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Sivi Afi vs Rene Goulet (3/8/86) This was not a good match, in a nutshell. Afi didn't look too polished, so Goulet had the job of carrying this, but he made a few gross mistakes himself. He was quite uncoordinated while selling Afi's bad-looking offense, but he was especially inconsistent during the heat segment. Goulet got the upper hand by hitting Afi in the chest, but then switched to working on his arm and then applying the claw, literally going against what he had established with his strikes. On top of that, the crowd didn't care, and the announcers started talking about cauliflower ears and what have you. To top it off, Afi had a bad comeback with a bunch of light offense and a finishing crossbody that was so clumsy he actually hit Goulet in the head with his knee! 1/4*

George Steele vs Tiger Chung Lee (2/8/86) This was entertaining bullshit for the crowd, but still a lot of bullshit. Steele ripped Lee's kendo stick in half and chased him around for a bit at such a slow pace, which at least ended the sequence of them standing there and staring at each other from afar, like 2 old men squinting at each other. Steele was somehow able to use a foreign object and did his usual turnbuckle-biting routine, while Lee got the upper hand and started to hit him from behind with some horrible-looking knees, that Steele mostly no-sold anyway. The exposed turnbuckle eventually came into play, as Lee was sent face-first into it and pinned. Thankfully, this was kept short at 5 minutes, as I couldn't take it anymore. DUD

This was a spectacle and such a miracle match. I don't want to overrate this, but it was one of the best tag matches of the decade and probably one of the very best in terms of formatting and storytelling. Tenryu and Hansen were amazing and pretty much wrestled 2 handicap matches here, isolating their opponents and making them look great despite the clear limitations. The blood added a bit of drama, as the two veterans tried their best but faced a duo that was even more dominant than Hansen and Brody at this point. Sure, there was a bit of sloppiness here and there, but it was very forgivable. Memorable finish. ****

A very cool babyfaces vs babyfaces match, even though the Harts kind of worked as heels here and did it pretty well too. The Harts worked on Michaels' back in a consistent and crisp way, by then it was clear that Bret was more than ready for a singles run and Gorilla was putting over his 'excellent' executions. This never really 'exploded' because the control segment, albeit good, didn't have much heat and the finish was a bit of a let down as well. ***1/2

A good trios match, mostly focused on hyping Dandy vs Charles, as they furiously brawled and bled all over the place. This felt a bit too corographed at the beginning, but all the caidas got decent time too. I would have certainly appreciated seeing more Atlantis for instance, but this worked well for what it was and accomplished its goal, also thanks to the rudo friendly finish. ***

This was a blast, of course it focused a lot on workrate and a lot of combined sequences, seeming to be a bit ahead of its time. The crowd supported this and the returning Bulldogs received good pops here, looking good against the Can-Ams. This was a bit long maybe, but still very entertaining as a showcase for two gaijin teams and also an early representation of Kobashi's diehard attitude and Fuchi's bullying approach. Good finish. ***1/4

This was a very fun match and an underrated babyface performance from Flair. Muta worked relentlessly on his leg after, getting a ton of offense in, and Flair put on some fine selling, while chopping his opponent and wobbling due to the bad leg. Unfortunately, Flair ignored this at times during his comeback, which was cut short by the non-finish anyway. Good crowd and surely a good TV match, but this was never designed to be an all-time great match. ***1/4

This was a great match, of course. They adapted to the stipulation and brawled throughout the bout, incarnating the real 'I Quit Match' purpose. The brawl was excellent and so was Funk taking over with the piledriver (albeit the execution wasn't very good), returning to the roots of their feud and forcing Flair to go all-out. The strategic and calculating Naitch was all gone, until he actually started working on Funk's leg on purpose as that was what he did best and possible the only way to get Funk to quit. I think the finish could have been done better, but this was still outstanding. ****

This was a very fun showcase of some of the best Mexican wrestlers ever. They wrestled this in a clean manner, which didn't generate much heat from the audience, but allowed them go out and pace this without much pressure for 20+ minutes. Good, competitive matwork and a young Eddy looked extremely polished already. I liked the first caida, that finished with a very cool flashy pin from Santo, but then the match plateaued a bit before picking right back up in the last few minutes. ***1/2

