WWF house show, Capitol Centre Landover Maryland 1/18/86 1st match of 6 on the card, Rene Goulet vs SD Jones Not bad for an opener some comedy in the beginning with Jones using his movement to make Goulet look silly. Goulet raked the eyes several times. Goulet used a bear hug for the rest hold. Goulet did the upside-down flip bumb in the corner. Then got crotched on the ropes! SD ducked a clothesline and picked up the win with a headbutt in about 12 minutes!
Match #2 George Wells vs Barry O One Word can describe this match: STALLING! Barry was a master at that craft during this bout. Rumor was he could be a pain in the backside because he thought he could/should've been a major heel star! I know this after 3 minutes I wanted him to get hit by a cement truck! Wells finally won after a nice football shoulder tackle(he was a big star in the Canadian Football League so he knew what he was doing no doubt!)
Match #3 Randy Savage vs Scott McGee The pace and import of any show picks up the moment the "Macho Man" of the era shows up! Savage starts out by almost coming to blows with Gorilla Monsoon doing commentary at ringside with "his lordship" Alfred Hayes. He knocks Monsoon's headset off. Gorilla stands up(if this was planned Gino did a great job really seeming upset for a moment!) Cooler heads prevailed at the bout got underway. The pace and flow of this match leave the first two bouts in the shade! Savage at one point had McGee hurt and goes outside grabs a fan's popcorn bag and shoves in Scotty's face! Scotty soon returns the favor as Savage is upside down hanging by one leg in the corner McGee shoves what's left of the bag in his face. Savage holds on to the ropes to counter an O'Connor roll attempt. When McGee comes up Savage explodes on him with a-hook-in-ladder clothesline. Then goes up and hits his high elbow for the pin! A tremendous showcase for Savage here who at this point was on the shortlist for best worker in the world!
Match #4 Terry Funk vs Danny Spivey This match like the last one is a shining example of what a world class heel can do! Funk threatens Ring announcer Mel Phillips out the outset, and Monsoon again. After the match starts Funk is feeding Spivey and bumping all over creation for him. Multiple bodyslams and arm drags(one looked like Funk landed right on the point of his shoulder, scary!) Funk finally gets the heat by piledriving Spivey on the floor! A very uncommon bump in WWF in 1986 the crowd gasp was very audible! Funk took a back suplex and Spivey's bulldog but got his foot over the rope at two. Funk went for a backdrop Spivey countered with a sunset flip but the savvy veteran from the double cross ranch rolled thru stacked Danny up on his shoulders and got the win! Afterwards to give the kid more spotlight Spivey chased off Funk with his own branding iron!
Match #5 The British Bulldogs vs the Hart Foundation This was pretty damn close to tag team perfection! These four men knew each other extremely well from their time together in Stampede Wrestling and it shows! Close tight realistic looking moves. The crowd was into this the whole way. Bret Hart took a slingshot into the turnbuckles early on and a face first whip into them later that looked very stiff! They were given time here to have the ebbs and flows of a main event bout. Both Bulldogs had the heat on them at one point. The classic front face lock struggle for the tag spot was done. Where Dynamite Kid works and pushes to make it to his partner, but the ref gets distracted by Bret Hart at the last possible moment so misses the tag and therefore will not allow it. The Closing sequence was this there was chaos on the outside where Davey Boy and Jim "the Anvil are brawling, Meanwhile inside the Ring Dynamite Kid delivers a bone jarring Superplex off the top rope to Bret Hart, but knocks himself silly as well. Their partners make it back into the ring still going at it. The Ref manages to get in between them and makes Davey Boy go back to his corner. While the Ref's back is turned Neidhart runs over drags Bret on top of Dynamite ref turns around looks down and counts the fall! If you have never seen these four together, WATCH THIS MATCH!
