Superstar Sleeze

Carlos Colon vs Terry Funk - WWC 9/21/86 WWC Universal Championship Tournament Finals The capper to the great WWC Universal Championship Tournament and the 13th Anniversary Show which must represent a high water mark for WWC. After all those Abby matches, Terry Funk is a breath of fresh air. Someone who can actually move and bump for Colon. I know this match is famous as the Finals of a famous Tournament but it should be famous for being a great match as well. It is the Terry Funk Show. You can see why his fans think he think he is the greatest wrestler of all time. If you love his brand of entertainment, there is no one better. He trips on his poncho, he feeds on a layout across the top turnbuckle and then perfectly feeds for seesaw punches in the middle rope (take notes, Muraco) and then of course the stumbling and bumbling in the crowd wiping out chairs throwing chairs. Classic stuff. Funk’s heat segment is also good shit: piledriver on the outside, punches and smashing Colon’s head into the post. Love the side headlock, trick knee Ballshot. Funk works a sleeper. What really puts this over the top for me is Colon throws it all back in Funk’s face with a Ballshot and a piledriver on the floor. I love that symmetry. All your Colon favorites good punches, headbutts, ROUNDOFF~!, TOE TOUCH! I liked the Figure-4 work and bit on it as well as Funk collapsing on a suplex attempt because of his knee. Junior hits him with a boot. 1-2-NO! Good heel nearfall. Very creative and inventive finish. They trade headbutts progressively get more groggy. Colon gets the final Headbutt for the win. Excellent Terry Funk match very entertaining **** 1/4

Carlos Colon vs Abdullah The Butcher - WWC 9/20/86 WWC Universal Title Semifinals You Cant say I haven’t given Colon vs Abby a fair shot. In my opinion, this is probably the most famous shows WWC ever did as they load up their Universal Title tournament with famous wrestlers from mainland to create one of the most star studded tournaments of all time. It is all a part of their 1986 Anniversary show. I randomly watched Funk vs Martel years ago and have always meant to watch the whole tournament. This feud has been raging all year and goes back to the 1985 Anniversary show a year ago. This is the semifinals winner faces Funk. They bring in Stan Hansen to kick off the famous feud with Colon next month meaning we get a break from Colon & Abby. Pretty middle of the road Colon vs Abby match. Not as boring as the June one but nowhere as heated as the Spring one. Abby jabs Colon with a fork and he works a pretty basic heat segment the usual Abby offense. Colon sells better than him so it is more interesting. Abby hits a couple elbow drops and clothesline. Colon comes back with punches. ROUNDOFF~! It is come back time. Colon works a spirited come back. Punching Abby until he bleeds. Head butts TOE TOUCH! Ball shot! Leg drops! Gary Hart gives Abby a foreign object. Colon fights through it. Monkey Flip. Suplex. Hits Abby with the foreign object for the win! Abby attacks with Gary Harts crutch but the babyfaces save. Solid match nothing you have to see but inoffensive. ***

@El Boricua are we sure this is 6/29/86? It is for the Universal Championship and both Cagematch and Wikipedia have the title vacant on 6/29. It doesn’t feel like a rematch to the eye clawing. I am thinking this is the March 1986 match from the DVDVR set or at least before April 29th when title is listed as vacated. What do you think? WWC Universal Champion Carlos Colon vs Abdullah The Butcher - WWC 1986 Holding off on putting a date on this as there feels like a discrepancy between the match date listed (6/29/86) and Thai being for Universal Title which according to Cagematch and Wikipedia was vacant at the time. The other strange thing about this match s it has English Commentary overdubbed but it sounds like it was done in the early 2000s has that ROH sort of dweeby commentary feel where they are trying to ape the 80s style but come off sounding like tools and just no one would talk like that. As for the match this is a MASSIVE upgrade over the 6/15/86 snore fest I watched yesterday. This is way more heated and has a real hate-filled fight to it. Abby gets caught with the fork early but he a low blow and is able to bust Colon open. The blows are more uptempo and there’s a real fighting through each others offense. Abby goes for the eye! This match feels like it happened before the 6/15/86 where Colon was going for the eye in revenge. Abby gets an elbow drop as a climax to his heat segment. Colon pulls out a fork and busts Abby open. ROUND OFF! He is blasting Abby with punches and headbutts. Good brawling on the floor. Low blow! Great finish. Dropkick causes ref to be wiped out by Abby. TOP ROPE ATOMIC SENTON DROP! No ref. Abby shoves Colon off and hits ref. Abby gets a fork and a wicked clothesline and the heel ref counts three. NEW CHAMP?!? But the original ref throws the match out and awards the title to Colon. Did this cause the title to be held in abeyance? Is this March 1986 match on DVDVR set? So many questions but if you want ignore the commentary, this is a very entertaining brawl. It felt like a fight. Abby had a really good control segment. There were strong meaningful momentum shifts and enjoyed the finish a lot. Recommend this one as a very good Colon/Abby match *** 3/4

lol I am about to write a review praising a match he is in against Carlos Colon dated 6/29/86 but I think it is March or April of 1986. Thanks for watching a match because of me sorry it sucked @Stephen-

