The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (7.19.1986)

-Originally aired July 19, 1986.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bruno Sammartino. Vince & Bruno predict that the feature match this week will be one of the greatest bouts in wrestling history.

RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE (Intercontinental Champion, with Elizabeth) vs. ERIC COOPER
-Savage gets a massive pop during his entrance and some dedicated fans have made a big “Macho Man #1” banner. Camera gets a closer look and reveals that Savage pretty much has his own dedicated corner of the arena, with a slew of pro-Savage signs out there this week. If a viewer was watching for the first time ever, they’d be totally confused by the sight of Savage bullying a pretty girl as she exits the ring.

-And Savage plays right toward that corner, starting the match on that side of the ring and looking to them when the bell sounds. Savage tortures Cooper by putting him in a tree of woe and then going to the floor and putting him in a rear chinlock while still in that position. Captain Lou Albano says he’s been scouting Savage, he’s found some weaknesses, and he’s preparing George Steele for a Wrestlemania 2 rematch.

-Axehandle on the floor by Savage, back in the ring for another axehandle. Savage slams Cooper into position, and the flying elbow gives Savage the (one-footed) pin. Savage is so amped up that he tears up a child’s sign to celebrate it.

UPDATE
-Mean Gene shows off a recent Japanese magazine article about The Machines, hailing from the isle of Fu Yu Too. We go to footage of a recent New Japan show with the Machines battling it out. A confused masked wrestler stumbles around the set, struggling to remove his mask as Gene wraps things up.

AMERICAN EXPRESS vs. AL NAVARRO & GINO CARABELLO
-Vince dusts off the old team name that he tried for Windham & Rotundo last year, trying it on Spivey & Rotundo this time around.

-Carabello gets backdropped and hiptossed around by the Express. Carabello sweeps Rotundo’s leg and tries to capitalize, but Rotundo knocks him loopy with an enziguiri. Spivey hits Navarro full-force with an elbow from the top and the Express works his arm. Express whips Navarro into the ropes over and over again, connecting with every move they can think of from that position each time, and Rotundo finally puts him out of his misery with the airplane spin to end it.

-Ken Resnick tells us about the next Boston Garden spectacular. Hart Foundation vs. Sheik & Volkoff to determine a number-one contender, and in the main event, Hulk Hogan & George Steele battle Randy Savage & Adrian Adonis. Adonis says the plan is to rip all the fur off Steele and leave him laying, and then double-team Hogan until he’s too injured to defend his belt in future matches, finally forcing the WWF to find a new champion. Savage angrily says that he considers Hogan to be in “poor taste.”

NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & IRON SHEIK vs. JIMMY JACKSON & DON DRIGGERS
-Minor stylistic change: the cameraman actually gets in the ring for the introductions. Hard to imagine that there was an actual time when they didn’t get in the ring, but this is seriously the earliest instance of it that I’ve seen.

-Sheik clotheslines and backdrops Driggers. Volkoff adds a bunch of knees and kicks, and we get comments from a facepainted Corporal Kirchner, who says he’s ready for Sheik & Volkoff, but they won’t be dealing with Corporal Kirchner, they’ll be dealing with Corporal Punishment. That certainly would have been an interesting twist for the character, and there was certainly no reason not to try it.

-Volkoff does the wedgie backbreaker on Jimmy Jackson, and that sets up the camel clutch by Sheik to finish it.

-Ken Resnick hypes the Boston Garden card, featuring Ted Arcidi and a midget match. Other matches will be taking place once you’ve returned from the bathroom. Classy Freddy Blassie & Jimmy Hart talk about the match to determine the number-one contender position. Really interesting promo for the wrong reason; Blassie’s mind is clearly elsewhere and he gives a very lifeless interview.

SIVI AFI & KING TONGA vs. LANE ANDERSON & GARY SIMONES
-Afi & Tonga come to the ring to what would become the Islanders’ entrance music. Tonga’s situation here is so interesting to me. They give him a giant angle, letting him slam Big John Studd, and they just INSTANTLY forgot about it, and he’s right back to wrestling filler matches with Sivi Afi.

