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Dark Pegasus Video Review: The Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The 80’s DVD, Disc Three
Jimmy was impressed by watching a lot of the local Fiji guys work out. He talks about guys like Mil Mascaras and the Iron Sheik. Oddly enough, he has the exact opposite story of everyone else. Usually, it’s “my parents hated it and didn’t want me to do it, but I had the itch”. Here it’s “my mom got me into it.”
Snuka’s big move was the Superfly Splash, and he was the first mainstream wrestler to do things like that. He got his start by diving off the cliffs in Fiji to entertain tourists. That’s also where he got the name “Superfly”.
Vince Sr. came calling. He says he was shaking the first time he saw Madison Square Garden. Jim Ross talks about Jimmy having no fear. Spike Dudley says he was a big muscle-bound guy at a time when a lot of guys weren’t like that. They talk a bit about him wrestling barefoot. Lawler says there was a time when Snuka was the hottest guy in wrestling.
Snuka had memorable feuds with Magnificent Muraco and Roddy Piper. We see clips from the infamous Piper’s Pit where Roddy busts a coconut over Snuka’s head. Piper says he was scared that Snuka was going to get up and come after him.
On to another moment that everyone remembers: the steel cage match with Don Muraco. Snuka says they got it on the second he got in there. He went up, intending to perform the Superfly Splash, but then he decided to go all the way up to the top of the cage! Jim Ross says that it was one of the most groundbreaking events in wrestling history.
Orton has the “other” story. That being that his dragged him around to all the shows where he met a bunch of the guys. He credits Jack Brisco for teaching him the psychology of wrestling and Hiro Matsuda for teaching him to wrestle.
Eventually, Orton wound up in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. Roddy Piper says that Orton was so good that he made it look too easy. Orton says he tried to mold his own style. He says his size forced him to do things that no one else did.
His technical skills led him to be brought in to the WWF and partnered with old friend Roddy Piper as his body guard. Orton and Piper shave Haiti Kid’s head in one Piper’s Pit. Orton says he was so hated that he sometimes had to sneak out of the building in an ambulance. We see Paul Orndorff and him kicking the crap out of some guy on a New York City street for “getting cute.”
Talk turns to the infamous cast that he wore for nearly two years. Despite the fact that numerous doctors say he’s okay to take the cast off, Piper and Orton vehemently insist that his arm is still fractured. Obviously, Orton used the hard plaster cast as a weapon to piss off the fans.
Onto WrestleMania. Orton thought it would be big, but he didn’t know it would be as big as it was. Orton was in Piper and Orndorff’s corner for the main event and accidentally cost his own team the match. Oops.
The Iron Sheik was born Hussein Kosraw Vasori in Iran. He was such a talented wrestler, he became a bodyguard for the Shah. He eventually defected to the U.S. and joined up with the AWA where guys like Bockwinkel, Snuka and Muraco taught him the differences between amateur and pro wrestling.
That led to the WWWF and a series with Bob Backlund, Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino. It was off to various territories for a few years, including the Mid-Atlantic Territory. When the Ayatollah gained fame during the hostage crisis, Vince Sr. called him and put him over Bob Backlund for the title. Sheik says they were both “shooters” in the ring.
A month later, he was to drop it to Hulk Hogan, but Verne Gagne offered him a $100,000 to break Hulk’s leg and come back to the AWA with the belt. Despite feeling a touch of loyalty to Gagne, Sheik says as a Muslim he cannot cut off the hand that feeds him. He says that Vince Sr. was so good to him that he wouldn’t have done it for $100 million. This is actually the first time I’ve ever actually heard him confirm that story.
He says that he is the one who turned Hulk Hogan into Michael Jordan. But enough of that, Sgt. Slaughter came calling next for a brutal series of matches. Sheik puts over what a great talker and worker Slaughter was.
After that, Sheik slipped down into the tag scene, teaming up with Nikolai Volkoff. Sheik and Volkoff wound up beating the U.S. Express for the WWF Tag Team Titles. He says Volkoff was the perfect partner for him. We see him trying to teach Nikolai to ride a camel.
Sheik departed after a marijuana possession charge (in which he was arrested with archrival Hacksaw Jim Duggan). He had a few years in WCW before calling it quits. He later returned to the WWE in 2001 and won the gimmick battle royal. In 2004, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Cole yadda, yadda, yaddas Orndorff’s early history. Orndorff say you can’t be in it for the money or the exposure, you have to love it. He had a tough time being trained by the Briscos, Hiro Matsuda and Bob Backlund. He made his mark in Georgia, but they wanted to tie him up long-term for little money.
