Sage Cortez
Continuing with the WrestleMania 2 theme, we find ourselves with a decent, although not spectacular slate of matches. Some of these are column fillers and checking out the state of the lesser seen workers of the time. Some I’m genuinely interested in. It also bears mentioning that the last SNME rating was huge, I mean huge! The first match/angle, however, is this…
– Taped to Air March 1st, 1986, on Championship Wrestling, from Poughkeepsie, New York
King Kong Bundy on Piper’s Pit
This was shown before Saturday Night’s Main Event, so it’s strange that they were talking about Bundy putting Hogan in the hospital. Piper is funny in this skit, Bundy is not. So weird how Bundy got in this big spot, but I’ve seen weirder, and far more nonsensical things.
– March 1st, 1986, from Baltimore, Maryland
The Slammy Awards
I’m not watching this junk, but it’s worth sharing. This was shown live on MTV, and the arena was sold out. Shows that a lot of people would buy whatever they were selling, doesn’t it?
– March 8th, 1986, from Boston, Massachusetts
Bret Hart (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Ricky Steamboat
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is, by some distance I would add, the peak of athleticism in terms of heel vs. face wrestling in the WWF at this time. I don’t think there’s anyone who wasn’t looking forward to watching this when they saw it in the match listing on Bret’s first WWE DVD. I was heavily anticipating it, and I thought it delivered. Let’s see if it still does.
Match Review: At the start of the match, Bret immediately attacks Steamboat. After beating the Dragon up in the corner, Steamboat reverses a whip into one of his own, which Bret takes at full speed running into the turnbuckle. Bret then takes a beating of his own, but Steamboat distracted a bit by Jimmy Hart. Fortunately it doesn’t matter, and Steamboat locks in an armbar. He works over Bret’s left arm for a bit, and does a great lifting spot, which leads to Bret taking a big bump on the canvas. Steamboat then puts Bret in a hammerlock, and rams him shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Steamboat then gives Bret an arm drag after running the ropes multiple times and sneaking between Bret’s legs. Great spot. Bret tries to take a bit of control, and blocks a hip-toss, only for Steamboat to flip over and give him one anyway. After an arm drag, Steamboat puts an armbar on Bret. Bret fights out and tries for an atomic drop, but he gets superkicked in the face. After Steamboat telegraphs a backdrop, Bret gives him a swinging neckbreaker, and a leg drop. Bret goes low with a kick to the abdomen, and a shot in the gut that causes Steamboat to fall out of the ring. Bret goes for a suplex to bring Steamboat in, and nails it. Cover gets 2. Bret takes Steamboat down with a headlock, but he gets up very quickly and tries a bodyslam. It fails, and Bret falls on top for a cover of 2. Bret tries a backbreaker, but Steamboat flips out and gives him a bodyslam. This is really good stuff. Steamboat goes for a splash, but lands right on Bret’s knees. Should be a bit more careful. Bret quickly knocks Steamboat out of the ring, and bodyslams him on the wooden floor at ringside. Steamboat crawls back in, only to be given a big powerslam. Different move by Bret there, nt one I’ve seen him do much. Cover got 2. Bret gives Steamboat a stiff backbreaker, and heads up to the second rope for an elbow drop, which misses! Steamboat charges back, and lands a few chops. Pin gets….2. A back suplex by Steamboat also gets 2. Steamboat then rams Bret’s head into the canvas, and covers for 2. Some really close falls here. Steamboat gets upset with the referee and nearly shoves him away, but instead, Bret whips Steamboat into the referee for good measure. He hits Steamboat with a clothesline, and would have gotten the cover, but the referee was out of it. Bret lands a cross-body, Steamboat reverses it, and he gets the 3 count at 15:08. Excellent match!
My Thoughts: This match was, as said, excellent. Not a top match by any stretch, but the athleticism on display was nice to see, and they built up to a strong finish. Considering neither man had a finisher, it was necessary for a finish to be, well, what it was. In terms of singles matches in the WWF, it seems like these two, along with Randy Savage and Tito Santana, deliver most often. ***1/2, and recommended. It’s not that surprising that the Steamboat match at WrestleMania 2 was switched to one with Hercules instead of Bret, because Bret was in a good tag team and Hercules wasn’t doing very much, yet needed the boost. It made sense.
