Superstar Sleeze

Great stuff, Parv! Harley is not someone I am generally too fond of. I know it has been parroted before, but I see him as a bomb thrower with no psychology. The match with Martel in the AWA is a great example of this. Though, I have watched Harley Race matches that I really do enjoy. Harley does not seem to have that classic, iconic match that everyone points to as his best. So what do people think is the best Harley Race match? I ask because I just watched the Texas Death match with Hogan in 87 in fucking loved it. I also rated the Baba 10/31/79 match very highly. I agree with Parv that two matches with the Von Erich boys are standouts. What else is there?

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Harley Race - MSG 6/22/87 Texas Death Match I could have sworn I had seen this before, but there is no way because I would never forget such a badass match. Honestly, this could be the best Hogan match of his career and this is going to sound weird but I think this is the greatest Harley Race match I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of "Texas Death" matches in WWF and besides the Patera '80 one they aren't really all that violent and awesome. This was violent and this was awesome. Hogan tears into Harley. Lots of brawling around the ring. This would feel more comfortable in Memphis or Greensboro. Hogan just ramming Harley's hard head into hard object. He HORSE COLLARS him with a chair on point. Loved the transitions in this as he is bringing him back into the ring, Harley's old trick knee flares up and just whacks him in the balls. Not even the Immortal Hulk Hogan is invulnerable to that. Harley is great with the piledriver and the suplexes and those great headbutts. He takes some great bumps in this. His trademark one out the corner hooking the ropes looked totally out of control. Hogan sees red but wants the Brain and Harley uses this take control ramming a metal chair into the throat of Hogan. This is gnarly. But he misses the headbutt and eats concrete. Great spot. They are fighting up the rampway and PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR! Harley looks like he has this won. Heenan gives him the Championship Belt first he holds it high before using it as a weapon. Classic! The spot could have been executed better, but loved the intention. Harley comes off the top rope looking to end the interminable reign of Hogan with a flying headbutt but eats the Gold! (the belt was not in perfect position I think Hogan could have moved it to make it look like he did it, small quibble). Hogan does his best Chief Jay impersonation with the belt and then smashes Harley in the face and the covers while holding the belt high. Badass! Simply badass! ****1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Harley Race - MSG 5/18/87 For some reason the WWF did not run the Garden in March or April of 1987. The last Hogan match at the Garden was his great man vs monster classic with Kamala. Now he takes on former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race. As a Harley Race bump-a-thon this is great! That first bump is a doozy. He goes over the top rope and cracks the back of his head on a chair. He was just a bumping maniac in this match. Just feeding Hogan and Hogan was just cracking him. I thought Harley's offense was lacking until the end. The headbutts looked good and the busted Hogan open. Just when it looked like Harley may give Heenan what he always wanted, he comes crashing down from the top rope diving headbutt. Hogan rolling him up for the win is strange. Hogan bleeding wants to celebrate, but Harley attacks with his crown from behind setting up the Texas Death Match at the next show.

So whats the deal here? I know everyone needs a gimmick, but where did Vince come up with this one. I always love seeing the Rogue Gallery in the ring in the WWF. Just such a richness in the gimmicks especially on the heel side. Orton wearing the pink hat because he was Adonis' bodyguard was great. Adonis had such a stellar run from 86 up to Mania III. The Funks being in this ring for Harley is weird. Heenan plays it pretty straight. The midget is a great touch especially holding his train at the end. Good segment. Not as good as the Macho King Coronation. It is weird how this almost became like a tertiary title in the WWF.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - MSG 4/22/85 The Hulkster who had a red hot 1984, which goes under the radar (in part due to him not having any major angles wen compared to Slaughter/Sheik, Andre/Studd, Piper/Snuka). At the start of the new year, Hogan is at the peak of his powers and is the centerpiece for the build to the inaugural WrestleMania. So what happens after Mania. Well, one big thing is Paul Orndorff's babyface turn which happens at the first SNME. Also, Hogan has his first three match series at the Garden. Vince had an interesting booking strategy for Hogan not using him at the Garden every month sometimes not even for months at a time. The opponent for this big occasion, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco fresh back from his sabbatical in Hawaii and as much of a lazy beach bum as ever. What really impressed me about Hogan in 1984 was his unstoppable and infectious energy. While I could see it brimming to the surface, there is nothing that will quell that fire quite like Don Muraco. Hogan does show his ability to work holds well, sell his leg exceptionally well and his offense (high knee, enziguiri) is great. Muraco really does not do shit until about 3/4ths into the match. I thought Muraco lunging with the Asiatic Spike finally added some drama. Couple good nearfalls. Tombstone attempt, but Hogan's counter was good. Hogan does the big Hulk Up, but Muraco falls through the ropes. We get the countout finish due to some Fuji distraction. Nothing to really see here. I am going to keep watching Muraco, but I ask myself why does Vince keep giving him chances and why do I?

