Superstar Sleeze

Randy Savage & Bob Orton vs Tito Santana & Paul Orndorff - Championship Wrestling 5/3/86 The finish is very surprising here so I wont spoil it. Savage is great on the apron, stalling and waiting for Orton to get Santana in a comprising position. Santana is great a the fire. Wonderful & Orton are just two pros. The finish will have you going wild!

WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Randy Savage - SNME 11/2/85 I was expecting a hot sprint to set up the house show loop but this was fine. Tito is good at turning anything into a blood feud. The way he cocks his fist and Savage bails through ropes is great. Both guys fly around Savage wins with double axehandle. Chinlock city. Tito starts unloading. They go outside and Savage cant get the piledriver and both are counted out. Not much in the way of post-match. Not necessary.

I have seen them. I'll rewatch them eventually.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - Detroit 4/22/86 The finish of this match is very strange. Savage hits the elbow drop and we get the Hulk Up. Pretty normal. Hogan big boots Savage and he goes to outside. Also normal to setup a countout finish. Elizabeth gets in the way; Hogan moves her. Hogan puts him back in. Now Hogan has lost the energy of the Hulk Up and telegraphs a back body drop. Savage goes for another elbow but eats the foot ala Toronto, but doesn't kick out at three. I don't think I have ever seen the rhythm of the Hulk Up broken like that. Also weird that Savage was pinned clean. They do the whole Savage steals the titles and beats Hogan with it like in Toronto and Hogan reclaims it. Before the finish, I liked this match the best. Savage jumps him with the robe and then the belt. I liked how they used Elizabeth in two momentum shifts one with Savage getting distracted and then the next Hogan is distracted. Great bumping by Savage here. Hogan has some great offense. They put the stalling in the middle, which I don't like, but this involved spitting, which is gross, but effective. Savage's heat segment is good. Like I said finish is weird. I don't think there has been a great Hogan/Savage match. They are all just kinda good. ***1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - MLG 10/13/85 After all these Hogan's matches, I am still not sick of "Real American", I bring this up because it is the first time I have heard of his theme between Eye of Tiger and Real American. It is unbelievably bland, glad they made Real American. Next major match between these two after their Philly match in 9/85 and the one before the big MSG series that solidified Savage as a money heel in the promotion. Pretty amazing that his first major program is against the Hulkster. Lots of stalling and using Elizabeth in this one. Savage peppering the jabs at the beginning only to have Hogan erupt and hit a wicked high knee was awesome. Loved Macho Man putting Elizabeth in front of him. Just when I think I found a lost classic the stalling kicks in hard and grinds the match to a halt. Another cool spot is Hogan catching Savage from the top and giving him a backbreaker. Savage's heel segment starts due to a knee to the kidney which seems too simple. Usual Savage offense controls as he is just perpetual motion. He hits the Big Elbow for two. That was a big nearfall. Then Hogan gets the foot up on the next elbow and Savage kicks out right at three. No legdrop and the kickout at three keep this from being super clean and make sure for rematches. Savage attacks Hogan with belt shot from the top. Macho Man poses, but Hogan runs him off. The stalling was a little too much for me, but there is plenty to love in this match. It has an interesting finish. ***1/4