Instead, he accepted an offer from the WWF. He says that Vince had the best talent in the world, plus he had the vision to put WrestleMania together. He talks about being in the main event at the first WrestleMania. Orndorff loses the fall, prompting Roddy Piper and Bob Orton to turn on him. He says that Bob Orton told him to learn his craft as best he could.
That led to a partnership with Hulk Hogan. That is until Hogan and Orndorff had to team up against Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. Orndorff felt Hogan was behaving selfishly, so he attacked him. Orndorff was immediately accepted by the heels.
Orndorff says that he could kick Hogan’s ass, either in the ring or outside. He says he didn’t care that people hated him, he went to the bank. It all led to a big cage match in 1987, which Orndorff lost.
After that, it was on to WCW as a wrestler and trainer. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.
Again, he already has his own set. Why not use this for someone else? It’s kind of a Cliff’s Notes version of the Hulk Still Rules DVD. Hogan was playing a set with a band in Tampa when Jack and Jerry Brisco came in. They told him that he should consider wrestling.
They introduced him to Hiro Matsuda who broke his leg just to see what he’d do. He came back about 10 weeks later. He quit when he didn’t make much money. The Briscos called him and introduced him to Vince Sr. Vince Sr. loved Irish gimmicks, so he gave him the name “Hogan.” Hogan had a brief run with Andre and then went off to New Japan. Then, it was on to the AWA and Rocky III.
Vince Jr. called and pitched him an idea to come back. Hogan says he just wanted to do one good year and retire, but one turned into ten. He says he was the only guy to carry the burden in the 1980’s.
He talks about WrestleMania being the Super Bowl. He’s not too fond of Mania II because Bundy hurt him badly. He says he knew they could take wrestling as far as they wanted after WrestleMania III. He talks about filming “No Holds Barred” around the time of WrestleMania IV. He took some time off, but came back in time to win the WWF Title from Macho Man Randy Savage at WrestleMania V. Things started to wind down, though. Vince put Yokozuna over Hogan to kill Hulkamania once and for all…in theory.
Hogan came back, this time to WCW, and formed the nWo with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Yadda, yadda, yadda, it’s 2002. Hogan returns for matches with the Rock and Vince McMahon.
Gene talks about wrestlers of the past paving the way for the guys today.
There is your main program.
No pinfalls. The only way to win is out the door (or, over top I assume). Snuka is hesitant to get in, so Backlund goes right after him and stomps him in the head. Backlund headbutts Snuka, which isn’t the brightest idea. Snuka fires back with chops and goes for the door. Backlund drags him back to center. Snuka makes him pay with a kneedrop and a forearm off the second-rope. Backlund latches on to his ankle to keep him from leaving. Backlund reverses a whip, sending Snuka facefirst into the cage. Snuka is busted open. Backlund doesn’t care, though. OPIE GONE BAD! He slingshots Snuka into the cage and rakes his face across the chain link. Bob goes for the door too early, and Snuka gives him a back kick to take over. Snuka drops a series of knees. He climbs all the way to the top of the cage and…MISSES THE SPLASH! Backlund squirms his way out the door at 11:23. I’m sure it was considered a classic in its day, but this was pure liquid boredom until the end. It does have historical significance, though, both as a title match and because of Snuka’s antics. **
They blur out the “WWF” part of the graphics. This is Vince Jr.’s first big move after taking the reigns from Vince Sr. Sheik jumps right on top of Backlund and chokes him out with his cape. Or is it a shawl? Sheik goes after Backlund’s back, injured by the Sheik’s lifting clubs in an earlier attack. That segues to a long series of armbars. Backlund catches him with a hiptoss but hurts himself. Sheik goes back to the arm and a back with a surfboard. Backlund headbutts him to come back, but he can’t get him over for a suplex. Sheik grabs a double-chickenwing, then a surfboard. Backlund goes to the eyes, so Sheik begs off. Backlund collapses under a slam and nearly gets counted down. Sheik goes back to the surfboard stretch. Backlund rolls the surfboard into a pin for two. He tries a backslide, but he’s too hurt to get Sheik over. Sheik misses an elbowdrop. Backlund slips over him on a suplex and rolls him up, but Sheik powers out. Backlund has an injured neck, so Sheik slaps on the Camel Clutch. Arnold Skaaland tosses in the towel after a few seconds, handing the title over to the Sheik at 11:46. Polar opposite to what Hogan would usher in a few weeks later. **