Cousin Junior vs Hercules Hernandez (11/25/85) I haven't seen much of Cousin Junior and, according to Cagematch, he had only about 50 matches under his belt at this point. He was probably the closest thing to Mick Foley having his first match ever in a backyard, as he was running the ropes and taking bumps that looked unsafe given his size. The match was boring anyway and had no business going 12 minutes, as Hercules worked a very, very long chinlock that was occasionally interrupted by some unconvincing spots. This was safely going to be an uneventful DUD and I was going to forget about it, but then they had 3 botches in a row during a very simple finishing sequence: first, Cousin lost his balance and fell on one knee; then he couldn't execute the roll-up properly after running towards the ropes; and finally, the referee missed the tempo of the outside distraction and 3 count, causing a very weird finish. -*1/2

Jesse Ventura vs Barry O (11/25/85) Ventura was a babyface here and got a decent pop, so at least he knew how to get undressed like a normal person. They did some subpar arm work before O took over with some weak punches that Monsoon called "heavy artillery." Ventura's selling left a lot to be desired, and his bump off a clothesline later in the match was one of the worst I've seen recently. O worked a long chinlock that killed the crowd, while Ventura did some heelish stuff during his comeback, but fans were completely numb by then. After a double-knockdown spot, Ventura hit O in the back once to set up the bodybreaker and win. This wasn't good. 1/2*

Tony Atlas vs Les Thornton (8/10/85) Apparently, AJ Styles named his finisher after watching this match. This was fascinatingly weird, one of those matches you'd never imagine happening. Atlas indulged in some mat wrestling, and it wasn't good, despite showing some consistency with the arm work, at least for a little while. It took a bit for Thornton to get the upper hand, and he settled into the dullest chinlock imaginable. The crowd was asleep here, this was very slow, and it pretty much consisted of the same holds being repeated over and over without any interesting progression or outstanding selling. Atlas didn't sell a headbutt into the corner and eventually won with a press slam, but left the ring looking disgusted as he got the pinfall. I kind of share that feeling. 1/4*

Susan Starr vs The Spider Lady (7/27/85) This was quite boring and uneventful. Nothing really happened over 10 minutes, and the crowd clearly didn't care much. About 4 minutes of this consisted of Starr's dull arm work, with a couple of breaks in the middle and some sub-par selling from Spider. Spider finally broke free for good and didn't sell her arm for a single second, but instead started holding her leg in pain, which confused me quite a lot. The heel's control segment was even worse, showing no purpose and using her arm without issues when hitting and chocking Susan. There wasn't much to praise in Starr's flashy offense either, including a very rough-looking catapult and a standing splash where she landed on Spider's knees, despite the heel having them up for a good 3/4 seconds before Starr even attempted to jump onto her opponent. 1/4*

Desiree Petersen vs Judy Martin (6/21/85) Dead crowd here and the announcers weren't taking this seriously either. After some subpar lockups, Martin took over, and the entire match consisted of her sending Petersen to the outside six or seven times, with Desiree landing badly on the floor or the announcers' table. For some reason, the referee simply refused to count her out on any of these occasions. Martin took her time and didn't capitalize on Petersen's injuries. Petersen basically spent the whole match on the floor before making a short comeback and stealing the win with a flashy pin. I get what they were trying to do here, but this was way too long and poorly executed. The crowd only came alive for the finish. DUD

This was a good match, highlighting Luger's potential at the time and Pillman being a very promising young star as well. This had a couple of botches and sloppy executions towards the end, but it told a good story overall and the crowd was very hot, which helped them a great deal. Pillman did some fine arm work on Luger and was very inspirational in his diehard attitude, as Luger sold big time for the challenger and only barely retained the title after a couple of believable nearfalls. ***1/2

This was very good and one of the best UWF matches to my eyes, as they fought so smoothly and in a smart way. Takada focused on the legs with precise kicks, while Fujiwara was pretty much wrestling like it was a chess game and tried to capitalise on Takada's mistakes, putting a lot of emphasis on his opponent's arm. They traded knockdowns and ropebreaks in a very balanced way, until they reached a very dramatic 4-4 score and Takada won by kicking Fujiwara's bed leg again. I am not a fan of crowds that only pop up for highspots or strikes, so that kind of hurt this. ***3/4

I can see why this was not as famous as other chapters of their series, but this was a damn good match anyway. Jumbo got all protective and stubborn with Yatsu at the beginning, but the biggest dynamic was Hansen's back injury, as the champions worked on that consistently with a constant focus and plenty of goodness. Hansen sold his injury the right way, as it would limit his offense and movements, becoming a sort of weak link for his team. Good finishing stretch, with a sudden and surprising clean finish, that made Hansen's performance even better. ***1/2

