[1986-10-20-WWF-MSG] Greg Valentine vs Davey Boy Smith

[Superstar Sleeze]

Greg Valentine vs Davey Boy Smith - 10/20/86 MSG

I was pretty pumped when I found out this match exists, but it never reaches unheralded classic status I hoped it would. If Davey Boy bothered selling, maybe things could have been different, but as the match is it is just a plain 'ol good match between two very good wrestlers. What sets Valentine apart from the rest of WWF at this point is just how stiff he lays in his shots. It really gives his matches a special feel. They trade bearhugs, which is actually a unique way for Davey Boy to show off his power. Valentine really starts to lay into Davey Boy with forearms and then his shoulderbreaker. I am not against the shoulderbreaker, I think it is a move that should be utilized more frequently, but I don't really get why "Master of the Figure 4" Greg Valentine would be using it. Valentine begins working on the leg, but that ends up being no sold as Davey Boy slaps on the Sharpshooter of all things. Had Bret even debuted the Sharpshooter at this point?

So much for that leg work as Davey Boy does a delayed vertical suplex and his powerslam. Valentine does his cat and mouse game trick. Does anyone really believe Valentine could outrun Davey Boy? Davey Boy was struggling to go slow enough to not overtake Valentine, maybe if he sold the leg it wouldn't look so phony. Valentine with some stomps and here comes the figure-4, but Davey Boy gets to the ropes. Davey Boy immediately hits a dropkick. What is selling?

Weird finish as Valentine pretty much out of nowhere double legs Davey Boy and hold onto the ropes to pick up the victory. This match suffered from the 80s WWF hyper-compression issues. Did any WWF match from '84-86 ever go over 25 minutes? The finish didn't make sense because the Bulldogs were about to be programmed with the Harts and the Dream Team shunted down the card. Plus it felt like they just cut the match off prematurely. There is good stuff here and there is no reason to believe that these two could not have delivered an all-time classic, but I just dont think Hulkamania era WWF was the right setting for these two to deliver that. *** 1/4