Orndorff makes anti-Italian comments and insults Gene Okerlund in the pre-match promo. He takes forever to get in the ring, and when he does, he and Piper complain about Bellomo’s kneebrace for three or four minutes. Finally, the ref lays a count on. Piper distracts Bellomo long enough for Orndorff to jump him from behind and beat him within an inch of his life. He drives his knee into Bellomo’s back over and over again. Piper animatedly talks trash. A big backdrop gets two, and both Piper and Orndorff complain about the count. Bellomo counters a bodyslam for two. Bellomo starts to flail away with dropkicks. Orndorff misses an elbowdrop, and Bellomo grabs a wristlock. Bellomo starts to outwrestle Orndorff on the mat as Piper whines like a child. Orndorff finally gets frustrated and tosses Bellomo to the outside near Piper. Piper taunts Bellomo until Orndorff comes out and bodyslams Bellomo on the concrete floor. Back in, Orndorff suplexes him over for two. Bellomo kicks desperately at him, but Orndorff grabs him and stomps him in the stomach. Orndorff goes up…and misses a kneedrop. Bellomo fires away and splashes his knees to hurt them even further. Bellomo cartwheels away from Orndorff, but Paul catches him with a bodyslam. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Orndorff picks him up at two and finishes with the piledriver at 14:05. About four of that was stalling. The rest was okay, though. *3/4
This is, of course, the match that changed the face of wrestling as we know it. Hogan goes at him right at the bell. He clotheslines the Sheik with his own robe and chokes him with it. Hogan rakes Sheik’s eyes and chokelifts him. A big boot gets two. Sheik dodges a corner charge and starts stomping Hogan in the back. Sheik turns him over into a Boston Crab. When that doesn’t work, Sheik gutwrenches him over for two. He slaps on the Camel Clutch, but Hogan powers out, rams the Sheik to the corner and finishes with the big boot at 5:39. *
This is part of the undercard for “The War to Settle the Score”. It’s a month away from the first WrestleMania, and Orton is seconding Piper and Orndorff while Snuka is seconding Hogan and Mr. T. Orton starts out shoving Snuka around, but Snuka whips him into the corner and crotches him on the top rope. Snuka headlocks him for a bit, and they do a crisscross. Snuka works in his double leapfrog, but Orton bails out of the ring before Snuka can hit him with a double chop. Snuka chases him back in the ring and gets the double chop for two. Sticktoitiveness. Orton tries a reverse leapfrog a la the Superfly, but Snuka catches him with an atomic drop. Snuka goes back to the headlock, but Orton counters with an atomic drop of his own. Nice. He drags Snuka’s throat across the ring apron and drops an elbow on him. Okerlund is pissed about that. Orton brings Snuka back in with a vertical suplex. He goes up for a splash, but Snuka gets his knees up. Snuka shoots back with chops and a thrust kick. The fans beg for a Superfly Splash, but Snuka opts instead to go to the second rope. Orton rolls out of the way of a fistdrop. Snuka tosses him into the ringpost, injuring Orton’s arm (giving him his gimmick). Snuka slingshots himself into a sunset flip and rolls Orton up for the pin at 10:58. This match was pretty fun, with technician Orton trying to do Jimmy’s moves and Snuka being content to ground the match for the first portion before getting fired up. ***
Orton has his arm in a sling as a result of the Snuka match. Piper and Hogan fire away at one another. Hogan wins that one and gets a corner elbow. We have a Piper doon! The referee nearly has to stop the match to clear out all the names that Gene Okerlund is dropping. Piper reverses a corner whip and gets a clothesline. Piper grabs a sleeper, which Gorilla and Gene are convinced is a choke. Hogan drops Piper’s face on the turnbuckle to counter. Orton tries to interfere, but Hogan bangs his injured arm on the turnbuckle. Paul Orndorff comes out as Hogan makes his usual comeback. Piper knocks Hogan into the referee, allowing Orndorff to drop a knee on Hogan’s chest. They both start stomping his ass, so Cindy Lauper gets on the apron. They’re about to go after her until Mr. T gets in the ring. Hogan and Mr. T clear the ring. Piper, Orndorff and Orton try to get back in the ring, but the NYPD drags them away. There was no real closing bell, but the match was about 8:00 or so. **
And there’s your 3-Discs.
Final Thoughts: First, the bad news. I know that Hogan and Flair were the two biggest stars of the 1980’s, but as I said before, they already have five discs between them. They would have been better served by doing a profile on Magnum T.A., or the Freebirds, or the Von Erichs. If they wanted to stay closer to home, how about Jake Roberts? Ted Dibiase? Curt Hennig? The main programs vary from person to person. Sometimes they’re doing kayfabed, sometimes they’re not. Paul Orndorff’s already done a shoot interview. So has Arn. So has Ricky Steamboat. So most of the main program is either fluff or rehash with better production values. Like most of the recent WWE DVDs, the real reason to get this is the matches. A pristine copy of the Chi-Town Rumble main event is nearly reason enough. As a whole, though, it comes off a little flatter than I’d hoped.
Mild Recommendation for “The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 1980’s”
J.D. Dunn