I was so close, but I think burnt myself out on Hogan. WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat - Boston 11/1/86 Tremendous match this pre-dates the larynx crushing angle on TV by a couple weeks so this wrestled more straight. Savage is the consummate heel. I have said this time and time again. In that ring he is utterly despicable. Here it is the stalling, the hair pulling, and foreign object. He is such a product of Memphis, but this is what the WWF needed as variety from your Studds & Bundys. Steamboat is a great white meat babyface here. He does a great job not losing his concentration during Savage's stalling tactics. He is committed to working the left arm. Some really nice, deep armdrags by the Dragon. Savage is making him earn these holds by creating movement through hair pulls. I love that. Savage is achieving three things at once: hair pull - heel, movement - interest, Steamboat overcoming the cheating - struggle. Awesome stuff! Like I said it is not the psychology but the execution from these two is completely on point. Loved Steamboat wrenching the arm against the ropes. Savage realizing his arm is in a bad way and hair pulling is not working; reaches down into his tights and finds an foreign object to jab in the Steamer's eyes. Savage is perpetual motion now with the double axehandles and bodyslams on the outside. He makes sure to sell the arm. The arm prevents him from suplexing and piledriving Steamboat. Great stuff! Steamboat looks ready to mount the comeback backdropping out of the aforementioned piledriver, but Savage goes fishing for the foreign object again. This time he misses the straddle on the ropes. Now the Dragon is breathing fire! Great series of hot nearfalls for Steamboat here reminiscent of Mania III. Savage sends The Dragon flying over the top rope when he sidesteps an overzealous Steamboat. He gets greedy and goes for a double axehandle to the outside misses and loses by countout. Terrific psychology and execution throughout. Loved Savage's selling of the arm and his commitment to cheating. This is workrate meets great heel psychology. ****

