On the Marc Reviews: The Best of the WWF, Vol. 3

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This was released sometime in late-1985.

This is the third installment in this series, released by Coliseum Home Video (the old VHS collection of the WWF). They put a series of eclectic matches from the time period. Some of the matches are clipped because they are far too long to fit on a VHS tape (remember they only lasted about two hours running time on SP [Standard Play], which all video releases were).

Vince McMahon hosts the video from another corner of the WWF Event Center.

Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper Fijian Strap match:   Pinfalls are the only way to end this match; it is not a “touch all four corners” match. Jesse Ventura is on solo commentary. Piper takes FOREVER to strap to Snuka. Finally Snuka pulls him towards him and slaps him with the strap to the wrist and leg. Piper misses a wild strap swing; they lock straps and have a sort-of test of strength with the strap. Superfly wins and chokes Piper on his back with the strap; Piper breaks using the eye gouge. Piper straps Snuka’s back and throat; he deliberately works Snuka over until he takes out the legs and chokes him with the strap. Piper retreats to the floor but Superfly pulls him back in the ring via strap; a whip into a strap-assisted chop floor Piper again. He whips the tar out of Piper with the strap. Piper to the floor again and they have a tug-of-war, Piper loses and gets drug back in the ring, where Snuka wins a fisticuffs battle. Snuka chokes him again with the strap; Piper fades to the mat and thumbs Snuka’s eyes while the referee counts a nearfall. Roddy fires back on Jimmy’s back and then whips him a bunch of times with the strap; he tries a head-butt, which is no-sold, the strap works much better, though. They trade blows again, Piper tries to ram Snuka into the buckle… hasn’t he learned? The eye rake proves much more efficient. Superfly retreats to the floor but Piper joins him but Snuka pulls the strap and Piper goes face first into the ringpost. Piper catches Snuka reentering the ring but the Superfly fires back with punches and a huge leaping head-butt; Snuka is on fire as he heads to the top for a top-rope crossbody and gets a THREE count! Wow, Piper RARELY loses (especially by pinfall); Piper attacks Snuka from behind and hangs him by the throat with the strap and chokes him out. 6/10 Not a bad match but WAY TOO short for such a blood feud; Piper lost by pinfall, which you can count on one hand, how many times that has transpired, he still leaves with his heat intact though, as the post-match beat-down regained it for him.

