Superstar Sleeze

WWF Tag Champs US Express vs The Dream Team - Philly 8/24/85 I am glad I went back and watched these two Dream Team matches because they could contend with the Islanders as my favorite heel tag team in 80s WWF. I will say one of the disappointments of Valentine sticking in one promotion for so long is that we did not get stuff like Valentine vs Windham one on one at length. Also, what I do not understand is why Beefcake seemed to suck so hard in '86. I mean Valentine barely let Beefcake wrestle in Wrestlemania II. He wrestled pretty decently in these two matches. He is still only the fourth best wrestler in these matches, but he is not sucking out loud. I loved the start to this match as the Dream Team jumps them and a melee ensues. The Windham/Valentine exchange makes me want that singles match so much. The faces send the heels packing. Valentine & Beefcake true to form work smart and try to break their momentum. We get Windham/Valentine proper and the two minutes we get is awesome. Valentine stops the runaway freight train with a knee lift. Beefcake loses this advantage and we go to Heel In Peril with some arm work. I actually think Beefcake sold this pretty well and Rotundo worked pretty well in this segment. The US Express even hits a double dropkick (way better than Rockers one) on Beefer. Beefcake works Rotundo to his corrner and he blind tagged Valentine, who came off the top with a sledge onto Rotundo. Valentine suffocates Rotundo and is relentless on his legs and Rotundo sells pretty well. Rotundo is good at working some strikes in his hope spots in the corner. I dig Dream Team double whip into the corner. We hit the front facelock for a while. I will say the Valentine drop toehold to prevent Rotundo from making the tag is one of the best of those kind. Windham and Valentine get back into it. I just love how chippy this is. Valentine hits his shoulder breaker. I dig the shoulderbreaker I think someone should incorporate it in their moveset, but it is weird for Valentine's moveset. Valentine gets kicked off by Rotundo on his figure-4 into his corner so he can tag Beefer. Rotundo and Beefcake knock heads and The Hammer throws the Beefer on Rotundo and it is a close two! The crowd lets out a collective sigh of relief. But Rotundo escapes and hot tag to BIG BARRY!!! I love how Windham steps through his punches. He hits Valentine with a bulldog, but Valentine KICKS OUT! Now that's a death sentence for a babyface. Windham goes for the second bulldog, but Beefcake puts "Luscious" Johnny V's hair product in Barry's eyes. Valentine hits an elbow to seal the deal. I love how Windham is writhing in pain while he is being pinned, perfect selling. The other match is definitely the better workrate match and the front facelock stuff does drag, but Windham & Valentine are really excellent. I wish they would some of that beginning melee stuff in other matches it gives matches a more heated feel. I thought this is one of the better title switches I have seen. ****

The Dream Team w/Jimmy Hart vs Tito Santana & Ricky Steamboat - MLG 4/21/85 This match sure lived up to the hype and may be the best Beefcake performance I have ever seen. This match was all about tempo. Santana was in his red-hot feud with Valentine who had broken his leg and taken his title. The crowd was molten for that angle. The babyfaces worked their entire end in an up-tempo, fired -up fashion. The Dream Team knowing they could not match this attempted every trick in the book to break their momentum and work a real grinding style. This led to a really good match. Early on Steamboat and Santana have a hot shine sequence with Beefcake and Valentine just bumping all over the place for them. I have been down on WWF Steamboat, but he was pumped for this match just flying around the ring. You know that Tito is going to bring the hate with his fists balled up. Beefcake and Valentine do their best to stall and break this momentum, but at first there seems like no end to this onslaught. Until, Tito goes for the figure-4 on Valentine, who grabs his trunks and hits a knee in the midsection. Once he hits a shoulderbreaker he consolidates the advantage for the Dream Team and grinds the match to a halt. They work on Santana with some double teams and Valentine slaps on an arm bar. Tito is almost able to make the tag, but Valentine knocks Steamboat off the apron and then Beefcake comes around and beats on Steamboat. The crowd was just eating this all up. The Beefer gets cocky and goads Steamboat. Tito is able to crawl past Beefcake and get the hot tag to Steamboat. IT IS BREAKING LOOSE IN TORONTO! Steamboat with his best hot tag I have seen. He unloads on both the Hammer and the Beefer with karate shots. The crowd was losing their shit for this. Steamboat grabs the sleeper hold, but Beefcake with an eye-rake. Valentine and Steamboat have a good exchange until an eye-rake does Steamboat in and Valentine consolidates with a gut buster. I preferred the Steamboat FIP is a better at selling and the Dream Team really unloaded with double teams and offense. Valentine starts to warm him up for the figure-4, but Steamboat knows his way around the figure-4 and grabs an inside cradle. Steamboat fights out of the corner and is able to Tito. ARRIBA! Double noggin knocker. Tito drops Valentine with a right. Flying Burrito to a huge pop! Beefcake saves. Melee ensues. They are double teaming Tito and Steamboat flies off the top onto Beefcake. Tito blocks Valentine's atomic drop and applies the figure-4 for the submission victory. ARRIBA! Wooooooooooooo, I am out of breathe after that one. This is babyface wrestling 101, folks. Steamboat and Santana gave maximum effort and I bet it is real easy when you have a crowd as hot as this one at the Maple Leaf Gardens. The Dream Team wrestled a smart match to ensure constant heat throughout the match as they built not one, but two really hot tags. In some of those double FIP AWA tags, the first hot tag is not all that hot, but in this match that Steamboat hot tag is just as red-hot as the following Santana one. Beefcake actually wrestled pretty well here and was not as awkward as usual. The Hammer is going to clog the lane every time and make sure that babyface earns every shot. This up there with the Bulldogs match as one of the best WWF Tags of the 80s. ****1/2