THANK YOU! It was all worth it to have someone send that note along.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Bob Orton - MSG 7/23/84 They pretty blatantly telegraph this is a draw with a pretty pedestrian opening ten minutes. They worked the holds well, but you could tell they just wasting time. Orton catches Tito with a punch on a criss cross. This combines elements of workrate (bomb-throwing), but with lots of selling of exhaustion so it feels like a 2010s self-conscious epic. Lots of time in between moves in order to sell exhaustion. Orton busts out a powerslam, backbreaker, Fishermans Suplex and tries a Vaderbomb, but eats knees. Each move is great just lots of time in between spots. Tito instead of having one big burst of fire has a several mini-comebacks. The one after the Vaderbomb was good but went into an ab stretch and then he missed a crossbody and Orton gets a cover. Orton takes a Slaughter like bump over the turnbuckles and some big Tito shots. Orton gets a big reverse atomic drop off the Tito ten count punches in corner. Good nearfall down the stretch. Bell rings shortly after. My big issue is they were selling total exhaustion but they only wrestled twenty minutes! C'mon! They were acting like they went a full Broadway. It is not like they worked a sprint. Over selling and way too much time in between moves. Found this to be disappointing.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Paul Orndorff - St. Louis 9/1/84 WWF invades the former capital of the National Wrestling Alliance taking over their TV after Sam Muchnick's retirement left St. Louis vulnerable. It might be happenstance but these two work a very workrate match and I think it has to do with the fact that they are wrestling in the heart of NWA country. Lots of chaining at the beginning and nearfalls down the stretch. As far as the WWF goes these are two of the less gimmicky wrestlers and they wrestle this mostly straight. There is a moment where they break after a chaining sequence and Tito has his dukes up and Orndorff is wheeling back into the ropes. That's the definition of a face and heel right there. Santana and Orndorff are great working the holds and keeping the tempo up. Orndorff shoots Tito off and hits a wicked reverse atomic drop. This must have been a favorite of Tito. Orndorff gets mean knocking Tito out and atomic drop on the floor. Tito is really selling well. A little king of the mountain, an Orndorff favorite perhaps. Lots of good nearfalls down the stretch, back suplex for Wonderful, cross body for Tito had the place rocking. Tito has some really good fired up punches down the stretch. Orndorff did a great jelly leg sell of them before bumping off the last one. Just as I think Tito is going to take this one; Orndorff catches him with a nasty clothesline for two! Bell rings and it is a draw. Wonderful is pissed and I would be too. He had him dead to rites. Very different match than usual for the WWF, heavy on workrate and nearfalls. Nice change of pace, thought these two were great at executing it. ***1/2

Sgt. Slaughter vs Mr. Wonderful - Philly 6/2/84 I love the WWF in 1984. The roster is absolutely loaded and they just do all these random pairings. In the late 80s, you would wrestle the same person for like 3-4 months straight. Here McMahon books more like Crockett/WCW where it does not matter if two wrestlers have an issue. He just puts two over talents together and let magic flow. I have not been kind to Mr. Wonderful in my past reviews. Usually describing him as solid and good at everything without being great. Orndorff gave his best performance yet in this. Easily the best Orndorff match I have seen thus far. Slaughter in 1984 is at the peak of his powers. Orndorff was a fucking heat magnet in this. Doing his best Larry Z impression and Philly was eating it up. They loved chanting Paula and even Slaughter was egging it on. Slaughter was great in this. I loved him atomic dropping Orndorff from the post with the robe still on. Disrobe him but first blasts him with a clothesline. Puts on the robe and does some flexing. Nice! Orndorff is a bumping maniac in this. Orndorff out of desperation rams him into the actual turnbuckle drawing blood. Orndorff is put together and it is weird that both of his arms are normal looking. Orndorff is a nasty heel in this, working the cut. Slaughter's comeback was great. Beautiful punches and that wind up and punch was great. Orndorff is killing it. Just when I am thinking "Wow Orndorff is out-bumping Slaughter", Slaughter takes his totally nutty, out of control bum over the top rope to the floor. I mean that was an insane version. The King of the Mountain that follows is glorious: Slaughter's selling while Orndorff cuts him off at every pass and is posing and taunting. The ref gets bumped so Wonderful hits him with knux. Orndorff tells him to count, but Slaughter is about to get in and Orndorff goes over gets yanked out. SLAUGHTER LIGHTS WONDERFUL UP! OH MY GOD! That was awesome. Slaughter gets a chair. Orndorff heads for the hills. Ref calls for the bell and Slaughter cant use the chair. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Orndorff wins by countout. BOOOOOOOOOO! I really wanted to see Slaughter blast Wonderful. Total bump-a-thon by these two and just awesome 80s wrestling throughout, camp at the beginning, blood, violence and loved the drama of the King of the Mountain finish. They don't make em like they used to! ****1/4

