Highlights of Wrestlemania (CS003)

I know what you’re thinking….”Hey, they already produced the inaugeral Wrestlemania, so what the hell is this?'” Good question, I myself was wondering what the purpose of a tape like this was. Believe it or not, this was the third in a short series of Coliseum Video’s that were called The Collector Series which also included THE HULKSTER HULK HOGAN and WWF’S GREATEST MATCHES. I honestly don’t know why these 3 tapes were separate from any other Coliseum Video’s that were out there at the time…but they’re very rare. Vince opens this tape and basically tells us we’re gonna be watching parts of each match from Wrestlemania. I mean it’s ok to have a tape like this for people with short attention spans, but you’re also saying “Don’t buy Wrestlemania, the best stuff is on this one anyway.” Vince runs down the card and says we’ll be seeing the main event in its entirety….what about Bundy vs SD Jones, how can we not see THAT match in its entirety?
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
WRESTLEMANIA 1

MARCH 31, 1985

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

NEW YORK, NY

Match 1

Junkyard Dog vs Greg “The Hammer” Vallentine with Jimmy Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Woah woah woah….this match was NOT the first match at Wrestlemania, they switched up the order for this tape. We start off at the part where JYD has an arm ringer on Greg, Vallentine then whips JYD off but Dog catches the foot then catches Greg with a right hand. Vallentine hits a knee and an elbow but misses a forearm so JYD hits his trademark headbutts on the ground before the camera pans to the Garden crowd. Monsoon says Hart is now the manager of Jim Niedhart, Bundy and Vallentine before Vallentine goes back on offense. Greg hits a forearm to the back of the neck and an elbow drop to the mid-section before going over the right leg of JYD. Vallentine goes for a half-crab and stretches the knee as the crowd begins to roar for JYD. Vallentine hits a headbutt to the midsection but JYD counters the figure four attempt and sells the injury well. Vallentine works him over in the corner before Dog rallies with right hands and headbutts as Vallentine does the flop. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron and Dog grabs him but moves out of the way causing Vallentine to hammer Jimmy to the floor. Dog backs Vallentine in the corner with forearm and a headbutt before Vallentine rake the eyes and scoops the legs with his feet on the rope for 1…2…3 and Vallentine wins it. All of a sudden Tito Santana hits the ring and tells the ref Vallentine had his foot on the rope. All of a sudden the ref calls for the match to continue making him the smartest ref in the history of wrestling up to this point, but Vallentine wants no part of it and stays out of the ring. Dog wins by count-out but the title does not change hands on a count-out so The Hammer is still the champ, the segment ends right here.

Time of match; 6;09  (the actual match was 6:53 so they cut 45 seconds of the match out plus the extracurricular activities)

Winner; Junkyard Dog by count-out  (Vallentine retains)

There is no segment, onto the next match
Match 2

The Executioner vs Tito Santana
THIS was the real first match at Wrestlemania and unlike the last one, we’re well into it at the start. Santana fires away in the corner and goes for a piledriver, but Executioner counters with a back drop. He hits a bodyslam and goes upstairs but Santana catches him with a slam off the top. Santana goes for a big splash but Executioner gets the knees up just in time, then he works over the left leg on the second rope before Tito kicks him over the top rope into the time-keeper’s table. Tito hits a power slam from the apron to the ring and hits the flying forearm out of nowhere. Tito drags him to the center of the ring and locks in the figure four as Executioner submits quickly. Actually on this tape, it doesn’t even show the ending, just Buddy…er Executioner trapped in the figure four. Least they should have shown Tito getting his hand raised so even the dumbest fans wouldn’t be confused.

Time of match; 1:32  (the actual match was 4;40)

Winner; Tito Santana by submission
There is no segment, onto the next match
Match 3

“Maniac” Matt Bourne vs Ricky Steamboat
Heh, this was actually the third match on the card of Wrestlemania and its the third match on this tape, least it’s in the right order. We’re at the part where Matt hits a snap suplex and covers for 1..2…nope, they trade blows in the ring before Steamboat gets the upper hand with karate chops. Steamboat hits a back suplex, a reverse neckbreaker and 2 knee drops for a cover of 1..2…nope. Steaboat leapfrogs over Borne and hits some sort of double punch to the face,……and the segment ends. Well that was pointless, doesn’t even show the damn ending. If I had bought this tape back in the day I would have felt gyped, ah well…onwards and upwards

Time of match: 1:34 (actual time was 4:38)

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by pinfall (though it isn’t shown for some damn reason)

There is no segment, on to the next match
Match 4

Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolfe) vs Leilani Kai (with Fabulous Moolah) for the WWF Women’s Championship

This match was much higher on the card so why is it so early on the tape? Whatever, we’re at the part where Leilani holds on to the hair then snapmares her over as Ventura speculates what its like to be on the receiving end of something like that. Kai throws Richter in the corner but a charge eats double boot then Wendi covers for a near fall. Leilani distracts the ref so Moolah chokes Wendi on the bottom rope before Cyndi runs over to save the day. Leilani whips Wendi off and hits a boot to the mid-section but Wendi rallies with a forearm and a New Delhi Devastator (and this is 1985 no less). The segment ends right there and I’m starting to get pissed….why put a tape out like this if you’re not going to show the endings? I guess Vince was smart enough to think “If I put out a Highlights tape, lets not show the endings so the fans will go out and buy the real tape!” Well that’s all fine and dandy but that kind of thinking will land this tape in the bargain bin.

Time of match: 1:28 (the real time was 6:13)

Winner: Wendi Richter by pinfall (New Women’s Champion though it wasn’t shown…again)
There is no segment, on to the next match

Match 5

The Un-Americanz (Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik) with Freddie Blassie vs The US Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo) with Captain Lou Albano for the WWF Tag Team Championship

The last 3 matches have gone a minute and a half so start placing bets on how long this one goes. We’re at the part where IRS…er Mike locks in an arm-bar then tags in Windham who once again comes off the top onto the elbow. Rotundo follows with the same elbow drop before Nikolai takes over and rams Rotundo’s head into Sheik’s legendary loaded boot. Sheik backdrops Rotundo and hits an elbow drop for 1…2…nope, near fall. Iron Sheik executes a gut-wrench suplex and covers for a deuce before Rotundo blocks a snap suplex and hits one of his own….and the segment ends here, just as I thought.
Time of match: 1:28 (heh, right on schedule)

Winners: Not shown….but it was The Un-Americanz

There is no segment, on to the next match
Match 6

King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart) vs SD Jones
Heh, I won’t give away the ending but I will say I’ll be shocked if we don’t see this match in its entirety. SD Jones was your basic mid-card face at the time while Bundy was a rising monster heel, fresh from being a member of the Legion of Doom in the NWA. Jones runs into Bundy at the bell and Kong catches him in a bearhug then rams him into the corner. Jones crumples to the floor then gets up as Bundy hits the avalanche followed by the big splash for 1…2….3 and its over just like that. Monsoon and Ventura can’t believe it as Howard Finkel gets on the mic. “Time of the fall….9 SECONDS…your winner King Kong Bundy” Um, what? I specifically counted 23 seconds (which Monsoon ironically says is the previous record) so this was all just hooplah to get Bundy over as Hogan’s future opponent. Not only did they show the match in its entirety but it also showed the pre-match introductions and the post-match celebration. Maybe because we’ve blown through the first 6 matches they’ll show more of the final 3

Time of match: 23 seconds

Winner: King Kong Bundy by pinfall
There is no segment, on to the next match
Match 7

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan) in a $15,000 Slam Match

They start off showing Studd and Andre being introduced so I assume they’re going to show the match in its entirety. Tthe rules are simple…..if Andre bodyslams Studd he wins 15 grand but if Studd slams Andre then say goodbye to the Giant. Studd attacks Andre in the corner as the bell rings before Andre rallies with chop and a big headbutt. Andre boots Studd to the outside of the ring and John regroups with Heenan, back inside Andre taunts Studd until backing him into the corner. Andre chokes Studd in the corner and Ventura asks where the ref is, but this isn’t a standard wrestling match so there are no DQ’s to speak of. Andre hits a knee to the head and big hamhock to the head before executing avalanches in the corner. Studd goes for a bodyslam but Andre blocks it then chops away at Studd before hitting a bearhug. The fants chats for Andre to slam as Ventura says “25,000 strong chanting”…..thought the building only held about 17,000 but nevertheless it is a sell out. The bearhug spot is worked for 2 full minutes before letting go and hitting a forearm to the back as Ventura says this could be the last time we could be seeing Andre. Andre hits a headlock and hits another hamhock to the mid-section as the crowd erupts. Andre whips Studd off and catches the foot, then hits another right hand to the face. Andre blocks a back elbow smash before chopping John in the corner. Andre kicks away at Studd’s leg and I’ll let Monsoon handle this one. “Andre now going to work on the leg, LOOK AT THIS…ANDRE PICKS EM UP…HE SLAMMED HIM!!!” This one’s over and Andre wins the match as the crowd erupts again as Finkel hands Andre the bag of money. Andre begins throwing money into the crowd before Heenan sneaks up, steals the bag then runs to the back with Studd. Ventura “They don’t call him The Brain for nothin Gino!” Andre poses in the ring and his career will resume….for a few more years anyway. The segment ends here but I won’t complain, they got everything that needed to be seen here.
Time of match: 5:52

Winner: Andre the Giant

There is no segment, onto the next match
Match 8

“Mr Wonderful” Paul Orndorff and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton) vs Mr T and Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Snuka)
Wait a minute, they’re showing the main event in its entirety meaning they purposely cut out Brutus Beefcake vs David Sammartino….heh, shows how much they thought of that fiasco. Hogan and Orndorff start and its well documented these 2 have not liked each other for a long time because of their childhood in Tampa where their high schools were football rivals or something to that extent. Orndorff teases going at it before tagging Piper in. Mr T hops up and down saying let me have him so Hogan tags him in. Piper made it clear on his DVD compilation he never liked Mr. T so this feud was more personal than it was business. Piper hated Mr T, Orndorff and Hogan hated each other so this maybe an out and out shoot by the end. Piper and T staredown nose to nose before they exchange slaps to the face before hitting a go-behind takedown. T tries to sit-out/turn in but Piper maintains the ride. Mr T finally switches out of it as Orndorff fires up Piper in their corner. Mr T puts Piper into a fireman’s carry then drops him like yesterday’s newspaper (Monsoon’s words not mine). Piper backs T into his corner where Orndorff gets in then a melee ensues when all 4 men brawl into the corner. Muhammad Ali and Bob Orton get in the ring as Snuka goes upstairs. Ali throws a punch that sends Piper out of the ring then takes a swing at Orton who retreats to the ground. The heels regroup outside as the camera shows Billy Martin laughing his ass off at the proceedings. Piper motions that they’re outta here as Monsoon scoffs and the heels actually leave the area. Patterson counts up to 8 before Hogan stops him and motions for them to come back and the heels in fact do walk back to ringside. Piper and Paul get in the ring to attack Mr T and Hogan but the faces clean house. They hit a double noggin knocker on the heels before Hogan clotheslines Roddy in the corner. Hulk hits a knoggin knocker on Piper and Orndorff before hitting an atomic drop on the rowdy one. Piper and Hogan trade blows before Hulk makes the tag to Mr T then they hit a double clotheslines. T hits a scoop slam on Piper and an arm-drag on an interfering Orndorff. T hits another slam on Piper and headbutts Orndorff before ramming Piper’s head into Hogan’s knee. Make no mistake about it, in terms of physical condition Mr T has the physique that is better than half the WWF roster so had he went into wrestling, he couldn’t have been any worse than anybody the AWA put out in the late 80’s. Hogan rakes the eyes and big boots Piper over the top rope to the floor. Mr Wonderful interferes and clotheslines Hogan out of the ring so Piper grabs a chair and waffles the Hulkster with it. Muhammad Ali chases Piper back in the ring but Orndorff sneaks out and throws Hogan into the ring. Piper puts the boots to Hogan as Orndorff sneaks in a cheap shot of his own. Mr T interferes so Piper and Orndorff double team the Hulkster. Piper and Orndorff execute a double atomic drop on Hogan as Muhammad Ali gets in the ring to chase Piper out. Fans may not be pleased with Ali’s constant interference but from a kayfabe standpoint he’s supposed to be the enforcer and that’s exactly what he’s doing. Patterson has to beg Ali to get out as Orndorff works over Hulk. Orndorff hits a snap suplex as Ventura says he’s the x-factor of this match being the most technically gifted of all 4 men involved…..well 6 including Snuka and Orton outside. Piper tags in and hits windup punches then a knee lift for 1…2..nope, Hogan kicks out. Piper holds Hogan as Paul tags in and hits a forearm to the back of the neck…..One of the unwritten laws of wrestling is not to hit moves on the back of the neck because you’re more prone to actual injuries, but Orndorff would ROUTINELY do this to Hogan in their matches, pissing off the Hulkster legitimately in the process. Paul covers for a near-fall before hitting a nice backbreaker before going upstairs. Orndorff goes for another forearm off the top but misses, before Hogan makes the hot tag to Mr T. T cleans house before Orndorff is able to take him down. Mr T and Orndorff go high school style as Mr T goes for a roll but Paul wizzers to make sure that doesn’t happen. Piper makes the tag then hits a front headlock on B.A. Barabus before T tags Hogan in.  Both heels interfere so Hogan hits a double noggin knocker on them then headlock punches Orndorff until Wonderful counters with a back suplex. Piper interferes but Patterson cuts him off so both Jimmy Snuka and Cowboy Bob get in the ring. Snuka hits a jumping headbutt that sends Orton over the top to the apron. Patterson is distracted by Snuka as Orndorff puts Hogan in a full nelson. Piper and Mr. T go at it as Patterson turns his attention to him as Orton goes upstairs. Orton comes off the top but Hogan moves and Ace catches Orndorff in the back of the head with the cast. Hogan covers as Snuka roughs up Orton and Patterson gets in position..1……2…..3….its overrrrrrrr!!!!  The ring becomes chaos as everyone gets in the ring before Piper knocks out Patterson, spits at Orndorff and takes off with Orton in tow. Back inside Mr T tends to Orndoff as Billy Martin announce Hogan and Mr T the winner. Orndorff springs to life as Snuka, T, Patterson and Hogan back off. The faces celebrate in the ring as Orndorff doesn’t have a clue what happened before heading to the locker-room. Hogan, Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, Pat Patterson, Snuka, Liberace and Billy Martin all pose and celebrate in the ring as the tape ends, least they showed the main event in its entirety.