Yep it was an elbow, lean backed and I swear Savage kicked out at 2.5, but they called it 3. It is still on DM, If you wanna recheck it. Their chemistry was off the charts on the first meeting. Do you like the WM V match? I have never cared for it. I think the problem is me siding with Savage throws the dynamics off.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - WWF, Philly 9/28/85 The most noteworthy thing about this match is just how much hair each man had at this point. Kidding, so this is the first match between arguably the most famous names in pro wrestling history and the most famous feud in pro wrestling history. Having recently watched the Memphis set, you could just feel how big of a star Savage was. It translated instantaneously to the big lights of the WWF. He skyrocketed up the card from the summer of 85 to facing Hogan in September. I have always admired Savage for portraying probably the most despicable and ugliest traits of a human. The way he was arrogant, a coward hiding behind woman, a wild man, spitting and just being a general mean bastard. He is just a plan awful person. I mean what is left for me to say about Hogan. I have run out of ways to describe the irresistible energy this man brings. He is one of those wrestlers that just seeing him puts a smile on your face. You know what I will use Dick Graham's words: "He is bigger than the world." Savage is in full Memphis heel stalling, get on your bike and ride mode. It was some really fun stalling complete with swapping spit. I really enjoyed Hogan mocking Savage and then getting caught for being a hot dog when he came back in the ropes. Savage is such a whirlwind on offense. His full court press is really the only way to combat Hogan's size advantage well that and cheating like a muthafucka. We get the Liz spot twice to awesome heat. Each time Savage takes over, it is because Hogan is trying to get back through the ropes and Savage is being a dick about it. Savage nails a double axehandle, but gets caught on the second one. Savage ends up on the outside and this time Hogan physically lifts Liz out of the way to get to the Macho Man. The finish is a good one with Savage crashing and burning on the big elbow drop, which Gorilla put over huge. Hogan dropped the elbow for three, but Savage kicked out pretty damn quickly at three "to keep his heat". I guess you could say. If this was the test run to see if the Macho Man could do the big three in a row at the Garden he passed with flying colors. ***

Honestly, I think that's the best compliment I could ever receive. I am glad you enjoy them.

Holy shit! Was that the best Raw of the year or was that the best Raw of the year. Best singles match of Kofi's career against Roman. Is there another one that's close? After months of spinning his wheels, Roman looked like the best wrestler in WWE again. Cesaro/Owens was a really fun, energetic Cesaro performance. Thought the women had a great finish sequence. Nice win for Nikki. Paige's turn could have been more impactful, but I am glad we got there. Good news is that Marty Sr. (I am a Junior) is a huge fan of Becky Lynch now so he wont complain during the women's matches well at least Becky's matches. Holy shit! Who is this Del Rio? He is an awesome heel. An actual heel doing heelish things in the ring! Of course it was all wasted because they were in San Diego. Alas, A+ for effort. VIVA LA MEX-AMERICA! They stole my Moms solution for the immigration problem just integrate the two countries. Loved the hard-hitting six man tag, great use of those guys. It felt really heated. Big E/Dolph was probably the weakest match, but still a really entertaining Big E. performance. Fatal 4-Way was crazy amounts of fun. SUPERMAN PUNCH OUT OF THE POP UP POWERBOMB HAD ME MARKING OUT LIKE CRAZY! I almost lost my laptop from that. The entire show was predicated around people who won at the previous PPV and then were vying to EARN the right to challenge Rollins. The booking was awesome. The in-ring work was dripping with effort. We can all shit on WWE, but when they kick ass lets give them some love!

WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine - Philly 3/31/84 I am pretty sure this is their first major encounter with each other. This bout did not have the "I want break your fucking leg because you broke mine" element to take it to the next level, but still this is physical as all hell. These two are just so different from the rest of the WWF roster and just had such great chemistry. Everything is such a struggle. Little things like Valentine swinging and actually missing because Tito moved. Unlike most wrestlers who will half-ass their misses, if Valentine connected he connected; if he did't he didn't. During some of the comebacks, it really felt like Valentine would just wrangle Tito and drop a vicious elbow. You really got the feeling how much the Intercontinental Championship meant to each competitor. Santana frustrates Valentine with speed like the armdrags, moving from elbows and dropkicks. Valentine catches him with a kneelift, which is one of my favorite transitions. He does some quick great work in the abdomen including hanging him out to dry on the top rope. Santana starts to mount a comeback and Valentine finally drops a huge elbow to quell him. It feels almost shooty. Valentine starts to work over the legs with Indian Deathlock and then attacking legs. Santana would grab a headlock and a kneecrusher would stop him. I loved stuff like Santana launching his body at Valenine just any thing he could do. Santana was selling so well, but always working hard from underneath. Valentine even took time to revel in his glory while Santana is crawling around the ring. Santana goes for the leg, but Valentine quashes that with a inverted atomic drop. Valentine of course misses his second rope elbow. Huge rights by Santana and slams his head into turnbuckle. TIMMMMBBBBBAAHHHHH! I love Valentine because he is an ornery, mean asshole during his control, but when it comes time for that comeback he is always game for bumping, stooging, and begging off for the babyface. Santana works some side headlocks pinfall attempts, but is always energetic. I love the spot where Santana does an atomic drop, but did it on the hurt knee and Tito sells it so well. HUGE ATOMIC DROP BY THE HAMMER! Wow, I don't think I ever seen a heel hit that move. Tito sells the fuck out of it and you really believe Valentine has a shot now. Valentine big butterfly suplex, repeated shots to abdomen and a toehold as the 20 minute time limit expire. What?!?!? Valentine delivers some heavy shots, but repeatedly misses elbows and Santana challenges to come back and finish it. The finish really threw me a loop because you expect the babyface to end the match on top before the time limit expires. It is also interesting that Santana was making his comeback and Valentine was actually able to surmount this surge in momentum and regain control. The whole finish was a real curveball. Add on top of that the whole match had a real anything could happen feel to it. You never knew who was going to take control at any point. There were no neat little segments where one guy who take control and then a nice little transition would cause the next control segment. Still it never felt back and forth because of how well Santana sold everything from the abs to the knee to fatigue and how Valentine sold he could be overwhelmed. I really enjoyed this match, but I think the next matches in their series benefit from having extracurricular heat. ****1/4

