WWF/WWE worst matches ever - a depressing journey

[David Mantell]

On 9/17/2026 at 8:28 AM, tcg91 said:

The Junkyard Dog vs Ron Bass (5/27/88)
This main evented MSG for some reason

Quote

WWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – May 27, 1988 (16,000)

Televised on the MSG Network – included Rodger Kent & Superstar Billy Graham on commentary (Graham’s debut as a commentator); included Bobby Heenan coming to the ring saying he had signed an open contract to face anyone and he didn’t care who it was, gloating over his victory over Koko B. Ware earlier in the night and at WrestleMania IV; later in the show when announcing the following month’s card, Howard Finkel announced that Heenan would face the Ultimate Warrior and that Warrior would be bringing a weasel suit he had made and would stuff Heenan inside it; the announcement caused Heenan to return the ring:

Prime Time Wrestling – 6/6/88: The Conquistador pinned SD Jones at 9:13 when the momentum of a flying crossbody put the Conquistador on top

Greg Valentine defeated George Steele via disqualification at 5:54 when Steele brought the timekeeper’s hammer into the ring and pushed the referee down; Steele then chased Valentine backstage before returning to the ring and chasing the referee away after the decision was announced

Prime Time Wrestling – 6/6/88: Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated Jim Powers & Paul Roma at 14:26 when Jacques pinned Powers with a small package after Raymond reversed Powers’ small package behind the referee’s back

Prime Time Wrestling – 6/20/88: Brutus Beefcake fought the One Man Gang to a double count-out at 10:20 when both men fell over the top to the floor as Beefcake was on Gang’s back with the sleeper applied; after the bout, Beefcake was able to cut part of Gang’s hair

Haku, High Chief Afi (sub. for Tama) & Bobby Heenan defeated Koko B. Ware, Davey Boy Smith, & the Dynamite Kid at 14:10 when Heenan pinned Koko after hitting him with brass knuckles

Prime Time Wrestling – 6/6/88: Iron Mike Sharpe pinned Jerry Allen at 6:26 with an elbow drop

WWF World Champion Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) via disqualification at 11:55 when Virgil interfered and prevented the pinfall after the challenger hit an unprotected turnbuckle head-first; after the match, Savage was double teamed and thrown to the floor but later cleared the ring with his title belt; as Savage celebrated with Elizabeth on his shoulder, Dibiase & Virgil returned to the ring and attacked Savage from behind until several referees pulled them off, when Savage came to he ran backstage to look for Dibiase & Virgil (Macho Madness)

Prime Time Wrestling – 5/30/88: Jim Neidhart pinned Don Muraco (w/ Superstar Billy Graham) at 6:22 after reversing a roll up attempt by sitting on Muraco’s chest; Lord Alfred Hayes did guest commentary for the match, subbing for Graham

Dino Bravo (w/ Frenchy Martin) pinned Ken Patera at 7:15 with the side suplex after Patera became distracted by Frenchy Martin on the ring apron (Best of the WWF Vol. 17)

Prime Time Wrestling – 8/8/88: The Junkyard Dog pinned Ron Bass at 8:15 by reversing a powerslam attempt into a cover

Savage Vs DiBiase was the Main Event, this was just the last bout on.  MSG had been putting the big World title main event on halfway through the show since Bruno's days (back then often ending the night with a big 6 or 8 man tag with Andre and/or Haystacks Calhoun captaining the babyface side.). Even Hulk's big win over the Iron Sheik was not the last match on - after he won the title they cut back and forth between celebrations in the dressing room and more matches in the ring.

[tcg91]

On 9/19/2026 at 11:14 AM, David Mantell said:

Savage Vs DiBiase was the Main Event, this was just the last bout on.  MSG had been putting the big World title main event on halfway through the show since Bruno's days (back then often ending the night with a big 6 or 8 man tag with Andre and/or Haystacks Calhoun captaining the babyface side.). Even Hulk's big win over the Iron Sheik was not the last match on - after he won the title they cut back and forth between celebrations in the dressing room and more matches in the ring.

