Superstar Sleeze

Out of all the Nitros I have already seen this one bwhahahaha. Had no recollection of that. Wanted to put on some shitty wrestling to fall asleep as my daughter went down and she ended up waking up so we made it the whole way through. Sid Vicious vs Kevin Nash - WCW Nitro 1/24/00 Vacant WCW World Title You know going to back to a WWF 1995 summer program should’ve been a clue that this was not going to well for WCW But honestly Sid was pretty fucking over on this Nitro and the one the week prior. At 12k in Staples Center and 3.0 rating not too shabby for nadir WWF Main Event program. I apparently already have seen this which I had zero recollection of. In 1995, Nash was a way better worker than Sid but now due to laziness Nash has slipped but Sid also looks better. They botch a Bodyslam but after that Sid’s offense looked great. Great leg drop, surprisingly good punches. The Powerbomb is Outlawed even though it is both these guys only move. Commissioner Big Sexy Kevin Nash folks who didnt cut great promos in the Commish role. Nash puts on the sleeper, Sid Hulks Up and Slams the ref on the escape. Jarrett who is NWO 4 LIFE gets smoked and Sid smashes the guitar over Big Sexy’s. After the two years before Eddie’s Lie Cheat Steal gimmick, Sid feigns like he is the one who got hit so Lil Naitch doesnt DQ him. Sid OUTSMARTED Big Sexy. lol. It is not as bad as I said in 2017 but not good either. Perfect trash wrestling when you have been up all nighg with you daughter.

WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen - WWC 1/6/87 Texas Bullrope Need More Cowbell? Check this match out! Once again thanks to @El Boricuafor providing the context to this match. In the December tag team match, Hansen hung Colon with his Bullrope so logically Colon wanted a Bullrope match. The two short 86 brawl/angle matches are the perfect table setters to this main course meal. We finally get to see Hansen and Colon really let it all hang loose in an excellent long-form brawl. This is down and dirty and gnarly from jump. Hansen jumpstarts the match but Colon goes to the eyes and once he gets a hold of the Cowbell he lets it fly. Watch Hansen feed and sell for Colon. You’ll see glimpses of this Hansen in Japan But his heel selling is on full display here. Love how he splays on the announce table begging off as Colon wallops him again with the Cowbell. He who has possession of the Cowbell has the match. Once Hansen wrests control, he starts to pound Colon with it. I loved the tussle for it and Colon overpowers Hansen and smashes it into his face. Colon’s defense was great throughout the match. This a touch 4 corners strap/Bullrope match which are one of the hardest matches to work. The hate-filled violence helps overcome the limitation of the stipulation but also Colon’s psychology. He constantly trying to extend and keep the rope taught when he is playing defense. He rolls to the outside to get gravity on his side and impede Hansen from touching the corners. Appreciated bringing Physics into play here. The Big Hansen Nearfall is INCREDIBLE! The best in Strap/Bullrope history. The tension both physically and metaphorically are palpable. What really makes the spot is after all that struggling when Hansen falters and just sit there and starts ugly crying while bleeding. WHAT A FUCKING SIGHT! Hansen goes back to work crowning Colon with the Cowbell. Again Hansen goes for the win But Colon is holding for dear life. Colon adjusting to be at the diagonal genius. Again Hansen’s spirit is broke and as he surrenders to the will of Colon rolling into him. COLON ROUND OFF! It is on like Donkey Kong! Carlos unloads with rights! Colon charges But Hansen HOLDS UP THE COWBELL! NOGGIN’ SMASHER! They do the characteristic Hansen touches Bur Colon is going behind touching them. IT IS A TUG OF WAR FOR THE LAST CORNER! HANSEN YIELDS TO DELIVER THE DEATH BLOW WITH THE COWBELL! COLON DUCKS AND BACK DROPS HIM! COLON DIVES AND WINS! HANSEN CHARGES AFTER THE MATCH BACK DROP OUT OF THE RING AND THEY BRAWL TO THE BACK! Astounding! That has to be the best Four Corners Strap/Bullrope match I have ever seen! Great combination of hate-filled violent brawling great use of the Cowbell and also building the drama and tension around the finish to a Fever pitch! Excited for the last two matches in the series But this will be hard to top! **** 1/2

