wrestling / Video Reviews
Universal Wrestling Federation (8.9.1986) Review
Image Credit: UWF
Loading...-Cold open: Missy Hyatt’s 40-gallon purse knocks Tommy Rogers out cold, and Eddie Gilbert gets the pin to capture the Tag Team Titles for himself and Sting.
-Originally aired August 9, 1986.
-Your hosts are Jim Ross & “Micheal” Hayes. I am FAR from a perfect typist and oh my god I twitch every week at that.
JUMPIN’ JOE SAVOLDI vs. THE LIBYAN
-Savoldi works the arm of the Libyan. Test of strength is won by Savoldi, and he follows with a series of dropkicks. Libyan comes to life and gets a neckbreaker for two. Clothesline misses and Savoldi connects with a bodypress for two. Libyan tries an Irish whip, but Savoldi springs out of the corner and rolls him up for three. Crowd was INTO Savoldi here, and he has a Wendell Cooley/Al Perez look, so I have a feeling I’m about to see him get a bit of a shot here.
-We go to the Sam Houston Coliseum, where Hacksaw Jim Duggan is doing battle against Kamala. So remember how I said last week that Kamala had left the company? Well, we can’t just leave it at that. We’re going back in the archives (this is when Duggan was walking around with taped-up injured ribs) but presenting the match like it happened, you know, yesterday. And yup, Duggan spears Kamala and gets the three-count, which means Kamala is totally lame and the WWF sucks.
-We get a video from Joel Watts showing highlights of the UWF’s debut in Dallas. Line of the video: “A lot of hot dogs were eaten.”
-Next up: A Ted DiBiase/Steve Williams music video, set to “Living in America” to James Brown. Now see, that’s less tone-deaf than “Born in the USA,” just use that for entrance music.
TV TITLE: TERRY TAYLOR (Champion) vs. JEFF REETZ
-So what seems to have happened here is the promotion suddenly remembered that the idea is that the title is supposed to be defended every week and oh crap, we haven’t been doing that. Deetz, making his debut, achieved number-one contender status when Bill Watts saw him buying a Diet Coke from the locker room vending machine using only dimes, and determined that Reetz doesn’t give quarter.
-Reetz applies an armbar and whips Taylor into the corner, but he runs into a boot and Taylor suplexes him. Kneedrop by Taylor. Taylor sends Reetz into the ropes for the five-arm…but Reetz slams on the brakes and throws a dropkick at Taylor. Taylor steps out of the way and lets him crash, and THEN hits the five-arm for the pin. I think Reetz went off the script there.
-Ted DiBiase shows up and starts a fistfight with Michael Hayes, and he wins it so decisively that Hayes gives up his commentary chair and DiBiase takes over for the rest of the show. One of those things that I’d love to see happen in real sports some time.
GUSTAVO MENDOZA vs. BOBBY PEREZ
-Mendoza hammers on Perez and clotheslines him. Running headbutt gets two. Suplex by Mendoza, but a Vader bomb misses and Perez comes to life with right hands, but Mendoza cuts him off with a slam and drops an elbow for three. I kinda like this…Mendoza’s earned his stripes, so give him a win over someone that the fans can buy him beating and see if you can build him up from there. It seems like the promotions rarely tried that with jobbers and they just had to find another company to jump to in order to climb the ladder.
THE MISSING LINK & THE FANTASTICS (with Dark Journey) vs. EDDIE GILBERT, STING, & HOLLYWOOD JOHN TATUM (with Missy Hyatt)
-Sting and Tatum get cleared from the ring right away, and the faces just tee off on Gilbert and punish him for a bit.
-Tatum gets caught in the wrong corner and gets knocked around. I’ve never really seen Tatum until watching these UWF shows, and I don’t know how to explain it, but he feels more like a manager than a wrestler.
-Eddie tags in, and they Bobby Fulton rams him into Link’s iron skull. Sting tags in and finally gets something going for the heels with a side headlock, but he gets tossed into Link’s skull too. Gilbert takes a cheap shot from the apron and Sting capitalizes with a clothesline, and NOW we have a face in peril.
-Gilbert tags in and collides with Fulton on a double clothesline. That leads to our hot tag, which leads to a donnybrook, and Link powerslams Tatum, then charges to the corner, looking to finish. Hyatt trips him from outside, and the women end up in the ring. Referee gets distracted by holding back Dark Journey, and Missy Hyatt tries to take advantage with the loaded purse, but she accidentally KOs Gilbert and the forces of good get the three-count. Hot finish to a fun TV match.