Time of match: 13:21

Winners: Mr T and Hulk Hogan by pinfall

After the credits roll, the kickass 1985 trumpet theme plays as they plug the upcoming Coliseum Video releases…now THOSE are what people were buying back in 1985-86, not what we just witnessed. I really can’t badmouth this tape too much because it was only advertised as a highlights tape to begin with. Still though, cutting the matches down to bit segments and cutting an entire match really downplays the importance of the event. They may have showed 2 full matches but the show was DRASTICALLY cut to fit on a 45 minute tape. For that I can’t recommend buying it unless you’re trying to complete a collection like me. 1 star out of 5. Since this was the third and final of the short-lived Collector’s Series, just switch over to the normal Coliseum Video reviews that are up already or will be going up. Ironic how this match was the highlights of the first WrestleMania and the next tape will be WRESTLEMANIA 2

Best of the WWF Volume 6 (WF020)

We’ve made it to Volume 6 of the Best of series and hopefully now we can stay in the present. After RICKY THE DRAGON STEAMBOAT was somewhat of a disappointment, there’s nowhere to go but up. We will see Hogan vs Savage and that’s always entertaining. But will these be the BEST matches? Let’s find out. Cue the 1985 Opening and Gorilla Monsoon is our host today. He says we’re going to see Ricky Steamboat, Jesse Ventura, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ivan Putski, Johnny Valiant, Lanny Poffo, Terry Funk, midgets and more! Monsoon tells the fans to keep writing so they can provide the very best.
Match 1

“Leaping” Lanny Poffo vs Terry Funk

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Alfred Hays

Always nice to see Lanny in action, I always loved how not once did they ever mention he was the Macho Man’s brother in their respective runs. This match is from July 13, 1985 in Madison Square Garden. Once again, we’re going back to the past. Terry is by himself with no Hart in the red tights and Lanny in the silver. Before the match starts Funk beats up Mel Phillips on the outside before getting in the ring. They lock up and Alfred says Terry’s never been beaten in a bar room brawl. Terry gets the upper hand with right hands before he ducks under a leapfrog. Lanny goes for a move but Terry catches himself and falls into the ropes, causing the crowd to chuckle. Funk goes to work with knife edged chops and a left hand. A headbutt staggers both men before an elbow rocks Poffo. Lanny reverses an irish whip and Funk falls into the ropes again. Lanny caters to the crowd as Funk bails and shouts at the cameraman. Lanny and Funk reverse arm bars before Lanny back flips on his feet and locks in an arm wringer. Lanny gets the foot up on the shoulder for leverage. Funk then slips the leg in and falls backwards, causing Lanny to topple over the top to the floor. Funk screams at the fans and kicks at Poffo. Some guy in a corncob pipe slides Lanny back in the ring. Back inside Terry goes for an atomic drop but Lanny reverses it into one of his own. Funk staggers and bails through the ropes and to the outside. Back inside Funk slaps the chest of Lanny in the corner then rallies with left hands. A series of boxing jabs staggers Lanny as Monsoon bitches at the ref about the closed fists. A headbutt by Funk drops Lanny then goes for the figure four. Lanny powers out of it but eats axehandles to the back. Left elbows in the corner is met with a crescent kick and right hand from Lanny. Poffo wobbles Funk with a series of right hands. Lanny kicks away in the corner but two headbutts stop the momentum. Lanny bounces off the ropes and floors Lanny with a shoulderblock but falls through the ropes again. Terry goes to suplex Lanny to the floor and does, but Lanny wisely landed feet first before he fell. No way was he taking a bump on the cement floor. Funk goes outside and doggie headbutts Poffo before going back in and posing for the irate crowd. Some clown in the crowd says “I’m on tv mom!” as Funk suplexes Lanny back in the ring from the apron. Funk covers for 1….2…negative. Funk pushes the referee who gets in his face and threatens a disqualification. Funk then hits the Rude Awakening years before it was called that then covers for 1…2…no. Lanny hits a sunset flip out of nowhere for a long 2 count and the bell inadvertently rings. Lanny goes to town in the corner and whips Terry who Flair flips in the corner. Lanny kicks him over the top to the apron then snap mares him back in. A scoop slam is a set up for the second rope moonsault which was Lanny’s finisher. He hits it and covers 1…2…nope, didn’t hook the leg. Funk and Poffo trade blows before Terry gets the upper hand. Lanny reverses an irish whip before a frankensteiner stuns Funk, the cover gets 1…2..no. Funk recovers, whips Lanny off and locks in a sleeper hold right in the center of the ring. The fans cheer for Poffo who gets to his feet only for Terry to trip him up again. The ref checks Lanny and calls for the bell. He didn’t submit but the ref called the match for safety. Terry gets the branding iron and brands Lanny on the chest, luckily its not hot so all it leaves is ash. That was a great match that showcased the wily veteran slipping by the hot youngster. Did it belong on a tape like this? Anytime Terry Funk is on a WWF tape is a good thing, so yes.
Time of match: 13:06

Winner: Terry Funk by submission

Next up is the Mega Powers explodeeeeeeeee……3 ½ years early.

Match 2

“Macho Man” Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) vs Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Alfred Hays

This match is from December 30, 1985 in Madison Square Garden. Hogan comes out to Real American for the first time in Coliseum Video history and is in the yellow tights. Savage is in the neon pink tights for this one. Hogan and Savage tie up and Hogan throws him to the ground. Savage gets a headlock in but is whipped off and shoulderblocked. Hogan chases Savage out of the ring and follows him to the floor. Savage gets Elizabeth to safety as Hogan taunts from the outside. Savage tosses a chair to the ring and Alfred says that accomplished nothing. They tie up and Savage gets a thumb to the eye and a snap mare. A knee drop stuns the champ and Hogan fakes Savage out. Savage went to jump on Hogan on the rope, but Hulk moved and Savage crashed to the mat. Hogan hits two right hands that send Savage into the corner. Hogan whips Savage into the other corner and clotheslines him down. Hogan hits an atomic drop that sends Savage through the ropes and to the outside. Hogan goes to attack Savage but Randy pulls Elizabeth in front of him. The crowd and Monsoon scoff as Hogan gets back in and demands Savage join him. Randy recovers and snap mares him. He goes upstairs but Hogan catches Randy mid-air and delivers a backbreaker. Savage bails and Hogan follows, then Randy pulls Elizabeth in front of him again. Savage tells the camera man to get lost before shouting at the irate crowd. Hogan nails Savage from behind and throws him into the ring. Savage alertly catches the champ with a knee then quickly goes upstairs and hits and axehandle. Savage covers for 1…2…nope. Savage throws Hogan to the outside then goes up to the top. An axehandle smash on the cement floor connects and Hogan is stunned. Savage slides in to break the count as Savage continues to go to work on the outside. Back inside Savage stomps away at the Hulkster then rallies with kicks and elbows. Another cover gets a 1, try hooking the leg! Hogan then Hulks Up and no-sells Savage’s punches. Hogan clotheslines Savage then stomps on his head. Hogan whips Randy off and big boots him to the outside. Hulk follows to the outside and Elizabeth stands over him. Hulk picks her up and throws her into the crowd….just kidding. He gently places her out of the way and throws Randy back inside. Randy is whipped off the ropes but gets a boot to the head. Randy goes for the flying elbow and HITS IT!!! He covers for 1……2….NOOOOOOO. Savage thinks he’s won it but the referee says no way. Savage turns around, sees Hogan coming and ducks, causing Hogan to clothesline Dick Kroll. Kroll is knocked goofy and Savage nails Hogan to the floor. Randy grabs the title belt and axehandles Hogan with it. Back inside Savage picks Kroll up and has him count Hulk out….IDIOT! You can’t win the title that way. Sure enough, the ref completes the count and Savage wins the match. Hulk is busted wide open as Elizabeth straps the belt around Savage. Fink gets in the ring and announces Savage the winner…..but….Hogan is still the champion. Savage goes berserk and knocks out Dick Kroll, then carries Elizabeth to the back…before Hogan stops him. Hogan nails Randy then picks him up in a fireman’s carry. Hogan rallies with right hands then clotheslines the Macho Man. Hulk picks his belt up and taunts Savage much to the crowd’s delight. Hogan whips Randy off but swings and misses with the belt. Savage beats a hasty to retreat as someone in the crowd holds up a Hogan Halloween mask. Monsoon says Hulk is guts personified. That was a great match with absolutely no rest holds. Did it belong on a tape like this? HELL YEAH! This was just a taste of things to come when these two would main event Wrestlemania 5.

Time of match: 10 minutes

Winner: Randy Savage by count-out (Hogan retains)

We go from two great matches to T.N.T. with Jesse Ventura with Alfred Hays hosting. Alfred opens a WWF Magazine and asks Ventura who’s better, him or Corporal Kirchner. Jesse “I was a former Navy Seal and we called those army guys ‘pukes’. Anyone who’s been in the military knows Navy Seals run circles around those pukes.” We go to Vince in the crowd with Robert Reid (no not the Houston Rockets player) who asks where Ventura got his ridiculous costumes. Ventura nonchalantly answers that its not a costume, its how he dresses. “One set of my clothes could probably buy your car.” Next up is Roger Korman (no not the famous movie director) and he wants to know if Rachel Ward is jealous of Miss Elizabeth being Jesse’s sidepiece. Jesse says there’s nothing going on between him and Elizabeth and Ward is old news. Finally an older man in a business suit named Phil Burke who’s nervous because Jesse is his favorite. He then babbles a question that’s too advanced for Jesse and Jesse says he can’t understand what he’s saying. We cut here thankfully. That looked to be heading in a funny direction and it was killed dead. No idea why this is on the tape other than to showcase Jesse. Next up is the midgets…..oh shit.

Match 3

Butch Cassidy vs The Haiti Kid

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Alfred Hays

Just what we needed, a midget match on a ‘best of’ tape. This better be good. This was on the December 30, 1985 Madison Square Garden undercard of Savage vs Hogan from earlier because you can see the exact same fans in the exact same spots. Haiti Kid is in the black trunks and Butch in ridiculous looking polka dotted long tights. At least Cassidy is well built. If he was 8 inches taller he could give Rey Mysterio Jr a run for his money. Monsoon says he’s almost as tall as referee Gil Roman. Haiti Kid chases Butch to the apron as Monsoon says midget matches were his favorite. He lists off Sky Low Low (of BLOOPERS, BLEEPS AND BODYSLAMS), Fuzzy Cupid, Lord Littlebrook (who would make an appearance 2 years later) and Little Beaver (of BIGGEST, SMALLEST, STRANGEST, STRONGEST). They tie up and Haiti Kid makes a clean break on the ropes. Butch backs Haiti in the ropes and clean breaks. Kid armdrags Cassidy twice and he complains about the tights pull. Kid gets in a headlock, Butch whips him off and eats a shoulder block. Kid bounces off the ropes, jumps over a confused Butch and scoop slams him. Butch eats two arm drags and locks in an arm bar. Monsoon says on his knees, Butch is as tall as Haiti Kid and if he grew any taller he’d be out of a job. Butch sends Kid off the ropes, leapfrogs over him but Kid reverses an arm drag. A backdrop stuns Cassidy and a standing dropkick sends Butch to his knees. Butch begs off and Haiti Kid rolls him up…and the ref doesn’t bother to count. Kid holds him for a good 10 seconds and Gil still doesn’t bother to make a count. Finally Cassidy lays flat on his back and Roman counts 1 before Kid pulls him up by the legs and midget spins him. Kid snaps the nose 3 stooges style and floors him with a right hand. Then they do the “one midget gets pinned, other one pushes him off into the ref’s arms and he drops him back on top” routine. Kid pushes the referee as everyone howls with laughter. Even Cassidy gives him a shove for good measure. Monsoon says Cassidy and Roman would make a good match. Butch takes Kid down with a go behind, Kid sits out, turns in and escapes. Monsoon asks if you can imagine being a high school wrestling coach with a 99 pound wrestler as a freshman who was still 99 as a senior? I’ve seen it happen. Cassidy wins a test of strength and goes to stomp on the hands, but Kid pulls them back in time, double stomps the feet of Cassidy who lands flat on his ass. Kid motions he’s going to kick Cassidy in the gonads but instead slingshots him across the ring. A series of chops send Cassidy into the second rope. Kid whips him off, nails him with a double chop, drops an elbow and covers for 1,….2….negative. Kid rams Cassidy into the second turnbuckle. Kid goes to town on Cassidy before nailing him with his finisher, the headbutt. He covers and gets the 1…2…NO. Cassidy slipped his arm through. Butch begs off and goes for a handshake only for Kid to bite him on the hand. Cassidy responds with an eye gouge and an elbow to the head. He rams Haiti Kid’s head into the buckle who no sells it and taunts Cassidy. A headbutt staggers Cassidy and two more stun him, A dropkick connects and Kid makes the cover 1….2..no, foot on the rope. Cassidy calls for time as Monsoon scoffs. Back inside Cassidy works over Kid in the corner, whips him to the other corner and hits a knee to the ribs. An elbow to the head is followed by a reversal of a whip by Kid and a backdrop, sending Cassidy on his back. Three chops drop Cassidy but a sloppy cover only gets two. Kid executes a swinging neckbreaker as someone in the crowd shouts to put him in a piledriver. An eye rake stops Kid’s momentum. Cassidy whips him off and executes a beautiful dropkick then an equally impressive snap suplex. Cassidy covers for 1…..2….nope. A gassed Cassidy scoop slams Kid and covers for a two count, forgot to hook the leg. Cassidy gets him up and executes a reverse shoulderbreaker. That should have done it but he has no gas left. A criss cross ends with Kid putting Cassidy in an airplane spin. Both men are staggering around but Kid recovers enough to shoulderblock Cassidy to the ground. Kid bounces off the ropes and Cassidy goes for the drop down but the alert Kid gets the feet in position and Little Louie rolls Cassidy for the 1..2…..3 and its over. WOW! I’m shocked…stunned! That was a good midget match. Yes it had some silly tactics but it wasn’t over the top silly and the guys actually put on a decent story. Does it belong on a tape like this, well this was probably the best midget match I ever saw so YES!

Time of match: 10:32

Winner: Haiti Kid by pinfall

We go back to the archives for the next match.

Match 4

Ivan Putski vs “Luscious” Johnny Valiant (with Captain Lou Albano)

Commentator: Vince McMahon

September 24, 1979 at Madison Square Garden saw a non-roided Putski take on Johnny in singles action. The Valiant’s were the reigning tag team champions and ironically it would be Putski and Tito Santana that would have the next title shot a month later. Johnny is in the long blue tights with white stars on them and Putski is in the black trunks. They announce Putski as undefeated and the guy’s thighs are enormous. This look NOTHING like the Hulkamania Putski we’d later see. Referee Terry Terranova has a problem getting Putski back to start the match and of course Lou Albano doesn’t help matters. Putski stalks Albano across the ring until Valiant attacks from behind with forearms. The bell rings and Valiant rakes the eyes. Valiant contines to work with boots to the gut who Putski no-sells. Headlock punches has the ref ticked about the open fist. More punches are no sold as Putski begins to get mad. Putski then goes wild with right hands until Valiant bails to the apron. Putski turns his back for one second and Valiant goes back to work with throat chops. Valiant pounds away as the crowd tries to rev up Putski. Ivan gets in a side headlock and two punches stun Valiant. Johnny goes down and begs off as Ivan stomps away. A Headlock has the crowd roaring and 3 headlocked punches has Johnny stunned. A big headbutt as Valiant staggering into the corner and Putski rams his own head into the buckle to psych himself up. Valiant drops to his knees and wants a handshake, Putski will have none of it. The crowd says no and on cue Putski drops Valiant with a right hand. Valiant sells it tremendously and Putski hip tosses Valiant halfway across the ring. Ivan whips Johnny off and backdrops him to the center of the ring. Valiant begs off again but gets the eye gouge in. More punches rock Ivan until he whips Johnny off the ropes. Ivan drops down twice before nailing Valiant with THE POLISH HAMMERRRRR….right in the chest. The crowd roars as Putski hits an aftershock splash for 1….2….3 its over. Madison Square Garden roars as Putski remains undefeated. Valiant retreats as we go to the replay to see Putski wallop Valiant with the Polish Hammer. Vince “Lusicous Johnny is not so luscious anymore”.  As a catch as catch can match, that was the drizziling shits. In terms of entertainment, selling and storytelling, that was a fun 4 minutes. The crowd was into it and everyone wanted to see the hammer, and they got it. Valiant was an average wrestler but he could talk, which is how he made the transition to manager. Does this match belong on a tape like this? Usually no but its for nostalgia purposes.
Time of match: 4:31

Winner: Ivan Putski by pinfall
Remember Freddie Blassie, Bobby Heenan and Lou Albano giving love advice on T.N.T.? Now its Lord Alfred Hays’ turn. I swear TNT was a god awful abomination but it got more play on these tapes than Championship Wrestling. All-Star Wrestling and almost every other program in syndication. We only have about 20 minutes of tape left so hopefully this will be quick and painless. Alfred is in his standard tux while Vince is in a dress shirt and dress pants. He asks Alfred what the difference is between English love and American love. Alfred says the gentlemen needs to hold hands while wearing gloves on the first date. He says on a second date you could go for a stroll in the park and kissing on the cheek could be too much action. Vince wants some action and says to jump to the 5^th date. Alfred says on the 5^th date you hug her but no kissy kissy. Vince “We’re getting nowhere fast here. How long would it take to become intimate!” Alfred  “Well on a normal courtship, I’d say about 5 to 6 months you’d finally get a kiss on the lips.” Vince pauses to milk the crowd’s laughter than says “Thank you for joining us. We’ll be back after this.”  Well that was funny but not in the classic sense. Alfred really did sound serious while Vince really was looking for some down and dirty action. Good news was the segment was short, but it sure as hell doesn’t belong on this kind of tape. Save it for something else. Anyway, onto the final match.
Match 5