Carlos Colon vs Abdullah The Butcher - WWC 6/15/86 What a total snoozer! This is the worst match I have seen in like 5 years I have to say. It was so brutally boring. I was begging for the ref to DQ Colon have he gut shotted him with a chair. When Colon got Abby off his feet with a monkey flip, please fucking pin him. If this match was 5-10minutes and you know Abby displayed any sort of effort this could have been great, but at 25 minutes what a waste of time. Colon had vacated the Universal Title and that would be get settled at the Anniversary show in September with the pretty famous tournament that had some great matches. This match featured a lot of eye work so it should have been great. It seemed like Carlos was getting revenge for something Abby did to his eye. He was trying to claw Abby's eye out. Abby just showed zero fire, zero anything. He was bleeding and just nothing. I was begging him to do anything. I am usually an advocate for less bumping. This took too extreme, zero bumps and Abby only got off his feet like three times. There was punching and headbutting. It was done with no zip or pizzazz. Nada. Colon had some sort of Sheik-esque foreign object he was stabbing Abby's eye with which should have been AWESOME, but instead was so flat. Abby bled. Did nothing else. Colon worked the cut with punches, head butts, gnawing and the foreign object. Good ballshot. This should have been good, but it was so boring. 25 minutes of my life I am never getting back.

Roddy Piper vs Adrian Adonis - WrestleMania III Hair vs Hair This was not only Piper’s retirement match but Adonis only worked four more matches for the WWF before going to the AWA. Wicked fun match. A Piper match that lives up to the hype. Piper has the belt of his kilt tucked into his trunks. He whips Adonis with it. Jimmy Hart distracts and Adonis gives him a taste of his own medicine. The ref is going to let anything fly! Adonis bumping just like SNME was Great. All the spots with Jimmy Hart were so fun! Piper launches Hart like a missile into the Adorable one twice. Jimmy trips Piper. This is what makes the match great. Adonis gets real heat on Piper. Bouncing him off a ringside table. Great punches. Jimmy Hart with the Spray. Good Night Irene. It is High Drama in the Pontiac Silverdome! Adonis thought he had it won and releases the hold. Brutus Beefcake of all people comes out and revives Piper who wins with a sleeper! For people like me who have been wondering for years why Beefcake turned babyface and became Brutus The Barber Beefcake it is because on the 2/28/87 Superstars Adonis & The Dream Team lost a match to Leapin Lanny & the Can-Ams and Adonis cut Beefcake’s hair. I have not seen the angle yet but it is cool to know the context. They give Adonis a funny half hair cut he throws a temper tantrum. Piper is having fun and soaking in the adulation as he would be gone until 1989 not a bad layoff. Loved the Flower Shop vs Piper Pit story and even though I have seen this match before I am happy to review at the conclusion of seeing the whole story play out. Great story and match! ****

Roddy Piper vs Adrian Adonis - WWF SNME 1/3/87 The Flower Shop vs Pipers Pit is one of my favorite angles of all time! Piper vs Muraco and Orton fell flat but now that Adonis is back this is rocking. Adonis bumps HUGE for Piper. Piper likes looking like Superman so this helps. Kilt blinding, massive knee lift, Adonis caught up in the ropes in a great spot, the Ray Steven’s flips bump. Really fun shine. Adonis fights back. Good Night Irene! Both spill to the outside. Piper clocks Jimmy Hart. Adonis sprays Piper with Flower Perfume to win by Countout. The perfect big fun match to get you pumped for the big pay off at WrestleMania III. ***

Randy Savage vs George The Animal Steele - WWF SNME 1/3/87 Fucking fantastic! I watched this yesterday and today just to make sure I wasn’t going crazy this was awesome! Vince at the height of his creative and booking powers. George The Animal Steele says he has a surprise. He gives Elizabeth the Mine Doll Savage is irate and bounces it off the mat. Great Steele shine with Double Goozle and some great shots. He waves down the entrance ramp. Allowing Savage to take over. Savage looks to polish Steele off with the big elbow but maybe the first instance of wait what THATS RICKY THE DRAGON STEAMBOAT’s MUSIC! Epic 80s Staredown between them! Steele throws Savage off the top and over the top rope! Carries Elizabeth. We go to commercial. The SNME matches that went to commercial always had a mini-climax to suck you in to the second half. They need to bring that back. Steamboat gets cleared from ringside. Steele comes back on fire rams Macho Man’s head into the buckle with a Bulldog headlock. Rips the turnbuckle stuffing with his mouth and blinds Savage and the ref with it. Savage shoves Steele into the buckles. Great fight breaks out Savage is hitting these great strikes look at Thant clubbing clothesline! Steele is biting and cheating his ass off! It is a war. Steele hits Macho Man with a foreign object but gets into it with the ref. THE RING BELL~! 1-2-3! Steamboat chases off Savage and tends to George The Animal. Terrific shit! The angle is ***** top notch shit but the match totally exceeds expectations. This ruled! Great fight! ****

Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy vs Big & Super Machine - WWF Superstars 11/15/86 Billed as Capt Lou’s retirement match, this was also the last match for the Machines (Blackjack Mulligan was already being promoted as returning) and Big John Studd’s last match until 1989. RIP Heenan Family. Whenever I think of the Heenan Family, I think of Studd & Bundy and Studd & Patera. I have watched way more Studd & Bundy that I should but loved it. It felt like they were building to a Studd babyface turn and Studd vs Bundy at WM III. Was it health problems that caused Studd to leave? Huge match for TV as this blows off a months long feud that was the #2 feud behind Hogan/Wonderful. Not much meat on the bone. Superstar Cant slam Studd who falls on top of him and beats him up. Bundy loses control of Blackjack who slams Studd!!! Always a big pop. Bundy holds Blackjack and Studd crashes down for the pin. Heenan Family wins the feud! So long Studd, it has been a pleasure! Studd & the Brain forever!

Roddy Piper Vs Bob Orton - WWF Philly Spectrum 11/8/86 I am just not much of a Piper guy. I kinda already knew that but these last three matches confirmed it. I mean he has his moments dont get me wrong but baseline Piper doesnt do it for me. I just never been into spazzy people whether it is Piper or Mox or in between. This was better than Muraco because Orton is better than Muraco But didnt really grant my attention. Orton doesnt have the charisma to be an NWA traveling champion But he wrestles like one so I appreciate it. I appreciate that he worked the leg and forced Piper to sell it. Single leg crab and Figure-4. I liked Piper’s hulk-up through the Figure-4. Nice Orton’s got back on top and worked to the Superplex but Piper countered. Same finish as Muraco, Orton runs into Jimmy Hart and Piper rolls him up. Piper sends both packing. It is the big Piper vs Orton match but it is just good. *** 1/4

Roddy Piper vs Don Muraco - WWF Boston Garden 11/1/86 Man someone in WWF loved entrance music stealing gimmicks in 1986. Coming off the ultra-hot Flower Shop angle where Muraco/Orton/Adonis injured Roddy Piper, Muraco has stolen Piper’s music and kilt. This would also lead to the Muraco/Orton team that lasted until Mania III and maybe beyond. They had a cool squash on Superstars where Orton hit a Superplex and Muraco hit a Tombstone. Piper really didn’t want to sell the injury from the Flower Shop. He repeatedly fools the heels by showing his knee is fine on Superstars and SNME and here he doesn’t sell it all. So weird. I want to like Don Muraco so bad because he looks so cool but God he is just not good. I believe this Piper first big house show singles match as a babyface and he gets a superstar reaction from Boston. Piper is wrestling fiery but feel like his stuff is hit and miss whether it looks good. This was more miss. Muraco just doesnt try at all during the shine. This will sound better on paper with Piper blinding Muraco with the kilt and the big kneelift in the corner. The biting and the chair shot. The way Muraco sets up for the see saw spot in the ropes is so lazy. The Piper Bulldog popped me and Alfred. Muraco eye poke and javelins Piper into the Piper to bust him and Fuji gets in a cane shot. Super Piper just rushes the Ring and tackles Muraco and bites him until Muraco bleeds. Piper suplex. Fuji cane shot Muraco falls on Piper nope. 21st century Muraco runs into Fuji and Piper rolls him up. Piper was trying but his shit didnt look great I feel like the Muraco blood was not earned. Muraco didnt get anything and his stooging/ heel-selling was terrible. They did a lot in a short time. Borderline three stars but I am going under. They had so much to work with and they underperformed.

Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper vs Paul Orndorff & Harley Race - WWF MSG 11/24/86 For those Superfans of Tag Teams Back Again (Whoomp There It is!) you will know we covered this back in the day. At the time, I dont think I understood the magnitude of what I was witnessing. Logically I understood it was Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper teaming 20 months after WrestleMania thats a big deal, but I didnt feel it emotionally. But now that I have seen the Saturday Night's Main Event, where Piper saves Hogan, seen the Hogan/Wonderful turn, the Flower Shop angle, I FEEL THIS MATCH~! I wish it was Adonis, Muraco or Orton in the role of Harley Race. I understand that by using Harley Race it keeps it in the Heenan Family, but I wish it was one of the three perpetrators of the Flower Shop Assault. I really wish it was Orton the most the tie-in to WrestleMania I would have been perfect, Oh Well! It is interesting even though Hogan and Orndorff was being run hard in Philly, this was the only time they touched in MSG and they never wrestled in Boston interesting booking. As for the match, it is all about the Hogan & Piper interactions. The opening clearing of the ring only for them to go back to back and then each rip their shirt off was AWESOME~! It was all downhill from there but that was killer! Hogan and Piper working like an 80s blowjob babyface tag team working the arm of Harley Race with quick tags but each tag had so much TENSION~! behind it. It was awesome. Hogan and Piper did some really fun arm work and it was fun watching them work like they were the Rockers. Race threw Piper's head into Wonderful's knee and hit a belly to belly suplex. Pretty standard heat segment, Race hitting bombs like Thump Powerslam and suplex; Orndorff clubbering. Piper breaks free. Really liked Hogan hot tag. He was so explosive. Wiping out both of the Heenan Family, clocking the Brain and dropping the Leg on Harley I wish that was the finish, but Mr. Wonderful breaks it up. Orndorff hits the Wonderful Clothesline on Race and Piper quickly covers for 3 but he was not legal and there was a whole kerfuffle. Piper leaves the ring to let Hogan fend for himself against the Heenan Family, but he sends all three packing easily and does his posedown. I thought the beginning was great, heat segment was alright, Hogans hot tag ruled, but the finish was clunky and Piper leaving Hogan was weird. Piper went out of his way to save him on SNME but leaves him high and dry here. Then Hogan looks like a bigger star by vanquishing them and Piper kinda looks like a chump because he missed out on the celebratory glory. A cool moment, but not much of a match. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Paul Orndorff - WWF Philly 12/13/86 Steel Cage With this I have seen close to every Hogan title defense from 1986, I think 86 is an underrated year for the Hulkster lots of fun opponents. This is light years better than the SNME cage match but I am not surprised as the house show matches were more raw and visceral at the time. While the SNME finish is iconic, it is nice to get a definitive finish here. Orndorff attacks to start as expected. Theres different type of clubbering and I am just not into Orndorff’s brand of clubbering. I really like all of Orndorff’s cutoffs…Ballshot, jumping knee to the back on the Hogan escape, eye rake and cage shots. They do the whole Hogan pulls him back in over the top of the cage by the hair which I never love but you get a cool visual of Mr. wonderful eating the cage upside down. Bobby The Brain locked the cage door for some reason. They both go into the cage. Hulk-Up! Here comes the Brain. Hogan shoves him off and sends him into the Cage. It is a race and Hogan wins over the top and crowns Wonderful with the Championship Belt for good measure. Fun Cage Match not a ton of meat on the bone but it was enjoyable while it lasted. Feud underperformed in my opinion, Orndorff up there with Muraco as my least favorite Hogan opponent. *** 1/2

WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colon vs Jos LeDuc - WWC 2/22/86 Barbed Wire I am not sure I have ever reviewed a Jos LeDuc match see broadening my horizons for GWE 36. I am not sure why didnt just do a Vachon gimmick he easily pass a Cousin, hell I’d believe he was a brother. I have a little LeDuc in clips from Mid-Atlantic and Memphis. Pretty standard 80s unhinged bloodthirsty character. They do not tease the Barbed Wire at all it is a punch and shove into the Barbed Wire for LeDuc. He bumps, feeds and stooges well for Colon. He is constantly going into the Barbed Wire. Colon pulls LeDucs shirt to blind him and choke him. Great punches and barbed wire shots. LeDuc catches him in the breadbasket. LeDuc has a good punch as you’d expect. He rakes barbed wire over Colon and he then helps him floss with it. I am sure his dentist will be happy, Gnarly. I love that it is a Ballshot that gets Colon back on offense. Toe touch! LeDuc sells so much better than Abby. LeDuc lots of chest first bumps into the barbed wire off the shots. Leg work. Figure-4 for the win! He applies it again for good measure post match. Fun match. *** 1/2

WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colon vs Abdullah The Butcher - WWC 9/21/85 With GWE 26 behind us, all eyes are to GWE 36 and what better spirit to have then expand my horizons to Puerto Rico. Got my first taste with the epic Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen which help Hansen get another Top 5 finish on my ballot. Colon is someone I’d consider but need to see more of. I have seen a limited amount of Abdullah the Butcher who is never as imposing as you think he will but the fat tub of goo has some charm undoubtedly. Even with my limited knowledge of both men I expected double juice, working the cuts with short punches, Headbutts and gnawing. That’s exactly what I got. I feel like we JIP’d of fast forwarded to the part where both men have been battered, bruised, exhausted and eaten away by attrition rather than earning it. There was nice flurry of action early with Colon getting the upper hand I was surprised by an early bump by Abby and then powering. Then after that they acted like it was minute 10 or 15 of the match. I would have liked to seen more of each of them fighting through the others offense. They made it too easy on each other. Abby especially is a bad at selling. He just sort of stands there and gets hit. Then after enough time has gone by he hits back with punches and Headbutts and Colon starts to sell. Loved Abby standing on Colon dropping the elbow. I love Colon going for the balls not once not twice but three times and doing his touch the toes jump in excitement after the first ball shot fell the monster. Colon gives us our first high spot a vertical suplex and a middle rope leg drop. I appreciate how minimalist and Lo-fi this is. I don’t appreciate Abby just bent over for minutes just taking shots. He’s just a ragdoll. But at the same time some of the shots punches and Headbutts down the stretch with both men bleeding is so captivating. High Knees from Colon. He wants something up top and he crashes down on a standing Abby and Colon ricochets off him and bumps the ref. I forgot to mention JJ Dillon is managing Abby who I believe has brought Abby into Crockett and is managing him there as well. He takes some shots from Colon and bumps off the apron when Abby inadvertently charges him. Dillon blades who knows why he is a Crockett guy in Puerto Rico I guess. Colon and Abby do some crowd brawling come to think of it I was surprised how they wrestled the whole match in the Ring. We lose them in the crowd never to come back. Must have been a Double Countout or a No Contest. Checking Wikipedia they said the WWC Universal Title was held up as a result. Some great Lo-fi brutal elements here. The stuff you expect to be good is good the working the cuts with punches, Headbutts and gnawing. The selling needed to be better especially on Abby’s part. He was NOT No Selling; he was just not selling. Like he was No Selling it would have added to his monster aura. He was just absorbing and doing nothing. It is my first Colon/Abby match keeping any open mind. *** 1/4

Look forward to going through all the lists and it will be the perfect activity when the baby wakes me up at 330am tonight. I gotta say @Microstatistics putting Shawn Michaels at #2 popped me huge. Didnt have the balls to put him that high, had him at #13. Glad to see there is another HBK fan besides me and @Jimmy Redman

Hulk Hogan vs Paul Orndorff - WWF Philly Spectrum 10/18/86 So in the September match from Philly, Mr. Wonderful won by DQ after Hogan lost his temper and shoved the ref. So a stipulation of this match is if Hogan gets disqualified he will lose the Championship to Mr. Wonderful. Orndorff attacks Hogan when he hits the Ring and Brain throws Wonderful’s robe on the Hulkster. He whips Hogan with his Championship belt and chokes him with his shirt. Orndorff needs to be careful that he doesn’t get disqualified though as this is NOT No DQ. Hogan comes roaring back with rights and choking with the bandana. Uh oh Hulk you gotta be careful. There’s a cute spot where Hogan has been put out and Brain throws a chair on top of him as if to get the ref to DQ him. Then Wonderful tries to goad him into hitting him with the chair. He gives his back to Hogan but Hogan winds up and clocks him with a right. Orndorff heat segment again sinks the match. It is not very interesting. I mean he busts Hogan open with a chair, smashes him into a table and hits a piledriver. That sounds EPIC…but it doesn’t come off that way. It is HOW you do it that matters. Hogan Hulks-Up after the Backbreaker. Hogan DROPS THE LEG! But then this gets a bit stupid and throws him out and attacks like he is going to clobber him with a chair But that would get him disqualified. There was a way to get to that spot but that’s not what the match was giving them. Big Boot sends Wonderful to the outside. The Brain distracts the ref so Hogan hits Orndorff with a chair to get the Countout win. All the spots were good in a vacuum. Hogan deliberating whether he should hit with a chair. Great spot. Sneaking in a chair shot. Great spot. Hogan dropping the leg on his arch-rival. Great spot. They just needed an editor as they were out of order there was a way to incorporate all these spots in a more impactful way that leads to a rousing climax. This is still good but needed an editor. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Paul Orndorff - WWF Philly 9/20/86 WWF booking is so interesting at this time as this is clearly their #1 feud the big TV angle built for weeks and weeks to a Fever pitch with the turn on Championship Wrestling the literal Big Event in Toronto. But then they never run this match in Boston or MSG. So weird. So following the Philly Series. Always heard about entrance music stealing for decades and what a neat gimmick BUT once you see it in execution. It doesn’t quite work. The Real American music you want to pop for. You know only half of the audience really knows the gimmick so you get more confusion then you get boos. It is funny because they didn’t smarten up Dick Graham. So he thinks the Challenger is coming out But then he hears Real American and switches it to Hogans music. So Gorilla is trying to explain it to him on commentary and you can hear Dick putting the pieces together. You can’t really stop music and Cue it back up so they keep the music running and show the Hulkster hot about it charging to the apron. I think it would work better now with the heavier emphasis on TV and how they do the entrances now. Electric Hogan performance. The Shine is unreal. He is just pelting him with rights and manhandling him. Wonderful tries to bring it to the outside but Hogan will not be denied. Inside outside Hogan is pinballing him. Great use of the Atomic Drop as the climax to a fun shine. They run a pretty similar transition to heat from Toronto. Hogan chases the Brain and Orndorff stomps him getting back in the Ring. Orndorff’s heat segment isn’t as good as the Big Event. I am not a big Orndorff guy and was hoping this match turn me in his favor. Lots of clubbering offense and elbows. The Wonderful Clothesline only gets two. Surprised no Hulk Up we do a simple Vertical Suplex for two aahhh theres the Hulk Up and it is a doozy. Similar transition to the finish as Toronto. High Knee wipes both out. Hogan is on fire with his theatrics. He hits the Wonderful Clothesline on Orndorff how does that taste brutha. He is calling for fucking him in the ass oh wait Gorilla says it is a piledriver lol. Brain gets involved but instead of the DQ finish there we get the twist. Orndorff gets Brass Knux and clocks Hogan busting him wide open. By time the ref makes it over kick out now BLOOD SOAKED HULK-UP OH HELL YEAH! Rips the Knux out of the hand and is about to wreck him when the ref yanks it out of the Hulk’s hands BOOOOOOOOO! Hogan is blind with rage throws the ref down twice and is beating and choking Orndorff. Ref throws the match out with Wonderful winning by DQ. Wrestlers come from the locker room to separate them as Hogan poses down. Good first match in a series. Hogan’s shine and two Hulk Ups were unreal! The epitome of why he was so over in the 80s. A real electricity to it. What takes this down is the Orndorff heat segment and the DQ finish but looking forward to the next two matches. *** 1/4