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton:   Orton is Randy Orton’s daddy and is the kayfabe bodyguard for Roddy Piper at this point in his WWF career; he also has a cast on his forearm from an injury that never heals. This match should kick ass; Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund are the commentators. Ricky complains about Orton’s cast; he floors Steamboat with a shoulderblock but he comes back with his patented arm drag (on the “injured” wrist). He applies an arm winger and drives Orton to his knees; he chops the arm and hammer-tosses him cross-corner. He crumples to the mat where Steamboat maintains the arm; Orton nips-up and threatens with the clinched fist (illegal) so the referee breaks it up. He tries again, this time Ricky blocks it and maintains his arm wringer and drives it down to a hammerlock. Steamboat busts out a painful looking move as he hammerlocks the arm with his feet and drops straight onto his back, bending the arm awkwardly outwards. Ouch. Then he does it again! He drops a fist onto it; Orton erects himself and catches Ricky with a boot. He Irish whips him but it is reversed and he gets chopped. ARM DRAG! Back to the armbar; Orton comes back with a bodyslam. Steamboat gets to his feet quicker than Orton can shake out his arm and bodyslams him. ARM DRAG! He reapplies the armbar; we lightly clip forward with Orton still in the hold, he gets to his feet and sneaks in a head-butt in the corner. Orton then flings Ricky out of the corner and hits a beautiful flying head scissors; he tries again but Ricky ducks and Orton sails out over the top rope, into the guardrail on the floor. Orton steal’s some ringsider’s Pepsi (I wonder if it was CM Punk’s) and tosses it into Steamboat’s face. Orton comes back with a punch and rams him into the turnbuckles. He unloads with a Samoan facebuster and a knee lift; he continues to sell Steamboat’s earlier arm work shaking out his arm a few times between moves. Nice continuity. Orton with a neck wrench driving Steamboat to the floor; he whiplashes the neck and delivers an elbow drop for a nearfall. He settles into a chinlock but misses a cast-amplified forearm drop; the referee gets in his face about using the cast as a weapon. Steamboat recovers with chops but tries a bodyslam but collapses under the weight, which happens in EVERY Steamboat match. Orton reapplies a side headlock and drives him down with an uranage-type slam. I see Orton’s “technical knowledge” since he is able to use it here; he uses unique type moves, like Al Snow or Chris Kanyon, to keep the crowd interested, in lieu of using the same five to ten moves that everyone else uses. Ricky blocks a punch and they trade chops and punches; Steamboat gets the advantage and knocks Orton back against the buckles. Orton tries a desperation piledriver but Steamboat has the momentum and backdrops free. The Dragon to the top rope and catches him with a crossbody for a REALLY CLOSE nearfall. Steamboat hits a reverse elbow off a whip and drops a “karate” chop onto him for two. Orton catches him with an inverted atomic drop; he tosses Ricky over the top, that won’t work, as Ricky skins-the-cat back in. Steamboat hits a step-up enziguri knocking Orton to the floor. Steamboat nails him on his way back in the ring, the referee gets between them allowing Orton an eye rake, they tease a suplex to the floor but Steamboat reverses it and suplexes him back into the ring. Ricky tries a high-angle splash, which also never works, it meets Orton’s knees. He adjusts his cast and heads to the top rope; he leaps off the top and bonks Steamboat in the back of the neck with the cast so the referee disqualifies him. Post-match, Orton tries a cheap shot but Steamboat chops the shit out of him and Orton leaves. 8.5/10 Ricky gets two automatic points for his presence; his arm drags add two more. Orton’s no slouch in the ring either so he held up his end of the match. Granted the ending was silly, but the match was outstanding, would any less of these two be expected?

British Bulldogs vs. Rene Goulet & Johnny Rodz:   This is from MSG and Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund, and could be their debut, judging by the mismatch jobber team they’re facing; I’m not quite sure why Rodz is a WWF Hall of Famer since he was used primarily as a jobber for the bulk of his career. Dynamite Kid works a headlock takeover into a head scissors with Goulet; he nips-up into a step-up over and runs the ropes and then shoulderblocks Goulet down. Rene tries a hiptoss but Dynamite turns it into an arm drag. Davey Boy Smith tags in and shoulderblocks the Frenchman and then O’Connor rolls him but Rodz runs in and tosses him over the top; Smith quickly reenters and dropkicks his opponents together. Dynamite adds a shot from the apron and Rodz flails to escape the Bulldogs’ wrath. Rodz now legally tags in and gets a knee and a slam to Davey Boy; he tries to go up top but Davey catches him and Flairs him off the second rope. Smith then drops a missile dropkick; Goulet tries to run in from behind but Dynamite catches him with a missile dropkick (over Davey Boy) as well! They ram Rodz and Goulet’s heads together and Dynamite tags in. SNAP SUPLEX! A gutwrench suplex gets two; Dynamite snapmares him and applies a chinlock in the Bulldog side of the ring. Rodz breaks free and tags in Goulet; Rene slams him in the corner. Goulet butterflies Dynamite’s arms allowing Rodz to come off the top with a double sledge; Johnny Rodz hits a vertical suplex and a diving head-butt. Rodz slams Dynamite but misses another leaping head-butt. Davey Boy gets the tag but he gets caught with a questionable lowish blow. Goulet arrives and he boots away on Smith; release gutwrench suplex gets two. Rene hits a knee to the gut; boy, jobber teams got a lot of offense back in 1985. He tosses him into the turnbuckle and tags in Rodz who hits a reverse elbow, he misses a legdrop and Smith retaliates with a delayed vertical suplex. Rene comes in, Dynamite Kid legally tags in, and head-butts Rodz and then Goulet. Rodz takes over again and they hit a double clothesline; Rene tries to force Dynamite into a pinfall but he bridges, they work in the spot where Goulet tries to drop knees onto Dynamite’s bridge, but it has no affect; he drops Rene with a lucha monkey flip and tags in Davey Boy. He backdrops Goulet and he scampers and tags in Rodz who leaps off the top and misses Smith by about ten feet. Davey plants him in the Bulldog powerslam; Goulet runs in but Davey hoists him up in a fireman’s carry. Dynamite gets the tag and LEAPS off of Goulet’s back (still in the fireman’s carry) to deliver a swandive head-butt to Rodz for three. Post-match Davey Boy drops Goulet in an Attitude Adjustment. 6/10 It was supposed to be a squash match but the jobber team got a shit-ton of offense in for a really long match (for what they were going for); the ending was never in doubt but the ride was pretty good.