I love Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He needs to be celebrated more. PTBN is holding a Greatest wrestler in WWF/E history. Greg Valentine is someone that will make my top 5-15, roughly and I think more people ought to seek out his work. Two things: 1. There are more matches I need to watch, but there is always more matches to watch. I decided Voltaire is right "Search for perfection is the enemy of good." I just wanted to get these reviews out there so people could be inspired to watch more Hammer. 2. I want to write a real in-depth 1-3 paragraphs on what makes Valentine great that really unifies all the different threads found in these reviews, but I ran out of steam. Best of Greg Valentine in WWF 1979-1984: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-hammer-valentine-best-of-1979-1984.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Bob Backlund: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/r-e-s-p-e-c-t-bob-backlund-vs-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Tito Santana: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/bloodlust-tito-santana-vs-greg-hammer.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Dream Team Era 1985-87: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-dream-team-era-1985-1987.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: IC Champ Era 1984-85: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/intercontinental-champion-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Later Years 1988-1991: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-later-years-wwf-1988-1991.html?m=1

I love Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He needs to be celebrated more. PTBN is holding a Greatest wrestler in WWF/E history. Greg Valentine is someone that will make my top 5-15, roughly and I think more people ought to seek out his work. Two things: 1. There are more matches I need to watch, but there is always more matches to watch. I decided Voltaire is right "Search for perfection is the enemy of good." I just wanted to get these reviews out there so people could be inspired to watch more Hammer. 2. I want to write a real in-depth 1-3 paragraphs on what makes Valentine great that really unifies all the different threads found in these reviews, but I ran out of steam. Best of Greg Valentine in WWF 1979-1984: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-hammer-valentine-best-of-1979-1984.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Bob Backlund: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/r-e-s-p-e-c-t-bob-backlund-vs-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Tito Santana: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/bloodlust-tito-santana-vs-greg-hammer.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Dream Team Era 1985-87: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-dream-team-era-1985-1987.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: IC Champ Era 1984-85: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/intercontinental-champion-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Later Years 1988-1991: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-later-years-wwf-1988-1991.html?m=1