– Taped to Air March 15th, 1986, on All Star Wrestling, from Brantford, Ontario
The Body Shop with Jake Roberts
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc4did_body-shop-with-guest-jake-roberts_sport?search_algo=2
The Body Shop is Jesse Ventura’s show. I haven’t seen many things worth posting from this, however, this must be posted. Jake shows up and he’s carrying a bag, which has…DAMIEN IN IT. First time with the snake! I really dislike snakes, but growing up, I loved watching Jake with his snake. Whether he was a heel or on the face side. It was a great gimmick for a guy to have during this time period, and it fit the man perfectly.
– March 16th, 1986, from New York City, New York
King Tonga vs. Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji)
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m going to ramp down the Muraco watching really soon, as he gets pushed down the card where he belongs. In the meantime, I’m going to watch this match, which will be the earliest I’ve ever seen King Tonga/Haku wrestle. Haku is one of my favorite wrestlers in the sense that his stuff looked really legitimate. Therefore it was easier to buy into what he was doing. This is coming off last month’s MSG card where Muraco tried to kill Tonga with a tombstone piledriver.
Match Review: Tonga looks really funny wearing trunks. Muraco slaps him on a break, and does it a second time when they break again. After some taunting, Muraco gets hit, and knocked out of the ring. Muraco misses a clothesline when he gets back in, and gets bodyslammed. Then he falls out of the ring. Jesse hypes up the terrible Ted Arcidi in anticipation of WrestleMania 2, which causes me to laugh. TED ARCIDI. Muraco hits Tonga with a few forearms, but Tonga replies with some chops and a nice dropkick. Muraco regroups outside the ring, but when he gets back in, Tonga locks up his arm. He drops the leg on Muraco, and grabs back onto that left arm. Tonga gives Muraco a hip-toss and another bodyslam, then a very well done arm drag. Tonga again locks up Muraco’s arm, but Muraco powers out with a Samoan drop. Muraco gives King Tonga a clothesline, and a knee-lift. Of course, after that, they do the racist Islanders have hard heads thing, and Tonga no-sells being rammed into the turnbuckle. Tonga gives Muraco a hard chop and headbutt, then goes for the cover…but Mr. Fuji gets on the apron. Fuji tosses his cane in, Muraco hits Tonga with it while the referee is distracted, and gets the pinfall victory at 8:05.
My Thoughts: This was okay. Nothing special, and not a whole lot to talk about. The commentary was much better than the match. *1/2, and like I said, the random Muraco matches are being toned way down by me.
Jake Roberts vs. Lanny Poffo
Pre-Match Thoughts: I believe this is Jake’s MSG debut, and I found it essential to watch for this series. This was a sell-out and the card did not have Hulk Hogan on it. By any standard, that is a success. I think everyone knows what will happen here, but hey, I wanted to watch it, and the standard for any old wrestling that I watch now is to review it. Poffo reads one of his usual poems, disses Jake, and off we go.
Match Review: Jake knocks Poffo down with a shoulderblock, and after Poffo kips up, knocks Poffo down with a right hand. Poffo then springs back up and lands two dropkicks, chasing Jake out of the ring. Roberts locks in an armbar on Poffo, but Poffo runs to the corner, backflips out of it, and gives Jake an arm drag. Poffo’s offense was always really nice. Jake goes for “the bag,” but doesn’t quite do it, and Poffo gives him a cross-body for 2. Again he goes for the bag, and Poffo puts an armbar of his own on Jake. Jake gives Poffo a gut buster, and cheats quite a bit, grabbing Poffo’s afro and the like. Jake then gives Poffo a boot to the gut, and smiles at the crowd. Jake then takes Poffo down and puts him in a chinlock. Weird seeing Jake wrestle in such control of his opponent, that didn’t happen much in the WWF. Poffo bridges out of the chinlock into a wristlock, but Roberts pulls his hair to put him back in a chinlock. This time, Poffo gets out, and kicks Jake in the chest when Jake goes for a backdrop. Poffo makes his comeback, gives Jake a backdrop, and tries a crazy springboard plancha that fails spectacularly, with his foot impacting Jake’s head and nearly knocking him out. Epic botch there, on something that would have been amazing for the time period if it came off. Back in the ring now, and Jake dumps Poffo quickly to the outside. Sure his head is hurting. Then wow, Jake gives Poffo a hip-toss on the wood floor covering the MSG ice. That would hurt. Back in, and BOOM, DDT, it’s over, and Jake Roberts wins by pinfall at 6:49. That DDT man, looks like death. Into the bag Jake goes, AND THERE’S DAMIEN. Man, that’s gross.