Ricky Steamboat vs “Cowboy” Bob Orton

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund
Well at least we’ll end the tape with a great match since everything Ricky did in the 80’s usually was great. Actually this is the exact same match featured on BEST OF THE WWF VOLUME 3 only without some of the edits so I’ll just re-post. Orton’s in the green trunks with Steamboat in the black, plus Orton still has the cast on. Orton comes off the ropes and narrowly avoids a karate kick. Orton bails to the outside and complains to the ref before slowly making his way back to the ring. Steamboat gives Orton crap about the cast on his arm before the tie up. Steamboat eats a shoulderblock but leapfrogs Orton and armdrags him. Steamboat wrenches the “injured” arm and does a number on it. Ricky whips Orton into the corner and chops him. Orton falls and Ricky continues to work over the left shoulder. Orton begs off but Steamboat shakes his head nooooo. Orton tries to bail but Ricky drags him back into the ring via the top rope. Steamboat goes back to the arm wringer, blocks a punch and continues to go to town on him. Steamboat wrenches the hammerlock with his FEET and falls backward twice. Ricky continues to work the arm with a kneedrop. Orton recovers and catches Ricky with a boot to the ribs. Ricky reverses a whip but Orton baseball slides right into a big chop from the future Dragon. Another armdrag takes Orton down as Okerlund says we’re witnessing something special. Ricky has the arm-bar locked in but Bob counters with a scoop slam. Ricky quickly recovers and scoop slams Orton. ANOTHER arm drag has the crowd popping. Monsoon shills the action until Orton gets to his feet. He tries a hiptoss but Ricky blocks it. Orton finally powers out of an arm-bar with a headbutt in the corner. A big forearm is followed by hiptossing Steamboat halfway across the ring. Orton executes a flying head scissors but the second attempted misses and he flails over the top rope to the floor. Orton grabs a fan’s drink and throws it at Steamboat who sells it like he had acid thrown on him. Orton goes on offense as Okerlund says the fan must be pissed without actually saying that. A big punch is followed by ramming Ricky’s head into the buckle. Orton lands another big right and follows it with a facebuster. A knee lift drops Ricky as Orton poses for the crowd and gets a decent pop actually. Orton still sells the arm wringers from earlier (a lost art today) but still catches Steamboat with a right hand. Orton applies a neck wrench and takes Steamboat to his knees with it. Orton snaps the neck then drops an elbow to the throat, but the cover only gets a two. Orton applies a rest-hold and goes to drop the cast on Ricky….but he moves out of the way in time. Orton sells the left arm and Ricky catches him with a chop. Ricky goes for the scoop slam but collapses with Orton on top 1…2..noooo, too close. Orton goes back to the standing chinlock then slams him down. Think of a rock bottom but without going underneath the arm. Orton covers for a deuce then shouts at the crowd “I came this close” and poses. Okerlund says that means nothing and Orton methodically stalks Ricky. They trade blows in the center of the ring before Ricky gets the upper hand with chops in the corner. A big right drops Orton but Bob counters with a punch to the ribs. Orton goes for a piledriver but is backdropped by Steamboat. Ricky goes up to the top rope and delivers the flying crossbody for 1…2..NOOOOOO. Orton becomes the first guy ever to kick out of Steamboat’s finisher. Ricky sends Orton off the ropes and catches him with a back elbow smash. A karate chop to the head is followed by a cover for 1….2…no. Okerlund “Come on Richard, gotta hook the leg.” Orton counters with an inverted atomic drop and throws Ricky over the top rope, but Steamboat skins the cat back in. Steamboat catches Orton with a running enziguri and Orton throws himself over the rope to the floor. Orton gets back on the apron and is met with a right hand. The ref tries to stop Steamboat from attacking which allows Orton enough time to get in an eye gouge. Orton goes to superplex Steamboat outside but Ricky counters by suplexing him back in. Ricky goes for a big splash but Orton gets his knees up. Bob adjusts his cast then goes up to the top rope. Stemboat staggers into a big left forearm off the top. The ref notices Orton used the cast and calls for the bell….WOW! A classic match ends with a cheap ending. The ref raises Ricky’s arm in victory and Orton goes berserk in protest. Orton chases Ricky with the cast but Steamboat ducks under and chops him. A series of chops sends Orton retreating to the back as Steamboat stands tall in the ring. We go to the instant replay with Okerlund and Monsoon giving their two cents Outstanding showing by both guys and Orton keeps his heat despite the loss. Did this belong on a tape like this? Considering it belonged on Volume 3, it definitely belongs on Volume 6.
Time of match: 12:37

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by DQ
The credits roll with the orchestral theme and this one’s history. Before we finish we get our standard 3 previews. BEST OF THE WWF VOLUME 7, VILLAINS OF THE SQUARED CIRCLE and BRUNO SAMMARTINO: WRESTLING’S LIVING LEGEND. That was a pretty damn good tape. The TNT segments were useless but 4 of the 5 matches were special.  The action was solid even though the tape only ran 75 minutes. At least we saw the Steamboat/Orton match in its entirety after it was clipped for the tape it was previously on. The only gripe I have is that the calendar had turned to 1986 but they were still showing matches from 1985 and prior. A lot of guys from the old guard plus even from 85 such as Jimmy Snuka were gone. The tag team era was about to take place with the Killer Bees, Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs and others while newcomers like Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat were going to match the NWA’s highly touted cast of wrestlers. The problem was none of the tag teamers were featured here. It’s a shame they couldn’t clip a tag match in there just to showcase them. Still, the tape was pretty much a sneak preview of the future with Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage and Hogan lighting up the cards. As for this tape, 4 stars out of 5. The Valiant match didn’t really belong and the TNT skits were useless. They could have substituted the skits with another match. I still HIGHLY recommend this tape. The next tape after this will get a little tricky, instead of the next video in the main lineage, we will look at the “Collector’s Series” beginning with WWF’S GREATEST MATCHES.

Ricky The Dragon Steamboat (WF019)

To have a personal profile tape this early in the Coliseum Video lineage, you have to be special. Discounting the god awful COUNTRY BOYS tape, the only ones who had personal profiles were the top stars ANDRE THE GIANT, Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan (THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LOU ALBANO doesn’t count because Lou was a manager). Steamboat getting his own tape was a testament to his amazing talent as he wasn’t a champion nor was he even in the WWF as long as Hogan, Andre and Piper were. Tito Santana was a two time IC champion and he didn’t have his own tape (or ever get one). Does Steamboat deserve it though? Absolutely. He had some classic matches in the NWA and seemed ready to break out as a top star but he was held back by Dusty Rhodes. Going to WWF meant more exposure for sure, but he also had to play second fiddle to Hogan like he had to play to Rhodes. Ah well, least he got his own tape in WWF. Let’s stoke it up. Cue the 1985 Opening…oh and props to 411mania to discovering the two guys in the black and white segment of the opening were Lou Thesz and Rikidozan. Thesz needs to introduction while Rikidozan was pretty much the Thesz of Japan. He was Japan’s top star until he turned the page to his top two students, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba….yes, All-Japan and New Japan’s founders. Gorilla Monsoon is our host tonight and he brings up how Steamboat has only been around a year and yet has had amazing matches. He says Steamboat will take on The Hammer, Don Muraco and Randy “Not so Macho Man” Savage (Monsoon’s words). We go to our first match before he’s even done with the introduction, geez, someone’s in a hurry.

Match 1

Ricky Steamboat vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund
This match is from June 21, 1985 in Madison Square Garden and its joined in progress. Steamboat is in the long black tights and Greg is in the red trunks. Steamboat stalks Greg with a karate pose until Greg tries to scoop slam him. Ricky blocks it until Greg turns it into a takedown. Ricky switches into a single leg takedown and chops Valentine in the gut. Greg staggers to his feet and Ricky goes to work with chops until Greg bails. Hart screams “No karate!” and Gene scoffs “Whataya mean no karate?” Jimmy “Hey ref, watch that kung fu karate!” Greg goes for forearms in the corner but Ricky blocks all of them and  chops Greg all the way to the ropes where he snap mares him then does the Perfect neckbreaker all in two swift motions. Damn he’s good. He locks in a chinlock until Greg gets to his feet and turns it into an arm ringer. Ricky reverses it and drops the champ with a reverse crescent kick. Monsoon and Okerlund agree they’d love to stick Jimmy’s megaphone in his ear. A quick thrust kick and back elbow smash sends Valentine to the match. Ricky stalks Greg in the corner before landing 5 kicks to the jaw. A chop to the chest is met with a Gene Okerlund “Hiyah!” The first cover of the match gets a two count. Ricky ducks under a clothesline and lands a crossbody for 1….2…nope, referee was out of position and he didn’t hook the leg. Steamboat goes to the front headlock until Greg backs him in the corner. Greg pounds away on Ricky in the corner with forearms. Ricky falls to the apron and Valentine delivers two forearms to the chest. Ricky recovers with a shoulderblock and two chops to the forehead before going upstairs. He stuns Greg with a flying chop and he tackles him to the ground. Ricky covers for 1…2..no. A scoop slam by the Dragon is wasted as Valentine gets his knees up on a splash attempt. Greg drops a knee to the ribs and we TAPE EDIT. Valentine works on the leg and goes for the figure four, only for Ricky to counter it with a cradle for 1….2..and no. Ricky does something to stun Greg but we miss it due to an unnecessary shot of the crowd. Ricky goes for a scoop but Hammer lands on top of him for 1….2…nope. Valentine catches Ricky with a forearm to the rubs and Steamboat goes tumbling through the ropes and to the outside. Hart taunts Ricky until the Dragon gathers his bearings. He looks to the crowd for support who pops. Ricky gets fired up, pounds the mat then starts no selling Greg’s offense. They trade blows until Steamboat gets the upperhand with overhand and knife edge chops. Greg goes down and Ricky has the crowd in an uproar. Two more chops drop the champ and Monsoon says he won’t get the pin because he didn’t hook the leg. Once again the cover gets a two and an elbow drops the Hammer. Ricky goes upstairs and delivers his flying crossbody for 1….2….NOOOOO, foot on the ropes. Greg recovers and back suplexes the Dragon. Greg drops two running elbows and covers for a two count, failing to hook the leg. Valentine goes for a figure four but Ricky counters by kicking him into the corner. More chops are followed by a roundhouse kick that sends Greg over the top rope to the floor. Hart picks Greg up and throws him back in but the bell rings. Stemboat chops both Greg and Jimmy through the ropes as the Fink gets in the ring. Monsoon speculates Greg was DQ’d but Fink announces Steamboat has won by count out. That was a pretty quick count by Dick Woehrle since the announcers missed it as well as the fans and Steamboat himself. We go to the replay as Monsoon says the title does not change hands on a count-out. We end the match here and that was something else. Classic booking as Steamboat beat up Valentine six ways from Sunday yet Greg retained the belt. Was it a good match? Yes it was, the story being told was the methodical Hammer could barely keep pace with the speed of the Dragon. These two would meet again years later, but for now Ricky gets the duke.
Time of match: clipped

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by count-out (Valentine retains)
Next up is a September 1985 interview on The Body Shop with Jesse Ventura. Ventura praises his own shades as he’s wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a yellow t-shirt with Manhattan written on it in the shape of NYC, clever. Ricky comes out in his black karate gi and takes a seat next to Jesse. Ventura asks how he’s doing and Ricky says pretty good. Jesse asks where the name Steamboat comes from and Ricky says he’s carrying on the family tradition. This is half true actually. When Ricky first started out he went under his real name, Richard Blood. Once he ended up in the Florida territory, Eddie Graham felt that the name sounded too heel like (compared to Dick Blood?) and decided to re-name him. Since he had Hawaian blood, Graham had him renamed Ricky Steamboat, the son of Hawaiian legend Sammy Steamboat. The funny part was nobody bothered to tell Ricky before he went to the ring the night he was renamed. The announcer referred to him as Ricky Steamboat, son of Sammy and Ricky tried to tell him that’s not his name, only for the announcer to mutter “shaddup, that’s your name now” or something like that. Ventura then says “so wait, your great great grandfather didn’t climb a coconut tree, see a steamboat and say that’s a good name for himself?” Ricky counters “No, he was standing on a volcano.” Ventura then goes into fashion mode asking what’s the deal with the outfit and says that kung fu he’s been using is illegal. Ricky “Illegal?” Ventura bitches that he’s going for the throat and Ricky says he’s checked the WWF rules and says he uses open hands, not fists like Jesse uses. Ventura “waiiiiiit a minute!” Ventura says “You don’t bend the rules?” Ricky answers no so Jesse gets bent out of shape and ends the show right then and there. Its funny because Ricky really never did bend the rules. There’s a very, very short list of guys that had a long, productive career that never worked heel. The three names I can think of are Tito Santana, Rey Mysterio Jr and Ricky Steamboat. That’s also why Ric Flair says Ricky is NOT the best wrestler of all time, because he never worked heel. It would have been interesting to see Ricky come out strutting with shades and telling the fans to stick it, but since he never did it, its hard to imagine that.
We go from an interview with Jesse to an infamous “training” segment. Once again Vince couldn’t leave well enough alone and had to give Ricky a “personality”. No he didn’t sing and dance on T.N.T. (that I know of) but he did have this “training” portion on the show. The segment is called “Becoming the dragon: the three moments of truth”. Gene Okerlund is on location with Ricky at the temple of Chang-Lao. They walk across a wooden bridge as Gene admires the scenery. Ricky says it wasn’t always serene and that it was the site of his first test: The Bridge of Serenity. We then cut to Ricky beating up ninjas in black masks…yes of course I’m serious. Now many say that the ninjas were midgets, but they’re not. They just happen to be a bit shorter than Ricky, but they’re not full fledged midgets. The object is to cross the bridge and Ricky does that after beating up the two ninjas. Some of the blows were definitely choreographed but at least they didn’t have any goofy sound effects. Back to Gene and Ricky and the Dragon says years of training saved him there. Gene and Ricky walk into the “Garden of Tranquility”. Its not really a garden as it is a stone walkway with rocks around. Ricky says this is where he went through his second test. He’s fighting ninjas again only with sticks. He dispatches them quickly as we go back to Gene and him. Gene brings us to the third test, “The Temple of Chang-Lao” where Ricky says it was the hardest one of all since he had to do it in front of all the monks. This time he’s attacked by four ninjas who he completely annihilates in short order. He bows to Chang Lao himself who presents him with a black belt for surviving the three tests. As silly as this sounds, it could have been a lot worse. It did show Steamboat beating the crap out of groups of ninjas by himself, and if he can do that, guys like Greg Valentine and Don Muraco stand no chance. Onto the next match.
Match 2

Ricky Steamboat vs Brutus Beefcake (with Luscious Johnny V) in a Street Fight

Commentators: Jack Reynolds and Billy Red Lyons

May 26, 1985 in what appears to be the Maple Leaf Gardens saw Steamboat take on Brutus in what Monsoon in the overdub calls a No-DQ, No count-out affair. So it’s a street fight without actually calling it that…great. Steamboat is in the long black tigts and Brutus is in the long zebra striped tights. Beefcake attacks Steamboat from behind before he can take his gi off. He drags Steamboat to the apron where he pounds away with forearms to the chest. Once Ricky is outside, Brutus sends Ricky to the barriet and chokes him with his own black belt. The referee isn’t counting and I wonder why until the bell rings once Brutus sends Ricky inside. NOW the match has officially begun. Brutus sends Ricky off and clotheslines him. Billy says it was a mistake for Ricky to wear that outfit to the ring and Brutus drops the Dragon with a right hand. Brutus poses for the irate crowd and drops a boot off the second rope. A scoop slam is followed by more boots to the sternum. Brutus struts for the angry crowd before Ricky begins to rally with right hands. Karate chops from Ricky sends Brutus into the corner. Brutus reverses an irish whip and drops Ricky with a clothesline. Brutus drops a big forearm and covers, the referee takes forever 1…..2…no. Beefcake pulls the top part of the gi over ricky’s head hockey style and pounds away. Ricky finally sheds the gi and Jack finally calls it such after calling it a kimono up until this point. Guess Vince was in his ear in the production truck. Beefcake rams Ricky’s head into the buckle and pounds Ricky’s chest with forearms. Ricky just beat the crap out of four ninjas armed with weapons and now he can’t beat up Brutus Beefcake? Beefcake continues to pound away only now Ricky is no-selling it. Ricky blocks a turnbuckle attempt and rams Brutus’ head into it. Ricky chops Beefcake but falls on a scoop slam attempt. Brutus covers for 1….2….noooooo. Ricky kicks out just in time. Brutus lands a series of boxing jabs followed by two forearm smashes. Steamboat then blocks a series of forearms before sliding under Brutus’ legs. A chop stuns Brutus before a big chop drops him. Ricky rings the arm then crescent kicks Brutus three times until he drops. A knife edge chop to the throat staggers Brutus who swings and misses. A knee to the ribs stuns the Dragon but Ricky ducks under a haymaker. Ricky swings and misses himself and Brutus makes him pay with a clothesline that nearly decapitates the Dragon. We get a TAPE EDIT and now Steamboat is rallying. Brutus then counters a scoop slam with a back suplex then bridges for 1…2…..nope. Ricky gets the shoulder up at 2 3/4. Brutus kicks away at Ricky and taunts him. Brutus punches, kicks and stomps the Dragon. Beefcake goes to the outside, drags Ricky out and slams him on the cement floor. Beefcake gets in the ring but distracts the ref, allowing Johnny to attack…but he doesn’t. Ricky gathers his bearings but Beefcake reaches through the ropes and brings him back in the ring. Beefcake goes for the piledriver but Ricky counters with a backdrop. Reynolds reiterates that this is No count outs and no DQ. Ricky catches a foot and chops Brutus down. A running chop drops Brutus then Ricky does the swinging neckbreaker. More chops follow and a reverse atomic drop stagger Brutus. Beefcake goes upstairs and hits the flying crossbody. The cover gets 1…2…..no. The ref’s arm doesn’t drop for three but the fans and the announcers say Ricky has won it. The lights go on as well but there was no 3. Everyone was fooled on that one. The lights go back off as Ricky rallies in the corner. Brutus reverses an irish whip but misses the charge. Ricky goes for a scoop slam but Johnny holds the foot of the Dragon. Brutus falls ontop with Johnny still holding on…1…..2….3 its over. The lights go on but all of a sudden the ref for whatever reason waves off the pinfall. Brutus raises his arms in victory but the ref snaps it downas the lights go off again. He tells Beefcake that he saw Johnny holding the foot, which is the correct call but why did he count 3 to begin with? Brutus throws Ricky over the top rope and argues with the ref. Ricky skins the cat back in, runs and rolls up Brutus for 1…2…..3 and NOW its over. The lights go on for a final time as Johnny V jumps into the ring to protest. Johnny takes a swing at the ref as he exits the ring with the victorious Steamboat. Jack says the referee’s name is Frank Gore…no, not the San Fransisco Giants running back. We go to the replay to see the real pinfall and we cut here. That was a wild match that Brutus controlled for most of it. Ricky got the pinfall but he didn’t look too impressive during it. Not only that, it was a street fight that wasn’t even all that violent. Then again, not much Ricky can do with Brutus but get beat up and make the comeback. I’m just glad its over.
Time of match: 13:27