WWC Universal Champion Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen - WWC 11/9/86 Thanks again for @El Boricua again for the context as it did appear won the Universal title in October but Commissioner reversed it based on the loaded Lariat with a foreign object from Al Perez. This is the rematch! COLON IS HOT OUT THE GATE! HE IS PISSED OFF AND READY TO FIGHT! There’s a real Rick Martel energy to Colon or is there a real Carlos Colon energy to Rick Martel. Colon jumps touches his touches and goes back to kicking ass. God Bless the 1980s. He wallops Hansen all over the Ballpark and beating him into the dugout. He is playing Hansen’s game and winning. Making him taste his own medicine. Colon misses a knee on a charge and eats the buckle. Hansen works the knee like only he can raw, violent and sloppy. Loved the Figure-4 around leg with his arms. Hansen now brutalizes Colon around the ballpark. He goes for the Vaunted Lariat but eats steel! Amazing! Colon works the arm smashing it into hard objects around the ballpark! FUCK YEAH! Hansen is bleeding. Colon is working the cut and he delivers a ROUND-OFF! God Bless Him! Hansen loads up the Lariat with a foreign object! BANG~! It looks to be all over when the Commish comes down from his perch and calls the match off. Colin wins by DQ! Hansen kicks the shit out of the Commish. The Commish had balls sticking up to Hansen like that. Hansen piledrives Colon and Lariats the Commish! FUCKING AWESOME! Kicks ass brawl and angle! Loved this! ****

NWF World Heavyweight Champion Tiger Jeer Singh vs Antonio Inoki - NJPW 6/26/75 One wrestler we don’t have to worry about making my 100 Greatest Wrestler Ever list is Tiger Jeet Singh But still I have him a fair shake. I think there’s one of these matches I liked but this was good but not great. First fall was incredibly boring just skip that. First Fall: Lots of lock ups, not a lot of struggle or effort. Singh takes most of the fall surprisingly with a leg lace and a head scissors. Works a strangle. Throws him out. Thought it was going to be a brawl but nah. Inoki dropkick. I feel a fall. Inoki bridging O’Connor Roll to go up 1-0. Second Fall: Singh works the strangle again But this time really jabbing it into his throat Inoki comes up bleeding from the throat. DID THAT MADMAN BLADE HIS NECK? Inoki is INSANE~! Singh wins the fall with a Torture Rack. You have my attention! Third Fall: Inoki tries to mount a comeback by Singh stays on the throat. In a very weird but 1975 move he hits a pair of vertical suplexes for near falls to 2026 eyes this tampers the heat. Inoki Back Suplex and CLOBBERS him with a dropkick! BACK SUPLEX WINS IT AND HE REGAINS THE NWF WORLD TITLE! Second and third fall were fun especially the bloody neck but the first fall sucked. ***

WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen - WWC 10/12/86 Finally making time for a feud that I have wanted to dig into…Hansen vs Colon in Puerto Rico. Shout out to @El Boricuaon PWO providing excellent context on this feud. I need to go back and watch the September 86 Universal Title Tournament that Colon won but with a newborn you gotta take your quick hits when you can. Chicky Starr has brought in Stan Hansen to take the Universal Title off Colon I am a sucker for this angle. Hansen bumrushes Colon to start and wallops him and the ref. I am a sucker for red violence. At first I thought this was just going to be an angle and the match was never going to start. He lasso’s Colon’s neck and drives him into the post and then smashes him into a table. He smashes the table and jabs Colon with the stakes. Awesome red-hot opening. The match settles down in the Ring with Colon getting some hope spots from some missed Hansen spots. I loved Hansen head butting Colon low. He is such a down & dirty bastard. LARIAT IN THE CORNER! Only two. My one gripe and I know it is of a different time and place but Colon transition to offense is too easy. He basically just takes over. He has been battered and bruised taken The Lariat and now he just dropkicks Hansen and he is on top. Didnt feel earned. The comeback in and of itself was excellent. Great punches and he gets his receipt bloodying Hansen. Working the cut. I love the Round Off to put the exclamation point on the comeback. Colon looks like he has But the ref is out. Al Perez, thanks @elboriqua comes and hands something to Hansen who loads the elbow pad BANG~! LARIAOTO! 1-2-3! NEW CHAMP?!? According to wiki and Cagematch, NO! I guess we will have to keep watching. Awesome first match great dirtbag finish and the violence of Hanse was great. Great fire from Colon. But they definitely left enough on the table for future matches. The art of the First Match In A Series is a Lost Art. *** 3/4

NWA US Tag Team Champions Ronnie Garvin & Barry Windham vs Midnight Express - NWA WCW 12/27/86 It is the twilight of the Condrey version of Midnight Express as he would be gone in March of 87 and Stan Lane would take up the mantle in this very feud and deliver a banger against this very team in May of 87. I thought this match was just alright and I would say is overhyped. It is very much worked like a 20 minute draw. The babyfaces get very little in the way of offense which is unusual for a Crockett match. Windham works the mat well To start and we get a couple nice Garvin punches and a head scissors and a top rope sunset flip. After that it is all MX and we get three at segments in a row. They are well worked heat segments lots of eye rakes, hair pulling and choking. Some good Sweet Home Alabama rights by Eaton. No one gets quite as down and dirty as Condrey. There were very little in the way of high spots and the transitions were not emphatic. Like all of sudden they take over on Garvin. Because of an ad break we miss the hot tag to BW and how do they take over on him. When Garvin gets the hot tag yes there are some punches but some hair pulling and it is back to the heat segment. There’s just no oomph. With about 2minutes in the time limit we finally get a little fire with the Rocket Launcher from Eaton and a Brainbuster from Condrey But Garvin is saved by the bell. Watch the 87 match with Lane this is good but nothing special. ***

