wrestling / Video Reviews

The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (5.3.1986)

January 27, 2015 | Posted by Adam Nedeff

-Originally aired May 3, 1986.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bruno Sammartino.

BRUTUS BEEFCAKE & GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE (with Luscious Johnny Valiant) vs. DON DRIGGERS & TONY GAREA
-Sort of interesting crowd reactions for the heels, with Valentine getting mostly boos but Beefcake getting a LITTLE bit of a pop.

-Valentine elbows Garea down and slams him. Beefcake pounds and stomps, with Garea getting uncharacteristically dominated tonight. Valentine beats on him in the corner and Irish whips him into Beefcake’s boot. Garea gets a cradle out of nowhere for two but FINALLY tags the guy who’s going to take the fall in this match.

-Elbow by Valentine and a double-underhook suplex. Powerslam by Beefcake could probably finish, but the heels are a little upset about Wrestlemania 2 and need to make a statement, so Valentine tags back in and finally ends it with the figure four. Valentine & Beefcake absolutely maul both opponents after the bell.

UPDATE
Lord Alfred Hayes takes us to Los Angeles and the closing moments of JYD/Tito vs. the Funks at Wrestlemania 2. Despite the victory, Terry Funk has suffered a knee injury and has vowed revenge on the Junkyard Dog. Was this feud drawing THAT much money that they simply couldn’t let it die and allow both guys to move on with their lives?

RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT vs. AL NAVARRO
-Navarro attacks and Steamboat fights back with chops and a hiptoss. Steamboat keeps Navarro on the mat with a side headlock. Navarro backs him into the corner and rams him. Irish whip by Navarro, and Steamboat finds a way to dodge everything Navarro tries after that. Navarro finally slams him down and stomps all over him while a big “Steamboat” chant goes up in the arena.

-Steamboat finally makes his comeback with a bodyslam, and he finishes quickly with a bodypress off the top rope.

-Gene Okerlund talks to Nikolai Volkoff & the Iron Sheik. The British Bulldogs are the champions, but that’s not much of an accomplishment because they defeated two Americans. They can’t overcome the Russian and the Iranian.

NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & IRON SHEIK (with Classy Freddy Blassie) vs. SCOTT MCGHEE & JOHN CENTENO
-The second jobber sounds like a goof-off indy gimmick with some guy putting on the cobra sleeve , waving his hand in front of his face, and then having the cobra bite him on the nose, and then freestyle rapping in broken English. Actually, somebody needs to do that gimmick.

-Sheik lays a beating on McGhee while Blassie heads over to the commentary table to challenge Corporal Kirchner to a match against the Iron Sheik next week, right here on TV.

-Back to the ring, where Sheik finishes off Centeno with a camel clutch. Centeno immediately follows that by retiring per the stipulations of the match, only to be reinstated on his way back to the dressing room.

-Mean Gene talks to Ricky Steamboat, who is wrapping up one year in the WWF. He had a rough time dealing with Fuji & Muraco, but he got that taken care of. He mentions that Randy Savage is the reigning Intercontinental Champion and he might want to pursue a title match down the road. In the immediate future, though, he says he’s been called out by Jake “The Snake” Roberts and declares that he’s accepting the challenge.

BRITISH BULLDOGS (Tag Team Champions) vs. PAUL CHRISTY & CYCLONE CAPONE
-Bodypress by Davey Boy gets two. Christy gets aggressive right away with right hands. Capone tags in but runs into a backdrop, and Dynamite comes in to offer a snap suplex.  Dynamite just headbutts the brain right out of Capone’s head and Davey Boy follows with a running powerslam. Dynamite finishes with a powerslam from the second rope.

-Write to WWF Fund Raisers today for information about running a WWF event for your non-profit organization.

THE FLOWER SHOP
-Debuting tonight is Adrian Adonis’ new interview segment with a godawful tacky set consisting of bouquets and bedsheets, plus the plaid floor from Piper’s Pit. I do like the flowers wrapped around the microphone, that’s a nice touch.

-Adrian’s guest is Hillbilly Jim. Adonis taunts him by showing off Uncle Elmer’s hat, which he kept as a souvenir after Wrestlemania 2. Jim angrily acknowledges that Elmer is hurt pretty badly now, and Adonis flirts with Jim until Jim starts to get riled up.

JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. SERGE JODOIN
-Jobber is the whitest guy that you could possibly imagine having that name.

-Jake slaps him and does a rare show of power, carrying Jodoin across the ring with one arm before slamming him. Jake introduces Jodoin to Damien’s bag and taunts him while Bobby Heenan shows up on commentary. Heenan says that last week proved that Andre the Giant is yellow. Big John cut his hair, Bundy put him in the hospital, and now Andre is welching on commitments. He wants Jack Tunney to take action.

-Back to the ring, where Jake finishes with the DDT. Crowd is totally freaked by Damien, and Jake drags Damien across Jodoin’s face while Jake slithers across the ring besisde him.

TITO SANTANA & “Mister Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs. RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE & COWBOY BOB ORTON (with Elizabeth)
-That’s quite a feature bout for TV. Orton is actually substituting for the Magnificent Muraco, who had been announced last week. I just bet that hypocrite Bobby Heenan doesn’t even say anything about that during his meeting with Jack Tunney.

-Bell sounds and we have a nice bit from Savage, who stands on the apron and holds onto his belt for a while before finally putting it down. Orndorff gets the early edge on Orton, and then both men tag, which compels Savage to take a break before getting into the ring. Savage tags out without doing anything, and Santana & Orndorff with the arm.

-Mat wrestling by O&O, with Orton doing bridges and backslides to counter Orndorff’s offense. Santana tags in but gets distracted by Savage, and Orton takes advantage with a backbreaker. Savage tags in and goes for a pin, but Santana kicks out so Savage just tags out immediately. I like Savage’s particular brand of cowardice here.

-Slugfest between Orton and Orndorff. Tito gets a sneaky tag and slams Orton down. He looks to be going for the flying forearm, so Savage gives him a knee to the back from the apron and takes Tito off his feet. Orton dives for the tag and Savage comes in to finish Tito off, but instead Tito connects with the flying forearm, and he pins Savage immediately, clean as a sheet. GREAT quicky bout. So we get thirteen minutes of Iron Mike Sharpe and Sivi Afi on Prime Time, and this gets four minutes shoved into the closing minutes of the weekend TV? Because I could have sat through thirteen minutes of this.

-Mean Gene shows off a hat that he got from Prime Minister Hawk during the WWF’s recent tour of Australia. He talks to Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy. They’re tired of being avoided by Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and Paul Orndorff wherever they go. He mentions that there’s a $50,000 bounty on Orndorff’s head, so apparently that’s still going on.

-Corporal Kirchner accepts the challenge and he’ll face the Iron Sheik next week.

 

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WWE, Adam Nedeff