BruiserBrody

Maybe I am too deep in my own hobbies weeds here but I have long thought Razor Ramon's theme was the inspiration for Steve Austin's iconic music: I assume Jim Johnston wrote both? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K5eqYUqgdA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPFqe8MwYJU The DUN DUN - da DUN DUN part especially feels like a sped up version of Razor's. But wait there's more! I am sort of convinced Razor's music was inspired by the Unsolved Mysteries Update music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nac1RQtHhiY All the way down to the squealing music add on... I am probably drinking too much of my own bathwater again...

This felt more like Hogan vs Orton to me instead of Hogan/Shawn or Hogan/Rock. Not just due to star magnitude, but also in overall build. Austin doing one 2 min promo to build to a return match partially over Texas' honor didn't really build to any emotional release. They tried to book the comeuppance spot with Owens being hauled off by cowboy hat wearing lawmen, but that wasn't exactly the Linda McMahon standing up to kick Vince in the balls type of moment they were sort of building to. I had a fantasy booking laid out in my head for Austin/Owens that would revolve around a worked knee surgery for Austin in December, a custom made wood carved rattle snake cane, and Owens re-injuring Austin to play up the fact that (as Owens mentioned last night) Austin has bum knees, a bum neck and overall has no business IN THIS VERY RING. So Austin has to go all Rocky 6 and do the old man training to prepare to open that one last can of whoop ass.

IIRC they sort of blew the SuperClash/USWA forming pods by not releasing the SC 3 PPV episode a few weeks after covering how Memphis and Dallas merged under Daddy Jarrett and that helped lead to SC3. Connie also shit all over the PPV, which was at worst a fun event (based on me rewatching it on Mystery Titans Theater a few weeks ago.)

Aug 85: Dick Murdoch went on Mid-South TV and addressed his former partner in the WWF, Adrian Adonis. He spoke about how Adonis would not show up for scheduled matches, much like some on the WWF roster were still doing. Murdoch declared that Hulk Hogan was a "no good bar musician". He wrapped up by mentioning how Ric Flair had inflated himself to over 300 pounds thanks to steroids, but now he was clean, 70 pounds lighter and the best wrestler in the world.

- It melts my heart to see old ladies marking out watching the guys wrestle. - I'm torn on if having flabby Ray Stevens is the best look for the casual audience to see what AWA stars look like compared to the WWF steroid monsters of the same era. Stevens was a legend, so the casuals may have enjoyed it regardless, or dismissed it as an old man still flopping around. - Kelly and Kiniski had a good look and I'm always surprised the WWF or JCP didn't swoop them up to use in 1987/88. Both got WWF tryouts for sure. They were gone from the AWA by some point in mid 88 at least, and I'm not sure what either did until Kelly showed up as Nailz in 1992. - The crowd openly laughs at Kelly claiming to have played in the NFL for 2 years. They also laugh at Curt Hennig claiming he could have excelled at several pro sports. - The wrestling is fake topic is covered. The guys tried to keep kayfabe as well as possible. Right before that segment the show aired a clip of DJ Pederson having a hot sequence vs. Kelly on ESPN TV. Kelly sells a drop kick a little awkwardly and dives out of the ring in a moment that one could say shows theatrics. - The heels and faces wind up in a verbal confrontation that to me feels realistic as the Q and A becomes more heated. (The word poopy is not used. FUCK you modern WWE). - JT Southern doing a Halloween Store Michael Hayes gimmick makes me - Verne says Mad Dog Vachon has a cooking show on Montreal TV. Dear lord somebody upload ALL of that to youtube!!!!! - The fans and Madusa spar over Sherri Martel, current WWF World champion, about to appear on WWF PPV a few weeks from now. - I couldn't hear the fan, but I think someone said something lewd to Madusa off mic based on the host and her response. - Verne explains why babyfaces and heels don't wrestle other heels and faces. - A fan calls out the ref for sucking at his job when the heel cheats. - LOL now an old man in a LOUD suit smells blood and demands answers from the ref on their shitty job keeping the dang gum heels in line in tag matches. I love me some kayfabe. - Kiniski calls a teen girl asking questions fat. LOLOLOLOLOLOL Canceled! I'm offended. Safe spaces!! - Verne talks about Donald Trump being a wrasslin' fan. - Ernest Worrell commercial! Now I want a "Ernest goes to the AWA" movie. - Madusa gets a chance to cut a promo and is being a quality cunt. I'm enjoying this show way too much. - Verne uses the term "Independent contractors". - The host talks about how so many modern guys have good bodies and dumps on Wahoo and Ray Stevens being old and fat. - DJ Pederson is asked about this stuff being fake and has to bust out "Sports Entertainment" as Verne probably busts a vein 5 feet off camera.