British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart):   This was from MSG, on July 13, 1985; Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes are on commentary. This was shortly after the Hart Foundation formed and they are in all black with red piping; the pink didn’t come into fruition until 1987. Bret looks REALLY young here. This match is on the Bret “Hitman” Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be DVD, available by clicking here. I will review the DVD version since it is complete and unedited. Yeah, they leave the previous jobber match intact (which is actually good on its own merits) but this match will far surpass it in terms of match quality. This should be good. Bret and Dynamite start off and Dynamite gets a few arm drags. They go through a hammerlock reversal sequence; Bret gets the advantage but Dynamite runs around the ring and momentums Hart to the floor. Bret gets annoyed so he tags out to the Anvil; Dynamite tries a couple of shoulderblocks and comes out on the negative side. Neidhart drops his head on a backdrop and Dynamite kicks him in the face and he tags in Davey Boy. They double whip him and drop him with a shoulderblock; Jimmy Hart complains to Gorilla and Alfred about the double team, Monsoon gets a swipe at him. Anvil retains control with a test of strength move but Davey fights back and almost wins but Anvil backs him into the ropes; he fires him off and tries a backdrop but Davey Boy rolls over his back and dropkicks him out to the floor. Bret gets another tag and he knee lifts Davey; the Harts return the double teaming with a double reverse elbow. The Anvil stomps away and they team up for a Demolition Decapitation. The Hitman teases the crowd with his signature taunt; Neidhart sledges Davey down. Smith avoids a clothesline but not a knee to the gut; Neidhart holds Davey up for a running dropkick from Bret. The Foundation quick tag on Davey Boy until Bret tries for a backbreaker and Davey flips out of it and bodyslams him. Hart grabs the tights to cut off the tag; Bret now connects with his pendulum backbreaker. Davey slips in his crucifix but Anvil breaks it up. Monsoon mentions Bret, Davey Boy and Dynamite’s past history (although he does not say where) and blames their dissolution on Jimmy Hart. Bret slams Davey down from a seated position by the hair. The Harts miscommunicate and Dynamite gets the tag; the Kid whips them together and hits that running clothesline, which Chris Benoit would use throughout his career. Dynamite head-butts Neidhart and backdrops him; he drops a stalling head-butt on Bret. He continues his dominance with a knee drop and tosses Bret into the corner for his chest first bump. Anvil interrupts the count so Dynamite hits a missile dropkick. Davey Boy receives a tag and he plants Bret with the Bulldog powerslam; Anvil makes the save again. An inside cradle is broken up by Neidhart as well. Davey Boy goes for an O’Connor roll but Bret ducks and Smith spills to the floor; Neidhart pummels him there. Dynamite runs in and beats on Bret Hart in the ring, the referee pushes Dynamite out of the ring as the Anvil puts Smith back into the ring so Bret slaps on a Boston crab; Dynamite makes the save so the Anvil waltzes in and applies another Boston crab and Dynamite nails him as well. Neidhart is fresher so he drops a forearm onto Smith’s inner thigh and puts him in a chinlock. Davey Boy counters a powerslam into a sloppy backslide but Bret prevents a pinfall. Anvil continues to dominate and brings in the Hitman; they go through a series of reversals to an O’Connor roll and wind up near the Bulldog’s corner but Hart cuts off the tag again. Bret uses the top rope to clothesline Davey but he rolls over and hits a running dropkick. Neidhart runs in and drags Smith back to the Foundation corner; Gorilla and Alfred are so fed up, they are begging for the referee to disqualify the Harts. Bret drops some legs and rams him into Neidhart’s leg; Davey Boy sneaks in a sunset flip as the bell rings as the 11 p.m. curfew is reached. The match is ruled a time limit expired draw. 9.5/10 One of the more entertaining tag matches; this is the glory days of tag teaming (1986-1990) and these two teams are at the forefront. The heat segments are great and the Harts knew EVERY cheap heel tag team move in the book. The “tag team” matches of today don’t get nearly enough time to develop so most of the cheap heat tactics are lost in today’s matches. The clipped version probably would have still scored an 8/10 or 8.5/10.