This was pretty good, but a clear downgrade from their amazing match in London from 3 days earlier. It shared some of the same elements, like the Rougeaus isolating Shawn for several minutes, but it lacked the same drama, creative focus on body-part and crowd support. It didn't feel as special, but at least the heels used consistent holds to work on Shawn's head and Jannetty had an energetic hot tag. Good finish and I appreciated the fact they tweaked the one that was used in London. ***

Replicating their June match was pretty much impossible, but they did very well her, focusing on an evolution of that bout instead. Jumbo was focusing on Tenryu's bad neck, while the champion had plenty of confidence, as he now knows he can beat Jumbo in a singles. This had some slow moments and a couple of not-perfect executions, but also tons of good elements, like Jumbo snapping to regain control and Tenryu using his lethal powerbomb again. In general, this match would be a highlight in many people's career, but for them it is just 4 months removed from one of the best ever, so judgment could be a bit unfair. ***3/4

This was hard to rate. Some of the action was enjoyable, but the crowd wasn't invested enough in this to support it for 20+ minutes, because nobody on that ring managed to seek major heat for a dramatic segment. They tried to create some tension, as Kroffat spat on Kobashi and the native challenger did some good leg selling, but the fans mostly popped only for spectacular stuff. This reminded me of some UWF crowds, even though the in-ring action was still very solid, apart from a few sloppy sequences (including the finish). ***

This featured some good comedy moments at the beginning they got way over with the hot crowd. Shawn was a super effective babyface in perils, as he sold his ass off and the crowd literally exploded then Jannetty got the hot tag after many minutes of struggling. Very good control by the Rougeaus, who probably had their best match ever here and looked like a very dislikeable pair of cheaters. Hot and satisfying finish too, this went 20+ minutes and was so entertaining. ****

This was another good Bret vs Perfect from 1989, not fully living to their later matches, but it was still very well executed like their stuff from earlier in the year. Perfect was an amazing seller here, making Bret look like a million bucks during his offense and also acting so frustrated at being outwrestled at the beginning. This didn't have the pace or the drama to be a classic, but was very enjoyable work with very defined roles and a responsive crowd. Effective heel finish, as Bret was protected despite losing. ***1/4

Tony Garea vs Jesse Ventura (5/20/85) Ventura took his time with every spot to generate more heat, but the crowd wasn't very vocal during this. They spent minutes upon minutes with Ventura repeatedly punching Garea in the back while pretending he was using an open hand. Not only did this assume the referee had no clue how to do his job, but it was also made completely pointless when Garea finally retaliated with a punch of his own and faced no consequences. Garea worked on Ventura's arm for a couple of minutes, and it wasn't too bad, before they completely forgot about it, just like all the damage done on Garea's back went absolutely nowhere. An abdominal stretch reversal on the apron made them look rather clumsy. Ventura cheated a bit more before winning with a simple elbow, which made for a very anticlimactic finish. This lasted 16 minutes and felt like an hour. 1/4*

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd (3/31/85) I wanted to give this a pass because I'm a fan of Andre, and this was more of a short angle than a match in many ways, but God, it looked terrible from bell to bell. Andre choked Studd from the opening moments and gave him absolutely nothing, making the heel look quite bad. Studd tried to bodyslam Andre, which was a strange strategy on his part, considering all he really had to do was avoid taking the move himself. Andre followed up with a long bearhug and then a chinlock, neither of which did anything to build toward his eventual bodyslam. He also threw some truly awful-looking kicks and no-sold a couple of Studd's elbows before suddenly setting up the bodyslam as if nothing else before mattered. DUD

Swede Hanson vs Nikolai Volkoff (2/18/85) By this point, Hanson's matches had become all about the heels bumping for him, so if the heel was Volkoff, you knew this was going to be trouble. They traded some bad-looking strikes and Hanson didn't even bother selling them to begin with. Volkoff took over with some horrible kicks that barely connected, followed by a lifeless rest hold. There was no drama or coherent focus, as Hanson briefly worked on Volkoff's leg for about 20 seconds before they both shrugged it off as if it had never happened, making it feel like nothing more than a way to kill a bit of time. Volkoff then went for his big backbreaker, but couldn't fully lift Hanson and ended up awkwardly lowering him to the mat for the softest landing imaginable before pinning him anyway. It made for an incredibly weak-looking finish. -*