Hulk Hogan & Andre The Giant vs Heenan Family (Bobby Heenan, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy) - Philly 1/11/86 "I'm Manager of the Year" - Bobby "The Brain" Heenan "You are Weasel of the Year" - Andre The Giant Fun, popcorn match. Andre and Hogan both bodyslam Studd at the outset to massive pops! Heenan takes a nutty bump. I loved Heenan pushing Bundy on top of Hogan when he was going for the slam. Great opening minutes. The heat segments on Hogan and Andre are big and fun. Heenan bumping around for Hogan at the end is a ton of fun. Fun way to spend ten minutes. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - Philly 2/8/86 I think the one thing Bundy has going for him over all other Hogan opponents is his devastating finish: Avalanche. It gives his matches a sense of drama that a lot of other Hogan matches. Whats Harley Race going to do bump to win the title? Is Big John Studd just gonna clubber? The Avalanche has a sense of finality to it. The matches themselves are among the more boring of the Hogan matches I have seen, but I will give Bundy that. Hogan gets a shine in this one making this better than the Boston match. The Bundy heat segment is shorter but still consists of two chinlocks and a bearhug. The no sell of the second Avalanche into the Hulk Up was badass. Heenan was tremendous in the post-match bumping like a madman and taking a Avalanche. Post-match was great. We will see how WrestleMania II goes.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - Boston 9/7/85 Bundy has Jimmy Hart as his manager here, which honestly does make him feel midcard. I saw an episode of Tuesday Night Titans where Heenan became Bundy's manager, but there was no date, I expect it was around October of 85 so shortly after this. Bundy broke Andre's sternum at Maple Leaf Gardens in August of 85 during a Big John Studd match, but that was not aired on Primetime until October 1st and then shortly after that Bundy & Studd became the core of the Heenan Family. Wow really boring match. Probably the worst Hogan match I have seen in my recent run. Chinlock city and we follow that up with a bearhug. Give me Muraco back! The Avalanches are good. I wish Studd had a move like that. Just that one move gives Bundy so much gravitas. Hogan kicks out, HULK UP! Hart gives Bundy the Megaphone and BOOM! DQ! Hogan is bleeding. Hogan clobbers the Mouth of the South to send the Boston crowd home happy. Standard Hogan match with pretty boring action until the Avalanches.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd - Boston 6/22/85 Just one day removed from working a bloody, grueling cage match against Don Muraco, Hogan faces off against perhaps his most frequent challenger, Big John Studd. I have loved their matches in the past and I think this is their best one ever. There is something about Studd that makes him seem so credible and love the psychology of the bodyslam matches. Because this one day removed from the cage match, Hogan has a huge bandage on his head and Studd reopens that cut within minutes of the bell sounding. His white trunks were covered in Hogan's bloody. This is a great bloody brawl. Studd throwing Hogan into the chairs. Working the cut. Hogan making fiery comebacks. Hogan's punches and energy were great. Whipping me and the Boston crowd into a frenzy. Hogan goes for the slam but Studd hits him in the back. Great test of strength follows that is very dramatic with Hogan making a big comeback and knocking Studd off his feet with a big boot. Studd gets so much out of one bump. Hogan with a chair shot! I love bloody Hogan brawls. Studd does his homework and catches Hogan with a clothesline exploding out of the corner before Hogan can do it to him. Studd works the back. The one thing missing from Studd is that one move. He just needed one move and he didn't have it. That's what kills him. Bearhug by Studd and he keeps cutting Hogan off. Hogan spills to the outside. HULK UP! SCOOP! BODYSLAM ON THE FLOOR! COUNTOUT VICTORY FOR THE HULKSTER! I admit I didn't mark as hard as when I first saw that spot watching their 12/10/84 match from Nassau Coliseum, but damn if it did not blow the roof off the Boston Garden! Add in the blood and the brawling, easy thumbs up! ***1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - SNME 3/1/86 When compared to other builds to Mania, this is by far the least (Hogan/Piper/Lauper/T, the Andre turn, DiBiase buys the belt/Two Refs, MEGAPOWERS EXPLODE~!), but it is very traditional & simple. Prior to this match, King Kong Bundy squashes Steve Gatorwolf. Bobby Heenan & Bundy are hollering for Hogan. In traditional McMahon booking genius, he has Muraco beaten around the loop first and then puts the match on TV that way he has gotten all the money out of Muraco as a heel challenger. Mr. Fuji has come down with the flu and Muraco accuses the Hulkster of biological warfare so he has gone out and gotten the Brain as a last minute sub. I think this is one of the better Muraco performances. Good bumping especially the atomic drop. Heenan takes a right off the apron. Hulkster giving back the back rakes that Muraco gave him. The bearhug by Hogan is an odd choice. Thought Muraco worked hard on top actually got pretty good heat with the kneelifts and Asiatic Spikes (one from the top!). HULK UP! Brain triggers the DQ. Hogan attacks the Brain, but Bundy saves his manager. Muraco holds as Bundy gives him Three Avalanches in the corner and two splashes! Muraco gives him Last Rites too. They should have done the five count. It was the only thing that really would have put this over the top. They load Hogan up in the ambulance. It is not as flashy as Lauper & Mr. T or as shocking as the Andre stuff or as personal as the Macho Man rivalry, but there is a traditional feel to this that is nice. How many times did Hogan ever end up in an ambulance? Or really ever look this beaten down? It is surprisingly rare when you think about it. At the time before, the Andre turn, I really cant think of anytime in 1984 or 1985 that Hulk Hogan ever looked this vulnerable. It might not be the flashiest, but it is an effective build to WrestleMania II in the Steel Cage: Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - MSG 6/21/85 Steel Cage Match Definitely the best of the series as we get a good old school, double juice steel cage for the World Championship. They go for a slower pace, war of attrition feel. Both blocking cage shots early with Muraco using a ballshot and the Asiatic Spike to take control. Hogan Hulks Up and rams the Magnificent One into the cage drawing blood. As Hogan is running wild, Muraco sidesteps him and sends him into the cage. It is a catapult into the cage that busts Hogan wide open. The blood is flowing. Two great spots to end the match with Hogan gnawing on the open wound on the top rope driving MSG wild and then Muraco doing the Foley wrapping his head in the ropes. Gnarly spot. Hogan walks out the door triumphant. Finally a good Hogan/Muraco match. ***1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - MSG 5/20/85 Tell me Hulk Hogan cant work after watching this match! Tell me! Dude was on fire! Headbutts! Suplexes! Chairshots! Busting Muraco wide open. He was crushing it in this match. The only thing that dragged this down is Muraco is not a very good at selling and bumping. But Hogan on offense was glorious. Hogan drops the leg, but Fuji puts the Magnificent One's leg on the ropes. Fuji gives salt to Muraco who throws it in Hogan's face triggering the DQ and the steel cage rematch the next month at MSG. HULKAMANIA IS RUNNING WILD!