As mentioned above, his widely viewed stuff is after he was 39-40. He made the most money when he was 44 doing a comedy gimmick where he needed others to bump for him to make things watchable. Dusty is Top 10 all time for overall package. Promo, commentary, angles, selling, booking, in ring charisma, etc

In the JR/Conrad pod posted in the other thread JR says the stewardess' were being sexually outward with the wrestlers....something he obviously toned down on for his national TV version of events. /add to JR is scummy thread.

I listened to the Renee podcast with Flair. Flair says he was recently so hammered he wasn't allowed on a plane. He also paid to keep a bar open so Renee/Moxley and himself could keep drinking. The night ended with him falling in his hotel room in a drunken haze. Flair's wants to keep bumping and is annoyed WWE wouldn't let him do anything other than stand in the ring. Flair's doc cleared him to bump. He has a pacemaker but the doctor told him the longer he has it in that the more the muscle grows around it and keeps it locked in place. Flair's ex-wife Tiffany watched a show on the History channel and became convinced Flair had "the gene" that prevents him from getting AIDS and STDs. Flair has his own wine coming out in October. Ric does his usual spiel about not being able to tell all the 4 Horsemen sex stories because Arn is still married, as if Arn's wife wouldn't be able to read between the lines of a comment like that. Flair laughs at the "Plane Ride from Hell" and is ready to come back on the pod and clear his name. Tony Khan texted Flair and said he was going to "Naitch" it up for his birthday a few years ago. Khan blew 8 grand. So the next 3 years Tony sent Flair 8 grand to celebrate instead. --- Lawler did a pod on the Plane ride a few years ago too: Lawler's take starts around 28 min mark. - Lawler was sober as he doesn't touch alcohol. - He says JR was drunk early in the ride, so he lost control of the situation. - Jerry Brisco was also drunk and trying to kiss everyone as a happy drunk. - HHH and Finlay broke up the Brock/Hennig fight. - As expected Lawler laughs as he talks about Dustin's singing and spittin' stories and Flair's naked adventures ("Ric was just having a good time, jeez") - Lawler doesn't recall Linda being on the plane so he can't confirm that Hayes almost pissed on her. Lawler says Hayes was ready to fight Brisco as he thought Brisco had cut his pony tail.

Timely Bump!

My co-worker Frank Hill/Jules Strongbow/Chief Running Hill/Francis Huntington was interviewed today.

Conrad implied (sort of) that he wants to talk to Dr Tom about an idea during last week's STW. Perhaps a SMW pod?

I finally got smart and realized downloading the youtube version of Conrad's pods almost works the same as "ad free". Anyway....I adore JR, but he had another moment this week where he got lost on the timeframe of a story and Conrad did not toss him a life preserver or correct him. Conrad asked about Robert Gibson leaving JCP over payoffs, leaving Ricky to team with....Nikita Koloff. JR jumps all over the place, mentioning the York Foundation and such, then says Nikita was "fresh". So fresh that he was about to leave the territory for 3 years.

I would think WCCW never could be considered ahead of the AWA, as Verne was still drawing solid and sometimes very good houses in 1985, along with expanded syndication, toys and VHS releases. WCCW ran the Von Erichs vs. Dynamic Duo for a full year, booking it so often that the Apter mags openly mocked them for the stale booking. AWA was trying to expand, booking in New Jersey and elsewhere, even bringing in a separate mini roster of talent to serve as the Pro Wrestling USA crew that the AWA crew could mingle with on "joint" shows. (Tonga Kid, Kendo Nagasaki, Zulu, Youngbloods, Alaskans, etc). Fritz didn't want to leave Texas, so the shows mostly stayed in spot towns and Dallas. The AWA fell off a cliff in April of 86....but Kerry's accident is one month later. Before the end of 86, WCCW is using Black Bart as the "World Champ", while the AWA had drastically nearing retirement Bockwinkel. The UWF had cleaned out the WCCW roster. The AWA had a brief resurgence in early 87, while WCCW had more Von Erichs dying and ended the year with Fritz VE's heart attack. Both promotions were pretty much on life support by the end of 87.

Watching CHV and Nitros in the modern day made me realize that Babyface Savage pretty much did the same match from 1991-1997.

https://obvious-plant.myshopify.com/products/mr-nipples Ummmmm....I have questions.....

