[1980-12-29-WWF-MSG, NY] Bob Backlund vs Killer Khan

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[concrete1992]

I put every match that pops me *** and plop it on a spreadsheet. This ain't going on a spreadsheet.

 

Never seen Kahn before so was not ready for the sounds he would produce early on. His nerve hold section feels like it lasted an eternity. Bob Backlund wasn't exactly wrestling with the most urgency. Definitely came across as wholesome American versus foreign heel. Never elevates itself beyond being a plotting cliche. Maybe not bad, but painfully forgettable.

[SAMS]

1980-12-29
WWF
Bob Backlund (c) vs. Killer Khan
WWF Heavyweight Title Match
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA
★★
Card

This ended up feeling like a generic Backlund title defence in the end, but it started off with fireworks. Khan’s TV appearances up until this point have been exclusively squash matches, and pretty terrible ones at that. Here he dialled up the intensity so that those exaggerated screeches he delivered on his chops came across as threatening instead of goofy.
Things calmed down a bit as Khan settled into his nerve hold routine and they built to Bob’s comeback. I still consistently feel like Backlund sells being totally out of it far too early in his matches, which makes his comeback just feel “less”. If I don’t actually feel like he’s taken a lot of punishment then a) why does he seem so fucked up and b) why is it impressive that he managed to mount a comeback in the first place.
He did manage a pretty amazing 2.9 kickout, bucking the trend of usually kicking out at 1. This came off a top rope knee drop from Khan which had Vince calling the match then and there. The crowd were pretty hot for this throughout but I was surprised by how little reaction that kick out actually received. Pushing for the final blow Khan gave Backlund an opening which he happily took, hitting him with a German Suplex and picking up the win. The finish didn’t do much for me as I think Backlund should have been required to have dished out a bit more to put his monster foe away but hey ho we move on. The crowd erupted and were happy to cheer their hero in his victory.