My Thoughts: Ordinary match with an epic botched move. I don’t think there’s anything special about the match, but I would note that Poffo has great offense. It’s a bit surprising to me that he couldn’t get over with it, but his look and the poetry gimmick gave off the impression he was gay. In that time period, getting over as a babyface if people thought you were gay wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t, but you know. * for the match.
Tito Santana vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Man, it took me forever to find this match in full. For months all I could find were clips, then on the day of watching, I find the whole thing! This is the first of a great MSG series. By great I mean actually great, not in terms of story but in terms of match quality. The “Savage stole the title” thing is being played up big time.
Match Review: Before this thing started, Ventura insinuated that Tito would hit Elizabeth. Maybe Jesse is confused. Tito chases Savage around the ring, with the champion having every intention of stalling. The referee is getting in the way and keeping this from getting really good, which is unfortunate. This time the referee does not, and Tito repeatedly chases Savage around the ring until he catches him and beats the crap out of him at ringside. After ramming Savage into the barricade, they get back in the ring and Tito lands some big shots. Tito gives Savage an atomic drop that sends him to the floor, and the crowd is absolutely on fire during all of this. Tito rams Savage into the turnbuckle and climbs up for a 10 punch combo, but only lands three of those punches, as Savage gouges Tito’s eyes and gives him an inverted atomic drop. Macho lands his punch combination in tandem with a running elbow, but that only gets 2. Tito then gives Savage a shin breaker, and tries for a figure-four, but the referee pulls Tito away from Savage. What is this dude’s problem? Savage then tosses Tito to the outside and heads up top for the BIG DOUBLE AXEHANDLE onto Tito at ringside. I love that move and everything about it. Savage rams Santana into the barricade, then into the turnbuckle once Santana makes it to the ring apron. Savage then hits Tito with a clothesline and goes for a cover, which unfortunately gets 2. Savage gives Santana a bodyslam, and UP HE GOES FOR THE ELBOW. Down he comes, and there’s nobody home! Crowd goes bananas for that miss. Tito reaches his feet, and goes to work on the champion. He drags Savage into the ring via his tights, and gives him a backdrop. To the FIGURE-FOUR, and this time Macho rakes the eyes to break it. Savage leaves the ring after that, and suckers Santana in, gaining the advantage to ram him into the barricade. Santana then lands a cross-body on Savage, and goes for the FIGURE-FOUR, which is now LOCKED IN. The crowd senses a title change, but Savage just won’t have that, so he pulls the referee into Santana. That breaks the hold, and it leads to a disqualification at 9:28. NOW THAT’S HEELING BROTHER.
My Thoughts: This was the perfect way to lead to future matches, and the perfect way to get heat on Savage while more and more people were starting to cheer for him. Cop-out finishes like that were absolutely necessary, and this one was near perfect in placement and tandem with the match that was wrestled. Macho did everything to keep from being locked in that hold, and once he finally was, he pulled the referee to get disqualified. Great psychology. I thought this was on its way to being better than the other two matches between these two, but the finish put an end to that, so I’ll give it ***1/2.
