Sage Cortez
Coming off a good SNME, the WWF has a bit of momentum leading into WrestleMania. Of course, the build starts now. The WrestleMania III build is particularly renowned for how good it was, but my shameful admission is that I’ve never seen any of it before. Hence, everything that wasn’t piled into a video package for WrestleMania III is something I’m going into blind. Fortunately the WWF had a lot of background video packages for that card. I found them very informative at the time. Let’s get to it!
– Taped to air October 4th, 1986, on Superstars of Wrestling, from Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland
The Flower Shop
WWE has stripped this video from the internet, but I got it first. Piper is on crutches, and walks over to the set of the Flower Shop after what happened to him on the previous episode of Superstars. That was him being attacked and injured. He says those sons of bitches aren’t going to keep him down, and destroys the set of the Flower Shop with a wooden baseball bat. THE WAR HAS JUST BEGUN. An epic segment, and very much recommended.
– October 18th, 1986, from The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Honky Tonk Man vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is certainly weird. A heel Savage vs. a face Honky Tonk Man. This has to be the only taped instance of this. And if it isn’t…that’s okay. I only want to watch it one time. I don’t know how Vince thought a dope like this would ever get over as a babyface. It boggles the mind.
Match Review: I can’t stop laughing at Honky’s babyface outfit with the suspenders and all that. It’s hilarious. I nearly missed the beginning of the match due to this affliction, but the start of it was Honky doing a very silly punching the air thing causing Savage to leave the ring. Savage gets back in and locks up with our awful Elvis impersonator, until they are forced to break up upon reaching the ropes. Savage stalls like crazy here, but gets his face rammed into the turnbuckle. He responds with an unseen low blow, and heads up to the top rope, coming down with a double axehandle to HTM’s back for a cover of 2. Honky tries sending Savage into the corner, but misses a charge in for another 2 count in favor of Savage. HTM tries for a backslide, but they’re much too close to the ropes and nothing happens. HTM lands a few punches, and tries a sunset flip, which gets 2. So weird seeing him do a move like that. Savage clotheslines HTM on the ropes, and heads up top yet again, landing a double axehandle on the way down. HTM comes back with a bodyslam and goes up to the second ropes, coming down with a fist drop for 2. The camera angle made me think that HTM was going to win the match, but Savage got his foot on the ropes. Savage then knocks HTM out of the ring with a shoulderblock, and gets pulled out of the ring by his opponent. They fight, Savage uses Elizabeth as a shield, and punches HTM when he turns his back. Then Savage dives back in the ring, and wins via count-out at 7:04! YES! After the match, they fight in the ring until Savage bails out to the back.
My Thoughts: Great ending to a nothing match. I had always wondered why Savage using Elizabeth in that manner never helped him win a match. But it did right there! *1/4 for the match, kudos for the finish. I don’t ever need to see that again, to be honest. Honky was awful in this role and didn’t belong at all.
– Taped to air October 19th, 1986, on Wrestling Challenge, from Rochester Community War Memorial Arena in Rochester, New York
The Snake Pit with Junkyard Dog
Digging into my Jake Roberts DVD for this. These never seem long enough for my liking, but JYD is a good guest here. He’s been seriously marginalized over the last little while, but this is a good showcase for him. Jake unfortunately says something I consider racist, with a “your people are superstitious line”. Sigh. It doesn’t pick up from there. That’s too bad. I wish I hadn’t watched this.
– October 20th, 1986, from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
Piper’s Pit with Bobby Heenan and Paul Orndorff
These in-ring Piper’s Pit skits at MSG are usually very good. So, Piper calls Adrian Adonis a “fag,” and says that we’ll never see the Flower Shop again. Okay then! When Heenan is introduced, his entrance causes massive heat. Of course that isn’t a surprise. Heenan’s bigging up of the Red Sox over the Mets is amusing, considering what happened later in that 1986 World Series. Heenan’s introduction of Paul Orndorff elicits greater heat. Piper and Orndorff nearly go at it when Piper makes fun of Orndorff losing at WrestleMania I, which is of course what really needs to happen. Piper wants a tag match, and says that Orndorff will never find a tag team partner. They argue about that for a while, Piper tells some great jokes, and Orndorff is ready to tell Piper who his tag team partner will be, with Heenan doing it on his behalf. It is…HARLEY RACE. I don’t want to be a downer but Harley hasn’t been good in the WWF yet. The crowd doesn’t react to that as you’d think. Piper is going to allow…VLAD THE SUPERFAN to choose his tag team partner. It shall be…Hulk Hogan! And there’s our main event for the next show at MSG. Piper poking Heenan in the eye as he left the ring was amazing.