I forgot where I heard this, it may have been a Kayfabe Commentaries DVD back in the day, but apparently this started with Buddy Rogers because he wanted to beat the traffic or something like that.
I am not against a non WWF Title bout going last, if you give that spot to a Rockers vs Hart Foundation match and put a throwaway Hogan defence against Dino Bravo in the middle of the card, just to make things up, but this JYD/Bass deal was sad to watch.

[tcg91]

Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant (7/31/88)
This was a little better than 'Mania IV, but still a bad match. I'd argue the cage set up didn't protect them enough and actually kind of made this worse, being a roadblock more than a resource. Andre choked Hogan with his own shirt, before using a headlock for a couple of minutes. Andre also tied Hogan to the cage with that shirt, which looked very preposterous as it was all torn apart, but thankfully Hogan broke free quickly. Andre pulled off one of the turnbuckles, as I guess having a STEEL CAGE around him wasn't good enough, and threw Hogan into it for a little blade job. Usual Hogan comeback, as he took care of both Andre and the interfering Heenan, and the Giant took a very sad bump on a clothesline. With both his enemies down, Hogan looked at the cage door in front to him, but decided to climb out instead just for the sake of it. DUD

[David Mantell]

On 9/21/2026 at 7:47 AM, tcg91 said:

I forgot where I heard this, it may have been a Kayfabe Commentaries DVD back in the day, but apparently this started with Buddy Rogers because he wanted to beat the traffic or something like that.
I am not against a non WWF Title bout going last, if you give that spot to a Rockers vs Hart Foundation match and put a throwaway Hogan defence against Dino Bravo in the middle of the card, just to make things up, but this JYD/Bass deal was sad to watch.

It seems to mostly happen with main events where a big heel World title win happens so they put something lighter on to end the night and send the crowd home happy. Examples include Survivor Series 1991 (Undertaker's win from Hogan) GAB 1991 (Lex turns heel to win his first World title) and Summerslam 92 (until days before, Warrior was due to sell out to Mr Perfect and become Heel World champion.).  And then you get people SERIOUSLY calling Missy and Rick Vs Arn and Paul E the main event of GAB 91!!!

And then there's SNMEs where the World title went on first and a TV squash match finished off the show in the 0100-0200 doze-off slot and STILL for example  Kerry Vs Buddy Rose gets cited as main event over all 3 mens' titles.
 

[tcg91]

Ken Patera vs Bad News Brown (8/29/88)
They started this quickly, putting over Brown's aggression, and his strikes were decent, but Patera was not on form and proved it immediately with a horrible clothesline. Patera looked either very unmotivated or inept at this point, as he was selling Brown's stuff terribly, wobbling in an uncoordinated way, and even Monsoon buried him for his regression. Patera used a weak-looking bearhug, with no setup or logic, before trying to switch it to the full nelson. However, Brown avoided it twice in a very robotic and clumsy sequence, that didn't do him any good. Brown was Irish-whipped to the corner and did a bad-looking spin that made a very slow Patera catch him in the corner anyway, before Brown used his finisher to win. The camera angle switched to hide that the move wasn't hit properly too, just like pretty much everything else in this match. -*

[tcg91]

The Junkyard Dog vs Hercules (9/11/88)
I have no idea why they asked them to wrestle for 10 minutes, as JYD was clearly not having a good time and Hercules wasn't able to carry someone like him to a decent performance. JYD was actually somewhat motivated at the beginning, but he quickly gassed out and looked awkward in his movements, like when he hit a very terrible-looking clothesline and barely touched Hercules, who had to do all the work himself. Hercules had to fight with what he had, focusing on a heatless bearhug that didn't go anywhere, as its main goal was probably stopping JYD's panting. JYD broke free, and they had a mediocre finishing stretch, where Hercules went over with a quite smooth slingshot version. DUD

[tcg91]

The Junkyard Dog vs Andre the Giant (10/7/88)
Andre playing a heel in France was fun. The match... yeah, not so much. Andre initially refused to fight and returned backstage. It took around 5 minutes for him to return to the ring, and the crowd didn't boo or react to that, as instead they got very quiet and confused. Once the bell rang, Andre dominated with some very bad-looking offence and sitting on Dog clumsly, while JYD spent a lot of time on the floor, which at least saved him from running out of steam right away. Andre tied himself to the ropes to receive horrible headbutts from JYD, who immediately started panting as soos as he had to do something. Andre got free and started exposing the turnbuckle in a very slow way, while JYD just looked at him without much reasoning, and they stumbled around in a baffling way for a bit. Andre was the one to eat the steel after all, but the spot didn't go anywhere, as he used a terrible boot to pin Dog. This was ugly. -**