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Meadowlands 7/15/84 Holy shit what a friggin awesome brawl! You hear all about the Piper's Pit with the coconut-smashing, which is such a great angle from little details like Piper making sure to drop the coconuts on the table to prove they are legitimate to absolute obnoxious delivery. Piper is just so good at getting under your skin. We need a heat-seeking little fucker like him nowadays. However, I have never heard anyone talk about the consequent series that resulted from Coconut Pit. I was expecting a typically fun WWF match, but just did not hold enough water to be considered a classic. I would say this blood-filled, hate-dripping brawl stacks up pretty well during the time period. They both start off red-hot and Snuka overwhelms him early. Piper is begging off and Snuka is just relentless. Snuka is doing a great job keeping everything filled with hate and energy to pop the crowd. Piper gets his first break with an eye-rake. That does not last, but he crashes into the most hated referee in the universe, Dick Whirrly. The opportunity presents itself to crack the Superfly with a chair and of course he comes up sporting quite the gusher. Piper rams his head into the steel post and does a little King of the Mountain. Piper punches and bites the cut. Snuka is bleeding profusely. Both he and Piper are covered in Snuka's blood. Snuka finally realizes he is bleeding. He goes into that Coked Out Zone and it is rubber pants time for the Hot Rod. Snuka looks downright terrifying chasing Piper covered in his own blood, his shredded physique and crazy hair. Snuka beats the living shit out of Piper. Piper tries to escape outside the ring. Snuka follows him BY JUMPING CLEAR OVER THE TOP ROPE CRASHING RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM!!!!! Dick Whirrly lives up to his name and is a total dickwad and counts both men out. So Snuka headbutts Whirrly!!!! SNUKA IS THE GREAT WRESTLER EVER! Snuka continues to exact revenge on Piper until the JTTS crew restrain him. We get the official word that Piper actually won by countout. WHAT THE FUCK? Dick Whirrly is the worst ref ever. Piper sucker punches Snuka as he is being restrained and high tails it is out of here. Awesome, awesome heated brawl that sets up many more rematches. It eventually morphs into a tag feud with Snuka/Tama vs. Piper/Partner, but I hope there is an even better singles blowoff first. Given that is the 80s there probably isn't, but still this is a badass match. ****

Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik - WWF, MSG 6/16/84 What some call the greatest match in WWF history, still lives up to the hype. I have seen this before as I have seen all the Slaughter/Sheik matches before, but never in one day and man what a helluva series. This took the May Match and just amplified everything hundredfold. Slaughter charging to the ring with the helmet and blasting Sheik was the perfect opening shot. Slaughter using his swagger stick (always found that to be an oddly sexual name for it) to beat Sheik and then headbutting him with the helmet on was a great babyface shine. Slaughter takes his usual nasty spill over the top turnbuckle onto the floor. He really lets it all hang loose on that bump! Sheik bounces a chair off Slaughter's back and then whips him like a dog. I love a good belt whipping. Sheik is choking him with the belt and whipping him with the riding crop. That's awesome. Slaughter bucks him off to the floor and now Slaughter has the belt! Payback is a bitch, Sheik! Sarge is still quite disoriented and beaten up from the Sheik's devastating attack. Sheik is looking to destroy Sarge by ramming his head into the loaded boot after several attempts he gets it and we get that big bladejob from Sarge. Here comes the Sheik's spit. There needs to be more spit in pro wrestling. It is fucking gross and you immediately hate that muthafucka for doing it. Sarge takes his patented bump over the turnbuckles again. This is an absolute ass kicking. Slaughter in a last ditch effort loads his boot and comes crashing down on Sheik's head busting him open. Finally, The Iron Sheik bleeds! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! Big windup and an uppercut gets a massive pop, but only a two count. Both men are absolutely spent. I say it a lot, all wrestling fans say it a lot, Triple H says it way more than all of us, but this is a WAR~! They are both just collapsing, but each man has too much pride to let their shoulders stay down for three. Sheik gets one last string of offense: two big suplexes and when neither one win him the match. He looks to end the match and possibly the career of Slaughter with his boot. He takes the boot off and loads against the turnbuckle. A wild swing and a miss! SLAUGHTER CANON! HE NEARLY TOOK OFF HIS HEAD! The boot goes flying and someone tosses it back in. They both crawl for the boot and it is Slaughter that gets it. LOVED THAT SPOT! Sarge loads up the boot and clobbers Iron Sheik for 1-2-3! HUMONGOUS POP! Awesome match! Loved how it built around the boot and paid off all the boot-related offense in the earlier matches. One of the biggest disappointments in WWF wrestling of the 80s is the lack of quality, violent heat segments. This match was the exception as Iron Sheik beat the living shit out of Sgt Slaughter. Slaughter earned every inch of that comeback. The selling down the stretch is magnificent and the crowd is molten. I dont know if it is the best match in WWF history, but it is currently in my top 5 with Cena/Umaga, Hart/Austin (I Quit), Hart/Hart (WM X) and Savage/Warrior. Awesome, awesome brawl! *****