Part 2 Monsoon interviews Bobby Heenan. He trolls Heenan and hilarity ensues. Monsoon quizzes Jimmy Hart and Terry Funk about their upcoming match. Funk is working Mr. Wrestling 2. Monsoon mocks Hart for recently being strippped half naked by the JYD on SNME. Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat vs. Don Muraco Steamboat is beloved! The fans crawl over each other to trade high fives with the Dragon as he walks all around the ring. Having seen several heated brawls with these 2 over the past few months, it is a bit surprising to see the men start off slow. Steamboat uses his speed advantage to strike Muraco several times before the Magnificent one can use his power and girth. Steamboat snap mares Muraco, then springs himself over Muraco, whip lashing his neck. The Dragon next cranks Muraco's head on a swivel, perhaps avenging himself for Muraco hanging Steamboat by his neck with the Dragon's own Gi belt. Steamboat locks in a chinlock to continue the neck related torture. The Dragon snags a front facelock and cranks on Muraco's neck. The psychology is strong, but the crowd is a little restless by the snail pace being exhibited. Muraco drops Steamboat with a pair of beefy clotheslines. Perhaps sensing his own endurance having been drained, Muraco gets desperate quickly and posts Steamboat, drawing blood. Muraco takes Steamboat to the floor and sling shots him into the steel post. The blood soaked Dragon teases a comeback, but Muraco cuts him off. Fuji runs interference, but loses his cane to Steamboat. The ref is bumped in the melee. Steamboat batters Muraco with the cane until the ref wakes up and declares a DQ. Muraco is sliced open, so Steamboat takes a jagged edge from the broken cane and jams it into Muraco's wound. The wounded warriors wind up wrapped together as they roll from the ring to the floor. They fight back into the ring and Steamboat batters the crimson faced Hawaiian. That ending should set up some sort of final gimmick blow off to this feud in a month or 2 at MSG! Mr. Wrestling 2 vs. Terry Funk The recent revelation that 2 was involved in a gang rape as a teenager makes watching his matches a little more cringey. Oh wrestling, are there no heroes who you can't ruin? 2 gets no response for his intro. They may as well have kept him as a southern mid card guy given that his age wasn't going to provide the WWF with the incentive to try and get him over with the Yankee audience. Jimmy Hart tackles Mel Phillips in the ring. 2 makes the save, leading to Phillips, Hart, Funk and 2 having a race around ringside. I suppose Funk is Dick Dastardly in this scenario? Funk and 2 open with a comedy spot, as 2 takes a breather instead of running the criss cross with Funk. Funk loses an Irish whip competition, gets mad and kicks the turnbuckle, hurting his own foot. If this was on AEW, I'd be whining, but since it's Funk I guess it's "classic". 2 dances to annoy Funk. 2 avoids a lock up to annoy Funk further. Howard Finkel is kicked at ringside and gives off an earnestly annoyed look at Funk. 2 avoids a series of elbows to continue the Funk comedy hour. Hart tries to trip 2, so 2 chases him away. Funk hurts himself trying a headbutt, and almost loses to a small package because of it. Funk gets into a shoving match with the ref, then crawls into the crowd to protest. Once Funk goes back to grappling he tries a piledriver, only to be backdropped to the cement floor. Funk tries to crawl back in the ring, but 2 hits one of his patented knee lifts, sending Funk dangling in the ropes. Funk is fed up with being the fool and chucks 2 to the floor. He introduces 2 to the steel railing. Funk messes with a New Japan cameraman as 2 sells on the floor. Funk works a sleeper. 2 fights out of it. Hart distracts 2, who chases Hart around the ringside. Funk attacks the distracted 2. Funk blows the opening and winds up tangled in the ropes again. 2 tries charging at Funk, but eats a knee. Funk gets a flash pin. A frustrated 2 grabs a chair and sends Funk and Hart running. Funk made sure to use every trick in the book to have a fun match with an aging superstar. Andre the Giant, Hillbilly Jim and Lou Albano vs. King Kong Bundy, "Big" John Studd and Bobby Heenan Studd and Bundy had recently injured Andre in Toronto. Plus, Heenan was robbed of his "Manager of the Year" award by Jim giving Lou his votes, making Albano the contest winner. Studd and Bundy attacked Jim for his shenanigans. Studd is dominated by Andre at the bell. Jim tags in, but tries a slam, because he's not too bright. Studd downs him, which sets up Bundy tagging in for some mauling fun. Andre tags back in to save his idiot partner. Andre grabs Bundy by the throat. The ref is impotent to stop him. The Giant takes Bundy's own singlet and chokes him with it. The ref again does nothing. The heels team up on Andre to turn the tide. Bundy locks the Giant in a front facelock. Studd once put Andre in one of those for something like 7 straight minutes in 1983 due to Andre being hungover or something and basically being unwilling to do anything. The match is out there on youtube. Ah hell, here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB4QOH5vsR4 Jim tags in but his fire cannot overcome 2 stinky, mean ol' heels. Andre tags in, smashes the big nasty heels, and drags Heenan in. Andre forces Heenan into the face corner and tags Albano in. Heenan takes the Ray Stevens/Ric Flair corner bump and both managers tag off. Andre is pissed that Heenan bailed out. Heenan comes back in and tags Bundy. Andre complains again and the ref forces Heenan to make contact with Andre before being able to tag out. Monsoon buries the ref for this, as no such rule exists in one fall tag matches. Andre grabs both Studd and Bundy and drives their heads together. He tosses all 3 heels in a corner and squashes them with Albano and Jim adding some beef to Andre's backside. Bundy and Studd are tossed together and Heenan is downed by an Andre boot. Andre lays on the Brain for the academic pin. This was a delightful train wreck!

