March 1985

You can't help but feel sorry for David Sammartino. He gets introduced first to little fanfare, and then the MSG crowd go bananas when Bruno is announced. The pity for David stops when you realise how dry and dull he is. The match consists of stalling, rudimental holds and a wearisome Beefcake control segment. It drags on for eleven minutes before Bruno storms the ring after Beefcake's manager interferes and the match ends in a double disqualification. Bruno fights off both, popping the crowd and making his son look like a total loser in the process. ★

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

This was a quick squash to put Bundy over as a monster heel and to set him up for the big push that will cultivate with him main eventing the next Wrestlemania. This is announced as going nine seconds, when in reality it lasted a little over twenty seconds. I've always had a hard time rating squash matches that are as brief as this was, but they did everything that they set out to do, so it escapes the dastardly DUD rating. ¼★

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Santana has always been an underrated favourite for me. He has such a likable presence that's perfect for an undercard babyface. From his convincing punches to his crisp dropkick, all the stuff in his shine segment looks good. The Executioner tries to go for Santana's leg (like he said he would in his awful pre-match promo), but Santana is able to neatly wrestle out of his Figure 4 attempt and put him away with one of his own. The first match in Wrestlemania history is a decent five minute showcase for Santana, in which The Executioner didn't stand a chance. ★★½