24 MAN TAG TEAM BATTLE ROYAL
Pre-Match Thoughts: Our participants are SD Jones & Mike Rotundo, The Machines, The Rougeau Brothers, The Dream Team, The Islanders, King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd, The British Bulldogs (WWF Tag Champions), The Hart Foundation, The Moondogs, Chief Jay Strongbow & Steve Gatorwolf (haha), The Killer Bees, and lastly, The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff. Of course, the rules entail that when one partner is eliminated, the team is as well.
Match Review: Right off the bat, Moondog Spot is eliminated. That’s terrible. I really wanted to not watch more Machines matches, but it was unavoidable I suppose. Lots of uninteresting punching and kicking going on here, but Bret Hart is making things better by nearly thrown out. It takes a really long time for another guy to be thrown out of the ring, and it is SD Jones. Rotundo is gone too. Chief Jay Strongbow is shortly tossed out by an assortment of guys, and Sheik follows as Super Machine backdrops him over the top rope. Finally an interesting elimination, and somebody working hard. Shortly after, Bret and Dynamite head over the top rope while brawling near the ropes. The Rougeau’s work on Bundy now, but Studd rushes over and prevents the elimination. Beefcake backdrops Jim Brunzell over the top rope, and our number of teams has been reduced again. Studd tosses Jacques Rougeau out of the ring now, and Raymond seems a bit upset about it. That’s too bad. Beefcake gets tosseed out by Super Machine now, and Big Machine tries to lift Studd out of the ring, which shortly gets him clotheslined out of it. So we’re down to The Islanders and the team of Bundy & Studd. One of these teams is much smaller than the other team. Haku dpes a great job getting out of the corner, but his partner Tama is getting badly beaten down. Studd and Bundy attempt to knock Haku out of the ring, but Bundy very foolishly runs over Studd…sending him over the top rope at 10:20. So, The Islanders have won the tag team battle royal! Haku’s celebration was great.
My Thoughts: This was extremely boring, I had a hard time continuing to pay attention to it. Fortunately for me, this is the last time I’ll see Big John Studd wrestle for a while. I hate to disrespect the dead, but this guy was a really bad wrestler. He bored the crap out of me. 1/2* for the battle royal. It was certainly not one of the best that I’ve ever seen, and a lot of guys turned in crappy efforts.
– Taped to air November 2nd, 1986, on Wrestling Challenge, from Rochester Community War Memorial Arena in Rochester, New York
Billy Jack Haynes vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Haynes was around for so short a period that I’m only accustomed to seeing him face Hercules. However, that is not the case here! I felt obligated to check this out considering that. As per usual, Monsoon and Heenan are the commentators for Wrestling Challenge. Savage is starting to get some face reactions again, and I can’t believe they waited nearly a year to flip him over to the other side.
Match Review: It appears that Danny Davis is the referee. Savage and Haynes exchange wristlocks, but Haynes gets a headlock on the champion and works that hold amusingly. A shoulderblock knocks Savage down, but he comes back by kicking Haynes in…the back. Savage sends Haynes into the corner and covers for 2, then tries a bodyslam, but Haynes falls on top of him for a 1 count. Savage follows with a takedown and knee drop, which sends Haynes tumbling out of the ring. Savage comes down from the top with his double axehandle to the outside, which always gets the crowd excited. Back in he covers for 2, and Haynes suplexes him afterward. Haynes also gives Savage a backbreaker, but he sells his injury and can’t cover. Haynes follows with a gorilla press slam, and I think a few people are believing that he’s going to win the match. Haynes locks in the FULL NELSON, and while Davis is checking out Savage, he gets punched by the champion. Barely punched that is, but it causes Danny Davis to disqualify Billy Jack Haynes at 5:00. Haha what. He grabs the microphone, and says that Haynes is at fault because he swung Savage’s hand into him.