WWF @ MSG November 25th 1985 Gorilla Monsoon seems to be going it alone on commentary. Dan Spivey vs Terry Gibbs Spivey is wearing Bruiser Brody style fuzzy boots. Spivey had made his wrestling debut barely a year earlier and now finds himself in the Mecca of Sports Entertainment. His former partner Scott Hall is being groomed for AWA stardom. Spivey had been in JCP doing jobs in prelims for midcard heels and even THUNDERFOOT! Spivey pretty much looks like Terry Bollea would if he had not gassed up. Long blond hair, yellow tights. Spivey works the arm for a bit. Interestingly, although Spivey took Barry Windham's spot with Mike Rotundo almost right away at house shows, Spivey's early TV taping appearances had him partner with Mr. Wonderful and Ricky Steamboat. Spivey continues to work the arm and the crowd grows restless. I don't think the crowd wants the big man to try and show off technical grace. Gibbs works on Spivey for several minutes, getting far more offense than I would have anticipated. Spivey fights back with some poor looking strikes. Spivey hits the leg drop to go full Hogan cosplay, but that fails to win the match. Spivey uses Barry Windham's bulldog to earn the duke instead. Not the best debut for Spivey as a jobber roughed him up for a good bit and Spivey did not offer much interesting offense for the meat of the bout. King Tonga vs Mr. X Monsoon jokes Mr. X's hometown of "Parts Unknown" is somewhere in South Texas. Monsoon questions how Tonga was able to get so strong from "coconuts and bananas". Tonga smacks X with some stiff chops and crisp looking blows, but goes to a rest hold to assure things don't get too interesting. X endures two more nerve holds before breaking free. X attempts to slow Tonga with chokes and a rear chinlock. The fans are bored now, but Monsoon talks over the "boring!" cat calls by talking about how hot business is. Tonga fires up and the crowd buzzes over X begging off. Tonga uses a side kick and diving head butt to achieve victory. The crowd pops at the end dispute making it apparent they found it to be a snoozer. Barry O vs. Jesse "the Body" Ventura This heel vs. heel match was set up at MSG a month earlier when O called Ventura a "has been". Ventura uses some cheap heel tactics right off, which the crowd approves of. Ventura does some of his usual awkward bumping, as he never really made his flat back bumps look natural or realistic. O gets a share of offense in, including a flying elbow from the top rope. Ventura begins a comeback, but he pauses for no reason and O rakes his face. Monsoon calls Ventura out for the obvious flub. Ventura fires off some elbows, again pausing as if O was supposed to cut off his comeback. Ventura cheats some more as he mounts his comeback for real. O surprisingly gets another round of heat in, dragging this out further than expected. He and Ventura collide, with Ventura again bumping in a rather fake manner. O signals for a double axe handle, setting Ventura up to deliver a gut shot, but Ventura misses O's intention and they move on to an irish whip/missed drop kick spot. That sets up Ventura earning the submission win with a back breaker. This was aggressively lousy. I am curious why they didn't just put Ventura in a higher profile match, preferably a tag team match that could help hide his shortcomings. Cousin Junior vs. Hercules Hercules left Florida in Mid-July after getting into a locker room fight with booker Wahoo McDaniel. It appears he was pretty much off the grid from then until early November when the WWF came calling. Junior and the Hillbillies are still being pushed, so this won't be the squash you might expect. Junior's country toughness proves no match for Hercules' steroid laden biceps as the Hillbilly is pounded to the mat. Herc cuts Junior's comeback attempt off and dumps him to the cement. Herc continues mauling Junior when both athletes make it back to the ring. Herc locks on numerous headlocks to test the patience of all the fans who paid to see the best in the business collide. With no cell phones in sight, the light murmur is perhaps the audience debating if buying one of those fancy new NES systems might be a better use of funds than on a WWF ticket. Junior begins a comeback, but dances instead of fighting, so Herc smacks him around some more. Junior makes another flurry, but the men totally blow the finish as Junior falls down while trying to leap over Herc. He then tries to roll up Herc anyway, but can't flip himself over to complete the cradle. Herc then grabs Junior and pulls him into a roll up himself, but Junior's leg gets in the way of Herc cradling his arm around Junior's crotch. Junior is pinned anyway. They gave this over 11 mins. The remarkably blown finish saved this from having no redeeming quality. Jesse Ventura joins Monsoon on commentary from here on out. Ladies champ Wendi