Tito Santana vs Hercules - WWF MSG 12/26/86 Tito has been stuck in midcard purgatory since the Savage feud ended taking on a motley crew of Bob Orton, Harley Race, Butch Reed and Hercules. Credit has to go to @Loss for pimping this match because I would have skipped it otherwise. Besides the Hogan SNME match I don’t think I have ever seen a Hercules match. I have been watching a lot of WWF TV from summer and fall of 86. He is with Classy Freddie Blassie then Slick after he took over the contracts. He has long hair and is in a Greco-Roman ensemble. My wife was being a good sport and etching episodes of the Flower Shop with me and at the time he was trying to portray that he was the real Hercules from Mount Olympus even though his last name is Hernandez go figure. He definitely has Bruiser Brody’s look and mannerisms. Or to use Gen Z parlance he is giving Bruiser Brody. However, in this match and I believe SNME match he is with the Brain, his hair is shorn and he has his classic Chain and gone are Brody mannerisms. Honky Tonk Man fresh off losing a popularity contest has adopted the Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart excuse me Col. Jimmy Hart as his manager is loitering at ringside and jumps Tito with some of the weakest shots in history. We are going to pretend like he destroyed Tito’s knee. Tito puts on one of the best knee selling performances of all time basically wrestling this match crawling and on the mat while Hercules holds up his end up of the bargain with some great leg work. Like I said I have very limited experience with Herc, he is not Bret Hart working the leg but he he gets the job done and he is laser focused. It is all the good stuff, leg locks, crashing down on the leg, strikes, wrap around the Ring post. Tito does a great job ramping his comeback. First it is a punch from his back. Herc cuts off then a hair grab Herc cuts off. Finally he gets up and it is lunging / collapsing punches and headbutts. Excellent. Herc kneecrusher. Hercules goes up top and splash eats the knee which hurts Tito but levels the playing field. Awesome spot. Then the match goes from very good to great! TITO RAVENOUSLY ATTACKS HERC’s KNEE! It was amazing he was like a Pitbull dog. He never stood for more than like 30 seconds. Just lunging, punching, collapsing on Hercules knee. Excellent leg work by Tito all while selling his own knee. It has to been seen to be believed. FIGURE-4! The Brain rings the bell which fucks up Tito. Tito back in the groove but Herc eye rake slam BUT Hercules’ Knee gives out! I would have popped huge for a 3 count. Herc kicks off Tito on the Figure-4. Tito jaws with the Brain and Herc CRASHES DOWN on Tito with a knee for the 1-2-3! WOW WOW WOW Amazing Tito performance one of the best ever individual performances. Hercules holds up his end of bargain ends up doing some amazing selling as well. Bravo! **** 1/4