NWA World Tag Team Champions The Russians (Nikita & Ivan Koloff) vs Rock N Roll Express - NWA Starrcade 1985 Steel Cage Wait when did the Russians win the titles back? Was that on TV? RNR Express won the Tag Team Titles in their very famous debut match against the Russians back in July. This is the blowoff in the Steel Cage Nikita shows his power to start and Morton his speed with the dropkicks. A tag to Uncle Ivan who crotches Morton on the top rope. A timely tag to Gibson and the Rock N Roll are well starting to Rock N Roll. Fast paced double teams against Uncle Ivan. They start throwing Uncle Ivan into the cage drawing first blood! Ivan gets the eye rake. Nikita catches Gibson in a Bearhug and falls back and Gibson busted open against the Cage. Now playing the role of Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson! Solid heat segment on Gibson. Working the cut. Ivan missing a couple key moves to give you hope. Nikita comes in blasts muthafuckas with Russian Sickles but the ref is collateral damage. Gibson tags Morton who O’Connor Rolls Uncle Ivan for the flash win! A bit anti-climatic. The Russians put a hurting on Gibson as Morton thinks it is every man for himself and gets the hell out of Dodge. Tony Schiavone gives us a generous interpretation that Morton was pushed over the top by the Russians. Russian lay a good beating on Gibson with the Russian chain and double Doomsday Device. Similar to the Andersons match in that feels incomplete and anti-climatic but the Andersons match is way better worked and more compelling. This is above average Bur doesnt reach the highs of the July match. *** 1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes - NWA Starrcade 1985 AND THE CROWD GOES WILD BECAUSE Dusty Rhodes stomps the ankle of the Nature Boy. Thats Pro Wrestling Magic, Daddy. Two of the biggest lies ever sold to us were Hulk Hogan and Dusty Rhodes were not good at that wrestling business. That was the purview of the Macho Man and the Nature Boy. Big Dust and Hulkster fire on the mic, but once the bell rang they were no go so that story goes. I am here to tell you that is a huge can of BULLSHIT! The American Dream and Hulkamania FOREVER! This is match coming off the big Horsemen break Dusty’s ankle in the Cage at the Omni. The ankle will be a target. The genius of this match is that they tease it three times before they deliver it in full. It creates that tension and that anticipation. It is extended shine for the Dream but in the back of you mind the Ankle, the Ankle is always looming. That’s great pro wrestling daddy. Big Dust opens up a can of whoop ass early. Punches and elbows. I love how he walked through that first right. Naitch feed, bump and run. He has a hungry babyface and he knows he needs to eat. Flair starts to make some in-roads in the corner and goes for the armpit punch NO he kicks the bad wheel! AMAZING SELLING BY DUSTY! Dusty powders and really milks it for all it’s worth. DUSTY STOMPS THE ANKLE OF FLAIR! Atlanta Comes Unglued! The leg work by Dusty is so damn good and so cathartic. Flair throws in some great hope spots for himself like the sleeper and getting press slammed off the top. OMG I would be remiss to mention the suplex battle early in this segment. Flair’s leg gives out on a vertical suplex and instead the Dream musters up the might to get him off. Incredible. This segment climaxes with Dusty trying to get the Figure-4 on Flair but Flair kicks him off. Dusty sells the ankle again. Two strikes! However Dusty roars back and is able to whip Flair into Flair Flip and bust him open on the outside. So we switch from the leg to attacking the cut. Love this changing of levels. Dusty gets a great near fall on a top rope crossbody but Tommy Young was out of position. Flair Flip Bleeding Running Across the Apron Up Top and Down into a Big Dust Fist! Dusty follows into the corner Bur punts the turnbuckle with the bad foot! Three strikes and youre out Daddy. Now we get the full throttle Nature Boy attack on the leg climaxing with the Figure-4. One of the most magical and moving Figure-4 reversals as Dusty calls upon the Omni and all of America to reverse the Figure-4. Flair chops and punches But they are having no effect. HULK-UP! Punches and elbows, clothesline! Flair presses Big Dust off of him onto the ref. Dusty finally gets the Figure-4. Here come the Andersons. He dispatches Arn but Ole sneak attacks him. New ref! Flair 1-2-NO! Dusty Inside Cradle 1-2-3!!! NEW WORLD CHAMPION! Wait? What? I thought the blow was at the July 86 Great American Bash. Fuck a Dusty Finish that is lame. Dusty Finish knocks this down a peg but man this was electric. I did think Dusty took a little too much of the match. Dont get me wrong it was entertaining But I would have liked to see Flair really get a chance to work that ankle. If it wasn’t for the Dusty Finish I would go 4 But cant do that. *** 3/4