Sgt. Slaughter vs Iron Sheik - WWF, MSG 5/21/84 They slowed down the match but did not sacrifice hatred one bit. Again, most wrestlers would be over the moon to have this be their blowoff match and Slaughter and Sheik are just getting started. I loved the beginning of the match with Sheik spitting and slapping Slaughter and Slaughter just needed one slap to level him. Slaughter tortures Sheik much to the joy of the MSG crowd again. This time he adds the fun wrinkle of loading his boot up and driving it into the face of Sheik. Danny Davis is forced to check boot, but Sarge plays these moments off great. Sheik is so great at just being a total chump wuss when it is necessary to really get the babyface over. Slaughter takes his wild out of control bump over the turnbuckles into the post and crashing to the floor. Sheiky Baby immediately pounces, grabbing a chair and slamming it across his back. Great spot! Slaughter's selling of pain and perseverance is some of the greatest work in the history of pro wrestling. I can't do it justice with words just watch the match if you have not already. The main story now is Sheik wants to drive Sarge's face into his loaded boot. Slaughter avoids it on the first go around, but Sheik finally pays it off and Slaughter is gushing blood. The crowd immediately breaks into U-S-A! chants to exhort on their hero. Sheik claws and gnaws at the open wound building to that red hot comeback. They do the suplex struggle spot, which Slaughter wins to a big pop. His hulk-up gets a huge reaction and he drills Sheik with the Slaughter Canon. In April, he clobbered Sheik with his boot. Now in May, he wants to Sheik to taste his own medicine and be beat senseless with the Sheik's own boot, the very boot that busted him wide open. The ref just doing his job tries to pull Sarge off and this triggers a Double DQ as both wrestlers shove Danny DAvis. Slaughter is able to get the boot off, but the midcarders stop it from happening. Slaughter cuts a money babyface promo while wearing the crimson mask and climaxing with him reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Wow! If that does not make you want to see the Bootcamp match, I don't know what will. They set up perfectly for the payoff of Slaughter nailing Sheik with the boot. Sheik has not gotten color yet so they have that to pay off. Sheik has been an absolute dick in these matches so you want to his head get torn off. It is totally different than Flair/Steamboat, but it is right up there as a really awesome three match series. Maybe the best blood feud three match series. Incredible stuff. ****1/2

Sgt. Slaughter vs Iron Sheik - WWF, MSG 4/23/84 Slaughter's babyface turn is one of the most perfectly executed in history. I had seen it before, but watching it again recently just really hit home for me. Sheiky Baby was having a match with Eddie Gilbert and the Allentown crowd was chanting for Slaughter because of a standoff they had a week or so prior. Sheik applied the Camel Clutch and then spat upon his fallen opponent and Slaughter just erupted into the ring to chase him off. The place came absolutely unglued. Slaughter delivered the patriotic promos of all patriotic promos and then the Pledge of Allegiance. Wow, when the crowd started reciting with him that's fucking powerful. Not to be outdone, but the MSG crowd was absolutely roaring for this match. I don't think they ever sat down for one second for this fiery bout. This was a fantastic first match in a series. Jesus. most wrestlers wish their blowoff was this good and this heated. Sheik charging the ring only to get his ass kicked was awesome. Slaughter tears the Keffiyeh and throws it to the crowd. He spits on Sheik and just generally tortures him to the delight of the bloodthirsty MSG crowd. The money is always in the comeback and Slaughter goes charging in, but is caught by the pointed boot of the Iranian. Sheik is an excellent heel constantly kicking Slaughter in the throat and choking him. He bashes him into the metal turnbuckle and busts Sarge wide open. It is a Sheik match so he can't resist the gutwrench suplex, but he is being a mean bastard by going after the throat. When Slaughter blocks the suplex and hits his own and then makes his no selling comeback. Wow! MSG crowd is insane. Slaughter Canon! That's not enough he wants to clobber him with his boot. The ref tries to stop it and eventually Slaughter goes to town which draws the DQ and Sheiky Baby makes a hasty retreat. In the back, there is a Kal Rudman sighting! They have a really good pull apart brawl! One of the best first matches in a series in history, excellent match and crazy sustained crowd heat. ****1/4

Ricky Steamboat vs Magnificent Muraco - WWF, MLG 9/22/85 Lumberjack Match Ricky Steamboat was fucking over in Toronto! Holy shit! Huge Steamboat chant during the heat segment. Every offensive move was met with a pop. When he won, you would have thought the Leafs had one the Stanley Cup! I don't know if this match took place before or after the hanging angle (highly recommend watching that before any Steamer/Muraco match to get some context). The Steamer came out cooking and a really hot start. Muraco was bumping and stooging. They did well establishing Lumberjack match stip. Besides a long nerve hold, I thought we got good Muraco tonight as he seemed very energetic possibly vibing off the hot Toronto crowd. I really liked the Asiatic Spike from the top and his shoulderbreaker. The finish was fun with Steamboat popping Ace Orton on the apron and then running Muraco into him for the win. Looking forward to more matches in this feud. ***