I legitimately did think this was a five star classic when I watched it a couple years ago. I think it is still the best match of the series but not that high. WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Greg Valentine - MSG 6/16/84 They had two matches in Philly that preceded this bout, but this is the first match in MSG so this should be treated as a first match in a series that would culminate in a six match series at the Garden finishing in a lumberjack match in March of 1985, which I think is unheard of in length. This match and these two wrestlers epitomize struggle. Not just in their manly, hard-hitting slugfests, but in the way they tussle in gritty holds. Santana is relentless on the arms and the crowd is going wild as he is wringing it out. Valentine misses a knee into corner and two armdrags into an armbar. That's a great way to create movement by Valentine. He is stodgy on offense, but he knows how to create excitement. Santana has that fire. Valentine bullies him out through the middle rope to the floor. Tempers flare! The fists fly! THE GARDEN IS ROCKING! They should have kept it up, but both go back into the ring. Tito says don't sing it, just bring it. The Hammer misses the elbow and Tito wrings out the arm and DRAGS him to the ground and does it again. That's what I am saying. The struggle is real. Valentine forces you to earn everything. Valentine shoots him off and Santana bulldozes him over. Tito goes for another, but The Hammer picks him up and ATOMIC DROP! Great selling by Tito and as Valentine hits him with those hammer shots. The verbal selling from Tito is incredible. Hammer really connecting with those blows. Knee to the hamstring we all know what that is for. Love Tito's selling! Tito throwing a right so Hammer with those piston shots. Love that reaction by Valentine and he is working the hamstrings. Valentine wants to slam him in the turnbuckle and Santana sends him into the buckle. TITO IS ALIVE! Big shots and TIMMMMMBBBBAAAHHHHHH! Tito sees red, bullies him through the ropes and punching him ferociously. Valentine has no recourse but to poke him in the eye. LOVED THAT SEQUENCE! Tito is the best at those fiery comebacks. Tito into buckles because Hammer ducks, but on the figure-4 attempt he is sent into the buckles. Love how Valentine will throw this nasty forearms to set up move. Tito backdrops Valentine out of the piledriver and a big elbow. I love how Santana has had to earn this comeback and his fire. Crossbody gets two and MSG is roaring. Santana back into an armbar which is an odd choice as the energy was at a fever pitch, but it leads to Hammer picking him up and dropping him throat first on the top rope. Brutal spot! LOVED IT! Made Valentine look amazing. Hammer tortures the arm and Garden is chanting TITO LOUDLY! Hammer working over the arm. I feel like they put this first and the Tito comebacks after that this would be a five star match, but still this is great Valentine arm work. Valentine is just suffocating him. Valentine comes crashing down on his nuts on Tito's knees. Crowd loves it. So do I! SLUGFEST! HERE WE GO! TITO IS ROCKING! THIS IS AMAZING! Tito is pouring it on. The ref is breaking it up because Valentine is on ropes. Hammer gets a hard shot and backdrops him to the floor. Atomic drop and Santana cant respond to the count! Amazing first match! The struggle. The fire. The selling. Brutal shots (reverse atomic drop and drop across top rope were great). Amazing slugfest at the end and red hot finish. Best match of their insanely great series. ****1/2

Hulk Hogan vs Big Bossman - Boston 12/3/88 Bossman is an all time great Hogan opponent because he brings the size and the agility to the ring. By being a way better bumper than most Hogan opponents he adds so much to Hogan's shine. Hogan is a total ball of fire right out of the gate. Bossman takes a great bump to the floor and Beantown is rocking. Hogan keeps it up but some Slick distraction allows Bossman to attack the back. Hogan cant get him up for the slam and Bossman is on top of Hogan. He hits the Sidewalk Slam and only gets two. But a great false finish as Hogan just ran into it. Bearhug is a fine hold here. Bossman does a great job with the weeble wobbles but don't fall down selling really, really good and eventually gets back on offense. Another Sidewalk Slam but gloats like an idiot. HULK-UP! A great one because Bossman is a great seller and BODYSLAM! BIG POP! Slick distraction and Bossman has the cuffs but ends up cuffed to the rope that was like a magic trick. Hogan topples him over and Bossman loses by countout. Great finish that plays off Hogan being cuffed to the railing. Bossman was so great all around especially the weeble wobble selling. Hogan ruled at offense. One of the better Hogan matches. ***3/4

Iconic segment that sparked one of the best drawing Hogan programs of all time. Brother Love is such a great slimeball character. They ought to have a stir the pot character like this now. I love how Brother Love puts on glasses as he starts to berate Hogan about attacking him previously. Cant hit a man with glasses. Brother Love has a benefactor and that benefactor has provided him with protection in the form of the Big Bossman and Slick. Hogan cuts a good promo. Bossman jabs the nightstick in his throat and then Slick sprays him with hair spray. Bossman cuffs him to the railing and beats him down with the nightstick. Hogan hulks up and chases them to the back with railing. Great angle to set up the house show run.

I agree with your assessment of how amazing the finish was. I disagree with your evaluation of the Dallas match. Bayley was not cautious at all. So many top rope moves connecting early, the rana to the outside and then the guillotine choke. The story was wanted Bayley recognized the danger of Asuka and she wanted to get out of Dodge fast. In doing so she left herself vulnerable to Asuka's counterwrestling prowress and ultimately succumbed to Asukas superior submission game. Your point of Bayley failing in Brooklyn due to her not being true to herself was incredible. Great insight!