-Afi & Anderson criss-cross until Afi finally catches him with a drop toehold. Dropkick by Afi and he tags in Tonga. Tonga hiptosses Afi on top of Anderson and Afi drops an elbow, which could have finished, but Tonga actually brings Anderson over to the corner and forces him to tag in Simones, basically so he can get more exercise.

-Simones takes a few bumps and gets right the hell out, and Afi finally finishes off Anderson with a splash from the ropes.

FLOWER SHOP
-Adrian welcomes Hercules Hernandez and asks if he’s the real Hercules, and since this is the WWF, Hercules says that he’s 2,000 years and that Freddy Blassie discovered him on Mount Olympus.

-We go back to the locker room, where Paul Orndorff is still angry about the whole phone call thing from a couple years ago. Hulk gives his side of things, saying that Orndorff should know how Hulk is in the gym after working out with him so many times. Hulk tells him to just let it go.

HULK HOGAN (WWF Champion) & “Mister Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs. KONG KONG BUNDY & BIG JOHN STUDD (with Bobby Heenan)
-Cute bit during the introductions: Bobby Heenan tells Howard Finkel to introduce him as “Manager of the Year” and Finkel just looks at him and shakes his head no.

-Orndorff insists on starting the match. He fires a series of right hands at Studd, and Studd backs off instead of fighting back. Orndorff pulls the tights and manages to sunset flip Studd, but Studd kicks out at one. Orndorff hiptosses him, and Studd decides he’s done and brings in Bundy.

-Bundy elbows Orndorff down right away and tries a splash, but Orndorff rolls out of the way. He suckers Bundy into trying for the avalanche and gets out of the way, causing Bundy to crash. Orndorff’s on a roll, so he decides to go for the $15,000, but he can’t slam Studd. He does manage to clear the ring with dropkicks, though, and the fans are going nuts for him.

-Orndorff, satisfied that he’s proven himself after the past two weeks, FINALLY tags Hogan. Slugfest between Hogan and Studd. Hogan wins that fight and then immediately bodyslams Studd, taking time out to celebrate the achievement, and Orndorff is visibly upset about it on the apron, not that Hulk would notice it. We pause for commercial…

-And we return to Hulk atomic dropping Studd, whipping him, clotheslining him, and chopping him. Hulk is OWNING this match. Studd finally takes him off his feet with a clothesline, and Studd & Bundy have had it. They double-team the starch out of Hulk while Orndorff begs for a tag on the apron. Hogan rakes Bundy’s eyes and Bundy is dazed long enough that Hogan can clearly get to his corner and tag out, but he chooses to be a hero instead and fights both opponents even though he’s hurt. Studd knocks Hulk backward and Hogan accidentally knocks Orndorff off the apron.

-Studd & Bundy keep double-teaming Hogan and they knock the referee out of the ring for good measure. Orndorff is dramatically selling the blow to the head he sustained before finally coming into the ring, where he manages to clear the ring with just two punches. He helps Hogan back to his feet and leads the crowd in a round of applause for his heroic effort.

-And then he clotheslines Hogan and finishes him off with a piledriver.

-Hogan lays in a heap and Bundy & Studd get back into the ring to do more damage, but the American Express, Tonga, and Afi come into the ring to protect the Hulkster. Heenan leads everybody out of the ring and takes Orndorff back to the heel locker room, where Adrian Adonis congratulates Orndorff. Studd, Bundy, and Heenan all tell him that he truly is wonderful, and they chant “Wonderful” for him.

-Ken Resnick talks to Tito Santana, who is shocked by the actions of Paul Orndorff, who is a good friend but hasn’t been answering phone calls lately. Ricky Steamboat comes in and says he likes to beat up people like Jake Roberts as much as he likes to watch Boston Celtics games.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

The feature match carried this hour and carried it handily.