Thoughts on random Coliseum Video matches

[Loss]

From Best of the WWF Vol 4-

Roddy Piper v Paul Orndorff (07/13/85) - At this point a top 5 80s WWF pick for me. There's some silly stuff with Piper's Hoganesque leg shake selling, and I find it sort of anti-climatic when Piper slaps Orndorff in the face and he does nothing, but this match is still more hate-filled and heated than Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania III. Some really fun spots with Piper getting a lot of mileage out of even small moves like side headlocks. He also cheats really well. Orndorff is the better *wrestler* of the two, but Piper is better at working the crowd and portraying his character to the audience. Fun match!

 

From Best of the WWF Vol 13-

Randy Savage v Tito Santana (12/10/86) - I expected far more than I got here, as the match goes under 10 minutes and Savage stalls for over half of that. BORING.

 

From Best of the WWF Vol 19-

Randy Savage v Bad News Brown (01/16/89) - Disappointing match. Brown is the heel, but he's put in the babyface position of being the moral victor when the ref is bumped. Very little actual contact between the wrestlers here, and the ref takes a better bump into the table than Savage does. Nice job from Mach' putting Bad News over, but kind of an uneventful match.

 

Bret Hart v Ted DiBiase (03/89) - Good match. Kind of a Brad Armstrong v Mike Rotunda at Clash III vibe with DiBiase controlling most of the match and Bret kicking out and getting big heat for doing so. DiBiase is a great bumper and Bret's a great seller, putting over DiBiase's sneaked chokehold in the reverse chinlock like he's suffocating. In a nice touch, Virgil didn't even interfere. Just a minute or two before the finish, Bret misses a high knee to the corner and DiBiase starts working it over and that alone makes me wish this would have another 15 minutes, but it's quickly forgotten and Bret does a pescado to the floor without showing any weakness before they brawl their way to a double countout finish. DiBiase is just as good as he is in his matches with Duggan in Mid South, and Bret shows a lot of promise.

 

From Best of the WWF Vol 20-

Hulk Hogan v Rick Rude (01/09/88) - All stalling and comedy, which is more entertaining than it sounds. Rude challenging Hogan to the arm wrestling match and Hogan accepting is great fun, but after that, there just isn't much to see here. Nice payback with Rude repeatedly pulling the hair to take Hogan down to the ground and Hogan getting him back by doing it to him multiple times. Rude hadn't fully developed into the great worker he'd be in a few years, but he's moving in that direction. Not a total waste of time, but not worth going out of your way to see.

 

More soon.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

This'll be a good thread for those involved in the little trading circle we've got going. I've been going through my newly-acquired stack of discs, so it's been fun rediscovering a good chunk of my collection.

 

Randy Savage v Bad News Brown (01/16/89) - Disappointing match. Brown is the heel, but he's put in the babyface position of being the moral victor when the ref is bumped. Very little actual contact between the wrestlers here, and the ref takes a better bump into the table than Savage does. Nice job from Mach' putting Bad News over, but kind of an uneventful match.

This has always been a match that could've been better had it been given more time. IIRC, it barely breaks the 10-minute mark. The inclusion of stuff like tables makes it stand out admist a lot of the material found on Coliseum videos from this era. Uneventful, and not a great example of what sounded like a heated feud, but a guilty pleasure of mine, all the same.

 

Hulk Hogan v Rick Rude (01/09/88) - All stalling and comedy, which is more entertaining than it sounds. Rude challenging Hogan to the arm wrestling match and Hogan accepting is great fun, but after that, there just isn't much to see here. Nice payback with Rude repeatedly pulling the hair to take Hogan down to the ground and Hogan getting him back by doing it to him multiple times. Rude hadn't fully developed into the great worker he'd be in a few years, but he's moving in that direction. Not a total waste of time, but not worth going out of your way to see.

All of the shennagins is probably for the best, since it would've been a task to sit through it had they played it up as a straight wrestling match. Thanks to the arm wrestling and Bobby Heenan popping in for commentary, it's good stuff.

 

Since we're on Best of the WWF Vol. 20, what'd you think of the Harts/Rougeaus match and battle royal?

[goodhelmet]

From Best of the WWF Vol 4-

Roddy Piper v Paul Orndorff (07/13/85) - At this point a top 5 80s WWF pick for me. There's some silly stuff with Piper's Hoganesque leg shake selling, and I find it sort of anti-climatic when Piper slaps Orndorff in the face and he does nothing, but this match is still more hate-filled and heated than Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania III. Some really fun spots with Piper getting a lot of mileage out of even small moves like side headlocks. He also cheats really well. Orndorff is the better *wrestler* of the two, but Piper is better at working the crowd and portraying his character to the audience. Fun match!

 

 

I'm glad you thought this way about this match. While converting, it was one of the few matches I was able to watch. Initially, I didn't pay much attention but realized I was watching one hell of a fight. I had planned to go back and take some notes on it but I was so knee deep in discs at the time I forgot what show it was on.

[Coffey]

I have a WWF World Tour 1992 tape. It's pretty boring for the most part, however, the Macho Man Vs. Shawn Michaels match stands out to me because of Savage's selling. He's still selling the leg work from Ric Flair at Wrestlemania. It's great. He even struggles to climb the top rope to hit the flying elbow. That's how it should be done.

 

Of course, on the same tape is one of the worst, most boring matches I've ever seen. It's a Texas Tornado Vs. The Mountie match. That shit goes like twenty minutes, with nothing but restholds, and ends with, like, a small package or some shit. Man, it was really, really bad.

 

I just rewatched the tape not too long ago. After I read about Alfred Hayes dying, actually, since he was doing commentary on the tape.

[Loss]

Since we're on Best of the WWF Vol. 20, what'd you think of the Harts/Rougeaus match and battle royal?

I'll probably skip the battle royal unless you think I need to watch it. I was also leery of Harts/Rougeaus since Brother Love talked FOREVER before the match started and heel ref matches are sometimes kinda weird. Should I give it a watch tonight?

[Tim Cooke]

Loss- have you seen the 6/84 Boot Camp Match between Sheik and Slaughter? I'm still waiting for my Best of the WWF 80's DVD set from Bix, but this has been getting high praise and I have never seen it.

[Loss]

It was a great match last time I saw it, but it's been a few years and the VQ wasn't quite up to snuff. I look forward to rewatching it.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Since we're on Best of the WWF Vol. 20, what'd you think of the Harts/Rougeaus match and battle royal?

I'll probably skip the battle royal unless you think I need to watch it. I was also leery of Harts/Rougeaus since Brother Love talked FOREVER before the match started and heel ref matches are sometimes kinda weird. Should I give it a watch tonight?

It's better than your standard battle royal. The final four includes Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Santana, and Martel. The other match isn't bad, but just a bit frustrating because Brother Love is obviously biased in the match from bell-to-bell. I'd give the battle royal a try, though.