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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. -*

Tony Atlas vs Moondog Spot (2/16/85) Atlas is now completely bald and looks even more ripped. They opened with some goofy-looking running and leapfrog sequences that weren't very well coordinated, before Spot took over with a long chinlock. I actually think Atlas looked bad here, as Spot was simply dominating him without any real justification, such as cheating or taking advantage of an injury. Atlas then ran the ropes and went to the outside, jumping awkwardly through them in a very confusing spot. I couldn't tell whether he simply tripped or if Spot was actually supposed to hit him at the ropes. Anyway, a clearly upset Atlas returned to the ring, and they suddenly they went home about 20 seconds later. Atlas's press slam looked impressive, but Spot was back on his feet before Atlas, which was rather silly. 1/2*

Swede Hanson vs The Magnificent Muraco (1/21/85) This had a somewhat fun beginning, as Hanson slammed Muraco a couple of times and the heel sold his frustration well. However, it quickly got watered down as they started wasting time and attempt some bad lockups. Hanson no-sold everything Muraco did for several minutes, which was very annoying. Hanson then worked a long armbar, which they completely forgot about the moment Muraco escaped the hold. Muraco took over, and Hanson rolled rather clumsily during a snapmare. He looked even worse when Muraco dropkicked him, taking such a ridiculous bump that it became unintentionally funny. The finish was quite impressive, though, as Muraco managed to counter Hanson's piledriver attempt and pick up the win, despite not being given much throughout the match. A fun beginning, a noteworthy ending, but everything in between sucked. 1/4*

This was a rugged and enjoyable match, despite feeling a bit watered down at the beginning, apart from the good spots that featured Garvin owerpowering Valentine. They chopped each other quite hard and Valentine was very believable in the role of a coward (but still capable) competitor that had to resort to a few tricks to keep up with Garvin's hard hitting ways. The structure was very simple here and this went 20 minutes without too many issues, with a classic heel finish. ***1/4

This was very well done, a high stake match with a hot crowd and plenty of dramatic moments. Satanico was the star of the show, as he was isolated in more than one occasion to put him over his status of unconventional tecnico. He bled a lot and it only made sense that him and his former partner MS-1 were involved in the heated exchanges and in the finish. Atlantis took a step back here in a way, but was so good and crisp as usual, unlike TVF, who never really shined and was merely a good support to MS-1 when the rudos took over Satanico. ***3/4

Not on the level of their August bout, but this was a very good match nonetheless. They showcased a lot of good limb work and exciting dives, with a few good call-backs to their previous match. Liger sold his arm the whole time and countered the lethal belly to belly that costed him the title, getting a couple of very dramatic nearfalls in the process. This really didn't have many flaws, but I would have trimmed a few minutes in hindsight. ***3/4

This was a blast and they managed to go 25 minutes without this feeling heavy at any point. Kudos to them to work around Baba and Kimura's limitations here, as the young guys did most of the work and sold the veteran's stuff really well. Tons of nice moments, as Tenryu would not back down in front of Baba and instigate his boys to do the same. The crowd was hot and that helped too, as this was a very enjoyable showcase that manage to put everyone over. Good finish too. ***1/2

This was a good brawl and a very fun match overall. Sting and Flair were an underrated babyface duo and the crowd was heavily involved here. Muta did well too, but I feel like Slater stole the show here with a great dic*head performance and some good focus on Flair's neck. Flair was a good babyface in perils and Sting brought tons of energy after the hot tag, but I felt like the finishing sequence was a bit too long, despite the non-finish being decently executed. ***1/2

A good match, not a masterpiece, but did wonders for Gordy's status. The gaijin attacked Tenryu before the bell and kept focusing on the champion's neck, dominating him for most of the match. Tenryu was a good seller and, despite the crowd not always being very vocal, Gordy stayed on the neck for the whole time. Decent finish in Tenryu's favour that finally got a reaction out of the fans, this was good for a 12/13 minutes match, but it was clear Tenryu shouldn't be the one to carry Gordy for 20+ minutes. Not in 1989, at least. ***

Not a bad match, but a bit of a letdown considered who was in the ring. The crowd was very quiet at times, slightly getting into this only when they stop acting like tag partners and the match became meaner and more competitive. Yatsu did all he could to beat his master, putting on some decent work on his leg and even kicking out of the backdrop driver once, so this accomplished the goal of making Yatsu look more competitive at least. ***1/4

Their best match so far. The Can-Ams worked as heels and gradually got the crowd's heat, making Footloose look like better underdogs in the process. Once again, the champions focused on Kawada's ribs and this forced Fuyuki to step up in one of his most convincing performances, despite the lack of support from the crowd. Good finish too, but this would have been a notch better if trimmed down to 15 minutes. ***1/2

Rocky Johnson vs David Schultz (11/26/84) Excuse my French, but this fucking sucked. The entire focus of the match was the referee stopping Rocky from throwing his signature punch, constantly getting between the two wrestlers, and spending half the bout arguing with Johnson. If this had been a heel referee angle, I would have had no issue with it, but that wasn't the case, so it just looked stupid. It was made even worse by the fact that the referee did nothing when Schultz assaulted Johnson in the ropes. Then, later in the match, Rocky finally threw his punch anyway, without being disqualified or even reprimanded by the referee. So he could have just done it all along. I've seen Rocky use those shitty punches countless times without getting disqualified, so... what was the point of all of that? This had heavy "bullshit" chants from the crowd. On top of that, Schultz won with a roll-up, and the announcers complained about the referee's fast count, but it was one of those Starrcade 1997-style counts that looked a slightly quick without being outrageously so. Avoid. -***