My Thoughts: Crooked ref angles are THE BEST. I liked the match enough, it had a lot of action and it got to the point. The Danny Davis thing is picking up, though. That’s a good thing. **1/4 with a really interesting finish.
– November 16th, 1986, from Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario
George Steele vs. KAMALA (w/The Wizard & Kimchee)
Pre-Match Thoughts: I had to watch some silly shit, I couldn’t help myself. I know that this could be one of the worst matches imaginable.
Match Review: Steele and Kamala do their ridiculous pre-match taunts to get a rise out of the crowd, and I can hear a few people laughing so it is working. After many minutes of goofy behavior, Kamala attacks Steele with Kimchee’s whip, hitting him in the throat. Poor Kimchee was getting choked by Steele, so that seems only fair. Kamala then heads up top, and comes down with a VERY BIG SPLASH. 1-2-3, Kamala wins at 4:30. They could have counted to 100.
After the match, Kamala runs the ropes and splashes poor Steele. Aw. Steele does a stretcher job afterward.
My Thoughts: Well, this was bad. The finish was necessary, but the rest of the match was as bad as you’d expect. That shouldn’t be surprising. It sucks to see Steele reduced to enhancement talent, but by this point that’s all he should be doing. You also have to look at this in the context of the company needing to get Kamala over in order for him to face Hogan around the circuit. Is having Kamala wrestle for 10 minutes a night going to get him over? No. This is the way it has to be. Still, in the context of a wrestling match, it was really poor. -*1/2.
Roddy Piper vs. Don Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji)
Pre-Match Thoughts: It would seem that this is the most readily available match of their mini-feud. Said feud began when Piper was injured during the dueling Flower Shop/Piper’s Pit skit by multiple wrestlers, one of whom was Don Muraco.
Match Review: At the start of the match, Piper surprise attacks Muraco, and chokes him with a kilt. That’s very smart. He gives Muraco a kilt clothesline, and a shot to the jaw. He throws Muraco into the corner, causing him to go upside down, and lands more punches while Muraco is hooked in the corner. Piper also gives Muraco a bodyslam, and a splash for a 2 count. Weird offense from Piper, for sure. He trips Muraco and tries to pin him, but gets his head crunched in between Muraco’s legs, and the tide has turned. With the referee distracted, Mr. Fuji whacks Piper twice with his cane. Muraco follows that by dropping Piper on the guardrail, and Piper has to crawl his way back into the squared circle. However, Piper drags Muraco to the outside instead, and rams the former Intercontinental Champion into the guardrail himself. We’re back in now, and Muraco goes for a piledriver, which he sticks. Piper kicks out at 1, and gets clotheslined. That cover gets an unbelievably slow 2 count. Muraco follows with a powerslam, and Piper’s legs take the referee out. So, Muraco gives Piper a swinging neckbreaker and goes for the pin, but there isn’t an official. Fuji tries throwing his wooden cane to Muraco, but he misses, Piper catches it, and whacks his opponent in the throat with it. Piper covers while hiding the cane from the referee, and gets a 3 count at 7:05.
My Thoughts: Piper winning that match got a big pop from this Canadian crowd. I love Piper, but this wasn’t great. It was just okay. Muraco didn’t do a whole lot, but that’s usual activity for him, Piper made this thing what it was. **1/4. His offense is really weird in this role, but I’ll become accustomed to it in the future.
– Taped to air November 22nd, 1986, on Superstars of Wrestling, from Broome County Arena in Binghamton, New York
Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Earlier in this taping, the Machines angle ended, as they lost a match to King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd. Yeah, I’m not watching that pile of shit. That’s not the only thing that happened. Lou Albano got fired. Big John Studd left the company. This could be absolutely spectacular, though. Before the match, Dave Hebner and Danny Davis argue about who is going to be the referee for this match. Dave Hebner won that argument.