[tcg91]

The Ultimate Warrior vs Super Ninja (11/16/88)
Easily one of the worst squashes I have ever seen. Rip Oliver tried to work a weird style under a Great Sasuke-like costume and he started the match wonderfully by tripping while throwing a kick. A second kick was caught by Warrior, who dropped Ninja on his head without much care, as it looked like Ninja was probably trying to take a 180-degree bump but just fell flatly like a douchebag. Warrior booted Ninja, who once again took a clumsy fall outside the ring, and then threw him carelessly from the outside to ringside between the ropes. Warrior hit more bad strikes before his usual routine finish, getting the pinfall. This was ill-conceived, to say the least. DUD

[tcg91]

Butch & Luke vs Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff (1/14/89)
This was horrible. Lots of it consisted of 2 vs 1 or 2 vs 2 action for a long time, and the referee didn't do anything about it while it unfolded before his eyes. The Bushwhackers messed up a clothesline spot on Zhukov, then later made the Russians collide in the form of such a weak shoulder block that it wouldn't hurt a fly. To be fair, the heels weren't much better, and their control segment consisted of some bad Volkoff bearhugs, while Zhukov was throwing horrible hammers blows that made Volkoff's clothesline look like Stan Hansen was in the ring. This went too long at 10 minutes, and the announcer wasn't fun to listen to either. He never called the Bushwhackers by name as he couldn't tell them apart and talked about "Australia" chants that never happened. Yet another bad-looking Russian miscommunication at the end, so Volkoff somehow got over the top rope very goofily, while the babyfaces finished Zhukov. Bleh. -*

[tcg91]

Rockin' Robin vs Judy Martin (1/15/89)
Not a good match. Robin actually showed some fire, but Martin looked rough, as she missed the timing on a few spots in a very outrageous way, like rebounding off the ropes too late (so Robin had to dropkick a ghost, rather than missing the heel by a second) or standing up too late for the finishing crossbody spot, as she was originally on her knees like she expected to receive the move while down there. Nothing stuck in terms of limb work either; this looked like a random 5-minute PPV match that was very badly put together. Sherri was on commentary and was much yelling at them to go home so she could face the winner, which was unintentionally hilarious as everyone in the arena wanted them to go home as well. 1/4*

[tcg91]

Butch & Luke vs Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau (4/2/89)
I expected this to be a comedy match, and instead they tried a more traditional bout, despite a bad opening spot that consisted of the Bushwhackers stealing Jimmy Hart's jacket and making him bump onto the Rougeaus. Both Bushwhackers were so out of place here, slow and sloppy. Butch missed a punch by a mile on one occasion, while Luke took a very goofy bump after receiving a weak hammer blow to the back. The Rougeaus started posing for some reason, triggering the babyfaces' shitty-looking double move for the victory. While this was not good, but quite unoffensive at 5 minutes, it looked much worse due to a dead crowd. DUD

[tcg91]

Jake Roberts vs Andre The Giant (4/2/89)
Andre jump-started this and sent Roberts head-first into an exposed turnbuckle, which led to the Giant using a chinlock on Roberts, even though they quickly moved on from that and never focused on it again. Andre literally leaned on Jake in the corner like he wanted to squash him, looking like he didn't even apply pressure in a very badly conceived spot that didn't look very good. Andre did the usual spot of tying himself in the ropes, but then got free and used some more horrible offence on Roberts. After dominating most of the match, Andre dropped down on one knee pretending Roberts had kicked him, even though that kick never connected, which was made even weirder by the dead crowd and the confused announcers. Roberts tried to use the snake on Andre, while Andre argued with referee Big John Studd and then attacked him, which resulted in a DQ. -1/2*

[tcg91]