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by pinfall
To set up the next feud, we have to go to an episode of T.N.T. where Vince in a decent looking brown suit interviews Don Muraco and Mr. Fuji. Vince brings up Steamboat and Muraco says his actions speak louder than words. Vince, Fuji and Muraco look at footage of Muraco attacking Steamboat and hanging him. Don says King Curtis Iaukea was the only Hawaiian wrestler that he admired and he has no love for Ricky. Fuji and Muraco hang Steamboat and glad-hand each other on the TNT set. Muraco says that Ricky’s too soft and he’s in his world now. Muraco says he’s as far as he going to go and doesn’t need any more titles. Kind of stupid and Vince counters “Well if you’re on top, there’s only one way to go, down!” Muraco says he won’t go down, but he’ll spit down at people under him. Muraco says he’s got some fat broads for him and he’s having a heck of a time with Mr. Fuji.  So the dastardly Muraco fired the first shot and its now time for revenge one step at a time.

Match 3

Ricky Steamboat vs Mr. Fuji

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino

After being hung by Fuji and Muraco, Ricky vowed revenge. On August 20, 1985 he got Mr. Fuji first. Fuji is in the long red tights and Ricky the long black. Ricky sprints to the ring and attacks Fuji before the bell rings. Howard Finkel almost didn’t make it out of the way. Ricky chops Fuji, sends him off and chokes him with the black belt. Ricky strangles Fuji as Vince says its payback from before. Referee Dick Woehrle doesn’t even bother to make a 5 count. Ricky chops and punches Fuji before delivering an atomic drop. Ricky lands a double chop but Fuji counters with a punch to the gonads…ow. Ricky pounds the mat in frustration as Fuji drops Ricky with his own chops. A falling headbutt has the crowd chanting “Steamboat!” Fuji locks in a nerve hold but Ricky powers out of it with a chop to the head. Fuji retaliates with a chop of his own before reapplying the hold. Ricky once again powers out of it with chops and a leapfrog but Fuji alertly gets a knee to the ribs. Going back to the nerve hold, Vince calls Fuji a world class wrestler. Steamboat does the fade-then-revive routine. Ricky rakes the eyes and chops Fuji down. Ricky goes upstairs and catches Fuji with the flying crossbody for 1….2..nope, Fuji kicks out. Ricky goes for the big splash but Fuji gets the knees up. Bruno says that’s the first time he’s seen someone kick out of that and Vince says Ricky didn’t hook the leg. Ricky rolls through a back suplex, rolls up Fuji and gets the 1..2….3 to win the match. Steamboat beats a hasty retreat as Fuji is stunned in the ring. Decent crash style match but that made Steamboat look bad. They should have booked Steamboat to leave Fuji a bloody mess in the ring and say that Muraco is next. Instead he’s booked to barely beat Mr. Fuji the MANAGER! If he can barely beat Fuji, how’s he going to beat the former IC champion Muraco? Still, decent crash style match
Time of match: 4:06

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by pinfall

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! After the match, Muraco runs out and attacks Steamboat with a chair. He breaks the wooden thing over him and Fuji assists in stomping him. Muraco and Fuji leave to a chorus of boos as Vince puts over Muraco as a heel, calling him every name in the book. Vince goes to the replay of Muraco breaking the chair on Steamboat’s back. Bruno says the duo should be fined and suspended and we cut here. Muraco was building tremendous heat and you know the grudge match would come eventually.
Match 4

Ricky Steamboat vs Don “The Magnificent” Muraco (with Mr. Fuji)

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Alfred Hays

October 18, 1985 in the Capital Center saw the long awaited grudge match between Steamboat and Muraco. We’re joined in progress and Muraco is in standard gear with Steamboat in the….you guessed it…long black tights.  Muraco stands on the apron as Ricky gets bent out of the shape in the ring. Ricky ducks under two clotheslines, reverses a whip and drops Muraco with a big chop. A hiptoss is followed by a scoop slam. A knee lift sends Muraco to the floor and the ref has to hold Steamboat back. Monsoon scoffs at the ref for holding him back as Muraco regroups with Fuji. A test of strength is won by Muraco who pounds away at the Dragon in the corner. Ricky reverses a whip and backdrops Don before hip tossing him again. A scoop slam has Muraco sliding through the ropes onto Monsoon and Alfred’s announce table. Monsoon says Muraco is in their lap, literally. Gorilla taunts him as Muraco gets to his feet and says “Shut up you sonovabitch.” Muraco gathers his bearings and slowly makes his way into the ring. Don purposely stalls then lands a right hand to Steamboat’s head. Ricky rams Muraco’s head into the buckle and lands a right hand. He goes for another right hand but referee Dick Woehrle grabs his arm which allows Muraco to connect with a right hand. Monsoon gives Woehrle a tongue lashing as Steamboat staggers around. “You cannot do that!” Muraco gets a thumb to the throat and delivers a back suplex. Muraco drops a knee and snap mares him over. Muraco slingshots Ricky throat first onto the bottom rope. An atomic spike staggers Ricky and Muraco scoop slams him down. Another scoop slam is followed by a clothesline but Ricky keeps getting up. A slam and another clothesline sends Ricky over the top rope to the outside. Muraco reaches through the ropes to slam ricky’s head into the apron. Muraco slides outside and drops Ricky throat first onto the barrier. Alfred says Muraco should go for the piledriver as Ricky makes it to the apron. Muraco clotheslines him down as Ricky slides into the ring. Muraco whips Steamboat off but Ricky ducks under the right hand and executes a desperation clothesline. Muraco slides to the apron then goes upstairs. Ricky catches him and slams him off the top rope. Ricky scoop slams Don and caters to the crowd. ANOTHER scoop slam has Ricky fired up and he atomic drops Muraco, who catches his head in between the ropes. Ricky chops away at Muraco as Woehrle unties him. On the floor, Ricky sends Muraco into the side of the ring. Steamboat goes upstairs and chops Muraco on the apron, who falls off. On the floor again Ricky rams his head into the apron before sliding back into the ring. Ricky suplexes him into the ring and caters to the crowd. Sensing victory, Ricky chops Muraco twice before unloading with a series of right hands. Woehrle literally throws Ricky off of Muraco and Monsoon gets pissed. Dick does it twice more and Ricky goes upstairs, executing the big chop. Fuji hops up on the apron and Ricky grabs his cane. Woehrle tries to wrestle the cane away as Fuji reaches into his hat and hands a pair of brass knuckles to Muraco. Sure enough, Ricky sends Muraco off who eats a big chop. Ricky goes for another chop but Muraco sneaks a punch to the throat, then falls ontop of Steamboat for 1….2….3. Muraco wins it! Great match…but what the hell? Did Piper, Andre or Hogan lose on their profile tapes? No? So why did Steamboat? Wow, who the hell thought that was a good idea? We cut here so even if Ricky beat him up after the bell, we won’t see it. So Ricky gets hung and Muraco gets the last word? Wow….not a great booking job for this tape at all.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Don Muraco by pinfall

We now go to a special Piper’s Pit with Ricky in the rare blue trunks, a purple warm up jacket and white boots with “Cowboy” Bob Orton standing behind Roddy Piper (in standard Pit gear). Piper sarcastically calls Ricky a new heart-throb but Piper says he’s just as hot. Piper says Ricky hasn’t had a match longer than 5 minutes and wonders why he hasn’t wrestled anyone good yet. He also calls Ricky a cheater for using martial arts just like Ventura did earlier. Piper “You may be fooling them, but you’re not fooling me for a second.”  Ricky “Well I’m sorry about that RODNEY.” Piper gets pissed and says “My name is Roderick, short for Roderick the Conquerer” Ricky “Oh, I’m sorry Conker.” Piper “That’s Conquerer! My name is Roddy Piper!” Ricky “Well what is it, Roddy, Piper or Conker?” Piper “I’ll tell ya what it is!” Orton slowly makes his way over and he and Piper sandwich Steamboat while Piper taunts him. Ricky sheds his jacket and Piper looks ready to go….and we cut. OH COME ON!!! That looked to be heading somewhere but instead we cut HERE? We had to watch the ridiculous training video in its entirety but THIS got clipped? What the hell ever…on to the next match.
Match 5

Ricky Steamboat vs Davey Boy Smith

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

If cutting Piper’s Pit wasn’t bad enough, we’re ending the tape with two matches we’ve already seen. Steamboat’s two matches from WRESTLING CLASSIC. So yes, another loss is coming up. First he goes up against Davey Boy in the first round. I’ll just re-post from the earlier Classic post. Davey is in the long red tights while Steamboat is in the long black. They shake hands to start the match then go through standard go-behinds. Davey hiplocks Steamboat to the ground. Davey Boy back drops Ricky in a pinfall position for 1….2…nope, Dragon bridges out of it and turns it into a backslide for 1…nah. Steamboat runs off the ropes into a overhead press slam. Davey covers for a near fall then applies a front headlock as Ventura says Stemboat’s giving up a lot of strength to Bulldog. Davey hits another overhead press slam for another 2 count as Monsoon scoffs at Davey for not hooking the leg. Davey goes for a suplex but Steamboat counters with a delayed suplex of his own…..Davey Boy’s trademark. Ricky goes for a splash but Bulldog gets the knees up to counter. Davey Boy executes two standing dropkicks which send Steamboat into the ropes. Bulldog goes for a third dropkick but Ricky moves out of the way and Davey Boy crotches himself on the top rope. The ref runs over, checks on Davey and calls for the bell……what the hell? Steamboat also goes and checks on Davey Boy as the ref awards the match to Dragon…..first and last time I’ve ever seen a match end this way. Cheap ending but it was a good match for a 3 minute crash style. Monsoon says Ricky didn’t want to win this way and Ventura scoffs. We go to the replay and Ventura calls what we just saw.

Time of match: 2:54

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by stoppage
We don’t bother with a segue, onto the final match of the tape.

Match 6

Ricky Steamboat vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage (with Elizabeth)

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

Once again I have no idea we’re ending the tape with another loss but what the hell. I’ll go with another re-post. Randy comes out to Pomp and Circumstance and the purple trunks. Ricky is in the long black tights. Before the match Savage sticks a finger into Ricky’s face who slaps it away then Savage runs and hides behind Elizabeth, heh what a heel. Stemboat turns his back so Savage attacks him from behind while still wearing his headband and cape. Steamboat slides under Savage and chops him through the ropes to the outside. Randy pulls Ricky out and brawls with him outside before they roll back in. Savage takes over on offense with right hands in the corner until Steamboat counters with a head scissors over the top rope to the floor.  Steamboat chops Savage on the floor then atomic drops him to the concrete. Ricky throws him inside then hits his karate chop to the chest of a running Macho Man. Savage ducks under a second chop and delivers a back suplex as Ventura makes his way back to the commentating table. Savage goes upstairs but Ricky catches him in the gut with a right hand then delivers a knee lift. Steamboat unloads with a series of fists drops then suplexes Savage halfway across the ring. Steamboat goes upstairs and hits THE FLYING CROSSBODY for 1…2…thre…no wait, Savage kicked out at 2. Ventura is openly cheering for Savage and Steamboat chops and punches Savage to the ring apron. Savage reaches into his tights for a Foreign Object and when Steamboat goes for a back suplex, Savage nails Ricky with whatever he had. Savage covers for 1….2…THREE???? You gotta be kidding, that was WAY too short for 2 guys as talented as they were. It was going good too, damn…..should have been much longer. Monsoon says that Ventura gave Savage brass knuckles in the back as Ventura scoffs.
Time of match: an unacceptable 3:26

Winner: Randy Savage by pinfall

We end the tape with the credits and the previews but I don’t care. I still don’t understand why in a 6 match tape, 2 losses were included. You didn’t see Piper, Andre or Hogan losing so why did Steamboat get the shaft? Guess Vince was once again trying to make the NWA look bad by having one of their top stars look inferior to Hogan and Andre. Still, the immense talent of Steamboat saved him from obscurity, even after Randy Savage appeared from Memphis and took the IC title away from Tito Santana. As sad as it sounds, Steamboat’s tape came out in early 1986 and he’d still have 2 years worth of good matches (including one special) still to come. Did I like the tape? For the most part yes, but again, you want to make your stars look as good as possible…YOU DON’T SHOW THEM LOSING! I mean, everyone has to lose at some point to put someone else over, and Steamboat had no problem with that…but there’s a time and a place for that. I give this tape 3 stars out of 5….1 point off for the losses and 1 point off for it only being 80 minutes long. They could have squeezed 10 more minutes of footage in there. The next tape after this is BEST OF THE WWF VOLUME 6, hopefully Steamboat will have better luck on that one.

WWF Most Unusual Matches (WF005)

WWF MOST UNUSUAL MATCHES (WF005)

  After the first WRESTLEMANIA, Coliseum Video released MOST UNUSUAL MATCHES which was to highlight the unusual matches of the time period. Once again this is a pretty ballsy tape as we’re highlighting certain things that wouldn’t be highlighted in other promotions, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? Let’s find out. Since it was released following Wrestlemania, I’m assuming the video came out in May of 1985. Cue the Coliseum Video opening before being greeted by our host, Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Jesse is wearing a blue feathered turban and exotic red sunglasses. He says in order to present unusual matches, Coliseum Video needed an unusual wrestler and the outlandish Ventura fit the bill. He explains why these matches were chosen and why unusual matches. He makes the great point of presenting fans with greater combination of action like Texas Tornado and Lumberjack matches. We get a preview of the action we’re about to see before sending us to our first match. Ventura says there will be 9 matches shown so at least we know how many we’re in store for.

