This show aired on the New England Sports Network, with everything but Savage/Tito and the show-ender tag airing on either Prime Time Wrestling or All-American Wrestling. The other show on this evening took place at the Philadelphia Spectrum and was highlighted by Hogan & Andre vs. Bundy, Studd & Heenan, Muraco vs. Steamboat in a Judo Jacket Match, and the British Bulldogs vs. The Dream Team.
1. Leaping Lanny Poffo vs. Terry Gibbs
This is a classic WWF 80s opener in the worst possible way, with a 5-minute armbar right in the middle of it. Surrounding that is a lot of real basic stuff that vaguely works but ultimately bores. Fired up Lanny towards the end is some good stuff and his moonsault flips the crowd the fuck out. One of those crap matches that still kind of worked for its place on the card. *1/4
2. Scott McGhee vs. Moondog Spot
Scott McGhee had a few features on TNT around this time but was a complete blindspot for me in the annals of WWF history. He’s very much a guy they brought in to fill out these undercards who was technically proficient but bland as dry chicken. He keeps going back to an armbar here and the crowd gets restless. Spot meanwhile is a fine enough weirdo 80s rassler – he scratches his head a lot because he’s a dirty fuck and throws in some cool cut-offs as he works over McGhee. Regardless, this thing goes like 15 minutes and there’s a lot of long holds and it’s just not right. *1/2
3. Cousin Luke vs. Les Thornton
Les Thornton was a Brit who Vince brought in as he raided Georgia and is a lot like McGhee in that he’d probably make a fine trainer but doesn’t make a mark in a ring made for superstars. This is short, so even though it stinks it’s not very offensive. Some terrible knee lifts are thrown by Cousin Luke though, I mean just god awful. No wonder Vince stayed away from technical guys for so long – as sound as they are, McGhee and Thornton nearly kill the business early in this show. Don’t worry – Bruno will be here soon. 1/2*
4. WWE Intercontinental Title: Tito Santana [c] vs. Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth
This is a mid-80s WWF midcard dream match, though maybe it’s not such a dream since it happened a lot. The matches are always good fun though, with Savage amped up to be wrestling’s next big star and Tito Santana the most classic of all babyfaces. Savage, wearing a long red robe, and Liz, wearing a sequined red dress, are led to the ring by policemen and look like such stars. Savage is what we’d call a good heel – the first few minutes here see him put Elizabeth in front of him and stall, stall, stall. When Tito manages to slam his head into the turnbuckle, Savage goes flying and the people go nuts.
The bulk of the match sees Savage in control, as will happen, and he alternates between keeping things moving with intensity and taunts and wearing Tito down with HOLDS. The crowd meanwhile alternates between being fixated on this superstar Randy Savage and rooting for their boy Tito Santana.
There’s a weird moment where the ref calls for the bell while Tito’s in a sleeper, then waves it off. Savage takes a huge bump into the ropes as he tries to squash Tito on them which the crowd loses their shit for. Tito mounts a comeback, then Savage pushes Liz down and Ventura incredulously exclaims of Tito. “Did he push her down!?” Savage uses the confusion to throw Tito over barricade and sneaks in for a countout victory but no IC Title. Savage storms to the back, leaving Liz by herself. Good solid stuff from two all-time professionals but nothing spectacular. ***1/4
5. Bruno Sammartino & “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper & Cowboy Bob Orton
In this era of six and a quarter stars, sometimes it’s nice to see just a good old-fashioned brawl between four over stars that has the crowd going crazy the entire time. The premise is simple: Bruno is a grandpa but still the man. Mr. Wonderful is wearing a cast just like Cowboy Bob. Piper and Bob are jerks who bump like loons when it’s time to (Piper at one point also gets his pants pulled down and shows his ass). And the crowd is buzzing like a beehive the entire time.
There’s a fun spot where Orndorff whips Orton into the corner, Orton bumps huge, Orndorff hits Piper with the cast and crawls to Bruno, and Orton tags Piper but Piper falls down to the floor first because he just got hit with the cast. A heat segment on Orndorff leads to an ultra-hot Bruno tag. There’s no invention here but there doesn’t have to be. The only major issue I had with it was that Bruno and Piper were wearing the same shade of blue and Orndorff and Orton the same shade of red. What’s up with that? ***1/2
6. Pedro Morales vs. Terry Funk w/ Jimmy Hart
It’s always fun to see Terry Funk make choices and do his thing when he’s given 15 minutes to kill. Terry Funk is phantom boxing, yelling at people who are flipping him off, hiding behind the ref, throwing Pedro over the top onto commentary, swatting at Gorilla Monsoon, swinging wildly as Pedro chokes him with tape, pushing the wooden steps over and then HIDING UNDER THEM, bumping huge for Pedro’s left hands, doing his hang-upside-down-on-the-ropes thing, and showing off his pale white ass – anything he can do to get the people going. And it all works. Pedro wasn’t much at this point but this was the Terry Funk Show so it really doesn’t matter. Funk hits Pedro with a megaphone without the ref seeing (even though he did – then he tries to kick trash out of the ring to act distracted) and pins him. Solid match, masterful Terry Funk performance. ***1/4
7. George Wells vs. “Iron” Mike Sharpe
Hey there, it’s Former All-Star Canadian Football Player George Wells! The best part of this match is Sharpe stopping the announcer to introduce himself as Canada’s greatest athlete, which leads to Gorilla and Ventura talking up “pizza face” (Jesse’s words) Dino Bravo. Sharpe growling as he moves is fun, otherwise this is a real crap match. Lots of shifts in momentum but not in a good wrestling way, just in a nobody is getting anything going way. Lots of scattered boring chants, too. Sharpe is an interesting guy but a total stiff and it doesn’t match up with Wells who was always destined to be known as guy who lost to Jake the Snake at WrestleMania 2. DUD
8. Junkyard Dog & Corporal Kirchner vs. Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff
Gorilla calls Kirchner “tentative” in the ring, which I think is a nice way of saying he stinks. This is a pretty basic tag match that gets over enough but has real crap execution by the good guys, and Volkoff for that matter. Sheiky Baby still looks great. **
There’s some real trash here but the middle is solid. Nothing must-see but fun stuff from the usual mid-80s WWF suspects: Savage, Tito, Piper and Funk. Bruno is the man too. 4/10