Southern Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Jerry Oski - Memphis 5/7/85 This is a match I have heard a lot about but wasn’t too interested in because I never heard of Jerry Oski but I am on a Macho Man kick and figured it was time to finally plop down and watch this bad boy and I am glad I did. This is a master class in how to work a compelling, effective heat segment with minimal high spots. Sounds like we might be missing 14 minutes of a 31 minute match But what we get feels like a complete match. Oski is working the Arm. Savage try as he might Cant really get much going against Oski who is a big muscle head type wrestler. Big in Memphis But would be average size in WWF. Savage tries to get something going with punches on the outside but Oski meets the moment. Abdominal Stretch. Tux distracts the ref and Macho Man throws him over the top rope and thus begins the master class. Excellent King of the Mountain. Savage is always changing positions. He throws Oski out, he goes out attack Oski, comes back in, brings Oski in and throws him back. Rinse lather repeat. This foments a sense of chaos and mayhem. Keeps both Oski and the viewer off balance and discombobulated. Secondly and this is the important part his grasp of control is tenuous at best. This creates a sense of tension. Can Savage hold Oski at bay? Can Oski surmount the mountain Savage has built for him to climb? Savage overreaches at one point and tries to bring Oski in with a suplex But Oski falls on top and gets a two count. Savage presses him off and his reaction is perfect. In desperation and he rushes outside and slams him into a post. Or Oski charges the corner and Macho Man evades sending Oski crashing to the floor where Tux Newman jabs him with the cane. Excellent heel work. Oski is competent but Savage is essentially wrestling himself. He is creating situations for Oski to succeed. Cant tell you one stock Oski high spot I could glean it was all Savage feeding. It was genius work. Savage feeds the Sunset Flip and throws him back outside which the announcer says must be the 8th time and I agree. Another Sunset Flip. You can feel the desperation from Savage as he goes for the piledriver. Back drop. Can Oski do it? Savage is fading. Oski misses the fist drop. Oski misses the elbow. MIDDLE ROPE MACHO MAN ELBOW! 1-2-NO! It is High Drama in Louisville! Macho Man thinks he has won after the knee drop. Oski O’Connor Roll! Do you believe in miracles? The real miracle is not Oski winning but how fucking good this match is as Savage basically is wrestling a broomstick. Everyone should study this match, masterful. ****

Nick Bockwinkel vs Randy Savage - Memphis 4/15/85 Im surprised this doesn’t have more hype in these parts as it is two of Top 25 wrestlers squaring off in a full match. It does NOT quite get to OMG Savage vs Bock levels but it was still very good. Macho Man burnishes Bock at the bell but in classic Savage fashion he eats a punch to the breadbasket diving off the top to the floor. It has been a minute since I watched me some Bock. Everything thing is snug and tight. Every blow is heavy. Ahhhh the glorious Bock King of the Mountain. Great bumping, feeding and selling by Savage. Macho Man goes to eyes. All his punches especially the wind up punch, trademark Savage Double Axehandle to the floor. Back suplex by Bock. Savage back to the eyes. Some floor brawling. Savage goes for the piledriver but back dropped on the concrete. Bock body slams him in, Savage foot on the ropes. Tux Newman puts his foot on the ropes a second time. Bock and ref distracted. Ballshot/Piledriver combo what a finish! Not a classic but still fun to watch these two tangle. *** 1/2

Jerry Lawler vs Randy Savage - ICW 3/24/85 WWE Vault hypes this as an Unseen Savage vs Lawler match from Cape Girdeau, MO, but doesn’t give a promotion or a date. Based on Cagematch, it looks like this happened in ICW (Poffo) and on 3/24/85 but feel free to correct me. They have 35 minutes of Savage and Lawler in 1985! What a find! One thing to make clear is due to sound quality and it was my turn to watch the baby I couldn’t make out what they were saying and like first 25 minutes there is a lot of stopping and grabbing a microphone. So your viewing experience maybe enhanced if you can hear what is going on. Tux Newman, who I had never heard of until reading our fearless leader @Loss Wrestling Playlists strolls out to support his Macho Man, Even though this is in ICW, Savage is playing the heel through and through. I affectionately call their 6/3/85 match the anti-work rate classic. This is definitely in a similar vein but not quite as good. What both excel at is really selling This as a sporting contest without it being shoot style. Each punch is sold exactly how a punch would be sold in a bare knuckle fight. Savage has that Tasmanian Devil energy. I love how cool & calm Lawler plays the opening. He is not being suckered into Macho Man’s game. He is here to wrestle by the rules and he is keeping it professional. Classic Savage getting on his bike and riding. Lawler embarrasses him at every turn in the opening. Reversing everything and having an answer for everything. This draws Tux out which leads to a lot of jaw jacking. The first punch scored goes to the King. Savage’s sell of this single punch is everything. The way rocks in the ropes and how he acts like a chump about it. Savage scores two great punches of his own in the corner. Lawler’s like Savage puts over the power of the punch. Lawler evens the score at two apiece But he rears back and charges in the third but it is a miss. Tux gets his cane to Savage unbeknownst to Lawler and when Lawler goes after Tux, Savage jabs it into Lawler’s abdomen. Now we are off to the races! Love Savage’s Baseball Wind-Up Punches on the floor! Bombs Away Double Axehandle to the floor! Lawler presses Savage off of him onto the floor. It is not a far drop as this ring is only like 2-3 feet off the ground. Lawler punch but he misses on the fist drop! Another Bombs Away Double Axehandle to the floor. The arena brawling is cool because you just see these silhouettes of the two of them punching each others lights out. Classic Savage bump as the King catches him in the breadbasket with a punch as he leapt from the top rope. Both men’s selling is terrific. They are capturing the grueling struggle of the fisticuffs. Macho Man eyerake as he looks to take back control. LAWLER HULK UP STRAP DOWN SAVAGE BEGS OFF! THE KING TEES OFF ON THE MACHO MAN AND LAWLER HURLS HIM TONYHE OUTSIDE! Lawler threatens to punch Tux But doesn’t do it because Savage saves. Big Punch, classic Piston Punches and fist drop ends it. Look at 35 minutes but only ten minutes of action it is a bit of a sell BUT like I said maybe if you can hear him you’d enjoy the first 25 minutes more. The last ten minutes are gold But I did think the finish was a bit anti-climactic. Everyone should check this out! *** 1/2

WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Tito Santana - WWF MLG 5/4/86 NO DQ I haven’t watched the MSG match in over 6 years. So I thought be fun to watch this one because I forgot the finer points of the MSG match and thus if they are the same I wouldn’t notice. Great use of Elizabeth right at the bell. Dragging her in front. Stymying Tito and popping him. Such a low down reprehensible thing to do. It comes back to bite him immediately as Tito catches him with a right to the breadbasket as he leapt off the top rope. It has been so long since I have since Tito works singles match. Give him Hell, Tito! Tito does just unloading with haymakers. Tito has such a great punch. He wallops Savage to the outside. He kicks his ass over the railing. Good outside the Ring brawling. Back in the Ring, Savage is clinging for dear life to the ropes to stop this onslaught. He digs his fingers into Tito’s eyes. That makes some headway. He throws Tito over the top rope. Again good use of the floor the Bombs Away Double Axehandle. Savage swarms attacking from all angles like usual. He misses a knee drop. Starts selling the leg and nobody sells the leg as good as the Macho Man but that doesn’t last long. I like how the rest of the heat segment. Savage’s control of the match seems tenuous. It feels like Tito is going to break out and open a can of whoop ass But Macho Man keeps cutting him off until the Holy Shit Bump of the Match Tito uses a steel chair to hit the Macho Man as he comes down with a Double Axehandle to the floor. The rout is on. Tito unloads as the Macho Man heads for the hills. He brings him back the hardway. They brawl more on the outside as Savage is busted open on the post. Absolutely amazing punch exchange! I watch so many bad ones in modern wrestling study these two punching the shit out of each other. Savage clocks the ref on the back swing. MEXICAN HAMMER! Love it! No ref! Awesome! Tito tries to wake the ref. Savage high Knee! O’Connor Roll w reverses and has the tights for the win. A very popular Savage finish. I’ll have to go back and read my MSG review to see how similar matches. I felt like they were similar quality. Really strong 80s brawl but not quite upper echelon. ****1/4

WWF World Tag Team Champions Dream Team vs British Bulldogs - WWF Boston 10/12/85 And I thought I had seen all the Dream Team versus Bulldogs matches. A rare feud where the TV Matches (Two SNME’s and WrestleMania II) were better than all the house show matches I had seen…until now…let’s take a look. Beefer Cuts & Struts out of a headlock. Bulldogs show off their explosiveness early running through the Dream Team and keeping them off balance. They work the arm on both men. The Hammer gets a Backbreaker and it is off to the races. Excellent heat segment on Dynamite Kid. Great work on the back. Valentine driving the knee into the back to consolidate. Great use of the Dream Team Double Team in the corner. Beefcake good use of the Bearhug and driving Dynamite into the corner. Dynamite starts peppering in hope spots like a snap suplex and wriggling out of the figure-4 and a good nut shot on the knuckle lock bridge sequence. The Dream Team keeps pouring it on. Watching Valentine work on top is always a treat. Lots of great Dream Team Double Teams. One of the better Beefcake performance. Hammer misses multiple elbows and Dynamite tags out. I love that Davey Boy gets a proper hot tag. A lot of time in the 80s they will quench the first hot tag so quickly and it is bummer. We get the classic explosive Davey Boy dropkick. A Missile Dropkick! RUNNING Powerslam! Great shit! Beefcake tries to contain Davey Boy But he keeps fighting through the offense. Bulldogs whip the Dream Team into each other. Most Bitchin’ Tag Team Finisher of the 80s Rocket Launcher Diving Headbutt. Ref distracted and The Hammer Drops The Hammer on the back of Dynamite’s head and Beefcake rolls over for the 1-2-3! Great tag match definitely on par with the TV Matches which I think I liked a bit more but this was a great old school tag awesome, awesome heat segment on Dynamite, I loved Davey Boys hot tag and the finish was really good too. It was nice to revisit the Hammer an all time great. ****

