The WWF tends to get a little sleepy after WrestleMania, though there was still plenty of goodness going on in the summer of 1986: Hulkamania was running wild, Harley Race had just entered the territory, Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts was heating up, and the Macho Man was on a loop in Boston with Hulk. He won by countout last time, so here’s the return match.
Gorilla Monsoon and Mean Gene Okerlund are on commentary.
1. Mike Rotundo & Dan Spivey vs. Tiger Chung Lee & Les Thornton
As the WWF tag team division was getting more love thanks to the British Bulldogs and Hart Foundation, the WWF added a lot of teams to the roster like The Killer Bees and The Rougeau Brothers… plus, the returning Mike Rotundo & the I-guess-he-was-already-there Danny Spivey. Spivey had one of the odder WWF tenures, essentially replacing Barry Windham as blonde guy who teams with Rotundo. the name is different but the shtick is the same, right down to the bulldog. Terry Funk begat Jimmy Jack Funk, Superfly Snuka begat Tonga Kid and Sivi Afi, and the practice officially jumped the shark when Rick Bogner and Glenn Jacobs replaced Razor Ramon and Diesel nearly 10 years later. Before this tag run, Spivey showed up in the WWF wearing yellow trunks and doing a legdrop too. And after earning very little success on both these runs, he showed up a decade later and became Waylon Mercy. What a run. Also, he did a really bad dropkick. Like spectacularly bad. Basically just took a back bump.
The match? The match is OK. I prefer a generic tag match opening a Boston Garden show to Moondog Spot chinlocks. Rotundo and Spivey charge out with an American flag while what has to be Born in the USA is dubbed over. Chung Lee and Thornton bump around for the good guys and it’s all fine. They get a little offense, but not really. **
2. Harley Race vs. Tony Atlas
Handsome Harley Race has arrived in the WWF and like Hoss Funk, seeing his shtick in the WWF ring feels… odd. Ol’ Dory’s uppercuts and headlocks felt old-fashioned even in 1986, while him being forced to do stuff like run the ropes just seemed like it made nobody happy. And he never really got over Terry leaving and not picking up that slack. Harley’s stuff kind of works – it’s different, but his desire to brainbuster guys on the floor or take awkward bumps over the top rope is a plus, not a minus. He’s not going 30+ anymore, but it adds a unique recklessness to the card. Here he has the match you have when you’re new to the territory – he works over Tony, Tony makes a comeback, then he puts his knees up on a splash and does a basic sunset flip to win. **
3. King Tonga vs. Pete Doherty
King Tonga was getting a little push at this point, bodyslamming Big John Studd on TV and now beating the Duke of Dorchester in 2 minutes with a thrust kick and diving headbutt. *
4. Pedro Morales vs. Moondog Spot
It’s a boring match with no stakes, but these old boys can still run the ropes. They also do a few cradle reverses, which was nice to see. Pedro, at this point the only WWF Grand Slam Champion, does a reverse cradle and wins. *3/4
5. Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts
Jake DDT’d Ricky on the floor at Saturday Night’s Main Event so it is ON. This is a hell of a match, a great brawl with classic Steamboat selling. I mean this guy SELLS. Outside of the classic selling this wouldn’t exactly seem out of place at the end of a mid-90s RAW or Nitro as far as it being a bunch of punching in front of a hyped up crowd, but these are two legends either on the brink of or experiencing their absolute primes and it is a sight to see. Steamboat does an amazing thing where Roberts throws him over the top rope and his arm gets trapped on the bottom rope, so he just helplessly hangs there. Jake eventually grabs the snake and charges at Steamboat, but Steamboat sweeps his legs with his hand and Jake basically dropkicks the top rope. The Snake eventually sneaks a countout victory but they brawl afterwards and Roberts get busted open. ***1/2
6. WWF World Heavyweight Title: Hulk Hogan [c] vs. Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth
The Macho Man push at the Boston Garden in 1986 was some serious business: beats IC Champ Tito Santana by countout in February, wins the IC Title from Tito in February, keeps the IC Title from Tito via DQ in March, takes April off, beats WWF Champ Hulk Hogan by countout in May, and is now challenging him once again.
The match last month was awesome, this not so much. Everything feels big but it’s less than 10 minutes long and very much the Hogan match you were warned about: Savage attacks at the bell, attacks attacks attacks, drops the elbow, kickout, Hulk-Up, boot, bodyslam, legdrop. The best part was when Hulk put on Savage’s sunglasses. **3/4
Adrian Adonis (in hat, wig and dress) runs out post-match and attacks Hogan with Savage, but Hogan fights back. He poses, of course, and obviously he puts the wig on too.
7. Billy Jack Haynes vs. Moondog Rex
Terrible. The crowd begins the boring heckles almost immediately, then just goes silent. Every movement Billy Jack looks like it’s a few degrees off, and not in a cool wrestling character way but in an uncoordinated safety hazard way. Poor Rex meanwhile is a blank slate of a guy sent out there to take some stuff from the new guy. Full nelson wins it. DUD
8. Junkyard Dog vs. King Kong Bundy
What struck me most about this match was that JYD was essentially treated like an equal, trading punches with big Bundy. Bundy also sells his singlet off for the JYD headbutts, which is too good. The match is nothing pretty and there’s a sizable chunk of its’ 7 minutes that is both guys fighting over a chain, but it’s a unique match between two stars and Bundy selling the headbutts is better than many matches rated higher. Danny Davis DQ’s JYD for throwing him during the chain scuffle, then gets hit with the Big Thump. *3/4
9. Paul Orndorff vs. Magnificent Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji
This is a match where these two guys sweat profusely but the thing is mostly an Orndorff armbar and a Muraco nerve hold. They have a 20-minute time limit but at 15 minutes Orndorff does an inside cradle, the bell rings at a 2-count, and the match ruling is that the time elapsed but Orndorff is the winner. I dunno what to tell you. **
Jake the Snake vs. Ricky the Dragon is fantastic, but this is a low-tier WWF house show that is redeemed by having a lot of intriguing things on paper like Harley, Hogan/Savage, and JYD/Bundy. None of it really delivers though. 3/10