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ken Patera - Championship Wrestling 6/1/85 Interesting the Heenan Family did not have many matches with Hogan in the first half of 85. I would reckon they were mainly working with Andre as the big hair cutting angle was at the beginning of the year and of course Andre/Studd bodyslam match at Mania. Hogan was facing a rotation mainly of Beefcake, Muraco and Orndorff. While training Hillbilly Jim and Mr. T were his main focuses in terms of angles. In April of 85 following Mania, they started running Orndorff shaking Hogan's hand after matches and they cemented the babyface turn once Orndorff saved Hogan from Piper/Orton at the first Saturday Night's Main Event. In case, you didn't stay up late, this showcases the new friendship here as Mr. Wonderful saves Hogan from suffering the same fate as Andre at the hands of the Heenan Family. The match itself was like three minutes and shows Hogan as a great ball of energy just having kick ass offense. Big John Studd is out there gets on apron and they attack him. Heenan goes to cut his hair, but Paul Orndorff makes the save. Good angle.

Greg Valentine vs Koko B. Ware - SNME 1/2/88 Valentine is a full-on singles again and is being managed by the Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart. The New Dream Team broke up after Survivor Series '87 when Johnny V left. You think Valentine might get a renewed push but spends '88 stuck in programs with George The Animal Steele and Don Muraco with Superstar Graham in the midst of the worst babyface runs in history. Valentine had so much to give. This is a squash match and Valentine is great kicking the shit out of Koko. He can bump great and come off the top. Valentine really looked great. Beefcake comes out to remind everyone of this feud. Then he leaves. Um, ok. Koko slams Valentine off the top. Great slugfest between these two and Koko gets a dropkick and fist drop for two. These two could have a legit great match if they were allowed to. Kneecrusher->figure-4. Great squash. Beefcake comes out runs The Hammer off with those huge shears and takes it to the top of Jimmy Hart's mullet! Woah!

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - SNME 1/2/88 BUND-A-MANIA! BUN-DY! BUN-DY! BUN-DY! Maybe it is because I loved Married With Children, but Bundy is such a great name. So what happens to Bundy leaves a couple months after this and doesn't wrestle until 1993?!? What's the scoop, dudes? Another solid Hogan match. This one had a little more drama not just because of the Avalanching of the Ref, but Bundy hits NOT one, BUT TWO Avalanches on Hogan. I thought Hogan mixed in a lot of offense and some good selling(hand going numb on the armbar). You knew Bundy was not going to win, but the two Avalanches at least made the Hulk Up seem big, Bundy seems like the hardest person for Hogan to slam. Density? Not as athletic as the other big men? Andre comes in and chokes down Hogan it takes the whole babyface locker room and Duggan's 2x4 to finally break the Giant's deadly grip. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - SNME 11/28/87 Andre is back! Returning at Survivor Series '87 Andre was the sole survivor defeating Hogan's team in a major victory to get him primed for a big rematch. Bundy is resurrected as a Hogan opponent here. It had been a year so I think there is some mileage again. The beginning is the same as the OMG match which I liked with Hogan putting over the size. Bundy is not as mobile as OMG besides standing on Hogan's back clear out there was no holy shit spots. Lots of gaga over Andre tripping Hogan and the ref throwing Andre out. Pretty standard Hogan match but it is fun. Twist ending with Bundy winning by countout because The Brain holds Bundy's leg. Hogan roughs up the Weasel which I think leads him to wearing a neck brace. Mostly as a way to get Andre back out there and set up another Hogan/Bundy match on SNME.