– March 23rd, 1986, from Toronto, Ontario
Hoss (Dory) Funk, Terry Funk, & Jimmy Hart vs. Andre the Giant & Junkyard Dog in a HANDICAP MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m not calling Dory by that insulting name. This is an old school type match that could fill an arena just about anywhere in the country at that time. It’s quite interesting, not just because I haven’t seen it, but because of that aforementioned reason. Jimmy Hart wrestling is interesting too. JYD and Andre are also still capable, so let’s see what happens. Andre leading JYD in by his chain is a little bit weird to me, to be quite honest.
Match Review: Andre and Terry start things off, which brings to mind now, I wonder how many times they faced each other? Andre rams Terry into his big knee, then puts a headlock on him. JYD tags in, and Jimmy Hart is being really annoying with that megaphone now that he’s standing on the apron. Dory comes in and tries to slam JYD, but it fails and Dory gets slammed instead. So does Terry. So does Dory. So does Terry again. Then Jimmy Hart gets in, and freaks out when JYD runs towards him, which subsequently clears the ring. JYD and Dory then do a criss-cross, Terry runs in to join them, and he nearly ran into Dory. Didn’t know this was going to be a comedy match. Dory backs JYD into the corner, and hits him with some great EUROPEAN UPPERCUTS. Terry then tags in, and gives JYD a piledriver. Easy to see why the WWE banned that move, if you just saw this one. Jimmy Hart then tags in, and chokes JYD. The crowd loves this. After hitting him with weak shit, Jimmy dives back to the corner to tag in Terry before getting beaten up. Dory then drops JYD throat-first on the barricade, and Jimmy puts the boots to him again. Terry drags JYD into the ring, and rams him into the turnbuckle. JYD blocks the next attempt at that, and rams Terry into the turnbuckle 10 TIMES. Unfortunately, he misses a falling headbutt. Dory tags in after that, and puts a SLEEPER on JYD. Terry tags in, and puts on the same hold. Of course, that won’t finish the Dog, so Jimmy Hart tags in and chokes JYD with the tag rope. JYD carries Jimmy on his back over to his corner, and bails out. Andre gives both Funks a noggin knocker, and beats the crap out of Jimmy. Aw. Andre fails at a backdrop, gets kicked in the chest, and the Funks choke him in tandem. Andre has basically been double teamed for the last two minutes, and the referee doesn’t even do anything to stop it. Andre then lands a monster chop on Dory, but misses a big boot and Dory forearms him. Now Andre’s tied in the ropes, and both Funks give him a beat down. JYD comes in and headbutts Dory to break that up, so Terry chops Andre repeatedly. Then Andre hits Terry with a few monster chops. JYD tags in after that, and gives Terry headbutts repeatedly. In Dory comes, and that’s an excuse for Terry to do a sneak attack. While the referee wasn’t paying full attention, Jimmy decided to get on the rop rope and fly off it with a megaphone shot onto JYD’s head, and I guess that’s going to be the end of the match, with his team getting DQ’d at 12:44.
Jimmy Hart is now trapped in the ring with JYD and Andre, and he gets flung over the top rope by Andre. Andre swings JYD’s chain to clear the ring, and that’s that.
My Thoughts: This was pretty interesting, to be honest. I certainly wasn’t bored, although by the end it seemed like they weren’t keeping the match on track. Still, I liked the effort, and it was better than I expected. **.
Unfortunately, the video I had of Ricky Steamboat & Hulk Hogan vs. Don Muraco, Johnny V, & Mr. Fuji in a HANDICAP MATCH was so bad that I could not possibly watch it. This is a short article, but it was for only one month, and in the future there will be shorter ones too. So I’m happy with it. Heading into WrestleMania 2, the WWF product is looking pretty good, but I think it gets even better afterwards. In any case, I’m hopping back over to the NWA for their February, March, and April material. There’s some nice stuff from those months, and the Crockett Cup too. Unfortunately, the Crockett Cup 1986 video is a clip vid, so the final will be the only match that I review from the card.
Best: Bret Hart vs. Ricky Steamboat. The leg up over the similarly rated match was that it had a finish.
Worst: The Slammy Awards. That was garbage.