We are at Dr. Sigmund Ziff’s psychiatric offices as they attempt psychotherapy for George Steele; Lou Albano, Steele’s manager, blathers on about his condition. Ziff believes there is a “medulla oblongata” blockage which causes Steele’s condition. The doctor hypnotizes Steele (swinging a watch back-and-forth) as Vince McMahon is there interviewing. I think this is from Tuesday Night Titans. Steele utters “football”. He says “disk”, “turns black” and “teacher”; this goes on for a while until the doctor concludes that one of his teachers called him a dummy and he stopped talking as a result of it. He says he wrestles famous wrestlers now; I cannot believe I’m recapping this. Dr. Ziff snaps him out of the hypnosis and he still acts like the Animal. Albano says that he needs the fans to cheer for him to help in his therapy. We return to Ziff’s office, on another occasion, for shock therapy. They hypnotize him again and attach a sci-fi looking helmet onto him; they turn the machine on and it looks like a scene from the 1966 Batman television series only Adam West is more of a bumbling idiot. The machine overloads and Steele runs off; Albano calls him a quack. 1/10 O-Kay… it is fun to see Albano ramble incoherently, though.

Barry Windham, Mike Rotundo & George “The Animal” Steele (w/Capt. Lou Albano) vs. Big John Studd, Adrian Adonis & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan:   We have Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund on commentary. This is such a classic 1980’s MSG six-man tag match; we get the added bonus of Heenan as a wrestler. Mike Rotundo would garner a little more fame as Irwin R. Schyster in the early nineties and is also the father of Husky Harris. Steele chases Heenan around; Adonis is returning from an injury here. Adonis and Windham start off but for some reason they tag Heenan in and the Animal begs for a tag and chases Heenan some more. Adonis slowly gets into the ring again as does Windham; they finally lock up and Windham hits a pair of arm drags and a trio of bodyslams. A loopy Adonis walks over to the wrong corner and gets bit by Steele; Studd receives a tag and Adonis runs away. Studd dominates Windham but he comes back sneaking under his legs and punches away. He almost earns $15,000 by nearly bodyslamming Studd; he gets caught in the heel corner but backflips out of a back suplex and hits a high crossbody for two. We cut forward to Windham in trouble and Bobby Heenan getting a tag; he punches in the corner but Windham reverses a cross-corner whip and Heenan goes upside down in the corner. He tosses Heenan into the other corner and Bobby, bumper extraordinaire, goes flying over the top into the guardrail. Steele catches him on the floor and chaos occurs and Heenan and Adonis get rammed into the steel barricade. The Captain comes over to calm the Animal down; Studd reenters with Rotundo. Rotundo drives Studd down with a hammerlock but quickly erects himself and rams him into the corner; Adonis tags in and hits a face-first suplex onto the top rope. Adrian was a great wrestler and a great bumper. Rotundo tries a reverse whip but runs into Adonis’ elbow. Adrian drops him with a jumping DDT, called a “reverse underarm piledriver” by Gorilla because Jake Roberts hadn’t debuted yet, it gets two. Heenan tags in and the match breaks down out of nowhere as all six man brawl; Steele bites Heenan. Referee Dick Kroll is having all kinds of problems here; Steele goes to the floor and grabs a chair. He chases everyone with the chair, Kroll tries to stop him so Steele waffles the referee with the chair drawing a DQ. Post-match, Lou Albano tries to explain to Steele that you cannot do that. 5/10 Good fun old school tag match, where the storyline is that George Steele is hard to control and does not understand the rules, so when he gets frustrated he does stupid things to cost himself (or his team) the match.