Hulk Hogan & George Steele vs Randy Savage & Adrian Adonis - WWF Boston 8/9/86 It is my favorite Rando team of Macho Man & Adorable Adrian vs my new favorite rando team of The Hulkster and The Animal. Savage & Adonis are fresh off their 1986 WWF MOTY against Tito and Bruno at MSG and now they provide comedy gold here. Don’t worry I won’t be writing this review in metered verse that took way too long for Harley and Lanny. Turnbuckle stuffing is everywhere! George says Hulk try it and he does. He likes it, Hulk-y really likes it! Heels try to jump the babyfaces but they eat turnbuckle stuffing and Hogan sends the Adorable One in for the ride using his scarf. We are off to a cracking good time. George The Animal Steele an embarrassment to his children but beloved by all others but isn’t that the fate of all fathers with a sense of humor. That dance he does just screams “Dad stop” but to everyone else it is funny, They got a lot of mileage out of Steele and Savage. Classic Memphis Savage but Hogan stops him from running into the double gozzle. Hogan and Adonis fucking ruled. Adonis was a total bump freak and the cherry on the Sundae was the crotch onto the railing that gave way!!! Awesome! If the heat segment was a bit hotter I think I would have went crazy high because this shine was unreal. Adonis drop toehold and Savage lays the boots to Hogan Bur he breaks free. Steele bites Macho Man in the chest but then Savage sends him flying into the buckle. They heat segment is tepid on George except Steele bites the arm of Savage who just clocks him. The heat segment on Hogan is too easy. Adonis rakes the eyes and gets two easy suplexes on the Champ. They kick back into gear for the finish. Adonis eats knees on a top rope splash. They whip the heels into each other Savage back drops Adonis HOGAN DROPS THE LEG! Good craic tons of fun they put on a show for Boston! *** 3/4

Harley Race vs Lanny Poffo - WWF MSG 6/14/86 O Handsome Harley who looked quite gnarly Had face to Leapin Lanny who looked quite dandy There were Suplexes Galore And Headbutts all the more But before he showed him the door Each had to be done on the floor! Harley knew no other way Then to make Lanny’s day Together they tumbled While Bobby grumbled A leaping Headscissors Oh My A second surely he must die Crashing onto the top rope Harley suplexed and cradled the dope. And now Leapin Lanny was not so dandy. But Handsome Harley Is really not so gnarly. *** 1//

From 2013 WWF World Tag Champs The British Bulldogs vs Heenan's Family (Studd/Bundy) - 5/17/86 Smart big man vs small man match that only lasts 5 or so minutes. The Bulldogs can only gain the advantage momentarily with quickness or with a double dropkick (I prefer their double dropkick to the RnRs or the Rockers). Bundy is more agile than Studd and is more entertaining to watch. I actually got King Kong Bundy's autograph when I was a kid when he did a local New England Indy (NWA New England, I believe). He is one big dude. Studd looks massive compared to the Bulldogs. Dynamite comes in illegally to put Studd in a sleeper and Studd tosses a ref for a DQ. Bundy tries to Irish Whip Studd into Smith, but he eats turnbuckles causing dissension in the Heenan Family. Was Studd supposed to turn babyface? If so, why, there is nothing, about Studd that makes him seem like a decent babyface.

Junkyard Dog vs Terry Funk - WWF Championship Wrestling 2/15/86 It is the run up to WrestleMania, ahhhh remember when WrestleMania II, remember when WrestleMania Season was not a bore or chore neither do I as I was not alive yet. The main angles get put over on the SNME But this was a big upper midcard house show feud so to put on TV meant one of two things JYD was vanquishing Terrible Terry for good or an angle. Funk jumps JYD and Thats it for him and this is the JYD show. Funk is the perfect opponent for JYD because he will bump and stooge and do his comedy around a limited JYD. JYD punches and slams and the DoggieStyle headbutts. Funk careens and bumps along the railing. He eats the buckle and over and over again. The Mouth of the South tries to save, Funk caught in the ropes. JYD has the branding iron he has branded Terrible Terry But Dory “Not Yet Hoss” Funk (no Junior) attacks in a business suit taking off his cowboy boot and clocks JYD. They put the boots to JYD. Jimmy Hart rips off his clothes to show what a scrawny little pipsqueek he is and gets his licks In. Babyface midcarders save JYD. I like Dory Funk Junior a lot but this was not he is suited for his. He was so subdued and milquetoast when he attacked JYD should have felt hotter. They should have waited until Mania II to brand Terry. A solid TV angle now JYD has two Funks he has to worry about who will get as a partner!

