[1986-12-26-WWF-MSG] Tito Santana vs Hercules

[Superstar Sleeze]

Tito Santana vs Hercules - WWF MSG 12/26/86

Tito has been stuck in midcard purgatory since the Savage feud ended taking on a motley crew of Bob Orton, Harley Race, Butch Reed and Hercules. Credit has to go to @Loss for pimping this match because I would have skipped it otherwise. Besides the Hogan SNME match I don’t think I have ever seen a Hercules match. I have been watching a lot of WWF TV from summer and fall of 86. He is with Classy Freddie Blassie then Slick  after he took over the contracts. He has long hair and is in a Greco-Roman ensemble. My wife was being a good sport and etching episodes of the Flower Shop with me and at the time he was trying to portray that he was the real Hercules from Mount Olympus even though his last name is Hernandez go figure. He definitely has Bruiser Brody’s look and mannerisms. Or to use Gen Z parlance he is giving Bruiser Brody. However, in this match and I believe SNME match he is with the Brain, his hair is shorn and he has his classic Chain and gone are Brody mannerisms. 
 

Honky Tonk Man fresh off losing a popularity contest has adopted the Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart excuse me Col. Jimmy Hart as his manager is loitering at ringside and jumps Tito with some of the weakest shots in history. We are going to pretend like he destroyed Tito’s knee. Tito puts on one of the best knee selling performances of all time basically wrestling this match crawling and on the mat while Hercules holds up his end up of the bargain with some great leg work. Like I said I have very limited experience with Herc, he is not Bret Hart working the leg but he he gets the job done and he is laser focused. It is all the good stuff, leg locks, crashing down on the leg, strikes, wrap around the Ring post. Tito does a great job ramping his comeback. First it is a punch from his back. Herc cuts off then a hair grab Herc cuts off. Finally he gets up and it is lunging / collapsing punches and headbutts. Excellent. Herc kneecrusher. Hercules goes up top and splash eats the knee which hurts Tito but levels the playing field. Awesome spot. Then the match goes from very good to great! TITO RAVENOUSLY ATTACKS HERC’s KNEE! It was amazing he was like a Pitbull dog. He never stood for more than like 30 seconds. Just lunging, punching, collapsing on Hercules knee. Excellent leg work by Tito all while selling his own knee. It has to been seen to be believed. FIGURE-4! The Brain rings the bell which fucks up Tito. Tito back in the groove but Herc eye rake slam BUT Hercules’ Knee gives out! I would have popped huge for a 3 count. Herc kicks off Tito on the Figure-4. Tito jaws with the Brain and Herc CRASHES DOWN on Tito with a knee for the 1-2-3! WOW WOW WOW Amazing Tito performance one of the best ever individual performances. Hercules holds up his end of bargain ends up doing some amazing selling as well. Bravo! **** 1/4