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Kamala - WWF Boston 12/6/86 Love their MSG series and this did not disappoint! Kamala is someone who I always love to watch but don’t seek out enough. I love Kamala tripping on the leapfrog whether a work or shoot either way to gets over the raw, untrained aspect of the gimmick. They really put over Kamala’s strength early winning those shouldertackle battles. Hogan Cant slam the Ugandan Giant yet. Kamala lots of his basic but effective offense the chops and thrust kicks and the like. He misses. Hogan starts throwing bombs But he can’t get the Ugandan Giant off his feet. He really throws a lot of heavy artillery at him and can’t get him down which I loved. Friday distracts. Wizard passes the Horn to Kamala who stabs Hogan in the forehead with it. Wicked Blade Job. Kamala just goes to work on the cut, chops and gnawing it. He even manhandles Hogan in a way you never rally see with the Double Gozzle. KAMALA SPLASH! 1-2-NO! I think I know Whats next! HULK-UP! It is a beauty too with the Hulkster covered in blood throwing those haymakers! BODYSLAM! DROPS THE LEG! Awesome! I like the No DQ match in MSG more but this is right up there with the first MSG match ****

WWF World Tag Team Champions US Express vs Dream Team - WWF MSG 8/10/85 It still smacks me as bizarre every time I see Barry Windham in a WWF ring and he had three separate tenured theres but he just doesn’t feel like he belongs. This is such great meat & potatoes tag team wrestling. Everyone should study this. This is how you work a tag match make it meaningful. Windham gets an early arm bar and immediately tags to Rotundo so he can crash down on the arm. It was the quick tags that I miss among other things. Valentine works a drop toehold but ends up back in the arm bar. Kitchen sink and Valentine gives the match to Beefcake and he promptly loses control of the match. We get the WWF heel in peril with headlocks. Love how Rotundo and Windham transition on the headlock they make sure it is a secure transfer. When Beefcake goes to the eyes, Windham doesnt play hero ball, he tags out as soon as Beefer Misses the elbow. Smart. Valentine gets the sliding knee on the apron to Rotundo. Excellent heat segment that gets better as it progresses. Lots of double teams. Lots of stiff forearm shivers by The Hammer. Valentine works a proto-BattlArts style they I love. Lots of good hope spots with the crossbody by Rotundo and the small package. Love the kick off of the Figure-4 as Valentine careens to the outside. The piece d’resistance of the heat segment was Valentine stepping on Rotundo’s back on a front face lock. That’s how you make the front face lock interesting! Love how it goaded BW in. Rotundo back drops out of a Valentine piledriver. Beefcake squanders control and BW is in. They do double face in peril which is a shame as I would rather Windham get the longer face in peril and his house of fire was so short. His punches up to a Valentine from his knees were a thing of beauty. I thought the finish was excellent which sealed the deal for me. Rotundo Airplane Spin into an emphatic FU! Break up the pin. Figure-4 attempt on Rotundo But BW leaps over Valentine for the sunset flip win. Terrific. It was different than a Southern style tag but still a meat and potatoes which was tight, no holes, AWESOME Valentine heel work and offense with a fun, electric and clean finish easy thumbs up! ****

Dream Team vs Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog - WWF MSG 4/22/85 Boy Oh Boy Greg Valentine! It has been a minute brutha! God I love me some Valentine and he was awesome in this. Obviously this is not as good as the night before when Tito teamed with Steamboat but this is still a good tag. Babyfaces clear the Ring as Tito is revved up and already hauling off and letting them fly in the Hammer. I love Valentine But I won’t forget about my boy Tito also great seeing him let those hammocks fly. JYD Headbutting Beefcake was fun. Throwing the Dream Team into each other. No Heel in Peril just fun shine. Beefcake drives Tito into Dream Team corner. Valentine takes over great Gutbuster to seal the deal. Beefcake powerslam. Valentine shoulder breaker. Ok then we get to to point why we are all here. VALENTINE JUST STOMPS THE SHIT OUT OF TITO’s LEG AND TITO RESPONDS BY REIGNING DOWN PUNCHES ON VALENTINE! The intensity, the heat. This is what wrestling is about. They do the whole Tito scrambles by Valentine to make the tag. JYD Double Noggin Knocker. TIMMMMBBBAAAHHH! JYD misses a Headbutt. We get a short heat segment on JYD but he tags Tito. Dream Team double teams Tito But JYD headbutts Beefcake. FLYING BURRITO! TITO GETS THE PIN ON THE HAMMER IN MSG! A pretty solid tag team match elevated by heat that only few like The Hammer and Tito can bring. *** 1/2