Match Review: Man, this is going to be fast paced. A true test of my typing abilities. The two men struggle in the middle of the ring, and Steamboat gives Savage an arm drag. He bars the arm for a short bit, and we move quickly into Savage tossing Steamboat into the corner. The second time he tries to do so, Steamboat evades him brilliantly, slams, and covers Savage for a 2 count. Steamboat gives Savage another arm drag, but Savage gives him a few shoulderblocks. After continuing to run the ropes, Savage gets arm dragged again. Savage fights out and drops a knee for 2, and heads up to the top. The crowd gets excited, and sees Savage give Steamboat a double axehandle from up top for 2. Then, Savage leaps out of the corner after being thrown into it, and gives Steamboat a bodypress. The challenger reverses it for 2, and misses a charge to the corner, so Savage has some control. That lasts for about 20 seconds, and ends when Steamboat heads up to the top himself, and comes down with a blow to Savage’s head. The crowd is very heated for this match, anticipating something great. Savage then tosses Steamboat out of the ring, but Steamboat sunset flips him on the way back in, only to get punched by the Macho Man. Steamboat skins the cat after being thrown out of the ring again, and rolls Savage up for 2. People thought that was it! Steamboat shoots Savage into the ropes, and unfortunately Savage runs over the referee, so some shit is about to happen. Steamboat comes off the top with a flying bodypress that should have led to a three count, but DANNY DAVIS rushes into the ring and stops Dave Hebner from making the count. He got mega heat for doing that. Steamboat is mad at Mr. Davis, and that gives Savage the chance to knee him in the back and pull him out of the ring. Savage drops Steamboat throat first on the guardrail, and places his neck perfectly across that guardrail. Savage heads up to the top rope, and comes down with a blow to Steamboat’s throat. BAH GAWD HE KILLED HIM. Savage wins the match via count-out at 7:03, but that’s secondary now.
Savage heads to the outside, grabs the bell, and hits Steamboat in the throat with it. Vince’s commentary during this is great. Savage is back to getting the crazy heat that he needed, and Steamboat is, well, ruined. He’s choking to death, and they bring out a stretcher for him to choke to death on. The crowd is stunned.
My Thoughts: That was outstanding, and great casting in the roles for this angle. Nobody sells a catastrophic attack better than Ricky Steamboat. Nobody in the WWF is better at carrying them out than Randy Savage. It was just perfect. That was a great match to start the feud too. Full of action, very fast, and quite snug. These two were great at their craft, and the match was no exception. Considering the finish, it’s a ***1/2 deal. Sometimes the angle has to be considered as part of the rating for the match, and in this instance it must be. Highly recommended, and it’s linked, so you should check it out.
– Taped to air November 23rd, 1986, on Wrestling Challenge, from the Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York
The Snake Pit with Hulk Hogan
If you have Jake’s WWE DVD, you’ve probably seen this by now. Jake’s wearing suspenders. First thing I noticed. Hogan enters, and the crowd is amped up for this. Hogan calls Jake a fool, and now I’m wishing these guys had a program. Hulk’s great in this, brother. He made Jake look a bit bad, to be honest. Don’t know if Jake was sure or unsure of what he should have said, but I wish this had been longer.
– November 24th, 1986, from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
Paul Orndorff & King Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Roddy Piper & Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Of course, this match filled up Madison Square Garden. Hogan & Piper tagging up was one of the drawing cards they had available to throw out there, and it was time to use it before Piper retired. It was also a chance to get Harley out there to perform in front of a big house to see if he had anything left to give. This is his chance to show something, but obviously there’s no question whatsoever who’s taking the pin here. No reason to keep the illusion of suspense. This match even taking place is amusing considering that Harley pulled a gun on Hogan. I guess the money was too much to pass up.