WWF Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana - WWF, Baltimore 7/6/85 Steel Cage Match YES! I FINALLY FOUND IT! I loved watching the Valentine/Santana matches about two years ago, but couldnt find the big steel cage blowoff. The whole Valentine breaking Tito's leg only for Tito to learn the figure-4 to do the same to Valentine is one of the best damn angles I have ever seen. I have been watching a lot of WWF, but no Valentine so far. My God, he is playing a whole different game. He absolutely crushes Tito with those blows. The cage seems weird or maybe it is just Tito was super awkward trying to climb the cage but it seemed both men were having a hard time climbing it. I loved how they were just constantly beating the shit out of each other near top of the cage or the door. It was nasty and gritty. Valentine was dropping the hammer down on Santana with a big clubbering blows, but couldnt get Tito eat steel. Tito did not get much of a shine he was revved up but Valentine really blasted him to start. Tito was great fighting from underneath. There were some really awkward falls that added to the realism of the fight for the Intercontinental Championship. The amount of struggle in this match just blows everything out of the water in WWF at this time. I love the Hogan popcorn matches, but those are fun like a summer blockbuster. This is the Oscar film. Valentine clobbers Tito when he tries to get out. I mean he is just reigning the blows down on Tito. He is going to apply the figure-4, but Tito kicks off. Valentine is so awesome. FLYING BURRITO~! It was a beauty really nailed him in the forehead and great bump by Valentine. I was starting to think Tito of Savage is the best WWF worker but Valentine has reminded me why he is right there. Santana droptoehold stops Valentine. Valentine hotshots Tito into the cage. Nasty. Now he is just ramming him into the cage. TI-TO! TI-TO! TI-TO! The Hammer is brutalizing him and Santana is showing his worth a selling, underneath babyface. Tito lunges at the last minute to stop Valentin from getting through the door and once again it is a gritty struggle at the door. VALENTINE FUCKING SMOKES TITO! THEN TITO PUNCHES VALENTINE SO HARD HE SMACKS THE BACK OF HIS HEAD INTO THE CAGE! AWESOME! Hammer tries figure-4, but shoved off into the cage. Santana climbs the cage from the center and again it seems like the cage is further away from the ropes. Valentine gives up on trying to stop Santana and tries to beat him out the door. TITO SLAMS THE DOOR SHUT ON VALENTINE'S HEAD WITH HIS FOOT! Best cage match finish ever! Totally lives up to the hype. My two favorite WWF wrestlers having a total war for the Intercontinental Championship in a Steel Cage with the best steel cage match finish ever! ****1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Terry Funk - SNME 1/4/86 It was the Best of Terry Funk in this match as he squeezed all his favorite 1985 spots in one entertaining blockbuster against the Hulkster. I thought this was the better, more refined match from their Philly outing. A lot of the same spots but better organized and they were on the same page. For instance, late in the Philly match after a clothesline, Hogan was clearly thinking elbow drop for the flex and pop. Funk wanted to sell and feed for another bump. Who's right, probably Hogan, but now they were firing on all cylinders. I loved the Funk throwing in a chair and Hogan sitting down calling him out. Real fun stuff. The Floridian in the Hawaiian shirt was super into this match and I loved it. It was the tape choke into the piledriver for Funk's big spots. They ran a good false finish with Hart jabbing Hogan with the branding iron on a suplex attempt from apron to the ring, but Hogan got his foot on the ropes. AXE-BOMBAH~! Hogan defeats the Man from The Double Cross Ranch. Really tight, strong SNME match. ***1/2 Edit: Rewatched this as part of rewatching Full SNME episode. Increased star rating.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Terry Funk - WWF, Philly 12/7/85 It is pretty crazy that Vince ended up with every NWA World Heavyweight Champion (save for Tommy Rich) from Dory Jr. through Flair running around in his territory. It is always interesting seeing what a Jack Brisco or a Harley Race ended up doing in the incredibly different WWF. Terry Funk was no different and it sometimes borders on surreal to see him in the WWF ring, but especially so against the Hulkster. Funk is also one of the few Hogan opponents that got Hogan to incorporate his spots and work more his style of match. No doubt because Funk was a more respected wrestler and someone that Hogan could trust. Funk worked three different criss cross spots all in a row that were each hilarious. First is a favorite of mine, the running so hard that you fall over the ropes. The next I had never seen with Hogan repeatedly stepping him on the drop down and the finally is his perpetual criss cross spot. Funk continued his terrorizing of ringsiders including Gorilla Monsooon. Hogan was very entertaining during the shine. I loved him laying a couple elbows down on Funk's hat. I find Hogan on offense a lot more fun than Hogan selling. I think that's usually my major malfunction during his matches. He is clearly putting in the effort during his heat through selling, but his inability to bump and the fact that he never really gets that beaten up hurts the drama. Funk hits a piledriver and a sleeper for his big spots before the Hogan comeback. There seemed to be some miscommunication with Hogan clearly wanting certain spots, but Funk wanting to do things his way. Eventually Hogan gets the megaphone and blasts Funk. Post-match, Funk does brand Hogan! Hogan and a steel chair send them packing, but surprised Hogan got branded. Fun Hogan title defense with some really good classic Funk spots.

Terry Funk vs Mr. Wrestling II - WWF, MSG 11/25/85 There are two thing I love in professional wrestling and that is a damn good knee lift and a booty-shakin' babyface. Needless to say, I love this match and I love Mr. Wrestling II. Terry Funk gave even more of this match to Mr. Wrestling II. He was working like Randy Savage circa 1997, which one my all-time favorite heel acts. He expanded his terrorization of ringsiders from just Mel Phillips (who Jimmy Hart TACKLED!) TO Howard Finkel and a hapless photographer. When he tried to bully the ref, he shoved back to a huge pop! Hmmmmmmmmm...when it works it works! The whole story of this match was that Terry Funk was a very frustrated man. Wrestling II was floating like a butterfly avoiding him and booty-shaking at every turn and then he would sting him like a bee with that knee lift (there was a huge one on the apron with a great Funk sell). I like that way of working a clear main event (Funk was going on the loop with Hogan) against a vet babyface. Let me him frustrate the heel get in some entertaining spots but when it gets down to business the cheating heel will come out on top. Funk rammed him into the railing and applied sleeper, which would have been the perfect set up for branding, but II fought out. Two did get a nice little rally late into the match, but ran into a hard knee for the finish. Very entertaining match again from Funk and probably the last good match of Mr. Wrestling II's career Hell that might have been his last match. A great one to go out on! ***1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ken Patera - WWF, Philly 5/85 Anyone who has watched Hogan in his prime and still does not think Hogan can work; just does not like fun. Hogan is just so friggin' entertaining in these matches. Yeah they are no Flair classics, but they are just great popcorn, action blockbusters. All the facial expression and flexing are so much fun. This spot had my single favorite spot that I have seen in months: Patera was pissed that had gotten shoved off in a coller elbow tie up so he comes charging at Hulk who drops down thus Patera runs into the turnbuckles and as he ricochets Hogan tabletops him! I marked out so hard for that. Hogan double noggin knocker on Patera and Heenan to a huge pop. Test of strength and Patera gets him down with kicks. Hogan powers up and lifts him in the hold to the top turnbuckle and then he rams into the post. The crowd is just loving this. This was a rare challenge for Patera as usually Studd, Piper and Orndorff were the rivals of Hogan with Patera focused on Andre. Suplex struggle and Hogan wins that one and just great histronic selling by Hogan after that. I wish Patera got some more challenges because as a big bumping heel that could match strength with Hogan, it was a cool combination of talent that Hogan did not get a lot of. Eye rake by Patera and then double axe handle for two. HULK UP! Heenan trips Hogan before legdrop and Patera runs into the Brain. Roll up does in Kenny P. Very entertaining Hogan title defense. I would imagine Patera' incarceration is why he did not get more title shots. It is too bad they would have had a great series. I think Patera would have been my choice for Wrestlemania II. Really fun.

