[1986-03-16-WWF-MSG, NY] Randy Savage vs Tito Santana

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Tito Santana - WWF, MSG 3/16/86

I have seen the title switch in Boston plenty of times and I think it is a good, but not great match. I know I have seen some of the follow up stuff, but I am little fuzzy. They had quite the series at MSG working five straight shows together with this being the kick off match. Tito was robbed of the title by some shoddy officiating and a foreign object so you know he is going to be hot as hell. Macho Man realizing this gets on his bike early. He is in full Memphis mode for this match. I loved him jumping in the ring, sprinting through the other side and arming himself with a chair against the fists of fury of Tito Santana. Tito eventually catches up to Savage and lets him have it. Tito would have fucking awesome in Memphis. He is up there for my favorite shine worker ever. Savage is great at selling being overwhelmed and that general fear of losing the title. The nervous energy of Savage really keeps you on edge. I like the duality of the atomic drop being a babyface move and the inverted atomic drop as a heel move. I never really noticed that before, but they showed that here in this match. Usually, Savage does not work on top for long, but in this match we actually get a chance to see work a sustained heat segment and he was quite good. Savage is not a wrestler with a ton of moves or offense in general. He spaces them out well and is able to use his jabs and nasty strikes for maximum damage. It helps that Tito was the one selling. Tito gets a hope spot of trying the figure-4 before being yanked out by tights to crash to the floor. It was actually by playing king of the mountain that Savage worked a strong heat segment (Big Tito chants). Savage has an underrated bodyslam. It is not Jumbo-level, but it is very good. He crashes and burns on the elbow drop. Here comes the big Tito rally. Savage tries his best to escape it (eye rake on figure-4, powder), but Tito will not be denied as he hits the Flying Burrito. He applies the figure-4 and MSG goes apeshit for Tito! Savage yanks the ref onto Tito to draw the DQ. This was a really entertaining, heated match for the IC title. The finish is perfectly suitable to set up the No DQ match. Both guys played their roles to a tee. This is exactly what you expect from Tito and Savage, quick pace, lots of punches and great heat. ***1/2

[JKWebb]

I love the selling of the ribs from Savage after he misses the big elbow, then Tito perfectly times his attack to the stomach. This was a ton of fun. They did a great job getting a shot of the heated crowd when Tito locks on the figure four. The look on Liz's face is priceless. Really liked the finish for this point of the feud. This was the best match on the card that night, and had a ton of heat. I really enjoyed it. I wish there were more things like this in wrestling today.