Review from 2013: The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation - 7/85 MSG One of my favorite Bret spots is his leverage spot which results in someone taking a dive out to the floor. What I like about it most is that either Bret or his opponent could take it, which makes it one of the versatile spots in wrestling. Bret is definitely a big fan of the kneelift to set up his heat segments during this time period. Everything does even back in 1985 just looks so crisp. I know Bret prides himself on this, but I still cant help but compliment him on his ability to execute moves without being stiff. I like stiff wrestling as much as the next wrestling fan, but I think it is pretty nifty that Bret can make everything he do look so good without being stiff. Bret gives Davey a backbreaker so Anvil can deliver Demolition Decapitation. Wait, I thought this was the Bulldogs thread. Just on cue, here come Dynamite to bring the offense to this match with his nasty hooking clothesline and Davey Boy comes back in with a running powerslam. Now he takes the leverage move to the outside. After trading a couple Boston Crabs, they are just killing time to the curfew finish. This was an ok first match from these two "vaunted" teams of the golden era of the tag division. It was definitely action-packed, but it felt oddly directionless and unheated for a match involving Bret Hart. I always feel like Bret is more likely to have a boring match than a directionless match. At the same time, the Bulldogs seemed to keep things moving, but didn't bust out their big guns for the match. Recommended only if you are a completist, but arent all we. *** 1/4

[1986-09-22-WWF-MSG] Hulk Machine, Big Machine & Super Machine vs Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy & Bobby The Brain Heenan The Machines was the second biggest angle behind Hogan/Orndorff at this point in WWF so had to check one of their matches against my boys Studd & Bundy. Hogan erm I mean Hulk Machine is all fired up. He Bodyslams Bundy early! Electric. At first I thought I struggle telling the difference between Big Machine (Mulligan) and Super Machine (Ax) but I can tell Ax punches from a mile away. They both try to Bodyslam Studd but that ain’t happening. Ax is the speed of this match. He was flying hit a fucking cross body. Studd Bodyslam on Mulligan impressive. Classic Heenan Family mistake let Heenan in which means Hogan got to whip him and flip him in the corner. There’s another Super Machine slam attempt on Studd But he just collapses on him. The Hogan finish stretch is fun. You get the Hogan Bodyslam and Leg Drop clean finish. Honestly at 3am taking care of a baby my memory is a bit hazy of the middle to end but this was still fun. I think that’s wrap on Studd & Bundy for me now. ***

[1986-04-22-WWF-MSG] Hulk Hogan & Hillbilly Jim vs Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy Hillbilly Jim tries to Bodyslam Big John Studd. Who does he think is Hulk Hogan? Andre? Cmon brutha. Studd Bodyslams Jim. Hogan comes in and says Jim brutha let me show you how it is done. Except he eats two bodyslams. Until…HOGAN BODYSLAMS STUDD! HOGAN BODYSLAMS BUNDY! HAYMAKER TO THE BRAIN FOR GOOD MEASURE! IT IS A FULL BLOWN HO-DOWN AS HULKSTER & HILLBILLY SQUARE DANCE! HILLBILLY CARTWHEEL AND HOGAN JYD IMPRESSION!!!! THIS WAS FUCKING AWESOME! Rest of the match is solid but that was electric. Weird spot the transition to heat is Hogan tries to Bodyslam Studd but Studd hooks the rope. It felt weird because he already done did it. Good heat segment on Hogan Bundy was energetic good cut offs, Splash. Liked the Studd bear hug. Hogan hot tag to Jim but Jim doesnt show much. Couple punches and Bundy quells that small campfire Hillbilly had. Chinkock and Bearhug on Jim. Hogan gets the tag. He runs through everyone. Atomic Drop into Leg Drop on Studd. SICK! Heenan interferes seriously Hogan Cant get a clean pin on Studd in 1986 weird. Awesome bonus spot Hogan whips The Brain into a Bundy Avalanche! Watch the shine you’ll be pop pop poppin ! *** 1/4

OMG LOL I have already watched this. Guess I have always been a big Studd & Bundy guy. I echo all my comments. I liked Bundy teetering on the Hogan shoulder tackles But then cutting him off with a. Back elbow. Nothing else to add, keep the rating the same.

