WWF/WWE worst matches ever - a depressing journey

[Ricky Jackson]

10 hours ago, Matt D said:

Someone remind me to watch this.

One of my favorite match reviews on Titans of Wrestling 

Whole card. Also includes a great Backlund vs Larry Z match

[tcg91]

Dominic DeNucci vs Larry Sharpe (10/20/80)
Another bad DeNucci match, featuring yet another irritating stalling sequence, as Sharpe undressed very slowly to get some heat from the crowd. They did some decent arm-based limb work for a minute, but then Sharpe took over and simply started punching DeNucci in the back of the head for several minutes, leading to a few "boring" chants from the stands. DeNucci wasn't good at selling and his comeback had terrible timing, as he would get all fired up and create a lot of commotion just to hit his opponent once and then stare at him. Sharpe then punched DeNucci low right in front of the referee for some reason, but still lost to a small package 5 seconds later, so it's safe to say DeNucci had no balls. 1/2*

[Ricky Jackson]

There are good DeNucci matches, believe it or not. One is from your time frame, 11/3/79 vs Hussein Arab, a crazy brawl from Allentown, but it is tough to find, only a clip of it is on YT. Outside of your purview is DeNucci & Victor Rivera vs the Blackjacks from 1975, also a crazy wild brawl, but also not on YT. But trust me, they're great!

[tcg91]

12 hours ago, Ricky Jackson said:

There are good DeNucci matches, believe it or not. One is from your time frame, 11/3/79 vs Hussein Arab, a crazy brawl from Allentown, but it is tough to find, only a clip of it is on YT. Outside of your purview is DeNucci & Victor Rivera vs the Blackjacks from 1975, also a crazy wild brawl, but also not on YT. But trust me, they're great!

That is terrifying. I can't believe they kept him around until 1982.

[tcg91]

Pedro Morales vs The Hangman (11/8/80)
So sloooooooooooooooow. They stalled a lot at the beginning, then Hangman trapped Morales in a few holds and Morales always managed to get out of them, which was at least consistent, albeit not very smoothly executed. Hangman finally got the upper hand with a long armbar that completely silenced the crowd. He sent Morales shoulder first into the turnbuckle and the announcer screamed "RIGHT INTO THE RING!". The arm work wasn't terrible, but it was incredibly boring and lacklustre. Hangman kicked Morales in the face about 10 times in a row, but Morales didn't sell it at all and immediately started a comeback, winning with a small package about 20 seconds later. I hate these abrupt endings. 1/2*

[Ricky Jackson]

11 hours ago, tcg91 said:

That is terrifying. I can't believe they kept him around until 1982.

He was part of Bruno's inner circle, so basically untouchable. Probably not a coincidence he was gone shortly after Sammartino left

[tcg91]

Dominic DeNucci vs Killer Khan (2/16/81)
The MSG crowd wasn't too bad and kind of saved this. Their opening lockups weren't very interesting, as not much happened until Khan put DeNucci in a long armbar to kill some time. When a match goes 7/8 minutes, having a rest hold last for about 2 whole minutes is embarrassing. DeNucci finally made his comeback, throwing bad punches with his good hand, with his usual pace of throwing a punch and then staring at the opponent before hitting the next one. DeNucci then comically collapsed under Khan's weight once he lifted him, which fair enough as they were putting over Khan's size, but it looked so bad and uncoordinated. Khan went over clean after that. 1/2*

[tcg91]

SD Jones vs The Hangman (2/25/81)
Yeah, this was not good at all. They started with some average lockups, then SD began no selling Hangman's offense for some reason, getting up immediately after a bodyslam and even headbutting the turnbuckle a few times by himself to mock his opponent's attempts. After Hangman's boring armbar, the real mess began, as they seemed unsure of what to do and had a few obvious miscommunications. They were clearly waiting for the time limit draw finish, but they tried to go home early and ended up improvising very badly. At one point, they stared at each other for about 15 seconds to kill time, then went back to a lockup (so SD never had a comeback), which made everything feel even more awkward. They rang the bell at 9:13 to signal the draw, thankfully somebody realized that another minute of this would have felt like an eternity. -1/2*

[tcg91]

Jill Fontaine vs The Fabulous Moolah (4/8/81)
This was bad. Jill looked extremely green and Moolah either didn't want to make her look decent or simply couldn't. They did a stupid spot where the referee (finally) caught Moolah using a rope to strangle Jill, so Moolah strangled the referee himself and somehow wasn't disqualified. Go figure. Jill threw some horrible leg scissors and strikes, but she seemed lost and even tried a pinfall despite Moolah's legs being completely outside the ring. Moolah got her comeback when Jill was smart enough to spend 20 seconds pushing and arguing with the referee. Moolah then no sold a shitty running forearm from Jill, who fell to the mat like an idiot, before pinning her with a bad looking flapjack. Ugh. -*