. Spivey gives Sheik a suplex, and both guys tag their partners. Kirchner gives Volkoff a few elbows, order breaks down, and Spivey winds up on the floor. Sheik loads up his boot, kicks Kirchner in the gut, and gets the 3 count at 9:41.
My Thoughts: Next time I decide to watch a match purely for checking in purposes, I’ll change my mind. Brutal match. DUD.
Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) (IC Champion) vs. Hulk Hogan in a LUMBERJACK MATCH for the WWF Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: I do not believe this is for the title. The lumberjacks are Ricky Steamboat, King Tonga, George Steele, Corporal Kirchner, Lanny Poffo, Danny Spivey, Tony Atlas, Barry O, King Kong Bundy, Les Thornton, Don Muraco, Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and the Hart Foundation. Savage gets quite the face pop, too. Or is that Elizabeth getting the pop? I’m not sure. Hogan has taped ribs, selling an injury which has not aired on TV yet.
Match Review: Hogan attacks Savage very quickly, and lands a big clothesline on him. He hits Savage a few times with the WWF title, and gives him a back suplex. Hulk throws Savage through the second rope onto the face side of the ring, and they are too scared to put their hands on the two wrestlers to throw them back in. Hogan does a chokelift on Savage, and puts a bearhug on the Macho Man. After ramming Savage into the turnbuckles, Hogan charges in with a back elbow. Hogan gives Savage an atomic drop, and Bundy trips him as he’s running the ropes! Hogan punches Muraco and Bundy, and dives back in the ring before they can tag him. Savage gives Hogan a running knee, and heads up to the top rope, for a double axehandle to Hogan’s ribs. Cover gets 2. Savage throws Hogan out of the ring to the heel side, where they kick his ass. Sheik, Bundy, and Muraco get the most damage in. Bundy gives Hogan an AVALANCHE as he rests against the ring post, and that seems like big damage. Savage throws Hogan out again, and once again Bundy gives Hogan an AVALANCHE. Savage heads up top, and gives Hogan another double axehandle to the ribs, which gets a 2 count. as Hogan barely kicks out. Savage gives Hogan a clothesline for 2, also. Savage uses Hogan’s rib tape to keep him close, and gives him another double axehandle. Hogan barely kicks out at 2. A Savage knee drop gets 2, and the crowd starts chanting for their hero. Savage lands an elbow drop on Hogan for 2, and heads up top. He lands one more double axehandle, and Hogan sells the damage well by kicking out late, and while barely turning his shoulder over. Savage goes for the BIG ELBOW, LANDS IT, and Hogan kicks out of the cover. NO. He HULKS UP BROTHER, gives Savage a big boot, and gets rakes in the eyes. I didn’t expect that. They then do a criss-cross, Steele trips Savage, and Hogan gives Macho the big LEG DROP at 7:36 for the victory.
My Thoughts: That was a neat finish to a good match. I’ve seen the match before, but I’m having a hard time recalling a similar finish in a different lumberjack match. **3/4. I was a fan of the beatdowns given out, and the psychology that went into the whole match.
All in all, this was a good set of matches, many of which came from two stacked house shows. It boggles the mind that this kind of star power can come from a company that ran two different sets of touring shows. Anyway, next up, is Superstars on the Superstation. It looks like a stacked card.
Best: Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana, the title change. It had a finish, as opposed to the Hart Foundation vs. Killer Bees tag.
Worst: Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. Cpl. Kirchner and Dan Spivey. I was trying to eliminate the worst category in terms of the assorted things, but this match prevented that.
