This is three matches from the 11/10/85 TV taping at Maple Leaf Gardens. Taped on the show were a few squashes, The Hart Foundation vs. Tony Atlas & Ivan Putski, and the Canadian Title match for Prime Time Wrestling. Poor All-American Wrestling got Cousin Junior vs. Moondog Spot. And we, the lucky WWE Network fans, get the Andre tag as an EXCLUSIVE!
There were THREE shows going on in this day. In Cincinnati, OH, Don Muraco vs. Ricky Steamboat worked on top along with the Dream Team, Randy Savage, George Steele, and the Iron Sheik. In Columbus OH, 4,000 fans saw Tito Santana defended the IC Title against Terry Funk on top, along with Piper vs. Orndorff, Cowboy Bob, Pedro Morales, and the Bulldogs.
Truthfully, any show that has a Maple Leaf Gardens ramp is automatically a good show.
1. Andre the Giant & Hillbilly Jim vs. Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
Studd and Bundy are now being promoted as The Team That Can’t Be Slammed. Bobby is truly a weasel, grabbing the mic after the intro and saying, “One thing I’d like to mention… I’m also Manager of the Year.” Andre the Giant coming out to the hillbilly music is a real trip. The match is such beautiful simple bullshit – Andre choke, Andre do butt thing in corner, Studd and Bundy beat up Andre, Bundy run into Andre boot. Bundy’s bump for that boot truly is special. The match goes on and it’s pretty boring – lots of long holds, bad guys beating up good guys, good guys firing back. Nothing spectacular but it’s 1985 man and this is WORKING. Outside of the restlessness of the crowd at points. The match ends when Studd slams a TABLE over Andre’s head and everyone goes into a hushed silence as Andre goes down and doesn’t get back up – the DRAMA! **3/4
Bundy and Studd are DQ’d, but Bundy raises his arm proudly as they walk to the back. The damage is done, damnit. Andre gets a full, LOOOONG “he’s not moving, Jess” angle post-match, with doctors and Jim surrounding him. A stretcher is eventually rolled out for the giant and it’s pretty intense but also lasts like 35 minutes.
2. Cousin Junior vs. Moondog Spot
This is 10 minutes of a couple fellas in denim running basic spots. Rope-running, baby! It’s fine. But – why? Cousin Junior’s awkward sunset flip into the ring kind of makes it all worth it but there’s not much here. Spot throws a hell of a kneelift towards the end, I guess. 10 minutes, man. C’mon. *1/2
3. Canadian International Heavyweight Title: Dino Bravo [c] vs. Nikolai Volkoff
This isn’t a good match but because it was here I got to learn about the Canadian International Heavyweight Title so I am glad it was here. Bravo had come to the WWF in September, a part of a working agreement with the Montreal territory that was founded by Andre the Giant and former WWWF wrestler Louis Cerdan (Gino Brito), and was now owned by Brito, Dino Bravo and Rick Martel. On the Canada shows, Bravo worked as the Canadian champ. A few months later Vince cancelled a planned show headlined by Bravo/Hogan and Bravo quit, Vince took over the Montreal territory, the Canadian Title went away, and Bravo eventually came back. TIL.
Anyways – seeing Dino with black hair versus the blonde he came to be known for is crazy. Otherwise, this kind of sucks. There’s some fun parts – Dino gets on an armbar that Volkoff SCREAMS for, at one point Dino pnches Volkoff in the dick which Gorilla calls as the “short ribs.” But Nikolai’s beatdown is ugly and there’s no charisma from Dino to make up for it. Stupid finish too, a double rollup that Dino lifts a shoulder on. The crowd popped when prompted, but no good no good. *3/4
This isn’t really worth anyone’s time, but it’s also 48-minutes and 3 matches so whatever. The tag is alright, and seeing Andre get the stretcher job was wild, even if it went on forever. Pretty crap show though. 2/10