 

Match 1

Tito Santana vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in a Lumberjack Match

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and “Mean” Gene Okerlund

Literally 2 weeks before Wrestlemania 1, Valentine was defending the title in Madison Square Garden against the former champ but with Lumberjack rules on March 17, 1985. Jesse explains that the concept of this match came from the old lumberjacks in the pacific northwest. They’d have their disputes and it would end when the two combatants would fight while the rest of them circled the two, no one could leave until the fight was over. Some of the heel lumberjacks are Matt Borne, “Big” John Studd, Terry Gibbs, Barry O (Bob Orton’s brother and Randy’s uncle), Charlie Fulton and King Kong Bundy. Some of the faces are Rocky Johnson, Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka and Junkyard Dog.  Valentine enters wearing purple tights and Santana in blue while Jimmy Hart is in a flamboyant suit combo. While the referee is checking Santana for foreign objects, Valentine clobbers him. Valentine unloads with forearms as Jimmy Hart taunts Gene Okerlund. Valentine drops Santana then clubs him with more forearms. Greg goes for the chinlock but Santana blocks it and gets to his feet. Santana tries to power out of it but Valentine rakes the eyes, what a heel! Greg sends Tito off but Santana catches him with a clothesline. Tito puts the boots to him in the corner then rams his head into the turnbuckle. After a Valentine Flop, Greg bails to the heel side of the ring. Borne, Studd, Orton and Fulton try to console Greg but Steamboat comes over and throws him onto the apron. Gene makes the comment “someday you may see those two go at it.” Wait till Wrestlemania 4 there Gene. Tito goes to work with forearms to the chest before Valentine drops to the floor. The heels try to protect Greg but again Steamboat comes over to toss him inside. Greg takes a swing at Steamboat then begs off. I think its funny that not only did Matt Borne let Steamboat get away with that, Junkyard Dog is literally standing next to Bundy. Guess everyone can get along after all, right? Tito catches the foot then delivers an atomic drop. Santana drops the champ with a knee lift as I notice Jimmy Hart standing next to Rocky Johnson. I heard Johnson’s son is one arrogant chef, he constantly asks people if they smell what he’s cooking.  Valentine bails to the heel side again but this time he’s thrown back in by the unlikely combo of JYD and Bundy. Greg would be wrestling JYD 14 days later at Wrestlemania. Santana attempts 10 punches in the corner but halfway through, Valentine catches him with an inverted atomic drop. Monsoon suggests that Rocky grab Jimmy Hart by the throat, heh. We get a TAPE EDIT and the crowd pops as Santana goes for the figure four, Greg squirms his way out of it and onto the floor into the arms of Jimmy Hart. Only problem is he’s on the face side of the ring and Rocky Johnson pushes Jimmy aside then with a little help from Steamboat, JYD and Snuka, tosses Greg back in. We get another TAPE EDIT (not this shit again) and now Santana has Valentine dazed with right hands. Bundy is next to Jimmy Hart now and they both cheer on Hammer. Valentine drops and bails only to be caught by Steamboat. For some reason the bell rings as Steamboat, Snuka, Dog and one of the jobbers tosses Greg back in. Valentine begs off as Tito stalks him around the ring. Tito rallies with right hands in the corner but a charge in the opposite one eats knee. Valentine falls on Tito and the ref makes the count..1….2.nope. We get a TAPE EDIT and Valentine throws Santana out to Studd and Borne’s part of the outside. Studd, Borne and JYD toss Tito back in the ring without a struggle. Valentine puts the boots to Tito then heaves him out the other side where the faces allow Tito time to rest before tossing him back on the apron, where he’s met by several Hammer forearms to the chest. Tito crawls into the ring where he’s met by a second rope forearm smash by Valentine. Greg drops a knee and the sloppy cover gets a deuce, Gorilla admonishes Greg for the cover. Greg drags Tito to the center of the ring and before he goes for the figure four, he taunts Tito by slapping him in the face. Valentine delivers a series of knee drops to the right leg of Santana then goes for the figure four. Tito blocks the first attempt then cradles him up for 1..2..nope. They trade blows in the center of the ring but a running forearm shot by Hammer floors Santana. Yet another TAPE EDIT followed by Santana rallying with right hands. They trade blows in the ring but now Santana gets the upper hand causing a Valentine Flop. Valentine goes to bail but catches him by pulling his tights down. The camera cuts to JYD shoving Barry O to keep this a family show. Santana suplexes a dazed Hammer. Tito makes the cover but only gets a deuce. Tito drops a few knees then goes for his own figure four, but Valentine blocks it and kicks him off. Valentine bails and heads for the exit but the faces stop him and heave him back inside. Santana hits a running forearm (not his finisher) that drops Hammer. Santana then goes for the figure four and hooks it in but Jimmy Hart hops up on the apron to distract the referee. Studd slides in the ring and pulls Valentine toward the ropes. The ref turns around and makes Santana break the hold. Santana goes after Studd but Valentine delivers a knee to the back. Valentine pounds away but Tito rallies then a brawl develops. Tito sends Greg off but their heads collide. Greg happens to fall on Santana and the ref counts 1…..2….3 and its over. Monsoon can’t believe it but The Hammer retains. The lumberjacks leave ringside as Fink announces Valentine the winner. Jimmy Hart and King Kong Bundy celebrate than get the heck out of dodge with the Hammer. Standard 1984 action but was this unusual? Not really, even for the time period.

Time of match: Edited, who cares?

Winner: Greg Valentine by pinfall (Still IC Champion)

We got right into the next match

Match 2

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs “Chief” Jay Strongbow in an Indian Strap Match

Commentator: Jesse “The Body” Ventura

On July 30, 1979 Valentine took on Strongbow at Madison Square Garden in a strap match which was unusual for that time period anyway. Valentine wastes no time and attacks Strongbow after Fink’s instructions. Valentine puts the boots to him before the strap is put on. BRILLIANT! The ref finally puts the strap on Greg and the bell gets underway. Greg clubs away in the corner then strangles Jay in the corner. Greg continues to pound away in the corner and Strongbow is busted open. Strongbow was a spry 50 at the time of the match and Greg was a month away from his 28^th birthday. A prime hammer so to speak. Greg pounds away but Jay starts no-selling. He goes into the “Hey-How-Are-Ya” hulk up so to speak. Strongbow rallies with right hands and then starts whipping Greg all over the ring. Jay rams Greg into his own knee and we get another stinkin TAPE EDIT. Valentine delivers an elbow to the head and Strongbow crumples outside. Strongbow goes to regroup but he’s strapped so Valentine just lugs him back to the ring. Valentine kicks him back out and repeats the process until Strongbow grabs Greg’s leg. Jay pulls Greg out and they trade blows on the floor. Jay rams Greg’s head into the guardrail twice then grabs a chair. Greg stops the chair but is rammed into the ring post. Valentine is busted open as they continue to brawl. Greg then chokes Strongbow on the bottom rope. The ref steps in but Chief fights out of it. They trade blows in the corner as the ref tries to separate them. Jay then kicks the ref square in the nuts as the brawl continues. Ivan Putski, Tito Santana and Dominic DeNucci hit the ring to break up the fight. The bell rings as the two are pulled apart. A fan reaches over the guardrail and grabs a chair away from Valentine so Greg throws a few forearms at the portly gentleman. Back in those days, fans would routinely rush the ring and wrestlers were given carte blanche to fight their way out. Neither would never happen now, if a fan rushes the ring he would be whisked away by security and if a wrestled belted a fan, there’s a lawsuit on Vince’s hands. Gorilla Monsoon comes out to restore order before the fans riot. Everyone but Valentine bails and the fan reaches over again, Valentine goes to attack but security and the police restrain the two. They finally get Greg out of there was the scene cuts. That was a hell of a finish, a DQ in a strap match. Was it unusual? You bet your bippy big guy.

Time of match: An edited 5 minutes (real time was 7:46)

Winner: No one (Double DQ)

We head right into the next match

Match 3

“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and Junkyard Dog vs “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Cowboy” Bob Orton in a Texas Tornado Rules tag match

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund

Madison Square Garden on January 21, 1985 saw this rare match. Rare for the rules, not for the participants. The rules are all four participants are in at the same time, there are no tags. This is going to be a long one for that reason only. Snuka starts unloading on Piper while Orton trades punches with JYD. JYD and Snuka gain the upper hand and whip the two heels together, only Orton backdrops Piper. Snuka headbutts Orton who crashes into Piper and they both go down. JYD gets on his knees and headbutts Piper around as Snuka snapmares Orton. Piper begs off as Snuka nails Orton with a punch that sends him through the ropes and to the outside. Piper is caught between Dog and Snuka so he bails to the other side of the ring. Snuka goes after him as Orton tries to sneak up on Dog but JYD nails him in the ribs. Snuka continues to attack Piper on the floor as Dog drops Orton with a clothesline. Piper whips Snuka into the ring post as Dog’s cover gets 1..2..and no. Piper gets in the ring, taps Dog on the shoulder and then pokes him in the eyes 3 Stooges style when Dog turns to look. Piper holds Dog and Orton knocks him down with a clothesline. Piper covers but Dog powers out at 2. Snuke re-enters the ring but Roddy cuts him off. Piper boots JYD to the outside as Orton comes over to take a swing at Snuka. Jimmy grabs Orton and Piper then rams their two heads together. Piper staggers backward and JYD kneels down behind him for the schoolyard trip but Piper goes to one knee and Snuka just tackles him over JYD. Snuka pounds the head of Piper but Roddy bails. Roddy heads for the exit but Snuka cuts him off with Orton in hot pursuit. Orton staggers back where Dog catches him and a brawl develops on the floor. Back inside Jimmy bites Piper on the mat as Orton pounds on Dog.  Orton then holds Snuka for Piper to deliver more damage and Piper cuts an onrushing JYD off with a thumb to the eye. Piper snapmares Dog and locks in a chinlock while Orton does the same to Snuka. We get a TAPE EDIT but the chinlocks are still applied. The faces then get to their feet but the heels whip them off the ropes to apply sleeperholds. Piper then kicks away at Snuka but we get another TAPE EDIT. Dog and Snuka are fading but they revive. Dog and Snuka grab each other’s hands and ram Orton/Piper’s heads together. Dog does his headbutts to Orton on the mat as Snuka rallies with right hands and a headbutt on Piper. Dog whops Orton into the corner who spirals upside down. Piper drops Dog with a kneelift, then in a moment that’s captured in the Coliseum Video opening montage; Piper and Orton combine to scoop slam Snuka. Piper grabs Dog and bites him in the corner as Orton goes up to the top. Orton tries a big splash but Snuka gets the knees up in time. Snuka headbutts Piper to the floor then follows him out. Piper sends Superfly into the ring post and trips up JYD as he bounces off the ropes. Orton drops a knee on Dog then rolls him cover, covers for 1…2….3 that’s it. Orton and Piper win it as Okerlund can’t believe it. Piper and Orton rush to the back with the losers pursuing. Monsoon says the crowd is stunned and the match cuts off right there. Was this unusual? Actually yeah, rarely do you see texas tornado rules in a WWF ring.

Time of match: An unofficial 7:55

Winners: Orton and Piper by pinfall
We go right to the next…..match so to speak. All it is, are highlights of an ancient women’s battle royal with Monsoon doing the voiceover.

Match 4

10 Women Battle Royal

Commentator: Gorilla Monsoon

Now this is a rarity. A women’s battle royal from the 1960’s. I can’t tell the exact date and at the start there are only 8 women in the ring. One of them is Donna Christianello, the rest Monsoon will have to fill us in on. Donna’s the one with the long black hair and she was trained by Fabulous Moolah. This battle royal has different rules as the only way to be eliminated is by pinfall. Now this will be one of the few times in history I’m going to go lazy-ass because other than Donna, I don’t have a clue who anyone is, so it’s impossible to call all the action. Before Monsoon takes over, Ventura’s voice over says the winner of the match would get a title shot against Fabulous Moolah. Yes, she was the chaAfter a tape edit that gets rid of two more girls, Monsoon gives us the run-down of Paula Kay, Black Panther, White Venus (who’s wearing a mask, which gives me 2 people I can spot instantly), Sue Green, Donna and Peggy Patterson.  Donna, Kay and Venus are thrown into each other by the other women. Another edit has Panther no longer with us as Venus executes a snap mare on Green. Kay puts the boots to Green. A little while later Kay and Green double cover Venus for the 3 count to eliminate her. Down to Green, Kay, Donna and Patterson. Here’s the funny thing, if this is the famous “Cowgirl” Sue Green, she would have to be 15-16 years old at the time of this match. Unless it’s a different Sue Green altogether….I don’t know.  Another edit shows Patterson and Green double-slingshotting the other two into the center of the ring. They do the same spot again to the other side. Two double monkeyflips by the babyfaces are followed by Kay and Donna seeking shelter under the bottom rope. A TAPE EDIT shows Sue tied up in the ropes while Paula snap mares and covers Peggy for nothing because the useless referee abandons the pinfall to check on Sue/Donna. He then gets down and counts to 2 then stops for some ungodly reason that even has Monsoon wondering what the hell is wrong with him on commentary. FINALLY he completes the 3 count and Peggy is sent to the showers leaving Sue alone with Donna and Paula. Once again we get TAPE EDITS up the wazoo which is uncalled for in a short match like this. Both Paula and Donna try to get the pinfall on Green but she kicks out both times. Paula goes for a slingshot on Sue but Donna’s standing behind her so Sue goes for the sunset flip….and blows it. Paula then starts grabbing on to her knees and its fairly obvious there’s supposed to be another slingshot going the other way. Sue slingshots Donna…who lands on her head, botching it as well. Usually women’s wrestling was far less crisp then mens back then, but this is reaching modern day diva levels. Kay eventually flips over but Donna’s on bottom. Even though DONNA is underneath Kay AND they tumbled into the ropes, THE IDIOT REF STILL COUNTS 3. The bell rings to boot as none of the women in the ring have any idea what’s going on. Green then does a running roll up on Donna and the ref counts to 3 again to end this disaster. Sue Green wins one of the ugliest women’s matches I’ve seen before the Diva era. Pretty impressive for a 16 year old. Was this an unusual match? Absolutely, even though it sucked.

Time of match: Who cares?

Winner: Sue Green

We go right into another battle royal, this one’s more recent and it’s at Madison Square Garden.

Match 5

20 Man Battle Royal

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund

Heh, it’s the battle royal from The Brawl To End It All. This was one of the undercard matches on the July 23, 1984 broadcast on MTV in Madison Square Garden. The only match shown live was Moolah vs Richter but the undercard was shown on MSG network. We get the entrants first: Sika, Jose Luis Rivera, Butcher Vachon, Antonio Inoki, Tony Garea, Chief Jay Strongbow, Afa, Steve Lombardi, Dick Murdoch, Bob Orton, Adrian Adonis, Renee Goulet, Ron Shaw, Charlie Fulton, Terry Daniels, Iron Sheik, Tito Santana, Paul Orndorff, Sgt Slaughter and 20 year old Samu, yes THAT Samu that would later shrink heads. That’s a pretty international battle royal if you look at it. You have the Samoans representing Samoa, Tito Santana representing Mexico, Garea representing New Zealand, Inoki representing Japan, Sheik representing Iran, Goulet and Butcher representing Canada and Jose Luis representing Puerto Rico. I’d say the Samoans would have the advantage with 3 of them in the ring. As with any battle royal its mayhem to start. Slaughter dumps Lombardi pretty quick (big surprise) as Garea sneaks up on Butcher. Samu and Afa double-team Orton in the corner before we get a TAPE EDIT, dammit. About 5 or 6 guys are gone including Sheik, Strongbow, Fulton, Butcher and Orndorff which is stupid because what’s the point of showing an edited battle royal? Adonis goes upstairs but crotches himself when he’s met with a right hand by Inoki. Inoki catches him with a dropkick that sends him through the ropes, not over the top. Goulet chokes down Terry Daniels in the corner while Garea tries to eliminate Shaw to no avail. Samu holds Goulet and Sarge nails him with a right hand. Afa and Sika doubleteam Murdoch in the corner and Samu comes over only to rake the eyes of Murdoch…yeah, big help. Goulet has Sarge halfway out of the ring but Sika makes the save. Murdoch whips Adonis over to Slaughter but Sarge backdrops him over and out. Murdoch jumps on Sarge and they both tumble over the top and out. The camera scans the 10 remaining wrestlers and jobbers Ron Shaw and Terry Daniels go at it, that’s one way to stick around while everyone else is eliminating each other. The crowd gasps as one of the Samoans is dumped but the camera misses it. The other Samoan tries to dump Goulet as Samu comes over and whacks Goulet, which only drops him back in the ring. Again Samu is no help to his own family. The camera misses Santana getting tossed out as Goulet ducks a charge and the other Samoan is gone. Other than Orton and Inoki, most everyone left are jobbers or rookies like Samu. We’re down to 8, make it 7 when Goulet backdrops Rivera out. By the way, Rivera would later don a mask and wrestle as one of the Conquistadors in what is considered the greatest Survivor Series match of all time….but that’s 5 years from now. Back to present time, Inoki unloads on Samu with cat swipes then ducks a charge to eliminate him. Because of that, the camera misses Terry Daniels going out and we’re down to 5. Bob Orton, Antonio Inoki, Ron Shaw, Renee Goulet and Tony Garea…who would have seen that coming considering who else was involved? Inoki takes a breather as Goulet goes after Orton and Garea gets tangled up with Shaw. Orton drops Goulet with a forearm then nails Inoki with one. Orton scoop slams Inoki but misses an elbow drop. Inoki dropkicks Orton over the top but Bob catches himself…only to trip and fall off the apron. Down to the final four of Garea, Shaw, Goulet and Inoki…wow. Shaw kicks at Garea while Goulet pounds away on Inoki. Goulet and Shaw team up and toss Garea out. Shaw and Goulet shake hands as Inoki tries to rev up the crowd. Earlier on the card, Shaw lost to Sika in a one on one match so could he avenge his loss here? Looks like a big hell no as Inoki ducks under a double clothesline as Ron and Renee crash into the corner. The two eventually overpower Inoki and Shaw holds him for Goulet. Renee bounces off the ropes and….Inoki moves so Goulet clotheslines Shaw over the top and out. Inoki dropkicks Goulet but he’s too far away from the ropes. Inoki then grabs him and tosses him out the other side to win the match. This was the last match on the card as the entire crowd almost literally runs for the exit (Madison Square Garden had an 11 PM curfew at the time). Fink announces Inoki the winner as Shaw and Goulet are sprawled out on the cement. For those that don’t know, Inoki was the founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling which later provided WCW with a lot of top talent. Vince would get his guys from All-Japan, which was founded by Inoki’s wrestling school classmate, Giant Baba. Was this an unusual match? No, but there was an unusual winner so I guess ½ unusual.