We get clips from Bruno Sammartino fighting Ivan Koloff in a cage and then highlights from WrestleMania I where Bruno got involved with his son’s match against Brutus Beefcake.

Bruno Sammartino & David Sammartino (w/Arnold Skaaland) vs. Brutus Beefcake & “Luscious” Johnny Valiant:   Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes are the commentators from Madison Square Garden; this was billed as [Bruno] Sammartino’s comeback match and the fans are RABID for him. Bruno starts off with… the heels stall; Valiant starts the match. They lock up and Sammartino hits a shoulderblock, boot to the face, and a pair of arm drags, sending Johnny to the floor; Brutus runs in and gets tossed into the turnbuckles and knocked to the floor as well. The heels regroup on the floor. Valiant returns and tries an eye rake but Bruno reverses a whip and backdrops him; an arm drag follows and David tags in. Sammartino applies an armbar and also steamrolls Valiant; Johnny slams him but David slams back and arm drags into an armbar. Brutus thinks of coming in but Bruno keeps him at bay with his force-field of awesomeness. Valiant fires David off and hiptosses him; Sammartino avoids an elbow drop and reapplies an arm drag. Beefcake finally gets a tag. David works the arm and tags in dad; Bruno rides Bruti down to the canvas with a hammerlock and wrenches it back-and-forth as the crowd counts along. Gorilla and Alfred both admit Bruno has applied that hold to them as well, in the past. David tags in and applies the same hammerlock move; he drops a knee into the hammerlocked arm. David continues to work the arm until Valiant sneaks in a shot from behind. Beefcake works David over and Valiant comes off the top with a forearm; Sammartino counters a backdrop with a boot and tags in Bruno. That was a fast heat segment. Bruno comes in and beats the crap out of the Luscious One in the corner and plants a boot; the Sammartinos set up Johnny V with a full nelson and punch his gut. David stomps away but gets caught and hammered in the corner. Valiant and Brutus take turns beating on David and choking him illegally; Bruti gets a tag and hits a sloppy double backbreaker and drops a forearm. The heels double team David and Bruno charges in allowing more punishment; Valiant hits a running kick in the corner. Valiant whips him cross-corner for a high knee but David moves and schoolboys him for the out-of-nowhere three count. 4/10 The match was average with a unique ending; the heel heat segment never resulted in a hot tag, even more unique the babyface-in-peril manages a surprise pinfall, as well.

We get clips from King Kong Bundy (with no shirt on) with Jimmy Hart on Tuesday Night Titans; Vince McMahon goads him into trying some wigs on to see what he would look like with hair. He tries a few on and Lord Alfred Hayes laughs at him enraging him.