Hercules vs Dino Bravo (4/23/89)
"This will surely be a collision" - Tony Schiavone. Yep, a trainwreck. The initial lockups weren't too bad, and I dug their implicit goal of establishing who was the stronger man, but this had a quite boring pace, and Bravo's retreats pretty soon became very uneventful, as they repeated the same sequence a few times: Bravo used a rest hold, got the ropes to stop the full nelson, bailed to the outside, returned to the ring for another rest hold, repeat. Moreover, Bravo used a long chinlock only to switch to a Boston Crab and then a bearhug as well, which didn't make much sense in terms of strategy, as he never targeted the back consistently until that point. Hercules moved flawlessly in his comeback, not selling his own back a tiny bit and even applying the torture rack without any issues. They went home shortly after with a dirty Bravo roll-up. 1/4*

[tcg91]

The Big John Studd vs Andre the Giant (5/13/89)
Studd attacked Andre straight away, and at that point there wasn't a single Andre match where he didn't tie himself up in the ropes. You'd figure a veteran would know how to avoid that by then! Anyway, Studd didn't capitalise on it, so Andre got free and started choking his opponent for a long time. Andre used both a bearhug and a shoulder hold in under a minute, not creating a coherent strategy, while the match also didn't feel right because Studd wasn't over as a babyface and the crowd was very quiet. More bad-looking stuff from Andre, until Studd finally hit him with a single punch to the ribs like 5 minutes in that was supposed to turn the match around, but it got such a mild pop and a goofy fall from Andre, sadly. Also, the moment was quickly neutralised by Haku and Jim Duggan interfering, so the match was thrown off after a whole minute of them attacking the participants without the referee doing anything, until he finally decided to call for the DQ. DUD

[tcg91]

Paul Roma vs Sandy Beach (7/10/89)
I understand the concept of putting a lesser match right before the main event(s), so the crowd can take a breath and not burn out. However, you could have heard a pen drop here as they started wrestling to complete silence, followed by some jeers. Their work itself wasn't good either, sloppy on several instances, including Roma messing up the timing of a shoulder block and then a Roma armdrag where Beach fell on his opponent's back without the proper elevation. Roma did some subpar leg work on Beach, who actually sold it quite well, ignoring a few awkward twitches and rolls on the mat. Beach got some offence and literally the first thing he did was a backbreaker, and didn't feel a thing when slamming 300 pounds onto his weakened leg. Beach also climbed the top rope with no issues, but Roma stopped him and hit a bad clothesline before finally ending this with a powerslam. 1/4*

[tcg91]

Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man (8/27/89)
This gave me vibes of Triple H vs Sting in terms of being a great idea in Vince McMahon's mind only and leaving everybody else puzzled. They stalled a lot, played to a good crowd, and did some comedy routines that were funny at times. Both guys went through the motions here, as an out of shape Dusty barely touched Honky with his elbows, and Honky himself baffled me when he stayed on all fours for like 10 seconds during an irish whip spot, almost like he felt there was no need to get up earlier. HTM used Hart's megaphone on Dusty's ribs, then took over with a loooooong chinlock, so hitting Dusty in the face/neck would have made all the difference in the world here, perception wise. The crowd died during this and wasn't too hot during Dusty's comeback, even though the cheers came back for the guitar finish. 1/4*

[David Mantell]

On 9/25/2026 at 7:41 AM, tcg91 said:

The Ultimate Warrior vs Super Ninja (11/16/88)
Easily one of the worst squashes I have ever seen. Rip Oliver tried to work a weird style under a Great Sasuke-like costume and he started the match wonderfully by tripping while throwing a kick. A second kick was caught by Warrior, who dropped Ninja on his head without much care, as it looked like Ninja was probably trying to take a 180-degree bump but just fell flatly like a douchebag. Warrior booted Ninja, who once again took a clumsy fall outside the ring, and then threw him carelessly from the outside to ringside between the ropes. Warrior hit more bad strikes before his usual routine finish, getting the pinfall. This was ill-conceived, to say the least. DUD

Irony - Super Ninja was managed by Mr Fuji whose only other protegés at this time were Ax and Smash of Demolition (until the double turn shortly afterwards.)

Another Demolition member, Crush, would end Rip Oliver's career when he (some reports say legitimately) injured Oliver in the process of beating him by submission to win the PNW Heavyweight title in October 1991.