Richter vs. The Spider OH NO! Oh no! This is the infamous screw job match where Moolah took over for whoever had been jobbing to Richter as the Spider around the horn. The several Richter/Moolah matches I have reviewed in the past were car wrecks, and now here sixty some year old Moolah is going to try and shoot on the vibrant young champion. Richter is several years younger TODAY in 2020 than Moolah is here in 1985!!! You can easily read too much into their opening bit, as Richter seems to mouth to the audience that something is amiss with her challenger. The champ forgoes a standard lock up and tries a shoot style double leg. I want to believe that is Richter "shooting", but the ladies quickly begin throwing working punches. Richter tries to unmask Moolah, which again makes me want to believe is a shoot to expose what is happening, but again it's a pretty standard spot when working against a masked heel. Moolah begs off and the ref ends up motor boating Richter as he tries to seperate the ladies. The crowd wises up and chants "Moolah!" Richter tosses Moolah to the floor. Moolah no sells Richter's forearm and runs. Richter no sells Moolah's offense when they go back in the ring. Moolah is taken down and has her leg worked over. The women fight over knee bars. Moolah starts to choke Richter, and the champ goes to the mask again. Monsoon surprisingly mentions he wouldn't be surprised if Moolah was under the hood. Moolah bumps around for Richter, but can't prep for a fly head scissors and Richter falls to the mat alone. Richter kicks out at one on a pin attempt, and again my brain reads too much into things and a part of me says Richter is protecting herself from a screwy finish. No sooner do I type that than Moolah cradles Richter, Wendi obviously kicks out and the ref counts 3 anyway. The ref stands up and stands there casually. Moolah stands up and poses. Richter rises up and assumes the ref botched things and begins to work with Moolah again. Wendi rips the mask off, then delivers a dead weight body slam, covering Moolah for an obvious 3+. Richter throws more working punches before the ref steps in and hands Moolah the gold. Richter half tackles Moolah, who tosses the belt. Richter gives up on Moolah and screams at the ref. Richter wrestles the physical belt away from the ref. Howard Finkel comes in and gives a bewildered announcement of the new champ is "The Spider??....The Fabulous Moolah???" Richter whips Moolah with the title several times. Moolah tries to wrestle the belt from her, but Wendi is pissed, younger and stronger, so she keeps the belt. Moolah finally gives up and heads to the locker room. Richter spends 30 seconds or more in the ring seething on camera. It's obvious Vince must not have been working the TV aspect here as I can't believe they didn't cut away in case Richter did something more drastic. On top of all that, I have no idea why WWF didn't do this "shoot" on one of their Bum-fuck, Nowhere shows and not in the most important arena in the territory. I am curious if Richter called Cyndi Lauper when all this hit the fan? The WWF were so proud of this screwjob that it made at least 2 home video releases. WWF Tag champs Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine vs. IC champ Tito Santana and Pedro Morales I have to question Morales' motives here as he found out the hard way in 1980 at Shea Stadium that the sitting IC champ can't win the WWF tag belts and also keep their singles belt. Maybe Santana just wants to get his hands on the Hammer one more time? Morales fights off Valentine's attempts at offense, slugging him into a daze. Santana bursts in and dominates the Hammer as well. Beefcake tags in and the faces dominate him as well. The heels bail out to the floor to regroup. Morales runs in on their lovefest and knocks some heads together. Beefcake remains the Stripper in peril for several minutes as the faces dominate him. Morales finally succumbs to the heels and absorbs kicks, elbows, forearms and boots from the champions. Beefcake locks on a sleeper, which Monsoon notes is not a normal part of his repertoire. The heels work the traditional spot with the face about to make the hot tag, only for the heel on the outside distracting the ref, leading to the tag being missed. As the ref argues with Santana, the heels double up on Morales. Morales fights to avoid a figure-four from Valentine and makes the tag. Santana unleashes his fury on both heels. Santana blasts Valentine with the flying forearm, but Beefcake interrupts the pin. A four-way breaks out. Santana locks Beefcake in a figure-four, drawing in Johnny V for the DQ. The formula worked well here, and the crowd was behind the faces and hated the heels, making for a fun watch. Santana and Morales think they should be handed the titles. Pedro debuted in 1959. and apparently had yet to read the rulebook.