Match #6 Don Muraco vs Ricky Steamboat Good bout here felt a but rushed however. Muraco does the stall bit for a few minutes, but Steamboat explodes on him when they lock up with chops and a good powerslam. Sending Muraco out of the ring on top of the announce desk. Don gets the advantage soon enough and Steamboat is just bumping all over the damn place taking a series of clothesline/bodyslam combos. The "Dragon"was so angry that the ref had to by force pull him off muraco several times. Steamboat hits a chop off the top rope, Muraco falls face first in a big muscled up heap. His manager Mr. Fuji jumps up on the apron, Steamboat goes after him and grabs his cane. Fuji Escapes and while the ref is trying to take the cane from Ricky, Fuji goes around the ring and slips Muraco an "Object." When a unsuspecting "Dragon" picks up Muraco he gets nailed with said object! 1-2-3 your Winner the man from sunset beach Hawaii Don Muraco! Very good house show all together.
WWF Prime Time Wrestling 1/20/86 With Gorilla Monson and Jesse Ventura 1st bout from MSG Lanny Poffo vs "Adorable" Adrian Adonis. Poffo got two really nice near falls in the match. One with a one footed backflip into a pin. The second with a nicely executed "Brisco" roll in the corner. Adrian did pick up the victory after he side-stepped Poffo coming into the corner and hit a flying bulldog headlock for the win.
Next up from the Vault a 1983 IC title defense by champ Don Muraco vs Rocky Johnson from MSG. Started out very slow with Johnson going to double leg grapevine three separate times. Muraco put his foot over the ropes once to save his title, then Rocky hit him with a hard right hand and this time Muraco managed to grab the ropes right before the three count. Johnson got the sleeper on Muraco three separate times the 1st two instances Muraco escaped the third time Rocky had him center ring looking for all the world like the WWF had a new IC champ then........ the 11 o'clock curfew bell rang!(yes you read that correctly the Garden had a curfew so folks could catch the last train home) you talk about a finish that would not hold with the modern audience today! So Muraco kept the title with the help of the city of New York! Next up a Gene Okerlund interview with King Kong Bundy. Bundy claimed to be the king of the casino's in his hometown of Atlantic City NY! To continue the theme of things you know longer see: A Midget match Haiti Kid vs Butch Cassidy There were your standard comedy spots of course but their was also very solid wrestling. Haiti Kid threw a mean open handed chop. Cassidy did a nice backdrop and a move combo I've never seen before. He picked up Haiti Kid in a over the shoulder backbreaker position walked around the ring with him and hit a tremendous looking shoulder breaker! The end came when both men were doing a crisscross spot, Butch Cassidy dropped on all fours, Haiti kid hooked his legs in Cassidy's arms and rolled him over/up for the pin! Best line of the show,we go back to the desk where Monsoon says "you know Jess I used that very same move a number of times in my career to win matches." Jessie says "against midgets"? I laughed out loud! Next up an Adrian Adonis skit from TNT(Tuesday Night Titans) where he gets a facial or makeover or some such bullshit! I skipped it give me some credit!
Next match Ray "the Crippler" Stevens vs Tony Garea At the time of this bout Stevens was 46 or 47 old (1982) another vault classic. No matter he still "bumped" all over the place! From the mid 60's thru the mid 70's Stevens was considered by many to be the best "worker" in the world! By this point in 82 he was older and much slower but still could go. Garea got most of the offense thru the match, but Stephens got his hand raised by rolling thru a Garea crossbody counter attempt and gaining the fall!
Main event Valentine/Beefcake defend the tag championships against Hillbilly Jim and Uncle Elmer(God grant me the strength.) Thank God this bout was very short. Elmer had Beefcake in a bearhug Hillbilly Jim was distracted by Johnny V on the ring apron. Valentine went up to the top rope and came off with a "Hammer" to the top of ole Uncle's head and Brutus fell on him for the pin! Midgets easily best wrestling on the show!
AWA six-man tag From Stephens Point WI 1/24/86 Boris Zhukof, Nord the Barbarian and the Mongolian Stomper vs Jerry Blackwell, Sgt. Slaughter and Curt Henning The AWA seemed to do these 6-man brawls fairly well. Match started off with the heels being dumb(that's okay they are heels after all!) and getting stuck in the face corner and beat on 2-on-1! Blackwell was so damn over every time he got a tag a wild cheer came from the crowd. Heels briefly got the heat on sarge when he did his famous "flew over the turnbuckle head smashed the ring post "spot." he bladed. Match ended on a dq as during a six way brawl Blackwell pulled Sheik Ad-non-el-kassy in the ring! Crowd loved every bit of this!
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