NXT Women's Champion Asuka vs Bayley -NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Bayley is so insanely over it's scary. She is one of the few characters of the modern times that moves me emotionally. You just want her to win so badly. The story of this match is can Bayley recapture the magic of last year against Sasha because she will need against the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow. I liked how this match contrasted with the previous match. The previous match Bayley was on offense for the majority and just throwing every bomb at the invincible Asuka who had an answer at every turn. Here Bayley looks game early but almost immediately is caught with a knee to the head and has to play catch up the rest of the match. This allows us to see more of that sweet, sweet Asuka offense and this is a more natural role of Bayley. I loved that never say die attitude from Bayley. The ramming of Asukas turnbuckles revved me up. The middle portion was sloppy and awkward. The AJ Styles-slip through the superplex came off awkward. The shoves on the knees were terrible. The powerbomb spot was totally botched and jarring. Which is unfortunate because the beginning and end were great. My Dad walked in during the end and we were both going bonkers. Bayley going crazy screaming at Asuka to HIT ME IN THE FACE! Catching the backfist into a backslide was great. Bayley laying her shit in and Asuka coming back with the backfists was sick. The false finishes were great! You knew Bayley would get out of the Asuka Lock to convert that into a Bayley 2 Belly was smart. But the real genius was to reverse the Asuka Lock into a pinning combination ala Survivor Series '96 and that I bought into a year after the fact even though I knew Asuka would win. Asuka kicks Bayley right in the head and BAYLEY ROARS ala Kojima in Tenryu 2002 Series was a great no sell moment. Bayley is great at utilizing the no sell. My Dad & I were going bonkers only to have Asuka quash with two swift kicks to the head! Amazing dramatic finish run fit for the heart of NXT. A real shame how bad the middle was because the ending truly was incredible. Really great sendoff for Bayley and cements Asukas position at the Ace. ****

NXT Women's Champion Asuka vs Eva Marie - NXT 4/27/16 The first disappointing match I've seen from Asuka. Asuka is a great TV match worker working with Billie Kay, Santana Garrett and Deeana from New Jersey. All were very fun contests with Asuka giving plenty to her opponents but also kicking ass and showing her charisma. Here the beginning was solid with Asuka leading Eva Marie through the basics and Asuka showed off some of that charming playfulness that I love. At the end of the day this was too long with a few Asuka spots and way too much Eva Marie. I go Bank N forth on Eva Marie. She is capable her Senton looked good as did her suplex and she can take a shot so she isn't fragile. She elicited a great response. But she is so stoic. She is missing that extra oomph. I don't know if aloof really works. Maybe it could. Regardless match went way too long and nothing memorable besides Asuka mocking Eva Marie.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude - Wrestlemania V If there are two things that go together in wrestling it is Rick Rude and Warrior. I gotta say Warrior ain't the greatest but at least he brings a ton of energy to the ring. Warrior coming in like a whirlwind and Rude kneeing the belt was funny. Rude was a ready and willing bumper. That is what Warrior needs. Warrior just crushed him with whips, tackles and clotheslines. The tackles towards the end looked really good. The bearhug was fine first time second time was pointless. The eyepoke/missile dropkick was a great, great heel hope spot. Warrior splash eats knees and finally slows down the Warrior. Pilederive for two but can't complete hip swivel. God bless Rick Rude. Warrior misses charge, Rude Awakening but Warrior blocks. They do the famous Heenan trips and holds foot for three. Loved how chaotic this felt because Warrior is just this ball of unstoppable energy. Give me this over well-rehearsed gymnastics routines anytime. Rude was foreshadowing 1992 as a superworker here as an excellent heel in a bump 'n' run match but with the offense to match. ****

Macho King Randy Savage vs Hacksaw Duggan - WWF SNME 1/90 This whole 89-91 period is my biggest blind spot in Savage's career. His promo with Gene before this match is great. I marked out for Gene namedropping Louis XVI and Savage saying guillotines are what peasants use to get their hair cut. LOVE Duggan in UWF need to see more in WWF. Pretty good match. Duggan is a good power wrestler mostly clotheslines wish we could have gotten an out and out brawl but that's WWF for you. Savage just throws himself into every 100%. LOVE the sedan entrance and Duggan tipping it over. Great use of Sherri. Savage/Sherri maybe the best intergender duo of all time. Duggans finish stretch goes a little long we do get a gratuitous ass shot of Sherri. LOADED PURSE!!! That's how Savage won the crown but not this time. Duggan gets one last gasp, a clothesline of course but Savage goes to outside and Havksaw tries to suplex him in and they do Rude/Warriot FINISH for Savage to retain. Duggan was wasted in not doing bloody brawls. Good WWF cartoon match because Savage & Sherri are the masters of this style. ***