Time of match: I don’t give a damn

Winner: Antonio Inoki

We go to one of the most legendary matches in WWF history.

Match 6

“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka (with Buddy Rogers) vs Don “Magnificent” Muraco for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in a Steel Cage Match

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson

October 17, 1983 in Madison Square Garden saw the culmination of a feud that had a greater impact on wrestling AFTER it had happened, which I’ll explain later. Snuka was a heel under the guidance of Captain Lou Albano but when former WWF Champion “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers in a famous “Buddy’s Corner” (think Piper’s Pit only a few years earlier) segment convinced Snuka that Albano was no good, Jimmy turned on Lou and became the babyface we know today. Rogers would accompany Jimmy to the ring during the pre-Hulkamania years. Snuka and Rogers slowly check out the cage as they make their way around as Muraco shouts at them from inside. As Snuka and Rogers come around the right corner, a long haired teenager in a flannel shirt gives the “I love you” sign. We’ll get to him later. Finally Snuka gets in the cage and the crowd goes nuts. Muraco, in the black tights, ties up but delivers a forearm to the back. They brawl for a bit before Snuka drops the champ with a headbutt. Another tie up leads to Muraco taking a beating in the ropes. A big chop floors Muraco. Don crawls for the door but Jimmy stops him. Snuka rams Muraco’s head in the turnbuckle then delivers a big right hand. Jimmy rams Don into the other corner twice then chops him again. Don gets a knee to the mid-section then slingshots Snuka into the cage. Snuka is busted wide open as Muraco puts the boots to him. Muraco grates Jimmy’s head into the cage then unloads with right hands. Muraco whips Jimmy into the corner but a charge eats knee. Snuka climbs to the top but Don stops him with a forearm to the back. Don rams Jimmy’s head into the cage then foolishly picks him up in a fireman’s carry. Snuka catches himself on the top of the cage then knocks Muraco crotch first onto the top rope. Snuka nails Muraco back in the ring as Monsoon scoffs (and so do I) at Jimmy for not climbing out of the cage at this point with Muraco down. Jimmy tries to climb down but Muraco nails him with a rib shot then powerslams him into the center of the ring. Don heads for the door but Jimmy catches him at the last second. Muraco then mule kicks him in the gonads as Monsoon says its legal. Jimmy reverses a whip and Muraco half-Flair flips into the corner. Jimmy rams Muraco into the cage and now he’s busted open too. Jimmy gets fired up and drops Don with a big right hand. He scoop slams the champ then goes upstairs. Jimmy drops a fist from the second rope as the crowd comes alive. Snuka rallies with right hands and another chop that sends Muraco to the canvas. Jimmy stuns Don with a headbutt, bounces off the ropes and nails Muraco with a flying headbutt….but oh no! Muraco flips over the top rope and out of the cage, which means MURACO WINS! Snuka can’t believe it as Patterson says it was an accident. Snuka screams as he leaves the cage and prevents Muraco from leaving. He tosses Muraco back in for some extracurricular activity. Jimmy suplexes Muraco into the middle of the cage then goes upstairs. He then looks behind him and climbs all the way to the top of the cage. Monsoon “SUPERFLY PERCHED 15 FEET HIGH!” The long haired teenager in the flannel shirt watched in amazement as Snuka lept off the top of the cage and nailed Muraco with a Superfly splash. The crowd goes crazy as Snuka grabs the IC belt and poses with it for the crowd. Jimmy drops the belt on Muraco’s fallen body and does the “I love you pose” Jimmy makes his exit as Muraco twitches on the canvas. Monsoon goes to the replay of Snuka diving off the cage as the doctor at ringside tends to Muraco inside. We cut the action here but I’m glad they kept the entire match intact as well as the historic finish. By the way, that long-haired teenager in the flannel shirt was 18 year old Mick Foley. When he saw Snuka leap off the cage he got inspired to become a wrestler himself. So Muraco/Snuka in a cage had a much more lasting impression on the wrestling world because of Mick Foley than the actual feud itself. So was this an unusual match? Cage matches back then were the feud enders plus we saw Mick Foley before he ever got in the business so I say sure. The match itself wasn’t anything special but given the level of intensity, plus the finish, good stuff!

Time of match: 6:42

Winner: Don Muraco (still IC Champion)

As anti-climatic as it sounds, the cage match didn’t end the feud. A few months later the managers would get involved and a tag match would take place. Only it would be Snuka teaming with Arnold Skaaland against Captain Lou and Muraco. Apparently Rogers got hurt in training for the match and Arnie took his place.

Match 7

“Captain” Lou Albano and Don “Magnificent” Muraco vs “The Golden Boy” Arnold Skaaland and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson

With Buddy Rogers out, 58 year old Arnold Skaaland gets back in the ring to assist Snuka against Muraco and Albano. Albano was 50 years old himself at the time of the match. Snuka was 40 believe it or not with Muraco bringing up the rear at 34. We’re back at Madison Square Garden on December 26, 1983, the night Sheik defeated Backlund for the world title. Skaaland and Muraco start with a tie up as Patterson says not to count Arnie out due to his age. Skaaland and Albano are no strangers to each other either. 16 years earlier Skaaland and his partner Spiros Arion dropped the WWWF US Tag Team Titles to The Sicillians (Albano and Tony Altimore). Muraco (wearing the black tights) gets the upperhand as Ventura’s voice-over explains the upcoming contest (why couldn’t they have done this BEFORE the action started?). Muraco misses a charge in the corner and Skaaland (in the blue tights) arm-drags Muraco twice. Muraco clears his head then methodically stalks Arnie. A sideheadlock is applied before Skaaland sends Muraco off who jumps over Skaaland then stops to give the arm and the elbow to Snuka. Don turns around into a scoop slam by Skaaland. Albano interferes and is met with a big right hand. A TAPE EDIT shows Muraco now tying up with Skaaland. Arnie gets sent off who nails Albano in the corner with a big forearm. Muraco charges and Arnie catches him with a nice inside cradle for 1..2..nope. Not bad for a guy who would turn 59 less than a month later. Muraco bails to clear his head then re-enters. Muraco swipes at Skaaland as we go to the replay of the small package. Skaaland crawls under the legs of Muraco and tags in the Superfly. Muraco backs off but with a cocky smirk on his face while Albano paces on the apron. The camera cuts to a shot of the crowd and misses Snuka onloading on Albano.  Muraco gets Snuka in a headlock, sends him off and drops him with a shoulderblock. Snuka does his trademark leapfrogs then drops Muraco with a big chop. A jumping headbutt floors Muraco. Jimmy makes the cover but only gets a 2, then applies a rest hold. The ref gives Albano shit as a kid in the front row takes a swig of coke. Muraco begins to power up as Snuka yells at Albano. Monsoon makes note that Lou hasn’t been in the match yet. Muraco breaks free and tags in Albano right on cue. Albano comes in and begs off in a circle then goes to give Jimmy a hug. Jimmy is not in a hugging mood and he greets Lou with a kick to the gut and a chop, Albano barely sells either. Jimmy goes for another chop but Albano no sells it and punches Snuka in the gonads, ouch. Jimmy staggers into the corner where Albano delivers a forearm to the back. Albano unloads on Jimmy with the heavy artillery and a rake to the eyes. Lou then distracts the refree and Muraco then goes upstairs to deliver a standing knee to the throat. The ref turns around and Muraco puts his hands up then bails. Referee Gil Roman is asleep apparently. Albano continues to unload on Snuka then tags Muraco back in. A double knee lift drops Snuka then a running knee lift floors him again. A big thumb to the eye has Superfly rolling around in agony. A series of boots and an elbow sends Jimmy to the canvas. Arnold looks on intently and Snuka begins to rally with right hands and a headbutt. A chop decks Muraco but Snuka goes to attack Albano. Don dropkicks Snuka in the back then tags in Lou. Albano continues to punch/kick Snuka around then tags Don in. Muraco holds Snuka but Jimmy moves and Albano nails Muraco instead. Skaaland interferes to attack Albano in the corner. Snuka sneaks to the top rope as Muraco turns around into a flying bodypress. The cover 1..2…3 and its over, Snuka’s team wins it. Snuka rams Lou and Don’s heads together after the bell. Patterson cuts off mid-sentence as apparently Albano was giving him shit. Fink announces the winners as we cut right there. Well that was average at best. Did it belong on this kind of tape, hell no! Like I said, it was anti-climatic after the cage match plus all Albano did was stumble and bumble around. I will say at least Skaaland and Albano were trained professionals, unlike when celebs get in the ring nowadays.

Time of match: An un-official 8:16

Winners: Jimmy Snuka and Arnold Skaaland

Moving right along to one from the archives. This one goes back to the late 70’s.

Match 8

Haystacks Calhoun “High Chief” Peter Maivia and Larry Zybysko vs Butcher Vachon, Moose Monroe and Strong Kobayashi

Commentator: Vince McMahon

We go back to the WW…WF when Vince McMahon Sr was running the show. Back then you had guys coming in and out of the territory unless they homesteaded like Bruno Sammartino. This is supposed to highlight Haystacks who was a legitimate 600 pounds. What about the rest? Well we know Butcher and Zybysko from previous tapes. Peter Maivia is the grandfather of The Rock and father-in-law of “Soulman” Rocky Johnson, which is the inspiration for Rock’s original name of “Rocky Maivia”. Maivia was also one tough son of a bitch, his tribal tattoos down his abs and legs were done over a period of 3 days using a hammer, needle and ink. None of this lazer shit, he had it done the hard way. Kobayashi was in town from Japan, most notably the International Wrestling Enterprise. Moose Monroe was a standard jobber of the 70’s. Haystacks was the Andre the Giant of his time. He basically had the same career too only 15 years earlier. The fact he was a hillbilly paved the way for future bumpkins Hillbilly Jim, Cousin Luke, Uncle Elmer, The Godwinns, etc. At one point, Haystacks was the LIGHTER wrestler in a match with the 800 pound Happy Humphrey. Think Yokozona was too fat by the end of his run in WWF, add on another 200 pounds and that’s what Humphrey was. Anyway back to the actual match, Zybysko stars with Kobayashi who chickens out and Butcher gets in. Zybysko arm drags Vachon twice before tagging in Calhoun. Butcher tags in Monroe as Haystacks stalks him. Calhoun puts him in a full nelson but none of his babyface teammates want to take a cheap shot. Butcher interferes but the ref shoos him away. Finally Zybysko gets in a cheap shot (of course it had to be him) and Haystacks throws Monroe into the corner. Haystacks is wearing is standard overalls and black t-shirt, Zybysko has black tights and Maivia has pink ones. Monroe has the Baron Von Raschke-esque red and black combo pants. Calhoun does a series of avalanches in the corner on Monroe then applies a bear-hug. Zybysko tags in where he rallies with right hands and dropping Moose with a knee to the gut. Maivia tags in who is all smiles as he delivers a stomach-breaker. Calhoun tags in and delivers a sloppy big splash. As he covers, Maivia actually runs on top of him then jumps onto Kobayashi as the ref counts 1..2…3 to end it. Zybysko had actually ran up Calhoun to deliver a flying forearm to Butcher as well. The match cuts right there. Was this an unusual match? No. Did it have unusual participants? Yes. Haystacks was the Andre the Giant of the 60’s and Peter Maivia was one of the first Samoans to make it in New York. Unfortunately, Peter died of cancer in June of 1982, 3 years before the tape was released. So while the match may have been a boring squash, least it contained some rare stars that are hardly ever talked about anymore.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winners: Haystacks Calhoun, Peter Maivia and Larry Zybysko

On to the final match of the tape, the one that teased us in BLOOPERS, BLEEPS AND BODYSLAMS, the 10 men, 3 out of 5 fall tag match.

Match 9

“Playboy” Buddy Rose, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Ray “Crippler” Stevens, Mr. Fuji, and Don “Magnificent” Muraco (with Captain Lou Albano) vs Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Pedro Morales, Salvatore Bellomo, Rocky Johnson and Andre the Giant

Commentator: Gorilla Monsoon

Lot of talent in that ring all around, this is going to be a long one due to it being 3 out of 5 falls with a TWO HOUR time limit. We’re at the Philadelphia Spectrum on February 19, 1983. We got 3 WWF champions in Graham, Morales and Andre with Muraco the reigning IC champ. Rose and Stevens held multiple AWA tag team titles (with different partners) and Mr Fuji was a former WWF tag team champion. Snuka and Belomo never won any gold but Snuka never had to, he was a top draw on his own. Johnson starts in the ring with Fuji but the devious one backs Johnson into the face side of the ring. Fuji gets in a wrist-lock but Johnson rolls out of it and nips backwards. He rallies with his Ali right hands and drops Fooj. Ventura is talking over the action trying to introduce everyone and go over the rules. Fuji tags out to Buddy Rose. Buddy gets a headlock then nails Johnson with a shoulderblock only for Johnson to pop up, leapfrog and catapult Rose across the ring. Rose charges into two arm-drags before Stevens tags in. He eats two arm-drags before he crawls to the corner to tag in Muraco. We get a TAPE EDIT and now Snuka’s in the ring with Muraco. Snuka goes to town on Muraco before tagging in Morales, Morales floors Don with a forearm to the chest and revs up the crowd before tagging in Andre. Andre shoots Muraco in the ropes then delivers a big boot that sends Don over the top rope to the floor. Stevens and Rose come over to help him back in and once inside, Muraco locks in a headlock on the giant who gets sent off the ropes and runs into the huge posterior of Andre. Muraco sells it like he took a cannon shot to the ribs. Stevens tags in and begs off as we get another TAPE EDIT and now its Bellomo in with Muraco. Poor Bellomo, he was the least known out of all 10 men. Muraco gets him up in an airplane spin. Round and round he goes and then falls backwards (haha) with Bellomo on top for 1..2..no. A dizzy Muraco tags out to Rose who puts Bellomo in another airplane spin. He drops him and goes to make a tag only its in the wrong corner. Johnson scares Rose away into his own corner who tags in Mr. Fuji. Fooj delivers a thrust to the throat then Stevens tags in to pound away at Salvatore. Stevens goes for the blatant choke but Bellomo gets an elbow to the gut then makes the tag to Superfly. Stevens begs off but Snuka goes through his offense before Stevens tags in Muraco, who runs into a jumping headbutt Snuka tags in Morales who has a score to settle since it was Muraco who dethroned him as IC champ. Muraco backs up right into the arms of Andre, who holds him as Morales unloads with the heavy artillery. Johnson tags in to do the Ali jabs before finishing with a right hand that drops Don. Andre tags in and Muraco begs off. Andre headbutts Muraco who gets his head stuck in the top rope on the face side. We get another TAPE EDIT and now Bellomo has the headlock on Fuji. A standing dropkick by Salvatore floors Fuji then drops him with a shoulderblock. Bellomo charges right into an over the head belly-to-belly suplex, the cover by Fuji gets 1…2..3 and the first fall goes to Team Muraco. Per rules, Bellomo and Fuji have to start the second fall. Fuji continues to work over Salvatore before picking him up for a scoop slam. Snuka comes off the top rope with a dropkick that sends Bellomo crashing down on Fuji, Dick Woehrle gets down 1..2…3 and we’re tied up at one fall apiece just like that. The faces celebrate as Bellomo gets a rest in the corner. A TAPE EDIT has Bellomo crawling away from Buddy Rose but the Playboy catches him. Bellomo gets in some defensive shots before tagging in Snuka. Rose sends him off but Superfly leapfrogs over him then slides under for a sunset flip that apparently gets a 3 count. Monsoon’s overdub commentary eliminated the sound and the camera angle was off. Rose jumps up in protest as the faces take a 2 to 1 lead. One more and they win. Snuka and Rose tie up and Buddy gets in a headlock. They do the same sequence as before only Snuka does his leapfrog/chop combo that sends Playboy flying.  Andre tags in and chops Rose down, he gets to his feet but is clobbered with a big right hand from Andre. Rose goes for a tag but Graham doesn’t want in so Fuji reluctantly does. Thanks to the editing, Graham hasn’t been in the match yet it seems. Fuji gets whacked but disorients Andre with a double slap to the ears. Muraco tags in and nails Andre with a forearm to the chest. Stevens grabs Andre from the outside but the Giant headbutts him away. Muraco goes up to the top rope but Andre catches him and slams him down to the mat. Andre sends him off the ropes and staggers the IC champ with a big chop. Muraco falls into his corner but again Graham avoids the tag and Rose reluctantly makes it. Andre brings him in the hard way and then does a double noggin knocker with Superfly, ha! Andre sends Rose off and delivers a big boot. Andre sits on him and the ref counts 1..2…3 and its over. Team Andre wins it 3 falls to 1 as Billy Graham does absolutely nothing. For extracurricular activity, Andre clocks Stevens too. The fans goes wild as Bellomo unloads on Graham who no-sells everything and simply leaves the ring. Muraco’s team retreats as Team Andre celebrates in the ring.