Terry Funk vs Lanny Poffo - WWF MSG 7/13/85 Hot damn, I forgot how well Funk laid in his offense. This was a classic roughhouser vs gymnast match with a hint of NWA Championship title defense. Funk was awfully selfess in this match. He started off with his usual WOAH NELLY grab of the ropes on a criss cross that is such a great spot. Then he added a tangled up in the ropes spot and a big bump through the ropes on an atomic drop. He would pound away at Lanny with some serious blow, but Lanny was able to show some real cool offense and get this MSG crowd behind him. I really liked his standing arm stretcher and even busted out the moonsault. Funk went for the spinning toehold in the middle of the match, but Poffo kicked him off. Funk stopped him in his tracks with a couple stiff headbutts, but ended up flopping on his kiester through the ropes after that. In addition to the moonsault, they did a suplex from the ring to the floor. This is really mind blowing stuff for 1985. Funk his a great spinning delayed vertical suplex, but only got two. He then pushed the ref and cowered. Hmmmm...this was followed up by a flip into the turbuckles where he ended up on his belly on top tunbuckle for Poffo to do some leg press. I was very entertained by all this, but with all this floppin', flippin and ref pushin, I mean where's the psychology Poffo is a nothing happening JTTS why he is giving him all this. I am just being a wise ass. Flair or Funk, I don't care if people complain or if people are consistent. I just care that the wrestling is entertaining. This match kicked ass. Just as the crowd was really getting behind Poffo after the moonsault, Funk slapped on the sleeper for the win and there was an audible reaction for Lanny to make a comeback. Funk pretty much made them a popular midcard babyface if they wanted it just in one match. That's pretty incredible. Then Funk knows it is his duty to revive him after the sleeper so he brands him in the chest that ought to wake his ass up. Really great veteran vs young wrestler match. ***3/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Adrian Adonis - WWF, Philly 7/26/86 I don't think you can make an argument that Adonis was the number one heel of 1986 for WWF (Orndorff's monster late 86 puts him over the top), but I think he would be my choice for most important heel. In the summer of 1986, he was Randy Savage's tag partner against Tito Santana & Bruno. Simultaneously, his Flower Shop took over as the premiere WWF talk show and thus he became the lead shit-stirrer. He was the instigator of the dissension between Hogan and Mr. Wonderful. Shortly after this big summer, the Flower Shop vs Piper's Pit feud erupted. I watched pretty much that whole thing unfold week by week last night and that was some great TV. I have to say Piper came off as a huge prick in that entire build and I was pretty glad when Adonis, Orton and Muraco beat his ass down. Long Live The Flower Shop! I loved Jimmy Hart's introduction of that. For all his great character work, this match was really not much. Adonis had some really good bumps at the beginning. The Flair Flip was to be expected, but once that got Jimmy Hart involved, I loved his out of control bump over the ropes only to be tied into the ropes. The megaphone turned the tide. The heat segment seemed really lackluster. Lots of spot-rest-spot and Adonis was not really connecting. After two suplexes, he applied Good Night Irene. Hogan going the finger wag out of a sleeper is always badass! Hulk-Up! Loved him sending Jimmy Hart like a missile off the top rope onto Adonis. Legdrop 1-2-3. One of the more routine Hogan matches of the era. Hogan had an interesting 1986. He began the year finishing out the Savage series at MSG and worked a couple more matches with Savage most notably Detroit and Boston. He had the cage match with Bundy at Mania 2, but he did not seem to have much of a loop with Bundy. Instead focusing on a lot of tag work, he would team with Hillbilly Jim to face Bundy & Studd or with other faces like Steamboat to combat Muraco & Fuji or help out JYD in his wars against the Funks. Before the Orndorff feud got kicked off, he went around the loop beating Studd, Bundy, Muraco and Adonis, but not with any regularity of one opponent of the three. Once the Orndorff feud started in earnest in August, it pretty much did not let up, but he continued to have big tag team matches as a part of the Machines and with Piper. In December, we see the program that would carry him into 1987 start with Kamala. 1986 was a hot year for WWF midcard (Savage/Santana, Steamboat/Jake The Snake) and tag team (Dream Team/Bulldogs), but seems like a down year in terms of main event. I need to see the Hogan/Orndorff angle and the Big Event match. Orndorff is probably my least favorite Hogan opponent, but I am keeping an open mind.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Tito Santana - WWF, MSG 4/22/86 No DQ MSG was cookin on the 22nd of April, 1986, BABY! This time there would no way for the Macho Man to intentionally disqualify himself because it would be a No DQ match. I have to say this is right up Chico's alley. He can throw hands with the best of them and Savage is going to have to break the rules and show himself to be without scruples. He demonstrated right off the bat when he was willing to throw Liz down to distract Tito long enough to cheapshot him. It did not last for long as Tito nailed this cheapshot artist as he came off the top rope and the Macho Man crumpled to the mat. They took to the outside where as Savage tried to escape into the crowd Santana blasted him with a chair. It was hilarious that no one informed the announcers this was a No DQ match. Savage pushed Tito shoulder-first into steel post out of desperation. Savage followed up with his usual full-court press flying around from all sides and angles. On the outside, the Macho Man wanted to smash a chair over Tito's head, but this would lead to his downfall a couple times. In the HOLY SHIT bump of 1986, Savage does a double axe handle to the floor and takes a chair to the abdomen. OW! Santana beat the shit out of him and there was no escape for the Macho Man. He raked the eyes on the figure-4 and Tito followed him out rammed him into the post, which busted him open. Savage performed some kick ass selling in this match, but he really kicked into the next level on this finish stretch. They work a crazy awesome stand up boxing match that would have drove the Mid-South Coliseum bonkers. Savage channels his 1997 self and nails the ref. Savage being a total, unrelenting dick to refs is pretty much my favorite thing ever. Santana hits the Flying Burrito, but there is NO ref. This is bogus! Of course, Santana tries to revive the ref, but Savage goes to his favorite bloody brawl escape with the title finish the reversal of the O'Connor Roll and yank the tights. First he yanked the ref onto Tito to get the DQ win and now he has nailed a ref to avoid being pinned. How can this Macho Menace be stopped? I think they need a troubleshooting referee. A man that will walk tall and not take any shit. They need "Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino. That's what they would get. Awesome heated brawl from these two. I had seen their Maple Leaf Gardens matches and remember them being similar. This had probably one of the best finish stretches of the late 80s WWF. The beginning was great, but I was not feeling it was at a fever pitch and they built to it more, which is fine, but I think that stops it from being one of the all-time classic brawls in wrestling history. ****1/4

WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Tito Santana - WWF, MSG 3/16/86 I have seen the title switch in Boston plenty of times and I think it is a good, but not great match. I know I have seen some of the follow up stuff, but I am little fuzzy. They had quite the series at MSG working five straight shows together with this being the kick off match. Tito was robbed of the title by some shoddy officiating and a foreign object so you know he is going to be hot as hell. Macho Man realizing this gets on his bike early. He is in full Memphis mode for this match. I loved him jumping in the ring, sprinting through the other side and arming himself with a chair against the fists of fury of Tito Santana. Tito eventually catches up to Savage and lets him have it. Tito would have fucking awesome in Memphis. He is up there for my favorite shine worker ever. Savage is great at selling being overwhelmed and that general fear of losing the title. The nervous energy of Savage really keeps you on edge. I like the duality of the atomic drop being a babyface move and the inverted atomic drop as a heel move. I never really noticed that before, but they showed that here in this match. Usually, Savage does not work on top for long, but in this match we actually get a chance to see work a sustained heat segment and he was quite good. Savage is not a wrestler with a ton of moves or offense in general. He spaces them out well and is able to use his jabs and nasty strikes for maximum damage. It helps that Tito was the one selling. Tito gets a hope spot of trying the figure-4 before being yanked out by tights to crash to the floor. It was actually by playing king of the mountain that Savage worked a strong heat segment (Big Tito chants). Savage has an underrated bodyslam. It is not Jumbo-level, but it is very good. He crashes and burns on the elbow drop. Here comes the big Tito rally. Savage tries his best to escape it (eye rake on figure-4, powder), but Tito will not be denied as he hits the Flying Burrito. He applies the figure-4 and MSG goes apeshit for Tito! Savage yanks the ref onto Tito to draw the DQ. This was a really entertaining, heated match for the IC title. The finish is perfectly suitable to set up the No DQ match. Both guys played their roles to a tee. This is exactly what you expect from Tito and Savage, quick pace, lots of punches and great heat. ***1/2

I am loving you loving this! Check out AJ vs Abyss from Lockdown and AJ vs Daniel from December 2009 PPV for more badass AJ Styles performances that I think are right there with this one.

Ricky Steamboat vs Jake Roberts - WWF Big Event 8/28/86 SnakePit Match ("No DQ" Match) Again, they had a different match from the previous outings with this being their big blowoff brawl in front of a massive Toronto crowd. WWF will never be known for their brawls like a Southern territory would be, but this is still time period where they could have them with blood and all the fixins. They play off the SNME angle where Jake The Snake heads him off getting to the ring and looks to hit the DDT on him early, but Steamboat is able to fight through this with chops. What's funny about this is that Jake is wearing this purple sequined robe that makes him look like a white trash, washed up magician. In another funny moment, they were talking about how tall Jake was and he is pretty deceptively tall. Like you don't think of Jake the Snake in pantheon of tall wrestlers, but he dwarfed Steamboat. They were saying he had long arms and long legs. Then I swear Johnny V added "He has a long peck too." All this humor was great because the match actually started off pretty slow with Steamboat working the arm. It was solid work, but it was not setting the world on fire. Actually that's what I expected out of these going into these matches, but I was happily proven wrong. Things really got going once Jake took over on the outside. He was kicking some ass until The Dragon got a hold of chair and actually laid a pretty good one in on him. Steamer hit the big flying chop, but did not get the win. I think that was Steamboat's downfall in these blood feuds. He did not have that one move that could really serve as the Grand Finale. Jake whipped him into the buckles and Steamboat tumbled to the outside. Jake was great on the outside and catapulted him into the post. We get blood BABY! Jake kicks some ass hits his big moves (short arm clothesline, gutbuster), but not the DDT so you know he ain't winning. The finish is so lame. It is the heel clearly pinning the babyface in a way to get rolled up. It is a fine spot, but as a match finish super lame. Steamboat needed a better finish. It was a pretty solid brawl, but nowhere as good as the Boston matches. ***1/2