But by that time, brutha, Roman will be on his own. The value is in showing that united the Shield is more unstoppable than ANY force in WWE. It was a great statement.

Alicia Fox is the best character actor in wrestling. She is brilliant!

The Shield doing the old school Shield beatdown on BRAUN was a great fucking Angle. Enzo Amore has been gold as Cruiserweight Champ. RAW is killing it! HOLY SHIT MICKIE! You so fine!

As much as Jason Jordan is the best in-ring prospect in ages, Elias is the best gimmick in ages. Michael Cole and his ridiculous fandom of Elias is great!

Jason Jordan vs Karl Anderson was the best random WWE midcard TV match in forever. Felt like 2013 again. Jason Jordan is in such a groove right now.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ted DiBiase - Houston 10/9/87 DiBiase never got a huge singles run with the Hulkster matches here and there kinda like Roddy Piper. DiBiase major singles run was against the Macho Man holding down the fort in the Hulkster's absence. In early 88, he was a part of series tags either with Virgil or Andre against Hogan/Bam Bam Bigelow. The Million Dollar Man is such a great gimmick. He comes out says he is going to offer a Hulkamaniac a chance to win some money but wants to wait for Hogan to come out. He cuts a promo saying he wanted Hulk out there so he could watch one of his Hulkamaniacs embarrass themselves groveling for money. Hogan does not take kindly to this and just throws DiBiase around who is bumping all over the place. You can really split your Hogan opponents into two camps. Monsters and Bumpers. DiBiase is probably the best worker he faced in 1987 (he did have some matches against Savage, but they were not notable). DiBiase was clearly more athletic than Harley at this point, but this match lacked the violence of the Harley matches. DiBiase just really did not have the offense. He was very reminiscent of Mr. Perfect here. The only cool offense was the fist drop. Hulk Up! I love that he drops the leg, but Virgil distracts and DiBiase pops right up. They brawl at ringside; Virgil sends Hogan into the post. Countout win to set up the rematch later in the year in Houston. Mike McGuirk fawning over Hogan is really something. I wonder if it was Hogan's or Vince's idea? ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs One Man Gang - Houston 8/29/87 It is from WWF Houston so it features the commentary team from Hell: Bruce Pritchard, Mike McGuirk and the Duke of Dorchester, Pete Doherty. Doherty wont shut up about One Man Gang's brains. McGuirk has the shittiest comebacks imaginable. There was one funny moment. McGuirk comments on Hogan's good looks and Doherty responds "Why are you always bringing sex into it?" Which did make me laugh. One Man Gang was one of the big four Hogan opponents in 1987 along with Harley Race, Kamala and Killer Khan. What is interesting is that you don't think of these four (maybe Harley) as classic Hogan opponents but they were. 1987 is so dominated by Andre and the Megapowers, but those are just one off things. Hogan needed opponents around the horn and these were the guys that provided that. WWF was still relatively new Houston however with Crockett buying Watts, WWF received an influx of Mid-South talent (Duggan, DiBiase, and OMG) to bolster these cards. Hogan wrestled OMG here and then DiBiase at the next two shows (really the only strong run DiBiase got against Hogan in singles). Pretty standard Hogan match. I thought he put OMG over well early bouncing off him in the shouldertackle and then back giving out on slam. Gang has good basic clobbering offense and is pretty mobile. Not an all time great like a Crusher Blackwell, but he is serviceable. Hogan makes his first comeback, but Slick grabs his foot. Shoulder massage and bearhug. Then we get the big splash. HULK-UP! Like I said standard, but is fun. Not as good as the rest of Hogan's 87, but gets the job done. ***

Hulk Hogan describes the brightest force in the world as Hulkamania and Mr. Fuji says now you see darkness. Khan spews the mist in his eyes. At this point, they are transitioning from Kamala as Hogan's monster challenger to Killer Khan. Solid angle to kick this off and plays well into the finish around the horn.