Hulk Hogan & Andre The Giant vs King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd - WWF SNME 11/1/85 I watched this about 5 years ago when I watched all the 85 & 86 SNMEs which I really enjoyed. I didn’t do a full review at the time and I wanted to do one now. Outside of somehow including Roddy Piper, this was the biggest match WWF could offer in 1985. Quite literally the biggest. When Hulk Hogan is the smallest of the four guys, those are some big fellas. Hogan repeat their awesome routine from 9/7/85 Boston. Hogan nothing doing on the shoulder tackle so he goes High Knee but can’t get the Bodyslam. Unlike Boston he keeps slugging away. This is all about the babyface shining. Andre chokes Bundy. Studd comes in and doesn’t take the Atomic Drop well. Andre wipes out a ref on a back swing this sends us to break. Hogan and Andre are running away with this. Except Andre ends up getting caught in the ropes, Studd trips Hogan and BUNDY SPLASHES HOGAN! Heenan Family attack Hogan & Andre and the ref calls for the bell. Hogan clears the Ring and Andre says he didnt get enough. It is fun but feels incomplete like it was just getting cooking. There’s a Hogan/Andre Vs Heenan Family from Philly that I have my eye on.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - WWF Boston 10/12/85 Now this is the good stuff not as good as WrestleMania II Bur a fun house show main event. Heenan is now Bundy’s manager. Hot start. Bundy comes out firing. Hogan tries to mount a comeback But gets Bodyslam on a charge. A taste of his own medicine .Hogan and the crowd was fired up for this one. Hogan has a mini-shine throwing haymakers and dropping bows. He goes for the Bodyslam too early. Even though he was calling for and really put in some extra moves. Bundy is still too big. We get the chinkock again too bad. Loved the Avalanche -> Splash as a near fall. HULK-UP! SECOND AVALANCHE! NO-SELL! INJECT IT IN MY VEINS! BODYSLAM! 1-2-3! HELL YEAH! *** 1/2

LOL! Of course I have watched this match before. Yes it is very chinlock-y and a bearhug BUT I loved the opening Hogan goes for shoulder tackle gets knocked down. He gets smart and takes Bundy down with a High Knee! I popped for that quietly of course theres a baby sleeping. I liked that Bundy’s offense started because Hogan went for the Bodyslam after that. Loved the Bundy finish stretch Knee Drop, Splash, Elbow Drop and TWO AVALANCHES! (it is funny I came to post that I wish Big John Studd that something like that and I already posted it in 2017 lol) Great Hulk-Up! I love the Running Bionic Elbow! Wish he kept that. Bundy feels the loss coming so he uses the Megaphone to draw blood and force a rematch the next month. Nice to see Hogan clock Jimmy Hart. I was a bit harsh on this. I am going *** 1/4 the WrestleMania II match ruled but a good first match in the series.

[1985-11-25-WWF-MSG] Andre The Giant, Hillbilly Jim & Capt Lou Albany vs Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy & Bobby The Brain Heenan @Ricky Jackson was besides himself when I told him like 10 years ago I had never seen a Hillbilly Jim match and I know I’d seen one maybe two when I did an SNME rewatch but I think is my first review of a match he is in. Couldn’t find the October MSG tag where it is Andre & Jim versus Bundy & Studd. So skipping to the November MSG match with the managers. Unfortunately my daughter woke up for feeding & diaper change between the match ending and this review and I have already forgotten most of the match. There was a lot of jostling early you may describe it as Colossal. Andre did most of the heavy lifting. Jim tried to slam Studd but Heenan saved. Besides a Jim punch I don’t think I saw him do anything. Andre didnt really feel cooperative in this match. Studd and Bundy clearly wanted to move to taking over in the corner but Andre wanted to work a double noggin knocker. But anyways this is all immaterial the whole point of this match was to see Heenan take his licks. Andre rocks him and Albano makes him take a Ray Steven’s Flip. Ref forces The Brain to make contact with The Giant even though he tagged which was lame. Fun battering ram spot on the heels. They whip Studd and Bundy into each other. Big boot by Andre to the Brain wish he did the SITDOWN splash. I like all these guys well jury is still out on Jim but no need to watch this one.

Andre The Giant vs King Kong Bundy - WWF MSG 9/23/85 The Colossal Jostle! What a great name for a match! It is very befitting of this match. Based on commentary, Andre has a cracked sternum ala Bundy and I presume his running buddy Big John Studd although Bundy is still managed by Jimmy Hart here. I wonder if Hart was bummed he wasn’t getting the main event of WrestleMania II. You really understand how huge Andre is standing next to Bundy as he makes the 400 pounder look normal size. Awesome super heavyweight wrestling. Everything is heavy, in the corner, up against the ropes, body on body claustrophobic wrestling. Andre is out for blood. Bundy is targeting the sternum. Bundy is more spry of the two so he is the one bumping. Great choke and Headbutt by Andre. Bundy really sells well. Loved Bundy going for the sternum. They pad time with an Andre armbar - head scissors. Bundy takes a Colossal Jostle Tumble to the floor that is the highlight of the match he looked a bit pissed about that. Bundy gets his heat working the sternum. He goes for the Avalanche ANDRE BOOT UP! SITDOWN SPLASH! It is all over but Big John Studd comes out to break it up. Andre staves off both behemoths with a steel chair. If only Andre had a big yoked strapping lad to team with against these giants…fun super heavyweight clash or should I say a Fun Colossal Jostle! ***