Time of match: Who cares?

Winners: Andre the Giant, Salvatore Bellomo, Pedro Morales, Jimmy Snuka and Rocky Johnson by pinfall

The orchestral theme hits as the credits roll. The after-preview Ventura says “available this June, Wrestlemania!” Wait, Wrestlemania was the 4^th tape released and this was the 5^th, how was it released BEFORE Wrestlemania? Anyway the 2 hour cassette was listed for $39.95 retail….hahahaha. I know its Wrestlemania but not even blu rays are worth that much these days. 40 dollars in 85 is like 70 today.  Monsoon takes over to preview BEST OF THE WWF VOLUME 3 then BIGGEST, SMALLEST, STRANGEST, SMALLEST and finally ROWDY RODDY PIPER’S GREATEST HITS. So were these the most unusual matches? For the most part yes. It was standard 1980’s action with the focus on showmanship more than mat based wrestling. For the most part the tape is worth picking up but certainly nothing to break the bank for. 3 stars out of 5. One point off because of the edit jobs and another point off for the women’s match. The next tape after this is ANDRE THE GIANT, another profile tape.

Wrestlemania 1 (WF004)

WRESTLEMANIA 1 (WF004)

After BEST OF THE WWF VOLUME 1 came the first WRESTLEMANIA. There’s a lot of backstory that went into the making of it and I’ll try to do the best I can to piece it all together. It started when Vince McMahon Jr purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling from Jim Barnett in May of 1984. GCW had been broadcast on Ted Turner owned TBS “The Superstation” for a decade and it featured classic NWA wrestling. In what would later be called “Black Saturday”, on July 14, 1984 Vince McMahon appeared on Georgia Championship and switched the programming from NWA wrestling to re-runs of WWF matches. The predominantly southern fans revolted as the difference in product between the NWA and WWF was severe. Instead of classic wrestling they got cartoon wrestling. The ratings hit the toilet almost immediately and Turner was pissed. To get back at Vince, Ted allowed a half hour timeslot for Ole Anderson’s Championship Wrestling From Georgia featuring anyone that refused to go to the WWF when first bought (among those were Jake Roberts, Gordon Solie and Ted Dibiase). Vince was pissed and felt that only he should be allowed on the Superstation. Turner told him to improve the ratings or get lost. Vince then sold his timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions for a huge chunk of cash. What did he do with that cash? That’s the second part of the story. While all this was going on, in his own company, Hulkamania was running wild. Hulk Hogan was a huge ratings draw wherever he was booked and was starting to get national attention. Something was missing though, Vince knew if he wanted to hit the big time, he needed to be in the mainstream. That’s when a lucky plane ride changed the course of wrestling history. Captain Lou Albano just happened to be on the same plane as rock star Cindy Lauper and the two struck up a friendship. Cindy then asked Lou to play the role of her father on her world famous video “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. Soon after Cindy began popping up at WWF events which led to MTV taking notice. In what would become the “Rock N Wrestling Connection” 9 days after Vince started airing his crap on GCW, MTV aired “Brawl To End It All” which launched WWF into the national spotlight. This was followed up by “War To Settle The Score” which featured Hulk Hogan taking on top heel “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (who was stolen from the NWA a year prior). Now with the mainstream attention and a huge chunk of change from the GCW sale, Vince needed a home run show. Supercards were nothing new, Starrcade 83 had been the most successful for the NWA. Vince knew he needed something bigger. Something that would revolutionize the wrestling business and how supercards should be run. TV tough guy Mr. T had befriended Hulk Hogan and Vince decided to run a supercard featuring a tag match featuring his top heels (Piper and Paul Orndorff) and Hogan/T. He had the venue set for Madison Square Garden and he had the finance, he just needed a name. Howard Finkel…yes, The Fink himself suggested “Wrestlemania” and Vince ran with it. Shown on closed-circuit television, Wrestlemania 1, the first of what would become the pinnacle of wrestling events was held on March 31, 1985 and it featured the biggest showdown of the year with television superstar Mr T along with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan taking on the biggest heel in not only the WWF but in wrestling as well “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff. I’m not kidding about the heel line, even though Flair was a heel as a part of The Horsemen he was loved in his role and over in the AWA did anyone give a damn about Stan Hansen? Piper was definately the number 1 heel in wrestling at this point so to see him get his possible comeuppance from the Hulkster was something everyone wanted to see.  Also included was the famous 15,000 dollar slam match where if Andre slammed Big John Studd he’d win 15 grand but if Studd won Andre would retire. Plus we get a tag team title match between the original Un-Americans Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik against the US Express Barry Whindam and Mike Rotundo. This event started it all so let’s get right down to it. Vince McMahon’s voice appears and runs down the card before we get sent to Monsoon, Ventura and Gene Okerlund who sings the national anthem (ugh).

MARCH 31, 1985

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

NEW YORK, NY

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Match 1

Tito Santana vs The Executioner

You know…..I think its really dumb they had to hide “Playboy” Buddy Rose (The Executioner) like this, but since this was a one time appearance I guess it was justified. I still get a kick how Mean Gene Okerlund would interview both participants in the matches mere seconds after the other departed the screen…and this was back when kayfabe was still a big deal. Executioner (who clearly looks and sounds like Buddy Rose) says he’s gonna go after Santana’s leg while Tito says he’s gonna win….arriba! Bells gone and they run the ropes adjacent from each other before Santana hits a backdrop and a dropkick on The Executioner who falls through the ropes to the outside. Ventura “Woodstock was to rock n roll what Wrestlemania is to wrestling” well put. Back inside Santana hits a headlock who walks up the rope and turns it into a headlock takeover. Executioner and Santana trade blows before Executioner takes over in the corner and hits a knee to the solar plexus. Executioner goes for a figure four but Santana blocks it, then he goes for a step over toe wrench which Santana counters into a cradle for a near fall. Santana fires away in the corner and goes for a piledriver, but Executioner counters with a back drop. He hits a bodyslam and goes upstairs but Santana catches him with a slam off the top. Santana goes for a big splash but Executioner gets the knees up just in time, then he works over the left leg on the second rope before Tito kicks him over the top rope into the time-keeper’s table. Tito hits a power slam from the apron to the ring and hits the flying forearm out of nowhere. Tito drags him to the center of the ring and locks in the figure four as Executioner submits quickly though the time keeper’s asleep and takes forever to ring the bell. Howard Finkel gets in the ring with the official word as Santana takes the first match in Wrestlemania history.

Time of Match: 4:40

Winner: Tito Santana by submission
Alfred Hays in the aisle way shills the upcoming Bundy/Jones showdown who sends it to Okerlund who interviews Jones first. SD “I’m gonna get down with the biggest man in town” and 5 seconds after Jones leaves in walks Bundy and Hart…..like I said earlier, this was back when kayfabe was a real big deal so we’re supposed to believe Bundy let him stand there and say all this stuff? Bundy says he’s gonna avalanche the poor guy and get the 5 count. Back to ringside….

Match 2

King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart) vs SD Jones

SD Jones was your basic mid-card face at the time while Bundy was a rising monster heel, fresh from being a member of the Legion of Doom in the NWA. Jones runs into Bundy at the bell and Kong catches him in a bearhug then rams him into the corner. Jones crumples to the floor then gets up as Bundy hits the avalanche followed by the big splash for 1…2….3 and its over just like that. Monsoon and Ventura can’t believe it as Howard Finkel gets on the mic. “Time of the fall….9 SECONDS…your winner King Kong Bundy” Um, what? I specifically counted 23 seconds (which Monsoon ironically says is the previous record) so this was all just hooplah to get Bundy over as Hogan’s future opponent.

Time of match: 23 seconds

Winner: King Kong Bundy by pinfall

Back to Alfred Hays who shills the upcoming match as Bundy makes his way back to the locker room. Mean Gene interviews Borne first and he says Steamboat’s too nice of a guy and he’s gonna beat him up then Ricky comes in and scoffs at Borne for basically calling him a wuss and says he’s gonna take him out.

Match 3

“Maniac” Matt Borne vs Ricky Steamboat

This could be the sleeper as match of the night because Borne was more talented than he looked (and this was 8 years before he became Doink the Clown) and we all know how great Steamboat was. Borne was competing in tboth Portland and Mid-South when he was brought in for the match. Ventura hypes Matt’s father “Tough” Tony Borne who wrestled many moons ago including an encounter with Gorilla himself. They tie up to start before Steamboat leapfrogs over Borne and goes for the double chop but Matt catches himself, then runs into the double chop anyway. Steamboat hits a snap mare and a headlock as Monsoon hypes up him and Jimmy Snuka as possible tag team title contenders. Steamboat rolls through an atomic drop attempt and hits one of his own, then mocks Borne’s selling of the maneuver. Steamboat goes back to the side headlock before Borne hits an inverted atomic drop and a knee lift. Borne fires away in the corner but Steamboat hits a boot to the head (yeah yeah!) and a chop from the second rope. Steamboat hits another double karate chop as the announcers shill Ricky’s physique and Borne’s intelligence. Borne backs Ricky in the corner and hits a series of knee’s to the mid-section followed by a BtB suplex. Matt hits a snap suplex and covers for 1..2…nope, they trade blows in the ring before Steamboat gets the upper hand with karate chops. Steamboat hits a back suplex, a reverse neckbreaker and 2 knee drops for a cover of 1..2…nope. Steaboat leapfrogs over Borne and hits some sort of double punch to the face, then he goes upstairs and hits the FLYING CROSSBODY for 1…2….three and we have a winner. Short and sweet….so much for my match of the night prediction.

Time of match: 4:38

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by pinfall

Back to Alfred Hays who hypes up the upcoming Sammartino/Beefcake showdown before sending it over to Okerlund with the pre-match interview. David says he and his dad have been training hard and he’s gonna avenge Hillbilly Jim by taking Beefcake out before Bruno says if Johnny V interferes he’s gonna knock him out.  Beefcake and Johnny enter WHILE DAVID IS STILL ON SCREEN….are u kidding me, Verne Gagne would have a heart attack if he saw this going on in the AWA. Anyway Johnny V cuts a funny promo that’s too fast to be mentioned here so let’s go back to ringside. Its funny how Johnny Valiant became a manager for WWF while brother Jimmy was still competing for Crockett at this time.
Match 4

Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny Valiant) vs David Sammartino (with Bruno Sammartino)

Poor David, the old man’s shoes were too big to fill and even when matched up against a stiff like Beefcake, he STILL gets laughed at. There’s no referee in the ring so they stall for a while as Monsoon and Ventura discuss the possibility of Beefcake being “Luscious” Johnny Valiant’s son. They exchange tie-ups after the bell before David hits a drop-toe hold as the camera pans to Bruno outside. They exchange go-behinds and takedowns before Brutus slides under the ring and regroups with Valiant. Back inside David hits a series of old school takedowns and goes to the front headlock, a Sammartino trademark. Beefcake threatens to pound the ref before David counters a scoop slam with an arm-bar. David drops a leg on the left shoulder before Beefcake gets up and hits a high school style headlock for 1…2..nope. Brutus hits a shoulder-block and an arm=drag but Sammartino nips up and catches Beefcake with a double toe-hold. Beefcake powers out of it but David catches the leg and applies a step-over. Brutus counters a figure four attempt but Sammartino continues with the leg lock as Beefcake doesn’t even sell it….seriously, he adjusts his arm pads and barely looks like he’s in pain. Beefcake gets a thumb to the eye and hits a backdrop before hitting a series of forearms to the sternum. Beefcake hits a scoop slam and goes back on offense with elbows in the corner. Beefcake hits a hard irish whip into the corner, poses, then hits a series of knees to the mid-section. Bruno gets the crowd to chant for David as Beefcake runs straight into a back body-drop. Sammartino rallies with clubbing right hands and jabs before hitting a weak looking boot to the mid-section. David hits a big knee to the head and a snap suplex then covers for 1…2..negative. Beefcake throws David out of the ring where Valiant pounces and slams him on the concrete floor…causing the old man to toss Valiant in the ring for an ass kicking. Bruno waffles Johnny with a series of forearms before Beefcake pounds away to stop the momentum. David comes over and all 4 men go at it as the ref calls for the bell before the Sammartino’s clean house. The crowd erupts but then boos when Finkel announces the match is a draw. The first and last appearance of David Sammartino on any major WWF event as Beefcake was just getting started.

Time of match: 11:40

Winner: No one…double DQ

Back to Alfred Hays who shills the upcoming IC title match before sending it over to Gene Okerlund for the pre-match interviews. Valentine says he’s the master of the figure four and he’s gonna hammer JYD before Dog comes in and says he’s going to get his hands on Jimmy Hart. Back to ringside with Gorilla and Jesse.

Match 5

Junkyard Dog vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

JYD, one of the most popular black athletes in wrestling history gets a title shot here. JYD had come over from Mid-South wrestling (damn near crippling the promotion as he was the top star) for this one. Valentine enters first as Another One Bites The Dust hits and JYD enters. I should point out JYD is the first person to use entrance music as everyone else to this point didn’t have any. They fake hitting each other as JYD jukes and jives to the crowd’s delight before hitting an arm twister. Valentine whips JYD off but Dog catches the foot then catches Greg with a right hand. Valentine hits a knee and an elbow but misses a forearm so JYD hits his trademark headbutts on the ground before the camera pans to the Garden crowd. Monsoon says Hart is now the manager of Jim Niedhart, Bundy and Valentine before Valentine goes back on offense. Greg hits a forearm to the back of the neck and an elbow drop to the mid-section before going over the right leg of JYD. Valentine goes for a half-crab and stretches the knee as the crowd begins to roar for JYD. Valentine hits a headbutt to the midsection but JYD counters the figure four attempt and sells the injury well. Valentine works him over in the corner before Dog rallies with right hands and headbutts as Valentine does the flop. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron and Dog grabs him but moves out of the way causing Valentine
to hammer Jimmy to the floor. Dog backs Valentine in the corner with forearm and a headbutt before Valentine rake the eyes and scoops the legs with his feet on the rope for 1…2…3 and Valentine wins it. All of a sudden Tito Santana hits the ring and tells the ref Valentine had his foot on the rope. All of a sudden the ref calls for the match to continue making him the smartest ref in the history of wrestling up to this point, but Valentine wants no part of it and stays out of the ring. Dog wins by count-out but the title does not change hands on a count-out so The Hammer is still the champ. Santana and Dog taunt Valentine in the ring as Greg teases getting in to fight them before walks to the back. That was supposed to be a 1 hour time limit and it didn’t even go 7 minutes…..the next 4 matches better be long because this is crash style so far.

Time of match: 6:53

Winner:  Junkyard Dog by count-out (Valentine retains the title)

Back to Hays who shills the upcoming tag team title match before sending it over to Okerlund for the pre-match interviews. Sheik says down with America while my favorite manager of all time Blassie says we’re looking at the next champions. Gene “Ok commie…er comrade” Volkoff “I came, I saw, I conquer” Albano walks in with a beer in his hand and says the Express is gonna win, now THAT’S confidence.