On 9/24/2026 at 8:13 AM, tcg91 said:

The Junkyard Dog vs Andre the Giant (10/7/88)
Andre playing a heel in France was fun.

Andre had previously been a heel referee between JYD and Harley Race in the main event of the a show at the same venue a year earlier.  He was also moderately heelish in the first of his two matches with Otto Wanz just a car drive Eastwards across the Rhine in 1986 and only one Bobby Heenan short of his full blown WWF heel act in their second  match in December 1987.  I wonder if reports in PWI in early 1988 of disgruntled local ex-fans back home in Grenoble were actually a shoot? 

[tcg91]

Jim Duggan vs Dino Bravo (10/13/89)
The London bout between Duggan and HTM from the same tour was a below average match, but very entertaining thanks to the crowd reaction. This one... yeah, not so much. The fans were very tepid, apart from the usual 'hooooo' and some 'USA' chants, which always makes sense in Paris. Bravo wasn't over and he tried to get some heat in vain by stalling. He spent a lot of time on the floor at one point and the referee wouldn't count him out, so some fans started doing it instead, probably wishing the match to end right there. Bravo used some lazy strikes and a long chinlock to take over, then it was Duggan's turn to take time at ringside, without the heel doing anyting to capitalise on that. They did a bad-looking collision spot, that also involved the referee and seemed like a Benny Hill tribute more than anything else. Duggan won with a clothesline. 1/4*

[tcg91]

14 hours ago, David Mantell said:

He was also moderately heelish in the first of his two matches with Otto Wanz just a car drive Eastwards across the Rhine in 1986

I can't remember a thing about their 1986 match despite being on YT, so either I never watched it or it didn't leave a great impression on me. Loved their 1987 match though.

[David Mantell]

20 hours ago, tcg91 said:

I can't remember a thing about their 1986 match despite being on YT, so either I never watched it or it didn't leave a great impression on me. Loved their 1987 match though.

I posted it to the German Catch thread some time back.

Quote

We've finally reached our last 1986 bout and it's a special one:

 Two big men go at it that summer. Otto is now obese, eight years into his second CWA title reign. Next year he and Peter Wilhelm will seize the IBV from Nico S and turn it into Catch Wrestling Austria. Andre has let the Machines angle get its own steam and is off having a rest , filming the Princess Bride,, chilling out - and having this match. Andre had plenty of visits eastwards across the Rhine before moving from France to Quebec.

This is part of a professionally filmed Otto's Greatest Fights videotape - we see a caption slides with an image of the CWA belt.  

Runde 1 is very much built around armlocks,double wristlocks, Hammerlocks from front, position armbars. If Andre doesn't have a kimura/double wristlock/ hammerlock with bar in place, he is desperate y trying to get one, try to bend a straight Otto arm into a figure four position. It's very much an old German.Wrestling, the slow leverage battles of Axe CV6 Otto tries to counter with a crotch holds, trying for a slam. Andre is hesitant to release on the bell and although his alliance with Heenan is 6 months off, he settles into the heel role for this bout from this point. To be fair he only knew much of rounds from trips to the UK, Spain and Germany/Austria.

Runde 2 is more of a slug and punch brawl. Otto slugs out of the armlock attempt and off they go. Andre tries choking Otto who shoves him to ringside and later ties him up. Otto is now the one trying for a double wristlock. He levers Andre down, turns him into the Guard, tries and tries for a cross press but Andre turns him over and gets an American small package for one (or maybe it was a very messy side folding press.Andrecgets up but misses a splash and is kicked around as he gets the ropes. They brawl in the ropes as the bell (hooter goes). 

Runde 3 - more of the same - armbars on the ropes - slug and punch. Andre gets a leglock on the mat. Otto gets a top wristlock on the mat then an armhank. Andre sells it noisily. Aand eventually gets his own leglock. Into Gotch toehold!. Otto tries to push up and holds on until the hooter goes.

Runde 4. Andre gets long knockdowns from an elbow and a headbutt then choked Otto until Wanz reverses on the ropes. Wanz ejected Andre sits on Otto like he did in the WWF.to opponents such as Ax. Otto gets a front chancer.y into abdominal stretch. The hooter goes.