Ricky Steamboat vs Jake Roberts - WWF Boston 8/9/86 They wrestled a totally different match this go around and one that I thought is pretty unique overall. Jake Roberts is definitely a low risk, conservative type wrestler. He does not have much in the way of flashy moves or bumps. He bides his time and measures the moment. He transformed this into a really interesting strategy of blocking Steamboat's chops at every turn. This frustrated the Dragon and stymied his uptempo game. The Snake played into the dickishness by reminding everyone how smart he is for formulating this strategy. There were times where it looked like Steamboat would be able to goad him into his game like a quick slugfest or a criss cross but both times Jake remembered his game plan and refused to be suckered into it. Jake planned on leveraging this counterwrestling strategy by attacking the arm, which would negate the chop. Overall, this was a much better plan than his last outing in the Garden, which was high-risk counterwrestling waiting for the right time to use Steamboat's momentum against him. Eventually, Steamboat was able to break down Jake's defenses, I think the best example was when Jake went block high and Steamboat hit low to set up a chop flurry. Steamboat really started to get on a roll. I thought this paid off the first part of the match perfectly. Then they upped the ante when Steamboat hit his left hand on the post going for a chop. What a perfect transition! What ensued is why I love pro wrestling. Steamboat milking the hand injury for all its worth. Jake giving into his tortuous inclinations. He was smashing that hand into everything and working it over. It was just awesome. Steamboat trying to use other body parts come back, but Jake going right back to the hand. Jake The Snake wanted to choke Steamboat and this was his flaw when he deviated from his game plan. It led to Steamboat snapping Roberts' throat over the top rope. I liked the symmetry there. Steamboat basically fought back with one hand in a really thrilling comeback where he hurled Roberts into the barricade and table. I am really liking violent Ricky The Dragon. I really liked the Snake's selling. Steamboat continued his barrage even hitting his big karate flying chop. I did think the finish was a misstep. Roberts sent The Dragon into the ref and then got two visual pins on the Dragon, short arm clothesline and then gutbuster before Roberts frustrated with no ref was rolled up for the loss. I feel like the finish does no one any favors. If the plan was to advance Jake The Snake up a rung to face, Hogan, which I think he earned with these great performances then just let him win, don't make slip on the banana peel and even a loss would not kill him. How does that help Steamboat who is trying to gain revenge and all he gets is a roll up. On top of that, Jake still gets to plant him with a DDT. This was a very protected finish for Jake The Snake. I usually don't let booking cloud my judgment of a match, but even just on face value, it is a very unsatisfying finish. Really badass and unique stuff in this match and up until the finish an absolute classic. ****1/2

Ricky Steamboat vs Jake Roberts - WWF Boston 6/27/86 I really enjoyed this match! These are two wrestlers that I have been a little down on, but I thought they weaved a great story in this match. I think a lot of my issues with Jake The Snake was twofold. One was not watching enough Jake to get him and understand him. Since he is not a pure power or speed guy, it does not immediately leap off the page. On top of that, a lot of what I was watching was babyface Jake The Snake and I don't know if that's where Jake excels. From watching this and watching the SNME angle shot before this where he jumps Steamboat, cracks his head on the concrete with the DDT a couple times and lays the snake on The Dragon that Jake the Snake the heel enjoys torturing and humiliating his opponent even more than winning. On the flip side, Ricky Steamboat is pissed that he had been injured by The Snake and was red hot this match. Steamboat has a bit of a different way of showing violence and part of that is because of who Steamboat is (we know he is not the world's flashiest person) and the sanitized WWF environment. He wears his anger on his face and how quickly he is moving rather than the his moves per se. Steamboat comes out hot looking to avenge being shown up and hurt at SNME, but one thread of this match is that his overzealousness catches him. By attacking Jake on the outside when he tries to get back in the ring, he catches a wicked knee lift. Jake immediately wants to replicate SNME with a quick DDT and presumably place the snake on him. Once could be a fluke and twice would show Jake is the man. Upon trying the DDT, Steamboat starts firing off chops and even a really heated belly to belly. I struggle sometimes with how I feel about wrestlers that really take time to signal to their audience what they are going to do. On one side, the wrestler should be in the moment and just execute. On the other, it is a powerful took to make the audience aware something big is going to happen and therefore more likely to pop because they won't miss it and are now anticipating it. I think Steamboat worked that fine line perfectly. It was especially apropos when Roberts was caught in the ropes. This gave time for Steamboat to measure his man thus getting the crowd involved and deliver a ferocious chop. I loved Steamboat's urgency going through the ref's leg just to get another chop. Soon we see how Steamboat's urgency comes back to haunt him as when he slides through Jake's legs he gets popped. Jake was showing a bit more energy here than he has in past performances, but his menacing, stalking aura is more suited to be a heel. I really his goading the struggling babyface to hit him in the face spot. It is such a dick thing to do and it is just so abusive father-ish to me. C'mon you want to hit me, but you can't, boy. It is just mean. That's the humiliating and torturing of Steamboat. There was one other time when Jake could have gone for the win and instead choose to punch Steamboat in the head more. There were other times when he reverted to a more normal heel especially how he reacted to Steamboat coming out of the sleeper. Steamboat's selling was HUGE in this and I was absolutely digging. I loved him being hurled over the top and just letting himself end up in what ever shape he did on the apron. He was a mess. Jake got a little cocky going for the snake and ended taking a big single leg pick up bump off his knee lift. Steamboat came ALIVE! Again, Jake was lying in wait and Steamboat overzealous ate knees on a splash. Steamboat rolled towards the apron where Jake successfully hit his knee lift. Roberts followed the Dragon, but was shoved into the post. Just as Steamboat was going to come crashing down on Jake the Snake with his flying chop the match was called off with Steamboat being counted out. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They have a pretty heated post-match brawl with Jake The Snake looking to hit the DDT (he bladed really obviously on camera and it was funny trying to hear the announcers explain why he is bleeding), but Steamboat freeing himself and hitting the flying karate chop. I really loved the juxtaposition of the two energies of this match. Steamboat was firey and avenging. Roberts bided his time, struck at the right moment and then stalk and tortured his prey. This is really the type of match that WWF excels in more than probably about any promotion in history. It was very much more character-driven than it was victory-driven. I think that hurts a lot of WWF matches, but when they really knock it out of their park in their style, it is really fun to watch and really expands the breadth of what pro wrestling is and can accomplish. ****1/4