Roddy Piper & Adrian Adonis in 1986 In the Summer of 1986, Adorable Adrian Adonis, coincidentally debuted his new look on a Piper’s Pit in early 86, had the hottest property in all of pro wrestling the Flower Shop! Here he established his alliance with the Macho Man where they would go onto have the 1986 WWF MOTY against Tito & Bruno at MSG in July. It was here where he dropped poison into the ear of Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff leading to the turn against Hulk Hogan. We pick up the story when Junkyard Dog a frequent Adonis opponent on Saturday Nights Main Event and on the house show loop wrecked the Flower Shop. Because of this heinous attack by JYD, on the August 9th episode of Championship Wrestling, Adorable Adrian Adonis has hired protection and it is the best protection money can but it is the #1 bodyguard in all the land, Ace Cowboy Bob Orton who will henceforth be known as Acey and wear a pink cowboy hat. Next week wouldn’t you know it is just so happens that Orton’s former employer Rowdy Roddy Piper returns and he wants his show back. When he gets some lip from Adonis he goes after Orton being called Acey and wearing a pink Cowboy hat. Piper asks him to return to his side. Orton says the money is too good with Adonis and Jimmy Hart. Piper gets mad and I Don’t think this the last they will hear from him. The next week things gets weird. As Piper decides to beat up a jobber with one arm behind his back and make a racist joke about Slick’s lips as Adonis calls him the most rudest superstar. Superstars replaces Championship Wrestling on 9/6 and now things are cookin’. Piper starts talking ratings fuck we have been talking ratings for 40 years and he makes some transphobic jokes. He says WWF executives have pulled the plug on the Flower Shop. Piper’s Pit is back next week to the roar of the crowd. The crowd has been lapping up Piper with a spoon since his return. He is over like rover. Next week Adonis interrupts the Pit says Piper is a weasel for going to the higher ups to get what he wants. He challenges Piper to a debate in two weeks on the 9/27 Superstars. Piper says youre on! FLOWER SHOP VS PIPERS PIT! 9/20 just shows some vignettes of each side getting hyped up. The big Flower Shop vs Pipers Pit Debate rather than make their cases themselves each brings in a star witness to give testimony about their show. Adonis brings on the impartial Acey Bob Orton donning his fetching pink cowboy hat. He trumpets a lot of Adonis has to say before that Piper is old hat as Adonis is wont to say and says it here they are 1995 Aka they are the future they are cutting edge. 40 years later trans rights are not doing so hot. Hot Rod brings out Magnificent Muraco Ok bringing out a heel to be your witness is a bad idea. Piper goes between mocking Adonis and Muraco. Muraco gets hot when Piper won’t pay attention to him. Then they get into surreal debate over trans rights in 1986. Where Muraco of all people makes the case it is a free county and Adonis can dress how he pleases. Then Piper makes the lame case WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? I grew up on Goldust dude and I came out fine. The kids are going to be alright. Come to think of Piper feuded with Goldust. Just saying. Then the heels finally jump him. Muraco and Orton hold him as Adonis smashes a flower pot over his head. TREMENDOUS ANGLE! The Muraco & Orton team is born out of this. The next week Piper destroys the Flower Shop with a crutch and baseball bat and thus ends the run of the best pro wrestling talk show in history. RIP Flower Shop. Piper would go on to attack Adonis with his crutch on the next SNME. Look Piper was hemmed in here he had to make some jokes about Adrian Adonis ridiculous get up. The comment about Slick’s lips and bringing the children into it give me a break. Adonis looked goofy that is fair game. Adonis, Jimmy Hart and Orton knocked this out of the park even Muraco played his part well. Awesome week to week storytelling in a promotion that is not known for week to week storytelling especially in the 80s. This is the type of serialized story telling I wish they would go back to. Everyone remember Piper destroying the Flower Shop but the best segment is the week before with the Debate and the Adonis/Muraco/Orton attack. Definitely watch the whole thing week to week. Two thumbs up.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - WWF Boston Garden 5/24/86 Boston was the last city to get Hogan and Savage as I have covered their matches from Philly, Toronto, MSG and even Detroit. This is a doozy! Not as good as the January MSG match but my second favorite of the 85-86 series. This is the most Memphis match. Savage really gets on his bike and rides. Lots of stalling, jaw jacking, stare downs, spitting at each other. They just short of grabbing the microphone and cutting promos on each other and I thought they were in the Mid-South Coliseum. Hogan finally starts unloading with the heavy artillery you know the stuff and Atomic Drop sends the Macho Man outside good use of Elizabeth. Savage takes over on one of the chase scenes back into the Ring. Savage starts flying around hitting Double Axe handle bombs from every angle. Turns out the Boston Garden barricade is pretty easy to topple as Hogan explodes through it. Savage is pouring it on. MACHO MAN ELBOW! OH NO! HE ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE REVIVING ELBOW! HULK-UP!!! Savage sent to the outside and picks up Liz out of the way. Back into the Ring, Hogan clobbers the ref and Macho sends Hogan careening out of the Ring. Savage blasts him with the Championship belt off the top rope to the floor. The ref counts out Hogan out to give Macho Man the victory and a rematch that no one seems to like. Savage tries to abscond with the title but a bloody Hogan in White, Fireman Carries him back to the ring, retrieves the title, kicks his ass, sends him packing and poses. I can see if you’re really into Memphis style wrestling this being your favorite. Lots of Gaga early, strong Hogan offense But also strong Macho Man offense which isn’t always the case and bloody ending! Good shit too bad the rematch is panned. *** 3/4