The Hogan match is on one of his DVDs and the Bees match made Prime Time. My DVD is from WWE 24/7.

WWF @ Puerto Rico 10/19/85 This is the infamous tropical storm card, where a major storm hit midway through the event. From what I can gather online, Puerto Rico was blasted with major storms in October of 1985, with upwards of 2 feet of rain hitting the island in a 2 day period a few weeks before this event. 120 million dollars worth of damage were caused by the storms. Perhaps all the chaos can explain why a mere 1200 fans came to this stadium event. Gorilla Monsoon is on the call. I have to wonder where this was taped to be aired on?? Some of it did appear on Prime Time Wrestling. Monsoon is also in charge of doing ring announcing before commentating as well. Tony Atlas vs Steve Lombardi Lombardi starts the match by removing his wrestling trunks to reveal gold trunks under them. Lombardi works the go behind like he's in Pat Patterson's hotel room. They work some basics, with Lombardi going back to a headlock several times. Atlas fights out and introduces Lombardi to some of the turnbuckle pads. A press slam finishes things briskly. Certainly not the worst night Atlas would have with a bearded man in Puerto Rico in the 80s. Cpl. Kirschner vs. Tiger Chung Lee They work a lock up and the pace moves to a crawl quickly. Lee takes over with "martial arts" and a front face lock. More martial arts follow as a light "USA" chant comes from the crowd. They botch something off an Irish whip as Lee goes for a chop and Kirschner tries a shoulder block. The Corporal hits a clothesline for the win right after that. Insomnia curing effort here! Ricky Steamboat vs. Moondog Spot Spot, the backwoods swamp dweller, matches the Dragon with some technical grappling, using his size advantage to leverage himself into control. Spot locks on a headlock, which Monsoon mentions is one of his favorite moves. I giggled. Steamboat sells and sells as Spot hacks away on him. Steamboat makes a brief rally and wins with an enziguri. They aren't paying the guys by the hour tonight. Wendi Richter vs. The Spider Moolah is with the Spider. Cyndi Lauper is making what I believe is her final WWF appearance with Richter. I bet there is an interesting story as to how Lauper got booked on this show. Off the top of my head, I believe she was last seen the previous May on the first SNME. The crowd roars for the babyface's entrance. The faces do not appear for a good bit after their names were announced. I wonder if they were rounding up security for the pop star?? Moolah mugs for the camera and harasses the ref to buy time as minutes pass before the faces finally appear. Lauper switches out her fashionable hat for a pink hard hat. The wrestlers trade arm drags and hair whips. Spider takes an awkward bump off of a slingshot. Richter finds herself trapped in a head scissors. She flips her way out. Spider claws at Richter's face. Moolah gets involved, and chokes Richter right in front of the ref. Lauper tries to save her charge, but Moolah no sells Lauper's purse shots and chases her around ringside. Richter takes control back in the ring and scores the duke with a crossbody. A bit sloppy and rough around the edges, but entertaining. WWF champ Hulk Hogan vs. "Big" John Studd The big men size one another up, shoving each other and both trying slams. Studd takes a short cut to drop the Hulkster to his knees, where the men work a test of strength. Studd uses more cheap shots to keep Hogan down. Hogan eventually wises up and blocks the underhanded moves, then powers up to escape. Hogan is trapped in a bear hug almost right after. The heavens open up as rain pours down on the ring. The fans use umbrellas and chairs to shield themselves. Hogan remains in the bear hug for a good bit. Hogan finally punches himself free. Hogan hits an atomic drop, with Studd slipping on the water instead of taking a controlled bump. The men fight to the floor. Hogan introduces Studd to the ring post and rolls in for the count out win. Monsoon is lost by this apparent audible of the real finish as Studd leaves. Hogan does a few quick poses in the rain and heads to the back. AWFUL match, even before Mother Nature made her run in. The Killer Bees vs. "Iron" Mike Sharpe and Barry O It’s still pouring rain. A lot of fans have wisely headed for cover. The heels do a miscommunication spot to eat up some time as they argue. The Bees work some arm locks on Sharpe as any high spots have been eliminated by the mat being buried in water. The ref slips on the water and falls on his behind. The guys have had enough and Brunzell snags a small package to finish things. IC champ Tito Santana vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage Monsoon mentioned earlier that Liz was going to be at ringside, but I would guess the rain has vetoed that plan. The sparse crowd chants "Randy!, Randy!". Savage stalls a bit, batting trash that the audience tosses his direction. The rain has slowed, but the mat is still a broken neck waiting to happen. The men work some close quarter grappling before Savage teases using a foreign object. This allows Savage to go to the floor and hide the object. Macho argues with the ref over where the object is, then moves it. The ref and Macho then repeat the shenanigans. Tito and Macho finally lock up again, but Savage produces the object and jams it into Santana's guts. The champ sells for a little offense from Macho, but then snatches a surprise small package to earn the clean win. The rain ruined any chance for this match to be any good. Pedro Morales vs. The Spoiler Pedro closes out the show in his native land. The brawlers trade forearms and fists. Almost before that sentence could be typed, Pedro small packages the Spoiler for the win after barely a minute. A card that was snake bitten by events outside of the WWF’s control made for some brisk viewing as they piled all these matches into less than an hour and 20 minutes of time. The matches were rushed as the guys were apparently trying to get the card in before the nasty weather hit, but obviously fate was not on their side.