SNME intros are the best of their kind. Vince really should announce for a year or so to close out his on screen career.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs The Genius - SNME 11/89 Huge fan of The Genius' promos. Shockingly I have never seen this match. I LOVED THIS!!! Pure camp but it was well GENIUS!!! The left handed handshake attempt had me rolling. The Genuis frolicking in the ring was too funny. Hogan tossing him out of the ring on the lock up was a great bump by Lanny. Genius slaps Hogan hard does some cartwheels. Hogan gets this wicked look and just blasts Genius great stuff kicking ass. Mr. Perfect waltzes down and Genius takes control with dropkicks and steel posts shot. Genius Moonsault! Hulk up! Genius eye rake and back take stops Hulk Up no one can do that. Jesse calling those moves by the Genius, "Hogan tactics" was funny because it is true. HOLY SHIT BUMP WHERE HOGAN BODY SLAMS HIM OUT TO FLOOR! Mr. Perfect blasts him with the belt and Hogan loses by count out. Popular 89 finish for Hogan. Amazing campy Hogan match with some great action, awesome bump and finish. ****

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - Wrestling Challenge 8/9/89 More bells & whistles than the previous matches because Zeus is here to build to Summerslam as is Elizabeth! I popped for that. I'm pretty sure this is a dark match. Savage & Sherri double team Hogan but Hogan gets the best of both of them. Then they move into 89 match template. I can't seem to find the next match in this series. Here we do get Liz slapping Savage and Hogan pinning Macho Man. Hogan Atomic drop to Sherri and a gratuitous ass shot. Zeus bear hug but Beefcake saves. Due to a great finish and the rest being the same this is the one to watch.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - Boston 6/3/89 Carbon copy of the MLG match. This was the first Boston match. Watch this one because of better camera angles and plus Boston is obviously better than Toronto 😋

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - MLG 4/23/89 Their usual fun match with each other. Lots of heel chicanery. This like a less over the top version of the Flair Bash At The Beach match. A lot of heat on Sherri who is the lynchpin to any Savage offense: the robe, two distractions, tripping and foreign object. Savage is great in this but much like Flair in 94 takes a backseat to Sherri. His charisma is off the charts wildman throwing chairs to stalling to way he throws himself into every bump and move. Hogan is still a lot of fun and energetic loved the shine once he took of Macho Man robe. 89 WWF is not as gritty as 86 WWF and while this is fun not as good as that original series. Savage gets to outside after big boot. Hogan gets caught up with Sherri and Savage shoves him into railing and beats the count. Sherri of course puts the belt on him. Hogan does the double noggin knocker to get some commuppance on Sherri to send crowd home HAPPY but setting up rematches. Perfectly fine fun Hogan WWF main event. ***1/4

NXT Women's Champion Asuka vs Nia Jax - NXT Takeover 6/8/16 Asuka makes submission wrestling great again. Her chaining into submissions were breath-taking as they were compelling. She makes submissions engrossing because they ought to be done in a flash. Her transition into the Octopus or the triangle were insane. I liked the callback to the Bayley match where she tried to use to guillotine choke to defeat the monstrous Nia. I feel like it has been recently that Nia has found her presence in the ring as a monster. There were great moments early like the headbutt and the awesome biel that sent Asuka flying. But other times, she lacked that killer instinct. That Vader-esque feel even if she has the Vader look. That was the biggest detriment to the match. She kept up with Asuka that suplex out of the choke was great as was the back breaker out of the octopus as cutoffs. Mia acquitted herself well on the mat following her into the triangle. She just was not as menacing as I would hope. After three strong submission attempts, Asuka gets a tight kneebar which always spells doom for these larger wrestlers. Nia missed a legdrop and now Asuka hits a Shining Wizard. This is what Asuka needed was a head shot. By rocking her in the head it opened her to new opportunities. Like missile dropkick and nasty backfists. In the buildup, Asuka went for an armbar and Nia just destroyed her with a powerbomb. Again here Nia hits her with a huge power bomb as a counter. The layout of this is spectacular. So many great Hope spots and cutoffs. OMG! ASUKA CROSS ARMBREAKER OUT OF THE COVER! Asuka flash counterwrestling submissions as Hope spots have been stellar. Nia is too big for the AsukaLock so Asuka just kicks her head off in a great finish stretch. Nia Jax executed the layout well with great cutoffs and actually good selling at the end. She just has no character in between moves. Asuka was stellar in the David role using submissions well as Hope spots but it was head shots, Shining Wizard & kicks to head that won her the day. She was great at selling and firing up. This was a great example of Asuka the ring General and her unique take on David vs Goliath. ****1/4