Match 6

The Un-Americanz (Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik) with Freddie Blassie vs The US Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo) with Captain Lou Albano for the WWF Tag Team Championship

The men who would become IRS and The Stalker (father and uncle of a Wyatt family member too) take on Sheik and Volkoff here. The Express had beaten the North/South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch) for the belts two months prior. Before the match Nikolai does his pre-match ritual by singing the Soviet National Anthem as the Garden crowd heaves garbage in the ring. Sheik “RUSSIA NUMBA VUN….IRAN NUMBA VUN…AMERICA HACK PATOIE!” Born in the USA by Bruce “The Boss” Springstein hits and the Express make their entrance. With 3 out of the 4 wrestlers in their prime, this could be the sleeper that Borne/Steamboat wasn’t. Rotundo starts off with Sheik as Ventura says you’ll see bad world series and superbowls but not Wrestlemania….yah wait until Wrestlemania 11. Rotundo hits an armdrag, dropkick, a scoop slam and a headlock takedown as Ventura shills. Windham makes the tag and hits an elbow from off the top rope then hits a boot to the mid-section. Sheik backs Barry back in the corner and Volkoff holds, but Windham escapes and Sheik dropicks Volkoff instead. Volkoff tags in and the camera shows an instant replay of the dropkick before going back to live action where Rotundo hits a back elbow smash. IRS…er Mike locks in an arm-bar then tags in Windham who once again comes off the top onto the elbow. Rotundo follows with the same elbow drop before Nikolai takes over and rams Rotundo’s head into Sheik’s legendary loaded boot. Sheik backdrops Rotundo and hits an elbow drop for 1…2…nope, near fall. Iron Sheik executes a gut-wrench suplex and covers for a deuce before Rotundo blocks a snap suplex and hits one of his own. Nikolai tags in and drops him throat first on the top rope as Blassie shouts “Kick em!” Rotundo switches out of a hammerlock as the crowd gets a USA chant going. Mike hits a sunset flip for 1..2…noooo, Volkoff quickly gets up and puts the boots to him. Volkoff hits a knee to the mid-section and boots before ramming Mike’s head once again into Sheik’s boot. The heels double team Rotundo before Sheik applies an abdominal stretch as the camera pans to Blassie and Albano trading invectives. Rotundo escapes and Volkoff tags in but Mike finally makes it to Windham, who fires away at Nikolai with fists and a dropkick. Windham hits the bulldog and covers for 1..2…nope, Sheik cuts him off. Rotundo gets in and dropkicks Sheik to the floor but Blassie sneaks the cane into Sheik’s hands. The ref is distracted by Rotundo as Sheik breaks the cane over the back of Windham who crumbles to the floor. Nikolai rolls him over and covers for 1….2…3 and we got new tag team champions. Iron Sheik becomes the first superstar since Bob Backlund to be both World champion and Tag champion in their careers. I should point out the Express left the company not long after this and Windham wouldn’t compete in another Wrestlemania for 12 more years while Rotundo resurfaced 7 years later as I.R.S.

Time of match: 6:51

Winners: The Un-Americanz by pinfall (New Tag Team Champions)

Mean Gene interviews the new champs and scoffs at Blassie for using the cane. Freddie “Cane? What cane? I didn’t have no cane!” Sheik says Gene Mean and spits at the US again as Okerlund sends it back to Monsoon and Ventura who goes over what we just saw. Back to Alfred Hays who shills the upcoming $15,000 slam match who sends it back to Okerlund for the pre-match interviews. Studd and Heenan enter with the duffel bag of money and its funny to see Okerlund try to stick his hand in as Heenan swats it away. Heenan “There’s only 2 people that are gonna see this money, me and Studd….make it 3, the teller at the bank when we deposit the money.” The next segment is shilling Wrestlemania merchandise which makes no sense because the announcer dude says “pick it up in the corridors” which is an insinuation people watching this commercial is at the Garden? Whatever….on to the match.

Match 7

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan) in a $15,000 Slam Match

Ok, the rules are simple…..if Andre bodyslams Studd he wins 15 grand but if Studd slams Andre then say goodbye to the Giant. Studd attacks Andre in the corner as the bell rings before Andre rallies with chop and a big headbutt. Andre boots Studd to the outside of the ring and John regroups with Heenan, back inside Andre taunts Studd until backing him into the corner. Andre chokes Studd in the corner and Ventura asks where the ref is, but this isn’t a standard wrestling match so there are no DQ’s to speak of. Andre hits a knee to the head and big hamhock to the head before executing avalanches in the corner. Studd goes for a bodyslam but Andre blocks it then chops away at Studd before hitting a bearhug. The fants chats for Andre to slam as Ventura says “25,000 strong chanting”…..thought the building only held about 17,000 but nevertheless it is a sell out. The bearhug spot is worked for 2 full minutes before letting go and hitting a forearm to the back as Ventura says this could be the last time we could be seeing Andre. Andre hits a headlock and hits another hamhock to the mid-section as the crowd erupts. Andre whips Studd off and catches the foot, then hits another right hand to the face. Andre blocks a back elbow smash before chopping John in the corner. Andre kicks away at Studd’s leg and I’ll let Monsoon handle this one. “Andre now going to work on the leg, LOOK AT THIS…ANDRE PICKS EM UP…HE SLAMMED HIM!!!” This one’s over and Andre wins the match as the crowd erupts again as Finkel hands Andre the bag of money. Andre begins throwing money into the crowd before Heenan sneaks up, steals the bag then runs to the back with Studd. Ventura “They don’t call him The Brain for nothin Gino!” Andre poses in the ring and his career will resume….for a few more years anyway. I look at this match not for the catch-as-catch-can but for the drama and the storyline because in 1985, 15 grand or retire was a big deal so this match certainly was legendary. Screw the ROH smarks and spotfest lovers.

Time of match: 5:52

Winner: Andre the Giant

Back to Okerlund who interviews Andre who says in his booming voice that he doesn’t care about the money and tries cutting a promo but is cut off as we send it back to Monsoon and Ventura. The man just saved his career, let him speak dammit! We send it back to Alfred Hays who tries to shill the upcoming women’s match but is cut off by Moolah who kisses him on the lips. Alfred “Good gracious!” then Leilani kisses him before he finally sends it to Mean Gene. Okerlund interviews Lauper and Richter then Cyndi in her thick Brooklyn accent she’s gonna get her hands on Moolah. Richter says she’s gonna get her belt back as the camera cuts off allowing Moolah and Leilani to enter….why couldn’t they have done that all night to make it look like they weren’t standing next to each other. Moolah is wearing flamboyant glasses and Okerlund says don’t tell Ventura about them so he doesn’t get any ideas. Back to ringside for the match…..
Match 8

Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolfe) vs Leilani Kai (with Fabulous Moolah) for the WWF Womens Championship

Ironically this match was more hyped up than the previous 7 (Andre included) because of the involvement of Lauper on MTV. Richter had originally dethroned Moolah and Moolah trained Leilani to get the belt back, which she did. Richter, Wolfe and Lauper come running out to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun as the crowd goes crazy for the trio. Cyndi gets in Leilani’s face before the bell and Kai motions that she’s crazy, haha good one. I don’t know whether it was because I was a weird kid or not but when I first saw this match I thought Leilani was much more gorgeous than Wendi but Richter was the better wrestler. Monsoon says Cyndi stole her outfit out of Ventura’s dresser as we get underway with the big title match. They tie up and roll around the ropes before Leilani backs Wendi in the corner. Wendi punches Leilani halfway across the ring then hits an armdrag but Leilani nips Richter off her. Kai hits an armdrag but Wendi turns it into a hammerlock before THROWING her in hammerlock position a good 3 feet in the air, how Leilani didn’t tear a shoulder in the process I don’t know. Leilani reaches back and hits a series of snapmares as Cyndi shouts encouragement for Wendi. Leilani goes back to old school holds, a tribute to Moolah I’m sure.  They trade blows in the ring before Leilani grabs Wendi by the hair and throws her into the corner, then hits a snapmare before choking her down. Wendi applies a body scissors from sex position and Leilani shows how strong she is by pulling her all the way to her feet but Wendi hits a forearm to the chest. They appear to go for the same gut-wrench suplex but Wendi being taller falls forward into a lateral press for 1…2….nope. Leilani holds on to the hair then snapmares her over as Ventura speculates what its like to be on the receiving end of something like that. Kai throws Richter in the corner but a charge eats double boot then Wendi covers for a near fall. Leilani distracts the ref so Moolah chokes Wendi on the bottom rope before Cyndi runs over to save the day. Leilani whips Wendi off and hits a boot to the mid-section but Wendi rallies with a forearm and a New Delhi Devastator (and this is 1985 no less). Wendi splashes on top for 1….2..nope, near fall. Wendi whips Leilani into the corner where she goes for a splash but Kai gets the knees up in time. Leilani puts the boots to Wendi and hits a backbreaker for 1….2..NOOOO, that was close. Leilani hits a scoop slam then goes upstairs and hits a flying crossbody, but then Wendi rolls through it for 1….2……3 and we got a new WWF Women’s champion! Cyndi runs around and strangles Moolah with the towel before she trips getting into the ring. A funny spot that I find funny is Cyndi tries to pick up Wendi but can’t and Wendi picks up Cyndi effortlessly. They then do a dose-do dance as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun once again blares to the Madison Square Garden crowd.  Monsoon goes to the replay of the finish and speculates when Leilani came off the top she hit her head on the canvas allowing Wendi to roll on top……good explanation but anyways we got a new champion. I should point out this would be the last Women’s title change at a Wrestlemania for 16 years.

Time of match: 6:13

Winner: Wendi Richter by pinfall (New Women’s champion)

We go back to Mean Gene in the locker-room who interviews the new champ, where she says she beat “Leilani Cow”. Captain Lou makes his way into the picture as Gene asks “Did Moolah get in your way Cyndi?” Wendi “Are you crazy??” Cyndi “Yeah she’s bigger than me but I took care of her” before sending it to Howard Finkel in the ring. Fink turns things over to New York Yankees manager Billy Martin who is the special guest ring announcer. He gets a standing O from the crowd which is weird considering how many times he’s been hired and fired as manager. He then introduces Liberace as the special guest time-keeper (who dances a jig with the Rockettes in the ring) Billy then introduces the special guest referee Pat Patterson and special guest enforcer former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. Jose Torrez the former light-heavyweight champion leads Ali to the ring as the crowd gives a much deserved applause for the duo. Now its time for the main event……
Match 9

“Mr Wonderful” Paul Orndorff and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton) vs Mr T and Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Snuka)

A Bagpipe band makes their way to the ring signaling the arrival of wrestling’s number one heel ROWDY…..RODDY….PIPER!!  The Rowdy one makes his entrance with Mr Wonderful and “Ace” Bob Orton. Not to nitpick, but couldn’t this have been a six man tag match since Snuka was equally as loved in the Garden as Hogan and Orton was Piper’s bodyguard…ah well, no use squawking about it now. Mr. T, Snuka and Hogan make their entrance to Eye of the Tiger as the Garden crowd goes nuts. They take FOREVER to start before Liberace stands and rings his custom made bell to start the main event. Hogan and Orndorff start and its well documented these 2 have not liked each other for a long time because of their childhood in Tampa where their high schools were football rivals or something to that extent. Orndorff teases going at it before tagging Piper in. Mr T hops up and down saying let me have him so Hogan tags him in. Piper made it clear on his DVD compilation he never liked Mr. T so this feud was more personal than it was business. Piper hated Mr T, Orndorff and Hogan hated each other so this maybe an out and out shoot by the end. Piper and T staredown nose to nose before they exchange slaps to the face before hitting a go-behind takedown. T tries to sit-out/turn in but Piper maintains the ride. Mr T finally switches out of it as Orndorff fires up Piper in their corner. Mr T puts Piper into a fireman’s carry then drops him like yesterday’s newspaper (Monsoon’s words not mine). Piper backs T into his corner where Orndorff gets in then a melee ensues when all 4 men brawl into the corner. Muhammad Ali and Bob Orton get in the ring as Snuka goes upstairs. Ali throws a punch that sends Piper out of the ring then takes a swing at Orton who retreats to the ground. The heels regroup outside as the camera shows Billy Martin laughing his ass off at the proceedings. Piper motions that they’re outta here as Monsoon scoffs and the heels actually leave the area. Patterson counts up to 8 before Hogan stops him and motions for them to come back and the heels in fact do walk back to ringside. Piper and Paul get in the ring to attack Mr T and Hogan but the faces clean house. They hit a double noggin knocker on the heels before Hogan clotheslines Roddy in the corner. Hulk hits a knoggin knocker on Piper and Orndorff before hitting an atomic drop on the rowdy one. Piper and Hogan trade blows before Hulk makes the tag to Mr T then they hit a double clotheslines. T hits a scoop slam on Piper and an arm-drag on an interfering Orndorff. T hits another slam on Piper and headbutts Orndorff before ramming Piper’s head into Hogan’s knee. Make no mistake about it, in terms of physical condition Mr T has the physique that is better than half the WWF roster so had he went into wrestling, he couldn’t have been any worse than anybody the AWA put out in the late 80’s. Hogan rakes the eyes and big boots Piper over the top rope to the floor. Mr Wonderful interferes and clotheslines Hogan out of the ring so Piper grabs a chair and waffles the Hulkster with it. Muhammad Ali chases Piper back in the ring but Orndorff sneaks out and throws Hogan into the ring. Piper puts the boots to Hogan as Orndorff sneaks in a cheap shot of his own. Mr T interferes so Piper and Orndorff double team the Hulkster. Piper and Orndorff execute a double atomic drop on Hogan as Muhammad Ali gets in the ring to chase Piper out. Fans may not be pleased with Ali’s constant interference but from a kayfabe standpoint he’s supposed to be the enforcer and that’s exactly what he’s doing. Patterson has to beg Ali to get out as Orndorff works over Hulk. Orndorff hits a snap suplex as Ventura says he’s the x-factor of this match being the most technically gifted of all 4 men involved…..well 6 including Snuka and Orton outside. Piper tags in and hits windup punches then a knee lift for 1…2..nope, Hogan kicks out. Piper holds Hogan as Paul tags in and hits a forearm to the back of the neck…..One of the unwritten laws of wrestling is not to hit moves on the back of the neck because you’re more prone to actual injuries, but Orndorff would ROUTINELY do this to Hogan in their matches, pissing off the Hulkster legitimately in the process. Paul covers for a near-fall before hitting a nice backbreaker before going upstairs. Orndorff goes for another forearm off the top but misses, before Hogan makes the hot tag to Mr T. T cleans house before Orndorff is able to take him down. Mr T and Orndorff go high school style as Mr T goes for a roll but Paul wizzers to make sure that doesn’t happen. Piper makes the tag then hits a front headlock on B.A. Barabus before T tags Hogan in.  Both heels interfere so Hogan hits a double noggin knocker on them then headlock punches Orndorff until Wonderful counters with a back suplex. Piper interferes but Patterson cuts him off so both Jimmy Snuka and Cowboy Bob get in the ring. Snuka hits a jumping headbutt that sends Orton over the top to the apron. Patterson is distracted by Snuka as Orndorff puts Hogan in a full nelson. Piper and Mr. T go at it as Patterson turns his attention to him as Orton goes upstairs. Orton comes off the top but Hogan moves and Ace catches Orndorff in the back of the head with the cast. Hogan covers as Snuka roughs up Orton and Patterson gets in position..1……2…..3….its overrrrrrrr!!!!  The ring becomes chaos as everyone gets in the ring before Piper knocks out Patterson, spits at Orndorff and takes off with Orton in tow. Back inside Mr T tends to Orndoff as Billy Martin announce Hogan and Mr T the winner. Orndorff springs to life as Snuka, T, Patterson and Hogan back off. The faces celebrate in the ring as Orndorff doesn’t have a clue what happened before heading to the locker-room. Hogan, Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, Pat Patterson, Snuka, Liberace and Billy Martin all pose and celebrate in the ring. Monsoon and Ventura go to the instant replay before sending it back to Mean Gene to interview the winners. Mr T says he trained hard,as Hogan shills Snuka and T before Superfly does the same thing.  Back to Monsoon and Ventura who sign off and thanks the fans for tuning in.

Time of match: 13:21
Winners: Mr T and Hulk Hogan by pinfall

From an in ring standpoint this was on par with a lot of WWF action from 1985 and historically it did great numbers on closed circuit television. WWF was taking over the country and this would be the greatest year in wrestling (until 1998) for the AWA had their second wind after losing virtually their entire roster to McMahon, the NWA was awesome with the Horsemen against Rhodes and Magnum and of course WWF’s Rock n Wrestling was a big seller. This was more of a modern day crash event with only 2 matches going over 10 minutes but that’s basically how long WWF stars could go and still be entertaining. If you’re looking for an in-ring classic ppv like Great American Bash 96 don’t bother, but if you want a drama filled time capsule of fun then definitely get your hands on this priceless classic. Seriously, whoever was old enough to remember what wrestling was like during this time period can agree that this was ground breaking. The next tape after this in terms of Coliseum Video releases is WWF’s MOST UNUSUAL MATCHES. As for this one, 4 stars out of 5 for the significance and a point off for the crash style. Some of them deserved to be longer.