This is the first time since November that I have watched anything from my pile of WWF house shows. I am going to continue to watch them in order: Oct. 1985 Maple Leaf Gardens Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon are on the call. Ventura lies and says some of the greatest matches ever have been booked for the evening. (I don't know what's coming up BTW....) Vince McMahon makes a rare house show TV appearance as he chats with Billy Red Lyons. Monsoon and Ventura both say the place is sold out to the rafters as the camera shows tons of empty seats. Maybe late comers? Scott McGhee vs. Barry O. Ventura speaks of the "nutrition" that WWF stars follow to look so good. Dianabol is well known to be common in fruits and tuna fish. The guys do some arm work, and the crowd starts to boo like this is 2020. Wait, we don't have crowds now. O gets lots of time to wear on McGhee. The ref is getting really really close to the guys when counting pins. Very odd to see a ref basically touching the guys as he counts. McGhee gets a little shine, O makes a brief comeback, leading to McGhee snatching him with a power slam for the flash pin. A perfectly acceptable opener. The way the TV graphic shows, this show may have been dubbed "Hulkamania". I am a bit taken aback that they felt they needed a boost for the card since the previous month had Andre the Giant doing an injury angle with Studd and Bundy that should have easily bolstered ticket sales from the buzz. Tony Parisi vs. Rene Goulet Parisi is in his mid 40s and Goulet is 53. Its a little surprising they are not working younger talent to give some of the new guys a win. They work a much longer match than I would expect, with both men working hard and the crowd responding well to the ebb and flow. Parisi delivers a "cannonball" butt splash for the exciting finish. Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff vs. George Steele and Cpl. Kirschner Volkoff actually sings the whole Russian National Anthem. Someone in the crowd has taken the time to draw and color the Russian flag on a sign. Commie Canadian? The faces clear the ring and the crowd goes bananas. Kirschner waves the Canadian flag instead of his home country's. Steele is mugged by the heels on the floor, setting up a four way brawl. Steele does his wacky shaking and shouting to scare off the Sheik once things settle down to a standard match. Kirschner goes back and forth with both villains, eventually settling into the face in peril role. The Corp. makes the comeback and the fans start to chant for blood. Kirschner blows a clothesline and he and Sheik both go down from it. Sheik locks on the camel clutch, leading to Steele whacking Sheik with a chair and earning the DQ. Steele tries to eat the ref in response and Kirschner is SHOCKED that using a chair has earned his team a DQ. This was harmless fun. SD Jones vs. "Iron" Mike Sharpe Jones is wearing his pajamas. As I type that, Ventura makes the same comment. Monsoon thinks Jones may weigh over 300 pounds, which is ABSURD. Jones looks thick, but certainly not that big. These guys trade lots of forearms and punches, with the crowd gladly getting on Sharpe with "Wimp!" chants. Sharpe works a series of headlocks and the crowd gets restless. Sharpe rolls through on a cross body for the "upset() win. Jones attacks him after, despite losing clean. Vince McMahon interviews Terry Funk. Funk challenges any fan or Vince himself to fight him after his match tonight. Steve Gatorwolf vs. Terry Funk Funk smacks Gatorwolf around right at the bell. The fight goes to the floor, where Funk leaps off the barricade to assault the Native American. Funk takes some comedy bumps around the ring and out onto the announce table. Funk is then knocked to the ramp and stumbles off of it. They trade sleepers, with both men tumbling over the ropes. Funk hangs himself upside down, because he is determined to entertain, even against a prelim geek. Funk slaps on a sleeper to end things soon after. Vince McMahon is with the Dream Team and Johnny V. Vince cuts off the Hammer's promo. Beefcake gets 1 line since he can't cut a promo yet. British Bulldogs vs. Beefcake and Valentine Valentine tries to ground the TNT Kid to start, but the Bulldogs quickly turn the momentum in their favor. Beefcake comes in and fares no