Match Review: Orndorff and Harley attack from the off, but Hogan and Piper clear the ring. The best part is that they nearly start fighting with each other after doing it. The crowd goes insane at the notion, but they quickly team up and Hogan picks Piper up, causing him to kick both their opponents in the gut. Haha. Piper and Harley will face off now, and this crowd is going crazy to say the least. Harley fires off a bodyslam, but misses an elbow drop, and Piper tags in Hogan. Hogan gives Harley a double axehandle from the second turnbuckle, and tags in Piper, who does the same thing. Back in Hogan comes, and he boots Harley in the arm. Yet again Piper tags in, and punches Harley in the arm, causing great pain and misfortune to the King of Wrestling. Harley breaks free with a headbutt, but that doesn’t last and Piper is able to tag out again. This is great storytelling. Hogan drapes Race’s arm over the top rope and pulls on it, then Piper continues with a left armbar on Harley. Harley fights back, and gives Piper a belly to belly suplex, then drops a knee. Orndorff tags in now, and lands an elbow from the top rope. Orndorff gives him a clothesline and tags in his partner, who drops an elbow. Hogan comes in and punches Harley, but there was no tag, so Harley is able to continue beating Piper up. He gives the rowdy one a clothesline, and a powerslam. Orndorff comes back in and applies a chinlock, which builds a hell of a lot of heat. Piper runs over Orndorff and tries a sunset flip too, but gets punched in the face. Harley tags back in, and gives Piper a suplex. After dropping the knee again, he tags in Orndorff, which brings in Hogan…allowing Race and Orndorff to double team Piper again. Not very smart.
Piper does make a tag though, and Harley gets beaten down by Hogan. Orndorff does as well, and Harley is then given an atomic drop and clothesline. Hogan drops the leg, but Orndorff breaks up the cover. That was unexpected. Hogan hits Heenan and beats him up outside of the ring, but inside of the ring, Orndorff very stupidly clotheslines Harley on accident. Piper covers, and gets the win for his team at 8:15 to a huge roar.
The men continue to fight after the bell, and Piper tells Hogan to go fuck himself. That was very Piper-y of him. In the WON from the following week, it says that there was a lot of backstage heat on Piper over some of his matches bombing at the box office. But in this match, Hogan allowed him to be double teamed while chasing a manager, so it makes sense in the context of that. After Heenan beats up Hogan, Hogan starts to make his comeback, and takes out all three heels to huge applause.
My Thoughts: This was really fun to watch. Sometimes the occasion can cause a match to feel better than it actually is, and this is one of those cases. That isn’t to make it seem like the match was bad, it clearly wasn’t. Orndorff and Race used strong offense, and Hogan worked hard in the match. Piper is great in a lunatic babyface role and that was on display here. His offense is silly, and he doesn’t sell very much, but I get a kick out of watching him. Fortunately, he got better at being a babyface as time went on. ***.
– Taped to air November 29th, 1986, on Superstars of Wrestling, from Joyce Athletic & Convocation Center in South Bend, Indiana
Piper’s Pit with Jimmy Hart
Piper’s Pit w/Adrian Adonis and Jimmy Hart by Stinger1981
This is a bit out of the WWF’s usual area, it would seem. The true mark of a national company. Jimmy Hart has hijacked what was supposed to be George Steele’s segment, hence Hart’s inclusion in the title. Jimmy is so upset at Piper. Eventually he slaps Piper, and Piper picks him up in the air…but ADRIAN ADONIS HAS MADE HIS RETURN. He hits Piper with a crutch, they brawl, and Hart tries to attack Piper from behind. Adonis locks in a sleeper, and Piper is out. Big surprise there. Adonis had completely disappeared from television. Then to rub salt in the wound, they put flowers in Piper’s mouth. Wow. Recommended.
This was an action filled two months, wasn’t it? A good variation of things, and of course, solid WrestleMania build. It’s obvious that Steamboat vs. Savage is going to happen, and that something will happen between Adonis and Piper. At the time, nobody could tell exactly what that was going to be. The WWF’s TV taping business was booming, but their B circuit attendance is down quite a bit. Not only do they need something to get that up, but they need more heels for Hogan. In hindsight, they couldn’t run Hogan vs. Orndorff at WM III because it had been done in basically every city in the country. They had to find something more, and they certainly did that. Some new guys are coming in too. Dino Bravo is one of them. The Can-Am Connection is another, which is a nice thing. The tag team division is really starting to heat up, and the number of tag team matches watched and reviewed in future articles will be a reflection of that. The next review for me is Starrcade ’86. It’s a super long show, nearly four hours. It could be difficult to finish that over a few days time!
Best: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat. Must watch.
Worst: George Steele vs. Kamala. That was pretty bad.