Runde 5. Oddly like the finish of WM3. Andre goes to work, misses a boot, Otto gets a slam and somersault splash but Andre puts up a boot to catch Otto on the chin. Andre covers Otto and eventually gets a very slow 3 count for the one fall required

 

[tcg91]

The Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant (10/31/89)
Well, now I know why they used to do 30-second squashes on the road... this was terrible. Andre choked Warrior, who managed to reverse the choke, and the referee did nothing about them being on the ropes for several seconds before Warrior took a goofy dive to the outside after missing a running clothesline. Horrible strikes from Andre, then Warrior clotheslined him out of the ring, only for Andre to take a very bad bump himself. They went through a very lethargic sequence, starting with Warrior putting on a weak bearhug on Andre, who then reversed it, while the crowd grew quieter and quieter. The holds were forgotten and meant nothing, as Andre tied himself to the ropes yet again, only for him to boot Warrior by clumsily lifting his foot, which was an ill-conceived spot. The referee missed Heenan being in the ring for like 30 seconds before calling a DQ when Warrior 'slammed' Heenan onto Andre. Horrible stuff. -*1/2

[David Mantell]

On 10/9/2026 at 7:54 AM, tcg91 said:

Well, now I know why they used to do 30-second squashes on the road... this was terrible.

And also because by routinely jobbing him to Warrior every night they stripped Andre of all his power and passed it on to the Warrior.

[tcg91]

Alright, I’m now done with the 80s (plus the portion of 1979 following the WWWF officially becoming the WWF). I’ve got 30 matches with negative star ratings. As a bit of trivia, Andre the Giant and JYD are the only two wrestlers I’ve awarded ‘Worst Match of the Year’ to twice, while Dominic DeNucci and Afa have the most appearances on the list, tied at 4 each.

The list:

1. Tony Atlas vs Ted Arcidi -***1/2 (8/9/86)
2. Rocky Johnson vs David Schultz -*** (11/26/84)
3. Bob Backlund vs Swede Hanson -**1/4 (10/22/79)
4. The Junkyard Dog vs Andre the Giant -** (10/7/88)
5. Joyce Grable & Vivian St. John vs The Fabulous Moolah & Kitty Adams -*3/4 (7/30/79)
6. Rocky Johnson vs Afa -*1/2 (10/22/83)
7. The Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant -*1/2 (10/31/89)
8. Cousin Junior vs Hercules Hernandez -*1/2 (11/25/85)
9. Jill Fontaine vs The Fabulous Moolah -* (4/8/81)
10. Bobo Brazil, SD Jones & Rocky Johnson vs Afa, Sika & Samula -* (5/21/84)
 

Spoiler

11. Swede Hanson vs Nikolai Volkoff -* (2/18/85)
12. Dominic DeNucci vs Jimmy Valiant -* (9/12/79)
13. The Junkyard Dog & Tony Atlas vs Kamala & Sika (8/28/87) -*
14. Ken Patera vs Bad News Brown -* (8/29/88)
15. Butch & Luke vs Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff  -* (1/14/89)
16. Hillbilly Jim vs Mr. Fuji -* (12/26/86)
17. Dominic DeNucci vs Baron Mike Scicluna -* (10/11/80)
18. Ivan Putski vs Tiger Chung Lee -* (1/16/84)
19. The Junkyard Dog vs Ron Bass -3/4* (5/27/88)
20. Dominic DeNucci vs Larry Sharpe -1/2* (11/29/81)
21. SD Jones vs The Hangman -1/2* (2/25/81)
22. David Sammartino vs Tiger Chung Lee -1/2* (5/24/86) 
23. Jake Roberts vs Andre The Giant -1/2* (4/2/89)
24. Sika vs Moondog Spot -1/2* (2/15/87)
25. Chief Jay Strongbow vs Superstar Billy Graham -1/2* (11/25/82)
26. Rene Goulet vs The Hangman -1/2* (8/9/80)
27. Salvatore Bellomo vs Swede Hanson -1/2* (9/18/82)
28. Billy Jack Haynes vs Nikolai Volkoff -1/2* (10/16/87)
29. Dominic DeNucci & Steve King vs Afa & Sika -1/4* (1/23/80)
30. Johnny Rodz vs Mr. Fuji -1/4* (4/30/83)