better. It's charming to see the crowd pop huge for an elevated armbar. These teams were probably becoming very familiar with one another, helping to make this a smoothly developing match. The heels of course gain the advantage, with the Hammer working most of the match for the sake of not exposing Beefcake's limited abilities. Davey Boy makes the hot tag and is a dropkick and suplex machine. The crowd gobbles this up with relish. A four-way brawl busts out and the heels are shoved together. The Bulldogs hit their headbutt finisher as the crowd goes bonkers. Valentine cheap shots the Kid and Beefcake steals the win. I might be seeing this match a bunch coming up as the teams feud at least until April. Dino Bravo vs. Mr. X Bravo is still a babyface. His big drawing power in Montreal has yet to spread to Toronto since the WWF took over the Bravo's promotion in August. The crowd chants "boring!" right away. Yes, Bravo kind of sucks. I assume after a few hot matches, the crowd was not interested in this cool down before the Hulkster appears. The up close and personal ref is back from earlier. He continues to pause awkwardly as he checks the shoulder blades before his slow count. Bravo largely trashes X, but the crowd does not warm up to the match at all. Vince McMahon is with "Macho Man". Savage promises Hulkamania dies tonight. Liz is portraying a more heelish persona during the promo. Billy Red Lyons is with the Hulk. He says he loves Toronto and he may buy a home here. Macho Man has the "body of a God, face of a Dragon and mind of a Demon!" He compares this event to be like Wrestlemania. The crowd can be heard chanting for Hogan out in the arena and it's awesome. Goosebumps! WWF champ Hulk Hogan vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage Hulk shoves Macho Man and mocks his heel taunts. Hogan dominates the early moments, forcing Macho Man to hide behind Liz on the floor. The ringside security team is wearing sailor caps. I am amused. Ventura says he doesn't have a wife, which may have angered a certain lady back in Minnesota if she got wind of it. Hogan gets sick of Macho Man doing the Memphis heel stalling, so he goes to the floor to stall himself. Savage tries to launch himself on Hogan back in the ring but is caught and driven to the mat. Savage goes back to hiding behind Liz. Hogan out wrestles Savage, working an arm bar and turning it into a hammerlock. Macho uses some knees to down Hogan, who Hulks up with a massive kick out. Savage got almost no heat segment, so the crowd did not roar for that spot. Savage cuts off the Hulk up and sends Hogan to the floor. Hogan fights his way back in the ring, then downs Savage with a big clothesline and suplex. A big boot sends Macho to the floor. Liz tries to block Hogan, so he moves her aside. Macho downs Hogan in the ring and drops the big elbow for 2 and 3/4ths. Savage tries a second elbow, but is greeted by Hogan's boot. Hogan covers for the 1-2-3, with Savage kicking out just a second after. Savage knocks Hogan to the floor afterward, so Hogan grabs his title and chases him off. I was fully expecting Hogan to lose via count out or DQ to set up more matches. Savage did not get much in on Hogan at all. This didn't feel like it lived up to the hype since Savage was not able to ramp up the drama.

I gave the Vickie episode 30 mins or so and it didn't hook me. Anyone want to sell me on finishing it?

I'd dig a Mel Phillips episode, mixed in with that announcer who made up an elaborate story about Pat Patterson propositioning him.

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/shoot-interviews-reviewed-jim-brunzel/ My review from 7(!) years ago for those interested.

Sherri Martel vs Madusa from Jan 29/96 Nitro Madusa was set to go over, but Sherri refused. Madusa seems legit angry and hits Sherri with some stiff looking kicks. Sherri takes a couple of bumps on the padded floor. Sherri wins via fluky cradle. According to the WON, Madusa then went into business for herself and violently German suplexed Sherri, with Martel gets bent in half since she was not expecting the suplex. Sherri was legit knocked loopy. Madusa slaps the downed Martel, then grabs her head and slams it hard to the mat several times. It all goes barely 3 mins and is worth viewing for the shoot (?)/stiff work.