Tony Garea vs. King Kong Bundy (w/Jimmy Hart):   Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund have the commentary for this match. This could be close to his debut in the WWF; they lock up and Bundy shoves Garea around. Garea tries a standing side headlock but Bundy fires him off and shoulderblocks him; Tony tries again but runs into the brick wall again. Garea tries a different strategy kicking him in the gut and punches away. Bundy takes over and hits a reverse elbow but misses an elbow drop; Garea gets him down with a single leg pick and works the left thigh stomping and kicking. Bundy makes the ropes but Garea continues to work the legs; he releases and Bundy gets to his feet and clubs Garea down. Gorilla works his “go down to the stockyards and hang on a meat scale” line addressing Bundy’s weight that he always uses to describe big men. Bundy chokes away and then cut forward to Garea trapped in a chinlock. Bundy releases and hammers him against the ropes; Garea comes back with a dropkick and hammers away in the corner. Bundy reverses a cross-corner whip and hits the Avalanche and a splash finishes it. 3/10 Squash match as the WWF was priming Bundy for the big time.

“The Incredible” Hulk Hogan, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, The Masked Superstar, Moondog Rex, Wild Samoan Samu, Mil Máscaras, “Dr. D” David Schultz, Bob Boyer, Mr. Fuji, Tiger Chung Lee, Ivan Putski, Big John Studd, Tony Atlas, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, Rocky Johnson, Adrian Adonis, Dick Murdoch & André the Giant $30,000 18-Man battle royal:   Vince McMahon and Gene Okerlund are the commentators. Schultz gets ELIMINATED immediately; John Studd hangs around on the floor. The video quality is pretty awful here. Hogan is hammering on Fuji; Orndorff (a babyface I believe) is pummeling the Masked Superstar. Hogan very demonstratively ELIMINATES Moondog Rex; Putski comes off the second rope with a standing elbow. Studd finally enters the ring. Orndorff hammers on Tiger Chung Lee. Lots of on-the-ropes brawling; Adonis goes to the top but Hogan Flairs him off and he tumbles all of the way to the floor (not eliminated). Everyone in the ring piles on André, so much so that Mil Máscaras is able to walk on top of the pile; apparently Bob Boyer was underneath André under the pile-on so he’s dead. Orndorff continues to stomp on him (heel) after he cannot move. The referees pull Boyer out of the ring; I assume cannot continue, so he’s ELIMINATED. Studd chokes the Giant from the apron. Hogan is nearly eliminated buy a bunch of heels but Putski makes a save. Hogan hulks up on Adrian Adonis and ELIMINATES him with a punch. Boyer gets stretchered out. Tiger Chung Lee was ELIMINATED off-camera; Studd is hanging around the ringside area again. Tony Atlas ELIMINATES the Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie aka, Demolition Ax) and then the Superstar pulls Atlas to the floor, ELIMINATING him. Johnson ELIMINATES Paul Orndorff. Orndorff pulls Johnson through the ropes and tosses him into the ringpost busting him open. Orndorff continues the heel assault on the floor and then chucks him back in the ring; back in the ring, a bunch of heels beat on him until he fires up and knocks them all away. Samu charges him but Rocky ducks and the Wild Samoan sails over the top rope, ELIMINATED. Murdoch and Johnson get entangled in the ropes, tumble to the floor, and both get ELIMINATED. André peppers Mr. Fuji; Studd nearly goes out but manages to ELIMINATE Máscaras while in peril. Hogan ELIMINATES Snuka as André tosses Mr. Fuji, ELIMINATING him. Hogan and André (both babyfaces) go at it. The final four are André, Hogan, Studd and Ivan Putski. Studd and Putski go at it and Putski is quickly ELIMINATED. Studd wanders over to Hogan and André battling on the ropes and ELIMINATES André the Giant and then ELIMINATES Hulk Hogan to win the battle royal; pissing everyone in the audience off. Post-match Hogan begs Studd to reenter the ring; André tosses Studd back in the ring and they plan to beat up Studd. Such heel work by the two babyfaces; they catch him on the floor and they double team him until he runs away. 4/10 Not a bad battle royal; plus had a heel winner which is rare.

The 411:  This tape had two excellent matches (Steamboat/Orton and Harts/Bulldogs), plus the return match of Bruno Sammartino; the tape also has some other noteworthy matches (such as a RARE Piper pinfall loss). It is a highly entertaining tape if you can find it (and if you still own a VCR).
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]